In recent years the role of computers and software technology has moved from modern luxury to essential business tool within the growing industry. Today growers are not merely expected to operate sophisticated order processing and management systems - it is actually demanded of them in some cases. With some retailers no longer accepting paper invoices, it has become a necessity to be techno-savvy in order to stay in business.
Developments in wireless technology mean that growers are now keeping in touch with the state of their crops from wherever they happen to be in the world.
When you ask growers what the key things they want from computer software are, they will almost always reply that traceability is king. That position is backed up by David Hurley of Anglia Business Solutions, who says that a combination of factors led by fears over possible food scares, retailers’ desire to view the entire supply chain and ever-increasing government legislation has required growers to account for every step in the production and distribution process.
In response the firm has spent the last three years developing applications under the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) tag. The solution has been designed to bring visibility across the whole supply chain
The firm hopes that systems such as this can help growers adapt to updated orders coming through at short notice from retailers. “One of the biggest problems is that supermarkets change their minds at short notice and give growers very little notice on orders,” Hurley maintains. “Lead times are becoming shortened. Tesco’s short order lead time initiative, for instance, which sees lead times coming down to as little as eight hours, means that every second you can save is vital.”
Anglia is also well-known, of course, for its LINKFresh solutions, geared specifically towards the fresh produce industry. LINKFresh is described as a ‘complete Enterprise Resource Planning solution for the fresh produce business sector.’ Taking advantage of Microsoft Business Solutions Navision, it is said to provide users with an integrated business management system that covers finance distribution, inventory, contact management, mobility solutions, e-commerce, human resource management and dynamic trend reporting.
Successful growers frequently insist that complete control over their operations, in terms of monitoring and harvesting, is key. Manufacturer TomTech has recently given a facelift to its T200 Universal Horticultural Computer, which offers climate control within glasshouses.
The T200 is a touch screen computer, into which can be plugged up to 15 cards. The cards fall into three categories - Sensor (which can measure air temperature, soil, floor or bench temperature, electronic humidity, wet/dry humidity, light and CO2), Channel Card (which can be used to provide simple on/off control for other systems such as hot air heaters, boilers, CO2 and lighting), and Valve Card (which adds outputs for controlling 20 valves and pumps).
By way of example, TomTech says that a hardy plant nursery with a propagation house and plenty of irrigation might use one sensor card, one channel card and 13 valve cards providing 10 sensors, five channels and 260 valves.
The software, like many in vogue at the moment, provides continuous monitoring for the the sensors, including the weather station, allowing growers to check what is happening at a glance and react to any changes as required.
The company’s Alan Thompson says that the revamped version 2 T200 features a number of security and accessibility improvements such as password protection to give individual users access to predefined areas, thus avoiding any problems involving keys. Thompson adds that the new features have been implemented to give growers the peace of mind that only the correct people can gain access to their settings. It also features added support for biomass boiler heaters. “Above all, growers want a system that does everything and is easy to use,” he explains.
Working along similar lines in terms of ease of use and traceability is Applied Principles, which has developed an issue station suitable for packhouses. The firm’s new stainless steel PC, dubbed ‘The Tower’ allows grower managers to keep track of almost anything and trace it back to each individual user. For instance a knife or pair of individual goggles can be issued with a barcode and a number, so if it goes missing it can be traced back to the individual who it was assigned to.
“The aim is to take paper out of the process,” explained the company’s Elaine Riding, who added that a number of new paperless products would be available in the coming months. These include a new paperless payroll system, launched next February, which will further help on the journey towards a paperless world.
Wireless is another area Applied Principles has put its attention into, with the company keen to show off its Hornet-1 handheld device. Designed for on-the-go photography, data capture and wireless connectivity with the office, the device features a five megapixel digital camera, the ability to add temperature gauges, insertion probes, air probes and more. It can then send all the information to a central system for collation and analysis, according to the company.
It also boasts GPS technology to allow the grower to be in the field - or indeed anywhere in the world - and still relay the information back to the home office. It can even be used as a normal phone. Explaining its benefits for growers, Riding said that should an edict come through from a retailer with a revised order, the manager in a central office can send out the information to supervisors’ Hornets, who can then adjust the production and packing process accordingly.
Elsewhere Greenfield is continuing to promote its Growmaster nursery management system. The system allows growers to control batches, trace produce, allocate orders to batches and so on. The company says it has been designed for ‘living products’ - products that mature with age. Stock batches are held in ‘growing’ or ‘saleable’ state, or a combination of the two. Losses against each batch and specific reasons can also be recorded, while whole or part batches can be moved between nursery locations.
Greenfield is also offering a handheld option, the Growmaster Handheld v4.42. The device records stock, order and AV list details while the user works, using a Psion Workabout computer. Customer and stock data can be downloaded from the Growmaster to the handheld. It can also record updates, such as quantities, saleable, propagation and potting dates, costs and provenance, as well as log movements and changes, process orders, build AV lists and review customer status.
Also tapping into the world of crop management and wireless mobility are Muddy Boots’ CropWalker products. The firm has recently released CropWalker Mobile, the successor to Pocket CropWalker.
The revamped product is designed to work with Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile 5.0, and is said to offer improved integration with CropWalker, faster data transfer and a more intuitive user interface for data entry in the field. The device is aimed at both advisers wanting to record observations and recommendations as they go, or operators needing to record application details.
Also on Muddy Boots’ product lineup is Produce Manager, a tailored system for the management of fresh produce throughout any part of its commercial life. The company explains that it allows for an improved quality management system and a greater alignment between supply and demand.
The company has also been promoting its Quickfire mobile audit management software, which can be used to evidence retailers’ corporate social responsibility statements and to support environmental brand claims. Above all, the product is said to allow the chance to furnish retailers with a relevant research and marketing tool.
Modern software is also claiming to do more than simply save time and paper. The Userful Corporation, for instance, has declared in the past year that its software, DiscoverStation, has saved more than 13,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is the equivalent of taking some 2,300 cars off the road.
DiscoverStation allows up to 10 people to work from one standard PC and lets a company manage and multiply its desktops through a central web portal.
The thinking behind the development was the theory that modern desktop computers sit idle almost all day while users read or type. The technology leverages this unused computing power to create an environmentally efficient alternative to traditional desktop computing, with multiple users working off a single computer by simply attaching extra monitors, mice and keyboards.
Typical configurations in trials have been six stations to one computer, with the system claiming to reduce electronic waste by up to 80 percent and thus lower carbon footprints.
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