Like many landscape companies, The Greenwood Group in Wentzville, Mo., has the goal to get all crews out in less than 15 minutes every morning.

“We’ve been trying to do this forever, naturally,” says Pete Schepis, owner and VP. “The yard is where we burn the most time.”

One way it’s found to cut down on lost time is to assign each of the company’s six managers to stay late one night per week. The “late night guy” is responsible for ensuring all crews get back without any problems, tagging any damaged equipment and working with each crew leader to refuel equipment and trucks. It adds about two hours onto his day.

The late nighter is quite busy (the company runs 20 crews per day), but Schepis says the process works and ensures the company isn’t racking up overtime.

“It’s his only night to worry about being there late and it pays off in the morning,” he says. “It saves so much money, it’s incredible. We’ve got 75 people on our payroll, so it adds up fast.”

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