Automation speeds up registration of rural producers by 75%

When we talk about agribusiness companies, we immediately imagine working in the fields. However, what has been registering growth in the sector's productivity is labor combined with constant technological advances, such as automation in the SAP ERP. A study by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) shows that agriculture is the only activity that has shown strength in 26 years, compared to industry and services.

The wealth of the Brazilian countryside and its exposure as one of the world's largest food exporters puts the country in the crosshairs of international competition, requiring companies and entities linked to the sector to work on opportunities to differentiate themselves. Data from the Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) State Secretariat for the Environment, Economic Development, Production and Family Farming shows that 68% of agricultural growth comes from technology.

It is precisely to contribute to this search for novelties that Brazilian agro-industries have brought about technological transformations throughout the production chain. One example comes from the Midwest, where a company in the sector sought help from AMcom to improve its customer registration process.

Every day, four employees worked for around two hours on this activity, totaling 65 new or updated registrations a week. It was a task that had a certain repetitive pattern and could therefore be automated. The expectation, in addition to speeding up the execution of the task and minimizing errors, was also to free up the team to focus on activities that really need people. Such as customer relations and negotiating offers.

The challenge

A large agribusiness company needed to streamline the process of registering rural producers and make it independent of the human factor.

Solution

After some research, it was suggested that the process be automated so that a robot could validate the information and register rural producers in the SAP ERP. To carry out part of the registration process, the company's IT department provided an API responsible for making automation simpler, cheaper and safer, as well as considerably increasing the robot's performance.

Results

The project brought several gains to the company in question, optimizing time and resources. With automation, the registration of rural producers is no longer restricted to the availability of a professional, as it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has also streamlined the process, since it has become much more practical to cross-check data, reducing the time it takes to do this task by up to 75%. As a result of these improvements, the company's employees were able to focus on what really matters for the growth of the business: customer relations and the sale of services.

- High availability: process runs 24x7

- Time optimization: the robot carries out the process in up to 75% less time

- Increased productivity: employees can focus their efforts on customer relations and selling services

Technologies used

To automate the SAP ERP, the AMcom team used three technologies:

1. SAP

2. Desk Manager

3. Automation Anywhere

1. SAP

SAP is business management software (ERP) that offers one of the best practices on the market and can be integrated with various satellite systems, regardless of the area of activity and technology. An ERP helps to manage all areas of the company, which makes it easier to automate various processes.

It is estimated that 33% of the software market in Brazil is SAP, leading the way in the categories of data analysis, business intelligence, artificial intelligence, integration with ERP, CRM and other business support tools. Research by Gartner indicates that organizations that adopt integrations with this end-to-end multi-platform technology will outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of implementing new features by 2023.

End-to-end multiplatform SAP promotes benefits such as efficiency, business innovations, agility and insights, generating value through automation.

2. Desk Manager

Desk Manager is a SaaS solution that aims to control and organize calls, optimizing service management. It can be integrated with tools whose knowledge base is business intelligence, internal and external communication.

This type of technology brings benefits such as availability and mobility, updating, customization and integration. Gartner shows that SaaS spending continues to grow by between 15% and 20%. However, this is because, in most cases, company IT is not aware of all the applications. For this reason, in order to ensure greater control and enablement, it is essential for the internal team and the contracted team to work together.

In this case, the technology team at this agribusiness released an API so that the AMcom team could make all the necessary configurations and the registration process would actually work.

3. Automation anywhere

This is one of the world's leading solutions for robotic process automation (RPA). This technology is one of the most suitable for turning traditionally time-consuming but standard and repetitive tasks into something more practical and faster.

The report published by Research Nester on the process automation market indicates that investment in RPA is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 30.08% by 2027. And, according to Gartner, there needs to be greater orchestration between this and other technologies, so that businesses gain in efficiency, effectiveness and agility.

How the agribusiness demand was met

The work with this agribusiness company, which aimed to improve the registration process, took place in two stages. Firstly, AMcom's team of experts was hired to define and plan the best technological solutions for the business, through a consultancy service. Then, through the software factory, customized, integrated and multi-technology applications were created and implemented. In other words, a solution was developed to meet demand.

About AMcom

Founded in 1997, AMcom operates from core to digital with the aim of delivering agility and competitiveness, generating strategic and technological scalability. At AMcom, through six clear guidelines, the team is prepared to facilitate business transformation. Agility is part of our day-to-day work, as our clients' needs come first. There is flexibility to shape processes and work models. There is proximity so that there is synergy in helping companies to

rethink the way they operate, taking into account the particularity of each one. We work with scalability in order to respond quickly, with the necessary professionals and in the time the client needs. We pay attention to detail and take a strategic view of the whole business, not just the project, guaranteeing all the technological efforts and engagement of people for a successful solution. We practice simplicity in order to respond clearly and directly, valuing transparent relationships that result in functional digital solutions that add value to the business.

What about your company's processes that could be automated?

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