Manufacturing Company Decreased Pigeon Problem by 85% with Laser

The Autonomic solved pigeon problem at pallet manufacturer Dongen Pallets

“The pigeon problem has decreased by 85 percent.”

Gerard Snelders, Dongen Pallets

Company: Pallet manufacturer Dongen Pallets
Location: Dongen, The Netherlands
Product: Agrilaser Autonomic
Reason: Pigeon excrement pollutes pallets
In use since: July 2015

Results
• Up to 85% less pigeons in the factory
• Cleaner pallets
• Lower costs for cleaning and returns
• Higher customer satisfaction
• More animal-friendly solution

Situation before
Dongen Pallets produces several million pallets annually. As this takes place in an open factory containing a lot of wood, this space is an ideal nesting place for pigeons. Their excrement causes a lot of nuisance for the company. Pallets are being polluted and customers return orders. Attempts to repel the pigeons with netting or electric fencing are practically or financially unfeasible.

Results after use
Since the Agrilaser Autonomic has been installed, the pigeon population has decreased by 85 percent. Thus, there is much less pollution and it is much easier to check and to guarantee the pallet quality. The number of complaints by customers reduced to zero. Furthermore, visitors value the efforts of Dongen Pallets to get rid of the nuisance.

“Customers think we are doing the right thing”

An open factory full of humid, warm pallets is an ideal nesting place for pigeons. For years, they had free rein until Quality Manager Gerard Snelders installed the Autonomic.

Every day approximately 75 people work at Dongen Pallets, producing pallets for world leading food and pharmaceutical companies. Gerard Snelders, involved in the company for more than 30 years, manages the quality of processes as well as products.

This is necessary, as customer expectations have been changed. “Nowadays quality is very important. In the past, pallets used to be just a means of transportation and a bit of mold was not a problem. Now they need to be in perfect condition, as if they were pieces of furniture.”

The open factory containing thousands of humid pallets radiating heat, creates an ideal nesting place for pigeons. This goes together with a lot of excrement being dropped on the pallets. The result: polluted products, high cleaning and failure costs, customers complaints and lost time. “We experienced this problem for the last five to ten years.”

reviously, Snelders tried to solve the problem by installing nets to resist the pigeons. “But those were damaged by fork-lift drivers. And they were strikingly expensive.” Another solution, electrical fencing giving pigeons a harmless shock, was financially unfeasible. An internet search brought a solution. “I saw the Autonomic installed at a nearby company. After reaching out to my contact person there, we conducted a trial with the device. A month into the trial, we decided to buy the laser. Even though the pigeon problem cannot be solved completely, it has decreased by 80 to 85 percent.”

Customers also see the positive difference, says Snelders. Their satisfaction increased and no more complaints about pigeon poop on pallets occurred. “We showed the laser to several customers. They think we are doing the right thing to prevent problems. Some say: give us the address of Bird Control Group because it is also useful for our company.”
Gerard Snelders, Dongen Pallets