Willoway nursery Inc. is an enormous nursery. It is the largest single nursery in the state of Ohio and ranks in the top forty nationwide, having more then 325 seasonal workers and 160 full time employees, and totalling sales to over $14,000,000.00 annually. Having such a large nursery with millions of plants while at the same time turning a profit is not easy, but Willoway does a good job of it. Willoway is a model of efficency for a large scale nursery buisness.
Willoway originally started as a small landscaping buisness in 1954, but shortly dropped landscaping in whole to become a more efficient nursery producer. This specialization was the first step at creating a more productive and efficient buisness going, and at the same time set the stage for a large scale nursery.
Keeping such a large nursery efficent is a critical job, and Willoway does an excellent job of it. Part of the reason Willoway is so efficient is the distrubution of power. Certain people specialize in one area or another. For instance certain people would be in charge of different parts of the nursery, and these people would have other workers under them. Such areas might include sales, wharehouse/ shipping, propagation, and a breakdown of the nursery into seperate areas. This enables the leaders of these these individual "teams" to keep better track of what is going on while also paying attention to any problems that might arise. By breaking it down like this Willoway is ensuring that plants get shipped and acounted for in a timely fashion.
Another way Willoway stays efficient is by the use of computers. Willoway uses computers in many ways, including office work such as payroll and account billing. One important use of the computer at Willoway is for inventory. All the plants grown by Willoway are inventoried and organized on their computer. Allowing an accurate acount of not only saleable merchandise, but also what they have growing for the next season and beyond.
Willoway is especially efficient in its large tree container growing, which is mostly pot in pot. This pot in pot technique not only allows more trees per acre, but also reduces use of heavy machinery, and reduces man hours for planting removing and loading. Pot in pot container growing also reduces the amount of topsoil that is lost when compared to field grown trees and shrubs, which is also efficient.
Willoway becomes more efficient sometimes by ingenuity. they have made many of their own tools to help increase efficiency, such as green house shelves that can be cranked for more space, and a tree or shrub trimming device. Many other tools also have been developed by the 4-5 person fulltime mechanic team, that have increased productivity and increased efficeincy. There is also talk of more mechinization and possibly the use of robots in the future (for which special pots have already been designed).
Some other numerous ways Willoway is efficient are in their water reclaimation for reuse, and their efficient use of warehouse space, which is turned into a covered green house for the winter months, and is used for forcing azaleas and other flowering plants.
Willoway is a good model of efficiency, for large scale nurseries. They continually make a profit and have established themselves in the forefront of the nursery trade. Such efficiency is effective, but it must also be noted that Willoway is constently looking for more ways to become even more efficient. This desire to become more and more efficient started when Willoway dropped its landscaping services and continues to be the base of Willoways plan still today. This consistent desire for better and better efficiency is one of the many reasons that Willoway has become and has thrived as such large a company.