Special Touches to Wow Your Landscaping Clients
The morning roll-out is often where landscape professionals look when trying to improve efficiency. The same is true for us at Grunder Landscaping Co., and even though our morning roll-out is smooth and usually pretty efficient, we're always looking for ways to get better.
As we've doubled our revenue at Grunder Landscaping Co., it hasn't translated exactly to double the trucks and crews due to efficiency gains in tandem with growth; nonetheless, we've had to look at our morning rollout to see if there were ways we could improve efficiency now that we have more crews trying to get out of the lot at the same time.
We realized one morning that we could probably be running two loaders at the same time to double the trucks we could fill with cobbles, mulch, and compost if we were careful about doing it safely.
So we came up with a process for it, which involved:
1. Signage and training for the whole team.
We changed the rules for team members during the morning rollout so that we could keep drive lanes clear and avoid the potential for accidents. We've posted signage reminding the team members to stay out of the loading zone, the crews installed the signs earlier this year (pictured above). Drivers can be in the loading zone but must stay on the driver's side of the truck, and everyone else must stay out of the way for safety.
2. The same two people operate the loaders each morning.
We have others who can substitute if needed, but Gaston is in one loader, and Jimmy is in the other. They're both skilled with the machines and at navigating around each other. They communicate with crews using hand signals to load what each crew needs. Again, this process is just for the materials our crews use the most: cobbles, mulch, and compost.
And that was really it! It was a simple change, but we were careful to make it safely since it meant extra moving machinery in the morning. It's greatly improved the efficiency of our morning rollout, and it's allowed us to get trucks out of the lot faster. Look around during your own morning roll-out tomorrow; maybe you'll see some small ways you can improve your efficiency. The little drips add up!
You can see our morning rollout and what it looks like when our crews return for the evening yourself at one of our GLC Field Trips. Come see me - the dates are listed below under Upcoming Events!
Marty Grunder
President & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.