Agricultural work can undoubtedly be hazardous to both human health and finances. Your work in this area may rely on a range of machinery, such as tractors, round balers and combine harvesters. In looking after this machinery and keeping it safe, you can do the same for you and your workers.

Legal measures like the Health and Safety at Work  Act 1974 can help guide you in this, as the UK Government website indicates. In any case, here is a rundown of policies worth adopting.

Clean the machinery regularly

Failing to clean your equipment regularly risks grease, dirt and residue accumulating on its internal and external parts, potentially leading to rusting and clotting and, in turn, breakdowns. Cracks and oil leaks can also go unnoticed for longer if you neglect an equipment-cleaning regime.

Hence, the Emma Cooper website urges that you clean not only the farm equipment’s body but also the inside of the filters, while the machinery’s interiors should be cleared of foreign objects.

Store the machinery appropriately

Storing your agricultural machinery and equipment both safely and correctly will be influential in
preventing sunshine, wind or hail from damaging the paintwork, seats or any exposed sections.

The AGRIFOODSA.INFO website advises that you use a suitable shelter for the job. That way, your machinery can be kept in good, workable condition for longer. This would enable you to hold off repairing or replacing parts for longer, too – although you might still need such repairs or replacements eventually.

Replace parts before they break

This proactive approach to looking after agricultural machinery components – especially moving ones, which tend to wear out sooner – is a reliable way of preserving mechanical efficiency. Therefore, you should set aside time to regularly check your machines for worn-out parts warranting replacement.

You could also take out suitable insurance for the machinery in advance, thereby giving yourself a means of more easily funding new parts if old ones do break.

Adhere to a regular maintenance schedule

Now that you know many tried-and-tested methods of preserving agricultural equipment effectively, you can put many of those methods into a scheduled routine for you and your staff to follow regularly.

Nonetheless, you should keep insurance in place as a safety net in case things go awry. Fortunately, it’s easy to research online about how to find good deals on tractor insurance in the UK.

Make sure your machinery is driven and operated safely

Finally, prevention is better than cure, so the saying goes – and that certainly applies to how your
agricultural machinery is used on a day-to-day basis. You should make sure that anyone you permit to operate such equipment has been appropriately informed and trained in how to do so. Your machinery can end up lasting longer – and working better – as a result.

Educate your staff on the “little things” – like adapting their speed to the given load and terrain, and ensuring they can easily reach for certain vital controls if need be – that can help them to keep equipment in a good state.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post How To Look After And Protect Your Agricultural Machinery appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

The most recent study made by Inmarsat: the world’s leader in global, mobile satellite communications, found a global mining sector experiencing an Internet of Things (IoT) revolution with respondents reporting significant rises in adoption of connected technologies.

Specialist market research company Vanson Bourne was employed by Inmarsat to interview 200 respondents with either decision-making or influencing responsibilities for IoT-related initiatives at organisations numbering over 500 personnel. Mining organisations reported successes in implementing projects to safeguard workers via remote tracking, monitor drilling, and observe acid mine drainage remotely. However, despite this progress, a range of challenges are hindering the sector’s ability to reap the rewards that IoT has to offer.

‘The Rise of IoT in Mining’ is the third IoT-focused research project undertaken by Inmarsat and focuses on the use of, attitude to and predictions for IoT across the global mining sector.  As part of the initiative, Inmarsat is also offering mining companies the opportunity to measure their IoT readiness versus the 200 respondents to the survey, using their free online IoT maturity tool.

According to the research, most organisations (65%) have fully deployed at least one IoT project, while 33% are trialling or have trialled a project, with only 2% of respondents not having begun an IoT project. These findings echo the predictions reported in Inmarsat’s 2018 mining research, where only 2% had fully deployed an IoT solution, 29% were trialling one and 69% were planning on beginning IoT projects within the next two years. Noticeably, there is a considerable geographical variance in IoT adoption and maturity across different regions, with 98% of North American respondents having successfully deployed IoT-enabled projects, compared with only 50% in Africa and 38% in South America.

While this increase in full deployments represents progress, the use cases and data management are on the simple side and there are many challenges to overcome if the mining industry is to fully realise the potential of IoT, particularly in regard to using it as driver for organisational change. A lack of skills, investment and cultural challenges, as well as unreliable connectivity, patchy cybersecurity processes and underdeveloped data management processes were also highlighted in the report and will all need to be remedied in the coming years. 

Commenting on the study, Joe Carr, Global Mining Director at Inmarsat said: “Two years on from our last research, Inmarsat wanted to get a measure of what had changed in the mining industry. IoT has begun to take a foothold in the sector with increased rates of adoption across the board. What we discovered was an industry that, historically slow to adopt radical ideas, is now beginning to embrace the use of IoT, but still working out how to make the most of it.”

