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At Rota Única, controlling mechanized service costs happens in real time

With 1,500 hectares of almonds and dozens of tractors from outside contractors, Rota Única needed more than trust. It needed reliable data.

Rota Única_1

- 3,5 %

savings in key operations, compared to the same period before implementation

500 h

of discrepancies detected in one month
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For us, Wisecrop means one thing: production optimization. 
 
José Sobreiro - Operational Controller, Rota Única
ABOUT

Rota Única Amêndoas, Lda

Rota Única is an agricultural group present in the Alentejo, dedicated mainly to almond production. With four production sites and around 1,500 hectares in active production, it operates a hybrid model of company-owned tractors and outside contractors.

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Definições - Plantação (Colored) copy
4 Farms
Hecares digitalizados
+ 1500 hectares
amendoa
Almond
CASE 1 – Optimization and Savings

Controlling mechanized work to protect profit margins

Monitoring tractors and outside contractors allowed Rota Única to validate hours worked, measure productivity, and reduce operating costs.
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PROBLEM

The Challenge

Rota Única relies heavily on outside contractors to operate tractors across its plots.

Payment is made mostly by the hour, which made it essential to have reliable, immediate data on hours actually worked, which were previously recorded on paper.

Invoiced hours with no way to validate them

Contractors submitted tickets with declared schedules. The company had no way to confirm whether those hours matched actual field work.

Discrepancies accumulating in small moments throughout the day

Refueling at the start of a shift, longer lunches, early departures. More than half an hour per tractor, per day, added up to significant amounts by the end of the month.

No way to verify hectares and actual output

Without georeferencing, it was impossible to know for certain which areas had actually been worked, especially in plots with multiple varieties and very long rows.
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It's one thing to say what needs to be done; it's a much harder thing to correctly carry out the specified activity. 
 
David Doll - General Manager · Rota Única
This clarity in process quality control gives us a deeper understanding of operating costs. Agricultural efficiency and operational control mean getting the work right the first time.
David Doll
General Manager · Rota Única
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HOW WE SOLVED IT

The Solution

The decision to move forward with Wisecrop was, in David Doll's words, driven above all by the simplicity of the hardware. Plug-and-play installation was the entry point. The responsiveness of the Wisecrop team sealed the decision.

Wisecrop's implementation at Rota Única focused on GPS monitoring of tractors, allowing location data, work hours, and routes to be cross-checked against contractors' records.

Schedule a demo
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Hectares covered

Progress of work verified in real time. Confirms declared areas and identifies discrepancies.

 

 

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Hour validation before payment

Contractor invoices are only approved after confirmation in the system. GPS data becomes the single source of truth.

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We now have greater clarity on the time needed to complete specific tasks. This improves agricultural planning and raises questions whenever the time projected for processes differs from expectations. 

David Doll - General Manager · Rota Única

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Yield per hectare/hour and discrepancies
  • Cross-referencing hours worked with hectares treated to assess the real yield of each operation and identify anomalies.
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Geographic precision
  • GPS maps revealed plot areas larger than estimated and precisely confirmed the hectares worked by each team.
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Behavioral change
  • Over time, contractors adopted the system as a tool to validate their own work. It evolved into a relationship of trust and mutual transparency.
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 The greatest value was control, in the good sense, ensuring transparency and fairness for everyone involved.
José Sobreiro
Operational Controller · Rota Única
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THE FINANCIAL IMPACT

The math that convinced management

Initial monthly discrepancy calculation
15 active tractors
×
30 min discrepancy/tractor/day
×
20 working days
=
150 horas /month saved in the first few months

José Sobreiro reports directly to the finance department. Today, cost projections and discrepancy analyses are based on verified, auditable data, strengthening stakeholder confidence.

According to David, the integration made it possible to identify incorrect applications that were corrected in time, avoiding production losses, and services that simply were never paid for..

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We can't look at Wisecrop just as a source of savings, but as an opportunity to improve agricultural planning. When you can build and execute a more rigorous plan, costs go down. 

David Doll - General Manager · Rota Única

The Results

150 hours
monthly

in the first months

16 000 km
of tracked routes

in one campaign

- 3,5 %
savings

in key operations

57 Operations
monitored

in one campaign

8 000 Hours
of machinery

in one campaign

24 GPS
active

with expansion planned

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VISION

Technology as a driver of change in Alentejo agriculture

In the Alentejo, labor is scarce and production inputs are getting more expensive. Managing with precision is no longer an advantage, it's an essential condition.

For David Doll, the idea that this kind of technology only makes sense for large farms is a dangerous one. Every farm can benefit from greater efficiency; what limits adoption among smaller operations is return on investment, not relevance. At an operation the scale of Rota Única, that return is unmistakable.

 

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Tools that help improve processes will always have value, because they save time, and that saved time can then be invested in the field, generating observations that lead to production gains.

David Doll - General Manager, Rota Única

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