Automation is becoming increasingly necessary in the fresh produce sector, says Sean Schulp of STC Food Solutions. "It's not just large companies looking for ways to automate processes. More and more smaller players must also see how they can optimize speeds despite the difficulties in finding staff," he begins.
Sean started STC Food Solutions about six years ago. After several years in the machinery trade, he started a company that deals in used machines and lines for the food processing and packaging industry. Initially, he focused mainly on the fish and meat sectors, but in recent years, the fruit and vegetable industry has increasingly gained shares of this Dutch company´s business.
That is partly thanks to the experienced Piet Pannekeet advising the STC team. "Piet opens many doors. That's ensured we gain more and more footing in the vegetable processing sector. The fresh produce industry is also becoming increasingly interested in used machines and lines' capacity and financial picture. We've thus built up that stock, and at least half of our customers are in the fruit and vegetable sector."
Custom lines
STC Food Solutions is mainly active in Europe but also occasionally deals with companies from places like Australia or South America. "Companies want to automate. Especially smaller ones can quickly take a big step forward. New is great, but giving perfectly functioning machines a second life can be an affordable way to take those first steps in the automation process. Where you used to have ten people doing packaging, you can quickly save significantly on labor," says Sean.
"You can do that with standalone machines, which used to garner plenty of interest. We buy machines (or have them in stock), refurbish them, and deliver them to the end client. However, we're now increasingly building custom weighing and packaging lines. We use different secondhand machines as a basis. Those aren't originally placed together in the line. We see - with possible addition from our stock - what we need to make it an automated line."
Not just for smaller companies
The company wants to provide a low-investment service to its buyers, Sean explains. "We want to unburden them by also taking care of the transport, placement, and installation. We discuss with the customer what needs to be done to set up the line as desired. We, thus, don't have a catalogue, for example. We want to see what we can achieve for a specific client. We provide some training, too, because many companies have noticeably little or no experience with automated lines," he says.
"But, it's not just about the money anymore. Given the longer delivery times for new machines, we get more and more requests from larger customers. It sometimes takes ages to deliver a new machine. We, however, have everything in stock, so we can deliver machines quickly. Then we can take back their surplus machines. The buyer is, thus, immediately rid of a redundant machine, and we supplement our stock. That's a win-win."
Underrated aspect
STC is increasingly growing in the fresh produce industry, and Schulp sees a lot of potential there. "We're not pushing the rest out," he explains, "but we're expanding the most in the fruit and vegetable sector. That's partly due to our offer. When we deliver a machine or line somewhere, we often get the old machines back. That creates a kind of snowball effect and adds to our vegetable processing industry stock."
" 'Used' has been underrated for a long time. You had to have 'new'. Now, more and more people appreciate secondhand machines and lines. Especially if you can guarantee their quality. We only work with brands we know always have parts available and that we can offer to service. It's a trade that's catching on, and we'd like to continue our growth in it," concludes Sean.
For more information:
Sean Schulp
STC Food Solutions
7 Bedrijfsweg
8304 AA, Emmeloord, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 641 168 620
[email protected]
www.stcfoodsolutions.com
