Harvesting success:
Pure Green Farms achieves 7.5x faster recovery time with efficient maintenance operations

Pure Green Farms is a hydroponics facility that was started in 2020 to bring local production of baby leaf lettuce and other leafy greens to the Midwest region. Based in South Bend, Indiana, the facility has 19 grow lines, a cold storage pack house, and a technical area for nutrient mixing, sowing, and other maintenance activities.

Challenge

The maintenance team at Pure Green Farms relied on whiteboards, sticky notes, and group chats to manage maintenance tasks and document key asset details. While this system worked at first, it quickly became chaotic and stressful as critical information was scattered across various locations.

In one instance, a bale shredder breakdown required replacement of its lifting chains. As the farm went idle, the maintenance team scrambled to gather asset details, track down manufacturer contacts, and assemble the information needed for the repair. When they finally located the files, many were outdated and required further research. These delays prolonged the downtime — disrupting operations and costing valuable productivity.

The manual system left little time for preventive maintenance, forcing the team into constant firefighting mode with a growing to-do list. Downtime became a persistent issue and the team struggled to efficiently resolve breakdowns without easy access to equipment information or a centralized parts inventory.

This reactive approach took a toll on the entire team. As AJ Popovic, Maintenance Technician for Pure Green Farms explains, “There were nights I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about what problems needed to be solved in the morning.”

The team knew they needed to bring structure to their operation, so they set out to find the best Centralized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Their must-haves included:

• Streamlined task and workload management
• Automated preventive maintenance scheduling
• Scalable solutions for a growing team
• Exceptional customer service and reliable partnership

Solution

After researching multiple CMMS options, the team tested their top choices and found Limble to be a clear standout. Its intuitive, mobile-friendly interface combined with unmatched flexibility and reputation for stellar customer support sealed the deal.

Within weeks of implementing Limble, the Pure Green Farms team knew they had made the right choice when they saw Limble’s commitment to innovation and customer-driven development. “We were constantly seeing notifications about system updates and new features in response to customer requests and that was very reassuring,” explained Popovic.

This commitment to innovation translated into real, tangible changes on the ground. Before they knew it, Pure Green Farms had replaced their whiteboard and sticky notes with QR codes posted throughout their facilities. The rest of the company embraced the new system, submitting work requests electronically and receiving real-time updates as tasks were completed. “Everyone picked it up quickly and suddenly all our maintenance requests that had been up on the wall were now on our phones and laptops. It simplified the operation for absolutely everyone here,” says Popovic.

Building their preventive maintenance program was equally straightforward. The team created PM templates with detailed instructions, parts, and asset information, then scheduled them to recur automatically. Centralizing all maintenance operations has saved time on admin tasks and allowed the team to focus on proactive tasks to reduce downtime.

Results

Limble has transformed maintenance at Pure Green Farms. What was once a reactive operation spending 70% of their time fixing broken equipment is now a proactive, efficient maintenance team preventing failures before they occur. Time previously wasted searching for asset information or chasing down parts is now used for actual maintenance work. Daily meetings to discuss to-do lists have been replaced by effortless task assignments and prioritization in Limble. 

Pure Green Farms has not only streamlined their general operations and enhanced their preventive maintenance program but also achieved a remarkable 7.5x faster recovery speed. This means that even during rare disruptions, like a brief power loss, they can restore operations faster — reducing costly downtime and keeping production on track.

Pure Green Farms has also improved parts inventory management using Limble. The team now tracks part usage in real time to ensure critical spares are always on hand, reducing costly downtime and avoiding expedited shipping. “We’ve been saving thousands of dollars every month by being more efficient. And beyond the monetary savings is the huge morale improvement for everyone. Even our CEO has commented on it,” says Popovic.

The maintenance team now has complete control over their operations, allowing them to work with confidence and focus. They proactively care for their equipment, keep production running smoothly, and minimize after-hours calls. “I am on call three nights a week and I haven’t gotten a call in three months. Before Limble I would get a call every night. Limble has made it possible to simply go home and not think about work for a bit.”

Limble has been a game-changer. It simplifies onboarding, helping new staff get up to speed quickly and empowering them to work independently. From saving time to boosting morale and cutting downtime, Limble has improved every aspect of Pure Green Farms’ operations — including helping the maintenance team get a good night’s sleep.