Weighing up your options with...Herbert Industrial

What is clearly evident to us all, is that we have little or no option but to weigh our products, given this circumstance then we shouldd strive to get the most from it.

When it comes to credibility in the weighing industry, few companies can beat the expertise of the Herbert Group of companies. The original Herbet and Sons business was formed in London's Smithfield Market in 1760.

However, much has changed over the years and the current Group Managing Director has no desire to hold on to the past.

"What is important to me, is that our two main Retail and Industrial companies remain on the leading edge of product and system development.....our largest customer in Retail is Tesco and Industrial have installations in most of the UK's largest and most respected packers and processors, so we also understand the meaning of good service" said Richard Herbert.

Over the last two years Herbet Industrial has had a major focus on supplying weighing solutions to the Fruit and Produce sectors. You may have noticed in the Spring issue of Growing News thae article "Fruitful Jobs with Jeremy and Zena" standing proudly in front of a number of Herbert Gemini Weigh Price Labellers, installed within the AMS packhouse. This level of investment confirms the serious consideration we give when investing in the process of weighing.

"It is absolutely sritical that we add value to the process of weighing and labelling" said Andy Duncan, Managing Director of Herbert Industrial.

"At the point when we weigh, label or print, there is a tremendous amount of data that can be caputred and fed back, to control the packing process.It is through the process of minimising and controlling give-away that many of our customers justify and see a quick return on their investment."

PC based equipment supported by very capable reporting networks appears to be the norm for the higher end Herbert Industrial Systems but they can provide a solution to suit more customer needs, from standard single scales, to networked average weight systems capable of controlling astonishingly low percentages of give away.

Herbet also has good representation in many international markets and even has Gemini Lightning equipment in Australia.

They have recently teamed up with Sistemnobart of Bolbao, Spain which might be of interest to some UK packers.

Andy confirmed that Sistemnobart is very willing to work in partnership with Herbert and any UK growers or packers who have sister companies in Spain and Portugal. They have many years of experience selling and supporting weighing and labelling systems within the Spanish fruit and produce sectors.

"I know this publication has an international readership, I would urge any Spanish companies to contact Sistemnobart direct and we are quite willing to discuss any possible collaboration with companies here in the UK."

Herbert Industrial are very proud of their association with UK growers and Packers. Andy Duncan is the first to recognise that the company's history was very much in the red meat sector. However, many things have changed and everyone within the business recognises the advantages of being able to provide product and services to this rapidly developing sector.

When Andy was asked what were the major differences in working with growers and fruit packers versus the larger red meat and poultry sectors, this was his reply

"In many cases we are dealing with privately owned companies again, which is massively different from the large red meat and poultry groups we supply, but this is very rewarding and its this type of parnerships that made Herbert successful in the first place.

In many cases we are working with people who not only care about being successful packers and processors but who in many cases are also very much part of our rural fabric, without doubt it's the people who work in this sector that make the difference, said Andy.

If there is one message that comes across from our discussions with herbert, it is to always consider the value added element of any system you are evaluating. If we make the right investment decisions, its truly amazing the amount of valuable information that can be easily captured and used to improve profitability and it would appear that other more mature sectors have been doing this with Herbert equipment for some time.

If you think Herbert maybe able to help your company, define or expand its weighing and labelling requirements then why not give them a call.

Summer 2003