This video shows how to set up your Preferences when using Fusion for the first time.
Time: 11:08
Let's take a look at how you can customize Fusion for your yard's needs. You can open the Preferences window by ensuring you're in the Fusion Admin menu bar and selecting "Preferences" from the Setup menu. Alternatively, you can access it through the Fusion Setup Assistant.
Keep in mind that these preferences have a global scope, affecting all users and locations, including feed trucks and chuteside computers. While you can make changes at any point, it's good to have most of them set up correctly before going live with Fusion. Let's delve into some of the common preferences.
Starting with the General section, this is where you can establish your operation's name and logo, which will be reflected in reports and customer invoices. The operation name refers to the company that owns all the locations tracked in Fusion and should already be set up. If the name or address changes, you can edit it by right-clicking on the contact button.
Incorporating a company logo is a straightforward process. Click 'New From File' and select the appropriate file. While PNG and JPEG files work, SVG or PDF files typically provide superior quality. For optimal results, it's recommended to use a logo with roughly square dimensions.
Let's dive into the Commodities section next. When you're using Fusion to manage the flow of grain and other commodities coming into your yard, you'll have the option to set up contracts to monitor your purchases. It's worth noting that contracts might not always be fulfilled down to the last ton, so there's a field where you can specify that it'll automatically close when it gets within a few tons of the agreed amount. This preference helps Fusion determine the default auto-close value for new contracts. Just keep in mind that existing contracts won't be affected if you adjust this setting.
Now let's dive into the "Lots" section. First off, we've got the "Weight Class Increment" which helps break down cattle based on their weight classes in Fusion reports. For instance, if you leave it at 100 lbs, your reports will show categories like 600 weights, 700 weights, 800 weights, and so on. Pricing attributes will be specific to the weights falling within the range you set here. It's advisable to get this set up early on and avoid tweaking it later, as it could lead to some mismatches with historical data.
Moving on, you can set default values for brand new lots. Let's take "yardage" as an example. If you set it to 15 cents, every new lot from then on will default to this value. Of course, you can always change it for each lot, but it's a handy starting point.
Next, let's talk about custom fields. Fusion already has designated fields to track a bunch of information for each lot, but if you need to keep tabs on something we haven't thought of, you've got five custom fields at your disposal. Change the labels for these custom fields as needed and they will show up across Fusion. This is something you don't need to set up right away, and later only if you find the need for it.
Lastly, there's the section about calculating interest for a lot owner. If you want a different portion of the interest rates to apply for things like feed and drugs, you can tweak them here. Keep in mind, if you make changes down the line and reprint an old report, it'll use the new percentages. So, it's a good idea to get this set up just the way you want it right from the get-go.
Now, let's dive into the Billing section. The top part here only comes into play if you're working with ingredients that require tempering. If that's the case, you've got some options for how Fusion handles the water that's added during tempering when it comes to billing.
First up, there's the "Subtract Water" option. With this, Fusion will simply deduct the weight of the water used in tempering from the as-fed quantity of the ingredient. So, your customers won't see the full quantity, and you won't be charging them for the water.
Then, there's the "Leave Water In" approach. This one doesn't make any adjustments to the quantity of the ingredient. That means the water portion will be billed at the same rate as the ingredient itself.
Lastly, you can opt to bill the water separately. With this setting, Fusion will treat the water as if it were a distinct ingredient, allowing you to set a specific price for it.
Leave the rest of this section as is. It is only useful for long-time customers who used to deal with taxes in a different way than Fusion uses now.
Now, let's talk about the Animal IDs section. Remember how you can set up five custom fields for lots? Well, you can apply the same idea here for individual animal ID systems. Fusion already includes a field for RFID tags, and you can also designate labels for up to five additional fields to accommodate other ID types like management tags.
The Animal Fields section continues the theme of customizable fields. Here, you'll find three more sets of five fields each that you can tailor to your specific needs for individual animals. Use this first set however you like. The second group is all about weights. While Fusion automatically keeps track of every recorded weight for an animal, these fields allow you to store a special weight that represents a specific point in time for easy comparison across all your animals. (And don't worry about the induction and reimplant weights; Fusion's got those covered.) The third set of fields is designed to store genetic test information.
