Load Cells Connected to a Smartphone App
The employees of Meer Camp, especially temporary Polish workers, have access to Android smartphones for their work. At the entrance of the greenhouse, the mobile phone is scanned and starts the registration. On the smartphone, an app is installed with a drop-down menu for a series of tasks, such as picking or cutting a sheet of tomatoes. The work can be defined by the employee himself. The employee enters an activity and scans the NFC tag of the row in which he performs the work. If he changes rows or the activity, he should make the change through the app or scan the new NFC tags.
If an employee is picking tomatoes, he also reports that via the app, but he also scans the NFC tag on the cart and, of course, the row he is picking. As soon as the packages are full, they are driven to the logistics department, where they are scanned and weighed on a weighing platform. This happens with load cells and electronics, which are supplied by HBK. The information of the load cells is passed directly to the online system. Because the empty weight of the carts is known, each individual employee can calculate what weight of tomatoes has been picked and how long he took to do it.
“We have provided four load cells of the HLC type, including power introduction and AED electronics, for this project. In addition, we have provided technical support for the development of the application and installation at Meer Camp,”
explains Peter van Spaandonk, Sales Manager for this project at HBK Benelux. He continues, "for us, horticulture is an interesting market, for which many applications are conceivable. For example, we have done a project where the water management in the greenhouse was monitored through the load cells. Load cells are widely used in sorting and weighing fruits and vegetables, and checking the weight of packages. For the proprietor, not only the individual weight of his products is important, but also the yield in relation to the effort put in and raw materials used. In all these cases, HBK can be an interesting provider of innovative solutions.”
Administrative Link with All the Current Financial Systems
“In addition to employee productivity, the system can record even more data,” says Jeffrey van Uunen, president of ProCC. “Because we easily link with all the current financial systems, like Exact or Unit4, the data can easily be taken over for accounting, salary administration, or the employment agency. For example, the employer can track the number of leaves of absence and sick days in the system and divide the activities for the administration accordingly, and invoicing of completed work and assignments paid on a case-by-case basis. The system is so flexible that all other information can easily be imported. For example, it is possible to report technical issues, diseases, or pests in the greenhouse through the app, which also makes the system a useful tool for other activities. Companies can split complex work into part-time jobs to know which activities consumes the most time. This way you can optimize the workflow.”
