Labor Remains a Primary Obstacle - Not Enough of it and Too Expensive
In the cover story of Greenhouse Management’s February Magazine “Modern Marvels,” experts discussed the development of cutting-edge technology for greenhouse production. Author Chris Mann opens the conversation by stating that “labor availability and costs continue to afflict the ornamental industry, growers dream of automated solutions for production tasks… 55% of survey respondents shared they’d like to automate tasks and 19% said they’ve adopted automation to help combat labor shortages.”
Growmentum Provides the Collection of Data to Make More Informed Investment Decisions
In conversations with various greenhouse growers and managers, they often cite the implementation of a labor and task management tracking solution like Growmentum as giving them the data and analytics to support investment into automated technology. Current operations and applied software platforms don’t provide the granularity that Growmentum’s platform captures, and would therefore be ideal candidates for robotics or other automation technology implementation.
Variety Remains Constant
The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada pointed to several obstacles companies face when implementing this software. Each grower is different; the operations and the nomenclature of how they refer to each task are not shared amongst company-owned greenhouses, let alone the industry, making an out-of-the-box solution nearly impossible.
Brian Lynch, Director of Horticulture Technology Solutions at Vineland, provided additional insights into the challenges associated with adoption.
1. Clear ROI is Key
“I went around to growers and asked them if they like technology or if they are scared of technology. And they all… gave me the same impression… that they don’t care. If it helps them, they are open to it, they like it. It’s another piece of equipment to them. But at the end of the day, it’s a business. So what they care about most is if they are going to get their return on investment, are they going to get the value of it and does it actually make their life easier.” - BL
Automation is difficult to prove ROI on unless there is a collection of data supporting that investment. Growmentum collects clear before and after implementation metrics, providing objective data to support a company’s investment in the platform.
2. Growers Know Their Pain Points
“They are the ones who are telling us about the labor crisis they are facing, whether it’s the cost of labor, whether it’s access to staff. In Canada, and the States as well, people don’t want to do these jobs. I think it can depend on the location.” - BL
Those of us in the technology and software industries understand the intricacies of bringing a product to market. Growers are no different. Oftentimes, their families have shared knowledge and training that goes back many generations, allowing them to continue to provide quality products to the marketplace. Growers are aware of the labor issue and the roots of the problems associated with it.
3. Growers Have to be Part of the Development Process
“It’s about encouraging growers to understand that developing these technologies is hard to do in an office, in a warehouse. Getting growers to understand that we need them to be part of the development process is really fundamental. A lot of growers really do get that. But at the end of the day, they are running a business. They can’t afford for a company to come in and break things. And they don’t necessarily have the time to be intimately involved and advising the development process.” - BL
With Growers in mind, Growmentum was created in a strategic collaboration with Metrolina Greenhouses. With a myriad of dedicated time, this partnership was able to create a platform that applied an intentional change management approach to implementation and continues to assist in new releases and iterations of the product across North America.
Conclusion
In summary, it is clear labor remains a constant constraint for growers. While being open to technology and automation innovations to help solve this problem, they need a tool to begin collecting information in a standardized way. Growmentum serves as a bridge, enabling a clear understanding of where capital investment can have the greatest impact on product quality while also informing essential managerial decisions.
Sources
Greenhouse Management. (February 5, 2024). "Modern Marvels: New Technology." Retrieved from https://www.greenhousemag.com/article/modern-marvels-new-technology/?utm_campaign=Greenhouse+Management+Digital+Edition&utm_source=02%2f05%2f2024+-+&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.greenhousemag.com%2fArticle%2fmodern-marvels-new-technology&utm_content=526334&isid=23E864