It was just a recent LinkedIn update from Richard Broch: an automatic sprayer had run of the rail at a gerbera grower, due to a lack of maintenance so a quick repair was necessary.
Problem, action ...
With some lashing straps Richard, upon arrival at the grower's, managed to get the machine back in its place and fixed. Happy grower, because the job was done quickly, and happy Richard, because he likes to 'work on site'. "I sell my own time and knowledge."
... and fixed with a new set of wheels.
Handy gardener's son
That is something Richard has been doing for over five years now, with his company BrochKlus Mechanisatie. January 2nd, this year, he had the fifth anniversary. Not that he wasn't active in horticulture before that, by the way, because for a long time, Richard worked at supplier Nic. Sosef, until this company went bankrupt.
Photo right: Richard builds a panel
"I'm a gardener's son, and it was discovered early that I was pretty handy. I've always tinkered a lot, even as a kid. I didn't want to be a grower though, but with the work I do now, testing almost everything with SKL (Dutch organisation for quality demands of agricultural technique), from sprayer testing to building, installing and maintaining, I'm still always working in horticulture."
Malfunction in automated greenhouse is disastrous
For rush jobs, Richard daily drives 'all through the Westland and surroundings'. "The customer is in trouble when he calls me, and doesn't need a mechanic in two or three days, he needs one now.
And that I do, like with spraying equipment, when the grower is tied to a tight schedule and repair is needed quickly. Plus, with the growing and automization of companies, a malfunction can easily be disastrous for a cultivation."
Custom made
It's not just rush jobs, that's about a quarter of the work for which Richard goes to the greenhouse. He makes his own installations, too, like a custom made sprayer in both ornamentals and glass greenhouse cultivation of vegetables.
"Every greenhouse is different, which often asks for a customization of existing equipment to make sure the machine can drive over the heating pipes or a boom can fit in the lattice. In that case, I often adapt the nozzles and the boom in such a way that the grower can work with it in his greenhouse."
Binder
Next to that, Richard builds installations himself, too, recently for instance in cooperation with CleanLight which supplies UV-disinfecting lights. "They supply the lights, and I make an application with the lights in it for the growers, for instance a tunnel for carts or intern transport disinfecting, to prevent for instance the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV).
"But you can also think about decontaminating a binder from a salesman at the entrance of the company or the tools of a mechanic coming to repair something. Better safe than sorry!"
Technicians
And maybe, Richard would like to start developing and building machines all by himself in the future. "But, as awesome as I think that step would be, I would have to have certainty about the payback of the costs that you get when developing something new."
Until then, there's plenty of maintenance, because how new a machine may be, maintenance always needs to be done. Richard does that for an ever increasing amount of growers. "I don't do maintenance contracts, I just go there depending on the use of the machines by the grower and the hours that they work.
Real technicians are becoming rare in the greenhouse horticulture. That's one reason it's so important that the grower keeps investing in this sector", concludes Richard, saying one last thing; "Just call for information, because the above is just a small portion of what we do."
For more information:
BrochKlus Mechanisatie
www.brochklus.nl
Richard Broch
[email protected]
+31 (0) 6 41014714
