Business Situation
The Carthage System, managed by Professional Swine Management LLC, is ranked as a top 10 pork producer system in the US. They provide production management and project development to swine producers, managing all phases of production including breeding, gestation, farrowing, nursery, and finishing.
Historically, Carthage System used several well-known software applications for swine management, acquired over the years from different vendors. They considered changing the software due to increasing requirements, the desire to integrate all systems, and to optimize the data collection process.
“Comparisons of programs indicated Porcitec would provide us with the ability to easily customize reports, run data analysis, complete cross- system comparisons and drill into many of the key production drivers”
Sherri Biddenstadt, Record Bureau Manager.
Solution
Carthage System began the process by converting one farm to Porcitec. After testing, they converted the remaining farms. Data migration was a challenge because of the different systems, codifications, and some custom data. During this period, fluent communication between the company and Agritec was important to achieve the success.
At the Carthage office, Porcitec was installed on a dedicated server. This provides access to offices within their network, and also to remote users. This system is managed onsite, taking full control of the data, so they do not have to depend on outside companies. Each Carthage System customer has assigned privileges to access their farm data and run reports that fit each farm's specific needs.
“We had a smooth transition. The staff at Agritec were very helpful, answering our questions quickly. We implemented new technology for data entry at the same time we transitioned over to Porcitec and we’ve been very happy with the results. Farm staff are now able to record data as they are doing their work so they don’t have to spend so much time in the office doing data entry” says Sherri Biddenstadt.
Benefits
- Automating Data Collection
Using the mobile app to automatize data collection has dramatically reduced the time required to enter data into the system, minimizing costs.
- Unifying Multiple Programs
Porcitec now manages all farms, fulfilling all requirements in one central location, instead of using multiple different software programs and their associated databases which may use different formulas and terminology.
- Better Customer Service
Now customers can get customized reports, adding value to the service provided by Carthage System. From sow cards to advanced performance analysis reports, reports can be fully customized by completely changing the layout, font sizes, adding new columns or fields, new formulas, etc. In addition, Porcitec includes a powerful database analysis system to create complex data queries.
Sherri Biddenstadt says “Customization of reports has been easy to complete and the database system analysis has been highly valuable. The ability to pull SQL Queries and make custom reports has been of great benefit to us. Also, the ability to filter or break down reports by a variety of variables allows us to drill down to the specific data we need.”
- Independence and confidentiality
Carthage System controls the entire process, from data collection to report generation. All programs and applications are installed in their own web servers system. This eliminates having to depend on an external company to store and manage their data.
- Continuous Evolution
Porcitec evolves continuously, which provides Carthage System a solid technology partner. Porcitec is constantly adapted to user requirements. Agritec releases several updated versions each year, incorporating user feedback.
Sherri Biddenstadt says “Requests for changes have been quickly completed and technical support has been excellent. Database system analysis has been highly valuable. We’re now able to drill down and get the data we’re really needing. We’re also able to track and analyze things we’ve not been able to look at before”