This month you'll find two new features on your Equipment records, and other updates to your Map, Reports, and Invoices. First, you can now create Usage Logs to track when you use any piece of equipment. This will track the current usage, and also add to your total mileage or hours on the machine as well. This new feature also helps you keep on top of your equipment service, as you can set up notification reminders to be sent when service is due. You'll also see that equipment service records have been enhanced to allow attachments so you can easily document the service or other issues that you found as you worked on the equipment too. Beyond that, you'll now see that your Farm Map includes a geolocation of your current location, your market invoices have been redesigned to fit more details on a single page, and you can now report on climate log data.
Equipment Usage Logs, Notifications, and Attachments
Keeping tabs on your farm equipment usage helps you know what tools and machines get used most often for your business and when they are due to be maintained. This can help you determine the equipment that is absolutely critical to your success and ensure it stays available and ready to help you thrive. If you've set up machines like tractors and trucks in Farmbrite's Equipment section, you might want to know when they were used, who used them, and the current mileage or hours on their odometer. You can add these usage records for whatever type of tools and machines you track. Just navigate to Resources>Equipment, and select the equipment record. You'll see an option for Usage in the menu. This can track the starting and ending mileage, and also calculate how many miles were used in a given trip.
Knowing how often equipment is used is certainly important, but have you ever needed a piece of equipment in an emergency only to find out it wasn't currently operable? You saw needs to be sharp to deal with an unexpected tree fall, just like your trailer's brakes need to be operational if you need to hustle an animal to the vet in an emergency. You can now optionally receive service notifications for any piece of equipment. It's up to you if you want to enable them for some tools and not others, and you'll be able to set up different reminder intervals for each. To configure this feature, navigate to the equipment record, and take a look at it's Details tab.
And once you are reminded to complete that service, you'll now be able to add file and image attachments to the service records you create. So if you find something as you're wrenching and want to document, or need to upload a receipt or service recommendation from a dealer, you can now add images and documents directly to service records.
Farm Map Geolocation
You might notice a new red pin on the farm map the next time you are looking at it. This is your current location! If you a large property with many different fields, you'll now know exactly where you are located on the property. This can be helpful for new farm hands that are still getting the lay of the land at your operation.
New Invoice Formatting
You'll also see that your market order invoices have been slightly redesigned to accomodate more information on a single page. W want to save you some paper and provide a better experience for your customers, so if you print out a copy of their invoice or receipt, you'll see more information in the top header, and less on a second page.
Climate Log Custom Reporting
Have you added climate logs to your Farmbrite software? This is a great way to track the microclimate on your property overall, or specific to an animal enclosure or field. If you've added these types of records, you can now report on them by building a custom report. You can choose what data you'd like to see and then filter the report to find just the gauges and results you are looking for.
If you have any questions as you check out these new features, reach out and let us know!