American Farms , a Florida agriculturist supplying major retailers and landscaper , produces intimately 19 million liners p.a. across more than 100 acres . With emergence came new pressure level : rising cost , loaded working class , and a pauperization to release crop quicker without sacrifice the premium quality the company is known for .
The turning stop : mechanization and substrate innovationManaging Director John Hardiman knew the business ask to unlock more efficiency to stay competitive .
" Time is money . Space is money , " he tell . " So , we have to turn it over in the production summons . Every nursery is looking at turnover . That ’s what we ’re judged by in this manufacture . "
John Hardiman
The team focus on two major levers : mechanisation and propagation medium . For Hardiman , choosing Jiffy Preforma was an wanton call .
" Jiffy offers solutions to speak our needs for consistent , high - quality multiplication medium , " he explains . " And what it does is allows us to turn all of our varied crop in less time with much upright uniformness , gamy return rates and an overall good quality in the liners . It ’s a very consistent , well - oxygenize and relatively sterile medium . "
The results have been telling at a glance : Impatiens are ready for transplant in 10 days instead of 8 calendar week , with skilful root exploitation , higher yield rate , and improved crop uniformity . The media holds up to robotlike planting , resulting in no root damage and faster throughput . Labor costs have been reduced thanks to seamless automation , while 144 - cell custom trays have increased production by 35 % . Overall , yield has been boost by up to 50 % with the integration of Preforma and automation .
" Once you do that , then you ca n’t congeal it down fast enough , " enounce Hardiman . " The auto we use will average out 10,000 pots an 60 minutes . And you become to be on your adept game to do 10,000 tidy sum an hour . "
The difference of opinion that Preforma madeTraditional loose - filling mass medium could n’t keep up .
That ’s not the case with loose fill substratum , explains Hardiman . In order for transplanting to occur with loose fill , he say , root need to be much more extensively developed than with Preforma .
With Preforma ’s stick to social system , craw like impatiens were ready to transpose in 10 days instead of 8 calendar week . That faster root establishment also meant better compatibility with robotics .
" Preforma lend itself very well to our automation process with the machinelike planter and the bond material , " Hardiman says . " It keep back very well together versus the loose media , and you could plant it a footling quicker , and it does no damage to the root or the liner , and it boil down labor costs and improves the uniformity of the crop consistently . "
No new buildings , just overbold designFacing distance constraint , American Farms was considering a costly new extension range . Instead , Jiffy co - make grow a 144 - cellular telephone stopper tray — up from the standard 105 — to fit the farm ’s survive transplant stemma .
" It was like building a newfangled multiplication range for zero cost , " says Hardiman .
For more information : Jiffy Products InternationalTel . : +31(0)78 2062200[email protected]www.jiffygroup.com
