Overview

The Feed Plan enables farms and feed mills to project consumption requirements based on the goals and objectives of the organization and the actors involved by providing a timetable of future feed delivery requests based on projected consumption requirements.  It's results will then be used to create scheduled feed delivery orders, which in turn are used to generate actual deliveries.    

Pre-Requisites

• Feed Formulas

• Feed Mills

• Feed Plan Configuration

• Feed Profiles

• Flocks w/Placement - Estimated or Actual

See also: Additive Programs, Feed Components, Feed Supplement Adjustments, Feed Plan Variances, Feed Deliveries

Configurations

System Settings Configurations

Enable Feed Plan

Settings → Features Tab

To enable the Feed Plan or the Feed Schedule you must enable the features you want by choosing whether it is enabled or disabled in the System Settings Feature form.

Open

Settings will take affect once users log out and back in to the application.

Feed Types

Settings → System Types Tab → Feed Type Drop Down

High level feed categories to which formulas are grouped based on the flock's growth stage.  Create the different feed types here.

Open

Flock Set up

Settings

Flock Form → Settings Tab

Feed Profile: Apply the feed profile you want the flock to utilize

Additive Program: Apply the additive program you want the flock to utilize.

Automatically recalculate the feed plan for this flock: If this box is checked, then the feed plan will automatically recalculate based on the information you changed.  If this box is not checked, then the feed plan will not recalculate and will remain the same.

Do not include feed supplement adjustments for this flock: This checkbox determines whether feed supplement adjustments will be added to the flock.

Estimated Placements, Actual Placements

Estimated Placements or Actual Placements are necessary to create a Feed Plan so the system knows when a flock will be starting and how many birds will be placed.

A flock can be placed in multiple houses.  All feed plan processing is performed at the house level.  Only houses for which the flock has placements will be included in feed plans.

An estimated placement will be utilized until an Actual Placement has been created and Finalized.

Projected Sell Dates, Estimated Sales/Live Haul, Actual Sales/Live Haul/Depopulations

When a flock is created, the flock form calculates projected Sell Dates based on the Projected Sell Age and the Placement date.  The projected Sell Age is usually set on the contract.

The application will use the Projected Sell date found on the flock unless an Estimated Sales/Live Haul or Actual Sales/Live Haul exists.

The application will utilize the Estimated Sales/Live Haul until an Actual Sales/Live Haul has been created and Finalized.

Standards

Flock Form → Standards Tab

Must have Calorie Consumption tables or Weight Consumption Tables applied if you utilized the consumption goal in the feed profiles.  If the criterion you utilized in the feed profile was body weight you must apply a Production Weight table.

Also utilizes Population Standard tables to know how many birds you expect to feed in the future based on Mortality to adjust consumption.

The process will use actual body weight records or sample body weights if they're available.  Actual body weights will adjust subsequent projected consumption values to more accurately reflect actual values.

See System Tables to generate the standard tables to be applied.

Farm Configurations

Plants

Select a default plant for the Feed Mill.

House Configurations

Details Tab

Feed Plan Configuration: Specify the feed plan configuration flocks assigned to this house will utilize.

Feed Delivered by Bin?: Do you want your feed delivered by bin otherwise will deliver by house only.

Ending Inventory by Bin?: Do you want to record your feed delivered by bin otherwise will be recorded by house only.

Feed Lines Tab

If you need to set up line capacities to be considered in feed plans.  Feed Lines

Feed Bins Tab

If you want to schedule by bin you must set up your Feed Bins.

Feed Supplement

Some growers will want to supplement their flocks with their own feed. Growers will give their flocks a wheat supplement. For one-time, or exceptional supplements, user can already use the feed delivery to create a special delivery with a formulation designated for this type of feed. However, for planning and scheduling this we utilize Feed Supplement Adjustments. Since supplements are policies of the growers we will add these adjustment tables to houses, and give them effective dates. One adjustment schedule can span across many flocks, change mid-flock, or even be created from scratch effective from the start on the next flock.

Feed Plan Configuration

Feed Plan Configuration need to be created and applied to the house to know how to handle when to deliver the first placement, set feed buffers, set rounding rules and other configurations utilized by the feed plan.

Feed Profile

Feed profiles are created and maintained by nutritionists or with their input.   The profile specifies the optimal feed type consumption for a bird to reach the farm's growth targets.   This is done by varying feed types and formulas during the life a flock based on a specified target goal.  In order to create a feed plan, a flock must have a valid associated feed profile with profile items.  See Feed Profiles.

