Weterings Machinery: innovation dans l’horticulture

Those who visit Weterings Machinery drive for miles past horticultural greenhouses. Weterings Machinery has expanded its business and now provides nearly everything that enters and exits greenhouses on wheels to the global market.

Three generations

As Weterings Mechanisatie, the company was founded in 1940. Starting a business at the time was challenging. However, it was also a time when new ideas and technical know-how could quickly help with the numerous problems that horticulture was confronting. As a result, Weterings Mechanisatie swiftly established itself as the industry leader in portable horticulture and agricultural machinery. Now serving on their board is the third generation.

Weterings Machinery, as the business is currently known, is co-owned by Fabian Hertogh, the grandson of the company’s founder Henk Weterings. “We’ve had the new name since 2016, and it better aligns with our aspirations to be global. We create and support goods. From the initial drawing through upkeep, everything is done in-house. Horticulture in the Netherlands is leading the way in innovation. We are a part of this industry and currently provide goods and services to markets worldwide.” Fabian Hertogh explains. “Among other things, we work with John Deere engines. A decision with a lengthy history of success, undoubtedly in part due to the brand’s global recognition.”

Successful online deployment

Weterings Machinery totally committed to having a strong online presence by the end of 2019. They launched a brand-new website with an online catalog, exploded views, a ton of videos, and product details in four languages. Everything was done to make finding the proper items, performing maintenance, and ordering replacement components as simple as possible for the end user. This is all available on a user-friendly website that looks amazing and functions well on all devices. “We have seen success with our online strategy. We launched our web enhancement effort just before Covid paralyzed the world. It’s a webshop, as well as a large inspirational online inventory. These online initiatives have increased our revenue and market potential.”

Plenty of future opportunities

When talking about the future of Weterings Machinery, Fabian Hertogh says: “Because we develop ourselves, we naturally look at various technologies. There is a lot of talk about connected machinery. In our practice, we see that there are still many hurdles to overcome. This is mainly for real-time solutions; reading the data on-site with a laptop, analyzing it, and possibly updating a PLC remotely would be indispensable.”

He foresees all kinds of changes in the engines for horticulture. “We have already started with electrification, which has been the case for some time for small rolling stock. It’s a different story with mobile machines that run for more than 8 hours straight. We recently electrified a chipper, the Bio Chopper RZE, that is now available to order.”

There is also a sector that can quickly seize the opportunities: “In seed breeding, everything is still done by hand. People are extremely wary of pollution, making a diesel engine out of the question. We are curious about the electrical applications John Deere will create.”

Weterings Machinery is also looking forward to the developments at NPS Driven regarding hydrogen as an energy source. “There may also be opportunities for H2 in our sector. The Netherlands is the smartest boy in the class worldwide when it comes to emission guidelines. Who knows, we as a country and Weterings Machinery can exploit such a development worldwide in the horticultural sector.”

Fabian Hertogh is confident: “With NPS Driven, Weterings Machinery has a partner ready for this new future.”