Nursery Production Farm Management System (FMS)

Guiding continuous improvement, change and technology adoption on-nursery

The Australian industry has spent the best part of two decades undertaking research and building nursery production infrastructure.  This work has culminated in their Nursery Production Farm Management System (FMS).  Targeted at production nurseries and growing media manufacturers it’s a tool for businesses to review their processes and identify and improve areas of concern. 

The NZ Nursery Production FMS comprises two on-nursery modules:

NIASA
The Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia   provides guidelines to enhance business productivity and efficiency through industry best management practices and benchmarks.  It addresses crop hygiene, and crop, water and general site management. 

EcoHort
This Environmental Management System establishes a process whereby a business can assess their environmental and natural resource needs and impacts, and then manage these in a responsible and sustainable manner.

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In collaboration with NGI Australia, NZPPI offers New Zealand businesses the NZPPI Nursery Production FMS programme.  It provides annual site assessments, seminars &/or workshops to guide participating businesses through a systematic and proactive approach to manage change, technology adoption, resource efficiencies and enhanced profitability.

The Nursery Production FMS is a holistic system designed to ensure a sustainable future for nurseries and the nursery industry. It is much more than a “tick and flick” exercise, it’s an actively managed quality improvement system supported by NZPPI and an Australian Industry Development Officer.

What is Nursery Production Farm Management System and how can it benefit you?

The FMS is designed to enhance the status and recognition of businesses through continuous business improvement as well as striving for the highest levels of professionalism.   Businesses in the FMS programme work towards best management practices across nursery production, and environment impact and natural resource use.  Participants demonstrate to industry, government and the community their sound environmental and natural resource stewardship.

More specifically, the FMS is a useful tool to help businesses systematically implement change across the production system.  The EcoHort module introduces an Environmental Management System (EMS) and changes introduced through an FMS or EMS are based on an Action Plan which identifies the priority of risk(s).

The FMS incorporates a ‘continuous improvement’ model. It encourages a ‘plan, do, check and review’ approach at regular intervals and across the production cycle.

The monitoring results generated by this process are an essential part of the adaptive management cycle. They are not only used to review and update plans, but importantly, also provide a degree of proof that your business is addressing the production, environmental and natural resource issues at hand. Thus a sound EMS will be recognised by all levels of government, including national, regional and local.

The programme aims to:

• Help participants deliver constant product quality and performance
• Improve profitability through the adoption of industry best management practice and continuous improvement
• Improve customer confidence at all levels of the distribution chain
• Provide tools for managing environment and resource impacts
• Encourage the use of environmentally sound work practices
• Improve industry biosecurity and management of pest and disease

The FMS can help businesses to:

• Reduce costs through improved production and business processes
• Increase marketplace recognition and customer confidence
• Lift levels of professionalism
• Improve staff knowledge and skills
• Reduce wastage and production losses
• Gain access to technical assistance
• Reduce business risk
• Improve on occupational health and safety issues.

In 2012 NGI Australia engaged an independent review of their programme.   It revealed that 75% of FMS businesses would recommend the FMS to others, that on average the FMS brought businesses a 31% return on investment following a five year payback period, and that the programme provided a positive result against the environmental, social and economic ‘triple bottom line’.