Automation is monitoring

Hoek Group at Floraholland Rijnsburg is an export company of cut flowers that targets 53 different countries and purchases its products at the auction and directly from growers at home and abroad. To process this fragile product, the company realized an advanced logistics system on the Floraholland Rijnsburg premises. To monitor the Industrial Ethernet network, use is made of Anybus Diagnostics from HMS Networks.

A flower store in Britain receives a shipment of flowers and plants from Holland twice a week. Nothing fancy; he orders what he thinks he will sell on the Internet and the assortment is neatly packed in boxes and delivered on time.

Logistics train

Nothing special? Partly. To make this moment of timely transfer of quality products 'from the Netherlands' possible, a sophisticated logistics train precedes. Wholesaler Hoek Group has equipped various (large) areas in Rijnsburg for this purpose in order to process incoming flowers from the auction or directly from the grower at breakneck speed. The orders are started logistically using various algorithms from the WMS. The order form is sent to the logistics room after which an impressive process begins. 

The flower stock is on what are known as stacking trucks and is taken to the picking area by RGVs (rail guided vehicles). Here the fine-tuning "picking" starts where the respective employee takes out the appropriate products, packs them into boxes and places the boxes on a conveyor belt. From here, the order moves toward another container that is eventually placed on a plane, truck or train that travels to the desired destination.

Fine-mesh

Marcel van Egmond is ICT manager at Hoek Group and knows, "Our company is unique on several fronts. First, we have a very finely meshed network, which means that we can also handle small quantities - typically 1 bunch or plant - for an order. In addition, we are stockholding, which means we can basically maintain a very high speed of delivery. And that's actually necessary, with a webshop where you can order 24/7."

However, the high level of automation also means great responsibility for the IT environment. Bouwe Kuijt, IT architect explains: "The RGVs, robots, inspection systems and conveyors are automatically controlled via an Industrial Ethernet network. Because all processes are interconnected, the disruption of one process means the disruption of all subsequent processes. With the quantities we process every day and the very short lifespan of our products, you really don't want that."

Anybus diagnostic systems

To best ensure the availability of the Industrial Ethernet network, Hoek Group decided to engage the company HMS Networks. Says Yuan Lee, Business Development Manager at HMS, "Our company has extensive knowledge of industrial networks and offers a wide range of products and solutions to help companies design, implement and maintain reliable and efficient industrial communication networks." Van Egmond: "HMS has been fully involved from the beginning in analyzing our processes to make a good proposal based on that analysis. With this, we now have a system that continuously monitors our Ethernet and also provides insight into its operation. We can watch at any time, but we can also use the data to look over longer periods of time to see how processes are running and where optimizations are possible. And what's more: if there is a malfunction, the system immediately indicates where the problem is so that you can get back to work quickly."

HMS Networks also has expertise in wireless communications solutions for industrial applications. The associated product range includes wireless gateways and routers from Anybus Wireless for connecting devices and systems via wireless technologies such as WLAN, Bluetooth and 4G/5G. At Hoek Group, a trial is currently running to control RGVs wirelessly.