Growing efficiency

As a transplant grower, King City relies on the vegetable propagation trays it receives from Proptek to keep the business running smoothly. It uses three different tray sizes that fit its growing needs and allows the business to operate more efficiently.

"Everything about the trays work with our system," Pereira says.

For Pereira, who has been with King City since it was founded in 1990, labor is the biggest concern. He says rising labor costs over the past few years and a lack of labor have been the biggest challenges the business has faced in recent memory.

Pereira, however, says that finding the right propagation trays for the business helped with labor concerns. The main reason Proptek trays work for King City, he says, is that they enable the business to become more efficient and thus help with labor. They primarily use a 234-cell tray that fits in the same space as smaller trays. They also use two others sizes that offer the same space-saving benefit. Because of that fit, the business doesn’t need to hire any additional labor to work different production areas. It also keeps everyone in one place, so employee movement becomes more efficient as well.

"It's all about plants per square foot in our industry," he says. "The same labor can work more with bigger trays." Pereira adds that the injection molded plastic trays from Proptek are ideal for rooting and make seedlings easier to pull – another labor-saving feature.

When King City wanted to upgrade its trays, Pereira says that the change was increasing to the 234-cell tray for certain crops – a 42-cell increase from the trays the business used to use.

"We increased our productivity by 20 percent without doing anything," Pereira says. He adds that the 234-cell tray from Proptek, the primary tray the business uses, also has the added benefit of being stackable and easy to carry. They are durable too, meaning  Pereira isn’t having to consistently replace trays and hope they arrive on time.

In working with Proptek, Pereira says he found a strong partner for King City because of their customer service. When he has a question or concern, he says Proptek is quick to answer. And when King City wanted to upgrade its trays, Pereira says Proptek helped him get a tray that was a custom fit for his business.

"They take care of me," he says.