The fresh produce industry continued on its trajectory towards a huge increase in specialist software following a positive event hosted by Anglia Business Solutions (ABS).
The Cambridge-based company showcased its LINKFresh technology, a system that allows real-time tracking, tracing and costing of product, as the industry shows signs of putting faith in IT systems.
A number of senior management executives from a broad range of food supply chain organisations attended the event, which included a look at the software behind LINKFresh, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which is the world’s leading mid-range business management software with more than 90,000 companies using it, as well as a live demonstration of the technology.
Delegates were shown LINKFresh’s capabilities in managing volumes and data while also displaying its mobility. It can be used on iPhones and Blackberrys among others, in giving live updates on produce quality and volumes as well as financial updates.
Richard Jones of ABS assured delegates that, once purchased, the Microsoft NAV technology would be updated free and flexibly as the global corporation plans to introduce new versions of the software every two years until 2017.
Nigel Jenney, ceo of the Fresh Produce Consortium, also spoke at the event, giving an insight into the challenges of food security, with the population set to reach nine billion by 2050. He promised a focus on food waste in the near future and stressed the importance of water management, citing European agriculture’s use of 25 per cent of the continent’s water as key.
Speaking after the event, Jenney told freshinfo: “[LINKFresh] is a dynamic system that people don’t need to learn all at once - they can build it to their needs and integrate it as time moves on.
“I’ve already seen a few of these systems and they work very well. It used to be that the technology wasn’t up to standard and that’s now just not the case. The perishables industry offers so many challenges not seen elsewhere and now [Anglia] has tackled these I see them moving it out to the rest of the food industry easily.”
Anglia’s managing director David Hurley told freshinfo: “It takes as little as three months to recoup the cost of the technology and Microsoft is actually allowing people several months to defer payment as they are so confident with the software.
“If you can measure things you can manage them and now it has become so important that you have constant ability to monitor the product that we are in just the right place.
“[Attendees of the event] were most appreciative of the fact that Anglia has made a major long-term commitment to bringing state-of-the-art innovation to a much beleaguered sector.”
The product has enjoyed success, including achieving Microsoft NAV certification, and Anglia hopes to roll LINKFresh out to the wider food industry, having performed well in what many describe as the hardest market in the sector.
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