VGT Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is a sweet pepper grower with a 30-hectare growing area in Westdorpe, they grow yellow and red peppers. In 2014 the first phase of 15 hectares was realized, in 2016 the construction of the second phase of 15 ha took place. The greenhouses are heated to 100 percent by using the residual heat from the Yara Sluiskil manure plant. The peppers are sold via the BelOrta auction organization in Mechelen.
The grower has been working with Work-IT software from Nitea since 2014. It is a good system and easy to use, says Jef Nuyts. "At the time we considered several options, but ultimately opted for Nitea. Nitea is a young and fresh company that actively thinks about realizing customer-specific functions. We had various wishes and ideas: we wanted a transparent system, which can be used easily by everyone. The advantage of this is that fewer mistakes are made. We also wanted a system that seamlessly connected to the registration system of the harvest trolley of Bogaerts Greenhouse Logistics, which we use in the greenhouses.
Modules, apps and fingerprint reader
VGT Zeeuws-Vlaanderen uses, among other things, the Work-IT main module Work and Production, the Planning module and the apps for Scanning, Inspection & Quality Control and Crop Protection. The employees enter the premises where the fingerprint is scanned at the entrance. The fingerprint reader is linked to a work schedule, "The employee logs on with a smartphone for the crop work and goes into the greenhouse. The device registers, among other things, every action and how fast each employee works."
Irregularities in the registration figures are presented neatly, Nuyts continues. "In principle, the employees work automatically until 17:00, but suppose that there is fifteen-minute overtime, then that is reflected in the work schedule. That way the program is not made more difficult than necessary."
Integration harvest trolley
The harvest trolley are also integrated into the Nitea software. Every time someone with a harvest trolley leaves a path to harvest, he has to register with his personal badge on the trolley, otherwise, he will not drive away, according to Nuyts. "Again, all operations are registered in the Nitea system.
The peppers are sorted in the shed. Employees who go to sort in the shed, scan with the personal badge and go to work. The managers are satisfied with the installation of Work-IT and the guidance of Nitea. In the beginning, it was a natural search, but it learns quickly, they say. "It has been explained on location a few times, our contact person helped us a lot. If we have questions, we can call or email. We can work well with the current modules at our company, but we do not exclude that we will extend the Work-IT software in the future with other modules and apps."
(This interview was realized in collaboration between Annemarie Gerbrandy of Klare Taal and VGT Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.)