Arizona greenhouse employs RFID to track workers' tasks

From RFID Journal: Employees at tomato and cucumber producer Eurofresh Farms have increased their productivity by between 200 and 250 percent thanks to an RFID-based solution that helps the company track the exact amount of work performed by each staff member, and then compensate that individual accordingly. The system, provided by Priva, also enables the firm to track how many pounds of vegetables its plants produce, in addition to the amount of time it takes to care for them, and to compare that data with other plants and greenhouses. The Priva system links to payroll software provided by payroll and human-relations solutions software company Empower Software Solutions, which calculates workers' paychecks.

Eurofresh Farms operates 318 acres of greenhouse facilities in Willcox and Snowflake, Ariz., and produces approximately 140 million pounds of tomatoes and cucumbers annually, without the use of pesticides. It has 5.5 million plants within its 15 greenhouses, as well as an army of workers who go over every row and prune or harvest the plants. Traditionally, each employee submits a report indicating how many rows he processed, and is then paid accordingly. However, it is often difficult for supervisors to verify those details, in order to determine exactly how much work was carried out by each staff member. In addition, some rows contain more plants than others, as well as different varieties, and the company is thus afforded little visibility into the care provided for each plant, or the effect that a certain plant variety might have on the amount of work time required.

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