Herb Farm
The Future
Plans for extensions to the existing workshop and cafe – side view
Floor plan
The demand for Herb Farm products is increasing and this is creating a new set of challenges for Lynn. Up to now the products have been made by hand in small batches. Lynn wants to continue in this way but to meet demand she is planning a dedicated manufacturing room and is looking for more efficient equipment to speed up parts of the process such as dispensing cream into jars.
“Once I’ve developed a recipe the formulas made to the recipe will be of a consistent standard. With the new manufacturing room we’ll be able to tighten up our quality control practices. We’ll be making much larger batches and we may be able to send products to be tested but we have to weigh up the cost effectiveness of that.”
“We don’t want to lose the by hand components of the process – growing herbs, making tinctures and sun infused oils because that’s what we feel gives them incredible life force and healing properties.”
Michael Parker is a food and process engineer who works at Massey University. He is working with Lynn and her new business partner Rose Comber, to design the manufacturing room. Lynn described the current operation and explained that they would like to double their output. They discussed how creams could be dispensed into narrow-necked jars, the qualities of plastics and glass and that any improvements must be in line with Herb Farm philosophy. Lynn’s initial brief for the manufacturing room called for it to be practical, include sterilising facilities, be easy to clean and efficient.
Michael asked questions about the numbers of products Lynn and Rose currently produced, he asked about the Therapeutic Goods Act and the regulations surrounding the manufacture of natural remedies. He explained that to come up with the best plan he would have to learn as much about their current methods of production including making a batch with them. Once he had a reasonable understanding of their requirements he would put together a proposal for discussion.
Increased demand means a greater workload so Lynn is setting up a partnership. “There are lots of changes happening at the moment – we’re expanding, we’re extending the building to have a dedicated classroom and a manufacturing plant and storage. Our studio started as a studio for teaching then became a shop come workshop and when we have groups we have to clear space in the shop, set up our tables so people can make things. We can only do this when there are no other customers or on days we’re closed so we’re restricted.”
Lynn is making a deliberate effort to pass aspects of the business to others who can take responsibility for their growth leaving her time to develop new products. Lynn’s partner Rose is responsible for production and sales. “We are going to become a bit more structured in our approach to research and development by setting goals and Rose is very good at that. We’ll bring better time management and goal setting to the business.”
