How an updated software tool can help to optimize harvest

Added on 29 March 2022

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How an updated software tool can help to optimize harvest

Grodan kicked off the new growing season with the release of its update e-Gro Platform. In response to feedback from top growers worldwide, in combination with continuous testing, the company has increased the focus on optimization in the Production Module for more efficient harvest planning. Additionally, the presentation options in the Reports Module have been updated to provide an all-in-one overview of a company's growing strategy. These new improvements are designed to help growers gain better insights into their targeted growing strategy.

When it comes to product development and innovation, Grodan's primary goal is to ensure that all its products fit with the growing strategy and cultivation process in high-tech greenhouses. Therefore, the company always closely involves growers from all over the world in the development process. In this case, this included holding interviews to gather feedback about what should be included into the new release to meet growers' needs.

Production Module Improvements for Better Harvest Planning

In terms of production, growers face a number of challenges, including the complexity of planning the required labor, packing, and shipping activities, as well as challenges related to pricing, marketing, and selling their crops. This makes the Production Module one of the key aspects of the e-Gro platform because it provides insights into the expected harvest. The e-Gro Yield Forecaster enables growers to optimize their planning, thus improving their efficiency and reducing costs. It also saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent on manually analyzing historical data and making calculations, whether about crop production and harvests or sales figures and prices. Therefore, Grodan is keen to ensure that the Production Module continues to fully meet growers' needs.

Gap Analysis

The growers' feedback received during the interviews while preparing for the new release confirmed that e-Gro users greatly appreciate the yield prediction for the next four weeks, which is unique in the market. The forecast is based on historical growing data combined with artificial intelligence (AI). However, the interviews also revealed that growers sometimes adjust their yield strategies during the production process and they indicated that it would be useful to have an option to enter harvest plans in e-Gro. In the new release, the Production Module has been adapted so that users can now compare the predicted yield against their own harvest plans, which is key in improving the harvest strategy and understanding whether there are any gaps between what is planned and what is predicted.