House of Raeford’s affiliate Columbia Farms is the first of NatureForm and Pas Reform’s customers in the U.S. to adopt SmartCare, a new 360° approach to delivering service and support for the hatchery.
The Lifetime Services contract has been created in partnership with Columbia Farms’ management team, to deliver a range of services over the next five years that has been selected specifically by Columbia for the company’s state-of-the-art SmartPro hatchery in Monetta, S.C.
The new contract services include:
- Help-desk support for maximum availability and quick response times
- SmartCenterPro hardware and software support, to include the delivery of all new releases and updates and a complete hardware support package with a replacement promise if needed
- Recommended spare parts always in stock to enable immediate repairs and to keep the hatchery running smoothly
- Remote analysis and advice, for periodic reports based on SmartCenterPro data, with results and recommendations
- Periodic inspections to provide structural equipment inspections
- Incubation consultancy, for independent, hatchery-wide reviews that include reporting and recommendations from Pas Reform Academy’s hatchery specialists
Complex manager Jim Mabe headed the team that worked with NatureForm and Pas Reform to create Columbia Farms’ SmartCare package. He says, “The Monetta facility is a state-of-the-art hatchery. And when we made the decision for SmartPro setters, hatchers, HVAC and automation, we signed up to levels of technological advancement that would ensure we deliver the best possible birds for our network of growers.
“High levels of technical support and backup from NatureForm in Jacksonville were a vital ingredient of our ultimate decision, and SmartCare brings another level to that for us, with a package that we’ve been able to select according to our own, very specific needs.”
NatureForm’s president Steve Warren says SmartCare has been developed to deliver an assurance of efficient, uninterrupted performance at every level of hatchery operations. “SmartCare is a 360° approach through which we share our knowledge, people, expertise and experience at every stage of planning, building and commissioning -- and far beyond,” he says.
“It’s designed to support all the key life stages of any hatchery project, to optimize performance in every area of the facility, for the highest numbers of best quality chicks.”
SmartCare incorporates three key pillars of service provision, to support three key stages of a hatchery project: planning, project and lifetime. Customers can select any of the options available in each pillar, to create a customized package that specifically meets their own, service and support needs.
Planning services
Building or modifying a hatchery requires expertise across varied disciplines, from design and layout, engineering and specification, to developing accurate calculations for the hatchery’s ideal design, manpower and energy needs. All these skills are required not only to configure and set up the hatchery successfully, but also to project its future needs and returns.
With six service options, SmartCare Planning Services support the hatchery’s crucial planning phase. NatureForm and Pas Reform’s specialist teams can help to define a solution that meets the specific needs and circumstances of the individual hatchery, even providing a compelling, confident business case for Boards, banks and investors.
Project services
With the planning phase completed, different skills, disciplines and timelines need to be aligned to deliver the vision of an extended, refurbished or brand new hatchery.
In this pillar, six project management, engineering and training services have been created to help steer the project smoothly through construction, on time and on budget, right through to startup and the delivery of the first hatch.
Lifetime services
With every hatchery solution from NatureForm and Pas Reform, customers have the option to set up a Lifetime Service Agreement, structured to ensure optimal performance and accuracy for every hatch cycle. With this in place, NatureForm and Pas Reform proactively provide preventive service and parts, software upgrades and improvements, as well as post-installation training and direct access to the support and expertise of Pas Reform Academy.
SmartCare services have grown out of the experience of working with more than 1,000 hatcheries around the world.
Designed to complement the full, integrated range of incubation, climate control and hatchery automation solutions, SmartCare has been created to help maintain an efficient, smooth-running hatchery, for the highest numbers of best quality day old chicks.
