Other
IT options that have been discussed by seed industry members
by François Korn
SeedQuest
In 2002, the
SeedQuest Working Group brought together some 35 North American
and European seed companies, mostly but not exclusively of the
horticultural sector, which met several times to investigate
whether information technology systems could be implemented at
the level of the seed industry and benefit individual industry
members.
The promises and pitfalls of e-commerce were explored, as were
three projects which the participants believed could be of great
benefit:
|
A |
The 'Surplus Buster'
To alleviate the perennial problem of surpluses and
shortages, a system which would enable a seed producer, when
it's time to make production decisions, to have a fairly
accurate reading of how much seed of certain types is in the
global distribution channels at that particular point in
time (for example, before deciding what quantity of short
day red onions to produce for the next selling season, a
seed company could get a good sense of how much short day
red onion seed is in the global pipeline).
|
|
B |
The Transparent
Distribution Channel
To remedy situations where one reseller has inventory of a
specific variety but no sales while another reseller has
demand for this variety but no seed to sell, a system which
would enable breeder/producers to monitor their own products
throughout the distribution channels.
|
|
C |
The 'Black Box'
To remedy the absence of reliable and accurate market data
in a number of sectors of the seed industry, a 'black box'
system into which participating companies would feed their
sales figures, receiving in exchanges the total sales
figures by species, regions, etc. (such black box systems
already exist in a few sectors of the seed industry). |
The participants in
the SeedQuest Working Group
were aware
that such systems have long been in place in most industries
around the world and are some of the essential decision making
tools without which business people cannot make informed
decisions. For example, no executive in the semi conductor
industry would make production decisions without using the
information provided weekly by a system of the type A above,
while executives in the pharmaceutical industry have for some 20
years used information from a sophisticated 'black box' system
and credit it with resolving a number of the problems in their
industry.
As a first step, the participants in
the SeedQuest Working Group
decided to explore in full detail the option of setting up
a web-based, fully secure black box system for the horticultural industry. A
complete project was put together and has already gained the approval and
support of a large number of key companies. The black box
project will be implemented as soon as the participating
companies represent 90% of the market.
For more information,
please contact
fkorn@seedquest.com
May 2004 |
