Agrivice Ltd Case Study
The Challenge
Sector: Agriculture • Client: Agrivice Ltd (Suffolk) • Users: agronomists, office team, farmers.
Field visits were recorded manually, then retyped to create reports and place orders. This was slow, error-prone and hard to audit. Agrivice needed real time capture in the field, compliant ordering and a single source of truth that joined staff, suppliers and customers.
The company employed experts to visit farms and advise on what were the best pesticides and chemicals to use. Handwritten notes were then used to create reports and place orders.
RD Research developed a bespoke CRM and tablet application for Agrivice Ltd, a Suffolk-based firm of agronomists, to streamline field inspections, chemical ordering and customer interactions. The system empowered staff to identify crop issues on-site, place orders for necessary treatments and seamlessly link with regulatory databases.
We worked with their website designer and linked the CRM to the site so that farmers could login and get access to a range to tools and applications.
The Development Process
We ran discovery sessions and shadowed field work to map data, steps and risks. Then we produced a detailed specification covering every screen, report, permission, data model and integration. Wireframes and a clickable prototype were signed off before build.
The system was developed in a series of modules with weekly reviews, and a pilot in the field. We trained users, migrated data and rolled out in phases with monitoring and a clear log for improvements and updates.
- Mobile Field Management - Agronomists could walk fields, document crop conditions and log treatment recommendations directly from their mobile devices.
- Integrated Chemical Ordering - Orders were placed in real time via mobile, automatically cross-referencing with the MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) database for compliance.
- Photo Upload & Documentation - Users could capture images of affected crops and store them within the CRM for future reference and audit purposes.
- Farmer Self-Service Portal - Farmers log in, browse products and place direct orders from suppliers, with payments processed by Agrivice and products shipped directly to farms.
- Dynamic Pricing & Supplier Integration - The system allowed suppliers to submit quotes, ensuring competitive pricing and seamless procurement.
Outcome
This bespoke mobile app and CRM transformed Agrivice’s operations enhancing efficiency, compliance and customer engagement. It remains a critical tool for precision agriculture, ensuring fast, informed decision-making for agronomists and farmers alike.
Farmer Login to CRM
