Planning and controlling processes effectively are two of the most important things when it comes to fresh food. In reality, however, many companies struggle with insufficient networking of their plants, manual entries in confusing Excel spreadsheets and planning errors based on this.
activeIT from Austria gets to the bottom of these issues and has been pursuing the mission of simplifying all work processes in the industry through software solutions and individual consulting since 2004. The product portfolio supports producers, greenhouses, packing houses, importers, ripeners and all kinds of businesses in the fresh food sector, which has resulted in these case studies.
SH Pratt Bananas: “You can't run a business with Excel spreadsheets!”
For more than two years now, the British company SH Pratt Bananas has been handling its entire import and ripening process through FIPS, activeIT's Fruit Import Planning System.
Rob Wells, Head of Business Improvement and Processes, comments: "As soon as an order is received in FIPS, order planning, transport planning and ripening planning are updated. We have to react as quickly as possible as there isn’t a lot of time between the order coming in and the fruit being despatched. With FIPS it all is organized in the right place, so we know what actions we need to take very quickly."
Migros Luzern Cooperative: “The important thing is to know how much goods are here.”
The Migros Luzern cooperative has also been using activeIT's fruit import solution since 2022. One reason for the Swiss retailer to opt for FIPS was the lack of transparency in the existing system. Fabian Pfrunder, project manager at Migros Luzern, explains: “For us, it was never a primary goal to make savings or to push key figures down or up. We are primarily concerned with process support and process safety. (…) The orders are now much more precisely aligned with the sales figures – so we avoid green goods piling up. This is exactly where I see the big advantage of FIPS: It's important to know how much goods are here. And thanks to FIPS, we definitely know that."
Dorfinger KG: "Expansion only goes hand in hand with a proper operating system for the operational business!"
Since 2021, Dorfinger KG – one of the largest potato, onion and garlic packaging companies in Austria – has been controlling and optimising production processes with PECS, the production efficiency control system from activeIT. Operations manager Karlheinz Zelinger sees a clear advantage of PECS in the increase in efficiency: "There are so many important aspects around our products. (…) With PECS we now have the overview, and this overview is extremely important and useful, and above all very easy to retrieve. With a click on the batch, I see all the information I need – based on that, I can make quick decisions. (…)”
GEO: From replacement software to a sophisticated production control tool.
The Vegetable Producers Organisation of Eastern Austria has also relied on solutions from activeIT for several years. Roland Wagersreiter, Managing Director of GEO: "Where manual entries were necessary in the past, there are now automated processes that make everyday production easier. While around 300 people are employed in production, our entire turnover is managed by only five people in administration, which we owe not only to process optimisation but also to the constant optimisation and expansion of traceNET.”
Vegetable Grower Steiner: Comprehensive data exchange with continuous, easy planning
The Bavarian family business “Gemüsebau Steiner” has been working with the traceNET merchandise management system since 2019.
Sebastian Gruttauer, operations manager of the company: "traceNET offers everything that a modern enterprise resource planning system must offer in this industry. With the connected solution PECS (formerly traceNET-Production), processes can be effectively planned and controlled. The production staff only needs a touch PC, the individual setting of checkweighers or labellers is no longer necessary and a few quick hand movements lead directly to the result."
Styrian Berry Fruit Cooperative: Put an end to long communication channels and distorted daily reports!
Every year, the Styrian Berry Fruit Cooperative (Steirische Beerenobstgenossenschaft) markets around 8 million kg of black and red currants, elderberries, elderflowers and chokeberries.
The cooperative says: "Currently, our farms report their planned daily harvest quantity by 10:00 a.m. - they can change it during the day (e.g. in case of rain). In the evening, from 5 p.m. onwards, we know exactly how much each producer will deliver and where. We can send the trucks to the pick-up points relatively accurately and schedule collection transports. We know which items will be harvested and the freezer service providers can prepare for the required daily space."
For more information:
activeIT Software & Consulting GmbH
Tel: +43 316 23 12 01
Email: [email protected]
www.active-it.at