Branche: Meat | Software: CSB FACTORY ERP
At the end of January 2017, the new meat processing facility of “Colruyt Group Fine Food Meat”, a subsidiary of the Belgian Colruyt group, was officially opened. A major project with an investment of about 90 million euros. On the software side, Colruyt takes advantage of the FACTORY ERP solution by CSB-System SE - and becomes one of Belgium’s leading high-performance meat facilities.
“Until a few years ago, we developed our entire IT in-house. There were a few exceptions, as for instance traceability. We were aware that several legal changes were pending in the long term, and we would not have been able to implement those in our own solution,” reports Jan Dewitte, head of Logistics & Transformation at Colruyt Group Fine Food Meat.
Changing to a new software was thus a done deal. “We also reviewed our internal processes and software solutions, for example the management of our cutting plans, recipes and ready-made meals,” says Dewitte. The existing planning functionalities as well as raw material procurement and inventory management had reached their limits too.
CSB FACTORY ERP to supplement the Group ERP
The Factory-ERP solution by CSB has offered all required functionalities for the processes at the meat processing plant, and connecting to the central ERP system (SAP) was remarkably easy. With the concept of the FACTORY ERP, CSB bridges the gap between Group ERP and MES for the food industry. CSB FACTORY ERP encompasses
- all ERP key processes for the factory
- the MES functionalities including the interfaces to all machines and systems as well as
- the interfaces to the Group ERP.
The result is a more homogeneous and easy-to-manage IT landscape where stand-alone solutions are eliminated and the number of interfaces is minimized. Overall, CSB FACTORY ERP enables company groups to manage their various factories in a decentralized manner, without having to make complex and expensive adaptations in their Group ERP. Erwin Kooke, head of the CSB-Benelux subsidiary: “FACTORY ERP is of great interest for conglomerates and company groups with international activities. It makes the management of the different factories more efficient, flexible and transparent. CSB FACTORY ERP as combined ERP and MES system comprises all key requirements of a facility and guarantees a standardized connection to the overall ERP system of the group.”
Process chain fully integrated
Now the cutting-edge facility has reached its full performance, not least owing to the optimal planning functionalities of the ERP system. Moreover, the organization of the facility is extremely efficient also with regard to the operational implementation. In total, 75 software-aided control points have been installed for coordinating and controlling purchasing, cutting, batch management, production, nutritional value management, quality management and traceability.
Throughout the operation, as for instance in receiving, in cutting, at the production exit, in the warehouse, in picking and during stocktaking, data are captured by means of hand-held devices. This ensures error-free processing of the information. Apart from that, data no longer need to be entered separately in the ERP system, which means a significant reduction of required resources. And by using Electronic Data Interchange, Colruyt has automated the data exchange with the logistics center.
Seamless traceability
Traceability is possible at the push of a button, both upstream and downstream. Computer racks installed throughout the factory enable close-knit entry of relevant data and facilitate transparent control and documentation of all processing steps. This puts the meat processor in a position to comply easily with all statutory regulations. In the event of product recalls, the company is on the safe side too: With the integrated CSB Traceability solution, batches can be identified quickly and products can be removed from the supply chain if needed.
Future-proof platform
For Jan Dewitte, the CSB-System is the central tool for process optimization. After intensive cooperation with CSB’s experts, the Colruyt staff can manage, adjust and optimize the IT infrastructure themselves to a great extent. “We keep the system under direct control. And we now have a future-proof platform that we can build on,” says the head of Logistics & Transformation. In the next step, the software will be implemented at Colruyt’s cheese, wine and coffee factories.