Feed Additive Program

An additive program specifies a list of additives required by the flock and which should be added to the feed plan.  Different additives can be required at different ages   Additive program can have program lines for different effective dates.  The feed plan will use whichever lines are effective for the current day in the flock's life within the processing cycle.  See Additive Program

Feed Plan Delivery Schedule

The feed plan feature allows users to generate feed records based on flock consumption and bin availability on houses. One of the greatest shortcomings of this feature is that it lacks some logistical elements. One example of this is delivery times- with the exception of some settings we can set for buffered delivery dates, the software will recommend that feed be delivered outside of the operating hours of the feed mills that produce them, and the farmers that receive them. See Feed Plan Delivery Schedule

Feed Plan

Generating a Feed Plan

This process estimates consumption requirements at discrete intervals from the first placement up to the end of the flock's projected life and determines when feed should be ordered, how much feed, of what formula, and what additives to include.  The result is a list of feed plan records dated from the beginning to the end of the flock's life.  A feed plan is a record that specifies when to make a delivery, what kind of feed, and why it is required.  Feed plans are generated for flock/house units.  A flock/house is the the set of birds located in a specific house and assigned to a flock.

Ribbon Bar: Live Inventory Options → Select Flock → Feed Plan

The application should automatically calculate the feed plan, but you can select the generate button if no feed plan records exist.  Once you review the plan you can select the save button to save those records.

Starting on the first Start Date up to the End Date, the feed plan process performs these steps for each interval

• Interval is the frequency with which the house process is performed during the life of a flock.  Currently, the interval is set to one hour

The process attempts to optimize delivery times as much as it can.  That means that multiple deliveries to different feed bins can be scheduled on the same day.  If the house allows mixed feed types, multiple deliveries can be scheduled on the same bin.

For each feed plan record, the process determines which additives were required during its consumption and their total quantity in proportion to their inclusion rate and their active age range.  It then creates feed plan additive records for each one.

• House: The house for which the feed plan was created.

• Required Date: The feed plan's unadjusted delivery date.  The previous delivery's feed is completely consumed at this date/time.

• Delivery Date: The required date adjusted by the feed buffer to allow for potential delays.  For initial deliveries, this is the required date minus the 'Delivery Time Prior to 1st Placement' value from the Feed Schedule Configuration.

• Units: Feed quantity to be delivered

• Unit Of Measure:  The unit of measure for the 'Units' value.  This is configured as the division's feed delivery weight UOM

• Bin: The bin on which the feed will be delivered

• Delivery Cause: The event that caused the delivery to be completed. 

  • Consumption Goal Reached

  • Additive Goal Reached

  • Target Age Reached

  • Target Body Weight Reached

  • Bin Capacity Reached

  • Maximum Delivery Size

  • Withdrawal

  • Final Order

  • Maximum Feed Supply Days

  • Additive Withdrawal
    
    

• Status:  The feed plan's current status.

• Profile Item: The feed profile which was used to calculate consumption requirements for this feed plan record

• Feed Buffer: Feed buffers reduce the risk of shortage in the eventuality of delayed deliveries.  The feed buffer value is the remaining feed from the previous delivery still present in bins as of the adjusted delivery date.

• End Interval: The last hour in which this feed plan will be consumed 

• Starting Age: The age in days in which the flock will begin consuming the delivery

• Ending Age: The age in days in which the flock will finish consuming the delivery

• Feed Buffer: The bin space in units of weight reserved for the previous delivery's feed buffer.

Editing a Feed Plan (Initial or In-Progress Plans)

Add

Users can manually add new feed plan records by entering data in the grid's new record prompt at the bottom of the grid.  This will automatically add a new, unsaved record

Edit

Users can edit new and existing feed plan records by directly entering data into the fields. Not all fields are editable, especially for generated feed plan records.

Save

Users can click the Save to persist all new rows and all changes made to existing rows.  

All changes are saved to FeedPlan and FeedPlanAdditiveItem

Delete

Users can delete feed plan records by selecting a record, right clicking on the feed plan grid's navigation pane, and selecting Delete Rows.  The form will delete all records to be delivered on or after the delivery date of the selected record and belonging to the same house.

The form will prompt the user to confirm the deletion.  If the user selected records from multiple houses, the prompt will display multiple messages, but the confirmation is all or nothing.

Records are only soft deleted and removed from FeedPlan and FeedPlanAdditiveItem.  In order to make the deletions permanent, the user must save the changes.

Validations will occur throughout the Feed Plan if there are any missing fields or problems while making modifications to the Feed Plan.

Loading a Feed Plan

Prior to a feed plan approval, a button on the bottom of the feed plan will appear called Load Plan,  if you select this button you will have the option to

• Load Plan From Approved Feed Plan

• Load Plan From Completed Feed Orders

This will generate a plan from a prior flock and change the dates to fit your current flock.  That way you can use the same plan as either an approved or completed plan.  You will want to make sure you do not have the regenerate automatically button checked on the flock form because any changes will recalculate the plan.

