| 51 Hawke’s Bay: Freshmax Group PRODUCTION In Hawke’s Bay, Freshmax Group is an integrated pipfruit business: growing, harvesting, packing and exporting apples and pears to the world. Growing productivity through smart engineering and simple automation. Hortworx is a NZ owned and operated, innovative, and agile company. We use creativity and automation to enhance production for our clients, meaning a more pro table and sustainable future for their business. sales@hortworx.com Rob +6421 544 082 Contact us: Enhancing production efficiencies Situated in Whakatu is a company doing its bit to help the horticulture industry produce and process fruit as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Rob Elstone, Jarrod Eichler and Paul Elstone lead the business. Rob’s been involved in the fruit industry for nine years, with Hortworx being established in April 2019. “We decided we wanted to get into processing innovation rather than just fixing old gear and that’s how Hortworx evolved,” Rob explains. Back in 2018 the company’s first robotic machine was trialled in a Hawke’s Bay packhouse and since then the team have been steadily growing the range of automated technologies to meet the needs of the sector. “Our client base today is very diverse and we approach each project with the same mindset; to use simple engineering with smart automation in such a way as the technologies eliminate error and greatly increase packhouse efficiencies,” Rob says. Technologies have evolved as need demanded backed up by a complete maintenance and trouble-shooting service, to keep vital plant and processing working. Within the team are specialised mechanical, electrical, automation and design skills that can be applied to produce solutions for a wide range of industries where repetitious processes underpin the production systems. Rob says the business has several core clients its been supporting for years including Hawke’s Bay’s fruit producer and processing business ‘Freshmax’. “We’ve been working with Freshmax for nine years or so, since I’ve been in the industry. They’re a very progressive and successful business, who put a lot of store on the quality of their work and the environment they create for their valued team to work in.” Beyond creating the software and hardware which drive the machines, Hortworx offers a complete project management and installation service. “It means these company’s can leave their automation systems safely in our hands from design concept through to completion and beyond.” While the bulk of business is centred in and around greater Hawke’s Bay, Hortworx has undertaken projects as far south as Central Otago, in Canada and the U.S.A. Rob says the company is growing year on year, however it’s continued success is closely linked to the success of the fruit industry and its place in world production. And with a mindset very much tuned to the future Hortworx is undertaking future-focussed research and development work, in the form of its ‘Future Orchard Project’; a fully-autonomous electrical, robotic orchard tractor which will take care of mowing, spraying and general tractor tasks. “This is an exciting time as we’ve reached the point where we are going to have closed trials to see the technology in action.” Rob says he’s pleased with where the business is at, given its journey to date. “We’ve got wonderful capability and highly adaptable skill sets to support the horticulture and other sectors achieve the best possible outcomes it can.”
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