GROWING A FARMER Pt.2

After Mr. Timmermeister realized that merely being a vegetable grower failed to bring him profits, he decided to shift his work focus to livestocks. His first step was to produce raw milk - the type that is not pasteurized. Mr. Timmermeister believed that raw milk was in great demand but little supplies so there wasn't much competition. The only problem was it required license to sell raw milk at that time. Initially selling unlawafully, then with licenses, Kurt went through a frustrating process. He couldn't understand what was wrong with selling products to customers who would be willing to pay whatever it took. Selling out of the law made him to feel the most primitive aspects of nature and that was actually the core for his farm - to get close to the real nature. Normally, people may think of pigs as dirty animals but the writer describes them as "smart, attentive, aggressive, stubborn and charming". He depicted a picture of pigs laying under the sun with their bellies "splayed out" which was so funny that made me to laugh. Kurt also didn't put his pigs into a very small and limited space. He didn't use a cage but just an electric wire to confine boundaries but his pigs always escaped. Later on, he was famous for "errant farm animals". He concluded the Pigs chapter by saying "breeding pigs did give me an insight into their unique nature" and I think that's why he insisted on becoming a farmer. He loves the nature so much to the point he enjoyed every aspect of it and learned from it every day. Even though the reality wasn't so optimistic as he didn't gain a lot of profits from his own farms, he never tried to quit this farm job and by 2003 he became a full-time farmer. His main revenues came from a Camembert-style cheese. He also set up a main event for his farm: cooking dinners for guests every Sunday using foods produced in his farm.

After spending a short journey with Kurt Timmermeister to his Kurtwood Farms, I was deeply touched by his love of nature hidden in sentences. Initially, I thought this book would tell the readers how to operate a profitable farm and indeed Kurt gave a lot of details on how he grew fruit trees and bred sheep, cows, chickens, and pigs. But the writer didn't focus on the results of his farming but the process. Kurt didn't end up his chapters like "after several trials, I found out this type of cows is more profitable". He simply enjoyed the process of milking his cows and came up with ideas on how to produce high-quality raw milk. I think that's why Growing a Farmer is a charmingful book. The process of becoming a full-time farmer and the transformation from an urbanite to a countryman is the story that Mr. Timmermeister wants to tell us. And it seems suburban life particularly suits him. He likes to nap on the floor of a hoop house nakedly. He likes to catch his pigs wondering in others' farms. He likes to sell fresh, raw milk to his neighbors without a license. He likes to gather fresh hens eggs ealy in the morning, having no regrets "about tearing down the outmoded wooden chicken coops, with their floors thick with manure, errant feathers and bits of straw". Eventually, he writes, the main purpose of this farm is a "throwback to an earlier era". Either fighting against regulations or struggling with profitability situations, what matters at last is the beauty of nature which most people nowadays aren't able to enjoy. Rather than saying this book tells readers how to make a farm profitable and commercial, I would say Growing a Farmer really evokes everyone's hidden desire to enjoy the outdoor world. Eventually, what matters the most is food, family, and nature. 

ERP: Earn Revenues Peacefully

An introduction to Enterprise Resources Planning system

Imagine you are working at a manufacturing company. You receive an order from a customer and need to ship the products in a week. But then you find out your factory is in lack of raw materials for production. You go to your desktop, call the vendor, and pray that materials will arrive as soon as possible. When they arrive in two days, you arrange workers to work on production immediately. After another two days, you call shipping company to transport final goods to client’s office. When the goods finally reach to the customer, he asks you why there is a short in quantity. There are also some goods broken due to transportation issue. He informs you that he is going to pay less than the deal price and you don’t have any evidence or proof to argue against.

How does life like this sound to you? Rush and mess, right? What if something else is going wrong at the same time? Will you just quit your job?

Large firms don’t face problems like this nowadays. The emergence of information systems greatly reduces workloads for employees. A type of information system is especially popular – Enterprise Resources Planning system (ERP). It is a system software designed to provide business process management. ERP is powerful in its ways to help seek optimal business solutions and promotes efficiencies (Beal). It can connect business functions such as sales and distribution, marketing, procurement, and production together to make workflow smoother. Employees don’t have to go through the painful process of manual operations. Executives and managers can run their businesses more easily and earn their revenues more peacefully.

Main Functions of ERP

ERP has the basic data-processing and data-sorting functions like the other information systems. It has three layers: presentation, application, and database. The presentation layer is what we know as “user view”. Most people use the user interface – a software application like Microsoft Words – to manipulate inputs and outputs. The application layer enables experts to execute logistics and customize functions – like the sorting function when you press “Ctrl” and “F”. And the database layer contains all the data stored – like different font styles existed in Words – which programmers can edit through coding (Venkata).

