Imagine a Dairy cooperative where manual paperwork, delayed payments, and inconsistent milk quality were slowing down operations. This was the reality for LUSCUN until they implemented Tuna Dairy ERP.
LUSCUN’s fully automated, transparent, and effective system not only reduced MISTAKES and delays but also empowered farmers, increased both productivity and profitability. This is their INCREDIBLE success story, which shows how powerful digital transformation can be for dairy operations.
Client Background
LUSCUN(Lumbini Specialized Co-operative Union), is a leading cooperative based dairy producer in Nepal, often known as LUSCUN Dairy(LUSCUN). The Cooperative collects raw milk from various farmers and processes it into premium quality dairy products. Its goal is to provide high quality milk products while promoting equitable farmer empowerment.
Challenges Before Tuna Dairy ERP
Before implementing Dairy ERP, LUSCUN Dairy faced several operational issues:
1. Paper Records and Information Loss
Sheets of milk collection with handwritten entries were used. The manual recording of quality parameters such as Fat, SNF, TDS, temperature, added to the risk of:
- 12–18% data entry errors
- Lost or damaged paper logs
- Late information to the finance department.
This impacted upon all aspects; rate-calculation to transparency among farmers.
2. Problems with Farmer-Wise Milk Tracking.
Without digital tracking:
- There were frequent milk volume discrepancies.
- There was an increasing number of rate disputes based on quality.
- The time spent on daily reconciliation was 2-3 hours higher than predicted.
This hurt the relationship with farmers directly.
3. Error on Rate Calculation
Rates varied by:
- Fat & SNF percentage
- Seasonal adjustments
- Cooperative policies
Manual calculations caused:
- Up to 22% payment delays
- Periodical overpayment or underpayment.
- Extra accounting team work.
4. Quality & Shelf-Life Gaps
LUSCUN Dairy lacked a system to follow:
- Quality during storage
- Batch-to-batch consistency
- Perishable product shelf life.
This resulted in wastage of products: 5-7% per cycle.
5. Poor transparency of the production cost
Managers were unable to track:
- Ingredient usage
- Labor/staff
- Overheads
- Utilities
- Waste percentage
The decisions on pricing were more often made as guesses, which influenced the profitability.
6. Disorganized Workflow and Low Inventory Management
It lacked a co-ordinated mechanism to control:
- Raw material stock
- Work-in-Progress stock
- Finished Goods Stock
- Returnable items (cans, crates, buckets etc..)
Returnable items alone had contributed to 8 – 10% per annum financial leakage since the process was manual.
7. None Mobile-Based Operational Visibility
There was no digital touchpoint between field staff, farmers and the management.
Everything depended on:
- Phone calls
- Paper notes
- In-person reporting
The system failed to maintain the management of dairy in an efficient way.
The Tuna Dairy ERP Solution
In order to address the operational issues of LUSCUN Dairy, Tuna Technology implemented a full-fledged, integrated Dairy ERP system specially designed for dairy cooperatives and dairy industries.
The major elements of the solution are:
Tuna Dairy ERP (Integrated System) – A powerful system integrated with all dairy operations, including accounting, purchase and sales, manufacturing, inventory, CRM, HRM, reporting and more. It ensures precision, transparency and smooth coordination of all departments.
Tuna Dairy ERP Mobile App – A mobile based application designed for milk collectors and marketers. This enabled the field staff to make recordings of milk collection, keep track of the quality parameters and obtain real-time information at any location, which increased efficiency and minimized errors.
Tuna Aaina(Owner Mobile App) – Shows key financial indicators for top level management to make data based business decisions within seconds.
Tuna Farmer Mobile App – The mobile application designed for farmers to get the information of milk, and complete accounting reports, thereby increasing engagement and trust.
When combined, these solutions created a 360 degree digital ecosystem that improved accuracy, streamlined operations, and increased both productivity and profitability of LUSCUN Dairy.
Here is a detailed Explanation:
1. Automated Milk Parameters Recording and rate calculations
Paper records were used to record milk parameters, such as fat, SNF, temperature and TDS before Dairy ERP and this caused errors, delays and disputes. Now:
- Field employees enter these parameters directly through the Tuna ERP Mobile App.
- The system is capable of calculating the correct milk rates based on fat, SNF, seasonal adjustments as well as the cooperative policies.
