How Sedan Floral tackles efficiency unconventionally

Solve One Problem, Solve Others You Didn't Know You Had

Sedan Floral sprawls across more than 19 acres in Southeast Kansas near the town of Sedan. The operation has been in business nearly 75 years, starting from its early roots as a flower business. President/CEO Jonathan Cude and his wife Ali are the third generation to join the business. Daughter Riley, who has starred in some of Sedan Floral's marketing campaigns, is the fourth generation, and from the early age of two she is already exercising her leadership skills and taking an interest in the business.

"She loves the plants and mostly running around the greenhouse telling people what to do," Ali says.

In an operation the size and age of Sedan Floral, problems often compound if left unaddressed, and Jonathan knows it, so he is vigilant about addressing them as soon as possible. Conversely, he has found that solving one problem can also resolve others at the same time.

"We watch for these types of things in our operation," he says. "We may not be able to address them next week or next month, but they go on a list and eventually we get them done. When they do get done, we have a win, and we try to figure out how to leverage that win."

Cude has found that most times it is never one thing that gets the job done. It is the collective things you do that add up, he says, and sometimes you must let go of old ways and try something different, despite your fears.

Prove Your Changes Are Efficient and Employees Buy In

Ali Cude has an undergraduate degree in nutrition, a Master's in administration, and she is a pharmacist. She spent one year helping the Sedan Floral team during the busy shipping season and found that the inventory system was casual at best, with a lot of estimating and no tracking of unusable product. She vowed never to go through that nightmare again.

In the pharmaceutical sector, inventory is tracked down to the last item. Ali determined to apply that same approach to Sedan Floral's inventory process. No more running over a tray of product or throwing ruined plants in the garbage without keeping a record of what happened to them. The whole system hinged on accuracy in accounting for product, and Ali knew obtaining buy-in from a team used to old ways of doing things wasn't going to be easy. She says even Jonathan was skeptical, at first.

Continue reading.

Photo created by prostooleh - www.freepik.com

Source: Greenhouse Grower