Framlingham Farmers, a farmer-owned purchasing and marketing co-operative, and Agrovista UK Ltd, an agricultural agronomy, consultancy and supply company, have developed a new system of direct electronic invoicing, which will enable them to work together more efficiently in the future.

Roger Adshead, chief executive of Framlingham Farmers, said: “Electronic invoicing represents a very exciting development and this project is a natural extension of the strong working relationship which we have enjoyed with Agrovista UK Ltd for many years. Framlingham Farmers’ members in East Anglia, the North West and South East of England currently purchase farm inputs valued at approximately £42 million annually, which involves processing in excess of 100,000 invoices every year. The new system will increase efficiency by minimising manual invoice handling and data input.”

The system is already proving its worth, according to Ian Caley, Framlingham Farmers’ group accountant. He said: “Having investigated other options, during 2005 Framlingham Farmers and Agrovista UK Ltd initiated a project to jointly develop a robust, cost-effective electronic invoicing system which could accommodate future development and expansion. We also worked closely with our existing computer software suppliers to ensure a smooth transition from manual to electronic invoicing.”

The system was vigorously tested over a four-month period and went live in October. Electronic invoices raised by Agrovista now pass directly into Framlingham Farmers’ accounting system. During the year ahead, the companies expect to handle 10,000 electronic invoices and believe that other large suppliers will want to adopt the technology, which will ultimately be extended to its members.

John Lockett of Agrovista UK Ltd added: “Agrovista prides itself on being a forward-thinking, customer-focussed business. Working closely with Framlingham Farmers enabled us to develop a system which meets the requirements of farmer members and will make the interaction between the two companies more efficient. Having invested in our own in-house IT department, we can develop and react quickly to customer requirements and the changing needs of the market-place.”

ARTEMIS BRIDGES GAP

Agron SA, a Greece-based fresh produce quality management specialist, has announced the design of the multilingual edition of its Agricultural Resources - Training - Environmental Management Information System (ARTEMIS) has been completed.

The programme, which focuses on how best to monitor and cross-check the food chain and enables information to be passed on immediately, aids the route towards EurepGAP or TNC certification.

ARTEMIS is already available in English.

The system consists of data-entry facilities including information from the grower and field, pesticide application records and residue testing.

The information, which can be stored for any period of time, can be reproducedas EurepGAP and TNC-ready reports and as web links.

The data can also be statistically analysed in order to schedule harvesting according to a provisional harvesting date or first harvestable date due to pre-harvest intervals after pesticide application.

SMART WEB REVAMP

Skillsmart Retail, the sector skills council for retail, launched a new website for retailers and learning providers last week as the final stage of its re-branding.

The new website, which features four pathways to help users find what they are looking for, has been designed so that it is easy to use.

The careers section is aimed at promoting retail as an option for young people, graduates, those wanting to progress in their roles and careers advisors, and an area marked Learning Providers features full resources on occupational standards and retail qualifications.

The employer section includes information on accessing learning and qualifications, as well as products and services to support business development, for both large and small businesses.

The research pathway, aimed as a resource for journalists and stakeholders, offers current labour market information.

Anne Seaman, Skillsmart Retail’s chief operating officer, said: “We are delighted with the new website which we feel offers visitors an easy-to-use website for anyone interested in retail.

“Visitors to our website have been increasing month by month over the last year.

“We hope that a more easily-navigable site will encourage more users to find out about retail careers and the skills needed to be successful.”

The new website can be viewed at www.skillsmartretail.com.

WAITROSE ‘BUGGED’

A major roll-out of electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) technology at Waitrose will be co-ordinated by Wincor Nixdorf.

The solution, which is based on Wincor Nixdorf BEETLE tills, will be introduced across 180 stores throughout the UK.

Sally Hodgson, manager of EPOS development, said: “Our basic ambition was to make the tills as easy to operate as we could, so that cashiers can concentrate on helping the customer. To give customers the best possible Waitrose shopping experience, we wanted to develop more flexible and customer-focused systems.”

The advantages of price and flexibility resulted in the selection of the Wincor Nixdorf BEETLE tills, said a Waitrose statement. “The BEETLE range offered a resilient, secure EPOS solution that could meet Waitrose’s demands for quality and customer-focused service,” it added.

The installation will be completed in 2007.

Wincor Nixdorf has also taken over the support and maintenance of the existing system.

Hodgson said: “Working with the Wincor Nixdorf team and BEETLE technology, we have designed an EPOS solution that minimises system training requirements and brings together products and cashier services in an intuitive interface, based on highly resilient hardware.”

