Last week, the entire leadership team of Rainbow Greenhouses went back to school: two days in a rented university classroom, away from day-to-day tasks, so we could really look at what needs to improve. The season just ended: the busiest weeks are behind us. We went through the numbers, one by one, to see what worked this season and what didn't.
It was a tough season. As I wrote in my last column, the weather, especially on the prairies, wasn't on our side. But the bigger challenge came from within: our productivity dropped, and we need a better grip on it. Unlike the weather, that's something we can actually control ourselves.
Meanwhile, fuel, labor, and input costs are all climbing at once. With the unrest around the Strait of Hormuz, productivity and cutting waste matter more than ever. We no longer generate margin from volume alone, but from tighter execution at every step of the supply chain.
