Location: Application Technology Research
Project Number: 5082-21620-001-029-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2029
Objective:
Objective 1: Develop and evaluate new and existing automated nursery technologies that reduce labor reliance. Objective 2: Evaluate socioeconomic impacts of automation technology adoption. Objective 3: Develop a route to automation adoption. Objective 4: Assess consumer knowledge and preference for potential impacts of automation. Objective 5: Educate stakeholders using LEAP developed resources to stimulate and accelerate adoption and retention of automation.
Approach:
A newly invented mobile, laser-based automated inventory system will be compared with manual counts and quality ratings at two nurseries in four states for field and container tree production for accuracy, total cost, and labor reliance. Data from 16 cooperating operations will be used to populate partial budget and sensitivity analyses and scenario analyses to evaluate economic viability and risk of adopting select automation technologies. A typical approach using baseline budgets and economic analysis will be validated. For objective 2, groups of 20 workers from four cooperating operations will use a commercial provider to evaluate changes in employment satisfaction, worker efficiency, engagement, productivity, and well-being. For objectives 3 and 4, National and local surveys paired with eye-tracking metrics will be used to identify consumer perceptions of automated technologies, relevant promotions, and how that correlates to willingness to pay behavior. Objective 5 is development of a mentoring program for automation.
