Millstadt Young Plants
Custom Greenhouse Management System / ERP
About Millstadt
Millstadt Young Plants is a leading producer of young plants for greenhouse growers. They specialize in a wide range of selections, including annuals, geraniums, mums, and poinsettias. They are known for their commitment to quality and offer various programs to meet the needs of their customers.
The Problem
Millstadt was using a popular off-the-shelf horticultural software package which required many staff, created complicated processes, and had several issues inherent with off-the-shelf products such as:
• Inability to get desired changes
• Forced unwanted changes
• Inconsistent support
• Complexity and administrative burden
Millstadt sought a solution that would allow them to streamline their workflows for operational efficiency, improve quality and communication, but also be flexible so processes could change in the future with ease.
• Inability to get desired changes
• Forced unwanted changes
• Inconsistent support
• Complexity and administrative burden
Millstadt sought a solution that would allow them to streamline their workflows for operational efficiency, improve quality and communication, but also be flexible so processes could change in the future with ease.
Our Solution
Latitude 40 developed a custom greenhouse management system tailored to Millstadt's needs, featuring the following key modules and functions:
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Availability: Provides real-time rooted cutting availability to customers based on current greenhouse inventory, sales, and potential orders from suppliers. This information is automatically communicated to larger brokers via EDI and displayed on Millstadt’s website.
URC Purchase Order (PO) Management: Automatically adjusts supplier POs based on sales forecasts and actual sales activity. PO communications are managed in the background via EDI processes. Tag PO Management: Manages tag POs with MasterTag automatically, ensuring tags arrive at the customer's site simultaneously with the cuttings shipped by Millstadt. Sales Orders: Facilitates EDI-based ordering with larger brokers while allowing manual order entry for smaller clients. Production: Optimizes sticking and inventory management during production. Tools confirm inventory before shipping and allow adjustments if unexpected issues arise. |
Shipping
Invoicing: Ensures accurate and prompt billing, with pricing based on seasonal order volumes and freight costs determined by customer location and shipping method. Contract Growing: Manages contract growing operations for orders taken and managed by other companies. |
The Impact
The custom system has empowered Millstadt Young Plants to optimize their operations and reduce costs. By automating key processes and providing real-time insights, they can focus on producing high-quality young plants. The solution allows them to operate with just a couple administrative staff and increases product throughput with streamlined communication and workflows. They also have peace of mind knowing that ANY desired changes in the future will be possible, something you can’t achieve with off-the-shelf software. Special care was made to build the system with agility in mind so future changes can be made with minimal effort.
Sample Screenshots
“Working with Latitude 40 has been a pleasure. Designing programs to work in our company so we can run parallel to other companies' numerous systems has been flawless. Their team is clever, witty and makes the process of programming for our company calm and easy. I feel lucky to have the privilege of working with them.”
Amy Morris - Head Grower
