True Leaf Farms is the processing and distribution arm of Church Brothers Farms, handling everything from cooling and washing to packaging and shipping for the grower-owned produce brand.
Their operations move seasonally with their parent company across five facilities and two states. About 80-90% of their lines are physically dismantled and transported between California and Arizona, with parts and inventory also traveling.
When production lines migrate with the seasons, maintenance becomes a moving target. True Leaf Farms used MVP One to turn it into a growth lever.
The Challenge
True Leaf’s business model is unique, and not just because of the operational shifts. With plants that ramp up and wind down throughout the year, they historically leaned on a large roster of outside contractors to support maintenance needs.
This approach wasn’t just expensive. It magnified the complex coordination between sites and schedules.
Christian Alatorre was originally a Parts Clerk who managed work orders with MP2. The process was fragmented and time-consuming; he generated the work orders, contractors hand-wrote completions, and he re-entered details.
Since MP2 couldn’t quickly pull an asset’s maintenance history, he resorted to printing records and storing them in filing cabinets.
“We had filing cabinets full of work and purchase orders,” said Alatorre. “There weren’t beneficial features for tracking costs or equipment historicals. If we wanted to go back and see what was done or what parts were used, it just wasn’t easy.”
The physical evidence literally piled up: True Leaf outgrew the old system.
The Switch
While switching to MVP One was a management decision, it transformed day-to-day operations for Alatorre. Now the Maintenance Planner and System Administrator, he was responsible for fostering team adoption and optimization.
The in-house mechanics were hesitant due to limited computer knowledge. What made the difference was the human element.
• Interactive virtual training helped mechanics build confidence through real-world practice. Repetition eased initial friction from people who weren’t comfortable with computerized workflows.
• MVP One consultants visited in person to review workflows and recommend process improvements. This reinforced that the system was on the right track with an expert seal of approval.
• A robust knowledge base and responsive support gave internal mechanics an avenue for independent troubleshooting, resolving barriers fast and accelerating adoption.
As familiarity increased, resistance faded. Mechanics started creating and completing their own work orders without the physical paper trail. Alatorre then shifted from manually managing tasks to optimizing data flow and decisions.
The Fix
Now that work and purchase order data weren’t hidden in file cabinets and spreadsheets, leadership could finally drill down on specific issues draining the budget.
“Accounting gives us a budget for each cost center, and we can see right away if we’re over with the reports,” said Alatorre. “Then we can dive deeper and find out what line, what machine, what parts, or what contractors caused it.”
• Asset Management: By tying every repair and part back to individual assets, Alatorre can quickly review comprehensive histories to determine whether machines are worth continued investments or should be replaced.
• Inventory Management: Centralized inventory tracking reduces emergency outsourcing by ensuring parts move with equipment and are available when work can be handled internally.
• Purchasing: Purchase orders for parts and contractor work are tracked and attached directly in the system, giving leadership a clear view of where money is spent in post-season reviews.
• Audits and Compliance: MVP One connects maintenance, sanitation, and QA by automatically triggering the right follow-ups for each team, eliminating the coordination gaps that slow audits and increase documentation risk.
• Preventive Maintenance: Even when facilities are not actively producing, MVP One is used to plan and execute off-season preventive maintenance, keeping equipment production-ready when lines are rebuilt.
For a seasonal facility tight on margin, this laser-focused clarity elevated efficiency.
The Success
Saving money without sacrificing productivity was the primary implementation goal. However, Alatorre found that MVP One was instrumental in True Leaf’s operational growth.
Custom reports gave him something he never had with MP2: the ability to spot leaks before they became floods. Enhanced visibility revealed patterns that quietly chipped away at capital, and where resources could be put to better use.
• Purchase order reports identified the cost centers most reliant on outside labor and which tasks could be automated or handled by the internal team. The result: Contractors were cut from 10 to 3 or 4.
• Accessible asset histories revealed where maintenance spending was controlled and predictable. This gave leadership the confidence to invest savings in new equipment, significantly expanding production lines and output.
• Even as True Leaf added new lines, maintenance costs remained stable thanks to tighter purchase tracking and clear reporting on where dollars were being spent.
“We have our management, the owners, and external investors that ask for certain things,” said Alatorre. “The fact that we’re able to pull out the information from the system to justify what we’re doing helps out.”
With their processing and distribution branch streamlined, Church Brothers Farms turned their attention to expanding their production footprint.
The Future
True Leaf found MVP One under operational pressure, but the long-term impact is unmistakable.
In addition to supporting five processing plants, Alatorre has helped implement the CMMS at a harvesting facility in Mexico and a newly acquired retail plant. Each rollout emphasizes structure: establish visibility, standardize workflows, and adapt the system to meet reality without disrupting production.
The contrast became especially clear during the retail plant acquisition. The company was using SAP, and team feedback was resoundingly negative. Rather than conforming to a bloated enterprise system, he advocated for MVP One.
“They told me SAP was extremely difficult to use,” said Alatorre. “There were just too many modules to manage. I told them MVP is way easier. Once you get the hang of it, you can track whatever you want, tweak it to your needs, and actually use the system day to day.”
Our platform remains a constant as True Leaf and Church Brothers amplify their reach. It’s not just a product built to solve today’s maintenance challenges; it fuels the people and processes driving sustainable expansion.
