PepsiCo and Grimme Train Harvester Operators in VR, Cutting Potato Bruising
PepsiCo and Grimme have built digital twins of Grimme EVO and SE harvesters for VR operator training; pilots showed 87% more bruise-free potatoes.
PepsiCo and harvester manufacturer Grimme have built digital twins of Grimme potato harvesters to train seasonal operators in virtual reality. In pilot projects, PepsiCo reports 87% more bruise-free potatoes and a 1.7-fold reduction in severe bruising.
As reported by AgNavigator on 8 October, the two companies are creating virtual replicas of Grimme’s EVO and SE series harvesters, with immersive learning provider Altoura supporting the project. Trainees can walk around the machine, remove panels and study how it works in a virtual environment.
The training is designed for VR headsets but also runs on tablets, smartphones and desktop computers. Once the module has been loaded in the Altoura app, it works without Wi-Fi or mobile data, an important point for use on farms and in remote areas.
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From pilots to rollout
The platform was launched last year with pilots in Brazil and Mexico and has since expanded to Poland and Romania. It was also presented at PepsiCo’s Global Agro University in Germany. According to PepsiCo, the pilots delivered an 87% increase in bruise-free potatoes and a 1.7x reduction in severe bruising.
The companies say the goal is to address labour shortages and to train seasonal workers who are spread across different regions and may speak different languages. Rob Meyers, PepsiCo’s vice president of global agriculture, said the cost of the VR training is a small fraction of the revenue lost to bruising.
Why it matters for growers
Mechanical damage during harvesting reduces the marketable share of the crop, raises rejection risks with processors and can worsen storage losses. Many farms rely on seasonal harvester operators who have little time to learn the machine before the campaign starts, which is exactly the gap this kind of training targets.
