Jan 20, 2014

Van Belle Nursery Introduces New Young Plant Shipping MethodSource: Van Belle Nursery

Van Belle Nursery, Abbotsford, British Columbia, has redesigned its young plant shipping method using lean manufacturing principles to provide customers a competitive edge when producing finished containers.

The new FloGo Shipping System saves labor while potting, reduces freight costs, and eliminates waste.

The key to the labor saving is that liners arrive de-potted. According to customers who have tested the new FloGo system, not having to de-pot the liners helped save anywhere from one to four people on their potting lines. Van Belle still offers the classic waxed box option, but the positive experience of customers who tested FloGo this spring is a great indicator that it will become the primary method soon.

A second great benefit of the FloGo system is freight savings. Through the redesign of the box size, the move to standard-sized pallets, and the space saved by shipping pot-less, FloGo enables Van Belle to ship 15 percent more plants in the same space.

FloGo also helps growers eliminate waste:

• There are no liner pots to discard. Van Belle takes the pots off so growers don’t have to when potting them up into a finished container size. Van Belle sterilizes and re-uses the pots, eliminating waste in their production as well.
• Boxes are 100 percent recyclable. From the double-walled cardboard, to the specially-designed environmentally friendly coating, and the recyclable glue, growers can recycle the boxes easily.
• Standard size pallet. With FloGo, growers receive plants on standard size 48″ x 48″ pallets, which are easy to re-use in other parts of their operation.

For more information, contact Van Belle Nursery at 888.826.2355.