Custom sorting registration software for packing houses
Appfront builds the office side of sorting registration for packing stations, marketing organisations and growers with their own packing hall: sorting results per batch processed into a settlement per grower, per class and size, with losses and packing costs; a quality report the grower can understand; and a schedule for the sorting line based on expected intake. This means the settlement follows from what was actually sorted, and the grower can see why a batch earned less. We describe the registration on the shop floor itself on the page about the sorting registration app.
What is sorting registration software for the packing hall?
In a packing hall, harvested produce is sorted by class, size and quality, and a portion is rejected. For growers who have their produce sorted or sell through a cooperative, that sorting result determines what they receive. The sorting machine or the registration on the shop floor records how much of each batch went into each class. Office-side software turns that into a settlement per grower, with a report showing why.
In many packing stations, the sorting result comes out of the machine as an export, and the settlement is calculated in a spreadsheet: classes multiplied by prices, minus costs, per grower and per period. When a grower asks why their batch earned less than a neighbour's, they receive a list of numbers. And it is impossible to see which grower has consistently higher losses, or which variety dropped off in which week.
We build custom software because the settlement has to fit your organisation: how you set prices per grade, whether you sell per batch or through a pool, which costs you charge on, how often you settle, which sorting machine and registration system you have, and which ERP and accounting system sit behind it. A sorting machine counts and weighs; it doesn't produce a settlement per grower.
Settlement from sorting
A settlement per grower and per period that follows from the sorting result per batch, with prices per class and the costs deducted.
Report for the grower
For each batch, the breakdown across classes, sizes and losses, with the causes, so the grower can see where yield was lost.
Line scheduled against intake
A schedule for the sorting line based on registered incoming supply, so that batches are sorted on time.
How we build your sorting registration software for the packing hall
We start with the last settlement: how many growers, how many batches, how the figures came out of the machine, and what questions growers asked about them.
Your settlement method, prices per class, costs, the sorting machine and registration, and your ERP and accounting.
Results per batch from machine or registration app, linked to grower, plot and variety.
Prices and costs per class, settlements per grower and period, and quality reports per batch.
Scheduling of the line on intake, integration with ERP and accounting, and then management.
What sorting registration software for the packing hall actually does
The components below appear at almost every packing station. Which you need depends on your settlement and growers.
Sorting results
For each batch, the breakdown across classes, sizes and losses, from the machine or registration.
Prices
Prices per class and size, from sales per batch or from a pool per period.
Cost
Sorting, packing and storage costs per batch or per kilo, deducted in the settlement.
Settlement
Per grower and period, a settlement with the basis for each lot.
Quality report
The loss per lot and grower, with its causes, set against other growers and earlier seasons.
Line planning
Registered incoming produce scheduled on the sorting line, with the capacity per day.
Who we build sorting registration software for in the packing hall
The software is intended for packing halls where sorting is already recorded, but settlement still lives in spreadsheets.
Packing stations
Sorting for many growers. Settlement per grower and reporting are the core.
Grower cooperatives
Revenue shared through a pool. Prices per class and period matter most.
Marketing organisations
Grading alongside sales. Linking batch, grading and sales is what is needed.
Growers with their own packing hall
Their own produce and that of neighbours. Settlement with third parties is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page covers the office side of grading. For registration in the packing hall itself, see our page on a grading registration app, for traceability from crate to delivery, our page on a fruit origin tracing app, and for buyer inspections, our page on inspection certificates. You can read about how we work at custom software development.
Why choose Appfront for your sorting registration software in the packing hall?
A grower who doesn't understand their settlement asks questions or goes elsewhere. That is what we build on: a settlement drawn from the sorting results, a report that explains it, and a line that sorts on time.
No spreadsheets
The settlement follows from the sorting result. The office checks rather than calculates.
Fewer questions from growers
The report per lot shows where the revenue went.
Quality compared
Loss per grower, variety and week side by side shows where improvement lies.
Security and privacy for sorting registration software in the packing hall
The software holds revenue, prices and quality per grower, which is commercially sensitive. Access is set by role: a grower sees only their own lots and settlements, the office sees everything. Comparisons between growers are anonymised for anyone who should not see them.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. Settlements are retained as the administration requires.
Frequently asked questions about sorting registration software in the packing hall
Questions that packing stations and cooperatives ask before they start.
It reads in the sorting results per lot, calculates a settlement per grower using prices per class and costs, produces quality reports per lot and grower, and schedules the sorting line against incoming produce.
The app records in the packing hall what is sorted per lot. This software processes that data in the office into settlements, reports and planning. The two work together, and can also connect directly to a sorting machine.
Many grading machines deliver results per batch as an export or through an integration. We will look at which one you have and what it provides in the first step.
Yes. Prices per class can come from sales per lot or from a pool per period, with advances and a final settlement.
Yes, in a portal or as a report per lot and period. Comparisons with other growers are anonymised.
Yes, if your ERP allows it. Lots, sales and bookings come from or go to the ERP and accounting.
Ask that first. Some ERP packages for the agricultural trade include a grower settlement module, and that may be enough if your way of settling fits within it. Custom development makes sense if you run your own pooling model, need quality reports per grower, or must combine sorting results from your own systems.
A settlement that follows from what has actually been sorted?
Tell us how you currently settle with growers, which sorting machine you use and what questions growers ask. We'll show you what the settlement, the report and the planning look like.