How much kiwifruit could a robot pack if a robot could pack fruit? As it turns out, it’s quite a lot!
At Seeka Kiwi Kool Packhouse (KKP) in Te Puke, the Electrostack robot is delivering an impressive performance. Locally built and programed, it has already shown it can stack eight boxes per minute, resulting in savings of labour, time and costs.
Trialled on a slower manual infeed, the Electrostack robot will be picking up the pace even further, Seeka regional manager, Jarrad Bates, confirms.
“It will be good to see it running at max-capacity,” he says. “The fact it can stack and de-stack different pallets at the same time is great.
“The scanning system provides the traceability we need and being able to move it around easily is certainly beneficial.”
As Seeka’s packhouse is highly automated it is the perfect place to trial the new robotic stacker. Designed by Sean Carey, Electrostack is a lightweight machine with a small footprint, suitable for smaller production facilities, while utilising locally sourced materials.
All going well, the robot will become an essential part of Seeka’s workforce, the company’s CEO, Michael Franks, expects.
“At Seeka, we apply leading-edge technology along with our expertise to lift productivity, add new revenue streams and deliver financial performance to our growers and shareholders.”