Feed Plan Additives

Add

Users can manually add new additive to new or existing feed plan records

1. Click on the feed plan record's expansion button.  This will display the record's additives

2. Enter data in the additive grid's new record prompt

Edit

Users can edit new and existing additives by directly entering data into the fields. Not all fields are editable, especially for generated additive records.

Delete

Users can delete additive records by right clicking on the additive detail grid's navigation pane and selecting 'Delete Rows'.  This process deletes only the selected records

Regenerate Feed Plan

Once a feed plan is generated, a portion of it can be deleted and regenerated.  In addition, users can regenerate portions of a plan without first deleting records.  Changes to feed plan values will prompt the user to automatically regenerate.

If the following is selected on the flock form then all regeneration would need to be done manually.  Checking the "opt-out" field will prevent this flock's feed plan from being recalculated any way other than generating or updating it from the feed plan form itself.

Regenerate after Delete

If the user clicks Generate after creating a complete feed plan, there will be no further changes.  However, the user has the option of deleting all or some records.  Hitting Generate at this point will generate the remaining feed plan records required to complete the plan.  If there are no changes to the flock configuration (houses, bins, standards, feed profile, etc) or its transactions (deliveries, placements, etc), the new records will be identical to the deleted ones.

Manual Regeneration

Users have the option of selecting a specific record and forcing a regeneration by right clicking the record and selecting Regenerate. 

The manual regeneration process will perform two actions:

• Delete all records belonging to the same house as the selected, but with a greater delivery date

• Generate the feed plan, which will regenerate the missing records

Automatic Regeneration

Recalculation by Modifying Feed Plan

Modifying certain values on a feed plan record will prompt the user to accept or reject a regeneration process

• No: The process will not regenerate.  Users still have the option of forcing a manual regeneration at any time

• Yes: The process will perform the same action as a manual regeneration

The fields that will prompt to regenerate when changed are:  Delivery Date, Units, Feed Type/Formula

Background Recalculation of the Feed Plan

If the following is selected on the flock form then all regeneration would need to be done manually.  Checking the "opt-out" field will prevent this flock's feed plan from being recalculated any way other than generating or updating it from the feed plan form itself.

Changes to the following forms prompt a recalculate of the feed plan:

• Flock Form (Add or update a flock).

• Feed Delivery Form.

• Ending Feed Form.

• Flock Transactions

  • Placement

  • Mortality

  • Culls

  • Sales / Depopulation

  • Transfers Out

• Transaction Estimates

  • Placement

  • Sales / Kill Schedule

  • Transfers Out

Left Over Feed

A completed flock may have unconsumed feed in its bins at the end of its life, which should be handled and accounted for by farm managers. See Left Over Feed.

Approve Initial Feed Plan

Before deliveries can be ordered for a flock, a feed plan must be created. This feed plan can go through an initial draft phase before it is approved. Feed plans that include specific additives that require a veterinary prescription must not be scheduled until that prescription has been signed-off by the veterinarian.

A feed plan that is still being drafted needs to be distinct from one that is approved and ready to have orders filled against it. That original, approved copy of the plan is saved as a "snapshot" that can be referenced in the future.

While you are reviewing the plan, you will notice the "Approve" button.

Clicking this button initiates the process that will create an initial feed plan. Once the user has confirmed that they wish to proceed, this process will:

1. Save any changes to the the feed plan.

2. Increment the version of the feed plan records to "1". When they were created, they were version "0".

3. Copy the records. The copied records are given version number "0".

4. Reload the feed plan to reflect the update.

Once this process is complete the user will receive a message on the status bar. If the process fails, the user will be informed via this status bar.

Once the feed plan has been approved, the initial copy of the feed plan can be viewed from a tab that becomes available on the form. This "Approved" tab is a view to the records that were copied as version "0".

This view is read-only. The records cannot be edited.  Timestamp information about the Approval will be displayed on that tab.

The approval step is final. There is no way to undo this approval from the user interface.  Contact support for assistance on reversing if needed.

Expanding and Collapsing the Views

The options to expand and collapse all additive views is available to both the Feed Plan, and the Approved tab.

Total Feed

The footer is available on both the Feed Plan and Approved tab. The footer is used for including totals.  The calculation can handle mixed weight UOMs.

To display the total for feed delivery units, right click on the footer to bring up the context menu and select "Total MT".

