Confor Improves Animal Well-Being, Increases Safety for the Poultry Industry

November 10, 2008

Globalization has transformed many aspects of our economic activity, including the production and distribution of food—introducing new opportunities and risks. Indeed, the United States International Trade Commission in 2007 found that food import shipments to the U.S. have doubled since 2000 to an estimated 9.1 million. And in 2006, the Food and Drug Administration sampled only 20,662 of the more than 8.9 million shipments that passed through American ports, raising food safety concerns.

The global poultry industry is particularly at risk, with suppliers around the world confronting the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus. This virus, first detected in 2003, has mainly impacted birds thus far, but experts are concerned that the virus will mutate into a form that can be easily passed from human to human and lead to a flu pandemic.

Oracle Certified Partner Confor Age Srl, based in Italy, is meeting the critical need for food safety in the poultry industry with Televet, an automated system that remotely monitors the conditions of animals within an aviary farm. This innovative solution was the first-prize winner of the 2008 Oracle Partner Innovation Award for the Europe, Middle East and African (EMEA) region. In addition, the company was recognized with the EMEA Innovation Excellence Award at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2008.

Televet is highly replicable and capable of automatically measuring a series of parameters characteristic of chicken farms, including feed consumption, animal weight, and humidity. The system then analyzes the detected values, interprets data, and recommends appropriate actions. Findings can help improve sanitary conditions, increase animal well-being, decrease animal mortality, improve work optimization, and ensure the competitiveness of the animal husbandry product.

According to Riccardo Riccardi, Confor Product Manager, the system uses various hardware components, including electronic telecommunications equipment, combined with a high-level Oracle-based software system for device monitoring and management. The Oracle system was created for the gathering, management, and elaboration of data through complex calculated algorithms. After data is gathered and analyzed, the system can then evaluate potential corrective actions to undertake should values fall outside predefined thresholds. Corrective actions can range from activating an alarm to operators on-site to remotely activating a ventilation system when internal temperatures get too high.

Specific Oracle applications utilized to create Televet include Oracle Application Server 10g and Oracle Database 10g. Riccardi says, “From a database standpoint, Oracle technology was utilized to guarantee persistency and consistency in data collection. Its strong integration of Java within the database further enabled the development and use of extremely complex algorithms and logic rules. Oracle Application Server, on the other hand, provided additional flexibility rendering it not only available via the web, but also through the use of third-generation mobile devices, such as handhelds and cellular, further guaranteeing user access and profiling.”

Televet has been installed for experimentation at Azienda Agrigola Sassi Alfredo e figli, one of the largest poultry farming and processing plants in Italy. Riccardi predicts a final product will be available in first quarter, 2009. Confor plans to offer both a traditional software license and a Software as a Service option for Televet. Riccardi says, “Medium to large organizations equipped with a considerable data center are generally interested in licensing the turn-key solution, while the small- to medium-sized customers prefer the outsourcing solution.”

While Televet was originally created to meet European food safety and animal well-being standards, it can be easily adapted to other regions. Riccardi says, “The system is extremely flexible and is positioned as an instrument to support animal well-being. The system does not invoke rigid rules or regulations, but simply has the objective of improving the quality of life of the animal during the production cycle, minimizing stress, illness and mortality. In this sense, it optimizes the production cycle earlier during the agricultural food chain—not later. ”

Paolo Cinieri, Innovation Development and Deployment Director for Oracle EMEA, says, “The Confor solution has been created for poultry, but it is applicable to every livestock, including turkey and swine. It is the first solution able to automatically and remotely monitor many parameters and alert or directly react in case of need. Everything is achieved using the full Oracle technology stack.”