Dreamtree is a fully integrated set of software modules for both Desktop PC and Android Mobile devices that will address all types of commercial growing needs. From primary propagation through to finished product sales, Dreamtree addresses all stages of production with easy to follow process control stages aided by data collection on Android Mobile. Dreamtree will ease tiresome spreadsheet entries and contribute towards your day-to-day decision making by helping you see clearly and concisely where you are at every stage. Due to the modular nature of the software, it is possible to select just those parts of the software that are applicable to your needs, thus keeping training and investment focussed on your needs and not the needs of the software.
Dreamtree puts you in control of your business from either a selling point of view or a buying point of view. At any time you can see who owes you money and who you owe money to. Integrated credit control is a distant dream for those who use unconnected solutions, but with Dreamtree you can ensure your clients are served well and you remain in control of credit lines.
One of the key tasks and the most time consuming part of the year can be producing production estimates and tracking volumes of pots on the nursery and creating work plans such that you are in fact able to physically pot and deal with the volumes you require to meet your sales revenue targets. Simply deciding on what pot sizes to sell of any given plant variety can be daunting enough, but providing a comprehensive overview of your production needs can be all consuming and lead to poor cash flow and loss of sales if you get it wrong.
Dreamtree will address these issues and more: Friendly, easy to use wizards will guide you through your planning process so that you can quickly build an overview of what you will need and when you will need it.
Here in our tour we show a simple one stage growing-on process calculating the week you need to buy in a cutting or seedling for direct potting to achieve your target of saleable finished product by week 8. Approx. 782 plants are needed to reach your target of 720 saleable potted plants at a yield of 92%. Any number of stages & yields and time lines can be defined, depending on your production methods. This is just a simple one stage example. If we want to begin selling this size of product at week 8 and it will take 14 weeks at that time of year, then we need to purchase and pot by week 46 in the previous year. All you do is select the week & the number of weeks to grow, then week 46 is calculated automatically by the wizard.
Below we have a simple at a glance view of any number of planned production runs for the selected species. Here we have both 9cm and 13cm pots planned as saleable in week 8 and week 11 respectively.
Here we see an overview of some estimates. From this view we begin to see clearly the volumes of cuttings or seedlings we will need for each finished product, summarised by species.
The above can easily be filtered by chosen supplier to provide a purchase order to your cutting or liner supplier along with your required delivery weeks. Along the top line you will see the total number of plants to be potted up in any given week. Thus you can at a glance see where the bottleneck will occur and make subtle changes to your planning to avoid such issues as best you can. As you have no need to let your supplier know what size pottings or batches you will be creating, you can easily squash down the plan to its bare minimum of plant numbers required, as shown below, where on the left, 16 = 2016 and week numbers run across the top of the grid.
For a nursery commitment view we can squash or summarise the data further to any shape or size you might need, such as pot size analysis or nursery space analysis etc. Any of these analysis views can be achieved here.
All views can be printed out or saved as spreadsheets to create working schedules etc. Of course similar grids can be printed to show planned saleable product by week number.
Dreamtree cannot forecast the weather. However, using Dreamtree, you can at least maintain overall control of your anticipated availability. No matter if you are a one process or a multiple process grower, there is nothing better than having at least a forecast of when things should happen. Thus, in a complex growing cycle where you may need to take cuttings, propagate, repot and finish, those timelines can be set in the wizards during the estimating process, and then used to create appropriate forecast worksheets throughout the year.
The simple view above shows a snapshot of planned saleable finished product for weeks 8 through 14, broken down by pot size and variety.
Just as easily we can show when cuttings are due, plugging up & potting dates – all from your original estimates. Of course, labelling at each stage is built into the process, so if simple generic labels are required at the potting stage, then right-click over the product or selected product and it will do the trick.
Having estimated your production requirements, wouldn’t it be nice to connect your estimates to a purchasing process? Dreamtree does exactly that, making life so much simpler than ever before, by removing the need to enter up another spreadsheet for your supplier, or any other document.
