Renewed Earth Accomplishes More with Doppstadt –
Jake and Theresa Glas founded Kalamazoo Landscape Supplies in their basement, with just a phone number and a small fleet of trucks. Their business would grow significantly in the ensuing years, and their sons, Jim and Dan, would eventually take over the business. In 1996, the brothers purchased Michigan Soil Services, which they would re-brand as Renewed Earth.
Renewed Earth specializes in production of growing media, mulch, compost, and soils for wholesale nurseries and other growers. They’re known for their blends and mixes, which are carefully customized by their in-house horticulturalist, Todd Herrick.
“Modern landscape plants are increasingly faced with establishment on sites having soils with suboptimal physical and chemical characteristics,” says Herrick. “Improving soil structure and remediation with high quality fill soils ensures that a wide palette of plant material can be successfully utilized. Ultimately, however, specifications for fill soils must realistically balance cost pressures with site limitations.”
In short – Renewed Earth needs to be able to supply large quantities of multiple high-quality products, at consistent and exact specifications, to price-sensitive customers.
Many operations make quantities of 2-3 products, and it’s a race to the bottom on quality. Not Renewed Earth. Their horticultural standards and customization capabilities give them one of the most dynamic product offerings anywhere in the Midwest. To make all this happen, the business needs flexible – and most importantly – reliable equipment.
Dynamic Business Requires Dynamic Equipment –
As the business has grown, they’ve doubled down on the only machine in the industry that could check all their boxes – make multiple products in a day, easily transportable around their facility, and most importantly, minimal downtime.
Renewed Earth is the proud owner of two Doppstadt SM 720 trommel screens, which they use daily to screen bark fines, mulch, finished leaf compost, multiple other soil products and even to make colored mulch.
Each of these specialized products require screening to different sizes. And the screens need to be changed quickly, with minimal labor input, said Tom Farrow, operations manager.
Fortunately, Doppstadt trommel drums can be changed in under 30 minutes.
“A big part of the reason we went with Doppstadt is because of their quick drum changes. We can change them quickly, and we change them often,” Tom said, adding that it’s important it can be done by one person. “Open the swing-out door, pick up the drum with a loader, back it out, set it on the ground, pick up the new drum, and set it in there. All set.”
The versatility of the machines and screen changes allows for less stockpiling of unscreened material at any given time, which allows for a much more efficient production schedule, says owner Jim Glas. The machines allow them to keep up, always.
“If you need to change screens to a half inch or a quarter inch in the same day, without the ability for a quick change, you’d waste time and run up more and larger unscreened piles,” says Glas.
And with so many products to be made, there’s stockpiles all over their 70+ acre facility waiting for screening, Glas added. It was very important that their machines be able to be hooked up and pulled around their yard with the equipment they have on site.
“One week we might need to screen to three quarter inch, then one inch, then a half inch. They’re all different piles, so we must be able to move the Doppstadt trommels to each different product easily,” said Glas.
During the busy season, from spring through mid-summer, they will run the Doppstadts over 7 hours per day, 5 days a week.
Despite the usage, the constant movement and normal wear and tear, Farrow says the machines rarely have downtime, other than the usual maintenance and brush replacements.
Visit renewedearth.com or call 800-762-2722 to learn more about Renewed Earth.
To learn more about Doppstadt trommel screens and other products offered by Ecoverse, please visit ecoverse.net or call 440-937-3225.
