With a background in engineering and biochip development, Minseok Lee never expected to end up in agriculture. However, a professor's words changed his perspective: "Agriculture is the oldest industry, yet the last to fully benefit from technology. If you apply your experience in managing highly sensitive environments, where even a speck of dust or fluid flow must be controlled, and your curiosity in unexplored areas like biotechnology, you can make a meaningful contribution to humanity through agriculture." Inspired by this, Minseok saw an opportunity to bring structured management and precision to greenhouse environments, much like he had done in highly controlled biotech settings. Now, he is Co-founder and Cultivation Director at ioCrops' commercial greenhouse.
© ioCrops
Building a smarter greenhouse workforce
For Minseok, one of the most rewarding aspects of his work at ioCrops is witnessing the growth of his team. "By applying a structured production management system, we've been able to standardize and routinize work. This has dramatically reduced the time needed to build knowledge and experience," he explains.
This structured approach has also fostered collaboration between the agriculture and technology teams at ioCrops. "The open mindset toward technology is what drives strong and proactive teamwork," he adds. The result? A suite of smart tools—Ation, ioFarm, and Hermai—that enhance not only greenhouse operations but also the expertise of the workforce.
Addressing labor challenges with Ation
Labor dependency remains a major challenge in greenhouse management. According to Minseok, "Environmental strategies only work when tasks are executed precisely and on time. But a stable supply of skilled labor is rarely guaranteed." To tackle this, ioCrops developed Ation, a digital system designed to minimize human variability while improving operational reliability.
Ation streamlines daily tasks in three key ways:
- Enabling managers to assign tasks remotely at any time.
- Providing real-time visibility into task progress and workforce allocation.
- Simplifying the reporting and tracking of on-site issues.
By improving task execution and reducing inefficiencies, Ation enhances overall productivity. "We've significantly reduced the time required for task assignment, monitoring progress, and identifying field issues," Minseok notes.
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Early pest detection
A key test for Ation came in managing pest outbreaks. "In 2024, at a greenhouse without Ation, a worker misidentified a pest, leading to delayed treatment and significant crop loss," Minseok recalls. However, during the 2025 season, Ation enabled the ioCrops team to identify the pest a month earlier than usual. "By tracking affected areas and analyzing photos in real-time, we reduced potential damage by more than 90% compared to the previous year," he says.
Data-driven decision making
Beyond labor management, Ation helps quantify data that was previously overlooked. "In Korea, crop growth data is gaining recognition, but metrics like task speed, pest damage range, or response costs are still underutilized," Minseok explains.
By turning labor performance and operational costs into measurable data points, ioCrops enables greenhouse managers to shift from gut-based decisions to data-driven strategies. "This objectivity is the first step toward improving infrastructure, workflows, and processes," he adds.
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Bridging the knowledge gap in greenhouse operations
One of the biggest challenges in greenhouse management is the shortage of experienced operators. Traditionally, greenhouse owners relied on external consultants via calls or emails, often leading to miscommunication and delays. Ation changes this by centralizing information and making it accessible to all stakeholders. "Now, remote supervisors can provide valuable feedback based on real-time data, reducing dependency on a single expert's intuition," says Minseok.
Unexpected benefits
An unforeseen advantage of Ation has been its ability to benchmark ioCrops' performance against other greenhouses. "We recently started growing tomatoes, and by comparing our labor speed and harvest volumes with data from larger farms, we identified key areas for improvement," Minseok shares.
While direct comparisons aren't always possible due to differences in infrastructure and workforce, simply having comparable figures allows teams to ask the right questions. "This is essential for building objectivity into our operations," he emphasizes.
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Iron Man
Minseok compares the role of greenhouse technology to an Iron Man suit: "There are moments when others wear the suit, or the suits operate on their own—but only Tony Stark can unlock its full potential. That's because he understands its features, limitations, and how to work in sync with it."
Similarly, greenhouse technology is only as powerful as the grower's ability to use it effectively. "The key isn't just the tools—it's the grower's understanding and ability to apply them," he concludes.
ioCrops is currently offering Ation demos to greenhouse growers worldwide. Click here for more information about Ation.
For more information:
ioCrops
support@iocrops.com
https://www.iocrops.com/