Project Plan — 2026 Crushing Season

Cane Planner Deployment

Digital transformation of the sugar cane supply chain — from farmer registration through to weighbridge settlement. This page shows the full project timeline, Gantt chart, and activity breakdown for all stakeholders.

28 Apr
Season Start
7
Project Weeks
6
Work Streams
36
Activities

Project Gantt Chart

16 March — 2 May 2026 (7 weeks)

Work Stream
W1
16 Mar
W2
24 Mar
W3
31 Mar
W4
7 Apr
W5
14 Apr
W6
21 Apr
W7
28 Apr
Farmer Registration
Registration & Field Mapping
Training
Staff & Operator Training (ongoing 3 months) →
System Deployment
Infrastructure & Config
Hardware & Equipment
Install & Calibrate
UAT & QA
Testing & Sign-off
Go-Live

Activity Breakdown

1. Farmer Registration & Onboarding

16 Mar — 11 Apr
Grower registration campaigns (posters, WhatsApp)
16 — 28 Mar
In Progress
Field visits — collect grower details & field GPS
16 Mar — 4 Apr
In Progress
Data entry — register growers on Cane Planner
17 Mar — 11 Apr
Upcoming
Season declarations — tonnage estimates per field
24 Mar — 11 Apr
Upcoming
Group chairman assignment & cutting group structure setup
31 Mar — 11 Apr
Upcoming
Access card printing & distribution
7 — 18 Apr
Planned

2. System Deployment & Configuration

24 Mar — 18 Apr
Mill setup — create mill, zones, sections in system
24 — 28 Mar
Upcoming
Season configuration — targets, quality rules, pricing
31 Mar — 4 Apr
Planned
Quota allocation — weekly/daily tonnage quotas per zone
7 — 11 Apr
Planned
Haulage fleet registration — vehicles & drivers
7 — 18 Apr
Planned
User account provisioning — all operator roles
14 — 18 Apr
Planned

3. Hardware & Equipment

20 Mar — 11 Apr
Weighbridge scale calibration & certification
20 — 28 Mar
Upcoming
Gate terminal installation — Raspberry Pi + scanners
20 Mar — 4 Apr
Upcoming
Ticket printer setup & consumables stock
31 Mar — 4 Apr
Upcoming
Network connectivity — LAN/Wi-Fi at gate & weighbridge
20 Mar — 4 Apr
Upcoming

4. Training & Change Management

16 Mar — Jul (ongoing)
Gate operator training — scan, verify, release
16 — 21 Mar
In Progress
Weighbridge operator training — weigh, ticket, crush
24 — 28 Mar
Upcoming
Haulage coordinator & driver training
31 Mar — 4 Apr
Upcoming
Group chairman training — farmer notifications, WhatsApp
7 — 11 Apr
Planned
Admin & supervisor training — dashboards, reports
14 — 18 Apr
Planned
Ongoing refresher training — new staff, process updates
May — Jul
Planned
On-the-job support — field coaching during live operations
May — Jul
Planned

5. UAT, SIT & Quality Assurance

7 — 25 Apr
System Integration Testing (SIT) — end-to-end data flow
7 — 11 Apr
Planned
UAT — gate entry & access card scan workflow
14 — 16 Apr
Planned
UAT — weighbridge weigh, ticket & crush flow
14 — 16 Apr
Planned
UAT — haulage trips, consignment notes & fleet tracking
17 — 18 Apr
Planned
UAT — farmer portal, OTP login & WhatsApp notifications
17 — 18 Apr
Planned
UAT — settlement, pricing & payment processing
21 — 22 Apr
Planned
Defect resolution & regression testing
21 — 24 Apr
Planned
UAT sign-off — stakeholder approval & go/no-go decision
25 Apr
Planned

6. Go-Live & Season Start

25 — 28 Apr
Production environment final verification
25 Apr
Planned
Data migration validation — grower records, fields, access cards
25 Apr
Planned
Rollback plan review & contingency readiness
25 Apr
Planned
Season activation — open crushing season in system
28 Apr
Planned
Hypercare support — dedicated on-site team for first 2 weeks
28 Apr — 9 May
Planned

Key Contacts

Project Lead
Pardon Mutanda
pardon.mutanda@tongaat.com
Farmer Registration
Extension Officers
Visit your nearest extension office
Technical Support
Rails Cloud
support@railscloud.co

Get started today

Contact your local Extension Officer to register as a grower before the season opens on 28 April.

How to Register
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