HeyStack Helps Manage the Harvest

With harvest season approaching, crop farmers and agricultural storage companies are gearing up for a busy period. Storage cells are being set up, storage locations are being inspected, and harvest logistics are being prepared. This increases the need for an up-to-date overview of batches, storage locations, and available inventory. Whether it’s onions, seed and table potatoes, tulip bulbs, or other agricultural products, business owners always want to know what’s where and how much inventory is available. That’s why more and more companies are choosing the HeyStack digital platform.

Overview Without Duplicate Record-Keeping

On many crop farms and other agricultural businesses, batches are still tracked on a whiteboard, in an Excel file, or on loose notes. That works, but it takes time and often leads to duplicate record-keeping. During harvest, inventory movements happen at a rapid pace. Batches are harvested, stored, sorted, and shipped. That’s precisely when it’s important for everyone to be working with the same up-to-date information.

Based on real-world experience, Flowgistics, a software company based in Ens, developed HeyStack. Using the app and web interface, users can easily record batches, storage locations, and inventory movements. All information is immediately available to everyone who works with it, both on the farm and in the office. The platform is easy to use, requires no specialized hardware, and aligns with the daily operations of businesses in the agricultural sector. More than 200 companies are now using HeyStack.

In addition to HeyStack, Flowgistics is also developing FarmTrade, a platform used by more than 20,000 agricultural businesses. The experience the software company gains from both platforms serves as an important foundation for the further development of HeyStack.

“Just before harvest is the time to get your inventory tracking in order,” says Mark Verwer of Flowgistics. “A company can be set up in just a few minutes. After that, users can get started right away as soon as the first boxes enter the storage shed.”

Register once, always up to date

Whereas previously a whiteboard and an Excel file were used side by side, information now only needs to be entered once. The current inventory is then always available via the app or web interface. This prevents duplicate work and ensures that business owners, employees, and regulatory agencies always have access to the same, up-to-date information.

This also results in immediate time savings in day-to-day operations. Employees no longer have to step off the forklift to update a whiteboard; instead, they record changes directly on their phones. Since HeyStack works without expensive scanners or specialized hardware, the transition to digital inventory management is also easy to implement.

Real-world experience

Van Schendel Farm in Marknesse has been using HeyStack since September 2025. The family-owned business, which has been in operation since 1948, grows seed and table potatoes, onions, carrots, and chicory, among other crops, on approximately 400 hectares. With a storage capacity of 12,000 boxes, maintaining a clear overview of inventory is essential.

Before introducing HeyStack, the company tracked its inventory on a whiteboard and in an Excel file. “Above all, we wanted to make fewer mistakes and be able to see our inventory at a glance,” says co-owner Martijn van Schendel. The transition took some getting used to. “You have to make sure everyone uses the system consistently. It’s getting better and better.”

Now Martijn doesn’t want to go back. “Once all the data is in the system, it gives us a tremendous overview. We regularly check our inventory. That’s important for us, but also for the cooperative we grow seed potatoes for. That way, we know exactly what we can or need to sell.”

According to Martijn, the biggest benefit isn’t so much in the data entry itself, but in inventory management. “Fewer mistakes are made, and I always update the inventory on Saturdays. That used to take a couple of hours. Now I just open the app and can see right away where we stand.”

Smart Software Meets Smart Logistics

The development of HeyStack continues apace. Flowgistics is working closely with VHM Machinery, a specialist in comprehensive logistics solutions for box and big bag logistics across the entire agri-food supply chain. Both companies share the belief that smart logistics doesn’t stop at the machine. That’s why they’re working on an integration that automatically processes data from VHM machines—such as the weight of filled boxes—into HeyStack. This ensures that data is automatically recorded, giving users access to up-to-date inventory information at all times. Martijn also sees the benefits of this. “That saves time and makes the work even easier.”

An idea that has been around for years

For Mark, HeyStack is really the answer to a question that’s been on his mind for years. “My father built storage sheds for farmers. Even as a thirteen-year-old, I wondered why everything on the farm was still tracked on a whiteboard, while he used Excel at home. Actually, I’m still asking myself the same question today: why would you still use a whiteboard and Excel when you can easily record everything digitally?”