How to help solve the impending labour shortage problems

The global pandemic has presented unique challenges for most businesses. And for the agricultural and horticulture sectors, one of the biggest challenges has to be labour shortages. There are countless reports, articles and posts expressing the great pressure being felt in the industry and we absolutely empathise with the situation. In fact, it’s a driving force for us, as we seek to provide smarter solutions.

So what’s one simple answer then?

Reduce the need for labour.

With an estimated $40 million loss being faced by the horticulture industry in Australia due to labour shortages, the fear for consumers is that price rises will need to be passed down and will be felt hard at the supermarket checkouts. This could likely hurt the price that growers & packers can ask, especially if supply exceeds demand.

Not only is there a significant and nearly instant benefit to replacing packhouse staff labour with electronic vision grading machines and specialised infeed and packing machinery, but you’re future readying your business as the world moves towards more automated systems and people being more specialised in their skill sets.

If you’ve done any reading about Industry 4.0, you will no doubt understand that we’re in the midst of a new industrial revolution. Described as ‘the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology‘, we’re now moving towards a model where the integration of ‘smart’ machinery won’t just be an intelligent business strategy but rather, a necessity for survival. Not only because of the expense of manual labour but also, the competitive advantage it represents against others in the industry. Now is definitely not the time to be left behind.

Over the last 15 years, particularly, we’ve seen the gap between technology and agriculture closing. Hundreds of growers are now utilising vision grading systems, coupled with clever machinery design to reduce their need for manual sorting labour and manual packing.

GP Graders has over 50 years of experience in fruit grading and pack-house operations. With a specialisation in stone fruit and small fruits, such as cherries, stone fruit, blueberries and snack tomatoes, customers can take advantage of the knowledge GP Graders has acquired from partnering with hundreds of fruit growers across Australia, the America’s and Europe.  We have some major technology releases in 2021 that promise to revolutionise the fruit packing industry.

With a range of machinery solutions, customised to each businesses unique needs and desired business outcomes, there’s never been a better time to reach out and discuss how partnering your post-crop operations with GP Graders’ world-class grading solutions could improve your bottom line.