ERP is unique in its core function of planning. It has a certain set of rules which can help to define terms and calculate numbers. In the opening scenario, if the company uses an ERP system, it won’t struggle against shortage of raw materials. The software can automatically calculate the reorder point to which raw materials need purchasing and goods need producing. This mechanism can prevent a company’s stock level from dropping to zero. When inventory goes down to this calculated amount, ERP will simultaneously send out requests for raw materials to vendors. It makes easier for companies to plan ahead and leads to a reduction in cycle time from order to delivery. It thus can maximize organizations’ profits (Zhao). Besides production planning, companies also use ERP systems in the following areas:

·       Financial Accounting

·       Controlling

·       Human Resources

·       Materials Management

·       Sales and Distributions

·       Warehouse Management

ERP is very customizable. Experts can design special functions or modules in order to meet different needs. For example, if one company has a special payroll calculation method, it can hire experts to replace the default setting with new method. In order to meet the best use of ERP, Chief Information Officers normally request ERP upgrade projects every three to five years. After each upgrade, ERP system will be better suited for specific industry or business process. It also has evolved to the stage where system scanning and evaluation are correlated. It means that the software can automatically detect errors and evaluate the needs to upgrade into next generation (Mu).

Today’s ERP Market

Since the first appearance of ERP system in the 1990s, the market has grown largely (Harreld). There are three main providers right now:

• Oracle: This is probably the most well-known ERP developer in the world and the only one you heard of before. Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is an integrated suite of software that provides ultimate solutions for its owners. It is extremely useful for manufacturing companies with unique Manufacturing Management function. Oracle also invents its own database management program. Other providers even use the program which gives Oracle a huge advantage in pricing (SelectHub).

•  Microsoft Dynamics: Yes, as the biggest software producers in the world, Microsoft also has its own version of ERP system. But Dynamics doesn’t dominate the market as its brother, Windows, does. The main reason is that it doesn’t support multiple companies easily. Firms with subsidiaries may find it difficult to use Dynamics. One advantage of Dynamics is its richness in end-to-end business process supports, such as governance, risk, and compliance; and supplier relationship management (SelectHub).

• SAP: SAP is a Germany ERP software company that grows the most rapidly in recent years. It develops software designed for large organizations as well as small and midsize companies. SAP ERP is very customizable. Companies can add or delete functions easily so that employees will not be confused by areas they are not familiar with. Because of its ease to use and low price, a lot of midsize firms begin to use SAP these days (SelectHub).

Benefits and Risks of ERP

I found ERP extremely useful in helping with making decisions. When I was using SAP ERP for a case competition, I was surprised that it had strong analytic tools. They allowed me to keep track of price fluctuations in the real market so that I could change my production plans accordingly. They also generated monthly or quarterly finance reports automatically. By reading those reports, I was able to spread out budgets among marketing and research and development. Even though I didn’t know much about management and strategy at that time, the valuable financial insights and results I got from the system helped to make the right move.

ERP systems also help with learning process. When I started my internship, I was helping clients with problems regarded to SAP ERP system. With limited knowledge and bare training, I was still able to finish my tasks. Through detecting system errors, I learned a lot about the system itself and the organization it was serving. People using the system benefit as they soon become experts in specific areas.

But there are still some risks of using ERP. It normally takes three years and millions of dollars to implement the system software. Not many corporations are able to afford the costs and neither to see the direct benefits in short term. According to a research conducted by Etezady, ERP adoption had little effect on a company’s financial performance in a four-year period (Etezady). Also, a user’s lack of familiarity with an ERP system can heavily limit the benefits he or she receives (Jain). Since ERP system is so huge that it covers the whole company, it usually causes some unexpected risks. One project I was dealing with was that the client firm had too many anonymous users in its SAP system. The firm lost track of who actually did the transactions. This risk could be very serious as it could lead to a potential fraudulent action.

The Future of ERP

The future of ERP is still bright. Due to its customizations, ERP system has huge potentials. Employees save so much energy and work in different industries. A recent news showed that Bihar, a state in East India, is trying to install Prison ERP system in all jails since it is very helpful in facilitating central monitoring of jails (PTI). In addition, ERP system is still evolving. Modern versions are integrated with cutting-edge technologies, like Cloud technique. Resources planning can be real-time now and managers can operate the system online. The future is always unknown but I believe ERP can last long.

Works Cited

Mu, Enrique. "The Role of Scanning, Evaluation, and Mindfulness in the Assimilation of Information Technology: The Case of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems." Order No. 3270101 University of Pittsburgh, 2007. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web.

