This is how online plant store PLNTS thrives with Dyflexis

How do you keep time registration clear and tight, and keep efficiency visible, during a period of rapid growth? Online plant store PLNTS swapped its paper timesheets for a modern Dyflexis workforce management environment. That gave PLNTS a solid foundation for further growth.

PLNTS was founded in 2018 by Jesse Mostert. The online plant store started as an innovative platform for offering cuttings of Chinese money plants, for consumers to swap or sell among themselves. This unique approach soon paid off. The company grew into a successful webshop with a wide and unique range of baby plants, fully grown plants and exotic species.

PLNTS also has its own nursery, which has been owned by the Mostert family since 1961. In recent years, the company has further strengthened its market position through strategic acquisitions of other online plant stores, such as 123Planten and Flora @ Home. This expansion has made PLNTS one of the leading players on the European market, with a loyal customer base that stretches from Germany to Ukraine, and from France to Switzerland.

Paper time registration

The workforce has almost doubled in a short time, from 40 employees in 2018 to 100 today, including 17 agency workers. Until recently, tight time registration was therefore no longer a given. “Employees used to record their hours by hand on paper. That took a lot of time and effort,” Jesse recalls. “There was also no overview of, or insight into, efficiency per department. The same went for leave and allowance hours, sick leave and overtime, and the time records per employee.”

“Employees come in through the entrance and clock in straight away with their card.”

That lack of visibility into the workforce was not only inconvenient, it also held back the company’s growth ambitions. “We’d like to expand to more countries. But then you need good insight into your workforce. That calls for a solid HR platform that lets you work in a much more data-driven way.”

A foundation for growth

PLNTS found that platform in Dyflexis. This workforce management solution gave the company a solid foundation for further growth. Jesse names a few of the software’s benefits:

Quick and easy clocking with the app

The Dyflexis app has made time registration much simpler and faster. Employees now record their hours worked in a user-friendly way. All they have to do is clock in and out on their smartphones.

“Managers can approve hours with a single click, which makes the whole approval process more efficient and less time-consuming.”

On top of that, the app gives employees direct insight into their working hours, overtime and leave balances. They can even submit leave requests with it. “This flexibility contributes to a positive working environment,” Jesse notes. “Managers can approve hours with a single click, which makes the whole approval process more efficient and less time-consuming.”

• Overview of and insight into hours per department, employee and project

With Dyflexis, PLNTS has significantly improved how it tracks and analyzes hours per department, employee and project. “Thanks to Dyflexis, our employees can easily register how long they worked and in which department, even when they help out in other departments. That way we improve staff efficiency and productivity, keep costs under control and simplify invoicing,” Jesse says with satisfaction.

“Dyflexis is also connected to the payroll software NMBRS and our BI tooling. That lets us synchronize and process data automatically.”

“We can now also create detailed reports on sick leave and overtime, the use of agency workers, allowances and contracts. Dyflexis is also connected to the payroll software NMBRS and our BI tooling. That lets us synchronize and process data automatically.”

The future is scheduled

PLNTS aims to be more than just an online plant store. It wants to become a fully fledged fulfillment organization. That means being able to ship and deliver not just plants, but a wide range of products. With a strong storage and logistics infrastructure, it already has everything in place to make this happen.

“With Dyflexis’ scalability, there’s plenty of room for all our employees. That lets us grow efficiently and fast.”

PLNTS already has a strong position in the Netherlands. It wants to use that success as a springboard to more countries, with plans to expand to other European countries and even the American market. That means more locations, employees and customers.

The online plant store doesn’t use Dyflexis for scheduling yet, but plans to. Jesse: “Dyflexis gives us lots of options for all kinds of HR tasks. We want to use the system to the full. With scheduling, we can tackle staffing challenges more easily. With Dyflexis’ scalability, there’s plenty of room for all our employees. That lets us grow efficiently and fast.”