UMPC Internet Access

Gerard and Claire Collins run a broiler breeding flock on their farm near Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh. Part of their daily routine is to keep production records which include the temperature of the house, the consumption of feed and water and the number of eggs laid. This information must be sent each day to Moy Park Limited to allow them to monitor production. This process involves a lot of time and effort.

At first the records were kept with pen and paper and then entered on the Moy Park production database through the company website. To save this double entry, Gerard and Claire tried out a new mobile computer, the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC). The UMPC is connected to the internet using mobile phone technology. They input records on the web application, through the touch sensitive screen, directly to the Moy Park database as they walk around the poultry houses.

Claire says: “I can now submit the information to Moy Park, have it analysed and receive reports back in a fraction of the time taken before. This can be done from anywhere in the farmyard. It takes me 40 minutes to record the data for the four houses and I only need to record it once because it goes to the website instantly.”

One thing led to another. After learning to use the UMPC Gerard and Claire went a step further and created a “wireless farmyard.” They installed a series of antenna so they could access broadband wirelessly anywhere in the farmyard. This investment cut the cost of sending the data to Moy Park through the mobile phone technology.