LeaderBrand Baby Leaf Picker

Issue:
One of New Zealand’s largest growers of leaves and salads, LeaderBrand supplies of half of
NZ’s baby leaf. With demand higher than ever, LeaderBrand operate a rigorous harvesting
operation 6-7 days a week with two purpose-built harvesters. A day of downtime costs tens
of thousands in lost income.

APPM were approached by LeaderBrand to assist in reducing excessive downtime during the
winter months.

Solution:
After a ‘deep dive’ into the situation APPM identified two key issues at hand.
Primary issue: Drivetrain underpowered for winter conditions meaning poor recovery rates
and lost production.
Secondary issue: Track-frame design not suited for winter conditions meaning high R&M
costs and lost production.
Working with LeaderBrand, we identified target harvesting and ferrying speeds to maximise
production and recovery. APPM designed an upgraded drivetrain to meet these KPI’s with
plenty of reserve. An upgraded track-frame would be designed as a separate project.

Execution:
To minimise downtime, the drivetrain upgrade was split into two stages. Firstly, the
hydraulics, the engine upgrade to be carried out later.
Stage 1: Work finished two days ahead of schedule and on budget for the hydraulic upgrade.
This has made a significant improvement in the harvester performance, and we look
forward to further improving performance with the engine upgrade.