Everyone likes a story of success and for an English farmer’s son to create an international company that designs, manufactures and installs complete handling systems, primarily for the vegetable industry and also for environmental waste and recycling industries, it was no small feat. That’s the account of Rod Herbert, founder and chairman of Herbert Engineering.

From tractor driver on a farm in Cambridgeshire, England to running an international company that has an annual turnover of around £11 million (€13.5m) is a quantum leap for many, but Rod Herbert’s success is more remarkable if you consider that it all happened in less than 40 years.

In 1971 he built a prototype potato grader built for own farm use. A year later the multi-grader was born and RJ Herbert Engineering established. Four years later this self-made businessman had sold 24 machines and employed a staff of 16 working at a factory based on his farmland.

Today Rod is chairman of the family-run business, with son Nick now at the helm as managing director; daughter Jo, marketing manager and a staff level that has increased to over 140.
It is the founder’s experience in concept design and manufacturing, which now gives the company direction at the highest level expanding to the fresh pack and process market and beyond.
Herbert machinery is well known in the agricultural and potato industry worldwide and countries as far apart as Australia, Russia and Canada use Herbert’s equipment.

Already established in the UK and many parts of the world, Herbert’s is now embarking on a new push to sell its product (rather than systems) to other countries in the fresh produce, processing and industrial sectors and to well-established growers. Products include grading, tipping and filling equipment; washing, destoning and drying equipment, conveyors and elevators; and automation including robotics.

And that’s not bad for an operation set up in 1972 to make machinery for local farmers.
The strong range of products and expertise within the business has enabled Herbert’s to become market leaders in the design, manufacture and installation of major potato packhouses in the UK. This excellent reputation has provided a sound base for the company to export its products overseas.

Andy Hubble, Herbert’s general sales manager, adds: “We are looking for a year on year growth of two to three per cent on export over the next five years based on current market potential. However, this figure can fluctuate due to the large scale of some of the projects undertaken in targeted countries.”

Installation and after-sales service account for 10 per cent of the company’s total revenue; a big part of the business. As we tour the 80,000 square foot manufacturing facility with chairman Rod and marketing manager, Jo, we see first hand how the company has transferred its technology to the waste and recycling sectors while constantly looking at other key markets.
Rod Herbert’s passion for design and innovation is evident and his natural leadership and energy, a key driver for company growth. “We retain our core values of quality from conception design through to installation and after sales service,” Rod reflects.

“This vision is emulated by the loyal and talented team of specialists based at our engineering facility in Cambridgeshire. Our commitment to the potato industry has been and will remain foremost in our business activity.”
His enthusiasm is matched by his son, Nick who has strong views on the future of the company and its role within the industry. Nick believes it is the customer’s own strategic plans, industry rationalisation and ever-changing regulations that will continue to shape the business.

Backed by this strong foresight, Herbert’s is growing from strength the strength. In 2004, Herbert Engineering BV, the Netherlands-based office opened and today a high percentage of sales are European-based. Worldwide sales this year represent 25 per cent of new machinery turnover, with European sales representing about 70 per cent of this figure.
“This involves continuous interaction with our agents worldwide because it is key to have a presence in the countries in which we sell,” explains Jo.

“Part of this has meant setting up a new agent network and we have moved into countries like Israel, Spain and Canada.
“We need to know the market forces and legislative requirements of the countries in which we sell our product, and these agents give us this knowledge,” Jo says.

Still very much committed to research and development, Herbert’s have, for 10 years, been designing, prototyping and manufacturing optical sorting (electronic grading) equipment. Today Herbert’s is the largest supplier of defect detection systems in the UK with substantial exports to Europe. Their high-tech vision-based camera technology offers the ability to quality grade or sort for size and defects for up to three grades or standards of produce.

The Auto-sort has been designed for simple maintenance, ease of operation, robustness and reliability to give excellent performance and throughput. The Auto-sort has also given excellent results, processing waste product with its high output this has meant a fast return on investment for these customers.

Herbert’s operations manager, Ken North, oversees the entire production and operation division with the assistance of Steve Sutton, production control manager. Sutton, who has been with Herbert’s for over 20 years, says “information is critical” and that the strength of the company’s knowledge and expertise is in its people.

While the company continues to grow in the handling equipment market, founder Rod Herbert does not rest on his laurels.
In 2004, after having problems with his luggage at an international airport, he set his mind to designing a luggage conveyor system which sorts the luggage to make sure it sits properly on the belt making it easier to flow and easier for the passenger to collect.

A new company, Herbert Systems Limited was established in 2005 to handle this unique modular conveyor for the airline industry and it is already installed in two major international airports and also at UK’s largest airport.
Jo Herbert says of new and emerging markets, “Technology transfer has been an important aspect of our business over the past five years. This is in direct response to the changes in our customer needs mirrored by our own business needs to work in other markets.

“Technology is now reciprocated, in that developments from new markets have also led us to improve our offering to the vegetable industry,” Jo adds.

In 2007, the Sir Roland Burke Perpetual Challenge Machinery Trophy from the Royal Agricultural Society was awarded to RJ Herbert for innovation, technical excellence, proven reliability and its long standing commitment to the machinery and equipment sector. The award is presented annually to a company with a manufacturing base in the UK which has made a sustained contribution to farm mechanisation through some particular class of machinery.

Chairman Rod Herbert, who has an adversity to waste or left over scrap of any kind, says the fact that raw material costs have doubled in the last few years is an ongoing challenge. “Therefore good design and high quality, well thought out manufacture is critical to remain competitive in a rising cost market,” he says. Rod adds that annual investments in the plant are vital to keep facilities and technologies up to date.

Volatile seasons in 2007 saw potato growers deal with a difficult harvest, however prices for the 2006/2007 season were strong, which saw Herbert’s fill an increased number of orders for farm equipment, particularly graders.
And this year the company won the Cambridgeshire Passport to Export Award from the UK Trade & Investment. The winners were judged on their ability to apply knowledge and skills they had learned during the programme in developing business overseas.

The Passport programme, attended by Herbert’s export sales manager, Andy Hubble, helped the company increase its turnover by 22 per cent; assisted it in setting out clear parameters of how  to work with local markets; enabled it to appoint the best agent and distributors and allowed to enter both the French and Spanish markets with confidence.

It seems this is a company passionate to deliver in the coming years and Herbert’s next generations are well-equipped to handle it.