From a feed calculator to a feed mill: launching Provendry
Today Roxstar Labs is officially launching Provendry, all-in-one software for independent and family-run feed mills. It didn't start as a product. It started as a favor.
It started around the table
Someone close to me worked at a local mill, and formulation was their job. Every custom feed was worked out by hand: a spreadsheet, a calculator, paper and pencil, and a lot of checking, figuring each ration from the commodities and their nutrients. They asked if I could build a simple calculator to make that easier.
So I did, and it grew from there, one real problem at a time. Each new piece was something someone at the mill was already doing by hand.
What a small mill is up against
At most independent mills, a handful of people do everything. They take the orders, cost the formulas, print the tags, schedule the trucks, chase the payments and key the month into the books. The work gets done, but there's little time left to grow the business.
The software built for large plants doesn't fit them. It can cost $10,000 to $30,000 for the license alone, before setup fees, monthly service fees and multi-year contracts. So most independent mills have stayed on spreadsheets and paper. They're too big for spreadsheets and too small for ERP.
What Provendry does
Provendry runs the whole mill in one place, from ingredients and formulas to orders, feed tags, deliveries, invoices and payments. Two things work together inside it:
AI does the reading and the typing. Snap a photo of a supplier's delivery ticket or spec sheet, and it fills in the receipt or the nutrient analysis. Compare two versions of a formula, and it explains what changed.
Logic does the math and follows the rules. The formulation engine finds the least-cost mix that meets nutrient targets. When an ingredient cost changes, every formula priced from it updates. An order becomes the mix sheet, the feed tag, the delivery ticket and the invoice without anyone typing it twice.
A person stays in the loop the whole way. The software does the work, and someone at the mill checks it before anything goes into the books.
Everyone works from their own device. The production floor and the drivers have their own view in the iPhone and Android apps, and farms get their own portal to order, track loads and pay.
Built with mills
Before today, independent mills in the United States and Canada were already running their day on Provendry. Many of its features started as one mill's request. Because we build it ourselves, we can often turn a request around the same day.
It's also built to be easy. No mill has needed on-site training. Most were up and running with, at most, a few texts, calls and video calls, and some set it up entirely on their own.
Honest pricing
Provendry is $199 a month for the whole mill, with every feature, unlimited users and no contract. The price is on the website, with no quote to request and no sales call needed. If it's not for you, cancel any time, and one click exports all your data as spreadsheets.
Try it
You can try Provendry free for 7 days on a fully loaded sample mill, with no card needed, at provendry.com. If you run a feed mill, or know someone who does, I'd love to hear from you: shawn@provendry.com.
It started as a favor around the table. I hope it takes some of the paperwork off your plate too.
