Birds Eye Choose Hytera IP Linked DMR System
Birds Eye have chosen Radphone to install and maintain a Hytera DMR wide area IP linked radio scheme for use in their frozen pea operation in the UK.
Along with around thirty MD655 mobiles, the scheme consists of three Hytera RD985 base stations linked via IP to cover their large operational area.
Radphone MD, Mike O’Rourke said: "We are very pleased that Birds Eye has chosen Radphone to fulfil their two-way radio needs. It shows their confidence in our experience and knowledge in the PMR field."
The need for reliable instant wide area communication in the frozen pea industry may not be that obvious. However, there is far more to frozen peas than meets the eye.
After a successful sample test with the now legendary Birds Eye “tenderometer”, a field is harvested and the peas are transported to the facility in Hull and frozen within a very short time window.
The Birds Eye processing plant, just outside Hull, is the largest pea factory in the world and can freeze one tonne of peas a minute. It accounts for nearly a third of Europe’s total frozen pea production.
Poor to non-existent mobile phone coverage in many of the rural areas used for pea production means that Two Way Radio is the only practical solution. Additionally, the wide geographical area used to produce the amount of peas demanded by consumers requires a multiple site base station infrastructure to give full coverage.
Ben Magrath, Agricultural Process Manager,vBirds Eye Ltd: "Birds Eye have a complex pea harvest operation which depends on constant, reliable communications: open conversations, immediate contact, and fast responses. Our stringent quality criteria and our 2 ½ hour picked-to-frozen deadline require intensive coordination. While continuously investing in phone and mobile computer technologies, we have yet to find a substitute for the flexibility of a high-quality, dedicated radio system."
The relationship between Birds Eye and Radphone goes back 15 to 20 years. Birds Eye used four analogue base stations located at two sites, connected by private landlines, spanning the North and South banks of the River Humber. To save costs and increase reliability, the private wire system was upgraded to a proprietary IP linking system.
Ageing, unreliable radio equipment, increasing site rental and an ever increasing coverage area, meant it was time to rethink communications.
After consultation with Radphone it was decided that a dedicated, wide area system from Hytera would be the ideal, cost effective solution.
