Chilean-based decofrut has launched another information tool to the fresh produce industry. Expordata Full Cargo is an online service offering quality information concerning official figures of Chilean fresh fruit exports.

This website provides privileged information about Chilean fresh fruit exports from the 2001-02 season to the current day. The information can be displayed based on user requirements, including by season, week, species, variety, origin or destination port, country, tonnes or boxes, or by importer, exporter, etc.

The information may also be downloaded in Excel spreadsheet format, which helps the user manipulate and work with the data, graph it and handle it easily.

Manuel José Alcaino, president of Decofrut, said: “Although we are facing a global economy, one problem importers and distributors of Chilean fresh fruit still have to confront is the logistics and transport of their product. This information, provided to the market, allows knowledge of what fresh fruit was shipped and when, in order to be prepared in advance.”

Andreas Economou, chief executive officer of Unifrutti in Philadelphia in the US, said: “Full Cargo is very good. I am very satisfied with the information this tool provides, and it really helps me in knowing which fruit is coming to the US, by vessel and the arriving time frame.

“It is excellent to have a resource where you can see online what the importers are doing, in real time, and updated in a timely manner.”

Expordata Full Cargo is updated daily, whenever a land, air or sea departure takes place, which is a key benefit of this information resource. The update of the information is made each time a vessel departs, and is communicated live to the users immediately.

Harold Sbrocco, president and ceo of Sbrocco International in Voorhees, New Jersey, said: “Full Cargo is a great tool every company which handles Chilean fruit must have, because it provides accurate information about all shipments in a timely fashion.

“As part of our customer service, all our sales force uses this feature on a daily basis so they know exactly what has been shipped and can keep our customers informed in advanced at all times.”

The annual subscription to this service includes three users at a cost of US$1,550 (£783).

A trial version is available to companies wishing to test the service.

FINGER IN THE FUTURE

Biometric fingerprint payment, interactive holographic assistants and intelligent shopping trolleys could depart the realms of science fiction for the real world, as new technologies look set to revolutionise the way we shop.

Some 60 per cent of consumers across the globe believe that they will be able to pay for purchases using just their fingerprint by 2015 - with this innovation rated top by the greatest proportion of people questioned.

The UK is most in favour of this shopping solution - with 31 per cent giving it the top vote.

In response to TNS’ New Future In Store study, Barry Lemmon, global head of TNS retail & shopper insights, said: “There is no doubt that we are into a time of transition in retailing - and for consumers, the look and feel of a shopping experience is set to change beyond recognition. Shopping experiences which free up time are likely to rank top - as shown by this first study into the future of retailing. But most consumers aren’t going to be prepared to swap good traditional service for technology - shown by the noticeable lack of enthusiasm for holographic sales assistants.”

GATEWAY TO POLAND

An English version of Poland’s largest fresh produce portal - www.eBronisze.pl - has been launched, allowing UK businesses access to information about the Polish fresh produce market and its prices.

eBronisze.pl, pictured, has been running for a year and, in that time, it has become the most reliable source of information for merchandisers, as well as producers of fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The portal provides its visitors with an everyday insight into the most important information about the fresh produce industry in Poland and eastern Europe. The website includes options such as a news section, prices online and buy-and-sell offers. The English version will be regularly upgraded to give foreign users of eBronisze.pl the same opportunities as businesses in Poland.

The first appearance of the portal out of Poland was showcased at this year’s Fruit Logistica in Berlin, and that was followed by an advertising campaign during the Macfrut exhibition in Italy.

Meanwhile, the British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) is holding its ninth annual recruitment fair at Hammersmith Town Hall in West London on May 31.

Fair organisers expect at least 1,000 Polish job-seekers to attend the fair. “Some 85 per cent of them will be between 18 and 34 years old, already in London, and looking for a career change,” said the BPCC in a statement. “The best way to recruit Polish workers is from among Poles already living in Britain - they will have mastered the language, and will not need to be convinced to move abroad, being already there.”

NEW VISTA OPEN FOR JS

Sainsbury’s has chosen Aperture Technologies to help its data centre management solution to achieve a better overall view of its data centre technology.

The supermarket will use Vista 500 software to visualise its resources for everyday management, in order to consolidate space and maximise energy efficiency.

All the data centres will eventually be consolidated, and Aperture Vista will be deployed in the move.

Malcolm Ireland, IT production operations manager at Sainsbury’s, said: “We expect Vista 500 to help us by providing better access to configuration records when we are planning changes in our data centres. We want to maintain a pictoral plan for new installs, changes and removals, with easy access to this information for all who need it.

“It will also help us to identify the best place to position equipment to make the best use of our space, cabling infrastructure and cooling.”

The Aperture Vista software is designed to help organisations visually manage the physical environment of the data centre, and help organisations with use and capacity planning.

NEW SOFTWARE TO HELP FIRMS ASSESS MARGIN WEAKNESSES

This month, Anglia Business Solutions looks at how a cost per transaction tool can help businesses measure their margins in today’s pressurised financial environment.

It will not come as a bolt from the blue to those in the fresh produce market that margins are coming under increasing pressure.

