Aware systems
Aware systems supports business processes and production planning decisions for the entire food value chain. We designed a farming configuration for enterprise resource planning systems, so now one system manages all functions for local food hubs and vertically-integrated, value-added farmers and cooperatives. Using enterprise resource planning software and our implementation configuration, all products can be traced from field through warehousing and distribution to retailing. Depending on your business model, we can configure membership management, customer relationship management, retail shops, warehouse and inventory management, manufacturing planning and management, farm planning and management, and financial management and accounting modules to meet your needs. Our Spendit Green application can also be integrated into the system.
We offer the following customized services to meet your needs.
Business system implementation
We implement enterprise resource planning systems that are designed for small businesses. OpenERP, and open source system, fits all budgets from start-up to growth, and all organizational models including producer and consumer cooperatives. From a standalone implementation on a personal computer to multi-company implementations that provide secure access to offsite members and partners, this system is quite flexible. For organizations that prefer a commercial systems, we have worked with NetSuite, a leading cloud-hosted system designed for small and medium-sized businesses. To learn more, read our project implementation summary or our base configuration summary for OpenERP implementations.
Business plan development
Develop vertically-integrated business plans to support business and financial decisions related to value-added agriculture and food hub business models.
Value-added investment analysis
Combine information on local food product demand, pricing, and cost of production to support value-added investment decisions.
Small farm operations research analysis
We conduct operations research for specialty crops grown on our own small farm. Our objective is to find the right combination of production equipment and business models for profitable local food production and distribution models, and then add these models to our enterprise resource planning system. We can conduct customized research projects on our farm for a few clients each season. Note that our focus is on operations research - equipment, productivity, and business systems - and not on agronomic research.
Local production impact labels
Compute local foodshed impact labels for your food products.
Local market potential analysis
Compute market potentials for local foodsheds based on consumer demand for products and available agricultural resources and production potentials. We may donate these analyses for local non-profit producer groups or support grant requests for larger studies.