CASE TITLE:

AIBONO
 CONTENT

Sl.No Title Page No.

01. Introduction 03

02. General Question 04 - 16

03. Assignment Question 17 - 21

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 In September 2020, AIBONO smart Farming Privet Limited Launched in
Bengaluru. Rajkumar Established AIBONO in 2014
Aibono is the first AI-powered fresh food aggregator in India. It invented the
Seed-to-plateTM platform, a next-generation disruption that uses predictive
analytics, precision farming, and just-in-time harvests to synchronise real-
Introduction to the time production and consumption of extremely perishable fruits and
vegetables. Pathbreaking disruption will transform the $250 billion fresh food
Company business, which accounts for 40% of the whole retail market and is much
larger than the combined markets for FMCG, e-commerce, and food delivery.
The seed-to-plateTM continuum, which is powered by 4.0, provides small
farmers with 2x yields, guaranteed revenue, and superior control over output
while providing super fresh, super reliable, and super traceable produce for
merchants and end customers.

We received the Economic Times Startup Award for food and agriculture
because to our constant pursuit of innovation the 2017 Best Social Enterprise.
We are searching for a new generation of Jedi warriors that will lead us to the
next level of development—people who love vegetables, farmers, technology,
pushing the envelope, and establishing teams.

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1. Understand the Situation

a) What’s the situation in the case you’re working on?

The Situation in the cases which we are working on is SUPPLY CHAIN
Problems of Indian Farmers Despite being one of the world's top producers of fruits and vegetables, India's farmers of
perishable produce struggled to make decent profits because there were no mechanisms in place to predict supply and
demand, they had limited access to timely and accurate market information, there were numerous middlemen between
farmers and consumers, and supply chains and logistics networks were underdeveloped.

- Lack of Storage Space and Poor Transport Logistics

In comparison to other agricultural segments, the perishable nature of fresh food made the industry more sensitive and
dynamic. Across the nation, there was a serious inefficiency with the infrastructure for cold storage that needed to be
fixed. It was crucial to comprehend that, depending on the nature of the products, the shelf life fluctuated from 12 hours
to 12 days. The shelf life of leafy vegetables was the shortest, but that of coconut and several hard vegetables was longer.
Due to the perishable nature of the produce and the significant price and demand fluctuations, which raised consumer
worries about the quality and safety of their food, supply chain management for perishable food products was more
complicated than it was for other SCMs.

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- A lack of a structured approach

The abundance of regional traders and middlemen who gave extremely cheap rates for the produce of local
farmers was one of the key problems in the supply chain of the fresh food industry in India. Local dealers
dominated India's entire supply chain. Linking and integrating the many supply chain participants was
crucial to the effectiveness and profitability of the entire chain. Between the farmers and other partners like
intermediaries and retailers, there was a lack of forward and backward integration. Additionally, Indian
farmers have extremely limited knowledge of how to use the most recent tools and methods. Additionally,
they have limited knowledge of seed quality, post-harvest management of food, etc. Farmers were the
primary source of fresh agri-produce, and since most small farmers in India of perishable products were
unable to achieve reasonable price realisation for their produce due to lack of market information, the
demand-supply gap, lack of logistics infrastructure, etc., the supply chain could not be efficient without
proper knowledge and awareness at the level of the farmer.

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b) Identify the case’s key players. What are their perspectives about the situation?

Key Player is Vivek Rajkumar

Vivek noticed that many of his small-scale neighbours shared the same issues with poor yields and low
revenues and lacked access to scientific advice or appropriate agricultural methods. In order to reach
farmers in high-altitude regions, they began their operations in the Nilgiris region in 2014. The farmers
weren't offered AIBONO's ideas directly. Instead, it developed a model farm on a few acres of property
leased near a shrine in the Nilgiris. Farmers attracted to the temple were lured to AIBONO's farm, where
they saw how its precision agricultural techniques increased crop productivity and decided to join with the
company. As word got out, other local farmers met AIBONO staff members to learn more about the
company's services and formed partnerships with it.
According to Vivek, AIBONO chose the Nilgiris to launch its operations since the region's farmers
predominantly farmed very perishable produce like spinach, carrots, lettuce, etc.

