Container Handling System
Application


Typical Nursery

The Problem
U.S. ornamental horticulture is an $11 billion dollar a year industry tied to a dwindling migrant work force. Unskilled seasonal labor is becoming more costly and harder to find, but it is still needed several times a year to move potted plants to and from fields and sheds. The nursery industry must address this problem if it is to survive and continue to flourish. The challenge has been to develop an adaptable container-handling solution that is cost-effective, easy to operate and maintain with minimal technical skills and easily adaptable to a variety of containers and field conditions.

The Solution
Working in collaboration with NASA and project sponsor the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), NREC developed solutions that efficiently handle a variety different container sizes with a broad range of plant materials.

The automated container handling systems were designed to efficiently manage the following processes: moving containers from the potting machine/shed to the field; coordinating in-field container spacing; and moving containers into and out of-over-wintering houses.

The prototype and field tested systems were designed to handle 35,000 containers per 8-hour day with one or two operators. The resulting benefits include:

•	Direct labor cost savings due to the reduced number of seasonal workers required for the simple task of moving potted plants

•	Reduced risk of injuries in the field

•	Speedier, more efficient processes for moving and handling large numbers of plant containers In the field, the system can be re-configured easily to best suit changing conditions, container sizes and end-user needs.

In the field, the system can be re-configured easily to best suit changing conditions, container sizes and end-user needs.