Maximum automation but still flexible

Jansen Techniek specializes in providing complete logistics in the food processing industry. It delivers some 4-5 km of conveyors per year, always with the aim of creating an efficient, hygienic and safe production process with 100% customer satisfaction.

Jansen Techniek recently delivered a project at Remkes Foodproducts, part of The Poultry Family, which has grown from a family business to a chain of poultry companies and partners. The project involved the complete logistics layout of a completely newly built chicken meat cooking facility in Epe. "A new project always starts with a cup of coffee and a good conversation after which an initial layout of the building is put on the table," says Jannes Jansen, director of Jansen Techniek. "Once the framework is clear, we then look at what kind of products they want to produce and go through the whole process, from the starting point to the finished product. The customer often already has a specific idea about what they want while we can bring in our years of experience with various conveyor systems. Together we want to arrive at the best solution." 

Automation and flexibility

The main concerns in the process are always hygiene and safety. Jansen: "Without these aspects you have no right to exist as a company. After that comes efficiency. Not only to sell the product well, but also because finding workers is not always easy. Maximizing automation is often a necessity." But if you start automating, you often lose some flexibility. Jansen: "Finding a good balance between these two aspects is very important. With our experience, we can maximize automation but also build in flexibility." Colleague Marcel Jonker, involved in the project as engineer and draughtsman, further explains, "At Remkes, the transport system consists of a long aorta where off-take points have been created at various points for various processing operations. In addition, Remkes wants to be able to pack the processed products in both soft foil bags and hard foil trays. It is important here that the products are weighed accurately, while preferably only one weighing system is in use to save costs. In this case, this single weighing system allows one to choose which packaging line to operate: the soft film line, or the hard film line. In other words, flexibility is important even when automating. For such complex issues, we always try to come up with simple, appropriate solutions." 

Collaboration

In order to arrive at appropriate solutions, cooperation from the starting point is very important. Jonker: "For the completely new production department, Remkes purchased transport and handling systems from us. With other parties it purchased systems such as spiral freezers, weighers and packaging machines. All machines and conveyor systems then had to be functionally linked together as a whole. We took care of that by compiling all received information and visualizing the whole in a 3D layout. The customer can already virtually walk through his factory before the realization starts. This may in turn give him new insights and ideas so that we can further optimize the factory and tailor it to his needs."

No surprises

Consequently, there were no major surprises during the realization. Jansen: "During the delivery process, as in any new project, you always come across things that need to be fine-tuned, for example because the dimensions of a machine from a third party do not quite match what we were given on paper. But again, we are not finished until the best solution is achieved. We are a small motivated team that also wants to dot those last i's and go that extra mile to satisfy the customer 100%. That is in our culture and that is also what our clients get very excited about."