"The new partial automation is intended to optimize the transition between the asparagus scale and the downstream packaging unit, where the asparagus is currently still being manually inserted into a flow-pack machine. One will save on personnel as as consequence." This is how the Strauss Buxtehude company from Lower Saxony addresses a major producer problem: the shortage of seasonal labor.
Strauss Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH develops, designs and builds machines for harvesting and processing asparagus, apples and leeks. This fall, they are presenting a new partial automation element of their SVA-17 weighing system at the expoSE in Karlsruhe. This extension of their machinery has been in use for leeks for more than 15 years and should now also facilitate the work in the asparagus area. However, because of the comparatively sensitive nature of the asparagus, the technology had to be refined first.
"With us, the entire product range comes from a single source," explains Matthias Kinzel, who has been working for the company for 14 years, first in technical support and commissioning of the machines and now in sales. ""From inquiry to project engineering to the finished product. From the construction of the machines to the final assembly, everything takes place under one roof. The machines are assembled, adjusted and tested in-house before leaving the factory, and installation, commissioning and servicing are carried out by us."
Strauss packaging machines at expoSE
"In addition to the combination with the asparagus weighing machine, we will be presenting our asparagus sorting system with prewashing and various other options at expoSE.Our visitors will also receive information about our towed and self-propelled asparagus harvesters and our GUB Buncher, a stand-alone machine that can be combined with the asparagus sorting machine or the scales, that automatically puts rubber bands or optionally ElastiTAGs around the bundles of asparagus," said Kinzel about the company's project. "The rubbers are often applied manually to the asparagus bundles.We have been developing the GUB Buncher for 14 years. This solution is now in use for asparagus but currently it is also used for mini broccoli in Australia. Soon the machine will also be used in the US for leeks."
International success
"We have a customer base in 25 countries around the world, including North and South America, Canada, England, many of the neighboring countries of Germany and even Israel, Australia and South Africa." The flexible adaptation of machinery solutions specifically for the needs of customers is the key to their success, explains Kinzel. "We offer a service from the inquiry to the project engineering to the finished product, as well as the maintenance and care for the machines, all from a single source." In addition to this, individual segments of the Strauss portfolio can be combined with existing production lines, expanded these. Strauss is not limited to certain farms: "We supply one and all. From growers with, for example, three hectares, to large farms with several hundreds of hectares."
Packaging
In terms of sustainability, the expert is convinced of the strength of the company, especially with regard to the longevity of the machines. "Our apple machines have been in operation for more than thirty years. The fact that the machines we have been using since the mid/late 1990s are still in operation today, proves the sustainability of the products," says Kinzel.
He has already seen many trends in packaging in his many years as a machine builder. In general, Strauss always follows the customer's wishes. "When our customers have new packaging requirements, we respond to them, always striving to adapt the machines or deliver new solutions," says Kinzel. "In recent years, it has been noticeable that the GUB Buncher was used more frequently for white asparagus, in order to offer an alternative to plastic packaging. Green asparagus is almost always packaged in bundles, with rubber bands - this trend is now becoming increasingly prevalent for white asparagus as well."
You can meet the people from the Strauss company on 21 and 22 November 2018, at booth 1 / D-25 at the Karlsruhe fair.
For more information:
Matthias Kinzel
Strauss Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH
Felix-Wankel-Straße 22-24
21614 Buxtehude
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 (0)4161 74020
Email: info@strauss-pack.com
Web: www.strauss-pack.de/