What are the main motivations of growers and packers as they consider implementing grading and sorting technology? Often the goals and challenges are similar: increasing capacity and providing consistent quality while reducing the dependence and costs associated with manual labor. However, as you will see in the following article, the primary motivation for investing in grading technology may vary amongst companies.
Worldwide, dozens of potato growers & packers now use optical grading machines from Ellips-Elisam including the following North American packers: Wada Farms, Hughes Farms, Folson Farms, OC Schulz & Sons, Smith & Morrison, Wallace Farms, Pioneer Potatoes, Maplewood Farms, Potato Sales, Inc & more.
In this article, Folson Farms and O.C. Schulz & Sons share their ambitions and challenges and how Ellips’ technology helped them achieve their goals.
This is how Folson Farms guarantees consistent potato quality
Folson Farms works to produce quality potatoes in the rich soils of the Red River Valley. Their desire is to provide customers with a quality consistency year in and year out. According to Casey Folson, the following challenges have become even more prevalent over the past few years:
- "You sometimes have difficult batches."
- "The type of defects that affect potato quality vary from year to year."
- "With hand grading it’s difficult to achieve the quality you want."
- "Labor is hard to find."
- "The throughput per hour was not sufficient to handle the potential volumes."
By investing in optical grading technology, Folson Farms has been able to deliver consistent quality and increase production capacity while creating a reliable and efficient operation that is less dependent on labor. “Ellips-Elisam stood out for its gentle potato handling, unmatched grading accuracy and product throughput. Our operation is now much more efficient with fewer labor requirements and higher capacities", say Casey Folson of Folson Farms.
This is how O.C. Schulz & Sons takes customer satisfaction to the highest level
“The customer is always right" - that’s the motto of O.C. Schulz & Sons. The company understands the importance of customer satisfaction. Every day, this family business does everything possible to exceed their customers' expectations. The company is committed to ensuring consistent quality and on-time delivery to their customers. O.C. Schulz & Sons is also known for its high-quality red and yellow potatoes that have beautiful clear skin and outstanding taste.
However, every business has its challenges. There were limitations and times when not all the customers’ needs could be addressed. O.C. Schulz & Sons was dedicated to changing that. According to Dave Moquist, O.C. Schulz & Sons has faced the following challenges over the past few years:
- “Labor is getting harder and harder to find. We were not always fully operational due to labor shortages.”
- “Because of variable weather conditions, each season has different, or more prevalent, defects which makes it challenging to deliver a consistent quality.”
- “With manual sorting, it is more difficult to achieve the desired quality because people are inconsistent in defect detection and ultimately get tired. Additionally, they cannot always detect the defects that can be identified with automation.”
- “With hand sorting, potatoes can easily end up in incorrect grades or are mistakenly classified as waste. This impacts our ability to maximize the value of each.
- “Due to labor shortages and/or lots with significant quality issues, it was difficult to process and pack enough potatoes to meet customer demand.”
However, every challenge offers an opportunity for a solution. The optical grading machine from Ellips-Elisam has enabled O.C. Schulz & Sons to reduce its dependency on labor by eliminating virtually all manual grading. In addition, it has resulted in increased production capacity which has improved on-time deliveries and expanded business opportunities. Last but not least, improved quality consistency has resulted in increased customer satisfaction.
“It’s hard to put the transition into words since the installation of the Ellips solution has changed our operation so significantly. Everything is much easier now. We have peace of mind because we can respond to any customer demand - we never have to say no anymore”, concludes Dave Moquist of O.C. Schulz & Sons.
For more information:
John Albert
Ellips
Tel: +1(206)-915-4962
[email protected]
Demo request
Full customer story Folson Farms
Full customer story O.C. Schulz & Sons
