Salinas, California, USA
February 9, 2016
American Takii Inc, located in Salinas California, USA is the North America subsidiary of parent company Takii & Company LTD which is privately owned and based in Kyoto, Japan. Takii is one of the world’s largest breeder/producers of vegetable and flower seeds and in 2015 the company celebrated 180 years! It has breeding and experimental stations in Japan as well as international facilities located around the world including the USA, Holland, France, Chile, Thailand and China.
The mission of American Takii Inc is to breed, develop and produce superior quality vegetable and flower varieties to meet the full potential of a dynamic market.
At American Takii Inc they are working diligently to uphold high quality standards and use innovative research to help their customers be successful.
Steve Wiley, General Manager, American Takii, Inc.
In October 2015 American Takii Inc inaugurated its brand new facility in Salinas CA and for that reason it engaged Seed Processing Holland (SPH) to help them design this new seed processing site and install high-quality SPH equipment.
At the end of September, 2015 SPH installed multiple machines for processing such as; drying, treating, cleaning/conditioning, sizing and mixing of vegetable and flower seeds.
Some of these SPH machines are;
- Seed calibrating machines (3 screen), type 4060.30.30
- Seed mixing installation, type 9204.00.00
- Fully automatic Treater (film-coating machine) Ø500 mm, type 9320.00.00
- Box turner 1250 mm, type 6001.11.00
- Conditioned Drying unit 75 Litres p/h (dehumidification), type 3230.03.00
- Seed gravity separator (1.44 m² surface), type 4615.40.00.
Besides delivering high-quality, durable and accurate machines SPH assists customers in designing an efficient production flow and ensuring a safe, dust-free, and low noise working environment.
The goals that were set by American Takii have been fully achieved by SPH:
- Agreed plant design by SPH engineering department
- Productive and successful project meetings throughout the process
- Takii’s productive visit to SPH’s factory in The Netherlands to review progress of equipment production & market visits to Dutch SPH customers
- Timely delivery of the equipment to American Takii in Salinas CA
- Successful installation of SPH technicians at American Takii
SPH has its US office in Salinas CA and with US based commercial and technical support, local spare parts storage, and UL certification, SPH is ready to provide other North American seed companies with high quality solutions!
QUESTIONS TO AMERICAN TAKII’S GM & COO, MR. STEVE WILEY:
- What was the main reason to build a new seed processing facility?
- Takii produces significant amounts of seed in Chile and the United States and until now has been shipping the seed to Japan for processing and worldwide distribution. There is a significant amount of this seed that comes back to the Americas for distribution and our management decided to build this facility to facilitate the processing and distribution of this seed here in Salinas to the North & South American Markets. This eliminates double handling, expensive seed storage in Japan and the carbon footprint of shipping to and from Japan.
- What was the reason to purchase most of the equipment from SPH?
- Takii has already had excellent results with SPH equipment in Japan and the Netherlands and came highly recommended when we were searching for equipment. The scale of their equipment met our needs as a Vegetable & Flower Seed Company and the establishment of an office in the US for service helped seal the deal.
- What are the main processes and for what kind of seeds will you use these machines?
- Primarily finishing processes such as sizing (calibration), seed treatment, and gravity table processing for seed quality improvement. We will be processing all kinds of seeds, mainly brassica, carrot, onion and sunflower.
- Do the machines meet your expectations?
- Yes indeed. The modern design is quite efficient compared to older models that used to perform the same functions. We expect less downtime due to the use of superior materials and SPH’s high manufacturing standards.
- Could you explain why you choose the optional UL control panels?
- We wanted to be at the highest standard for safety and code compliance for US electrical requirements. UL is a recognized standard of excellence and we wanted to make sure we were completely safe and up to code in using the UL control panels.
- How did you experience the cooperation (communication and follow-up) with SPH?
- They were with us at every step of the process. From initial discussions for matching our needs, through the delivery & installation process, the training process with our employees once installed and lastly the fine tuning of the equipment to make sure it functioned properly.
- Did SPH fulfil your expectations? What could be improved by SPH?
- Yes, we are quite pleased with the overall experience of working with SPH and the machinery they have provided us.
- There’s a bit of a learning curve associated with setting up shop in the US and they are both learning and working hard to adapt to US technical standards, units of measurement and codes as well as establish a network of service providers for their machinery.
- How do you see the future cooperation with SPH; any plans for additional machines?
- We will continue our interaction with them for service and technical needs.
- We have no short term plans for new machinery but should the need arise, they will be at the top of our list for consultation and design to meet any future needs.
All in all our experience has been excellent with Seed Processing and we give our wholehearted recommendation of them to any seed company looking to invest in high quality, state of the art seed processing equipment.
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