Balanças Marques Case Study: Heavy Challenges at Granfers

Balanças Marques (Portugal) – At Balanças Marques, we really like challenges. We like to investigate, to find new weighing solutions and, most of all, we like to satisfy our client’s need and demands, simplifying their job and their day to day life.

This was exactly what we did with Granfer, a company in the fruticulture industry who presented us a heavily interesting challenge that we were able to overcome with our weighbridge solution.

Who is our client?

Driven by a passion for its land and for what it can generate, Granfer is dedicated to the production, conservation and commercialization of fresh fruit, since 1986. With a vast experience in fruit growing, this Portuguese company currently produces more than 20 million kilos of fruit per year, of which about 70% are meant for export to foreign markets, such as Brazil, England, France and Canada, among others.

Quality, tradition and also innovation are a part of Granfer’s DNA, a company that does its best to always be equipped with the most modern resources, in order to respond to the needs and demands of the current times. Among its main concerns are, nowadays, its customers’ satisfaction, the company’s development, but also other relevant subjects, like its own ecological footprint and the planet’ sustainability.

What challenge did they present us with?

Owner of a large property in Alentejo (Portugal), Granfer came across a problem: part of its lands is not covered by the national electricity grid and there was the need to install a weighbridge on that area. Motivated by its will to innovate and its concern about the environment, the company then decided to look for a weighing solution that was both accurate and autonomous in terms of energy. In fact, it intended to acquire a weighbridge whose functioning did not depend on the national electricity grid and was, instead, based on a renewable energy supplier – in this case, on the energy generated by a solar panel.

To fulfil this goal, Granfer decided to invest on its long-term partner in weighing matters and chose a Marques’ weighbridge.

What solution did we present them with?

Faced with the challenge introduced by Granfer, Balanças Marques offered it an innovative solution, specially created for this purpose. In a dynamic process and with great proximity with the company, our development team made several technical adaptations to the traditional 60 tons weighbridge in order to meet the company’s requirements and turn it into a self-sustaining weighing solution that can work solely on solar energy.

Therefore, fully developed with a high regard for its needs and demands, this solution resulted in a very satisfying partnership for Granfer, who is happy with the possibility of performing its weighing autonomously, without depending on the electric grid. In the own words of its Marketing Director, Daniel Ferreira, “thanks to the excellent work of Balanças Marques”, today the company has “a better quality in terms of weighing”.