How can you improve potato grading capacity and reduce labor?

Do you have enough labor force to achieve maximum capacity and keep your business fully operational?

In our chats with potato growers and packers worldwide, it’s clear that it is harder than ever to find and keep skilled and reliable workers. As a result of operational constraints, it is difficult to deliver on time and hit your volume goals while maintaining the consistent quality demanded by the market. Customers do not like surprises and are looking for suppliers they can rely on. 

Here are the top challenges you might face, but don’t worry, we’ll also explore the solutions for you.

The pressure of productivity in a competitive market.

Feel the pinch of excessive cost per potato? Efficiency is the name of the game. Everyone is gunning for a slice of the potato market, and cost savings are crucial. With labor shortages and rising costs, productivity and margins are at risk. Fewer hands mean slower processing and packing, leading to higher costs. When faced with skinny margins, you need to be as cost effective as possible, right? 

If you can't deliver, you lose credibility.

Can you keep up with all your customer orders? It’s simple - customers are only satisfied when you deliver the expected quantity and quality on time. Unfortunately, labor shortages mean that you and your team are working double-time. Late deliveries? They’re a threat to your reputation, as a reliable supplier, and your revenue. 

The race against the clock to ensure quality.

Ever run out of time to grade and pack your entire harvest? Grading and packing potatoes require a significant amount of labor. With labor shortages in peak seasons, time is never on your side. Pressure leads to errors, and quality suffers. 

Uptime x throughput is key to Success.

Automation means huge labor savings, right? Which means that choosing proven and reliable equipment is crucial to maintaining cost reductions over the life of your investment. Efficiency is a numbers game, the highest processing speed combined with maximum system utilization equals the lowest cost per potato and increased capacity. To achieve the full benefits of automation, you must have reliable solutions, so invest wisely in a machine that has a track record in terms of uptime and throughput.

Elisam GranTorino, Potato Grader

The answer to all your potato challenges in one: Ellips-Elisam

Ready to dramatically reduce your dependence on labor, boost production and nail those delivery deadlines? 

Meet Ellips-Elisam, the smart choice for potato growers and packers, this is why:

Maximize throughput with less labor

You want the best of both worlds. Speed to deliver maximum capacity and accurate defect detection to maintain consistent quality. With the Elisam Potato Grading Machine (powered by Ellips grading technology), you can sort potatoes at lightning speed without compromising quality. 

Even those lower quality batches? No worries, Elisam helps you pack more without slowing down. Every potato counts, every single minute is important. Elisam enables you to deliver maximum capacity, giving your business room to grow and improve on-time deliveries. In addition, the quality of your potatoes, no matter their shape or size, is in detail assessed across the entire surface, allowing you to sort them with minimal sorting personnel.

Dave Moquist, Sec./Treas. at O. C. Schulz & Sons, Inc.:

"The combination of increased capacity and more consistent grading performance provides a certain peace of mind and confidence that we can deliver product how and when promised. With so much less labor required, we can respond more quickly to customer demands."

OC Schulz & Sons - Potato Grading with high speed and consistent quality

A machine you can rely on

Want a machine that won’t quit on you? Elisam is the most robust and reliable machine on the market which ensures maximum uptime, allowing your operation to keep grading at a fast pace. That way, you can reduce maintenance costs due to a smooth-running machine and durable parts. 

Save now and in the future

Furthermore, you can continue to achieve sustainable results for a long time. With a lifespan of 20+ years, Elisam is the best long-term investment, always up to date with the latest Ellips grading technology. 

Enjoy peace of mind that comes with consistent grading performance and product throughput that ensures that you can meet customer demands on time while seizing opportunities for last-minute orders and favorable pricing. No more awkward conversations about delivery challenges.

Dave Hughes , Vice President at Hughes Seed Farms, Inc.:

"The grading is so much better and we can finetune it, such that a potato that we might have thrown out last year, we have use for it this year. Just more efficient."

Dave Hughes, the Owner of Hughes Farms

Reduce labor costs and overtime. More time with the family.

Who isn’t struggling to find good employees these days? Automating your sorting process is the answer. In addition to addressing the labor challenge, the Elisam grader significantly cuts labor costs and enables you to redeploy your workforce to other tasks instead of sorting.

Say goodbye to turning down last-minute orders. Need to run an extra hour? It takes just a few people to run the line and deliver the potatoes. Minimize overtime, spend more time with your family instead of rushing to complete your customer orders.

Dave Moquist:

"We now have more time to spend with the family, which is especially important to me since I have a very young family. Having more time to manage our business and my family has been a big benefit of the new technology."

Self-learning Software for potato grading

Revolutionize your potato business with maximum throughput and less labor

Trusted by leading potato growers and packers worldwide, Elisam is a long-term investment that ensures less downtime, lower maintenance, and increased profitability.