AUCFIN - THE LIVESTOCK TRADING PLATFORM FOR NAMIBIA 

Aucfin - Auctioneering Program for Commercial Auctions

This program was developed in such a manner that an Auctioneer can configure and adapt the system to any type of auction or auction work process. That is auctions at a fixed address or temporary remote address. All processes are automated and integrated, enabling only one person to handle and process all administrative tasks of an auction, no matter the size of the Auction.

However, many business processes and reports were integrated and added for the Livestock Auctioneering Industry to be statuary compliant with the European Union trace-ability initiative.

The system auto reconciles stock received from customers with items actually sorted on auction floor/pens. The system can generate a complete stock list on different types of Auction rolls before the auction starts. The system can also generate a stock list for each individual Seller before auction starts. Your clients perceive this document as a value added service.

Sellers or buyers can collect payments or accounts within minutes after the last lot of that specific Seller/Buyer are sold/purchased. Distribute admin work evenly before and during the auction. All sellers and buyers documents are printed and ready within 15 minutes at the end of auction. It is possible to complete all administrative and financial processes within 15 minutes on selling the last lot. No more hours of reconciliations before payments or invoicing can start. The majority of clients leave the auction premise before the auction completes. This eliminate crowding and frustrations of clients. It also creates a situation where entertainment costs of clients after an auction are drastically reduced.   

The system generates several control counters and algorithms that expose typing errors. Automated reconciliation process during the data capturing phase.

Buyers receive additional summary statements according to the paint markings on their purchased lots which co-inside with his personal management groups. No need for intensive and time-consuming calculations to make a sales decision. The system generates additional management and decision support reports on behalves of your clients. An interdependent work relationship is created and maintained with Buyers through these business processes. It is also perceived as a value added service. Make it easy for clients to do business with you through effective workflow management and business process integration of an auction.

All auction admin, financial statements, stock control, dispatch control and statuary reports are automated. Profit/Loss statements with a click of a button. All financial data are electronically exported to Debtors, Creditors and bookkeeping systems. All auction data can also be electronically exported to a central data warehouse.  This is process without paper based credit and debit notes.

Communal Farming Auctioneering program

This program was pro-actively developed to maintain the Permit/Bosveiling/Tender Auctions business process in communal farming areas. Strict administrative and statuary regulations were imposed to comply with the FANMEAT trace-ability objective, effectively eliminating speculators to this existing free-market business process. To the detriment of both speculators and communal farmers. This system empowers Local traditional leaders and Farmers Unions in better and effective stock theft control and other local/traditional matters on Livestock Auctions. In modernising this traditional business process we decrease unethical business processes, practices and opportunities for undisclosed transactions.

 It fully complies with Veterinary, Meat board, stock removal and other statuary regulations.  With this system effective Government draught relief and rebate incentives can be managed.  This also empowers the meat board to effectively differentiate between commercial and communal farming statistics for national planning. 

This system fully integrates with commercial farming business processes and statistics. This also becomes part of the Namibia Livestock production chain and IT platform.   It transforms the traditional business process image to a modern Auction business process.

Central administration & Data Warehousing/Data Silo

This system was developed with the objective to have an electronic filing system of all Auctions and Out of Hand transactions in a single database. This system also generate statistical and Management Information. It also generates yearly personal Tax certificates to all Sellers and Buyers.

Tax Invoices for all Auctions can be duplicated from this central Data Silo. A complete historical footprint of all auctions for all periods can be regenerated from this data silo.

This system was designed to be utilised as the central platform for a National Register to support the Livestock Trace-Ability initiative for Namibia to be implemented in 2005. This platform could become the trace-ability gateway for processed meat exported to the European Union and South Africa. All the necessary business processes were incorporated in the Auction Programs to support this objective.

NAMLITS EDI INTEGRATION

All the bulk livestock Auctioneers trading in Namibia use the AGRIFIN platform to support their business processes. This Includes Namibia Livestock Auctioneers(since 1992), Karoo Ochse, (2000) Blaauwberg Auctioneers (2001) , Namboer (2002) and AGRA (2007). Agrifin is now in the possition to host 99%% of Namibia's bulk livestock trading on auctions on a centralised Server to support the electronic data interchange platform needed by DVS to support the NAMLITS system for Namibia. From this same platform we can host services for bulk Livestock traders and Feedlots. A major release is scheduled for end of October 2007.

We have just entered into an agreement with ICTS Namibia to integrate Systems running on the Progress Platforms with Systems running on the Windows platform.

Livestock Speculator Management Program

This system was developed to document and integrate all cost structures and work processes of Livestock speculators from the purchase point to the feedlot or Abattoir.  It eliminates more than 95% of estimations (guess-work) in the business process line. Most of the administrative tasks can be transferred to admin support employees, empowering buyers/speculators to concentrate on tasks that they do best. I.e. Buy the right product at the right time, for the right market at the right price. This system automates all stock level control (quantities and weights), expose discrepancies and eliminate duplications. Make a profit/loss analyses to micro levels and macro management groupings.  Work and reconcile on a 7-day production cycle. Know in advance whether a pre-contract sale will be at a loss or profit.  This system put the speculator in a position to manage many previous un-calculatable direct expenses, work processes and losses. This system empowers all employees/contractors in the production line to automate work processes and eliminate duplication of work processes.