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Dealing with material with such a short shelf-life allowed the company to pick up new skills rapidly.
The following section of the case study details AIBONO's initial Farm Management-as-a-Service business
model, which it put into practise in the Nilgiris and involved farmers outsourcing measurement, production
management, and decision-making to AIBONO. The case then focuses on how the business expanded
operations to introduce the "Smart Farming CollectivesTM" initiative, where partner farmers shared
AIBONO's resources and worked together to farm in a way that benefited both parties. This initiative
eventually led to the company becoming a "Seed-to-PlateTM" company. Additionally, the case study
demonstrates how AIBONO changed its revenue model as its business evolved.

Field agents helps farmers go digital and agriculture experts conducts experiments in laboratories to validate
the latest farming techniques.
AIBONO offers smart farming services, personnel and devices such as sensors, farm equipment, tech
support, farm experts, data, and intelligence and farm managers that were shared among farmer collectives
which the company aggregated.
The business model of the company is both technology and people centric.

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2. Identify the Evidence

a) List the key evidence that helps you understand the case.
The importance of precision farming using technology to increase the productivity, profit and
understanding about the market.

The changing dynamics affecting the yield and profitability, how help through technology can
change that scenario.

Growing fresh produce according to demand and supplying it to the market to get better price
using AIBONO.

Developing different crop mix, to increase income and reduce competition.

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b) Now identify 2–3 categories to sort your evidence into and list each piece of
evidence you found in its appropriate category?

1) precision farming
2) optimizing resources according to the AIBONO

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3. Interpret Exhibits

a) Identify the exhibits that tell you something valuable about the case. List at
least one important finding from each of these exhibits.
• The company started a "seed-to-plate" model from the basic "form-to-fork“ model.

• Other companies mostly focus on the farm after the harvest of the produce but. AIBONO focuses on the
farmers from the beginning of the seed and upto the plates of the customer.

• The company engages with the farmers from the seed-sowing state up to the purchase of produce at
retail outlets.

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• Data was collected by different farm managers, and then fed to the cloud-based platform, AIBONO then gives
recommendations on daily basis.
• From the given data, as the years passed down, the percentage of the workers from agriculture industry have
been decreasing and the industry and services sectors workers have been increasing.

• In the year 2010, the workers from agriculture industry were about 51.52% which decreased to 41.49% in the
year2020.

• The reasons are many but one of them was majority of them shifted towards various other industries and
services sectors because of less profits from agriculture and increase towards the technology field.

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4. Apply Concepts
a) What concept or theory have you learned in class that’s relevant to the case?

i) Economic concepts like Law of demand and supply, market equilibrium.

ii) Transportation model of Prescriptive analytics.
iii) Other statistical tools of Descriptive analytics and Predictive analytical tools can also be used.
iv) Direct Marketing i.e Zero level marketing concept directly from producer to consumer.
v) In Marketing, according to 4Ps, Place is majorly focussed relevant to the case study.

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b) How can you apply this theory to your analysis?
In sourcing of fruits and vegetables directly from farmers and their farms throughout the year and
providing them to the end consumers with the best of perishable produce, whether there is any
shift or movement of demand and supply curve irrespective of the change in price or whether
there is any movement in the points of demand and supply due to the change in price for adoption
of advanced technologies. Change in market equilibrium condition can also be analyze.
• Shortest way to deliver the produce to the end consumers for minimization of transportation
cost can be analysed through Transportation Model of Prescriptive analytics.
• Through Descriptive analytics, results can be represented in the form of graphs, charts, Pivots
for better clarity.
• Direct Marketing is optimized as according to the case.
• Among 4Ps, Promotion of Agritech and Place for better promotion is focussed upon.

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5. Reach a Conclusion
a) How would you approach the situation?

The difficult situation as per context of Indian perspective is been approached by ABENO by using the
Artificial Intelligence to Aid Precision Farming which built and offered a full-stack agriculture production
management platform to synchronize demand and supply in the fresh food segment. Using just in time
technologies and farm analytics, it helped
I. farmers to grow crops as per market demand,
II. assisted retailers in sourcing fresh fruits and vegetables directly from the farms throughout the year,
and
III. also provided end consumers with the best of perishable produce

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b) What factors or criteria did you use to reach your conclusion?

-Restate the case study .

-Summarize the main points.
-State the significance or results.
-Conclude our thoughts.

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c) Identify alternative approaches. How would you argue for these other options?

