With a workforce of 500, Riverford Organic Farmers deliver some 47,000 boxes of organic vegetables, salad, and fruit to households in England every week. The products are sold only in England and Wales. Until recently, everything was weighed by hand. Three employees were able to manage up to 15 packs/min.
Now that has changed rather significantly. After analyzing a number of suppliers offering combination scales, Riverford opted for a Model MP-14-9600-2500-H-UL system from MULTIPOND.
“MULTIPOND was our clear favourite,” says James MacGregor, General Manager of Riverford’s wash barn operation. “MULTIPOND was the only manufacturer of multihead weighers that was able to cover our broad product range. Especially as the large chard leaves presented a huge problem in fully automated handling for the other manufacturers of multihead weighers. We are convinced by the company’s broad experience with such products. Also Geoff Tandy, Managing Director of MULITPOND UK, gave us the confidence that we are able to successfully mix the product, thus saving us money on buying a separate mixing machine.”
The most diverse range of products can be handled, from lettuce to chard leaves to various types of vegetables needing to be weighed by a fully automated process. The product is fed to the weighing system by a conveyor. Once at the top of the weigher, the product is first conveyed to the prefeed hoppers via the radially positioned feed trays and then to the weigh hoppers below. A computer uses the partial portions to determine the best combination that achieves the target weight, which is anywhere from 50 to 500 g, depending on product and packaging. The fully automated calibration of the proprietary load cells ensures the highest accuracy and availability by means of calibration weight.