Dreamtree will create a purchase order for you by using the production estimates you have highlighted. A simple right click of the mouse, and a wizard will guide you through the process. For each item in your estimate, Dreamtree can also manage the required delivery dates for each and every line within the purchase order that it creates.
Each line, although the same item, gets a different due goods inward date to coincide with the planned potting week.
And as everything is connected, naturally the labels required for the potting up process are created at the same time as the purchase order and can be printed at any time to suit your needs.
Collecting data about your stock from around the nursery has become an affordable affair thanks to Android (Google). Left to Microsoft, such devices to collect data would still cost almost £2000. From the sublime to the ridiculous – there are Android devices now available from £45 (though not waterproof or ruggedized or with a scanner) through to sensible IP65 rated solutions from around £500 upwards.
Simple, fast and efficient Android Apps provide the means to quickly generate lists of products ready for sale recording the state, quality, quantity & time line of availability if you so need. At its very bare bones – scan – available – flowering are typically the type of data any simple nursery may need to record. This type of data capture can easily amount to 4 batches of product per minute (if not more), Location of the finished product is automatically recorded using GPS technology.
If there is no data connection to the office via Wi-Fi or 4/3/2G or GPRS then the data can be captured as a batch and downloaded back at the office. “Update Cloud Server” does the job.
An essential part of any modern commercial growing enterprise is efficiency – not just in the production of the product but in the means to deliver the product to the intended marketplace. A fully connected web service is therefore not only essential but if done incorrectly will stifle the business and allow others to steal market share. Not only should you be able to quickly, efficiently and accurately update your website availability list, it should be the case that your clients can quickly & efficiently place their order requirements, safe in the knowledge that they will get what they order.
The above view lends itself well to iPad users (the new buyers amongst us) whilst a standard list method will endear itself to the traditional buyers who know what they want by name alone.
Dreamtree Web Service is designed around the simple need of a professional gardener rather than a retail browser.
Dreamtree will convert your product availability data to Excel Spreadsheets to facilitate the sending of Availability Lists to your client. The spreadsheets are constructed appropriately so that once returned by your client, they can be imported directly into Dreamtree Invoicing, Dreamtree Labelling & Dreamtree Dispatch Scheduler.
From the scans or data entry made via Dreamtree for Android (Nursery Assist), Dreamtree will prepare and sort your finished product into suitable order and presentation. Once you are happy with the list, any suitable output can be created, including synchronisation with your Dreamtree Website.
In Excel, the AV List looks identical to the proposed list (see image to the right). Also, even at this point you can select or de-select any line from the proposed list so that you create exactly what you need in your Excel spreadsheet.
Dreamtree acknowledges that there are many clients you who may still want your AV list in printed document format or maybe as a PDF.
From the “Availability Scans” option you can clearly see some of the output options available. You may choose the data you need from the list and send it as a PDF or simply print it out for faxing the old fashioned way.
Getting your sales pitch over to your customers is vitally important. Quickly and efficiently, with the least amount of hassle is, of course, desirable. Dreamtree provides direct marketing services in the form of a traditional CRM or Customer Relations Module. The ability to simply categorise your client base will help you target your availability lists to the right people and at the right prices. A drop down in the “Business Group Filter” will ensure the clients you want to select are added to the correct email run. Clients can of course sit in any or all of the business groups you create, and you can select more than one group at a time. Duplicates are automatically disposed of during the selection process so it does not matter if your client appears in multiple groups.
Once things get busy in the nursery, the last thing you need is to worry about which order goes out when. But in handling such important service, it is important to be correct, fast and intuitive. From the image below you get a quick overview of a busy nursery with multiple vehicles or carriers clearly defined. The Scheduler works just like Outlook so most users will already be familiar with the drag-and-drop facilities common to Outlook. Dreamtree Scheduler is available in desktop format but can also be made available as a standalone service for wall mounted larger screens which offers employee wide viewing.