-Learn about the main problems that the enormous Indian agricultural sector is facing.
-Analyse how digital innovations can synchronise supply and demand in the agricultural sector.
-Find out how farm supply networks may be made more efficient.
-Recognize the value of pivoting and rapid learning for start-ups.
-Find out what difficulties fresh food aggregators in India can encounter.

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1. Differentiate between lean and agile supply chains. Discuss in terms of the
fresh food segment and AIBONO’s platform.
The goal of a lean supply chain is to generate value for consumers while identifying and getting rid of
waste—anything that doesn't do so. On the other side, being responsive and agile means that your supply
chain can respond quickly to change and a steady stream of fresh, innovative items.
As of right now, as a result of the economic upheaval, customer behaviour and needs vary every day. So,
delivery and on-demand are not the only factors that affect supply chains. Shippers must continue to address
and meet consumer needs. The supply network must function in accordance with market trepidations. The
modern market has two different categories of customers: global and digital. It implies that every potential
customer gets access to every product offered by every business. A situation like this simply amplifies the
rivalry amongst the manufacturers. It forces businesses to innovate not just their products but also their
supply chains. Depending on how quickly a product is delivered to the market, it will be purchased. More
than that, the trends appear on the market briefly before disappearing. Companies must remain adaptable
and change their offerings to meet customer requests. Businesses have two options for operating while
dealing with supply chain hesitancy in order to adapt to the changes. The agile supply chain and the lean
supply chain are well-known terms for them.

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Supply Chain Characteristics in terms Lean Agile
of fresh Food Segment
Objectives Cost Reduction Strong responsiveness to change
Stock Reduction Availability of product ( or service)
adapted to customer needs

Key Features Waste disposal Flexibility

Continuous pulled stream smoother Market sensitivity
High level of efficiency A shared virtual network
Quality assurance Process integration

Type of Product Standard product with a long-life cycle Personalized and innovative product with
short life cycle
Type of Request Little varied and predictable demand Very varied and unpredictable demand

Demarche Eliminate wastes, including time, Work
with pulled stream smoother Do more
with less(as long as customer satisfaction
is preserved)
Mastering quality assurance
Rely on information directly from the
market(real demand)
Adopt a virtual organization to seize
profitability opportunities in volatile and/
or new markets.

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2. Why did AIBONO decide to focus on the short-term fresh foods
segment only as part of its operations model?
• AIBONO choose to grew highly perishable vegetables and fruits as they allowed the company to learn
quickly , as they were harvested every 60 days.
• Enabled AIBONO to gather wide range of data as much as possible and also scale up its Artificial
Intelligence .
• Uploaded the information on to the platform that processed the data and provided data to be applied on
a day-to-day basis.
• Helped AIBONO records results in changing dynamics hence give information to the farmers according
to that.
• According to the data collected they could use it to prepare different mixes of crops and eliminate or
reduce competition.

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3. What challenges could AIBONO face in trying to rope in farmers in different
states and scale up operations?
Challenges faced-
i) The change in the dynamics like soil ,irrigation scheduling , climate, humidity, nutrient level, etc
would be different then the data collected at the Nilgiris
ii) The crop mix identified suitable for this region and this market wouldn't be suitable all areas.
iii) The uncertainty of AI to work accurately in long duration crops.

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4. What is the current status and future plan of AIBONO

The case study concludes by discussing the company's future goals for capacity expansion, producing for major organised retail
chains, delivering perishable fruit to customers' homes through last-mile delivery partners, and collaborating with more young
farmers who are proficient with technology.

Current Status
Future objectives for the business include increasing its capacity, supplying food to major organised retail chains, delivering
perishable fruit to customers' homes through last-mile delivery partners, and collaborating with additional young farmers who are
proficient with technology.

Future Plan
Vivek claims that as of the beginning of 2020, farmers who work with AIBONO reported yields that were 1.5–2 times higher and
incomes that were 1.–3 times greater than those who relied on conventional farming techniques. The average income per acre for
farmers who worked with AIBONO was INR 500,000. As of September 2020, AIBONO has agreements with about 1,000 farmers
in the Nilgiris region and supplied perishable fruits and vegetables to over 800 stores, primarily in Bengaluru. Younger farmers
who were more educated than their parents and had expertise with computers and other technology were to be worked with by the
firm. The company asserted that by using sensors to gather data and upload it to the cloud themselves, the younger, internet-savvy
farmers will lessen the workload of the field workers.

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