A feel good solution

For Brian Decker, ergonomics and efficiency go hand in hand. The president of Decker’s Nursery in Groveport, Ohio, is always looking for ways to add efficiency to the production process through infrastructure or mechanical improvements. Two years ago, Decker decided the weak link in his nursery was the tagging program.

Orders were pulled onto a trailer, the crew would tag five or six plants, pick them up and set them on the ground to create a space on the trailer to work.

“I’m 6’1” and bent down at a 30 degree angle trying to tag plants and I realized this entire system was absolutely ludicrous,” Decker says.

It was a painful job, and employees under that kind of strain can’t work quickly. Decker uses moveable conveyor systems in several applications in the nursery, and he realized they could solve this problem, as well. By bringing the work to a more comfortable place, the employees can tag more plants per hour. The loading supervisor can adjust the speed of the conveyor belt based on the plant – for instance, it can be slowed down for a thorny barberry. Plants are labeled as they come down the conveyor and fed onto a collection table.

The loading supervisor can adjust the speed of the conveyor belt.

Decker also replaced the original conveyor stands with stands made of old roller racks. This is helpful because when loading a semi, his crew can quickly assemble the conveyors to reach into that truck and simply roll the entire drive unit and all the attached conveyor pieces out as the truck fills. No matter what type of loading configuration they face, it’s easy for his crew to feed plant material into the truck.

His crew loved the system. Because of the conveyors’ length, they were no longer out in the weather, plus everyone was more comfortable standing up straight.

“Countless customers think we’re rocket scientists for loading trucks this way,” Decker says. “That’s what amazes me. I did it as a kid countless times, loading and unloading trucks (the old way), but I can’t fathom why you would make the decision to not spend $15,000-$20,000 on a set.”

Photos: Matt McClellan