Unitas Flock Management recently completed the installation of a comprehensive flock management system tailored to the needs of Creighton Brothers a major producer with over four million hens.
EGG-NEWS discussed the system in an interview with Steve Miller, General Manager of the enterprise and also Zach Davis, Layer Supervisor.
EGG-NEWS: What were the challenges faced by your company that motivated adoption of the Unitas system?
Steve Miller: Before implementing the system, we used paper farm production records that required transfer to Excel spreadsheets for review each week. This was time consuming laborious, and we missed information. All relevant flock data is now accessible to our team using the mobile app.
EGG-NEWS: Were there difficulties in implementing the system?
Zach Davis: The transition was smoother than we expected. Despite language barriers our production team was trained in the system and it operates as expected.
EGG-NEWS: How has the Unitas system improved your operations?
Zach Davis: It helps us streamline decision making because we can see information daily. Our nutrition and veterinary teams can also access data to enhance their contribution. Unitas adapted the reports we were already using including the output from the Moba grader, replacing manual tracking of egg transfers and pricing. We are now able to double-check our numbers and ensure correct pricing. Unitas software system allowed us to benchmark internally by comparing current flocks with historical performance.
EGG-NEWS: Service is an important consideration, what has been your experience for the Unitas installation?
Zac Davis: Service from the Unitas team has been great. They have made whatever changes we have requested efficiently and effectively.
EGG-NEWS: Have you been able to measure a return on investment since implementing the system?
Zach Davis: It is difficult to place an exact value on the Unitas system but our team has the most current data and can respond to deviations from standard. We saved in data entry and there is no longer confusion over multiple spreadsheets.
Our production team can monitor feed, water and ventilation correlate data with production and can respond to abnormalities. It is obvious that we are now doing a better job of inputting daily information using the pads in each house.
EGG-NEWS: Are you pleased with the results of your decision to adopt a comprehensive software management system?
Steve Miller: We would highly recommend the Unitas software to our fellow producers. Realtime data has improved our internal communications especially among the live production team, the feed mill and the packing plant as well as our outside nutrition and veterinary consultants.
For additional information on Unitas software access the Company website by clicking on to the logo on the right side of the welcome page.