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Project Overview
iHerd provides rural producers with a powerful, customised and easy-to-use application to manage their business.
As a developer focused on Enterprise Mobility solutions, iApps main consideration in any application development is the ability to Increase Efficiency and Productivity. iHerd is a shining example of how mobility can achieve such an outcome.
The solution is based upon a dynamic, integrated and networked B2B livestock management, tracking, compliance and reporting platform which using mobility solutions, captures vital herd and individual animal data at the farm which is tracked and revised at each stop in the downstream supply chain.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
MandraIT is an innovative and entrepreneurial Australian company which has positioned itself to take a leadership role in meeting the industry and regulatory driven demand for interoperable, networked and mobile agricultural management, tracking and reporting systems.
MandraIT started with a livestock management focus developing their original product iHerd. MandraIT has since evolved to providing an agricultural wide solution designed to assist all facets of rural business.
MandraIT’s AGsuite is a revolutionary software platform designed from the ground up and it’s original flagship product iHerd will be hosted on AGsuite in the near future together with a multitude of interconnected and interoperable mobile applications.
iHerd was developed by MandraIT through partnership with iApps Australia. iApps Pty Ltd is Australia's leading mobile software developer. Established in early 2010 to specifically address the need ?for application developers in the mobile market, delivering solutions across a multitude of platforms including Apple, Android, Windows Mobile 7 and blackberry.
iApps staff come from a diverse range of software development backgrounds with a combined experience of more than 150 years. As iApps matures and expands outward, the team now includes developers, architects, project managers, legal and media relations.
Our team is based in Australia with our Head Office in Queensland's beautiful Sunshine Coast. Our owned and operated Indian operations are based in Bangalore, the 'silicone valley of India', where we enable cost saving overheads on production that are passed on to our clients.
To date we have designed, developed and published a portfolio of quality applications that span tourism, agriculture, mining, hospitality, aviation, art, education, media and entertainment industries.
Australian developed and internationally supported, iApps is Australia’s leading mobile application developer. Following its successful penetration of the mobile application market, the company’s first application still generates a humble $700 a day.
A growing international network and reputation of mobile excellence leverages the
expanding company globally. iApps is the digital mobility solution leader in Australia.
Project Brief
iHerd offers a complete mobile based solution for total livestock management and has revolutionised the way rural property owners can securely capture, update and store vital livestock records in real time.
By reducing time spent on recording details, and through reducing human error, iHerd sets the standard for stock management software, enabling producers to spend more time with their family.
iHerd has been completely embraced by rural users, achieving over 20,000 downloads. The user base is growing rapidly with an average of 41 new users per day in 89 countries.
iHerd builds a profile of producers’ stock for complete traceability through the red meat supply chain. Users can invite their suppliers and business associates along the supply chain into their account. It is an easy-to-use app that synchronises between devices and streamlines the transfer of crucial property details. iHerd sits on a very robust and scalable cloud hosted platform and data base.
Users are provided with lifetime traceability of the herd and vital information such as animal treatments, location and movements. With iHerd, rural producers simply enter the information onto the computer server from the paddock, saving considerable data management time.
The success of iHerd has been been based on its development with a passionate cattle producer and rural industry stakeholders in conjunction with iApps as technology partner.
iHerd and iApps give Australian and global livestock operations the most cost effective herd management system available, with rapid, measurable return on investments.
iHerd – simple, universal, accessible.
Project Need
iHerd offers an integrated, innovative and mobile platform tailored to the specific needs of rural enterprises.
The livestock industry is under increasing regulatory, customer and consumer scrutiny to remain competitive and to guarantee quality and compliance. iHerd offers its users a simple and time-saving way to fulfill their ever-increasing record-keeping requirements.
iHerd is therefore revolutionizing livestock management and record-keeping.
This innovative application provides the user with lifetime traceability of their livestock, and is a simplified time-saving approach compared to traditional software systems requiring information to be entered manually in the paddock and then again entered manually into the computer. iHerd allows the producer to enter the information straight onto the computer server from the paddock, therefore saving considerable valuable time.
In terms of technology, iHerd is a powerful, modern mobile-age solution built upon proven IT principles and technologies. From the ground up the platform has been architected to not only support the number of simultaneous activities a truly global mobile and web-based solution needs to cater for, but it has been built to also scale equally well in function.
The iHerd cloud platform, being based on the most popular and proven scalable architecture (J2EE, Hibernate and Spring) supports massive scaling and the ability to service users worldwide. iHerd’s home is in the cloud and it is very much at home in the cloud.
User Experience
iHerd was developed by rural producers, for rural producers with input from leading industry suppliers and stakeholders. From the beginning the developers engaged with all stakeholders along the rural supply chain to develop a product that fulfilled the needs of the rural business enterprise.
The motivation for developing iHerd evolved from a fourth-generation cattleman, frustrated with onerous compliance demands and disillusioned with existing systems in the market. Since being rolled out, the iHerd application has been widely downloaded by producers all looking for solutions to the same issues. The feedback and support from producers and other key industry stakeholders was used to continually improve the product offerings in product upgrades and new releases.
Precise Mapping functions allow properties and paddocks to be easily and accurately defined.
Paddock sizes, stocking rates and mob locations are now all available and editable on your mobile device.
Moving mobs of cattle and applying animal health treatments are all captured and stored on the job. The option to easily share this information with staff and anyone else you choose as jobs are completed is a simple process. Decisions are now made on the spot from real time information…giving farm managers a powerful in paddock management tool.
The iHerd website offers users a comprehensive user guide, frequently-asked-questions and the option to submit individual user support inquiries and suggestions for future product improvements and new features.
Project Marketing
MandraIT has developed a comprehensive marketing plan for iHerd, based around using direct marketing via trade shows, paid and editorial advertising, outbound channels via social media and the web as well as inbound channels primarily focused on referrals and strategic partnerships. MandraIT engages in high-level communication and on-going liaison with existing and prospective customers and stakeholders.
MandraIT is also leveraging off key industry partners with their large customer bases to promote iHerd. The rural community is tight-knit and word-of-mouth, and referrals by existing users to new users have played a key role in the impressive growth of the iHerd user base.
The actual capabilities of the iHerd application are by far the best marketing opportunity available. Engaging the rural business community and encouraging them to trial iHerd and see first-hand how it can simplify their livestock management has been a key in growing the number of iHerd users.
MandraIT have also leveraged off publicity opportunities after being awarded a finalist in the Queensland Red Meat Awards in 2012.
Since the company was founded in April 2012 the success of MandraIT, iHerd and its newest development AGsuite have all been featured in numerous media articles.
Best New Service or Application
This category recognises the best new service or application on a mobile platform.
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