The industry is rife with stories of suppliers being hauled in by the major retailers and requested to cut their margins. This is despite increasing fuel prices and general overheads. When virtually your whole business depends on a single supermarket contract, it is difficult to refuse.

Some are already reaching the point where enough is enough, and pulling away from unprofitable contracts. Taypack Potatoes was a case in point, as reported in the

May 9 issue of FPJ. In the article, it explained that the company had carried out a review of the contract and concluded that it is not commercially viable. It therefore suggested that Asda takes its

£30 million business elsewhere. It does beg the question of whether the fresh produce industry can generate sufficient profits to warrant the continued investments required to meet customer demands.

At top level, the UK fresh produce sector is an £8 billion industry. It is also expanding as people’s eating habits change, driven by the trend towards a healthier lifestyle. Based on a small sample, the 2006-07 report and accounts of a dozen of the top industry players, some of the gross margins vary between eight per cent and 17 per cent, dependent on the business models employed by the company. A recent Plimsoll report flagged the fact that the average net margin of the top 100 players is just 1.7 per cent of turnover. This does not leave a lot of room for error in a low margin business.

However, the straw poll of some of the top companies does reveal some significant differences in their operating costs. It shows that some businesses incur higher costs than others, even when operating similar business models. The margins vary dependent on the sector, with those in the same sectors broadly generating similar gross margins. The differences appear in the administrative costs section, where they are identified separately. These can represent as little as 3.6 per cent of turnover, or as much as eight per cent. In a £100m business, this can make more than a £4m annual difference to the bottom line.

The reality is that few organisations, apart from the government, can afford to continue to operate with high administrative overheads.

In today’s highly regulated food industry, companies are incurring higher administrative costs to ensure compliance and to deal with product traceability requirements. Usually, these are handled in an expanding business by the recruitment of further administrative staff. Apart from the unavoidable increase in overheads, copying information from one source to another invariably introduces delays and errors in the internal processes. This can be anathema to a fast-moving operation, as produce movements can be slowed to enable the paperwork to catch up.

One of the problems is that there are few reliable benchmarks within the industry against which to measure operational efficiency. How do you know whether you need to invest either four or eight per cent in your administrative procedures to ensure that your operations are efficiently managed?

Furthermore, it is possible that in various organisations, processes are described and costed differently. Comparisons may not therefore be relevant on a like-for-like basis. However, as with all businesses, the health of the enterprise will be defined by its ability to generate bottom line profits.

One area that Microsoft, in partnership with a company called Shark Finesse, is currently investigating is in the measurement of the costs of business transactions. The idea is to provide a widely available tool, pictured, designed to enable businesses to capture and calculate their costs per transaction (CPT). It also enables organisations to compare their CPT rating against the norms across a variety of sectors. The identity of each user is kept confidential, while the data is added to the pool for analysis. The deliverable from the exercise is a personalised report for that company which can be used to put a stake in the ground. This can then be accessed and updated as the organisation refines its processes in the interests of efficiency and cost savings.

The squeeze on margins is causing many organisations to look at their cost base in parallel with the growth of turnover. Some will conclude that certain contracts are simply not worth having, as in the case of Taypack and Asda. Others will explore how tools like fully integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can assist, by automating many of the administrative tasks carried out within the business.

In the final analysis, if we assume that the average margin across the fresh produce industry is 12.5 per cent, there is more than £1bn of gross profit up for grabs in the UK. It would be foolish to assume that the strongest players only will prosper in this environment. Those who are fleetest of foot and embrace change can prosper even in this most demanding and competitive of sectors.

The tool can be accessed at www.sharkfinesse.com/microsoft/cpt/

INTELLIDENT GETS GOLDEN THUMBS UP

Intellident has been awarded Gold Certified Partner Level in the Microsoft programme.

This represents the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies.

Membership in the programme is presented to independent companies that demonstrate clear and proper use of Microsoft technology, certification and customer testimonials to provide IT services and products to customers.

The Microsoft Gold Certified Partner programme was set up in October 2003 with the aim to augment the technical proficiencies and increase business competency.

The programme offers a single integrated framework that recognises member capabilities, and analyses and rewards the overall impact that companies have in the marketplace, allowing for members to add value to technological services.

Andy Chadbourne, marketing manager for Intellident, said: “Becoming Gold Certified gives our existing and future customer base confidence that they are working with a company and systems that are not only developed and tested using audited techniques but, more importantly, that they are compatible with the full range of Microsoft business applications.”

Andrew Avanessian, solutions architect for Intellident, added: “Intellident continues to differentiate itself in the marketplace through the achievement of Microsoft Gold Certified Partner accreditation. This allows Intellident to demonstrate the highest standards in application development.”

Intellident has achieved the ISV and Networking Infrastructure Solutions Competencies, which are designed to help differentiate partners’ capabilities.

PRINTER SHINES FOR SUNALA

A new entry-level version of the market-leading Wolke m600 thermal ink jet printer has been introduced into the UK by Sunala Ltd.

The new m600 Basic has been designed for users who require fast, quality coding without some of the more sophisticated features of the m600 Advanced printer. It can drive up to two print heads with printing speeds of up to 300m per minute, with a maximum resolution of 600dpi.

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