As a 200-year old organisation that has survived two world wars, we believe that our ability to adapt and the strength of our resilience has brought us this far. From drones to robotic arms to mechanical buffaloes, Sime Darby Plantation is changing the face of the plantation sector. Necessity was the mother of these inventions too. During the chaos of the global pandemic, our bicentennial experience, sustainability, and innovation has enabled Sime Darby Plantation to become a catalyst in transforming the palm oil industry.
Enquiries
Contact Person: SDP Innovation Committee
Email: innovation.portal@simedarbyplantation.com
Harvesting Challenge
Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) would like to automate the process of harvesting fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from oil palm trees in its Upstream Operations. There are multiple issues to solve, including identifying the ripe FFB, planning a cutting motion sequence, ensuring the actual cutting mechanism is effective as well as collecting the FFB post-harvesting. Additionally, there are also other challenges such as the height of oil palms that could go up to 10m (for prime palm) or higher, FFB that can grow around the palm tree, as well as the weight and hardness of the FFB stalks and fronds.
The goal is to have a mechanism that could autonomously approach and identify oil palms with the ripe FFB and effectively cut the fronds leading to the FFB as well as the stalk of the FFB. After this process, a collection mechanism is necessary to collect and place the FFB at an allocated area.
We categorise the work scope into different 5 categories as a guideline to identify and match technology companies with different pain points.
Please refer to the table below for the details of each pain point and expected success criteria and the video link for more information on harvesting operation.
Application Process
How do I know if my innovation or expertise is relevant?
To find out if your innovation or expertise is suitable for this challenge, please read our website (https://simedarbyplantation.com/innovation/innovation-challenge/) or the “Challenge” tab. If you have any questions regarding the application form, you may contact us via email at innovation.portal@simedarbyplantation.com
What information do I need to fill in when submitting an innovation proposal?
We advise all applicants to fill in all the applicable fields and provide information about their innovation proposal and how it will solve the pain points with as much detail as possible and as best as they can. However, please be aware that this information will be stored in SDP’s internal storage. If you would like to sign an NDA to disclose more information about your solution or expertise, please send an email to innovation.portal@simedarbyplantation.com
What's in it for you?
A successful submission would mean either working directly with SDP or one of our technology partners in developing the solutions and working as a collective team to bring the innovation to fruition.
Subject to terms and conditions, SDP may offer:
• Proof of Concept (POC) funding
• R&D support and access to facilities, site and data
• Expert advice from our business and technical mentors
• Service Contracts
A commercial discussion will take place upon the success of the Proof of Concept (POC) and you may be provided with the opportunity to become an SDP’s vendor, service provider or partner.
If you have the solutions or expertise that could be in our interest, please click "Submit Entry" to submit your proposal to us.
What happens once I have applied?
Once you have submitted your innovation proposal, your application will be reviewed.
During this process, you may be contacted by a member of our team with queries concerning your proposal. You may be asked to provide further information or clarification about your proposal.
If the submission is declined, you will also receive an email from us. This simply means that your innovation/expertise may not be suitable for the challenge or did not meet the necessary criteria. If you wish to find out why, you can contact us for further feedback via email.
When will I find out if I have been successful or not?
If we are interested in your proposal, we will contact you directly through email within 14 working days after the proposal submission.
All proposals will be reviewed over the course of the challenge, so you could be contacted at any time during working hours upon submission of your proposal. Hence, we advise all applicants to keep an eye on your email box.
Please ensure that you have read and understood our Terms of Use and PDPA Notice before accessing this microsite or providing your personal information to us.
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