Nowadays, there are several parallel trends throughout the fruit and vegetable sector. There is a general concern for the environment, and reduced plastic use, in particular. Growers, packers, retailers, and consumers want to be able to trace products, and people are looking for automation solutions to simplify tasks, making them more enjoyable and less labor-intensive. In 2019, Coöperatie Hoogstraten managed to satisfy all these needs at once.
Cardboard instead of plastic, QR code instead of numbered code
The strawberry is the star of this Belgian growers association and auction house's show. They had partially achieved the traceability trend in 2019. "People could enter a numbered code, found on the punnet, on our website and thus learn more about the product and its grower," begins Jeroen Swolfs, Operations Manager at Coöperatie Hoogstraten.
"But the punnets were made of plastic. And at growers, workers still had to prepare all the boxes in the trays by hand before they began harvesting in the greenhouses. Some growers have two full-time employees for this. We wanted to use a QR code to directly link the product to the grower's profile and to get accurate information throughout the supply chain. We also didn't want to use plastic anymore."
"And we wanted to reduce the amount of manual labor, both in our warehouse and at each of our 200 affiliated strawberry growers. So, we decided to switch to cardboard punnets. In collaboration with Aucxis, an RFID solutions supplier, and Smurfit Kappa - our strawberry punnet supplier for many years - we designed a Track & Trace system for our packaging. It guarantees product traceability and saves labor, too," says Jeroen.
Aucxis
So, in 2019, Coöperatie Hoogstraten invested in two Smurfit Kappa set-up lines for cardboard strawberry punnets, which are automatically placed in trays. The trays are neatly stacked on pallets and then placed in storage. Growers collect as many pallets as they need and fill the punnets with the day's harvest. Those punnets, trays, and pallets have since changed considerably, thanks to Aucxis. The Track & Trace supplier suggested using both QR codes and RFID tags.
Forklifts have RFID technology too
Each cardboard punnet sports a unique QR code which gives shoppers direct access to the strawberries' grower information via their smartphones. Both short sides of each cardboard tray also have these codes. "By automatically scanning these QR codes, the punnets are linked to a particular tray. Then we know exactly which box contains which punnets. We still needed a link that would show how a pallet-full of trays' would get to a grower. That's why a tray on each pallet gets an RFID label."
"When that pallet passes the scan gate, this RFID label, and all the trays' various QR codes are read, thanks to VistaLink's vision solution. That links each pallet, all the associated trays, and, by extension, all the punnets. The information is automatically entered into our ERP system. Our forklift trucks are also equipped with RFID technology. So, drivers can immediately find the pallets assigned to a particular grower when said grower comes to collect his empty punnets. And, without having to get down and manually scan in codes," Jeroen explains.
Coöperatie Hoogstraten plans to implement a similar system for full trays being returned to the warehouse. It will show each tray's date and time of entry. "However, you can't use the same RFID tag for this. It gets hectic during harvesting, and sometimes the same trays don't always end up back on the original pallet. To make it easy for the pickers, each tray has a QR code on both sides. Then it doesn't matter in which direction the workers place the trays on the pallet, which speeds things up."
Tracing
Coöperatie Hoogstraten uses the set-up lines solely for 500g punnets, which make up more than 95% of their strawberry volume. Of the 60 million boxes that go out the cooperative's door each year, consumers scan some 55,000 QR codes. That's a tiny percentage but can count as an absolute number. And people are expected to become increasingly interested in their food's origin.
Supermarkets, too, like this new Track & Trace system because it guarantees full traceability. The QR codes add extra value for shoppers. And according to Jereon, Coöperatie Hoogstraten has not once yet had a recall, necessitating activating the system.
"We're only using the set-up lines for our strawberries. But, since our forklifts already have RFID scanners, we see possibilities for further automation in other packaging in the future," concludes Jeroen.
Jeroen Swolfs
jeroen.swolfs@hoogstraten.eu
Coöperatie Hoogstraten
Loenhoutseweg 59
Hoogstraten - België
+32 33 40 02 11
info@hoogstraten.eu
www.hoogstraten.eu
Lindsy Merckx
Lindsy.Merckx@aucxis.com
Aucxis
Zavelstraat 40
9190 Stekene, België
Tel: +32 (0)3 790 17 17
info@aucxis.com
www.aucxis.com