Stan and Wilma van der Waal started Rainbow Greenhouses in 1985 brokering potted plants and cut flowers into the Seattle, Washington marketplace. Today Rainbow Greenhouses Inc. is a privately owned wholesale grower and distributor of potted plants, located in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Rainbow Greenhouses is committed to providing the market with high quality plants. The company serves various markets in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as Washington, USA. Rainbow Greenhouses Inc. produces a wide variety of indoor, outdoor and seasonal plants.
Rainbow Greenhouses operates 3 sites totalling 2.5 million square feet in British Colombia and Alberta. They are currently employing 400 employees. As a company, Rainbow Greenhouses continually strive to find ways to increase process efficiency and drive cost out of production. The goals are increased production from the same 4 greenhouse walls and lower cost of production.
First contact
Stan van der Waal met a WPS account manager 2 years ago when he stopped by in Canada. This was followed by a trip to the Netherlands, where WPS showed Stan some installations. One of the key considerations was flexibility as Rainbow Greenhouses grows many crops and sizes. This poses challenges in automation as automation often works best in mono crop setting.
Which key aspects convinced you of the benefits of SmartFlo for your company?
‘We targeted our propagation area, which has frequent turns. Crops may need to be moved as often as every two weeks to provide the best growing environment. Second, we often move only portions of the bay, which can be in the middle. Conveyor belts solve the access problem allowing easy access and consolidation,’ Stan van der Waal explains.
Which goals did you want to achieve with the SmartFlo system?
- Ultimate goal is to reduce labour by 4 full time positions;
- Increase space utilization by 10%;
- Increase flow work speed.
What is your experiences with the system?
‘First, it takes time to adapt. Initially, the staff were not looking forward to this change as they felt the system would be challenging to operate. Turns out, staff now love the system and are impressed how easy workers have worked with the system. At this time, the labour savings is closer to 2 less positions. I feel we will get closer to 4 as we fine tune the process with the system.’
‘Second, the space utilization is definitely better. Probably closer to 5% at this time, but this will be more in the future. The bay consolidation is now very easy and middle positions are easily filled or moved.’
‘Third, processing speed to pick from belt areas is awesome. Head Grower Rob O’Hara tell me what used to take 12 hours is completed in 4 hours now.’
‘A side benefit has been reduced congestion in the greenhouse growing areas.’
Would you like to recommend the SmartFlo system to other nurseries?
‘Although shipment arrived behind schedule, WPS went above and beyond sending Installers and committed to assuring Rainbow was able to utilize the system in our busiest spring season. The installation went exceptionally smooth. I was also very impressed how seamless ‘bug free’ the initial operation of the system worked. The system has worked absolutely perfect from day one, impressive! The key advantages we see: increase work flow and productivity, and increasing turn time will reduce labour,’ Stan van der Waal explains.
For more information