21/5/2010  Come and see Passfield at the Four Oaks Show

Following on from another successful show in 2009 Passfield will be once again exhibiting at the UK’s premiere growers show held at Four Oaks Nurseries near Macclesfield, Cheshire on 7th & 8th September 2010. Please join us on stand E44 and discover how Passfield could benefit your business.

 More information on the show can be found at www.fouroaks-tradeshow.com

26/3/2010  New Handheld Stock Control application launched

Passfield’s new handheld software, which is Windows Mobile compatible, provides a flexible tool to carry out Stock control directly onsite. Batch barcodes can be scanned allowing the user to immediately view and edit existing Ready dates, mark the batch as ‘Looking Good’ and change user defined Descriptors such as ‘In flower’.

A full Batch event history can also be viewed and standard events can be added; examples might be ‘Spray Fungicide’ or ‘Pinch’. Sales data can be read to enable Managers to view Ordered, Delivered and Invoiced transactions for any chosen batch. Remaining quantities and ready/not ready amounts can be adjusted. Detailed wastage and area moves can also be carried out.

30/9/2009  Passfield strengthens its Development team

Passfield are delighted to announce the appointment of Russell Rose as Development Manager. Russell  will manage the future development of the Passfield software suite and will be initially implementing new version control.

Russell has extensive knowledge of a wide range of database technologies and was formally a Senior Developer at Credit Suisse and JP Morgan investment banks.

31/5/2009  Lowaters chooses Passfield  

Lowaters Nursery based near Fareham in Hampshire are well known nationally by retailers for their Garden Beauty branding and famed for their extensive range of Hebes. Lowaters are true business innovators, embracing many initiatives which have honed their business practices and produced profitable business growth. Following a busy spring season in 2008 Charles Carr, Nursery Director and James Plant, Sales Director realised change needed to take place in Sales administration if they were to maintain their momentum. As Charles Carr explains, “the combination of our unique range, great branding and excellent service has produced a steady increase in our market share. As a result our office system was beginning to creak under the strain and we needed to see a dramatic increase in admin efficiency. We have a clear vision of future market aims and it was obvious our existing software would not be up to the job.”

“We made the right decision” Sourcing and evaluating potential new software is difficult, as James Plant points out: “We’d heard some good things about Passfield and after a series of meetings with the Passfield team our list of needs were all ticked; however nothing replaces actual day-to-day operational use. I am pleased to report office time and costs have been cut so we made the right decision.” 

Passfield was quickly installed in August. Data transfer from their existing system took place on a Thursday afternoon and Passfield was up and running on Monday morning. “Lowaters set up went very well,” reports Tim Lamb, Passfield’s Marketing & Business manager. “In the first two weeks we were talking to the Lowaters operators several times a day, dealing with queries and carrying out online training as needed but this level of intensity dropped after a fortnight. It was particularly pleasing to discover how quickly they embraced the system. Even now exploring Passfield  is a part of their quest to increasing everyday efficiencies.” 

Lowaters will shortly be launching the E Availability list, a pioneering new feature developed by Passfield’s technical team. Weekly availability lists will be emailed to Lowater customers as customised spreadsheets, generated by Passfield. On receipt the customer will fill in quantities required, email it back where Passfield will directly load it as an order. Keying in time at Lowaters will be cut dramatically.

9/1/2009  Californian nursery Plantel Inc. utilizes the latest technology

Plantel Nurseries, Inc. based in Santa Maria, California grow high quality vegetable transplants with over 10 billion plants produced since their inception in 1987.

Plantel utilizes the latest technology with state-of-the-art facilities and growing techniques that are unsurpassed in the industry. In July 2008 their commitment to this focus led them to implement Passfield. Passfield’s fully integrated management system provides Plantel with process efficiency, plant traceability and instant access to data. The management team can now use Passfield to make time critical decisions to ensure production efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Carl Williams, Client Services Manager at Passfield said “In the last 5 months we have worked closely with Plantel to set up the system to match their needs and the needs of the US market as a whole. We provide back up from our offices in the UK and offer Plantel telephone support into the evenings. And remote access allows us to log in to Plantel’s system and deal with any issues or queries”.

21/7/2008 Leading forestry nursery adopts Passfield

Maelor Forest Nurseries based near Whitchurch, Shropshire have successfully installed Passfield’s software suite. Maelor grow and market several million trees a year which are supplied to forestry plantations throughout the UK and Ireland. Passfield will now be used to efficiently process all orders and will keep track of their ever changing stock inventory.

Passfield’s system adaptability has fulfilled their specific needs namely; provenance traceability, specifically tailored seed certification (which are automatically created by the system) and Passfield’s new production batch grading feature.

5/6/2008 Come and see us at Four Oaks and SWRG

Passfield Data Systems will be exhibiting at two shows this autumn-

Four Oaks Trade Show Macclesfield, Cheshire 2nd-3rd September 2008 

As first time exhibitors in 2007, Passfield were delighted with the interest and sales achieved at the Four Oaks show. Visit us on stand E44 for an informal chat about your requirements and see the system in action. For further information on the show log on to- www.fouroaks-tradeshow.com 

South West Regional Growers Show Exeter, Devon 1st October 2008 

Passfield exhibit at SWRG for the first time in 2008 and look forward to meeting growers from the South West region, visit us on stand 60. For further information on the show log on to- www.swgrower.co.uk

24/4/2008 Highly respected Scottish nursery turns to Passfield

Highly respected Scottish nursery Greens Nurseries has streamlined their Order and Stock control processes with the implementation of Passfield. A family business since 1980, Greens is based near Inverness supplying a wide range of perennials, alpines and bedding plants to Garden Centres throughout Scotland. Donald Green said “We needed to increase our professionalism and our customer response time. We were too reliant on manual processing and record keeping and were often working well into the evening dealing with this.”

