Aligning Our Supplier Network to Create a Holistic Technology + Farm Operations Eco-System

Much of the heavy lifting of 2022 was spent building our technology eco-system and flushing out our supply chain. From day one, we have had an international customer base so having a supply chain that reflects the diversity of customers and markets that we serve has always been paramount. The initial thought surrounding our technology eco-system is that we would work with any and all vendors across the vertical farming equipment space. As the market has developed and we’ve become more immersed within our customer’s businesses, what has emerged is that they need less choice, not more. Additionally, what they need are end-to-end solutions, not fragmented and siloed technology stacks that lack the cohesion to give them visibility across their entire operation. Thus, the Skout technology eco-system we are building is one that has been highly-vetted and intentionally built to strengthen long-term success and reduce the friction points across the process of designing, building, and operating indoor vertical farm. 

If 2022 was the year of identifying and building relationships with our technology partners, then 2023 is the year we spend immersing ourselves within our technology partners to become more adept at learning and understanding their solutions, and the value they create for our customers. It also creates a strong point for collaboration because we are able to overlay our experience with theirs in order to create a cohesive offering. This is a time investment and commitment we are willing to make because we owe it to our technology partners and our customers. We are obsessed with the holistic process of building indoor farms and how that then flows into the operational efficiency and overall success of the farm. Farm design and planning cannot function outside of operations and operations cannot function outside of the off-take strategy. Indoor farming is a set of interconnected processes that all leverage one another and if at any point within that process a breakdown occurs, issues manifest. By creating and leveraging our technology eco-system we are able to limit those breakdown points and accelerate the time it takes to get an indoor farm operational. 

With that thesis in mind, we are narrowing the decision-making process for our customers and developing end-to-end solutions that align with the goals and needs of our customers. Now, to accomplish this, we must have deep technical and operational knowledge about the technology stacks we are putting in front of our customers. The only way to do that is to immerse ourselves within our technology vendors businesses and learn the ins and outs of the application of their systems and technology. In our pursuit to standardize and simplify the process of bringing indoor farms to market, we cannot sacrifice the value our technology partners bring to the table, while ensuring that the application of the technology aligns with our customers' building, goals, and operations. 

Pivots are great— we are excited to continue giving this shape and creating momentum.

Thanks for following along,

GC