Ideal delivery in pig production: satisfied customers and profitable farms

Customer satisfaction is the main goal of every business. After all, satisfied customers are loyal customers. This also applies to pig production. Excellence in delivery is as important as excellence in production, that is, to ensure that the demand is supplied as best as possible. Therefore, ideal delivery is one of the essential concepts of Thinking+1. Its aims at broadening the view on farm results.

The objective is to visualize not only how you are producing, but also how you are delivering your products. In practice, four essential factors of the ideal delivery need to be observed:

1) Quantity: in general, the customer states in the purchase order the number of animals that should be delivered at an established date. Based on this number, the farm may schedule weekly production to ensure this supply.

2) Quality: the customer also establishes quality criteria for the delivered products, such as type, weight, body frame, and genetics. As we know in advance the demands of the customer, we need to organize the production process to deliver the required quality.

3) Deadline: considering the quantity and quality demanded by the customer, the farm manager needs to calculate the time required for the delivery. This is a critical planning action, because the delivery date has a direct impact on final cost – the longer piglets take to achieve the desired weight, the higher are the costs.

4) Cost: the analysis of the costs needed to supply an order is essential to define if the contract is profitable. The comparison of production costs with sales price will tell you if the operation is profitable or not.

It should be noted that while quantity, quality, and deadline are determined by the customers, the producer is responsible for the costs. The lower the costs – provided the customer’s demands are supplied –, the more profitable is the business.

It is also important to emphasize that ideal delivery should also be included as a goal of the internal farm processes that should be achieved by the sectors involved in production. For instance, when the gestation unit receives the sows required by the farrowing unit, it must also check if the sows comply with the desired traits – proper body condition score, good health status, vaccination, etc.

Therefore, ideal delivery is part of pig production. Extracting the maximum production potential of the farm to supply the quantity and quality demanded by the customers at an acceptable cost and profit is the key to success. Manage your farm in this direction.

What about you? Do you already work with the ideal delivery concept?