After putting a unique box and bag unloader through its paces, one of the UK's largest suppliers of potatoes has reported a 33% increase in efficiency and a 50% reduction in forklift movements.

AKP Group has revealed the improvements after undertaking a two-month trial of Haith's new QuantaFill box filler at its Elsham site in North Lincolnshire.

Unveiled at Potato Expo in January, the QuantaFill features an innovative in-feed conveyor that gently layers the crop into a buffer bunker, which is then lowered into the box. Active discharge doors then open to transfer the crop into the box, simultaneously raising as it fills. The process ensures that the weight of the box is never lifted and the machine is not put under pressure, which eliminates fatigue or prevents damage to both the machine and the box.

The additional box-handling functionality allows the operator to place stacks of empty boxes into the machine. The boxes are then automatically de-stacked and transported to the filling module. After being filled, the boxes are re-stacked for the operator to remove from the line.

Founded in 1999 by third-generation potato farmers, Richard Arundel and Bruce Kerr, AKP Group is one of the UK's largest potato supply chain specialists, handling 150,000 tonnes a year across the group. AKP is also one of the UK's largest growers of potatoes with 750 hectares in its farming business.

AKP Group has a long-standing relationship with Haith. The company's operations director, Ben Mordue, has worked with both David and Chris Haith during his 30 years in the industry.

"I often talk to David and Chris about how we want to improve how we do things," says Ben. "One day, maybe two years or so ago, I said we wanted to be quicker and more accurate when filling boxes. We can have up to 25,000 one-tonne boxes on the ground at any one time, and I might need to fill one thousand of them in a day with the smallest forklift movements possible. And, of course, I want to be kind to the potatoes; I don't want them damaged. So, from that conversation Haith developed the QuantaFill and asked me if I'd like to put it through its paces.

"Having used the QuantaFill now for about eight weeks, I can say we are a third faster, maybe more, and we are using one less forklift than before, so it's a significant improvement.

"We have a long-standing relationship with Haith and were involved in the development of their Rota-Tip box tippler, of which we have several on-site here in Elsham, along with two Haith graders and a washer. The QuantaFill continues Haith's track record for innovating – it's incredibly efficient at loading, filling and stacking boxes, has a very small footprint and is four times as fast as a single box filler."

AKP's end-to-end service allows it to supply all sectors of the potato industry, spanning retail, food service and food manufacturing, both in the UK and overseas. Most recently, AKP Group has been using the QuantaFill to empty 1.2-ton jumbo bags of imported potatoes into one-ton boxes for retail packers at a rate of up to 60 tonnes per hour, though Ben believes the machine could run faster if required.

To find out more about the QuantaFill and Haith wider range of vegetable handling equipment, please visit www.haith.co.uk, email sales@haith.co.uk or call 01302 831 911.