The last months have been a great and eventful journey of creation and development for the PYLOT team. They are proud of their new feature and the benefits it will bring to the horticultural sector. This functionality will assist growers and production managers in their process of creating a Harvest Forecast. As they say: “The time has come to increase the harvest accuracy and optimize the processes. Spread the word, PYLOT makes growing easier.”
In their strive to become the leading data platform for the high-tech horticulture sector, the PYLOT team is constantly developing new smart functionalities which assist growers and managers, always having a high performance and user-friendliness of the platform in mind. Maximizing operating profits and minimizing risks by more efficiency and focussing on process optimization.
Development Process
For their new feature, dozens of growers, sales teams, and greenhouse managers have been interviewed. Surveys have been sent out, and result collected. Analyzing these results using the “Jobs to be Done” methodology. Designing and developing a prototype that covers the most desirable outcomes from those responsible for the harvest forecasting process and the beneficiaries.
“It is self-evident that the accuracy of a harvest forecast is in high demand by sales and operating departments. However, the PYLOT team went deeper into the process and learned that accuracy is a segment of the total optima forma”; say’s Marc Rooijakkers.
When listening to horticultural specialists, we received many ideas and requests on how to make the process of forecasting better. And when we say ‘process,’ we really mean the comprehensive process from the very beginning to the very end. And we believe “we already nailed it in our first version.”
After the initial design and development, an interesting period of testing with members of their expert panel and the PYLOT users was executed. Factual data was used, resulting in reliable outcomes. With the positive feedback and trustworthy outcomes, PYLOT is confident with the release of yet another great new functionality in the PYLOT data platform. The new functionality “Harvest Forecast” is incorporated into the PYLOT Professional product.
Harvest forecast
What does this new functionality comprehend? The harvest forecast functionality provides the grower with all relevant data, calculations, and tools to create and communicate a reliable and accurate harvest forecast.
PYLOT presents the data and calculations with the help of their Data Assistant. The Data Assistant presents crucial data in several widgets and provides the grower with accurate information, which they are required to analyze and create a harvest forecast from.
The Data Assistant visualizes data in graphs. Data on actual harvest, previous harvest forecast, and the automated harvest forecast are presented. The automated harvest forecast is calculated by PYLOT and based on several parameters. In this smart harvest forecast calculation, several data points are taken into consideration, such as historical harvest results, plant age, fruit class, and also historical and forecasted light. Furthermore, 24-hour greenhouse temperature, Fruit weight, and planting density are present in the widget as you can read all relevant data in one place.
Accurate weather data
To create a trustworthy harvest forecast, accurate weather and climate forecast data is a must! PYLOT has performed a very deep analysis on this topic to get the Best in Class. As a result, they have selected and integrated the data from MeteoMatics. The Data Assistant presents real-time information on outside temperature, precipitations (rainfall), and solar radiation. Based on this data PYLOT also calculates the required, artificial light hours/day.
Communication between teams
As mentioned, PYLOT believes to have captured the whole process and has included another important aspect in this new feature. Because how is the harvest forecast information distributed or communicated between growers and sales teams? A topic often underexposed.
They have created a solution and are happy to tell you more about it.
Dashboards
This PYLOT feature accumulates all the information in one place. Not only from a weather data perspective but also provides a dashboard with information on the different crops and greenhouses. Providing insight and a comprehensive overview.
An important step to a perfect forecasting process
The PYLOT team is convinced that the new Harvest Forecast feature, as an addition to the other functionalities, will bring your organization to the next level. Creating more efficiency and process optimization to boost organizational productivity and profitability. The other positive effect they foresee is better communication between different departments and the company as a whole. Say goodbye to the friction between sales and operations, and Say Hello, to a healthy, constructive collaboration between departments.
For more information:
Pylot
info@pylot.nl
www.pylot.nl