Comments

If you add flock comments to the flock form or house comments to the house the flock is placed in, those comments will show up on the feed plan comments tab.  You can add additional Flock comments right on the feed plan that will then show on the flock form.  The house comments are read only on the feed plan and will need to be added to the house itself.

Consumption Form

The consumption form allows users to check a flock's daily consumption in order to make informed manual adjustments to the feed plan.  This consumption view form mimics the Daily Consumption report.

The feed plan's daily consumption form provides a fast, easy to read, and accessible way to see a flock's consumption life cycle as well as various other daily statistics useful for making decisions.

• It's not necessary to regenerate the feed plan before opening the daily consumption

• The user can move the form to any location not necessarily within the bounds of the Aeros Live main form.

• Users can navigate back and forth between the daily consumption form and the feed plan

• Only one instance of the form can be open at any given time

• If a user selects a different flock while the daily consumption form is open, it will regenerate the schedule for the specified flock

• If the user closes the feed plan form, the Consumption form will automatically close

• The Refresh button will re-execute the feed plan generate process and recalculate the consumption schedule

• The results have sets of fields for metric tons and for kilograms, but the latter are not visible by default.  Users can select them through the column chooser.

• Each row represents a day, but it has a a child grid with hourly consumption for the day

Feed Plan (Audit Detail)

The optional audit detail table lists processing information useful for proofing and validating feed plan results. This tab and its contents are optionally accessible through security configuration.  You can access by selecting the tools button on the feed plan.  You have to regenerate the plan in order to view this form.

Report Launcher

Users can execute Aeros Live reports directly from the feed plan through its report utility.  Normally, users would access a report through the report viewer and either select parameters or use saved parameters.  The report utility bypasses this step by executing a report for the current flock.

Default Report Settings

The report utility allows users to access default reports.  These are configured through the default report settings form.  See more about the Default Reports form.

From the report utility, users can view default reports and double click to execute them.  This will start the execution process and put the report in the standard queue

Note, the list of available reports are filtered to the industry type for the selected flock and all reports that don't have an industry type set.

Attachments

Users can upload and download attached files to a feed plan through the attachment management form. From the attachment form, users can browse for files.  This will open the file dialog, from which users can select a file.

Once a file is selected, the form will display the file upload section with the file information.  Users can also enter an optional comment

Clicking on OK will upload the file.  Clicking on the Download button will download the file

Feed Order

The Feed Order is the next step in the workflow after generating the feed plan records.  This step allows the user to commit feed plan records.  See Feed Orders.

Staged Deliveries

Once a Feed Order has been committed, they will go to the Staged Deliveries form and once Committed there, they will become Feed Deliveries.

Feed Deliveries

Manage feed deliveries in the Aeros LIVE application through the Feed Delivery screen.  Navigate to the feed delivery screen by clicking the Live Inventory button on the left navigation menu.  See Feed Deliveries.

Ending Inventories

Track the ending feed as bin inventory is taken.  This is crucial in calculating accurate consumption for Feed Planning.  See Ending Feed.

Feed Plan Variance

Consumption for a flock will be determined by their assigned standards. Despite the most accurate standards, the most up-to-date flock records, and the most attentive plan managers, feed consumption will not reflect what is actually happening in the house. For that reason, we need a way to "course correct" the plan over time. If the flock is not eating enough feed as we had planned, we will need to reduce consumption to allow them to eat any surplus feed and not deliver more. If we are finding that there is less feed left than we had planned the we need to increase consumption for future deliveries to make sure that flocks complete their rations on the planned age, and not before.   See Feed Plan Variance for more information.

Feed Plan Fixed Dates

When feed plan is approved, farm managers will plan operations around expected delivery dates.  There may be logistical and planning reasons which require the feed mill to commit to the agreed upon dates, one such an example provided is when it snows, and farmers have to plan for plowing services to clear the road for scheduled deliveries. Once something like this has to be coordinated, deliveries optimized by flock performance take a lower priority to showing up at a certain times and dates.  

The feed plan fixed date feature will force the regeneration process to lock down specific delivery dates and prioritize creating records with those dates.  See Feed Plan Fixed Dates for more information.

Feed Profile Feed Type Override (Layer Flocks)

The feed plan requires a feed profile to determine what flocks will be fed at what point in their program. These profiles work well for meat birds, who are placed for a brief time and are fed the same until they hit their market age.

Layer flocks are a bit different, their feed plans can be very reactionary. Nutritionists and flock managers may change the formula at any point in the flock's life as a response to many factors on the flock, such as egg size, shell quality, hen day production, etc. They will keep it or change it in response to many other factors. For this reason, they have asked that we provide them with the means to control what is scheduled to be fed on a flock-by-flock basis.

See Feed Profile Feed Type Override for more information.