NZ Frost Fans Case Study
Part 2 - Documentation
David supports NZ Frost Fans to become world leaders thanks to clearly documented processes
Before we launch into part-two of this case study, here’s a quick recap. Not read part one yet? You can view this here.
Since 2009, NZ Frost Fans has been helping growers and orchardists around the world protect their produce, profits, and reputation from the potentially devastating impacts of frost damage with FrostBoss frost fans. Alongside their other services FrostSmart monitoring and FrostConsult climate studies, they provide a full and significant service – from helping orchardists and growers understand and alleviate their frost risk; supplying the appropriate fan; managing the resource consent process; installing fans, gathering vital data to make informed decisions, and servicing and monitoring fans once they are in operation.
NZ Frost Fans are well on their way to becoming world leaders in frost fans. Their impact and geographic spread are constantly on the up. But without the right systems and processes to support them, their upwards trajectory could be noticeably harder.
Fortunately, that’s where David Stokes can help. Here’s how he’s supporting NZ Frost Fans to transition to visible, traceable, editable and clear digital documentation that captures their products, core manufacturing and other business processes.
Memory and paper-based processes can hinder growth
While NZ Frost Fans has had subject matter smarts from the get-go, they haven’t always had that knowledge clearly documented. At times, it felt like they were reinventing the wheel. This problem only grew more urgent with Covid.
NZ Frost Fans CEO Andrew Priest explains:
“As a small business that grew, the expertise of process and systems were just in a few people’s heads. As we were looking to expand, we needed something that could deliver more of a systematic process.”
It’s understandable for a smaller business to rely on memory and manual processes, but it can restrict growth and scale opportunities. This approach, which is not uncommon amongst SMEs, is risky because productivity and expertise is over-reliant on certain individuals – what happens when they go on holiday or leave the organisation?
A single source of truth: Out of employees’ heads and into cloud-based Confluence
David recommended cloud-based Confluence. He worked with the team to update their distributor portal and document their standard operating procedures (SOPs). Before, this information was not recorded to the level of detail that it needed to be.
The distributor portal is just one of several portals in the pipeline. Up next is an installers portal and an end-user portal. The great news about the portals is they can be customised to be fit-for-purpose and, once documented, the processes can be translated into various languages.
Marketing and business development manager, Chris, says this documentation process focused on:
“getting SOPs in one place, managing them and pointing to one source of truth. Rather than people manually emailing information, it becomes self-service”
The team are already harvesting the benefits like improved access and the ability to make changes faster and easier.
But a change in mindset takes time and some creative workarounds
Chris and Andrew agree that meeting the team where they’re at is one of David’s core strengths. Andrew admits adopting this system was a leap for some of the team and David had to be mindful of this:
“David was really understanding that it would be a journey for some people. Not everyone was going to get on board enthusiastically straight away. We needed to structure tasks and follow-ups in a way which was sensitive. David was good with that.”
Chris reiterates this by adding:
“David was willing to roll up his sleeves. He’s got good awareness of what each of us does… [which means] he worked around people’s skills.”
An example of this mindset in action: David was told that it wasn’t going to work if processes were only available online. Around 40 people work in the factory, and they don’t have access to a computer.
David devised a solution where NZ Frost Fans can print manuals for staff who don’t have access to the online version. To maintain the integrity of the single source of truth approach, they can also track and monitor what was printed and when – a workaround that leadership said suits their people.
Already harvesting healthy benefits
NZ Frost Fan’s leadership holds a healthy dose of realism - moving completely to Confluence will take time; some run to new technology; others are late adopters. What they are confident about though, is recommending David to other businesses that need one single source of truth and fit-for-purpose portals. Not to mention content that can be quickly translated into different languages. Thanks to Technology Systems and Confluence, NZ Frost Fans is well on their way to harvesting the full benefits.
