A NEW smartphone and tablet application called Farm Service Manager is set to modernise the recording of service and maintenance history for farm equipment and vehicles, eliminating the need to keep paper records.
Farm Service Manager is the idea of Australian farmer David Ricardo. It is a multi-user app which logs services and other maintenance for farm plant, equipment and vehicles.
It can be used for all machinery, from tractors and harvesters through to planters, cars, trucks and small motors.
Farm Service Manager can also log different types of service to each machine, whether that be a full service by the local mechanic or just a quick fix by the farmer, contractor or their employee.
Along with his brother Peter, David farms 9000 hectares in northern New South Wales, growing wheat, chickpeas, faba beans, canola, barley and dryland cotton under a zero-till, controlled-traffic system.
He came up with the idea after years of keeping notebooks and logbooks full of service records for his machinery.
“We used to keep a service logbook in a central position on the farm, but two years ago that book went missing temporarily,” David said.
“During that time, we missed services which weren’t followed up. This can have serious consequences on the longevity of the machinery as well as its resale value.
“We have two farms 20 kilometres apart, so there is machinery going back and forth between the farms and as well as my brother and I, we have a team of employees who all need to be on the same page with regard to each machine’s maintenance and service record.
“That’s why I thought if we have an app which is an electronic version of a notebook or service logbook then the same records can be accessed by everyone for each piece of machinery.”
Once the service or maintenance job has been completed and logged in the app, the farmer receives a detailed account of what type of work has been conducted, the parts used and how many hours or kilometres were on the machine at the time.
The app has different levels of access. The farm owner or contractor can invite and manage operators, add and delete machinery, share service records and export a full PDF service history of each machine, piece of equipment or vehicle.
Invited operators can log service and maintenance records in the app from wherever they are.
David says the app provides owners or managers with service and maintenance information for up to dozens of machines and vehicles at their fingertips.
He says this could result in an increase in productivity and efficiency as a result of eliminating written records.
“When it comes time to sell machinery, the owner is able to provide a comprehensive service history based on what has been logged in the app, thereby increasing the resale value of that particular machine,” he said.
“In modern farming operations it is vital to have all machinery in good working order. Farm Service Manager helps owners and managers do just that and ensure no service is missed so the machine is always running at its full capability.”
Farm Service Manager is available now on the App Store or Google Play.
More information is available at farmservicemanager.com
