Q1 PRODUCT UPDATE: ABOUT COLLARS ON COWS, AND MOBILE APPS IN OUR HANDS

AfiCollar is booming
AfiCollar sales started modestly, with 20,000 units sold in year 1. This number expanded in its 2nd year to about 100,000 units. In 2022, we are ready to sell and supply more than 200,000. 

What does this steep graph tell us? Two things: First, it means we have a good product-market fit – the right product, and we are the right company to sell it. Second – it tells us the market exists, and its potential is bigger than our previous estimations. 

So what do we do about it? Aim to reach even higher. For product teams – push enhancements that can help Cow Monitoring sales (and shift priority from other initiatives – because nothing comes for free); for sales – focus on building distribution for Cow Monitoring; and for operations – continue the smooth supply of this growing demand.  Major challenges, and a major upside!

Product launch of the year – AfiFarm 5.5 and Afi2Go Prime mobile app: Milestone for Cow Monitoring business

Wait, what?! What does our software launch have to do with selling collars? Well, a lot!

Growing AfiCollar sales have enabled us to access market segments new to us – such as New Zealand farmers and small farms in the EU. This has exposed us to new use cases, such as pre-sales with lead questions unrelated to parlors, and business partnerships that challenge us with new types of needs. 

If we are smart enough to listen, these pointers direct us to where and how we can win more business. In many cases the product opportunities point to one product – the Software package. 

AfiFarm 5.5 – selling collars, better
In this version we enhance the collar functionality and the user interface of cow monitoring in general: 

  • AfiCollar added functionality: Panting, Heat Stress, and Enhanced Group Behavior view are added to previous functionality of Heat Detection and Rumination.
    In contrast to some of our competitors we provide the full set at the basic price without extra charge.
  • Sick Animals, Cow Card View: added visual, intuitive graph visualization of hour by hour data with all parameters (rumination, heat/activity, panting).
  • 3rd party connections – a quiet revolution: Afimilk is not working in the void, there is an ecosystem around us, and where there is a 3rd party herd recording organization or tool, our ability (or inability) to communicate is key to winning business. With AfiFarm 5.5 we have created a powerful infrastructure that has shrunk the time required to develop and launch these links from 1-2 years to 3-4 months.  

Afi2Go Prime
We’ve learned that a strong mobile app plays a role in any sale scenario we face, and Cow Monitoring is above all:

  • SMALL FARMS GO PAPERLESS AND (ALMOST) COMPUTERLESS: These farmers, typically, are also the workers that treat their animals. They are hardly ever in the office, if they have an office at all. They are often intimidated by computer software, but they all have a smartphone in their pockets.
    What we offer them: A super simple and intuitive app to identify cows to inseminate and sick animals. They’ll open a cow card, get a visual indication of the relevant action for the cow in front of them, and by confirming this action in the app – they create a reliable record in AfiFarm.

  • LARGE FARMS GO PAPERLESS – MANAGING COWS, MANAGING TEAMS
    In this scenario, farmers are also mangers. They have many cows and employees under their responsibility. They make and record decisions related to dozens, sometimes hundreds of cows every day – the “paper system” is painful and cumbersome.
    What we offer them: An app with worklists and tasks for the employees – letting them know which animals are right now in the sort pan, allowing them to quickly and efficiently process one cow after another, dedicating less than 5-seconds per cow. The managers can use the app, which is updated each minute, to monitor the progress of tasks – even when they’re not  nearby.

  • THE BRITISH SAY: THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING
    Our true test is: Does this tool successfully create impact and engagement?
    We have only just taken our first steps into the market, but we’ve received very good early indications of meaningful user impact and engagement, as shown in the dashboard below: 

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