The poultry industry is constantly evolving and looking for ways to increase efficiency and profitability. Two key technologies that are expected to drive the industry soon are data management solutions and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
Data management solutions are becoming increasingly important in the poultry industry to track and analyze large amounts of data. This can include data on feed conversion, egg production and quality, ways to improve genetics and other factors that can impact the success of a poultry operation. By using data management tools, producers can make more informed decisions about their operations and identify areas where they can improve.
IoT solutions are also gaining traction in the poultry industry. These solutions involve the use of connected devices, such as sensors and cameras, to collect and transmit data in real-time. This data can be used to monitor the health and well-being of poultry, as well as the conditions of their living environment. IoT solutions can also be used to automate tasks, such as feeding and watering, which can save time and labour costs.
Overall, the adoption of data management solutions and IoT technologies is expected to greatly improve the efficiency and profitability of the poultry industry. By leveraging these technologies, producers can make more informed decisions about their operations and better meet the needs of their animals and consumers.
Let's talk about those in more detail...
Data management
End-to-end traceability is an important aspect of data management in the poultry industry. With the increasing demand for healthier diets and higher welfare products, consumers are becoming more interested in knowing where their food comes from and how it is produced. By using data management tools, producers can track the entire process of producing poultry products, from the feed and medication used to conditions in which chickens were raised to the final product. This allows producers to provide transparency to consumers and demonstrate the quality of their products. Specialized data management platforms, MES and ERP systems are dominating this area. There are still plenty of outdated systems and even more outdated Excel sheets, but the industry is adapting technology with increasing speed. Improving the systems helps greatly with the quality of the data that is a base for the analytical and planning solutions.
Traceability and analysis are essential for the poultry industry. While most of the analytics is a rearview mirror but it is still required. Once the dashboards became widely available several years ago everyone rushed to create as many dashboards as possible but that probably caused more damage since the flood of different views and representations didn’t tell the story. Simply creating a large number of dashboards without a clear understanding of the business and the data being tracked can lead to confusion and a lack of actionable insights. Producers need to identify the most important metrics for their business and focus on tracking and analyzing those. The technology is readily available, qualified analysts will be currently in high demand.
Improved planning is another benefit of using data management solutions in the poultry industry. By tracking and analyzing data, producers can make more informed decisions about their operations, such as when to order new feed or when to expand their flock. Covid pandemic clearly showed that companies that can quickly adapt their supply chains survived the crisis much better, part of that adaptation was flexible and accurate planning and projections, since the poultry supply chain is rather “long”, advance planning is crucial. In a world where raw materials prices are at their highest, gas and electricity prices are constantly rising too – waste cannot be allowed, and margin maximization is the priority. There are also very poultry-specific complicated planning tasks that are evergreen such as product mix planning at the poultry plants. This is where systems with Artificial Intelligence recently start to appear and produce impressive results compared to previously used math models. Inaccurate planning in this area can cause companies millions of dollars in direct and indirect losses. The complexity of the task comes from the nature of the process which is not a standard assembly process but rather disassembly first and then assembly (from live birds to parts to ready products), multiple production lines and options on what can be produced from the incoming product.
IoT
In terms of IoT solutions, there is potential for the use of more sensors, such as vision and hearing sensors, to monitor the health and welfare of the flocks. These sensors can be used to detect early signs of illness or stress and highlight the issues with the flocks or particular houses, allowing producers to take proactive measures to address any issues. Improved onboard computing is another aspect of IoT solutions that can have a hugely positive effect on the poultry industry. By eliminating the need to transmit large volumes of data for analysis somewhere to the cloud smaller computing units like Raspberry PIs will improve the speed of data insights to be provided to the users and can generate alerts and communicate with the climate controller computers in the houses.
Machine vision is another opportunity that requires quite a lot of onboard computing, possible areas of application include egg counting – on the conveyor belt or at the grading stations and buggy counting during loading and unloading. At the conveyor belt vision sensors can also provide analytics about the quality of the eggs, their shapes, sizes and damages.
In-house vision sensors can help identify birds' weights, counts, and potentially mortality and cull birds (but this will require full-house coverage by multiple cameras)
Machine vision sensors are already actively used at the processing facilities to count the birds and carcasses on the production line, do grading, sort and identify defects and in conjunction with the equipment automate production and provide real-time data and traceability throughout the shift.
Data management platforms that connect data from the CRM, ERP, Production and Projection tools along with IoT data will contribute to the Big Data pool that would help to analyze trends better and identify the areas and facilities that can be improved, which leads to potential us suggestive management when production and efficiency not only predicted but systems will be able to give meaningful suggestions on improvements and alert when manual intervention can lead to negative results in the immediate section or further down the supply chain.
// Nikolay Shchetikhin
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