Wyma to lead upgrade of Rockit’s Te Ipu packing facility in New Zealand
Rockit Global has chosen Wyma Solutions as its principal partner to design and supply an upgrade to the company’s packhouse in Te Ipu, Hastings.
New Zealand snack-sized apple company has been seeking technology partners to provide it with efficient solutions for apple washing, grading, sorting and packing as it manages rapidly increasing global demand and a strong growth trajectory. This search led Rockit to Wyma, which has been selected to lead the development of Rockit’s packhouse over the coming years.
Wyma will utilise its project expertise and packhouse technology to upgrade Rockit’s Te Ipu packing facility. Rockit’s investment in advanced robotic technology, state-of-the-art optical grading, and smart automation will increase system flexibility, provide gentle product treatment, and improve machine and labour utilisation.
The partnership between Rockit and Wyma will complement Rockit’s existing relationship with MHM Automation, Wyma’s parent company, which has developed a specialised robotic packing machine for Rockit’s apple in tube format.
“We have been looking for a company who can offer us solutions to our unique challenges. Wyma’s ability to provide a tailored solution, and to design for both our present and future needs set them apart from the competition” said Scott Griffin of Rockit.
“Wyma have become a trusted partner, and their experience designing packing lines across a number of industries has resulted in a highly successful collaborative design relationship.”
“In selecting our lead supplier, we had a number of key criteria. These included their ability to offer a flexible solution, the quality of their machinery, gentle apple handling, and the use of smart automation. Wyma demonstrated these key criteria”.
Wyma’s Peter Molloy said it was fantastic to partner with a company as innovative and forward-thinking as Rockit.
“The shared passion between Rockit and Wyma for high quality solutions has made it very easy for our teams to work well together.”
Over the past three years, Wyma and Rockit have created a long-term development plan to progressively expand Rockit’s packhouse as bin volumes increase.
The first stage of the project involves the supply of a new robotic bin tip and apple washing line with advanced Wyma water filtration technology.
This project will lay the groundwork for the next stage, a major upgrade to a unique pre-sort system featuring ultra-gentle hydro-bin filling technology, short water buffer channels and high-speed bin robots, and will have an eventual line capacity of over 300,000 apples per hour.
“Our solution is unlike any other globally and will provide Rockit with the flexibility and functionality which they are looking for,” added Molloy. The first stage of the new line will go into operation at the beginning of 2025.
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