Landscape Management, April 2018
26 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET April 2018 Efficiency hackers hacker Landscape pros share how equipment technology and metrics save labor and improve production By Marisa PalMieri artisTree added 104 inch mowers to reduce manpower needs L andscape companies used to be able to solve problems by throwing labor at it if you were behind on a project and the client was unhappy you could add another crew or work weekends to hit your timeline and please your customer without doing too much damage to your bottom line says Jason New principal with landscape coaching firm McFarlin Stanford That changed during the Great recession when there simply wasnt enough revenue to throw labor at problems Over the last few years the scarcity of labor and increased labor rates reaffirm that its unfeasible to solve problems this way anymore So how should companies improve production Experts say its essential for landscape companies to be more efficient in everything they do its time to become efficiency hackers How Efficiency starts with budgeting for everything New says noting many companies have budgets for individual jobs but they dont have budgets for contingency items like travel time shop time equipment maintenance and warranty work Every single thing youre paying your team to do needs a budget he says Thats what efficiency is When you put a budget together it drives your team to think i only have so much time to do this i have to figure out how to get it done Next companies should determine where they could make the biggest impact and focus on honing those processes its different depending on your service model New says it might be how youre digging holes planting trees or something else but pick one thing and solve it Then move on to the next thing Finally and most importantly involve your team members Dont try to solve it by yourself he says people build resentment if its always your idea You get better buy in if you make it their idea in addition to talking with New we checked in with several landscape companies to learn about the clever solutions theyre using to become more efficient
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