“There isn’t necessarily one right solution. It’s always a balance between price, quality, and performance. This is why we help our clients navigate those waters.” ALPS Inc. is a Canadian organization specializing in crop and technical consulting services for the greenhouse and indoor regulated cannabis industry, in addition to the horticulture industry. Their recently released video series provides insight into who they are and how they are able to help companies in the industry. “We are constantly updating our clients with the latest knowledge and innovation in the industry.”
Tailor-made solutions
First and foremost, the ALPS team emphasizes the importance of relationships in their services. “We are always making sure that things are understood, that instructions are understood, that design is understood. That is imperative when it comes to the project being successful. It’s all about shielding the production from risk and working on a solution that the customer really wants and needs.”
APIS
Once the facilities are designed and built, what happens after? This is where ALPS comes in with APIS, their post-construction service. “APIS is a modular software, with the goal of it essentially being the single source of truth for the greenhouse. Essentially, you would hook up different systems that you have and the different data that you need, logging it all in one system. We can then collect that data and allow the cloud to visualize it in a very simple way,” explains Stephanie Holder, Manager Application Development.
“This is an important solution because the cannabis facility has so many seemingly discrete elements to it that operators tend to treat each element as its own area, without seeing the global picture. You need to know how to weave the thread through all those areas and connect them to a certain outcome; from getting drier flower to cost reductions.”
Industrial Greenhouse Management
“Related to that, how can someone make an informed decision if they don’t have the data to back up what’s happening on the production floor? We are able to provide you with the SOPs to give you guidance on how to run your facility. In addition, our software can give you that transparency to know what is going on in your facility,” explains Holder. “The focus around it is to gather data in a manner that is very organized. We gather data with the batch, which is the main character of the story, and the Overall Performance Efficiency (OPE) Module allows us to tell all the story points of what happened to that batch. If we don’t have a clear understanding of how a system is functioning, we don’t know how to allocate our resources to make improvements. When we are able to see data converted into a bar graph or a pie chart, it’s a lot easier for us to understand and see where this is happening.”
Compliance and operational support
Joel Fuzat, SVP of Innovation, explains that the US is a challenging market for the cannabis industry, as all 50 states have different standards. Ervins Akrong, Compliance Specialist, provides insight as to how APIS ensures compliance with evolving regulatory standards. “We are essentially providing a document management system, which is going to be the building block to being a compliant company in a regulated environment. It is important to understand that body of work, and from there learn how you are going to improve your process by continuously abiding by those particular regulations. And if the regulations change, you can then adopt those changes into that framework that has been built.”
Crop consulting
“At the heart of the greenhouse, what is it that makes production truly successful? Crop consultancy,” says Fuzat. Thomas Larssen, President, explains that crop consultancy is an integral part of ALPS: “There are many people who are very knowledgeable in growing cannabis at a small scale. Unfortunately, that knowledge does not always translate to mass scale production, along with the savings that are necessary to keep a business operational for years. Therefore, crop consultancy is an important aspect to what we do and creates a connection between the use of our system, the end product, and the design phase.”
For more information and to see all videos:
ALPS Inc. 
www.alpsmj.com
[email protected]