“LetsGrow.com has become our central tool for managing our greenhouse”, says Marius Mans van Mans Flowers located in Brakel. The grower checks the status of his company on a regular basis on LetsGrow.com. This provides him with valuable information “it helps me to move forward”, says Marius.
Marius Mans is part of the gerbera dynasty. His brothers each have their own company close to Mans Flowers. Together with his brothers, Marius has a study group. Eugenie Dings of Flori Consult Group guide this. The group meets weekly and LetsGrow.com is an essential part of those meetings.
“My previous study group did not have the option to share my cultivation data through LetsGrow.com”, says Marius. “Everybody would send their Excel file with crop and production data to Eugene who combined the files. However, people forgot to send their data, and that caused some frustration. You could not properly compare the data in those cases”.
Head start
Two events in 2012 caused Mans Flowers to change course. Firstly Mans Flowers expanded (32.000m2) and Marius started with a different way of growing his crop. “I was very busy and had even less time to insert the data into an Excel file. After a request from us, LetsGrow.com started a pilot to process the weekly data in gerbera’s”.
Mans: “Because we all work with LetsGrow.com, our data becomes cleaner. On top of that, we can also use historical data in our conversations with the study group. This means we can trace everything that’s happened, minute by minute. That gives food for thought. We’re also able to respond more quickly to certain situations. It’s happened multiple times that I thought: let’s see how this works out. Now I can plan ahead much better than before.”
“Because we all work with LetsGrow.com, our data becomes clearer. On top of that, we can also use historical data in our conversations with the study group. This means we can trace everything that’s happened, minute by minute. That gives food for thought. We’re also able to respond more quickly to certain situations. It’s happened multiple times in the past that I thought: let’s see how this works out. Now I can plan ahead much better than before.”
Marius Mans, Mans Flowers
Improved plan
“If you are not working with LetsGrow.com collecting data takes more time, I would rather use this time to analyze the data”, says Dings. By using this program we can use our time more effectively. Also, the data is more accurate and it is easier to place the data in its context.
Mans: ”I can use my time more effectively thanks to LetsGrow.com. I can learn more in less time. Now most growers in The Netherlands use LetsGrow.com which gives us as a group a massive amount of information. Allowing us to improve production. That is the power of combining information. Developments such as the botrytis model and growth models allow us to expand on the knowledge that the gerbera sector has gained through LetsGrow.com.
”I can use my time more effectively thanks to LetsGrow.com. I can learn more in less time. Now most growers in The Netherlands use LetsGrow.com which gives us as a group a massive amount of information. Allowing us to improve production".
Marius Mans, Mans Flowers
