RealTime - Fall 2008 - (Page 29)

As the livestock production subsidiary of the global food giant Smithfield Foods, Murphy-Brown LLC is the world’s largest hog producer and a leading U.S. turkey producer as well. Through partnerships with contract farmers and its own farms, the company maintains approximately a million sows, with 85 percent based in the U.S. Its U.S. operations bring nearly 13 million hogs to market annually. In addition, its turkey operations produce about 10 million turkeys a year. In addition to 500 company-owned hog farms in the U.S., Murphy-Brown also has hog operations in Brazil, Mexico, Poland and Romania. Due to regulatory permit requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Division of Water Quality (DWQ), the wastewater from Murphy-Brown’s hog-production houses stored in lagoons must be strictly monitored to ensure compliance. Water from these lagoons contains plant nutrients and is often used to irrigate crops that are grown specifically for animal consumption. It is crucial that concise daily reporting is conducted to track the chemical analysis of the water, volume of irrigation, daily rainfall, lagoon levels and nutrients found in the wastewater. “We have a lot of regulatory requirements and realized that we needed a way to streamline our record-keeping functions to further our efficiency,” said Kraig Westerbeek, director of environmental management systems for Murphy-Brown. “We needed a robust system to monitor our extensive daily reporting and allow us to meet and exceed the EPA and DWQ standards.” Surviving heat, humidity and drops In its search for a solution to automate its business processes, Murphy-Brown turned to Intermec partner Taylor Data Systems to design a field service solution called the Livestock Waste Management System (LWMS). The LWMS incorporates Intermec CN2 and 741 mobile computers, allowing land technicians to collect data in real time. The system is currently deployed in Murphy-Brown’s North American East Coast operations. Due to the environmental conditions in the field, Murphy-Brown land technicians need rugged, reliable tools to perform their jobs proficiently. Both the CN2 and 741 mobile computers are designed specifically to survive heat, humidity and multiple drops to concrete or steel, allowing the company to minimize total cost of ownership. In addition, the computers are sealed against rain and dust to ensure long-term use. “Intermec provides innovative, leading solutions along with the most rugged handheld units on the market,” Westerbeek said. “Our employees need a mobile computer that is strong and reliable to endure various conditions in the field, and Intermec provided us with just that.” Daily compliance Previously, the daily reporting for the hog wastewater included manual written reports, numerous Microsoft Excel files and labor-intensive data management, For a free subscription: www.realtime.intermec.com 29 http://www.realtime.intermec.com

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RealTime - Fall 2008 Contents View Intermec News Profile Smooth Ride Partner Profiles Time Is Money Hog Wild Bally Technologies Cashes In Running Precisely Events Coda

RealTime - Fall 2008

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