How to reduce pack house labour for the coming season

Whilst MARCO is well known (in 45 countries) for providing solutions to the fresh produce industry for increasing productivity, speed and accuracy in weighing and packing, what is lesser known is the labour savings our solutions provide.

With country after country reporting huge amounts of disruption in their planned harvesting process due to a reduction in available labour caused by the lack of staff mobility as a consequence of  Coronavirus COVID-19, questions are being asked as to what this will mean for the fresh produce industry in 2020 and beyond.

A recent report in Fresh Plaza (17.3.20) quoted Tim Chambers, a major producer of soft fruit in Kent – UK
“There will be a shortage of workers which will most likely result in us harvesting less and not all business will make it through”.
(https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9199988/there-will-be-a-shortage-of-workers-which-will-most-likely-result-in-us-harvesting-less/)

With a reduced pool of labour to pull from and some countries currently unable to export, it’s essential that businesses start thinking now about how to realise sustained increases in efficiency to ensure that these crucial 2020 harvests are optimised.

MARCO’s solution to this is our Yield Control Module (YCM). Proven solutions that can reduce the number of workers needed per packing line by as much as 50%:

YCM Gen2 (second generation) allows fewer workers to pack more product, more consistently, and in a shorter amount of time. Our YCM Gen1 system has a proven history of delivering against this promise and Gen2 is simply the further extension of this.

The range of design options for MARCO’s Yield Control Module are extensive and, being modular, are always able to provide the ideal solution for your specific packing operation.

Based in the UK, MARCO is ensuring that we are fully supporting our customers during this period of global disruption. The MARCO team will manage all ‘business critical’ solutions via sophisticated remote diagnostics/support ensuring we can maintain high levels of uninterrupted production.

We are also offering individual Skype meetings to anyone who would like to find out more about how we may be able to help you during this harvest season. Please email sales@marco.co.uk or call +44(0)1732 782380.