Digital Farmer

Before

Before implementing the service, the commercial department maintained records of their customers-farmers in MS Office files. Purchasing specialists compiled detailed information about each farmer in a separate Word document. To prepare the consolidated report they exported data from two accounting systems (SAP ERP and 1C), added key data for all their farmers, and put it into the shared Excel file.

As there was no standardized format for data entry, each employee recorded data as per their own preferences. Due to the fact that the department expanded and the business grew, there were several challenges, such as:

• Managers found it difficult to find up-to-date information (files were regularly lost in emails).
• It was not always clear who entered the data (critical for data that affects financial planning).
• Employees spent a lot of time updating data. Before the season, 1-3 days a week were required for this.
• Any change in corporate directories (crops, elevators, seed, and fertilizer manufacturers) in all files required significant time and effort.
• Data verification for top management’ dashboard preparation required the involvement of financial department specialists.
• All data was kept in terms of the current season, and data for previous seasons were lost.

At the time of the decision to digitize the farmer registry process, there were less than 3 months before the start of the harvesting season.

Solution

No functional requirements were provided, instead, the customer presented high-level business requirements for the future system.

Using the "MVP in 4 weeks" methodology and taking an additional 5 weekly sprints for iterative improvements, a comprehensive CRM for managing the procurement process of raw materials was developed. The solution was built on top of Power Apps + Dataverse within only 9 weeks and it includes:

• Farmers and all their assets database, such as dryers, scales, equipment, and employees.
• A 360-degree profile of the farmer, including information on fields and processed crops, equipment, contracts, and accounts receivable.
• Interaction history with the farmer is available out of the box with Common Data Model.
• Recognition and geolocation of manually entered farmer's addresses.
• Management of raw materials procurement plans for the season by crop types.
• Monitoring of competitors’ purchasing prices.
• Integration with ERP to obtain data about counterparties, contracts, procurement facts, storage, and master data (corporate directories).
• Integration with Data Warehouse to transfer data to a repository for further processing and dashboard building.
• A role-based security model with a three-level hierarchy of business units (division-region-branch).

Documentation for users, IT, and business administrators was prepared, and historical data was imported.

After

All employees now use the Power Apps application "Digital Farmer" (CRM) with a shared Dataverse database:

• Switching from file data entry to a single farmer database saves lots of time. Access is granted based on the business unit and the employee’s role.
• Procurement specialists now have easy access to all farmer data (including ERP data) on a single view.
• Mobile application is available for quick data corrections on the go.
• There is new data such as the quality of delivered products and participation in loyalty programs available. The system now automatically calculates farmer logistics. It helps in the negotiation process.
• Purchasing specialists benefit from real-time analytics on crop yield and purchases (plan-forecast-fact). It allows better identification of priorities and allocation of time.
• The system controls the data entered and does not allow knowingly incorrect information to be entered, reducing errors.
• Master data (crops, seed and fertilizer manufacturers, elevators, processing plants, competitors) are synchronized with ERP, freeing up financial department specialists from data checking.
• New seasonal data analytics allow for management decisions to be made based on all data, not just the current season, enabling better strategic planning.

Roadmap

• Develop functionality for the agronomy department, including agronomists and seed/fertilizer sales.
• Create automatic farmer segmentation.
• Improve functionality for working with large farmers operating in multiple regions.
• Implement user notifications and reminders.
• Ability to conduct marketing campaigns.
• Expand competitor management functionality.