Now, let's delve into the Out Cohorts section. When you're shipping cattle from the yard, Fusion requires you to create an "Out Cohort." If you decide to ship, let's say, half of a pen containing 100 head, and Fusion estimates their weight to be 1000 pounds, but you input 1100 pounds as the actual ship weight for the out cohort, Fusion will consider adjusting the weight of the remaining cattle in the pen.
Mathematically, Fusion will assume that the remaining 50 head should weigh 900 pounds each. That might make sense if you had sorted off the heavies, but that isn't always the case. This preference tells Fusion how you'd like to handle this situation. If you choose "Always", Fusion will always apply the mathematical adjustment to the pen's weight. If you choose "Never", Fusion will never adjust the weight of the remaining cattle. And if you choose the third option, Fusion will adjust the weight of the remaining cattle if it's less than the specified weight, but it will give you a prompt if it's otherwise. This allows you to make the final call based on the situation.
We strongly advise you to record deaths on an individual basis. So, make sure you check the last checkbox in this section. But if you're not keeping track of cattle as individuals, you can uncheck it.
Now, let's dive into the Bunk Call section. This is where you can customize how the bunk call screen in your feed trucks looks and operates. Keep in mind that these settings apply to all your feed trucks.
Our recommendation is to stick with the default values here, especially if you're just getting started with Fusion. Once you've gained some experience and become more accustomed to feeding with Fusion, you'll have a better idea of what specific changes you might want to make in this section.
Now, let's talk about the Feeding section. At the top, you've got these threshold percentages that Fusion uses to decide if you've got "enough" of something. For instance, when you're adding an ingredient to a load, if you're within, let's say, 3% of the target amount, Fusion considers it close enough. You'll probably want to stick with the default values, at least until you've had some experience with feeding. You can always tweak them later if your specific situation calls for it.
Fusion can also be set up to handle multiple feeding passes in a day. This is a per-ration setup and you can configure it in the Ration Edit window. If you're planning to create several rations that all follow the same pass system, you can establish the default values here. Then, when you create a new ration, it'll start off with this pass system. Of course, you can still fine-tune each ration as needed.
Take a look at the "Auto Distribute Feed" checkbox. We usually recommend keeping this option turned on. Why? Well, it ensures that Fusion keeps track of all the feed for every load. For instance, let's say you just finished delivering a 10,000-pound load, and as you start mixing a new load, the truck still has 70 pounds of feed on it, even though you couldn't get any more feed out of it. If you leave this checkbox off, those 70 pounds won't be billed for, even though they came out of inventory. But with the checkbox on, Fusion will make slight adjustments to the feed deliveries associated with that load to account for those 70 pounds. It's a good way to keep everything accounted for.
Now, let's dive into the Synchronization section. For almost all customers, the top checkbox should be switched on, and the listening port should be set to 19820. In the lower part of this section, you have the option to limit the bunk call graph to a specific number of days. Typically, cattle are on feed for, say, 60 days or even up to 200 days. In these common scenarios, sending the complete bunk history to each truck doesn't pose any issues.
However, there are exceptions. Imagine a sick pen with thousands of days of bunk data – sending all that information to the truck doesn't make much sense. That's where this setting comes in handy. It ensures that no pen can overwhelm the system by sending more than a specified number of days' worth of data to the truck.
You'll want to set this limit high enough to cover your longest-running cattle but not excessively beyond that.
For the Scale Indicator section, leave these settings at their default values. Only come back here if you're experiencing issues with Fusion accurately capturing weights at the chute or in the truck.
As for the last three sections, they only come into play if you're using one of those third-party services. If you are, you'll need to fill in the required settings for Fusion to work seamlessly with these services on your behalf.
And there you have it for the Preferences. At this stage, your preferences should be pretty well set up. As I mentioned earlier, you can always revisit them after you've been using Fusion for a while to fine-tune them to your liking. This video has covered the main settings, but if you have questions about anything we skipped over, just click the help button for all the nitty-gritty details. And remember, our support team is here to help if you have any questions about these preferences or anything else related to Fusion. Now click Save and your preferences will be remembered.
