Ammerlaan-Sosef is a modern pot plant nursery located in Westland region of the Netherlands near Honselersdijk. The greenhouse operation grows cyclamen, primula, and celosia, producing as many as 3 million to 3.5 million plants a year. The operation won the Dutch Flower Award in 2018 and is a member of Decorum, a premium brand backed by a group of more than 50Dutch growers.
Ammerlaan-Sosef’s owners put a lot of thought into what improvements they wanted to make throughout the facility to enhance the employee experience and create a less stressful work environment. The new employee cafeteria isn’t typical, in that it feels more like something you would find in a modern-day home. It includes dimmable lighting, comfy seating, and a fully equipped kitchen with an eating bar, so employees really have a chance to relax on their breaks in comfort.
Internal logistics in the facility happen around the perimeter of the greenhouse. SmartFlo conveyor belts from We Prove Solutions (WPS) run lengthwise down the bays to transport plants to two sets of conveyors (one for finished plants and one for unfinished plants) that run along the outside walls. Ammerlaan-Sosef has plug-ins for the conveyor system that allows it to cross main walking paths and then be moved back when needed to accommodate people and equipment.
As part of the expansion, Ammerlaan-Sosef upgraded its sorting buffer. Plants run through four WPS grading machines that use Plant Vision Technology to integrate analysis software with RGB cameras that take top and side views of the plant. The machines sort the plants according to characteristics such as size, color, bloom count, etc. Plants can also be watered in the gutter tracks of the shipping buffer. The sorting buffer has two sides to it. One allows for bigger orders, and the other side is for smaller orders. This gives the company the flexibility to accommodate custom orders.
Logistics are run from a central control station. An operator inputs orders into the computer system. That frees employees to focus on final quality control checks rather than making sure the orders are correct.
WPS developed a customized packing robot to meet Ammerlaan-Sosef’s unique needs. The robot places plants in trays and containers. It is also equipped with a feature that automatically de-stacks trays of assorted sizes.
The automated sleeving machine frees up human labor for more important tasks because it does the work of three people.
Management at Ammerlaan-Sosef looked at what jobs were most stressful in the greenhouse due to their repetitiveness, strain on the body, or other factors. Pot spacing fell under this category, so the company invested in a Degramec self-propelled pot spacing robot from WPS to do the job.
Ammerlaan-Sosef uses an automated machine in its propagation area to make short work of covering newly planted containers with plastic.
A Javo Toploader equipped with a fork and a scraping/elevating system is a low-maintenance way of distributing soil. The scraping system delivers the bulk substrate to a discharge conveyor, and the fork is powered back and forth automatically. The sidewalls on either side of the machine ensure that no loose substrate is left behind in the bunker.
As with any greenhouse operation, it takes a mix of equipment to get the jobs done, and not all of it needs to be a high-cost investment. Here, employees found an innovative way to spread biocontrols using rigged-up leaf blowers.
Two employees can lay on this rig to work with the plants as it is rolled back and forth along the bay.
Ammerlaan-Sosef, tucked away in the Westland region of the Netherlands near Honselersdijk, made the bold decision to expand its facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. When an opportunity came up to buy their neighbor’s land, owners Jeffrey Ammerlaan and Gertjan Sosef jumped on it. The purchase set in motion an automation strategy that would lead to a reimagining and re-do of Ammerlaan-Sosef’s Honselersdijk facility to accommodate the 3-acre expansion.
Scaling up a greenhouse operation oftentimes can lead to more work. However, Ammerlaan-Sosef’s owners were determined that wasn’t going to happen. They carefully thought through the addition and redesign of the space to come up with an automation strategy that would help the team work smarter, not harder. It wasn’t easy. A phased construction project carried on during a worldwide pandemic and while the greenhouse was still fully functioning came with its own set of challenges. In the end, the results were well worth the effort.
Ammerlaan-Sosef produces 5 million plants of Celosia ‘Deep Purple’ Caracas, Primula Sweet Kisses, and Cyclamen ‘Fantasia Artic Red’ every year at its two locations.
The Greenhouse Grower team had the opportunity to visit Ammerlaan-Sosef while over in the Netherlands to attend the GreenTech conference. Thank you to Ammerlaan-Sosef for opening its doors to our team and giving us a great tour. Now, here is your opportunity to get an inside look into how Ammerlaan-Sosef found solutions through technology and automation for improving the work environment for its employees and streamlining operations to gain efficiency. Check out the slideshow above, or take a virtual video tour here.
Have you used technology or automation as a solution to solve a problem you faced at your greenhouse operation? If so, please let Greenhouse Grower Editor Janeen Wright know at jwright@meistermedia.com. We would love to share your story with our readers.
Janeen Wright is former Editor for Greenhouse Grower.
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