Jain, Vikas. A framework for sustainable ERP value, The George Washington University, Ann Arbor, 2008. ProQuest, Web.

Zhao, Fan. An Empirical Study of Enterprise System Upgrades., 2007. ProQuest. Web.

Etezady, Nooredin. The impact of ERP investments on organizational performance, Nova Southeastern University, Ann Arbor, 2008. ProQuest. Web.

Venkata, Krishna. SAP Community Network threads. 2014. Web.  https://scn.sap.com/thread/489653

Harreld, Heather. Extended ERP technology reborn in B2B. 2001. Web.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2583660/e-commerce/extended-erp-technology-reborn-in-b2b.html

Enterprise Resources Planning. SelectHub. Web.

https://selecthub.com/categories/enterprise-resource-planning-erp

Beal, Vangie. ERP - enterprise resource planning. Webopedia. Web.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/ERP.html

PTI. Bihar to install hi-tech Prison ERP system in all jails. The Indian Express. Web.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/bihar-to-install-hi-tech-prison-erp-system-in-all-jails-3051443/

GROWING A FARMER Pt.1

Today I am going to talk about a wonderful book called Growing a farmer. While this book is an assigned reading for my Writing 340 class, I found it very intriguing to me. The title can easily catch readers' sights: how do you grow a farmer? As I read through, I would definitely introduce this book to my friends. Growing a farmer describes a journey how the writer gradually becomes a expert farmer after years. This book can be really a guideline book for anyone who wants to own a farm since Kurt Timmermeister gives a lot of details and steps of how he did successfully develop his own farm step by step. Kurt once owned a cafe at downtown Seattle which was very profitable. After earning some money, he wanted to move out the city to experience the nature. He bought a piece of land of four acre in Vashon Island. Later on, he sold the cafe and opened up a 24-hour restaurant which he found not to be so profitable. Also, he started to care about the food quality he ate and even stopped eating at his own restaurant. This made him to become a farmer. Kurt attended some lectures, bought some books on farming, and even bought a tractor to start with. He made his business plans with an intern, Matt at the beginning: grow tomatoes, peppers, onions, and leeks on February; cauliflower, brocolli, kale, and greens on March; cucumber and squash on May. The first year didn't come well. Afterwards, he came up with different ideas to make his farm profitable. He tried beeskeeping and examined what types of bees would produce more honey. He studied different varieties of trees to grow and made his own red wine vinegar. He used rotational grazing for his sheep. He tasted different kinds of buttermilk and calculated volumes of milk that different cows could make.

I have read almost half of the book and I found the writer a really intelligent man. He is able to discover big wisdom in small matters. When he was in contact with the bees, he thought of social contract and related to the bahaviors of bees. When he was raising cows, he thought of making cheese rather than merely collecting milk to make preservations easier. I thought those small wisdom were the reason why he would make a profitable farm eventually. His habit of thinking and planning carefully before acting inhabits from his personality. He bought a lot of books on farming and spent days and nights selecting what kind of trees he should grow and what kinds of animals he should keep. He is also a very passionate man. When he made the decision to run his own farm, he immediately drove to Skagit Valley to visit a local farm there, trying to buy it (though he did not eventually). He even gave details on how a small milking machine operates. I think I learned how he was so passionate about what he was doing and concentrated 100% of himself. That was a very valuable trait that one needs to possess for success. His passion and love about the nature is everywhere in the sentences and I believe whoever reads the book will be influenced by him. 

Why Frog can be so Wild?

People's first impression of frogs normally are "why are they so small?" or "why are they so gross?" However, today I am going to introduce a beautiful but wild frog - Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus" a.k.a the blue poison dart frog.

The small, cute dude is known for its sapphire-like/azure skin color and its poisonousness. This group of frogs grows to 3.0-4.5cm in length but some of them can be as tiny as 1.5cm and some can be 6cm. They have a large variety of food sources - ants, beetles, and most insects. They typically have a lifespan of five to seven years. Unlike most frogs, they are active in daytime. The blue skin serves as a warning to predators. Their shiny and deadly skin is where the glands of poison are located at. The poison on the surface will only paralyze predators but when it gets into one's blood, it can cause death. One small poison dart frog can release the portion of poison that kills 10 adults so I am gonna say about two to three of this little thingy can take down our whole class. Most of the "azureus" are inhabited at the forests in southern Surniname. In the past, because of forest fires and illegal collecting for the pet trade, they are listed as rare species, but currently, the species is increasingly bred in captivity. There are over 1,000 specimens kept in zoos all over the world. When you have the chance to visit this type of frog, DO NOT touch them on the skin!