Anticipating customer need is important in any business, but in packing machinery and agroindustry, it entails extensive research and longterm planning. Our goal is to provide cutting-edge packing automatic solutions in step with new market developments. So how do we decide where to focus our R&D energy?
To answer this question, let’s change our focus from our machines to a single fruit: the long, sweet pointed pepper. The case of this single pepper inspired us to create totally new technology, and continues to inspire innovations.
Initially, our inspiration came from the source: a close relationship with the growers and packers of sweet pointed pepper themselves. The market for this special product has grown in recent years, resulting in higher production and new producers. However, because of the particular shape of the delicate pepper, it cannot be packed in the same way as other peppers or products. Our clients shared this issue with us, and encouraged us to study the unique pepper along with the packing problems our clients experienced, mainly excessive production costs and high margin of error.
The result was a complete redesign of our multihead weigher, tailored to the demands of the long, delicate pepper. Incorporating our fast and precise associative weighing software, this linear weigher now uses manual loading of the product to special trays, which gently combine the peppers to precisely weighed groups and transport them to a specially designed packing station. Our customers have seen huge reductions in production costs with increased output thanks to greatly increased speed and weighing precision.
Fresh product markets change quickly however, and different product variations and packaging can be expected. Great insight into upcoming trends can be learned by attending international trade shows and sector events. In the case of the pointy pepper, vegetable breeder and seed producer Rijk Zwaan is making a tremendous effort in the research and marketing of their Sweet Palermo® peppers, including an annual congress to share the latest on product and market development. We gain a lot of insight at this event, especially talking with industry professionals from the entire supply chain.
In this year’s edition of the Congreso Sweet Palermo®, celebrated in April, we confirmed that though the red pointy pepper is still the most common, two-color mixed packs are performing well in many markets, and soon three colors will be widely available. Understanding these trends and subsequent packing challenges pushed Induser to develop special software for their weigher which allows for precise bicolor and tricolor formats. The packing solution for these products and confections is no longer an unknown obstacle for producers, encouraging flexibility and innovation.
Achieving agility is a difficult but important goal in any industry, and these are just some of the ways we work to keep up with the pace of new market developments. Studying the entire chain yields important insights, and can be extremely inspiring.
Check out our presentation at the IV Congreso Sweet Palermo from Rijk Zwaan in April.
Initially, our inspiration came from the source: a close relationship with the growers and packers of sweet pointed pepper themselves. The market for this special product has grown in recent years, resulting in higher production and new producers. However, because of the particular shape of the delicate pepper, it cannot be packed in the same way as other peppers or products. Our clients shared this issue with us, and encouraged us to study the unique pepper along with the packing problems our clients experienced, mainly excessive production costs and high margin of error.
The result was a complete redesign of our multihead weigher, tailored to the demands of the long, delicate pepper. Incorporating our fast and precise associative weighing software, this linear weigher now uses manual loading of the product to special trays, which gently combine the peppers to precisely weighed groups and transport them to a specially designed packing station. Our customers have seen huge reductions in production costs with increased output thanks to greatly increased speed and weighing precision.
Fresh product markets change quickly however, and different product variations and packaging can be expected. Great insight into upcoming trends can be learned by attending international trade shows and sector events. In the case of the pointy pepper, vegetable breeder and seed producer Rijk Zwaan is making a tremendous effort in the research and marketing of their Sweet Palermo® peppers, including an annual congress to share the latest on product and market development. We gain a lot of insight at this event, especially talking with industry professionals from the entire supply chain.
In this year’s edition of the Congreso Sweet Palermo®, celebrated in April, we confirmed that though the red pointy pepper is still the most common, two-color mixed packs are performing well in many markets, and soon three colors will be widely available. Understanding these trends and subsequent packing challenges pushed Induser to develop special software for their weigher which allows for precise bicolor and tricolor formats. The packing solution for these products and confections is no longer an unknown obstacle for producers, encouraging flexibility and innovation.
Achieving agility is a difficult but important goal in any industry, and these are just some of the ways we work to keep up with the pace of new market developments. Studying the entire chain yields important insights, and can be extremely inspiring.
Check out our presentation at the IV Congreso Sweet Palermo from Rijk Zwaan in April.