Livestock Purchase Calculator (PDA) Platform

The latest in our product range, operating on a new technology platform very recently released. The system runs on a small hand-held Pocket PC

All buyers are confronted with a quick response in calculating the kilogram price for livestock in the ring. This has to be referenced within cut-off prices to prevent over bidding and low profit limits. This is even more complicated in calculating slaughtering prices at different slaughtering percentages.  It calculates more than 300 variables in milly seconds with a single click of a button. The ability to guess these values within great accuracy frames, differentiate the successful and unsuccessful speculators.

This system displays all calculations within pre-set weight and sex categories warning when the bidding-price comes within pre-determined market related cut-off limits. The system also keeps record of actual purchase statistics on the auction. I.e. total units, total weight, total brutto profit between purchase price and cut-off price and many others. No more need to manually record totals to prevent over/under purchase levels for transport services. Stay within budgets. Auto sends auction purchase info by e-mail to office.

The whole process is driven with the click of pen on button on the PDA as the bidding price increase.

It is now possible to limit the risks in delegating purchasing responsibilities to sub-agents with limited practical purchasing experiences. Also a very useful tool to Auction Masters as well as Sellers. Remove most of the guess and estimation work.

Livestock 2D tagging and trace-ability

 This system is still under development: This system will ensure a smooth changeover from a Linear Barcode Ear Tagging system to 2D Matrix Tagging system. This system will be released as soon as the central national Trace-Ability management system for Namibia is in position.  This system uses a more sophisticated IT platform but will be much more cost effective and reliable.

Agri Scale

This system addresses the Back Office support system for Butchers, Meat processing plants and Green Grocers.

This is for packaging Agricultural produce that is sold by a kilogram price. This system replace the need for expensive PLU scale systems and reduce the cost per scale point from N$35 000.00 to less than N$ 10 000.00 for the fist scale point and les than R6 000.00 for additional scales.

All scale points are linked via a computer network to the back office management system and database, thus transforming an ordinary scale (N$ 3 000.00 and must be accurate) to a sophisticated PLU scale, barcode label printing device and a management system. It can also become a Point of Sale point for recording all cash and account sales. Transform the ordinary functionalities to sophisticated functionalities even better than the top of the range PLU scales. Most of the hardware can be purchased from any local computer store. No more dedicated capital investment for a single dedicated task or function.  No more dependency on rare and expensive scale technicians.

With this system all products and prices can be linked to a base product price and as the price of a base product (ex. Sheep Mutton) change on a daily basis all prices changes automatically according to the mark-up prices of sub items.  It allows a packaging plant to label and price products according to a specific client’s individual discount structure and label specifications. Unlimited client base specifications and discount structure thus reducing the need to use more than one PLU code for the same product. 

The system makes the Cash-Up, at day end, a relative easy process. The back office always gives an open window to all processes in such a production plant from the back office or any computer connected on the network. Sophisticated user rights can be locked on users and program functionalities. Employees only see what is used in their responsibility area. It also gives a complete history of all activities/transactions at all points by all users. Historical data warehousing is only limited by the hard disc’s capacity. It will take millions of transactions to fill an ordinary hard disk of 40 Gigabyte.   

This software addresses the objective to maximise internal operational effectiveness of a MEAT Processing plant and/or Butchery by introducing a concept of an automated work process flow in the production to sales life cycle.  It integrates price management, Packaging, stock levels, Point of Sale, Debtors, Logistics, Invoicing and many other business processes. All on the same platform

It will ensure administrative and operational control by streamlining the business processes, data capturing and validation processes inside the company

Communications to all people in the Production, Packaging, Sales, Dispatch, Accounting and Management loop will be automated to a large extend throughout the operations. All with the click of a button. 

Effectiveness in the Administrative and Management process become exponential within days of implementation of the system. The start up cost of delivering this application is minimal.

The decrease in administrative and management costs and turnaround times is a quantum leap in the Production to Sales Business Processes.

This system is ideal for companies who operate in the Meat Industry or in the Food Chain Supply Resolution Business. They must track Livestock, Abattoir, Wholesale Stock and Cooling, De-boning, Packaging, Sales, Production, Customer Complaints, Client Orders, Personnel efficiency, Invoicing and many more and effectively link all activities in the Management cycle to close a deal. Traditionally this was a paper trailed based system. Today it is possible than more than 95 % of the document and information exchange in the production to sales live-cycle can be transformed and processed in an electronic format at very low costs. The system auto-expose breaks in various cycles or Business Processes.