Cane Pruner- Gen II- KLIMA Case Study

Background:

KLIMA is a specialised stripping and mulching machine for grape vines, developed in late 2006 by two innovative viticulturalists, Nigel George and Marcus Wickham.  They started developing a machine that could do a job that historically had always been done by hand. Cane removal is a very time consuming part of pruning and 13 years ago the New Zealand wine industry was facing an aging workforce, increasing wage costs, Health & Safety compliance comprised with the need to eliminate or minimise work place injuries.  The cane pulling is an unskilled and a high risk part of pruning.  KLIMA technology is now utilized on around  80-90% of cane pruned vines in New Zealand, saving the wine industry millions of dollars each year.  Saving on average $1000 / hectare combined with reducing unskilled labour requirements by up to 50%, while allowing focus on consistency, quality and retention of skilled labour.

Motovated has worked with George Manufacturing for more than 11 years to develop many variations of their KLIMA Cane Pruner.  They approached Motovated in 2007 with a working prototype, and initially Motovated reverse engineered the prototype to produce 3D drawings for their patent application.  As there were also teething issues, Motovated and George Manufacturing put their heads together on how to analyse, then redesign, using Solid Edge and Cosmos Finite Element Analysis (FEA) softwares.  This allowed many variation and changes, culminating in the development of a new roll over system using an hydraulic digger head rolling unit.  As the years have progressed Motovated has built a strong relationship with George Manufacturing and are totally integrated with the design and manufacture of various generation upgrades.

Motovated partners with George Manufacturing, providing a professional engineering resource, when and where they need it. This creates a space for them to turn on and off the engineering as they make modifications or next generation versions of their amazing grape vine pruner.  This allows George Manufacturing to remain their desired size, reduce overheads and optimising their profits.

Solution:

Services we provide to George Manufacturing:

• Partnering during design phases to create a totally transparent design process.
• Full management of CAD data, drawing updates, change requests, and revision management for over 500 drawings! Careful revision control has been paramount to ensure the correct version of the parts are being made for the particular generation of machine being built.
• Operation Manuals, Parts Manuals & Field Service Manuals.
• Hydraulic and Electrics Schematics, Hydraulic Cylinder and Hose Kit drawings.
• Assistance with the management of international manufacture of components.

Results:

Motovated sits alongside George manufacturing to make their KLIMA truly revolutionary in its field.  Initially designed using NZ’s number eight wire mentality, Motovated expanded it’s reliability, functionality and reduced the cost of it’s manufacture.

Klima’s now reduce the cost of producing grapes and wines for vineyard owners worldwide!