P.PSH.1392 - Demonstrating the value of an end-to-end feedback system for the sheep supply chain
A system that can provide end-to-end feedback for red meat supply chains has significant benefits to both producers and processors as both key stakeholders can strive to get the 'the right animal for the right market'.
| Project start date: | 20 May 2022 |
| Project end date: | 15 December 2023 |
| Publication date: | 15 December 2023 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Sheep, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | National |
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Summary
The project aims to create two pilots which demonstrate how production and processing data can inform decision making along the entire lamb supply chain (farm, feedlot, processor). The purpose of this project is to pilot an end-to-end feedback system in lamb supply chains using processing intelligence for data capture and predictive analytics. The learnings from suite beef supply chain projects, including Connected Beef Supply Chain Control Tower framework, will be transferred and adopted with design principles as the key contribution to the meat and livestock industry. These pilots will demonstrate how individual animal data made available through the supply chain and applications can be extracted and analysed to provide feedback and insights to the various stakeholders in the lamb supply chain.
Objectives
The objective was to design, implement and pilot a sheep supply chain control tower that would provide actionable insights to all stakeholders.
Key findings
• An enterprise scale sheep control tower, with multi-tenant capability to provide a cost-effective platform across the industry is technically feasible and capable of being deployed in the short term.
• On-farm data capture challenges should be eliminated with automation.
• Program management and ongoing stakeholder management is required, in order to ensure all are aligned.
Benefits to industry
The project has proven that the technology is available for the commercial scale deployment of a Sheep Control Tower solution. Such a solution will optimise the sheep supply chain, through providing actionable insights. The sheep industry, due to the shorter animal lifecycle has significant opportunity to optimise the supply chain, per region, per market based on the actionable insights of a Sheep Supply Chain Control Tower.
While this project faced challenges in accessing specific data both on farm and from the producers, the high-level objectives of the project were met. The establishment of an end-to-end feedback system for the sheep supply chain is technically feasible, at enterprise and industry scale. The design has been completed and the key functionality demonstrated.
The challenges faced in collecting data on farm and establishing collaborative relationships with the processors are not insurmountable. Automating the on-farm data collection, which has been successfully demonstrated in the earlier PFID projects is key to a successful sheep supply chain control tower solution, coupled with managing the expectations of all stakeholders across the supply chain so that both the producer, processor, and end customer benefit.
MLA action
Further lamb on-farm R&D is recommended to ensure the full range of capabilities is evaluated.
Future research
While the technology and design have been proven and are ready to scale in a future project, the on-farm challenges faced during this project indicate that future projects will need to factor in support in the data gathering and automation of data collection as much as possible. Producers face daily labour challenges, especially in the post Covid era, and while very keen to digitise and improve their practices still need to find the time to support such a project.
Hitachi Australia will provide technical support to the lamb supply chains (Binginbar Farms & Clear Creek) to ensure that detailed on farm data requirements are captured. Hitachi Consulting will provide technical services to develop and further refine the platform to integrate existing sheep data captured on farm. Notably, the Digital Agriculture Transformation and Value Chain Efficiency and Information Programs will be supported by Hitachi Vantara’s Development service centres. Hitachi Vantara’s Global Development Network (GDN) will provide ongoing research support, data integration services and support all data analytics.
More information
| Project manager: | Dean Gutzke |
| Contact email: | reports@mla.com.au |
| Primary researcher: | Hitachi Australia Pty Ltd |
