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The Valley (Growers United)

The Valley

(Growers United)

56 hectares

250,000 tomatoes per day

7 Locations

GearStation Vegetables

ROI

>3 years

Machine Operational

Labour savings

100%

average kilogram per hour

11,000

‘Improving work and quality with GearStation’

Following the successful pilot with the GearStation at a branch of The Valley, Growers United has also purchased a new machine for the main location of the tomato nursery in De Lier. The experiences have been positive, says Thom van der Voort. "The GearStation meets our expectations and helps us to organise labour and quality in a structurally better way."

The Valley grows cocktail, snack and vine tomatoes and cucumbers for the European market at seven locations in the Westland region and one in Vierpolders. With a total of 56 hectares of glasshouses and the ambition to grow significantly in five years, labour is becoming an increasingly important focus. "Labour costs are rising rapidly and good workers are scarce," says co-owner Van der Voort. "We are already highly automated, but we have taken a critical look at where we could still make improvements. That brings us to labour."

Tomatoes in the super segment

When Gearbox offered the opportunity to run a pilot with the GearStation, The Valley was immediately enthusiastic. The project was taken up in collaboration with Taks for the logistics processing line and Ridder for the labour registration system. The GearStation automatically assesses the quality and weight of each box of vine tomatoes using camera technology and AI. Boxes that are approved no longer need to be checked manually. "We expect this to result in labour savings of around 22 per cent," says Van der Voort.

GearStation is sharper than the human eye

Quality is of paramount importance at The Valley. The tomatoes are sold year-round in the super segment and inspected by a Growers United inspector. "We want to prevent boxes that do not meet the quality requirements from being approved at all times. The GearStation camera is sharper than the human eye. This is reflected in fewer rejections and more consistent quality," says the grower.

The GearStation assesses each box of vine tomatoes on a number of quality aspects and weight. We no longer need to check any boxes that are approved. We expect to achieve savings of 22 per cent as a result.

Train smarter with data

The GearStation operates in training mode, allowing the machine to be adjusted to changes in the crop. Photographs of the boxes are used to further train the AI, enabling it to recognise quality issues with increasing accuracy. "This allows us to continuously optimise the machine and reduce the risk of errors," explains Van der Voort.

An important additional advantage is that harvest workers can be supervised in a more targeted and objective manner. All harvesting activities, harvest vehicles and employees are linked to the work registration system. "We can see exactly who has performed which activities and how the quality has been assessed. The GearStation provides an objective assessment, without discussion. Based on that data, we can better supervise people and increase performance."

Reporting quality issues

Employees at The Valley work with the My WorQ app, which gives them insight into their performance, hours worked and performance-related rewards. Company news is also available in their own language. "We are currently investigating whether we can link the GearStation to the app," says Van der Voort. "This would allow us to send photos of quality issues directly to the employee concerned. A picture says more than a thousand words. We can also link bonus payments based on quantity and quality to this via a single, uniform automated method."

Second GearStation

Following the positive experiences, a second GearStation has been installed at The Valley's new main location in De Lier. "This is a logical next step in our automation process," says Van der Voort. He also sees other possibilities for the machine, such as detecting diseases and pests with mobile cameras. "That is still done manually at the moment. It would be great if the machine could learn to recognise diseases such as spotted tomato or variegated fruit and indicate where it has detected those fruits per path."

Robotisation

Looking ahead, Van der Voort sees further opportunities for robotisation within nurseries. "Tests are already being carried out with robots, but we will have to be patient before they are up and running and functioning properly. The positive thing is that robotisation is being tested in practice. This gives a better picture of the possibilities and limitations in the greenhouse than testing at demo nurseries. The GearStation shows that smart technology is already adding real value today."

More about the GearStation

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