Industry: Food & Beverages
What goes for other foodstuff is even more important for baby food: Full traceability of raw materials and products. The Allgäu-based manufacturer of organic baby food and baby care products uses the CSB-System to accomplish this task.
The family-owned business has been a CSB user since 1998. During this time, it has implemented a wide range of modules. The most recent extension also included the fully integrated CSB-Traceability solution for tracing the goods. Thomas Bienerth, Head of IT at Töpfer, explains: “What we appreciate about the CSB-System is the flexibility that it provides for us as IT users. We can even make our own in-depth adaptations. Moreover, this is an industryspecific solution offering specialized functionalities that are important for us. In particular, the CSB-System takes a batch-oriented approach, which is a perfect fit for our manufacturing methods.”
No lists anymore
Before introducing the CSB-System, Töpfer used Access and kept lists to ensure traceability. In the course of time, this system reached its limits. One of the reasons was that baby food partly has a shelf life of 18 months. Moreover, Töpfer not only supplies retailers and drugstores in Germany, but also exports to many countries around the globe.
This is why today the system assigns SSCC numbers at two CSB-Racks directly after packaging. Töpfer has converted the internal nomenclature for its 230 production items and now also uses SSCCs to enable clear identification of material flows. This is complemented by the existing meticulous raw material data collection. Each process is started with printing a label that goes along with the raw product all the way.
Scanners capture the data
At every relevant station at the facility, from receiving and production to dispatch, scanners capture the product. This solution is ideal for Töpfer, because baby food consists of a range of base compounds, and each product represents a pre-stage of another product – in some cases, across six stages.
Töpfer deliberately produces very small batches, which increases the test and sample cycles for the highly sensitive products. In addition to the scanner data, relevant ADC data are captured throughout all stages of production. Ultimately, this allows for a complete overview of the journey and handling of different ingredients up to the dispatch units. Of course, the CSB-System also captures the destinations of the goods and the routes they take.
In this way, Töpfer complies with all relevant requirements of the IFS higher-level standards version 6 and the ordinance on organic farming. All procedures can be called up on screen at the press of a button; for example, to look up what happened exactly to partially used ingredient containers. GS-1 standard declarations required by retailers are also provided fully automatically by the CSB-System. Since every ID is stored in the software system, EAN codes can be printed on the labels too.
Integrated practice solutions
Töpfer relies on the CSB-System not only for traceability. The company profitably uses the software for its entire enterprise resource planning as well as in logistics. In addition to the mere functionalities, Thomas Bienerth in particular considers CSB’s consultants as a factor for success: “Any enterprise resource planning system is only as good as its consultants. CSB-System always comprehends our concerns and wishes, which also increases the level of satisfaction among our staff working with the system.
The system is continually developed further in direct cooperation with the users. “CSB-System directly incorporates any changes requested by the customers in the software product. This is how all users across industry boundaries benefit from the ideas and improvements. Such improvements are not just some impromptu solutions, but integrated practical solutions.”
