Estimates from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization show a projected global population of 9.1 billion by 2050. 1 To meet that demand, global food production would have to increase by 70%.
This cannot occur in a vacuum – the agriculture supply chain must and will change at a structural level to meet this challenge.
Whilst the drive of population growth and shifting demographics are unequivocal, agribusinesses ultimately need to find solutions that allow them to thrive and remain competitive and profitable.
Data connectivity offers agribusiness the chance to utilize advanced data capabilities, effortlessly connecting with partnering businesses in the agriculture supply chain to cut costs, to drive efficiencies, innovation and ultimately customer loyalty. Each business has their own ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, each using its own data architecture. By joining an independent connectivity network, this data can be refined and automatically synchronised according to each business’ own language, enabling smoother transactions with suppliers and customers through EDI, OCR or a Portal.
What are the productivity benefits granted by connectivity?
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- The ability to communicate instantly, efficiently and autonomously with customers and supply chain partners – vital for customer satisfaction.
- Reduce inefficiency– Businesses relying on manual operations devote extensive resources towards maintaining their ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), without taking into account the loss of productivity caused by human error or oversight. One study by the Australian government estimated up to 30% of invoices contain incorrect information.
- Cut costs– One report published by Gartner found that the cost of processing invoices is reduced anywhere from 70% to 90% when conducted electronically. A study undertaken by retailers Landmark and Elders found an actual saving of $18 per transaction.
- A unified view of the customer– Maintain a consistent real-time overview of each customer through multiple divisions, including finance, CRM and logistics. This single source of information creates powerful opportunities for productivity gains across the whole supply chain, as inefficiencies are removed, and resources are dedicated towards creating value.
- Just one connection required – Instead of implementing point-to-point connections, joining a network allows partners to trade on an even playing field, regardless of their size or capabilities. This makes it possible to trade with partners no matter the nature of their integrated systems – and all this without needing to make any changes on the backend once integrated to the network
“The impact of this digital transformation for individual businesses, sectors and global trade is only just being discovered. The opportunities for efficiency and adding value are enormous.” – Jeff Bradshaw, CTO at Proagrica.
The productivity benefits gained via connectivity don’t just make business smarter; businesses who seize the capabilities granted by the data revolution position themselves to remain profitable and flourish, even when facing shifting markets and rising demand.
Read the free full report here to find out more.
1“The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges”, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2017
Read more in the series:
The next step in agriculture… actionable insights
Lindsay Suddon on: The Supply Network
The next step in…precision agriculture