Tracking Milk Shipments with New Technlgy Jana Magee-McCrary McCrary Management Cnsulting, Inc. February 4, 2002 Current Cmputer Systems Essentially all payrll, pling, r trucking systems autmated t sme degree Cmmn Prblems and Obstacles with current systems: Designed years ag when space was an issue Prcessing is cumbersme and limiting in hurry up and wait envirnment Granularity f Data nt crrectly defined Data hard t retrieve and assimilate fr sund decisin making N Ad hc querying available
New Technlgy Available Unlimited prcessing pwer and drive space easily affrdable GPS tracking systems Bar Cding/Scanning systems OCR (ptical character recgnitin) Pwerful RDBMS XML/Java Applets Data Mining Applicatins Chice f Cmmunicatin medium: Satellite Lcal r Wide Area Netwrk Internet/VPN Wireless
Example #1 Tracking Milk Shipments frm Farm Cmputers installed n each truck that use GPS crdinates t track and mnitr: Physical Psitin Engine perfrmance Number f stps Hauler inputs data int nbard cmputer that includes all details f milk pickup (what wuld usually recrded n manifest ticket) At end f the rute, hauler uses key t uplad all data cllected fr the day int central server. Data can then be distributed t multiple systems including: Driver payrll Prducer Payrll/plant invicing Web Servers Rute management and scheduling
Example #2 Labratry samples received fr testing Labratry persnnel rack samples Sma cunter and Bentley recrd quality results fr Butterfat test Prtein Test SNF Smatic Cell Data autmatically laded t prducer payrll system and jined with prductin data frm manifest ticket Data autmatically laded t web server nightly and is psted in secured site fr membership nly. 48 hr. later, bacteria results jined with previus data and additinally laded nightly.
Example #3 Web Based Applicatins Web Based payrll system fr multiple entities either divisin f ne cmpany r sharing f applicatin by multiple cmpanies. Allws fr sharing f develpment, hardware, and maintenance csts Des nt dictate business rules t each entity Eliminates mvement f data thrugh file layuts and prblems assciated with maintenance. Enhanced reprting capabilities - dn t recreate the wheel Use f Cmputer Technlgy n Farm Over 6,000 related articles and websites returned in internet search f Sftware fr Dairy Herd Management Many systems marketed cmmercially Herd Management Dairy Plan DP5 AGPRO Dairyman Diary Enterprise by AgSurce Stck Keeper by Herd-Pr
Hw t Access Yur Data Hme PC t Office PC PC Anywhere VPN Citrix Intranet/Internet frm hme r ffice Cell Phne PDA such as Handspring r Palm Pilt Sftware Prject Success??? Rate Generally estimated that ver 70% f all sftware engineering prjects fail r are cancelled Failure rate f evlving a system frm an existing system is equally as bad. And They almst never fail due t technical reasns!
Sftware Reengineering Prjects The Sftware Engineering Institute (SEI) was established in 1984 by Cngress as a federally funded research and develpment center with a brad charter t address the transitin f sftware engineering technlgy. The SEI is spnsred by the U.S. Department f Defense thrugh the Office f the Under Secretary f Defense fr Acquisitin, Technlgy and Lgistics. The SEI has established itself as a trusted partner with industry rganizatins and gvernment agencies in the develpment, acquisitin, and supprt f sftwareintensive systems. Limiting Factrs in Mving Frward Difficult t determine ROI in mst cases. Precedent is nt available in Dairy Industry Mst reengineering effrts in Dairy Industry wuld invlve custm applicatins Budget Cnstraints in vlatile industry Availability f persnnel n staff Fear f Failure
Successful Prjects Must Have.. Management Spnsrship f Prject Successful Change Agent Prject Methdlgy Sund Architecture Treated as a prject with a defined scpe, schedule, and budget Reliable resurces (hardware, sftware, and persnnel) Bttm Line Technlgy is available and is used mre aggressively in ther industries Limiting Factr is management f the new technlgy