- Rates are automatically updated on the accounts of farmers, which will remove hand errors and delays.
Result: 100% elimination of manual calculation errors and payments are now quicker and more precise. This will deal with paper records, tracking errors, and issues with calculating the rates.
2. Farmer Ledger Automation & Payment
In the past, maintaining each ledger of farmers was time consuming. With Tuna Dairy ERP:
- Every farmer has an electronic register which is updated digitally.
- The process of payments is automated, transparent, and free of errors and enhances trust among farmers.
- Farmers can access accounting details and milk related information via the mobile app.
Result: Rapid payment, reduced disputes, enhanced farmer satisfaction. Also covered the farmer-wise tracking challenges and late payments.
3. Store Milk Parameter Monitoring.
There was no proper tracking of quality management. Tuna Dairy ERP now enables:
- Milk quality recording at the point of collection and issuance.
- Complete traceability of batches, which guarantees the quality of products at all times.
- Early identification of faults in quality, reduction of spoilage.
Result: Decreased wastage (5 – 7 % per cycle to 1-2%), and enhanced product consistency. Solves quality and shelf-life gaps.
4. Manufacturing and costing Module
Prior to Tuna Dairy ERP, costing was guesswork because very little visibility existed on ingredients, labor and overheads. Now:
- Real-time tracking of raw material consumption, labour, and overheads.
- Offers precise costing data to make data-driven pricing.
Result: Profitable pricing policy and better decision-making. Solves the lack of transparency of the cost of production.
5. Inventory Management and Workflow Management.
The inventory was previously disorganized, causing mismatches, overstocking and a loss of money. With ERP:
- Tracks the intermediate and finished goods stock digitally.
- Perishable products are monitored through shelf-life to make the best use of them.
- Standard work procedures are used to navigate the staff in their day-to-day activities.
Result: Reduced wastage, more efficiency, and minimized the final leakage from 7–10% down to 1–2%. Resolves the disorganized workflow, inefficient inventory management, and losses of returnable items.
6. Mobile- Based Operational Visibility
Tuna Technology introduced real time visibility of mobile access for all stakeholders:
Field Staff: Recordings of milk collection, keep track of the quality parameters and obtain real-time information at any location.
Farmer: Accounting details and milk related information.
Management: Real time KPIs via Tuna Aaina mobile app for top level management.
Result: Removes phone calls, paper notes, face to face reporting etc., resolving the mobile visibility gap.
Tangible Results after implementation of Tuna Dairy ERP:
- Manual Calculation & Rate Errors
Before: 11–19% (manual) / 8–10% (rate calculation error)
After: 0–2% / 0%
Impact: 100% elimination of calculation mistakes. - Payment Delays & Payment Cycle
Before: 21% payment delays / 3–5 days cycle
After: 1–3% delays / Same-day cycle
Impact: Payments became 95% faster. - Product & Shelf-Life Wastage
Before: 4–7% wastage / 3–4% shelf-life loss
After: 1–2% wastage / <1% shelf-life loss
Impact: 70–90% reduction in losses. - Farmer Disputes
Before: High dispute frequency due to poor accounting.
After: Disputes reduced by 85%
Impact: High trust from farmers due to systematic management. . - Financial Leakage & Returnable Item Loss(Tracking Issue)
Before: 8–12% leakage / 28% returnable item loss
After: 1–2% leakage / 4% returnable item item loss
Impact: 80–95% reduction in financial leakage. - Reconciliation Time / Dairy Admin Time
Before: 3–4 hours extra reconciliation / 4–5 hours admin
After: Fully automated / 25–35 minutes admin
Impact: 100% time savings in reconciliation & overall management . - Inventory Overstocking
Before: 17% overstock
After: 2% overstock
Impact: Optimized inventory management.
Conclusion
With Tuna Dairy ERP, LUSCUN Dairy has moved from manual process to a fully automated, transparent and efficient modern management of dairy. Farmers get the timely payment and the management can fully see the 360 degree business visibility within the single platform.
This is an example that the digital transformation of dairy operations can provide stunning outcomes to the cooperatives and dairy producers/industries.
Are you willing to change your dairy business such as LUSCUN Dairy? Get the free consultation and demo of Tuna Dairy ERP today
