Worldwide Agricultural Development

Développement Agricole à Travers le Monde - Desarrollo Agropecuario a través del Mundo

M.I.S.

Management Information Systems for Agriculture

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR AGRO-INDUSTRIES

As part of management and technical assistance assignments, HVA International has developed and implemented integrated management information systems (MIS) for agro-industrial enterprises. These systems cover finance and administration (eg, general ledger and cost accounting, store inventory management, payroll, staff ledger) and production and processing (eg, planning and administration of field operations, factory production control, asset administration).

HVA International’s long-standing experience in implementing and managing agricultural and agro-industrial projects has been built-in into its MIS software. The information systems can be adapted to suit any specific need of a particular project. HVA International’s specialised systems and standard systems from other suppliers have been successfully implemented in several projects. In addition HVA International provides general consultancy services to review administrative organisation of agro-industrial enterprises, prepare administrative handbooks and to upgrade existing systems.

Some important assignments associated with MIS are described below:

Rehabilitation and Expansion of the Savannah Sugar Project, Nigeria (1993-2000)
Restructuring of the administrative organisation, computerisation and training of the staff concerned as part of technical assistance provided by HVA for the Rehabilitation and Expansion of the Savannah Sugar Project.
1993-1996: Reviewing of the existing administrative organisation and development of recommendations for improvement. A new administrative handbook was prepared including procedures and policies for most of the departments e.g. budgeting, costing and accounting. In addition a company wide Automation Plan was developed, clearly stating the requirements in terms of software and hardware including a planning for the implementation stage.
1996-2000: Implementation of the MIS. Based on the automation plan, the MIS was implemented. Additional modules were added (Fixed Asset Registration and Field Planning).

In total, about 20 man-months of technical assistance were involved with improving the administrative organisation and implementing the MIS.

Mtibwa Estates and Kilombero Sugar Company, Tanzania (1996-1998)
The assignment involves the decentralisation of the Electronic Data Department of both companies, including the installation of decentralised computer networks, adaptation of MIS software, introduction of new MIS modules and training of staff and operators.

The project is funded by the Dutch agency for international co-operation (DGIS). The assignment is carried out in five phases (five site visits of two months each) covering a period of two years. In total some 28 man months of technical assistance and project management is provided for the two companies together.

Kilombero Sugar Company, Tanzania (1987-1993)
Implementation of a Management Information System with the purpose of, improving the quality of the administrative systems and strengthening the effectiveness of management. The project was funded by DGIS.

The computerised information system modules that were introduced included General Ledger & Cost Accounting, Inventory & Stores Management, Payroll & Personnel, Staff Ledger, Accounts Receivable & Payable, Outgrowers & Transporters, Purchasing, Field Costing, Fixed Assets and Transport Costing.

	Mtibwa Sugar Company, *Tanzania* (1989-1993) Implementation of a Management Information System similar to the assignment for Kilombero Sugar company mentioned above.
	Tauorga and Ghot Sultan Integrated Poultry and Dairy Production Complexes, *Libya* (1983-1991) Along with the establishment of the administrative organisation, training of staff, development of adequate manuals and forms etc., comprehensive computerised MIS were introduced. The systems cover financial administration and budget control, stores inventory management and herd and poultry production management.
	*Indonesia* (1990-1991) Several projects related to the introduction and/or upgrading of MISs have been carried out for plantations and other enterprises in Indonesia.
	Gbakogi Mechanised Farm, *Nigeria* (1985-1988) Implementation of and training for a computerised General Ledger & Cost Accounting system. Agromation International supplied the software for this project. HVA International provided four weeks of technical assistance.
	Moso Sugar Estates, *Burundi* (1984-1986) Implementation of and training for a computerised General Ledger & Cost Accounting system. Agromation International supplied the software, HVA provided three weeks of technical assistance.
	*Arab-Sudanese Poultry Project, Sudan* (1983-1985) Implementation of and training on various computerised information systems, such as: accounting, cost accounting and personnel administration. Standard software packages were selected and purchased from the market. HVA provided five months of technical and project management assistance.

General information

Agromation’s Management Information System (MIS) has been developed especially for the sugar industry. The aim of the system is to improve operational and managerial control leading to a decrease in cost while maintaining or even increasing productivity. For purposes of control the General Ledger & Cost Accounting software is the 'core module' in a series of computer applications designed to meet the information needs of modern agricultural management. Using the latest techniques and incorporating the modern concepts of financial and operating management, these systems provide the modern-day manager with the information to control costs and increase productivity. In the picture below the central position of the General Ledger & Cost Accounting software is shown together with the most significant other 'modules' together representing Agromation’s MIS.

The system can either be operated in a single-user or a multi-user configuration. In single-user mode modules run on various computers that are not linked allowing only one user at the time, communication between the modules takes place by exchange of diskettes. In multi-user mode modules run in a network of computers allowing simultaneous use of programs and data, communication takes place over the network in stead of diskettes.

Additionally each of the modules can be introduced separately and serve as building blocks of the complete MIS. This approach offers maximum flexibility, e.g. one can start with the introduction of the General Ledger & Cost Accounting module with the possibility to add any combination of sub-systems later.

General Features MIS

Introducing Agromation's MIS

Our MIS is designed for sugar estates operating anywhere in the World: companies that need to deal with field production, factory production, inventory control, equipment maintenance & control, extensive personnel & payroll requirements, high volume cash & bank transactions and specific demands in controlling the sales of sugar and molasses.

Unmatched Power

Agromation’s series of applications is one of the most powerful and comprehensive systems available today. It is a high performance LAN business application that provides the users with unmatched power and flexibility. Written in Microsoft’s award-winning FoxPro, Agromation’s MIS is the first modular information system for sugar to take advantage of this modern relational database management system and brings dramatically increased speed and control to administrative software.

Flexibility

Although designed for the sugar industry the system includes set-up options and a full range of user defined parameters to provide even more flexibility in tailoring the system to meet the exact needs of your organisation. Optional the client can take full advantage of the power and flexibility of Agromation software with the availability of the source code.

Modular

Agromation’s MIS consists currently of 14 modules each of which can be operated fully independent from each other. Yet when installed in a network various integration options are available for sharing files, linking sub-systems as well as sending and receiving events between the various sub-systems. The power of this modular approach is a real asset in terms of flexibility in implementation and ease of systems maintenance.

Menu Driven

All the options of our MIS are executed from the Main Menu. There is no coding or technical programming knowledge required to use the system. You simply access the desired options through drop down menu’s that are activated from the Main Menu using the keyboard or/and the mouse. Throughout the various modules the user interface is highly consistent which makes the systems ‘look alike’ and ‘feel alike’.

Security

The security option offers full control over the users of the system as for each individual user a set of parameters can be defined. For individual users entrance to menu options can be controlled even up to the level of data manipulation (add, edit, delete, find, browse etc.).

For More Information Contact:

HVA International
Paasheuvelweg 28, 1105 BJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
P.O. Box 12204, 1100 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31-20-3116000
FAX: +31-20-6969599
Email: office@hvainternational.nl

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