When Massachusetts based cannabis company, Happy Valley, was creating the business plan for their commercial cannabis cultivation facility, they knew they needed reliable and scalable systems in place to deliver on their brand promise of premium, quality cannabis that offers a consistent experience each time.
A diverse team of seasoned cultivators, technologists, and cannabis consumers, Happy Valley was familiar with the traditional methods of tracking grow data and daily activities: whiteboards and notebooks.
While researching cannabis software online, Happy Valley VP of Technology, Gregg Weiss, came across Trym. Cannabis software that combines task management, environmental monitoring, and data analytics.
What they didn’t expect was how much time Trym would save their 20 person cultivation team. When comparing Trym to whiteboards for managing people in a grow facility, the time savings was shocking.
Managing people is hard work
With labor accounting for nearly two thirds of commercial cannabis production costs, it’s essential to have a system in place that ensures fluid communication of daily work, and promotes accountability and visibility across the organization.
Drew Greco and Tim Larson, Cultivation Managers at Happy Valley, knew how challenging it was to manage people with whiteboards and text messaging. In previous roles, they’d spend hours each week managing schedules, updating whiteboards with data and instructions, and tracking employees down on foot.
Drew would arrive at the facility early each morning to review the previous day’s work and plan for the day ahead. He’d ensure all tasks were completed from the previous day. Then, he’d update the boards and debrief the team upon arrival.
This daily process was time consuming and he’d find himself still having to track people down throughout the day to ensure they were working on the most important tasks. When he wasn’t looking for employees in the facility, they were looking for him!
With a Proper System, Time is Freed Up
With Trym, Drew’s able to create and assign all the upcoming tasks for his team before the start of each workday. He’s able to specify the details of what needs to be done, where it will take place, and who’s responsible for completing it.
To minimize the face to face check-ins with each employee, Trym provides real time access to daily tasks in the mobile app. Employees can quickly mark when they’ve started and completed their tasks. As a result, Tim and Drew get a bird’s eye view on what work’s been completed, what’s in progress, and what hasn’t been started yet.
“Trym is a dream come true app. I have no clue what we’d do in a facility this size with ten flower rooms, 2 veg rooms and 20 cultivation employees” – Tim Larson
Trym’s task management is built for cannabis and the specific workflows cultivators have. It creates structure and fosters organization and accountability in an environment that can often be hectic.
Trym also provides a more efficient way to communicate tasks and responsibilities to employees, while freeing up valuable time.
We used the 2019 cannabis industry salary guide published by Vangst to estimate total labor savings. Happy Valley’s cultivation team is composed of 2 managers, Drew and Tim, and 18 employees. The management team saves 1 hour each day while each employee saves 1 hour per week, Monday through Friday. Combined, that’s 23 labor hours saved each week by using Trym compared to using only whiteboards.
Having instant access to their tasks for the day reduced each employee’s need to congregate around the whiteboard for clarification or seek out Drew or Tim. That’s more time for hands on activities with the plants.
Besides the monetary savings from increasing labor efficiency, Trym keeps the team aligned and on track with daily responsibilities and provides a level of confidence and peace in knowing operations are running smoothly. The days of having to track people down on foot are over for Happy Valley.
“If a thought pops into my mind, when I’m sitting on the couch at home, I can pull out my phone and add it to the calendar right then. I don’t need to remember and come in early the next day to write it on a whiteboard. I can also check the conditions in all of our rooms from home. The Argus integration has been huge for us.” – Drew Greco
Integrations and Environmental Data
Beyond cannabis-specific task management, Trym integrates with environmental sensors, providing remote visibility into climate conditions. Temperature, humidity, CO2 and light status are displayed in real-time for each zone monitored in the Trym mobile and web apps.
A small company dedicated to customer-driven product development, Trym developed an integration with Argus Controls in collaboration with Happy Valley. By reading in data from the environmental sensors already deployed in their facility, Trym is able to link their environmental conditions to the active plants growing in their facility.
“We understand the importance of environmental data to indoor cultivators and were enthusiastic to work on this integration with Argus and Happy Valley. We’re always excited to collaborate with cultivators in order to better support their needs and improve the Trym platform.” – Matt Mayberry, CEO, Trym.
To learn more about Happy Valley visit their website and follow them on Instagram