Green’s now enter their order details once, print labels and fax or email sales documents, all directly from Passfield. Processes are streamlined with repetition eliminated. 

On going back-up was also a big consideration when Green’s decided to purchase Passfield. Donald Green added “All back up is carried out online so if we need help, the guys at Passfield logon to our system and sort it out”.

22/1/2008 Bransford Webbs switch to Passfield Software

The Bransford Webbs plant company have switched their entire stock and sales processing to Passfield’s horticultural software suite. Bransford Webbs MD Geoff Caesar said ““Stock-keeping, pricing, labelling and selling are unusually complicated in horticulture and we see a fully integrated software suite as an essential part of the solution.  After careful consideration of all available options we chose Passfield”

Over the last 3-4 years Bransford Webbs have been working hard on all areas of productivity, Geoff Caesar added, “The potential of the right software for increased customer service and reduced admin time should not be underestimated.”

Bransford Webbs’ system went live over a weekend in December with a full automated transfer of all relevant data from their previous Plantpro system. Bransford Webbs Plant Company is a leading innovative nursery supplying new and sought after plants to the Garden Centre trade throughout the UK.

    5/10/07 Exciting new functionality added to Master Orders

Recent development to Passfield's Master Order system will allow users to reach new heights in customer service and sales administration. Many retailers like to reserve their seasons requirements with nurseries in advance and call-off this reserve as required in season. New functionality provides one screen view with all the information you need to effectively administer and maximise sales. Details of reserved and free stock are apparent and quick filters present required stock and batch views in a couple of clicks. Call-offs can be entered at the same time as free stock, all with prearranged prices, label and barcode requirements. When complete, required documentation can be created including Order Acknowledgements, Delivery Notes and updates of reserve quantities can be printed too.

    1/8/07 New Marketing agreement with label manufacturer

An agreement to mutually recommend products has been arranged between Passfield and Longcombe Labels of Totnes in Devon. Tim Lamb said " We have spent some time this year carefully looking for a strategic partner who supplies labels and printers to the Horticultural market. Longcombe have been successfully supplying growers and retailers with labels and printers for many years and feedback from their client base confirms their quality approach to both product and service. We will be actively recommending their products to both existing and prospective customers. In return Longcombe will be referring any Nursery Management Software enquiries to Passfield". Further information on Longcombe can be found at www.longcombe.co.uk

    9/7/07 Customer Support gains new strength

In July we were very pleased to welcome Carl Williams to Passfield who will now head up the Customer Support function. Carl has vast experience in IT support working for such companies as NTL and Virgin Media.

    2/4/07 Four Oaks here we come

Passfield will be exhibiting at the Four Oaks show this September 4-5th with the aim of increasing its exposure to UK Horticulture. Tim Lamb said “We exhibited at GAN in February and enquiries were very positive, we are looking to repeat this at Four Oaks this September”. Tim added “We look forward to meeting existing and prospective customers and will be on hand to provide demonstrations of the latest version of Passfield”.

Please visit us on stand E44 for a demonstration.

    19/3/07 G's Growers goes live with Passfield

One of Europe's leading farm co-operatives, which specialises in growing and packing salads and vegetables, is now using Passfield in their greenhouse near Ely in Cambridgeshire.

G's supply all sectors of the food business, including the major supermarkets in the UK and on the Continent, to exacting quality and service requirements. John Currah (Planning Manager) commented, “We propagate in excess of 80 million plants per year in our state of the art facility, which requires a high level of organisation. The Passfield system provides the control we need, as well as providing traceability, which is essential to our customers”.

    2/1/07 Passfield welcomes Tim Lamb!

In January we were pleased to welcome Tim Lamb. Tim will now head up the Sales and Marketing function at Passfield having worked in commercial horticulture for 22 years in all areas of the supply chain. His knowledge comes from working for such names as Notcutts, Hillier’s and more recently with Hewton Nursery & Whetman Pinks Ltd. Tim brings with him an excellent understanding of horticulture and fresh produce and we look forward to further implementation of the system within the industry.

“Having worked with plants for over 20 years it is great to be now involved with a product that makes the whole process of growing and selling simpler” said Tim.

    1/07/06 New EDI feature live and kicking

Passfield now includes a fully integrated EDI invoicing facility. It’s a feature that has been high on the wish list for many nurseries, not least NV Produce Marketing and Lettuce Online – two major suppliers to Sainsburys and Waitrose supermarkets. Both companies now use Passfield’s EDI .

    30/06/06 Passfield’s new web site goes live

Passfield’s new web site goes live The new web site is now online with a new look and up-to-date information about Passfield. Visitors will find the site has been simplified, making it much easier to find out about Passfield software and how it’s working in nurseries around Europe.