How to Use AI and Automation for Greenhouse Operations

AI has been a buzzword on the horizon for so long, but now it’s finally here and it’s transforming greenhouse operations from the field to the back office. Are you taking advantage of it? If you’re on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, chances are you already have access to some useful AI and automation tools that can improve your productivity and greenhouse operations. Pair that with SilverLeaf, an ag-industry specific extension built on BC, and you can improve forecasting, reduce manual tasks, and so much more. If you’re not actively using AI, it might be time to figure out how you can incorporate it into your workflows… potentially with zero extra spend!

Greenhouse AI Trends & How to Stay Ahead

The agriculture industry is being transformed by AI and growers are rapidly investing in AI-enabled tools like smart fertigation systems, environmental sensors, computer vision tools that monitor plant health, and predictive modeling for harvest planning. These are all incredible tools, but they do require both infrastructure and capital to get started. But good news! If you’re not ready for that level of investment, you can still implement AI in your back office without major spend or disruption. This not only results in quick ROI, but AI can support greenhouse operations in the back office by improving labor planning and cost forecasting, setting alerts for inventory reordering, forecasting yield based on historical data, auto creating sales quotes and more.

Implementing AI Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

The thought of implementing or even using AI can be daunting. From needing to choose and implement a new system to budgeting issues, data input and user adoption, there seems to be plenty to worry about. But in reality, AI is meant to make your life and work easier. In fact, it could already be part of your current system. With Dynamics 365 Business Central, Copilot could already be available to you.

Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) – Microsoft’s ERP platform for SMB
SilverLeaf – a grower-specific solution built on Business Central with industry logic and functionality
Copilot – Microsoft’s AI assistant available in BC and other Microsoft products

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant that automates processes, provides informed insights, creates predictive recommendations, and more, while connecting with the entire Microsoft ecosystem. The goal is to remove bottlenecks and allow your team to put their efforts into higher-value areas.

Benefits of Copilot for Greenhouse Operations

Copilot can quickly and easily answer questions like, “What were our top-selling SKUs last month?” or “What is our projected cash flow?” or even “What products will be ready next week?” without having to dig through different dashboards or spreadsheets.
Copilot can summarize quotes, draft emails, or generate reports in seconds.
With the built-in forecasting module, Copilot has capabilities to predict resource outputs and sales forecasts based on past seasons.

Agriculture and AI Automation

While all of those benefits are already amazing, the AI functionality within SilverLeaf takes it a step further opening industry-specific automation and reporting structures. SilverLeaf dashboards and automations are informed with agriculture-specific logic and can offer predictive insights that could improve crop planning, workforce allocation, replenishment, and more. This ties together your crop, labor, production, and sales data to create a single source of truth that you can rely on. When SilverLeaf is paired with Copilot, the data becomes much richer.

Here are some ways greenhouse growers could benefit from Copilot and SilverLeaf:

Inventory Management and Operations

With Copilot, production replenishment orders could be automated based on historical data and real-time usage. This could automatically generate purchase suggestions and notify you if unusual patterns pop up.

SilverLeaf further enhances this with industry-specific logic like crop-stage and task triggers as well as material requirements associated with your production cycles. This ensures that your inputs are in place prior to shortages that may impact yield.

Labor and Resource Planning

Copilot can predict future labor demands based on ERP data. SilverLeaf enhances the information with crop-cycle data, which allows you to have better seasonal staffing models.

Finance

Copilot can automate journal entries, invoice generation, and reconciliations.

SilverLeaf ties financial insights to specific activities, so cash flow projections consider factors such as crop start and end dates (weeks), delayed harvests, or seasonal fluctuations and labor.

Sales

Copilot supports the sales team by summarizing customer history prior to calls and can auto-generate quotes and contracts based on SKUs, quantities, and pricing.

New Sales Orders can automatically be placed in Business Central with just an email.

SilverLeaf takes this a step further by combining sales data with crop and order history to identify patterns, upsell opportunities, and optimize pricing strategies.

Start Using AI in Your Back Office Operations Today

If you’re starting to realize how much your operations could benefit from Copilot, then what are you waiting for? Follow these steps to get started today:

Get Started in Business Central

If you’re already on Business Central, make sure your version of BC is up to date and your licensing includes Microsoft 365 and D365 Business Central.
- Turn on Copilot and experiment with the prompts and suggestions.
Not on Business Central yet? Velosio’s ERP experts can help you decide if it’s the right fit for your greenhouse business.

Take Advantage of SilverLeaf’s Capabilities

Utilize ag-specific dashboards within SilverLeaf for real-time visibility into growing cycles, resource usage, and sales trends.
Input historical data for predictive insights into future planning.

Automate Common Workflows

Review your processes and see where workflows can be configured to remove bottlenecks. Copilot and SilverLeaf can step in to handle many of these workflows automatically.

Talk to Your Partner

Reach out to Velosio to assess your current technology stack. We’ll take a look at your processes and identify where you can be unlocking more value in your operations.

Conclusion

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to incorporate AI into your greenhouse operations, there is no better time than the present. With Dynamics 365 Business Central and SilverLeaf, AI no longer needs to be a future goal but a reality. You can quickly begin boosting operational efficiency, eliminating redundant work, and making better decisions in the back office with no costly overhaul. Ready to discuss this next step into AI? Our experts are ready to guide you through this digital transformation and get your agriculture operations future-ready.