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QUEENSTAND STRAWBERRY INDUSTRY NEWSI.ETTER 35 SEPTEMBER 2()I4lmproved Packing
Shed Process lncreases
Strawberry Farm Profits
Gil Harkness, Department of State Development, lnfrastrudure and Planning

Backgroundhouses was recently considered as part ofa

The Queensla n d Govern ment's Depa rtment

project almed at ideItifying whether there
were opportunities for mprovement in thls
area, partlcularly related to the accuracy ofpacked punnet weights.

of State Deve opment nfrastructureand Planning (DSD P) and Departmentof Agriculture, Flsheries and Forestry(DAFF) have been workinq to eva uate
precision agriculture methodologies andtechnologies and their app ication within
il-pnou,t ). DA abere.
n thls fie d are predominant y concerned
wlth improving soi and plant health while

The process flow at Coo haven Farm's

compiimentary work has recently beenwelght). Packers used digital scales to packpunnets of fruit between 2BBg and 311g
limlts. Team eaders and management
regularly briefed and reminded packers topack within the designated limits. These
two packing lines terminated in a caTouse
where personne packed elghteen (2509)
punnets into trays. Trays were then moved|a\yIti.

undertaken by a DSD P process specia lst

wlth a range of Queens and lndustrles
to lntroduce buslness best practice andimprove cornpetltiveness. Thls work has
investigated im provements to packing
systems.

Analysis of effic encies in strawberry pack

Beerwah pack-house consisted of two
packing lnes each with twelve packlng

statlons and an end of line qua lty
lnspector (checking for: damage, ripeness,

qrade of berries and spot checks forcapable of meetinq thepacking specifications,suggesting a need toreduce the spread ofpacked weights and bettera ign the measured meanweight with the required
mean weight.

Corrective Action
The use of LOW, OK, HIGH

scales (AND: S-l-30KWP)

was identified as an
option to improve packingefficiency. These sca les

are set with upper andlower speclfication limits
and have the option to
set warning limits. Whena packed punnet weighs
between the upper andlower warning imits thescales are illuminated bya green LED. lf the weightreads between the warni ng

llmit and the upper orlower specification limit
Terence Roy, Coalhaven Farms.

via gravity conveyor into a cold store prior
to being road freighted in chi led containers
to market. As the two packing lines wereeffective y identica , sample punnets weretaken from the carousel for analysis.

lnitial evaluation of the process revealed
that a number of punnets were being
packed with fruit above their upper limit,
resulting in the need for more in-depth
a na lysis.

an amber LED, and if theweight reads gutside the upper or lower
specification limits a red LED is disp ayedand in this way packers are provided with asecond reference check. (Fig 3.)

Statistical models were run to ook at
potential weight/cost savings based ona reduced spread and re centred mean

packing weight. The results generated
identlfied significant savings, resulting inResultsa recommendation to adopt the use of
the scales into the pack house process.
Coolhaven Farrns purchased 30 sets ofUsing a sa m ple size of 344 pu n nets (n-344),

these scales 1n July 2014, immediately

packed weights were recorded and plottedon a distribution graph shown in Fig. 1. Note
how the mean weight (309.6q) is only -29

integrating them into their packing process.
Figure 2 shows how the spread of results
has reduced and how the mean has moved
towards the lower specificatlon limit Whenfactored across Coolhaven Farms' yieldprofi e, use of the scales prevents a 5.5a/o
total crop weight giveaway.

be ow the upper limit and how the spreadis much greater than that required by theupper and ower limits. lt was found 3B7oof the punnets packed had some degreeof over-packing. A fo low up sample wastaken -4 weeks later confirming the initialsample results.

Analysis of these results showed that*'w;:

the scales register withConclusions. Written and verbal reinforcement of upperand lower pack weight specification levels

the current processes in place (verbal
reinforcement of weight limits, 'numeric

to pack-house employees has little effectresponse on y' diqital scales and end ofline quality inspection) was not statistically. Although the implementation of LOW

on packing weight accuracy.

OK, H GH sca es doesn't prevent non-Fig. 1 : Distribution graph for sample punnet weights (9/7 /13).

conforming packed weights, it does

LsL

Packing Weights {both Lines) Djstribution 917/13 (n=344}

significantly red;ce the likelihood of theirocct.trr-ance.

. For best results, the scales should be'2A:.

combined with an automated end-of- inecheck weig her,.ltan automated end of line checkweigher
were used without prior implementationof LOW OK, H GH scales it is envisaged thereject rate at the check weigher would beexcessive, resulting in a substantia an-rountof rework.

T5aEEE.r,,,E,,u0^6^qJL^r^q$. Use of these scaies had no adverse effecton the capacity of pack,^rs meeting thelr
daily requirements.

. At Coolhaven Farms, the payback period
from investing in the LOW, OK, H GH scales
was on-o week.
. Over-packing has a direct adverse impact

The red and blue lines
represent the spread ofpacked weights prior toimplementation of the newscales.

on bottom line profitability.

Acknowledgements and Thanks
Terence and Nathan Roy, CoolhavenFarms, Beerwah, Queen sland.

The green line
represents the spreadof packed weights
after theimplementatron of thenew scales

lan Layden, DAFF, Queensland
Government.

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