​Digital revolution in agribusiness

By simplifying processes, organizations achieve business agility and become more competitive in the market. Technological solutions and e-commerce win over agribusiness companies that project positive performance for 2016.

The sector predicts growth between 1,5% and 2,2%. According to the CNA, this year, the Gross Production Value (VBP) of agriculture will reach R$529,9 billion. It is worth remembering that, in 2015, agribusiness represented 23% of the national GDP, 35% of the country's workforce and 40% of Brazilian exports.

In the case of Paraná, a state that stands out in the agricultural sector with 220 cooperatives affiliated to the Organization of Cooperatives of the State of Paraná (Ocepar), revenue in 2015 was R$60,4 billion. This value gains even more prominence when compared to Brazilian GDP, which last year shrank by 3,8%.

But, even with advances in the segment, there are still many bottlenecks and deficiencies to be addressed. This is where technology can help cooperatives, agribusinesses and those who work in the field.

Today, having operational control of the business has become the desire of every organization. Wish that comes true through technology. One of the solutions developed by the German brand SAP, S/4 HANA brings simplification to processes and enables the real use of Big Data (large volumes of data).

If, today, a production planning simulation can take hours to carry out, with SAP S/4 HANA it takes seconds, that is, the software allows the replanning of the entire company: logistics, production, sales and finance, in order to meet the strategic demands of cooperatives. It is worth noting that, if the logistics If it is not well managed, there is a risk of losing contracts and even production itself.

Another challenge for cooperatives and agribusinesses is the diversity of businesses – everything needs to be integrated and management information consolidated. On traditional platforms, it is not possible to integrate in real time – often, professionals in the field have to look at several different systems to obtain the desired data – and when they do so, they use information from previous days, so they cannot achieve the same quality of information offered by SAP.

Adjusting the accounting, tax and financial management of operations is yet another issue to be resolved by cooperatives. Simple Finance and the SAP tax platform (TDF) help with this task. They make the work of users and managers more intuitive and productive, using real-time information to reduce risks and reduce companies' tax exposure.

Another “great solution” for cooperatives

In addition to S/4HANA, organizations rely on SAP's Agricultural Contract Management (ACM) software. The solution manages activities related to contracts and opportunities in the agricultural business, promoting effective contract management.

In the case of cooperatives, for example, it is clear that current solutions are difficult to update and have a low level of integration, exposing companies to risks and making it difficult to calculate the real result of an operation. In this case, SAP's ACM is a good option, it groups purchase contracts with sales contracts, manages purchase volume, sales, price variations and results.

In short, through this software – which serves organizations of all sizes – it is possible to control relationships in the raw material supply chain, production and sales, starting with identifying grain suppliers; production volume management; price and quality; control of delivery times and monitoring of the final settlement of the contract.

SAP solutions came to meet the demands for efficiency, production quality, cost reduction, waste and competitiveness.