Optiweigh is launching improved mob management to make weighing sessions easier and unlock mob-based analysis. Users can create, edit, retire and manage mobs, with historical animal data retained across mob changes. The system supports reporting by mob or session and yard weights, with further improvements planned based on your feedback and needs.
This post is an extract from CEO and Co-Founder, Bill Mitchell’s fortnightly Optiweigh Insights email newsletter. To get a copy in your inbox, SUBSCRIBE HERE.
The very first version of the Optiweigh “App” used an online service that allowed me to make it look like the data was coming through live. But behind the scenes, I used to manually download the data multiple times a day and night, run it through some checks, and then upload it to that system.
While it did the job, we always knew there was a lot more we could do to make it easier to interpret and to support getting greater value out of the data. But to achieve this, we have had to deal with an increase in the number of different things people are looking to get from the data – combined with a massive increase in the volume of data needing to be processed.
Getting this right is a massive part of our business, and I’m very pleased to be able to say that our tech team has now completed all the groundwork needed for much improved weight gain analysis.
Any day now you will see the ability to set-up and manage mobs appear. This will initially just make it easier to manage weighing sessions. It will work like this:
- In the top menu go to Manage and then select Mobs.
- Add your mobs and fill in the details for each.
- When starting a new weighing Session you can select the Weigher ID and then the Mob.
- Each time you move the system still creates a new session – this just saves having to re-enter the mob details every time.
- Reporting can then be by mob (all the sessions for that mob) – or by just selecting a single session.
- Mobs can be Retired or Deleted. Retiring will still allow you to view the data for that mob in the future – they just won’t show on your active list of mobs for starting a new session.
- Regardless of whether you Retire or Delete a mob the individual animal records from that mob will still be used in future weight gain analysis whenever that animal is recorded in another weighing session
Key questions and answers:
What if the number in the mob changes?
Just edit the mob and note the date of change. The new number will be used for calculating % of mob being weighed and number of animals in each weight category. It will not impact old data.
What if animals move between mobs?
Just change the number in the mob accordingly. When viewing the data for a particular mob, it will still pick up old data by EID – even if the animal was in a different mob back then.
What if I draft into completely different mobs?
Just create new mobs accordingly and archive the old mobs. The old records for animals in the new mobs will still show in the history for the new mob and will be used in weight gain calculations.
What if I have two mobs in the one paddock?
The system can currently only treat it as a single mob. However, you can still upload the different sub-mob names according to the EIDs and then view the individual animal data by selecting one sub-mob at a time (call our team for help on this).
What do I do when the type of animals changes in a mob (eg as the animals grow from Weaners to Yearlings)?
Just edit the mob with the new details – this won’t affect the old data.
Can I upload my mobs and the details for each animal in the mob?
You can, but at the moment all the extra information you can include is a Visual ID – so unless you want to use the Visual ID field for filtering of the individual animal data there will be no real benefit yet.
Can I still upload yard weights?
Yes, and these will still behave as if all the animals were weighed on the Optiweigh on that date. This is particularly useful for adding things like weaning or induction weights so that you can see weight gains from that point in time.
Final Thoughts:
In building this system we are mindful of the fact that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU manages mobs and mob naming DIFFERENTLY. We are trying to find the right balance between simplicity and fitting into all difference types of management systems.
Accordingly, please give us your feedback and tell us how you want it to work for you.
Now that the hard work has been done in the back-end, we are really looking forward to helping you get more out of your Optiweigh units.