The scheduling process could not be easier – simply drag the order you wish to schedule from the list on the left onto the vehicle you wish to use for the dispatch.
By dragging the RHS order onto the first vehicle we see the connection being made between the order and the scheduler. From now on the order is connected to the schedule.
The advantages of seeing an overview of each day’s commitments are simple and clear for everyone to use and understand. There are additional tools connected to the Scheduler to help streamline your picking and dispatch process, should you need to.
Each order can be managed from the point of view of keeping a track on its status though to finalising the invoice with picking adjustments. Right-clicking over any scheduled order will connect you to services relative to the order.
Dreamtree offers many ways to organise your picking routines as we recognise that each nursery has different needs and priorities. One approach is to use the Scheduler as the organising tool. Each order can be colour coded to indicate the preferred picking group. On the left of the Scheduler we see the orders for the day arranged in colour code order, so that we can identify which orders belong to which picking group. A bulk picking list can be created so that many orders are picked simultaneously, ensuring the best use of human resources.
Traditional picking lists per order can also be prepared and presented in the way you wish – sometimes keeping it simple is best!
Dreamtree provides various levels of bespoke labelling for pots, trays, trees and other products. Whether you require simple waterproof mono pot labels to provide a name and description of a plant, or full colour labels with bench end posters & promotional material, Dreamtree Label Connect will deliver it all. Each finished product can have a label type defined so that even if you sell a mixture of perennials and shrubs, you can confidently print everything you need for an order from one button.
What about the re-print nightmare?
We know that some labelling solutions on the market are limited in performance, particularly if you just need a re-print of one or two labels due to damage or loss. Dreamtree will preview the labels you are about to print, but here is the nice bit, every label is treated as a page so if you need “label number 13” again then you print only page 13 , just like you would in Word or Excel. Dreamtree Label Connect does not stop there. If you need a range of labels and quantities then that is just as easily achieved, as you would select page numbers to print in a Word document. There are other more sophisticated re-print methods available which handle changes in orders lines and order quantities.
Just highlight the label you wish to re-print and you are good to go.
Pot or tie labels – up to you
Not happy with the layout?
Dreamtree allows you full access to the design surface so you may adapt or adjust the labels just the way you want them.
Creating labels has always been “a bit of a faff” . Dreamtree is very different from the competition, no exporting, no messing about with third party programs and drivers. On-demand labelling is now a key feature throughout Dreamtree and what’s more, you can choose the point at which the labelling process suits your business. For example you may need tray labels or bench end labels to enable fast identification of a crop at any point in the production cycle. The labels you require could be created from the estimate process, or from the purchase order process, or at the point of receipt into the nursery potting zone.
Here we are only talking about the production stages but rest assured you can label product for your customers prior to dispatch complete with their own bar codes, logos and prices if you so wish. The Dreamtree labelling suite can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be – of course everything has its price but to survive in today’s “Added Value” marketplace, keeping ahead of your competition with custom labelling solutions may be a better road to sales than selling your products on price alone.
The supply of plants into multiple retailers and buying groups is becoming more demanding so where standard simple Tag & Label printing simply is not enough, Dreamtree Tag & Label Press (Dreamtree TX) addresses the more demanding needs of your clients.
On demand, customised labels with client logos and bespoke icons relative to the product along with special offers are no longer out of your reach. Dreamtree TX offers advanced printer queue management along with multiple printer support. Label requests are advanced to a “Printed” zone and not deleted thus re-printing product tags is a breeze. The Queue manager also permits in line corrections such as qty required and “Price”, barcode and description adjustments without the need to refer to the original order. In a larger press production environment, this level of control is ideal.
Specialist printers such as the Primera GP3000 require fully prepared images to be submitted to the Primera Tag Press Manager, a task which Dreamtree TX performs seamlessly. Dreamtree TX allows the management of multiple GP3000 units or various combinations of colour label printers and GP3000 Tag Press Units. In addition, there are options for utilising hi speed laser printers and other processes to achieve the goals set by your clients.
