Ask the expert: Drew Johnson

Automation is a big investment and many growers are wary of making a very expensive mistake. We spoke with Drew Johnson, a project consultant for Bellpark Horticulture, about the questions he receives most frequently from growers.

What’s the typical return on investment on a major piece of automation equipment?

The ROI can be 1-3 years, depending on the operation and depending on the equipment. Some growers have mentioned $200,000 worth of equipment paying for itself in the first year.

What is the plant quality like with automation?

Consistently good. Mixing equipment dials in the ratios of soil components exactly as requested. Fillers give the same soil density from the first pot to the last. Transplanters place each plant in the center and at the same specified depth. Water tunnels or booms provide the same amount of water from one to the next. Pot spacers give uniform spacing. Each of these are adjustable, but once it’s set it stays the same. This will ensure reliably uniform results that can’t be achieved when using different hands from different people.

What type of pots work best for automation?

If you’re looking to carry around by forklift, a strong lip is necessary. For dispensing automatically, there needs to be a noticeable gap between each pot in the stack so that we can get between and separate. Used pots with residue that are stuck together or if stacks are so compressed that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the next begins can be a problem. Although we have a new pot dispenser that might help with that. We demoed it at our booth at Cultivate’18.

What needs to be done in terms of equipment service or routine maintenance? Is it handled in-house or by Bellpark? If in-house, how difficult is it to do?

Great question. And coming from the background of service and installations, this is very important to me. Bellpark has a growing and experienced service team that looks after equipment all over North America. Our techs are constantly travelling the country performing installations and carrying-out service requests. Some of our members are office-based to handle phone support and parts shipments. However, there is a lot that can be handled in-house.

We recommend periodic maintenance which is quite easy, such as: lubricate bearings, check for wear, check alignment, check chain and belt tensions. Most other service or parts replacing can be handled by a decent maintenance technician. I find user accountability to be a big factor in preventative maintenance. The operator of the equipment should be responsible for basic daily maintenance such as simply blowing off excess soil from the machine at the end of each day, as well as replacing some minor parts if needed. When the operator knows that they are responsible, they take a little extra care in ensuring everything is running smoothly.

How do I train my employees to use the new equipment? Are there resources available to help with this?

Whenever we install equipment we provide a detailed training session for the operators and a more in-depth session for maintenance or experienced users. Some employees can be hesitant to new technology if they are older and set in their ways. The ones that accept it quickly realize they are producing more with much less physical work. The equipment operator positions tend to be a more coveted when compared to manually moving heavy plants all day. We also have detailed user manuals on all equipment and some online video tutorials that we are continually adding to.

For more: www.bellparkhorticulture.com