The mining industry faces significant challenges around skills, security, connectivity, investment and data management and these will need to be addressed for the industry to progress past a point of using IoT in a simple, siloed capacity. Despite the challenges being faced, mining organisations are looking to increase their investment in IoT and are overwhelmingly positive about the value that IoT can bring to their operations and the benefits it is either already delivering or will deliver in the future.

Carr concluded: “We want to help drive IoT adoption in the mining sector and encourage mining companies to plot a route to IoT success using our free online IoT Maturity Tool. The tool allows miners to understand their progress in IoT adoption across a number of areas and to compare this with the 200 respondents who contributed to our research. Using these findings miners can start to develop a roadmap for improvement and provide a tangible proof point for influencing internal conversations.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post IoT Innovation and Industry 2.0: Inmarsat research reveals IoT revolution in Mining Industry appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

There are many reasons why you may want to expand or grow your agricultural business, even though the competition this year is more active than ever before. Not every business knows exactly what the best steps to take are when expanding in the agricultural market, and this can lead them into making costly errors. In this article, we have come up with a list of tips that are all worth considering.  Which will be best for you will depend on your current business model, how efficiently your business is currently operating, and the opportunities currently available in your area.

1. Specialize

It’s a well-known fact that businesses that specialize in just one or two products or services are those that tend to be able to charge higher prices. Consumers automatically see specialized businesses as those with a higher level of expertise or higher quality products, so it’s definitely something worth considering. In addition, if you stick to just one or two things, you can improve the efficiency of your business, and reduce costs at the same time. The lower your outgoings are, the more you’ll be able to remain competitive in the market, which is something that is incredibly important for agricultural businesses.

2. Consider Private Label Manufacturing

Of course, not every agricultural business is going to be able to specialize, and this especially applies to large companies that rely on their diverse offerings in the community. One tip for businesses in this area is to consider launching their own line of products through a process known as private label manufacturing. What this essentially means is hiring a company to manufacture products on your behalf and then selling them with your own branding.

If you like this idea but you’re struggling to a reliable and affordable private label manufacturer in this sector, you may want to check out the agrochemical suppliers AmegA Sciences USA to help you with this. AmegA Sciences can help to manufacture wetting agent chemicals, turf pigments, lake dyes and soil surfactants.  They’re also one of the best specialty fertilizer suppliers in the United States and ship internationally. The company has a long history of private label manufacturing and so are well suited to help your business stand apart from the rest with its own line of branded goods.

3. Scale

If you have the funds available, scaling your business could be a good option. The best way to increase your profits is to reinvest them into your process through scaling. If you run a farm, for example, you could increase the number of acres you have to plant more crops, or if you run a more retail focused agricultural business, you could expand your warehouse facilities, or open up shop in more locations.  It’s worth noting, however, that this is only recommended if your current business is operating at peak efficiency and has more orders than it can currently handle from your current premises. If you expand without needing to, your costs will increase, which could lead to you losing money in the long term; not what you want.

4. Network

You may think that networking is something that only office-based businesses perform; however, it can be incredibly beneficial for those in the agricultural industry as well.  In fact, networking can enable a small company to look like a large operation when done correctly. You can look into machinery shipping arrangements and buying groups, and also look into the ways that you can share operators and other personnel across farms.  When working alongside the other businesses in your area, you will be able to make a bigger impact in the local area; much bigger than you could manage on your own.

5. Downsize & Optimize

It may seem counterproductive, but if you currently have a farm or business premises that is far too large for what you need it for, it could benefit your business to downsize.  Not only will this save you money (and even net you some money in the short term), but it can also help your business to work more efficiently, which can, over time, help to increase your profits.  It’s definitely worth surveying your current situation and determining whether you really need all the land and space you have available. We heavily recommend reaching out to IT-service providers to see how they can help digitize and optimize your processes from a technological angle. In 2019, more and more bespoke tech solutions are being developed and used by the most successful agro companies to vastly improve their output and margins. adopting up-to-date techniques and tools has been proven to increase efficiency (and therefore decrease the physical space needed for the equal or better results).

6. Integrate

Finally, one last thing that is worth considering are the ways you can integrate your production and processing.  For example, you could look into producing turkeys, finishing hogs, or producing eggs under contract. These services can all ensure a reliable income, but they do have a certain amount of risk attached to them, which is definitely something you’ll want to consider when working out your net returns.  That said, some agricultural businesses and farms find that moving into these specific areas could provide the boost they need and add an additional form of income to their roster. Instead of effectively guessing what your business can integrate or scale, make sure you track as much data about your current model as possible. It is always better to let your customers and market indicate to you what to specialize in, based on the data provided about their engagement with certain products or services you provide.

Working in the agricultural industry isn’t as easy as many believe, and it can be much harder to scale up, or grow your business than it is in other industries. That being said, the high barrier to entry and the continued overall growth of the agricultural market means you will find more opportunities here than elsewhere, providing you make sure to consider every option available to you carefully.

This is an article provided by our partners network. It might not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of our editorial team and management.

Contributed content

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post 6 Tips for Growing Your Agricultural Business in 2019 appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.