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In collaboration with the horticultural company Wellfarmed, Idé-Pro has developed technical EPS components for an innovative system that grows vegetables without soil, on a few square metres and with extremely low water consumption.
Wellfarmed had to mould and manufacture a large plate, an insert and a funnel. In addition, there were a number of requirements that had to be met:
All parts must be food-approved
The plates must be able to be joined together in endless rows of triangles
To reduce glare, the panels must be grey
The panels must have an insulating effect
Cleaning should be easy
We are a one-stop shop with an in-house development department, tool factory and foundry. Therefore, we were able to act as the ideal sparring partner for Wellfarmed from item maturation to prototyping and serial production.
''The fact that Idea Pro has all resources under one roof was a great advantage for us. They helped us get from idea to product in record time."
Sune Rasmussen, CEO of Wellfarmed
Vegetables are grown on the modular plates. The roots are sprayed with water and nutrients in a closed circular system. Approximately 10% water is used compared to traditional cultivation.
Wellfarmed has installed the system in two greenhouses so far, with a third already in the pipeline. These 24,000 heads of lettuce use approximately 150 litres of water per day.
From the start of the project, our development department helped with item maturation so that all designs were optimised for serial production.
We recommended that the modular panel be made in EPS, which is lightweight, has the perfect rigidity, is insulating and easy to clean. In addition, we could supply the panel in a food-grade material in the correct colour. The insert and funnel had to be made in a food-grade PP.
In our highly automated tool factory, we produced the moulding tools in a short time. Because it's done in-house, we guarantee high quality and short delivery times, and we can make changes and adjustments very quickly.
We have the capacity to produce 20 moulding tools per week at our in-house tool factory.
Wellfarmed was now ready to take their idea to the next level. They ordered prototypes of the items so they could assemble and test the innovative system in their own nursery. At Idé-Pro, we manufacture prototypes using the same material and process as for serial production. This allowed Wellfarmed to test the prototypes without reservation.
After feedback from the tests, we made an in-house change to the mould for the EPS sheet. We then produced 2,000 sheets and associated inserts and funnels for the first major test of the Wellfarmed concept.
With a clear goal for the project, Wellfarmed chose the perfect partner to help with part design, tooling and production: Idé-Pro.
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Post and funnel mounted in the EPS sheets. The baby lettuce has been planted and started to grow.