Greenhouse Growers Feeling Pressure to Adopt Modern Technology
To adopt modern grower technology, many have turned to SilverLeaf, which runs on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP platform.
The greenhouse grower market continues to expand rapidly while supply chain costs continue to rise. But there is continued pressure to adopt modern grower technology.
Given these trends, growers have to become more efficient in their operations. Manual processes supported by spreadsheets and entry-level accounting systems can work to a certain extent. But as the business volume grows and as customer demands change, adopting these tools makes it difficult to scale operations.
To solve these challenges, many greenhouse growers feel pressure to adopt new technologies. At the same time, they may feel resistance to change—the staff wants to keep doing things the way they always have. But sticking with legacy applications can have a detrimental effect on the long-term health of the business.
In this blog, we examine how an ERP platform streamlines vital business processes for greenhouse growers. We also present how an efficiently running business makes it easier to handle transitions as employees leave the company or change roles, or when ownership is handed down to younger generations.
Providing Real-Time Data Access Across the Business
By turning to a modern ERP platform designed specifically for the horticultural industry, growers can solve the challenge of spreadsheets while gaining access to real-time information and automating key processes:
- Cost Accounting—know what each plant truly costs from seed to sale. This includes the soil, fertilizer, labor, pots, potting machines, water, pesticides, and shipping.
- Inventory Management—compare the sales forecast to inventory on hand so you know what you can sell and what you need to grow or order.
- Production Planning— determine the required capacity (greenhouse space, staffing, transplanters, sticking machines) to transform plants and inventory components into finished products.
A centralized ERP platform provides access to information across the business. For example, managers can see the sales demand forecast, which can be exploded into the required bill-of-materials components. The system then automatically generates a report to look at the on-hand availability and open purchase orders pertaining to those components. The managers know exactly what they need to buy and how soon the items need to arrive.
Measure and Manage Performance in Real Time
To automate processes and provide real-time access to data, many greenhouse growers have turned to SilverLeaf, which runs on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP platform. As a modern solution that runs in the cloud, SilverLeaf simplifies daily operations and provides reporting and analytics so you can gain better visibility into your operations and make faster decisions on plant costs, inventory, and production.
SilverLeaf also provides a user-friendly interface and can be configured to fit your business today while also allowing you to accommodate future growth. With integrations between financials, production, inventory, shipping, and other key workloads, you can easily measure and manage performance in real time.
Single Version of the Truth Helps with Role Transitions
Just as importantly, SilverLeaf brings all of your processes and the knowledge of your internal team into one central database. This “single version of the truth” eases the burden when employees leave or switch responsibilities. Key information and how processes run no longer live inside someone’s head, and you don’t have to worry about someone “winning the lottery.” Anyone new to the business or taking on a new role can easily jump right in, see how things run, and access the information they need to do their jobs.
You’re also in much better shape should you decide to sell the business, or if you retire and turn it over to a family member or friend. The younger generations are accustomed to working with modern grower technologies on their smart devices that automatically push real-time data and streamline workflows. With SilverLeaf, you can give them a modern ERP platform that provides all the information they need about how to run the operation effectively so they can hit the ground running.
For more information on how SilverLeaf can help you adopt modern grower technologies that enable your business to run more efficiently,