Entobel is a pioneer in sustainable insect protein and has recently opened one of the world’s largest insect production facilities in Vietnam. This cutting-edge black soldier fly farm operates at industrial scale, featuring vertical insect rearing with robotics, sensors, and data analytics to enhance productivity. As the Lead Data Analyst at Entobel, I was tasked with transforming the factory’s raw data streams into actionable business intelligence. The goal was clear: enable data-driven operations in real time, from tracking volumes procured, costs induced, raw material availabilities in order to support daily decision-making by leadership.
(Note: Detailed data architecture is proprietary.)
Challenges
Running a high-tech insect farming operation at scale presented several data challenges:
- Siloed and Delayed Information: Information on raw material stock levels and production metrics was scattered across spreadsheets and manual logs. By the time reports reached decision-makers, they were often outdated.
- Unclear Production Costs: Calculating the true cost of production (from larvae hatch to processed protein meal) was labor-intensive and infrequent.
- Rapid Scale and Complexity: With Entobel expanding to a commercial-scale facility, data volume and complexity grew exponentially. Multiple departments needed to share a single source of truth.
End-to-End Data Solution Overview
I took full ownership of architecting and implementing an integrated data infrastructure to meet these challenges. The solution spanned the entire data lifecycle from collection on the factory floor to dashboards in the boardroom.
1. Centralized Data Platform
All relevant data streams (inventory transactions, sensor readings, production logs, purchase orders, etc.) were connected to a central data repository. I developed custom ETL processes and DBT models to clean and combine the data. This unified platform broke down departmental data silos while maintaining strict access controls.
2. Real-Time Raw Material Monitoring
A major initiative was live tracking of the factory’s raw material stocks (e.g. feed ingredients for the larvae). I integrated inventory and IoT data to update stock levels continuously. Power BI dashboards now display current stock levels with color-coded alerts for low thresholds. This real-time visibility helps prevent stock-outs and ensures the millions of larvae are always fed adequately.
3. Actual Production Cost Tracking
I developed a robust cost tracking model combining data from production, procurement, and finance. Costs such as feed, energy, labor, and equipment runtime are now captured and allocated to production batches. Interactive Power BI reports show cost per kg, budget variances, and trends. Leadership can drill into cost drivers to improve efficiency.
Power BI Dashboards for Daily Decisions
All processed data feeds into Power BI dashboards used daily by Entobel’s leadership team. I designed multiple dashboards:
- Executive Dashboard: Daily refreshed overview of inventory, production output, and unit cost.
- Operations Dashboard: Live metrics for production managers, enabling real-time adjustments.
- Financial Dashboard: Tracks actual costs and margins for strategic budgeting.
- Procurement Dashboard: Monitors supplier performance, purchasing cycles, and raw material price trends to support cost-effective sourcing decisions.
- R&D Dashboard: Tracks experimental feed trials, growth rates, and biological performance metrics to accelerate innovation in insect farming.
- KPI Tracker: Consolidates cross-departmental performance indicators (finance, ops, sales) in one place to align the entire company around strategic goals.
Dashboards are interactive and drillable, fostering trust and empowering teams with timely, accurate data.
Outcomes and Impact
- Real-Time Visibility: Prevented feedstock stock-outs and enabled proactive inventory planning.
- Cost Efficiency: Provided unprecedented transparency into production cost structures.
- Decision-Making: Leadership now starts each day with data-driven discussions based on live dashboards.
- Cross-Department Alignment: Created a single source of truth trusted by all departments.
- Scalability: The data architecture supports future expansion to new sites and product lines.
Conclusion
For a rapidly scaling agritech company like Entobel, such a data foundation is critical. It turns the immense complexity of farming millions of insects (and the volumes of data they generate) into clarity and direction for the business.
As a result, data has become a strategic asset at Entobel, guiding decisions that drive sustainable growth and innovationexactly what a modern, data-driven enterprise strives for. My work at Entobel showcases the impact of marrying technical skill with business focus: the ability to listen to operational needs, build a tailored data solution, and ultimately, deliver insights that propel the company forward.
