What if your Order Really could be Delivered Yesterday?
As a greenhouse manufacturer we always joke that the “customer wants it delivered yesterday”. When I go to manufacturing association meetings I hear the theme repeated by all manufacturers, regardless of whether it is a boiler, an airplane, a toothbrush, or a greenhouse, when customers want their order they want it now, the fact that it took one day between wanting a greenhouse and ordering the greenhouse is immaterial. I suspect greenhouse growers might say the same of their retail and wholesale customers.
Receiving your order before you actually ordered it may soon be a reality, at least for Amazon. According to Connor Simpson at The Wire “Amazon is considering a new phase in its quest for global commerce domination. They're working a plan that would ship products to you before you even purchase them because Amazon knows what you want better than you do.” For Greenhouses you may still have to wait a week - partly because, while I find predictive models using Big Data analytics of things like, how long your mouse hovers over a click box, your history of ordering, and what your neighbor has done this week, interesting, I also find it a little creepy. Thank you Mrs. Wigston, my grade 12 creative writing teacher, for driving home the significance of George Orwell’s 1984.
At GGS our goal is to help growers grow. To do that we need to be able to provide our products and services in a knowledgeable and efficient way. We need to delight our customers and exceed expectations. Reducing delivery times for custom designed greenhouse structures is one of the primary objectives that we measure and track at GGS. By fostering a Continuous Improvement culture we tweak our processes constantly to improve delivery lead times on greenhouse orders.
And we have a lofty goal! We may not be shooting for Amazon timelines, but if we can one day deliver your 5 acre greenhouse range 1 week after you say go, I will be satisfied that we have accomplished something incredible for the benefit of our growers.
Author
Leigh Coulter
Leigh Coulter is the President of GGS Structures Inc. a leading greenhouse manufacturer with sales worldwide. Leigh holds a degree in business from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and she has been asked to speak at numerous events regarding manufacturing and business development. GGS manufactures greenhouses for all crops, as well as manufacturing fabric covered buildings. After years of working with cannabis growers to improve medical marijuana cultivation technologies, and as part of the company’s strategic development in 2013 Leigh established a division within the company dedicated to the emerging legal cannabis industry, and as such GGS is on the forefront of the movement. As part of this division new people were brought into the company to expand the company’s knowledge in indoor controlled agriculture cultivation (CEA) as well. GGS was the first greenhouse manufacturer worldwide to actively promote cannabis cultivation in greenhouses through their website, brochures, and in the media. Leigh believes passionately in “doing the right thing” and that supporting people’s rights to choose how they take care of their bodies is fundamentally “the right thing”. Working with cannabis growers all over the world she has developed the utmost respect for people who want to perfect their craft, and grow their best plants, and everyone on the GGS team is delighted to be part of that mission.
