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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Feeding Vermont's Soil with Support Tools to Integrate Sales and Fulfillment

With the help of: Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC)

About

Vermont Compost Company (VCC) was founded in Vershire, Vermont, by organic crop growing professionals in 1992 in order to satisfy the demand for high quality composts and compost-based living soil mixes for certified organic crop production. In 1996, the founder and owner bought a farm in Montpelier, VT; since that time, VCC has grown from a small local operation to a company supplying soil to professional organic growers throughout the US. Their mission is to enhance and protect the soil, thereby restoring community food security. VCC employs 25.

The Challenge

VCC was experiencing a growth spurt and seeking a way to support and integrate tools into their sales and fulfillment. Recent growth had created challenges, which were amplified by COVID-19 protocols. The result was redundancy in data entry, errors in fulfillment, lack of visibility and communication. VCC sought to evaluate the challenges and identify possible solutions to improve the operations. VCC had worked with VMEC, part of the MEP National Network™, in the past, and contacted them to assist with a solution to this growing and critical business issue.

Working with VMEC was very helpful when evaluating our current systems and processes. Questions posed by a knowledgeable third party allowed us to see the inefficiencies baked into our system, as well as outline ways to rectify issues. It was also helpful to have assistance conducting research and doing the legwork required to gather information for analysis. Our experience working with VMEC was very positive and we will not hesitate to reach out to them in the future should we have the need.
— Nick D'Agostino, Business Manager

MEP's Role

The project began with reviewing materials describing the current state of VCC's systems and processes. This exercise led to revisiting the value stream mapping project the company completed two years previous to identify process improvements, as well as areas that would benefit from new tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations. Collaboration with VCC staff, including management, efficiently working through the discovery process ensured deliverables met expectations. The company identified a core team to collectively represent all functional areas that would be in scope for value stream mapping.
Created July 24, 2024