‘We have already saved 10 to 20 percent on labour costs’
Enniskillen is situated in Canada. This 15-acre operation grows sweet peppers and has been using P-Plus for 1 year now. We asked manager Adrian Roelands a few questions.
Were you already using some kind of labour registration system before you purchased the P-Plus system?
‘Yes, we used Labour tracking by using clip boards, and excel spread sheets’
What is the ratio between your permanent and temporary workers?
‘We currently use 60 % permanent local labour, and 40 % off shore labour from Trinidad on an 8 month contract. Everyone uses the P-Plus system.’
How much time does it take for a new worker to learn how use the P-Plus terminals?
‘It usually only takes about 5 minutes to explain the P-Plus terminal to new employees, the system is very simple.’
What do you workers think of P-Plus?
‘The Employees found the P-Plus easy to catch on to and use. Now that we have the P-Plus installed we are able to pay piece rate, which enables our employees to make more money per hour if they do a good job. Our workers are pleased with this and it has helped us to retain workers that might have left for other jobs.’
Do you pay bonuses for good work performance?
‘With our system, we pay by piece rate for picking and pruning, so the faster you work, while managing good quality, the more you get paid. We have some employees that are able to almost double their previous wages. Since these people are working much faster this enables us to use less employees than before. This also is saving us money because if you have a worker that is not fast enough to make piece rate they are costing you more money per plant on pruning and more per kg on picking. Anyone who is unable to reach the required speed will not remain long term. We are already seeing a 10-20% savings on labour.’
How much time did it take you to learn how to use the P-Plus Analyse software?
‘It takes a few weeks to really get a handle on the Analyse software. The set up is user friendly. However, we are always finding different ways to use the data that the system provides so in that way the learning is ongoing.’
How much time does it take you to check the P-Plus registrations and correct any mistakes?
‘It is very important to train the people properly to use the system; if everyone is using the equipment properly, it should only take a 5-10 min a day to fix any mistakes.’
What was the main obstacle when the P-Plus system was first installed?
‘The only obstacle we found which was not that big of a deal, was there were some small communication difficulties mainly due to time zones and distance to Holland.’
Do you use the information in P-Plus to take management decisions?
‘Yes we use the P-Plus for management decisions, for example, we get our production data row by row for our trials so this can make our decision on which variety to choose for next year easier. Also we are able to see the performance of each employee, so we are able to decide which workers will be staying with us for another year. These are just a few examples of management decisions that we make but there are many more.’
Do you also export data from P-Plus?
‘We take the data that comes from the P-Plus system and use it for payroll. We use both hours worked and the speed and quality of the work to pay hourly and with piece rate, the system does most of the math for us making payroll simple.’
Do you often need to contact the HortiMaX helpdesk when using P-Plus?
‘Initially, we needed some support which we were able to do through email correspondence. But now that we are familiar with the system there is little support required.’
Would you consider P-Plus a worthwhile investment?
‘I would say that the P-Plus is a very valuable tool to have for any greenhouse operation, and is a worth while investment.’
Why do you think that other small- to medium-sized glasshouse operations are still not using a labour registration system, such as P-Plus?
‘I think either because they are too small to recover the upfront capital costs of the system or they have not yet looked into labour management systems and their benefits.’
Has HortiMaX been a reliable partner?
‘Hortimax has been good to deal with through the whole process from showing us some systems in Holland before we purchased the system to the ongoing service.’
Do you use any other HortiMaX products?
‘Currently P-Plus is the only hortimax product that we use.’
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