Customercase: “We need each other to make things work”
Back to overview“We need each other to make things work”
Recently we visited Fields Source of Flowers in Noordwijkerhout. A real family company, just like Schouten. Patrick & Mariëlle van Steijn pull the strings together with their son Daan. The company has been in their family for years now. They are the fourth and fifth generation running it! Seated in their porch, looking over the beautiful lands of Noordwijkerhout we spoke them about the delivery of their Schouten bulb processing line.
“You need each other to make things work”
Is what Patrick told us, which perfectly fits one of our main values. ‘Together with Fun!’. ” From the first meeting on up until the installation, it has been a coproduction between us as costumer, Agro Techniek as dealer and Schouten as producer”, Patrick tells us. A great example is the adjustment of the standard assembly line cleaner to smaller diameter rolls, which helps with the the shells and beads we have to deal with. During the installation we discovered that if all parties would meet each other in the middle, the best solution could be found.
Tulips, freesia’s and crocuses
Besides processing tulip bulbs, in which the acreage will increase the next years, Fields Source of Flowers also grows Freesia’s. Partly on the sand ground surrounding the company in Noorderwijkerhout but also on heavy soil elsewhere.
Automation, better product quality and a higher capacity
Because of the addition of Daan, it has become even more important for the company to be sustainable and viable for the future. For that reason the van Steijn’s will provide an increase in acreage for the upcoming years and in their opinion the only way to realise this is through the best sorting technique out there. Together with Agro Techniek they chose for Schouten!
They picked a 1600 wide installation, optimized accordingly to the sizes of their boxes. Along with a short processing line, mostly on one height, which reduces the amount of drops leading to a huge improvement of the quality of their products.
“Maybe it is a year with less rotten products, but because of our new installation our number of rotten products are extra low compared to last year”
The new computer control system that Schouten uses as part of the Invaro Agri & Horti Technology Group makes the processing line super easy to operate. You can turn on all the machines or for example adjust the speed of individual machines, all in one screen. A lot more efficient than walking around all the time. Not only automation but also modernization, which is something Patrick was really looking for.
Mariëlle adds: “An additional advantage is that the machine also provides numbers of production which goes hand in hand with linkages between other software systems.”
Swiftly recouped
If we ask her about the recoup time of the delivered installation Mariëlle starts to shine. Before ordering we of course tried to calculate how long it would take, but it has exceeded our expectations. The first season we already see savings on our personnel costs with more than 50 percent. ” One of the machines which helps us realises this is the modular cube tilting machine which is developed by Schouten and of whom we own the first edition”, tells Daan. ” Because of the buffer and drain system of this tilting machine we save 2 FTE already, only around the processing line”.
“If you CAN do better, you SHOULD do better”
A saying from Patrick which makes us happy! Schouten is a decent product, we have proven that our products last for many years. Compared to other companies in the market, we show great detail to safety around the machines for our employees. Just like their dealer Agro Techniek they stand behind their product and belief in their solutions. This makes it enjoyable to work together with the people from Schouten during this exciting process. Don’t forget we are talking about huge investments here.
“Very passionate, good advice and willing to put their hand in the fire to make things happen.”
During this whole process Gertjan van Loenen has been our contact. The personal involvement of Agro Techniek can be summarised in one sentence according to Patrick.: ” Very passionate, good advice and willing to put their hand in the fire to make things happen.”
Agro Techniek is the representative of Schouten installations in South-Holland