OCTOBER ONION BUSINESS OF THE MONTH: EQRAFT
In today’s fast-paced agricultural market, packaging versatility is key. Dutch machine builder Eqraft offers state-of-the-art weighing and packing solutions, from multihead weighers to the adaptable Baxmatic. They have a long list of satisfied clients in North America using their solutions every day to show for it.
Being a successful entrepreneur in agriculture nowadays is no easy task: clients are asking for a variety of packaging types, short lead times and perfect traceability. That’s why Eqraft offers a variety of weighing and packing machines, from multihead weighers to automatic filling of bags, crates, or boxes. These solutions are flexible, easy to control and can switch between different options and outputs quickly and automatically. Whether an agri business wants to pack their produce in jumbo bags or baling consumer packs – or even both – Eqraft offers solutions that make packing easy and fast.
The Dutch tech company started out as a machine builder in the eighties and has built up an international client network over the decades. Having evolved into a comprehensive supplier for agri factories, they’ve had a strong presence in the United States for the past thirty years. Their Baxmatic, for instance, has been sold in the US for decades and is being used by dozens of agri factories all over the continent, for instance: Target Ag (WA), Bybee Produce (WA), Hartley Produce (WA), Blue Sky Onions (WA), Sunset Produce (WA), Northwest Onion (OR), Baker & Murakami (ID), Onions Etc. (CA), Onions 52 (UT), Torrey Farms (NY) and Nova Agri (NS, Canada). They opted for Eqraft because of their precision, reliability, and quick support, indicating they’re experiencing close to no downtime with Eqraft’s machines. Whenever small problems do arise, they’re fixed quickly thanks to Eqraft’s remote support service.
Flexible weighing and packing
Eqraft knows how challenging it can be to respond to requests from different clients with different needs at the same time. That’s why with Eqrafts weighing and packing machines, switching between sizes, types of packaging and output weight is easy. There’s no need to change everything by hand, as it requires just one push of the button: all functions are integrated into one user-friendly touchscreen and the different machines in the line will adjust themselves accordingly. The program enables storage of preset recipes for all bags, crates and cartons, so you only have to choose the right settings once.
With the Combination Scale, bags, crates or boxes are always filled with exactly the right amount of produce: never too little, so the client remains happy, but not too much either, so profit margins are respected. This multihead weigher can be combined with any of Eqraft’s packing machines: the Cratefiller, Baxmatic, Sewing Lane, Printer, and Rollstock Bagger. The Cratefiller carefully deposits the agricultural produce in crates or boxes of various sizes, shakes it to evenly distribute the product and then closes it. The Baxmatic allows factory owners to switch easily between various types of packaging for onions or potatoes, from wicket and jute bags to woven net. The Sewing Lane makes sure the bags are closed properly and a label printer allows for full traceability of the produce. Furthermore, there’s the Big Bag Filler, which can handle bags of up to 2,000 kilograms.
Packing for retail
For baling consumer packs, Eqraft has several solutions. Firstly, the Check Weigher checks if closed consumer packs have the required weight and ejects them in case they are over or underweight. Next, consumer packs can be packed in bags or crates. For quick and high volume baling in bags, there’s the Rollstock Bagger: using a roll of plastic net packaging, it can create bags of 2,5 to 25 kilograms and fill at least 1,000 bags per hour. The Cratematic is the perfect solution when gentle product handling, consistent filling patterns and high speed are needed: it can fill many types of crates and cartons with consumer packs. Eqraft’s Check Weigher Rollstock Bagger, and Cratematic Masterfiller can be teamed up to make the perfect master packing line.
Eqraft protects product quality by taking gentle product handling into account. Onions and other types of agricultural produce can be delicate and as a factory owner, you want to prevent dents and scuffs as much as possible. That’s why Eqraft makes design choices that protect the produce: from the low fall height into the weighing buckets to the specifically designed filling mouth of the Cratefiller, which lowers down into the crate before releasing the product. Everything to meet the growing demands of modern agri-factories worldwide.
Contact Eqraft
Mr. Rutger Keurhorst
Call: +31 527 256 130
Email: info@eqraft.com
Website: https://www.eqraft.com
