Customer experience
Customer Story: Planta
Customer Story: Planta
Planta and Dinnissen: 20 years of customer relationship and process line development
Planta Fertilizers GmbH is a producer of special fertilizers for the production of fully water-soluble nutrient salts. The goal is efficient fertilization, adapted to plants, that allows for resource savings. So that less water and fertilizer are needed. Planta was founded in 1976, and today the organization exports nutrient salts and plastics to 45 countries. In 2002, the first contact between Dinnissen and Planta Fertilizers GmbH was established. Today, we can look back on 20 years of partnership between Dinnissen and Planta. 20 years in which the industry, the process line and the cooperation with Dinnissen as a producer and partner continued to develop constantly.
Lothar Pixa about working with Dinnissen
"Dinnissen has helped us with two major projects. In 2004, we invested in a completely new process line from Dinnissen. In 2019/2020, Dinnissen even modernized our entire plant. For the first process line, we had come up with a basic concept ourselves, which Dinnissen implemented based on our wishes and specifications. The heart of the process line is a mixing unit produced by Dinnissen. In addition, the process line includes a pneumatic transport system, silos, and a Big Bag unloading system.
In the years of cooperation, Dinnissen has optimized the process line time and again. The main result has been an enormous increase in the output of the line and, thanks to the automation, an increase in the productivity of our employees.
"We have never had such good mixing results: completely homogeneous and both the main substances and trace elements in exactly the right proportions."
The process line at the plant of Planta Fertilizers GmbH
Dinnissen's problem-solving capabilities are very strong; they react very quickly to the smallest problems within the process line. For example, a certain substance in the silo unexpectedly caused problems. This made it necessary to handle this substance in a different way in production. Dinnissen came up with the idea of spraying the substance with air. This was factually not a coating, but a similar basic principle was used. This allowed the substance to be used again and the process line to function properly. This is an example of how Dinnissen approaches and solves problems in an innovative way. In other cases, adjustments also had to be made, for example due to the reaction of biostimulants in the process. These adjustments to the plant and factory have always gone smoothly."
"It was crucial for us that Dinnissen could supply a complete process line. At Dinnissen, the customer comes first, not profit."
Our mixing installation at Planta Fertilizers GmbH
Modernization and increase in efficiency of the plant
"Dinnissen came up with the idea of modernizing our factory. This has resulted in a plant with much higher efficiency. This is especially evident in the fact that our electricity consumption per batch produced has dropped by 30 percent.
This innovation helps us with the permanent pressure on results in the industry. Increasing production is necessary to secure employment. Saving electricity with a blowing system also ultimately brings us great benefits. The system works in a similar way to a Dyson vacuum cleaner. The raw material is not sucked up all at once, but in parallel in several processes. This results in a constant product flow in the factory."
Reliable advice in the customer relationship
"Our experience with the staff at Dinnissen is excellent. This is partly thanks to Mr. Opel, the customer advisor at Dinnissen. Advice is always given from the perspective of our company. That way we get objective advice on which investments make sense, or which can be better solved in the future with new technology. Dinnissen does not force anything on us, they purely give advice. That is also the basis for our good trust relationship with Dinnissen. After 20 years we know each other well, and we trust each other blindly. Conversations about new possibilities for our factory therefore arise spontaneously these days and we no longer have to make requests.
"The most important result is a huge increase in the output of the line and, thanks to automation, an increase in the productivity and efficiency of our employees."
In the industry, we are even already known for our collaboration with Dinnissen. For example, other companies and competitors in the sector talk to us about the fact that we work intensively with Dinnissen. In that respect, we really are special in the industry when it comes to our machines. This is because Dinnissen, as a manufacturer, is also strongly involved in the food sector, which means they have a lot of know-how that comes in handy in our projects.
With these innovations from Dinnissen, we now have a considerable advantage in our sector. Take, for example, the use of the Pegasus® mixer in the process line. Previously, we had standard mixing times of 14 - 15 minutes. With the Pegasus® mixer we achieve a mixing time of 60 seconds per batch and with the system, this was even faster. Despite this short mixing time, we have a completely homogeneous mixture in production. So homogenous, in fact, that after mixing we can achieve very the right ratio very precisely, not only of main substances such as nitrogen and potassium, but also of trace elements. We've never had such good mixing results.
“Previously, we had standard times in the mixing process of 14 - 15 minutes. With the Pegasus® mixer we achieve a mixing time of 60 seconds per batch.”
I can imagine further cooperation with Dinnissen very well. Also, because it would be difficult to expand our automated process line with components from another manufacturer. Based on years of working together, we can say that Dinnissen is not just a supplier anymore, but a real partner."
Lothar Pixa - Managing Director Planta Fertilizers GmbH