"NL: "I can’t do without our registration system"

Greenhousecompanies are continuously getting bigger. The trend of scaling up keeps on going relentlessly. In order to be able to follow labor performances of each individual employee, the use of a track labour registration system offers a solution. Dutch grower Bas van Adrichem is one of the convinced users of this method: "On paper, it cannot be done anymore."

Bas and Sjoerd van Adrichem now grow tomatoes on 20 hectares in Westdorpe. Their company in Westdorpe employs 150 people, working 35-40 hours per week. He would have a full-time job if he would have to keep track of the hours manually. "Now it takes only fifteen minutes or half an hour. And that is real time saving," he says.

One of the main advantages of this system is, according to Bas, that he can react quickly. You immediately see per person how much time was required to harvest a cart. That may depend on the crop or on the employee. In any case there must be an explanation if the standard is not met. And if there is a good reason that someone does not reach the standard of that day, then it will be looked into immediately. "That person might need more guidance or further explanation. That's no problem."

Bas is 29 years old and has always worked with track registration. His father told him that it has brought peace and quiet in the company. Now it is not necessary to address the whole group when productivity or quality falls behind. But attention will be given to the person that remains behind. That works fine and improves the ambiance. In addition to the tranquility it also has a motivating effect. Bas: "In the cafeteria there is a monitor on which everyone can see how you yourself and your colleagues 'score'. And no one wants to be at the bottom." At Van Adrichem, speed must never take precedence over quality. Quality always comes first.

Three years ago the track registration system Work-IT was taken into service in the cultivation company of Bas. Recently, the associated check-it app was added. The control lists that this application generates, are used in controlling the work in the path. With tablet or phone in hand you walk through the paths and you check the performed job. Then a rating for the quality of the work is given. These ratings are displayed on the monitor in the cafeteria.

Besides the pure registration of labor time the system has also other features. One of those features is the use of a bonus system. This is linked to the labor registration system. Currently this is not being used at Van Adrichem. That will change. Soon Bas has an appointment with the supplier to familiarize himself with the input of the correct parameters. Bas: "When people are outperforming the norm and are delivering quality work, they will receive a bonus. The set condition is that they are present for the entire period. We must implement this right the first time. The rules must be clear to everybody. So this requires some attention. We will succeed."

The processing hall at Van Adrichem is furnished by Taks Tuinbouwtechniek. The labor registration system communicates with the encoding equipment of Taks Handling Systems. The code is put on every box. This code refers to the path and the employee. This way the product can always be traced, even if the box is sent abroad. Bas concludes: "So Work-IT also makes it easy (easier) to comply with environmental and food safety requirements."