State-of-the-art technology installed at Plantpeddler

CRESCO - Thanks to some state-of-the-art machinery, a portion of a core task at Plantpeddler has been handed over to a robot.

Co-owner of the company Mike Gooder, with wife Rachel, said, “We will never have fewer staff. This machine does very repetitive work.” Team members who do the repetitious work of sticking plant cuttings will still have plenty to do at the young plant greenhouse, south of Hwy. 9.

Plantpeddler purchased three machines to work in tandem to plant the cuttings into trays, especially multi-liner trays. Technicians from ISO Group accompanied the machinery from the Netherlands to set up the robots (ISO Cutting Planter 2500) a few weeks ago. 

The process looks like something from a science fiction movie. A conveyer belt brings trays to the machines. Then three cuttings will be planted in each of the 50 tri-lobed, media-filled cells in a multi-liner tray. 

The first robotic arm sticks a plant in one portion of the cell.  It sounds easy, but a camera takes a picture of the cuttings, the computer determines which part is the stem and directs the arm to the conveyer belt to pick it up and plant it in the correct spot.

It takes about a minute to plant the first 50 cuttings and then the tray moves to the next machine for a different cutting and onto the third until 150 cuttings are planted to complete each tray. The whole process takes less than five minutes per tray. 

The $750,000-$1,000,000 investment will increase production substantially. It will be able to plant 2,200-2,500 cuttings per hour. John Gooder, lead on the project, said, “That compares with 800-1,200 for an efficient human.” Not everyone can reach that level of output and certainly not on a continual eight-hour basis. These machines will be working a solid 12-hour day.

Employees will be needed to run the machinery, move the trays and do quality control.

Most of the cuttings used by Plantpeddler come from Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Costa Rica. 

Many locals may be surprised to learn that this form of advanced manufacturing is being utilized right here in Howard County. Plantpeddler is a well-connected global company that strives to use automation and best practices to create premium products for greenhouse growers and retailers throughout the country. These new robots are an investment in those goals.