Also published in the October 2024 Badger Common'Tater of the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association

Eqraft® believes the future of agriculture lies in automation and smart technology. With its 40-year legacy in the industry, the Dutch machine builder is leading this technological revolution. They offer turn-key solutions for high-volume grading, weighing, and packing, helping agri factories worldwide to overcome daily challenges.

Running a modern-day agri factory means keeping up with a set of ever-increasing challenges daily. Take changing client demands, rising manual labor costs and increasingly strict food safety and health regulations. Eqraft is aware of these challenges and believes the answer lies in technology. That’s why they design, build and maintain smart factories for the agri industry, with machines and software that make the process go smoothly from reception and grading to weighing and packing. With these solutions, agri factory owners can develop an efficient and reliable business, stay ahead of competition and improve margins. Eqraft has a worldwide network of clients relying on their technology every day to show for it.

Integral approach

The Dutch tech company relies on extensive knowledge and experience built up over the last 40 years. Starting out as a repair and construction company for agricultural machines in 1984, they made a name for themselves with the closed onion topper, which turned out to be a great success and is still part of the portfolio – some clients have been using their onion topper since those first years and are still doing so until this day. Later, weighing and packing machines were added to the portfolio. Over the years, high-tech machinery replaced simple mechanics and the machine builder’s role gradually changed to that of an integral supplier for factories. Eqraft’s clients are located all over the world, from Europe to the United States, and are active in different industries, from onions and potatoes to bulk. The machines may be tweaked according to the type of product, but the technology always does the same: helping clients meet and exceed expectations when it comes to grading, packing, and delivering.

Reliable and easy to use packing solutions

In an increasingly competitive world, clients are asking for a variety of packaging types 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. Switching between different sizes, types of packaging and output weight is easy with these solutions: no need to change everything by hand, as it requires just one push of the button. Even if your line consists of several machines, all functions are integrated into one user-friendly touchscreen. The program enables storage of preset recipes for all bags, crates and cartons, so you only have to choose the right settings once. The Combination Scale calculates the optimum output weight at high speed. Its high accuracy helps filling bags, crates or boxes 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 Eqraft’s Cratefiller, Baxmatic®, Sewing Lane, Printer, and Rollstock Bagger.  

Crate filling and bagging

After the product is weighed accurately, it can be passed on the Cratefiller, which will carefully deposit the potatoes in crates or boxes of various sizes. After that, the machine shakes the crate to evenly distribute the product before closing and safely stacking the crates or boxes. It can be combined with an erector or destacker at the infeed or a box closer at the end. The weigher can also pass the produce on to the Baxmatic®. This machine allows factory owners to switch easily between various types of packaging for potatoes or onions. From wicket and jute bags to woven net: the machine has proven itself time and time again, as hundreds of them have been installed at factories in Europe and North-America. The Sewing Line makes sure the bags are closed properly. Finally, Eqraft can connect a label printer to the line, allowing for full traceability of the produce.

When high volumes and speed are a priority, the rollstock bagger is a great solution. This machine is a fast and cost efficient way to pack large volumes of potatoes: 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. Of course, also filling big bags is a possibility: Eqraft’s Big Bag Filler can handle bags of up to 2,000 kilograms. 

Master packing line

Checking, boxing and bagging consumer packs can be labor-intensive, expensive, and error-prone. That’s why Eqraft’s Checkweigher, Cratefiller, Baxmatic®, Sewing Lane, Rollstock Bagger and conveyor belts for counting and collection make sure every consumer pack is intact, singled, has the right weight and is quickly but gently packed in boxes, crates or bags. 

Eqraft protects product quality by taking gentle product handling into account when designing their machines: 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.

Automated grading and bin handling: the next steps forward

Apart from weighing and packing, Eqraft’s offers a technologically advanced electronic grader called the Eqrader. It sorts produce automatically and at high speed by quality, size, weight, shape and color based into a dozen or more different boxes. Thanks to the cameras and infrared technology, produce that doesn’t meet the quality standards can be detected and taken out of the batch easily.

To take a next step in building the potato factory of the future, Eqraft also offers fully automated bin handling. Their solutions include roller tracks, stackers and destackers, turntables, shuttles, filling stations, and crossings. These machines aim to replace forklift operations, which can be error-prone and create unsafe working conditions. The bin handling machines are designed with sturdy materials and use electronic and pneumatic technology, avoiding hydraulics to ensure food safety. Several US-based clients have already implemented these automated logistics solutions in their processes, taking the next step towards building a fully automated agri factory. 

Eqraft doesn’t just supply state-of-the-art machines but also offers guidance throughout the whole process. Consultancy and project management are not an afterthought, but key services. Managing the installation of new machines can be a rather stressful process for factory owners and managers – especially if you have a business to manage in the meantime. That’s why Eqraft employs seasoned project managers to make sure all aspects of the process are perfectly aligned. Lastly, their support team uses online monitoring to fix any problems that may arise, guaranteeing rapid and effective response when help, maintenance or spare parts are needed.

A branch on American soil

In recent years, Eqraft has grown rapidly, both in the number of projects and new employees. This continuous growth lead to a brand new headquarters, which opened earlier this year in Emmeloord, the Netherlands. Founding Eqraft Inc and having permanent representation in the United States was a logical next step. That’s why as from August 2024, Eqraft has their service center in Tri-Cities, Washington, located in one of the country’s prime agricultural regions, allowing them to better serve the North American market. The new facility features a warehouse, workshop, office space, service truck, and a mix of American and Dutch employees.

As the agricultural industry evolves, Eqraft continues to innovate, offering comprehensive and technologically advanced solutions for weighing, packing and more. With their new US presence, they're fully equipped to meet the growing demands of modern agri-factories worldwide.

Contact Eqraft
Mr. Tiemen Markerink or Mr. Hermen de Jong
Call: ‭+31 527 256 130‬
Email: info@eqraft.com
Website: https://www.eqraft.com
Let’s meet at Interpom booth 500, November 24-26, 2024