Aquaculture ERP for Leading Mussel Farmer

Aquaculture farming is a highly complex industry, involving significant capital, fleets, factories and management of thousands of distinct lines of shellfish across various regions for most commercial operators. Our client sought to transition from spreadsheet-driven planning and reporting, to a complete ERP, built to their specific requirements.

Before partnering with Digital Diligence Limited (DDL), the client had identified several opportunities to enhance their digital capabilities to their support significant ongoing growth​: They needed to move beyond spreadsheets and bespoke apps for a broad variety of business functions and reports To enhance batch tracking and traceability in their supply chain, planning, farming and production activities To solve challenges with limited vessel and crew activity tracking: Existing methods provided inadequate insights into vessel performance and crew activities. Greater process and approvals governance Grading and sizing processes were manual, reducing efficiency and consistency. ​ Our client sought an advanced, cloud-based ERP solution capable of integrating real-time data, enhancing intelligence through AI, and improving operational transparency.

DDL developed a fully customised ERP system using Zoho Creator, incorporating AI-driven intelligence and automation tailored to the client’s aquaculture needs. The solution included: ​ 1. Advanced Batch Tracking and Forecasting To support batch tracking, DDL implemented an end-to-end tracking system with real-time data integration. The system included: Simple batch creation at time of first receipt of product. The batch then evolves and grows as the mussel spat goes from being microscopic animals in the millions buried in weed through to large mussels 18 months later, during which time they can be transferred multiple times between lines and locations - all of which is measured and reportable to determine the optimal growth environment Live crop inventory tracking for improved visibility, schedules and reports are run on demand, and inventory is updated the moment an activity is approved to add or remove it from lines. ​ 2. Comprehensive Vessel and Crew Activity Management Managing a fleet of vessels and their crews efficiently required a tailored solution. The ERP included: Activity scheduling and logging for each vessel and crew Crew performance and work logs, improving compliance and productivity. Automated reporting, reducing paperwork and administrative workload. Safety and compliance monitoring, ensuring adherence to maritime regulations. ​ 3. AI-Powered Mussel Grading and Sizing DDL integrated AI-based image recognition and machine learning algorithms to automate mussel grading and sizing. The AI system analysed real-time images from grading equipment, accurately categorising mussels by size and quality. This led to: Greater precision in grading and reduced human error. Increased efficiency, allowing for faster processing and throughout data-driven decision-making for improved harvest management.

The implementation of the custom ERP solution delivered measurable improvements: Radically better reporting and analytics - all activities, tasks and crop movements are visible in real-time and retrospectively, using advanced dashboards embedded within the ERP Direct financial reconciliation - all work done is tracked through to payment made to the client and financial performance of individual batches, lines and locations can be monitored and reported in real-time Enhanced decision-making with real-time insights into stock performance and vessel productivity allow for informed scheduling and vessel movements and work allocation Improved regulatory compliance with automated reporting and data tracking for official stakeholders such as MPI.