The challenge

Früchtehof Schindler has a peak period of around three months for processing asparagus. The asparagus must be harvested, packaged and transported during these three months. Packing asparagus is a time-consuming process. The asparagus are packed in a plastic bag, labeled and packed in boxes. These boxes are sent to the supermarket and the product is scanned at the checkout by means of a barcode. The labels differ per type of asparagus (green or white) and per barcode (at end customer level). In addition, employees must  be able to easily set the variable print data and / or change the label.

Früchtehof Schindler has the desire to reduce the consumption of plastic film with their end customers to speed up the packaging process.

Cyklop was asked to help improve this process, with keeping in mind that labels and print data need to be changed easily, that the asparagus is packaged quickly and that film consumption is drastically reduced.

The solution

After extensive discussions, on-site visits and test rounds, an  Elastobinder ‍with label printer was chosen. This machine bundles asparagus together by means of two thin elastic bands (Strepper®). A  is a closed elastic, which does not deform the product and leaves no traces or damage.

A label is attached to one rubber band. With a few simple actions you can choose another label. The menu is available in multiple languages, allowing employees of different nationalities to work with the machine. By working with Streppers®, a plastic bag is no longer used to pack the asparagus.

Click here for a video of the Elastobinder with label printer.

The result

“By working with the Elastobinder, we can now make the labels per day. We can also easily switch between green and white asparagus”, says Clemens Mertens of Früchtehof Schindler. Due to the combination of Elastobinder with label printer, the labels no longer have to be printed in advance, but are printed on the spot.

Mertens also emphasizes that the process is faster, because bundling and labeling is done in one operation. “Previously, the asparagus were packed in a plastic bag by one employee, after which they were labeled by another employee. Now these two steps have been combined and we are saving on the plastic bags”.

The people at Früchtehof Schindler have worked seamlessly with this solution for a full season and the order for further automation has been given. More importantly, Schindler’s end customers (supermarkets) are satisfied with the savings on plastic bags.

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