Label requests can be sent to Dreamtree TX directly from Dreamtree DX Sales Order Processing modules, from Dreamtree Plant Library and from Dreamtree Finished Stock. Specialised point of sale support such as posters and banners can also be generated using Dreamtree TX Press.
Invoicing should be simple, fast, intuitive and efficient. Dreamtree “connects” all things to all points as required, thereby eliminating duplicate tasks. From the product input through to printing or emailing the Invoice – Dreamtree is fast, simple, powerful…and does the task with an elegance and precision that matches or exceeds the best on the market (the best being solutions like SAP at 10 times the price of Dreamtree). As you can see on the screen below, there are options to print or email and other options to include statement of account, proof of delivery and other services. There is also provision for allocating lines to specific batches of product, enabling complete batch and product traceability.
From within the invoice editor you can create the labels
(pot/ties/posters etc).
You may print variations of the document such as delivery notes, pick list, order confirmations or as a proforma invoice etc. Even a credit check is possible, because Dreamtree is always connected.
Many of our commercial growers operate a cash and carry service for Landscapers or a factory/nursery shop for the general public. A standard Sales Order Process is far too cumbersome to handle simple cash sales.
For this reason Dreamtree offers a till and cash processing system (EPOS) which also handles trade account sales plus various client services such as loyalty schemes and promotions.
Ideally suited for repetitive cash sales complete with barcode scanning, stock find and huge pre-set button facility for minor items like beverages or for bulk items like stone & gravel etc.
Dreamtree EPOS is great for garden centres, nurseries or even a café. Dreamtree even processes credit cards for your clients.
Users simply scan items as they pick up items around the nursery. In this demo we shall use the “Batch Identity” of a plant or product so that any number of plants around the nursery can be sold at differing prices from differing locations if required. (Prices can be varied per batch reflecting the quality and size of a similar product).
User simply presses the scan button on the screen (2)
The unit will look up the product and register it as in the user’s “Trolley” (3). To keep things simple, particularly when it comes to removing an item, multiple items are scanned repeatedly as you would in Tesco. Now let’s be honest, Tesco would have thought this through and in the interest of simplicity for simple or untrained users, this is the correct way to go.
So let’s imagine the user decided that the £490.00 item was outside the user’s pocket. The user is required to simply press the “Remove Item From Trolley” (4).
The user is now prompted to scan the item to be removed (5). This removes any onus on the user to navigate, select and delete. The same principle is adopted as per the Tesco model. Once the user scans the item that does exist in the trolley, the unit prompts the user to remove the item from their trolley (6).
So now the item is no longer on the unit (7).
If the user scans again and the item is not in the trolley the unit responds as follows (8).
The unit will still be waiting to remove an item until the user stops the service as directed (9).
The service is completed when the unit is used to scan a special prepared “Trolley Complete”. This will transfer the trolley to the specified label, epos or invoicing service.
Should we need to “Empty” or abandon the trolley completely then we can do this under Settings. Of course your day clients will not be able to do this as they won’t have access to this.
Dreamtree provides all the required accounting analysis links directly from within the finished product (stock) module and the links are handled automatically ensuring that they will align themselves with your chosen primary stock groups like Bedding Plants, Climbers, Shrubs etc.
The image above provides an idea of the monthly income statement section of the P&L reporting tool. Sales analysis tools exist throughout the system, providing visual representations as well as grid based data.
Dreamtree brings forward all the data from the Purchase Ledger, including the scans of the purchase invoices; thus, directly from the final accounts, your auditors can review your invoices without taking up any of your time. More usefully, when you see some costs in your final accounts that appear to be strange, drilling into the data will reveal the original document thus quickly aiding you in resolving your queries.
Traditional Income Statements are also available.
Effortless reporting of your VAT liabilities to HMRC.
Fast simple multiple bank reconciliation services including credit cards and loan accounts. Comprehensive journal reporting functions with export to spreadsheet as standard.
