Smart quality control and reporting increase harvest quality and labour savings
During GreenTech Amsterdam, Gearbox and Ridder sealed their successful collaboration. Over the past year, the companies have worked closely together on integrating the GearStation AI quality inspection system into the Productive labour management software at tomato grower The Valley in 's-Gravenzande.
The Valley uses a GearStation in its packaging hall, Gearbox's inspection system that uses advanced camera technology and AI to perform an in-line quality inspection on the freshly harvested product in the 5-kilogram box. Depending on the preset quality standard, a 100% quality check of the product is carried out based on parameters such as weight and quality. If, according to the GearStation's assessment, the product meets the preset quality requirements, it can be pelletised immediately, which saves labour and ensures consistent quality.
Thanks to this collaboration, an API link has been created that facilitates communication between the Taks processing line, the GearStation and Ridder Productive. This not only gives The Valley insight into the quality and origin of every tomato or box assessed, but also provides immediate access to an objective assessment report in the updated Ridder Productive Manager app on the tablet of the harvest team leader in the greenhouse. This report allows for further optimisation of quality and time savings through targeted, consistent and objective assessment and instruction to individual harvest workers in the greenhouse.
"Our innovative solutions generate highly valuable data. Links and integrations such as these enable our customers to make even better use of this data. At The Valley, this results in labour savings, consistent quality assessment and improved work performance," says Raymond van den Berg of Gearbox.
“The collaboration with innovative companies such as Gearbox fits in with our strategy of focusing on partnerships and open connectivity to make new innovative solutions accessible and practical to integrate into everyday use,” says Boy de Nijs, Product Manager Labour & Robotics at Ridder. “This gives growers maximum freedom to make optimal use of their production or cultivation data.”
