How can agribusinesses benefit from the automatic weighing system?

Let us be honest, people are always on their feet trying to outsmart the very system that was prepared to benefit them. And by doing this, they think that they are doing an amazing job. One such system that many countries around the world follow is of the minimum wage for the crop which is paid to the farmer. The government set a minimum price at which the mill needs to purchase the crop from the farmer.

However, this practice, which was made to prevent farmers from being robbed of their money, paved the way for farmers to rob mills of their money. Over the decade, several studies and surveys have revealed that the mills actually pay the farmers more than what they are getting.

So, as an agribusiness owner, I am sure that you are keen on saving your money and not handing out anything more than what you owe to the farmer.

How do farmers fool the mills?

The most popular way by which the farmers fool the mills is by falsifying the weight of their crop. Earlier, and in some parts of the world still, mills use manual systems for weighing of the crop that the farmers bring in. As it is said, “to err is human,” people involved in the manual weighing system err too often. Sometimes it is so often that the mills end up losing a good chunk of their profit to pay for these mistakes.

Many times, the farmers use fraudulent techniques that result in showing the weight of the crop more than what it actually is.

What other risks does manual weighing have?

With manual weighing in a mill, your challenges include –

· Slipping out of crop while weighing which fluctuates the output

· Knowingly or unknowingly weighing the same truck more than once leading to duplicate weights

· Accidental errors in weighing like jotting down the weight wrong

Typically, each weighing transaction takes time leading to slow clearance of the vehicles. To manage the required load, this needs several weighbridges to be functional simultaneously. The operations being manual, there is a need for operators and supervisors, as well, to be available round the clock. This leads to inordinate delays and exorbitant costs.

Additionally, since manual weighbridge operations are not centralised, it is preferred to weigh both Gross and Tare on the same weighbridge, which can add to both complexities as well as delays. There is a further delay in printing, also required at each station.

The difficulty to cross-reference transactions or to get the real-time alerts presents a further opportunity for malpractices, which are difficult to detect and address. This poses a significant risk of ethical as well as managerial grounds for the organisation.

The data collected from the weighbridge system also needs to be incorporated into the central ERP, (such as SAP, Oracle Financials and other custom-built ERP systems), as well as your Sugarcane Management System, for processing and operations, as well as for critical management information and decision making. However, in a manual system, this is neither seamless nor validated, due to the risks outlined above, rendering any information suspect.

Use automatic weighing to boost profits!

Use of the automatic weighing system in the mills saves you all the money in the wrong resources. Furthermore, humans make errors, machines don’t. With an automatic weighing system installed in the mill, you can rest assured that the weight of the crop will be accurate.

Also, the payment system will be integrated with the weighing system. As soon as the crop is weighed, the payment as per the rates set by the mill, a payment invoice will be generated for the farmer.

The use of tracking devices will ensure that the same truck is not weighed twice by the station. This will save a lot of money to the mill which would have been lost by paying out double to the grower for their contribution to the crop.