fresh4cast.com is a technology company based in the UK. Their innovative intelligence solutions and predictive tools assist growers and distributors of fresh produce in the decision making process.“We sell time” explains Mihai Ciobanu, CEO at the company. “We always aim to make decision-ready information available sooner. For example, let’s look at production forecast accuracy. Given the complexity of fruit & veg production, gathering the relevant data and calculating accuracy correctly can take many hours each week. Our Production module compresses this process into a few seconds. You can see on Monday the metrics that your competitors see on Wednesday. That’s like having data from the future.”
“Predictive models are our favourite kind of project. Our customers usually start with Business Intelligence solutions like the one mentioned above. They get used to the speed and clarity, and then some of them ask us to take that one step further. We use advanced data mining to quantify the impact of various influencing factors in our customer's business. That knowledge is then used to provide tools that improve their live forecasting process. For example, growers know from experience what factors influence their crop - such as temperature, sunlight, rainfall and so on. They also know that these factors can work differently in each stage of the plant’s development. But the challenge is how to quantify these influences, how to build a mathematical formula that can be used reliably during the season. That’s where we come in.”
“The reason we can do this is the unique combination of skills. The team behind fresh4cast.com combines world-class computer science with a deep understanding of the drivers behind a fast-paced production and distribution business. That’s what enables us to deliver bespoke solutions quickly and at a fair price. As the weather becomes more unpredictable and the economy more global, growers and distributors need an efficient way to understand these influences fast. Having the right metrics can transform a business. People say an image tells a thousand words. That is true with charts, and is also true with numbers.” Speaking about platforms, Mihai outlined the importance of mobile. “Our services are designed to work both on the computer and on a tablet. And thanks to advanced in-memory processing, they work just as fast offline. Whether you are at your desk, at a remote farm or in an airplane, we believe you should have easy access to your key business metrics.”
The pricing model? “With the exception of the data mining projects, all our services are provided on a subscription model. That makes them very affordable for the customer, and keeps us motivated to improve the technology continuously.”
“At the end of the day, it’s a question of resource allocation” concludes Mihai. “Time is the most precious resource in the world. The level of information required for decisions today is increasingly complex. Business decisions generally follow a sequence: 1) What is happening, 2) Why, 3) What can we do about it and finally 4) Let’s make it happen. Human talent adds most value in the latter stages of this process. fresh4cast shortens the time spent on the first questions, releasing valuable resources for decision and implementation.”
For more information:
Mihai Ciobanu
fresh4cast
Email: mihai.ciobanu@fresh4cast.com