TRADE ASSOCIATE MEMBER UPDATE

KIRKEY PRODUCTS DELIVERS HIGH TECH SOLUTIONS

FFVA Trade Associate Member Kirkey Products Group, LLC, brings 21st century technology to the world's fields and packinghouses. Founded in 1983, the Central Florida-based company is an international software development and consulting firm for the agribusiness community, offering products designed to make the business of farming and ranching easier, more organized and more cost effective.

"We provide a broad range of what are known in the industry as ERP solutions," said Don Walborn, the company's vice president of sales and technical operations. "That means enterprise resource planning packages, which is a fancy way of saying it's an integrated package that covers almost all facets of your business."

In the case of growers and packers, Kirkey's software provides a way to bring together everything it takes to grow and sell: planting, labor and materials, harvesting, packing, shipping, sales, payroll, accounts receivables, accounts payable and general ledger.

CLIENTS' NEEDS NOT 'ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL'

Typically, Walborn's team will spend time with a new client, learning how he or she goes about doing business. They'll identify the unique needs of an operation and add tailored touches to a general framework.

"Basically the procedure is pretty much the same whether someone grows apples or watermelons," Walborn said. "You grow something, harvest it, package it, sell it, and you account for it financially. However, there are many, many nuances to these basic steps - such as the direct-to-the-box harvesting of strawberries versus packing methodologies for tomatoes," he said.

Kirkey's system was designed to identify all the steps that go into the process and determine the cost of each of those steps. Then the software can be customized to create value with every step. "We work with the growers so that they will know how much it cost to grow and sell a product," Walborn said.

Following installation, the company provides in-depth training and on-going support.

Walborn says one of the more important features required for today's industry is traceability. The Kirkey package attaches identity to each product from field to retailer or food service buyer. It's nothing new to Kirkey. The company began life in a co-op situation, where its software packages had to be able to track every box of produce so that the growers were paid fairly.

"Of course, attaching identity has a whole new meaning these days," Walborn said. "That's in the area of food safety. If, at any point in the distribution chain, a product loses its identity, there's a problem. Most retailers now require that they have full traceability back to the grower."

Kirkey software addresses any or all of an agricultural operation's areas of business.

SPLITTING UP IS EASY TO DO

Although Kirkey offers a full suite of products, each is modular, so a customer doesn't have to order something that's not needed. One popular product, for example, is its farm management package, which takes care of labor and materials usage in the field. And a sales and operations package, Kirkey's flagship module, covers the whole chain of events from receiving the product, adding value to it, inventory, transportation, order processing, invoicing and receivables.

Other modules include accounts payable, general ledger and payroll.

"All those systems are related since the data is passed seamlessly back and forth between them," Walborn said. But it's not necessary to utilize them all. The company has some clients who use the packinghouse or sales and operations modules, but not the financials. "We electronically interface with other vendors' software also," he said.

E-XITING FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

In addition to its suite of software products, Kirkey offers professional consulting services to help clients increase their efficiencies through technology. The company has worked with clients worldwide on a variety of technology projects including configuring, building and implementing their network infrastructure, developing procedures for managing information sources, training staff on a variety of applications, and developing strategic technology plans.

The company also offers advanced e-business solutions, which continue to evolve. "We're continuously leveraging our arrangements with third party vendors to supply and meet the needs our customers are demanding. That's e-commerce, including EDI and RFID*, as well as business intelligence," Walborn said. There will be some exciting developments in the area of business intelligence released to their client base in the second quarter of this year.

To learn more about Kirkey Products Group, LLC, log on to www.kirkey.com or call (407) 331-5151. The company is located just north of Orlando, at 1920 Boothe Circle, Suite 200, Longwood, FL, 32750, and serves clients worldwide.

*Electronic data interface and Radio Frequency Identification