This well-known cartoon is a comic from the 1930s, which depicted the incessant injection of resources by the American government to alleviate the crisis of 1929. Alongside it, we have our own version of the permanent and invisible injection of money and the leaks, often hidden, in our agricultural projects.
Possibly few producers, administrators or managers could deny that, in some area, or at some time of the year, or intuit that the business has losses that reduce its profits. For example, fruit losses during the harvest, lack of efficiency in tasks and supervision, production losses, perhaps due to lack of precision in handling, in the management of agricultural materials and inputs or in the quality of applications or fertilizations.
Normally, a financial flow will show us what the costs were and what the income was. However, it is not always analyzed how much was lost.
Until recently, and depending on the species, this was part of “human error” and since business was going well, it was not so terrible. Today, the approach is different. Achieving improvements in each area where there are leaks, in a 30%, in any species, transforms our business into a different and clearly better one.
It is possible and it is not that difficult. We will tell you about a positive experience.
In an agricultural company where machinery was a key issue due to the type of industry and operation, maintenance costs (spare parts and services) were equivalent to 200 million pesos annually. The additional costs associated with permanent failures during peak periods, which meant expensive rentals, more expensive repairs, and loss of productivity due to lack of equipment, meant that the total cost was almost double that of maintenance.
The field had incomplete records, there was no regular maintenance plan, there were machinery checklists that no one checked and few completed. All of this only created a frustrated maintenance manager. The perfect combination for a huge loss and a very worried manager.
This situation required a quick, effective solution that did not mean bringing in anyone permanently to take charge of the problem. The challenge had to be solved with those who were there, in a team effort.
Getting the team to commit to the challenge is step one. Defining roles, tasks, deadlines, a better work structure, a couple of simple forms, a couple of visualizers, simple but concrete alerts, follow-up and a leader at the service of the team is what is needed so that the panorama after a few months is completely different.
A simple, reliable database, tasks completed on time, well-maintained machinery, fewer failures and costly repairs. Additionally, a different, more motivated team, with a more effective work system and an interest in constantly moving forward and achieving better results.
This brief history has as its positive axis the management of information, the empowerment of work teams, the consolidation of the idea of management at the service of the team, and the search for permanent improvement in processes.
Today, more than ever, it is possible to rely on technology to support systematic work. This reduces losses due to management problems instead of adding to those generated by factors such as market prices, competition from our neighbors in the hemisphere, the cost of labor and inputs, shipping rates, etc. There is much that we can do from the administration to reduce losses and increase profitability.
To learn more about this visit our website: compasagrosistemas.cl
