Increasing demand for well-strapped sturdy pallets

The West Frisian cauliflower cultivation and trading company P.N. Slagter, based in Andijk, has been working with a fully automatic Sorma strapping machine since this season.

The Sorma RM8 strapping machine was custom-built in collaboration with machine manufacturer Sorma Benelux to facilitate the preparation of pallets for shipment in the warehouse and to make the process more efficient.

During the season, large volumes of packaged cauliflowers arrive in boxes or crates at the warehouse. Previously, most pallets had to be strapped manually. The pallets that required corner slats were particularly time-consuming. Now, the pallets coming in from the fields can be placed directly into the mobile strapping machine. The five pallet spaces and corner slat storage areas are ideal for this way of working. The machine neatly finishes all pallets, using the desired programme that can be specified for each pallet. After that, it is simply a matter of neatly placing the pallets, ready for shipment, in the cold store.

‘We should have had this automation in place years ago,’ says Koos Slagter, one of the owners of the family business of the same name. Together with two brothers and two cousins, the third generation has now taken over the reins. ‘In recent years, we have seen an increasing demand for well-strapped, sturdy pallets. With the strapping tool we used before, strapping simply took too long. We are very pleased with the enormous time savings we have achieved by installing the Sorma automatic strapping machine.’

Slagter found the contact with Sorma Benelux to be very pleasant. They thought along with us about all our wishes and the intended way of working. This resulted in a solution that really adds value.

‘Of course, we needed some help when we started using the machine. Fortunately, we were able to ask technical questions to the service helpdesk. This way, we found that we could solve many issues ourselves and really get to know the machine well. And when we did need a technician, he was on site quickly,’ says Koos.

All in all, P.N. Slagter looks back with satisfaction on the Dutch cauliflower season, which is now almost over. The quality of the product was good. However, the high availability in Europe pushed down the price of the product. Slagter will soon switch back to Spanish cauliflowers. This will be done in collaboration with their regular partners, so that they can supply their joint customers all year round. In addition, to make good use of the cold stores during the winter months, Slagter stores Lelybollen for third parties. These will all be removed in good time, just before the new Dutch cauliflower season starts again and the cold stores are needed for that.

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