Industry: Bread and Bakery Products | Software: CSB INDUSTRY ERP
Experience from the pandemic has shown us that investments in digitization do pay off – as illustrated by Linauer Backstube, who have optimized a large part of their processes with the ERP system. The company recently launched its B2B online shop for subsidiaries and restaurateurs.
Planning on demand: this reflects the situation of many food manufacturers during the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, Daniel Broschek of Linauer Backstube also refers to a steep learning curve. Right from the beginning of the crisis, the bakery based in Lichtenwörth, Austria, had to adapt to a new dynamic in its day-to-day operations. Its IT system has been a great support in this situation: “Our ERP system gives our factory the benefit of industrial efficiency and at the same time, it provides better planning results. Functions such as rescheduling orders at short notice, quick access to the latest inventory data, order picking with mobile devices, and maintenance substantially speed up the work at the bakery,” says Broschek.
Clean data saves time
In 2014, the executive management team of Karl Linauer kicked off the project for an integrated system. “At some point, you can no longer work efficiently with stand-alone solutions. With sales, production, and logistics using their own IT systems, and with differing master data in supply chain management and in labeling, data has to be maintained multiple times over,” explains Broschek. Linauer was able to break open its previous IT structures by introducing the new integrated ERP system by CSB. Today, product labeling has been largely automated. According to Broschek, one operative is sufficient to maintain labeling, product specifications, and QA tests in a single version in the ERP system. “In this way, we have saved a lot of time and money. And for every audit, whether IFS or Bio, we have really clean data. The information on the labels is identical to the details in the specification.” The flexibility of the system allows ad-hoc adjustments so that quick improvements in the day-to-day business can be easily implemented and cost next to nothing because they are carried out by the own staff.
ERP helps with complex production
Given the strong industry focus, many things were already comparatively easy in the introduction phase. For example, the purchase orders: today, they are exclusively handled in the ERP system, which supports the users with integrated contract and order quantity management. More complex - and therefore even more exciting – was the introduction of the ERP system in the production departments of the two sites. “Here, it took us some time to figure it out, but it was definitely worth the effort.” Nutritional value calculation and costing are now based on bills of materials – which may have as many as 13 levels, like in the range of Christmas products. The quantities are captured at special industrial PCs so always the latest data is supplied. Soon, the production times will be captured to allow production planning on a line and employee basis – the next step towards the smart factory.
Web store for customers
Interaction with the customers has become a great deal smarter. Since the beginning of 2020, the company has used the CSB-Webshop, where restaurants, as well as the own subsidiaries, can place their orders online and timeindependently. This again illustrates why the strategy of IT integration worked out well. When the online shop was launched, essential item-specific master data such as nutritional values, item specifications, replacement items, and ingredients were in place so the integration of the webshop was possible with minimal effort. The classic sales channels are still in use, for example in Linauer’s own distribution company, Backprofi Vertriebs GmbH, with more than 50,000 customers.
Advancing digitization
By introducing the ERP system, Linauer has attained a digital information flow from purchasing, dough preparation, and inventory management to order picking and to the customer. On this basis, Linauer aims to further enhance digitization. New projects have already been scheduled. This includes the handling of maintenance on mobile devices and upgrades to the new CSB-System Version 6.2.
