Coplant Galicia is a company located in the south of Pontevedra, in Tomiño, which was set up in 2004 as an initiative of the nurseries in the Baixo Miño area.

The company jointly undertakes to promote its products in markets which, due to distance, culture, lack of knowledge or batch policy, would not be competitive on an individual basis. It has clients in Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy and Holland.

What makes Coplant a success story is that they have been able to apply digitisation to the agricultural sector, which has led to strong growth with 250 direct jobs and a turnover of 12 million euros in 2021.

One of its achievements, according to Coplant's manager, Emilio Estévez, is "having applied just in time to a sector such as the agricultural sector, where this culture did not exist". Buying and selling the smallest possible batch in the shortest possible time", he sums up, "which entails a process of deseasonalisation and adapting logistical and cultivation processes with an agile, flexible and efficient information system". They have been able to send the smallest possible batch to any point on the Iberian Peninsula in just 72 hours.

The company brings together four plant nurseries in Baixo Miño that produce 94% of the ornamental plants they sell. Estévez indicates that the policy of minimum purchase batch and lean manufacturing is highly competitive in a sector in which plant mortality, as well as its seasonal variations, are fundamental variables to control when it comes to making a company profitable.

From the beginning, they have been committed to digitisation projects with Feuga, the University of Vigo and the start-up Alia Technologies. They say they are "proud" to have created technological employment in Galicia from the primary sector.

They have had the support of the Xunta since the beginning. In 2010 they launched an intelligent technological platform for advanced management for ornamental plant producers in Galicia. This is a tool to bring together nursery producers, Coplant's sales representatives and their customers.

In 2016 they added the OC Plant project, ICT tools to support OPEN COST in the ornamental plant sector. This initiative has enabled them to calculate production costs and get into the market with the most competitive price possible.

Demand-driven crop planning

One of its star projects has been Market & Stocks, which has involved the development of an intelligent market tool for predicting future stocks of ornamental plants, allowing them to plan cultivation according to demand. "One of the keys to success in the commercialisation of ornamental plants is the direct association between the plant nurseries and the business structure woven around them to develop market strategies," says Estévez.

To match output to demand, they have developed a suite of tools allowing them to establish detailed market monitoring, study what they have demanded, type of products, dates... They now have a multi-year booking module and a supply chain decision support system.

The initiative has meant the creation of a tool for business growth at both technical and economic levels, as well as the consolidation of the rural activity of ornamental plant producers with the improvement of supply chain management and sustainable growth in foreign markets.

Coplant's digitisation process continues. They are seeking funding for the Composable Plant project, a tool for integration, management and communications in the ornamental plant subsector in Galicia, with which they will continue to make progress in the unification of processes, allowing them to integrate with non-partner suppliers with which to deal with product shortages.