DOES BESPOKE BEAT OFF-THE-SHELF?

The last IT article by Anglia Business Solutions featured IT as an investment. It included a comment from Price Waterhouse Cooper’s Neil Westwood on the value placed on IT solutions, related to the due-diligence process involved in investment or acquisition situations. His statement that “an off the shelf package may be viewed more positively than a bespoke or highly customised system” prompted the question: how can the purchaser tell the difference?

The reality is that there is a substantial difference between a packaged approach and what is called domain expertise, involving various customer deployments. With domain expertise, the supplier can demonstrate his understanding of the industry issues tackled by his technology using a client-developed solution as proof of concept. This is a perfectly valid approach that is widely used by the IT industry. However, with highly integrated applications, such as business management systems, there are issues that the prospective client needs to be aware of when considering this proposition.

To start with, no two businesses are exactly the same, even when operating with the same product lines provided to a similar customer base. As their people and cultures are different, their processes will also differ subtly from their competitors. Anglia can testify to the veracity of this in many supply chain scenarios. In all cases, the devil is in the detail and this is not immediately evident at the system assessment stage. Few people document their processes to such an exact degree that the supplier can highlight the gap between what they have developed for one customer and the needs of the new client.

With a fully integrated application, the problems arise when the differences are surfaced during the implementation stage. The reality is that when you change one part of the solution to meet the requirements of the new customer, it can have a serious knock on effect on other parts of the system. In extreme cases, it can mean almost starting from scratch and totally redeveloping the system for the new customer. Having committed to the technology at this stage, the management has little choice but to see it through and suffer the inevitable delays and additional costs incurred. This is a major cause of customer dissatisfaction in business management system deployments.

The packaged approach tackles the issue from a different perspective. Here the needs of the industry sector are researched, rather than the requirements of one or two customers. The subsequent system design is then crucial as it should provide the foundation on which a general purpose industry package is based. Microsoft’s strategy is to encourage partners to focus on vertical markets as they have recognised the importance customers place on industry expertise.

In October 2005, Microsoft published a best practise guide aimed at those companies planning the design and development of vertical packaged applications. In this 57- page guide, Microsoft makes the following points:

• Building a vertical application is a change of approach from normal partner solution provision and requires much more discipline than customising client solutions

• Customer developments should not be incorporated into the package without being re-engineered to fit in to the core product

• Separate teams should be used to design and develop the application from the implementation teams

• The upgrade process should be considered as part of the application design

• Well-documented implementation procedures and built in help screens are a must. This is to aid the deployment and assist users in day-to-day operations.

The received wisdom in the IT industry is that a well-designed packaged approach has many customer advantages over domain expertise. The package incorporates best practice for the industry thus providing a good foundation for the project. It is quicker and less risky to deploy than a tailored solution. The cost of ownership is lower as new functionality is built to enhance the application. Upgrades are easier as the packaged product has to stay current to compete in its marketplace.

It is also more flexible when the business model changes as it has been designed for an industry rather than a customer. On the topic of flexibility, it is worth stating that all packaged solutions require a degree of tailoring to meet the specific business process requirements of the customer.

However, with the industry specific packaged approach, it is usually more a question of reconfiguration than heavy bespoking with the right technology platform.

Should further clarification on the differences between the domain and packaged approach be required, contact linkfresh@angliabs.com.

• Anglia would also like to express its thanks for all the kind messages received following last week’s announcement of the death of our friend and colleague Bob Rose.

MARKS SET ON RFID EXPANSION

Marks & Spencer is extending the use of its RFID technology to improve the accuracy of its supply chain.

As part of a trial with its suppliers already using an RFID system, suppliers can scan stock on dispatch, allowing them to be certain the order they have sent is accurate.

If a supplier can provide information on an RFID tag confirming it has dispatched the correct stock, instead of scanning a stack of pallets, the retailer can scan the whole tray once and fast-track delivery.

It is thought the system will increase efficiency at depots and will eliminate any under or over supply of stock.

According to computing.co.uk, M&S began tagging trays and pallets in 2002 and is working with BT and Intellident to develop trials. It uses rewriteable 13.56MHz tags and has tagged more than five million trays.

The retailer is also increasing its IT focus in other areas. It is re-developing its website after online sales rose by more than four times above its amount of shop sales. Online sales are up 44 per cent on last year, with 1.8 million people visiting the site in September 2006. The new site will be launched in spring.