It is far from easy dealing with the challenges of supplying potatoes to today’s supermarket, foodservice or wholesale customer. Product life can be long and potatoes can be stored for months before use. Potato suppliers have to manage on and off-site storage, with precision. They also need to operate as a ‘least cost to operate’ manufacturer. They grade, pack and process to the highest standards with minimal waste and cost, and yet, are still exposed to the raw material price of potatoes in the marketplace.
Therefore they have to trade, and bear the risk of the market being over or under-supplied. Price swings can be high and the complexity of the deals is just as high. Market rationalisation has created companies with wafer-thin margins and high volume output, necessitating a high degree of real time control on severely tight budgets.
The technology and software required by this sector therefore has to deal with far more than other fresh and chilled produce supply chains, and demands are often far more specific. Developing a solution for this sector requires “potato know how” and an understanding of what the business can get its head around. It also has to be simple to use and affordable.
One company that has enjoyed increasing success in the potato sector is Prophet plc, the main sponsor of the Re:fresh Conference 2005. Paul Walker, the company’s software design director, takes us through some of the key points to consider when selecting a new system and refers to the company’s experience and success with Geest QV, Wilson’s Country and Dennigans.
Walker says: “We have learned some simple lessons. This is not a sector that can afford large IT budgets nor is it one where most users have a high degree of computer literacy. Our first aim therefore was to deliver affordable software solutions, which are easy to operate.
“This sounds hopelessly simple, but think about it. How much time and effort has your company spent on software that “could” do everything? Yet your users use their spreadsheets and even stick rigidly to their paper systems, leaving any advanced features alone. Years after the initial implementation budget has been spent, many do not even have live stock control, let alone use their main business system for any planning or analysis.”
But why has this happened? “This is not a difficult question to answer,” says Walker. “Computer companies sell to viability - to the expectation you have today of what you think you need to deliver now. They do not focus on being judged over time.”
Most systems do not fit that well and certainly do not adapt easily to change. Management teams suffer disappointment when systems implementations fall short and do not surrender more money to adapt the system as things change because the costs were not predicted and are too high.
Often the vendor company is not there four or five years on, having been paid up front. So when you consider your choices now, stop and think about your past experiences. Who can you trust?
“Your choice of software not only has to deliver the functionality the business requires but must be a manageable and proven solution over time. It has to be predictable, it has to fit, the users have to want to use it and it has to adapt easily when things change. Adaptation must not incur high ongoing costs. It should flex easily as your business flexes.”
He adds: “You need a supplier that has long and proven success delivering solutions into your specific sector - what we call your ‘industry vertical’. Look for proven implementations where users are successfully using features day in, day out.”
RAPID BENEFITS AT WILSON’S
Walker says: “From the outset our own software, Pr2, was conceived to deliver a comprehensive set of functionality that was both usable and affordable. It uses the very latest Microsoft technologies, .Net and SQL Server 2005 and the increasingly prevalent XML standard for data and data exchange. It delivers a state of the art software solution by integrating with the Windows operating system and the tools of Microsoft’s Office and Outlook software so that users find it easy to use with minimal training.”
Coupled to the idea of building Pr2 into the Windows and Microsoft Office interface, Pr2 has a unique task driven technology. This allows the company to capture each user’s specific task in screens, with description and layouts the user wants, specific to the task, specific to the user. Users themselves can shape what they use so that they want to use it.
“Because we have this technology, we have been able to develop a full library of job specifications within the software itself,” says Walker, “which allows new companies to rapidly implement with little risk. This has now been built into a full library of “standard” implementation templates specifically targeted at product groups - soft fruit, top fruit, citrus, exotics, flowers and plants and potatoes and vegetables.
“A good example of the value of these libraries occurred this year when Wilson’s Country of Portadown, near Belfast, went live on its new Pr2 system on time and on budget, to coincide with the move to its impressive new production and distribution facilities,” he says.
“Unlike many systems where a slowly, slowly approach sees the financial ledgers implemented and then a succession of other modules over a period of some years, Wilson’s achieved not just all accounting and trading functions, but implemented live radio-based scanning, using hand-held and pallet-tracking stock and production control systems at the same time.”
Lewis Cunningham, Wilson’s md, says: “When we selected Pr2, the broad scope of the functionality offered and the very high degree of fit and integration were key. These demonstrated that we were working with a company that really understood our business.
“The process of going live has underlined the critical role for usability and implementation experience. The usability of the software and the well-proven implementation templates developed by Prophet for Pr2 allowed us to achieve in weeks what many companies either take years to do or fail to get to. We have had almost no tailored modifications and when new questions arose during the live process, the answers were immediate through the user configurability and templates in the software itself.”
GEEST QV’S EXPERIENCE
“You cannot develop usable software in a vacuum. You need to work with companies who help shape a market to get functionality that not only captures common practice but also improves on what can be done,” says Walker.
“At the heart of our strategy is the upgrading license. The cost of the software is spread over years but included in that cost is an ongoing upgrade on a monthly basis to our thousands of users. We take the best of what we learn, develop the product and in doing so, the software grows in a rapid and manageable way and is rolled out regularly to the users.
“In 2002 we developed templates for the potato industry, and won contracts with a number of potato companies, including Geest QV.”
Prophet produced a list of objectives with Geest QV:
• integrate the data throughout the system
• capture box/pallet level live stock
• capture grading and packing information from the machinery automatically
• capture quality assurance data at each stage
• allow buyers to enter contracts and the negotiated deal details for each load and to settle loads with the actual details of the load, its graded and packed yields and any automatic calculations for adjusted prices and deductible expenses
• implement Marks and Spencer’s RFID tray tagging.
The sales order was signed in January 2003 and the system went live four and a half months later. “Some functionality evolved after live as users developed a better understanding of what they needed and over time the use of the software increased,” says Walker. “Other sites in other product areas went live using the software originally developed for Geest QV. In the six months that followed, we added more functionality that Geest QV was able to make use of through its monthly software upgrade. This interaction between potato-specific users and other product group users continues to evolve and improve the software and ensure its continued relevance as circumstances change, delivered within the standard software and its license.
“As a result, we have designed many specific standard features into Pr2. These “Out Of The Box” solutions are easy for the user to share, so no expensive software modifications are necessary.
“Most of the companies that we serve have adopted fully integrated systems and many have bar-code scanning and pallet tracking in their warehouses and packing and processing facilities. The next major step is the adoption of our planning applications and the drive towards automation.”
Pr2 allows these companies to have a real time calculation of their production schedules, resource capacity and needs and procurement buying/call off requirements for the days, weeks and months ahead. Advanced features allow both production smoothing, to improve efficiency and visibility of raw material and packaging to be available to suppliers.
Automation significantly reduces labour costs and can improve decisions and create significant time savings. “Automation through software may seem like science fiction,” says Walker, “but some companies have begun to use Pr2’s automation technology to develop software themselves that replaces the need for repetitive or complex tasks. This removes drudgery and significantly lowers costs.
DENNIGAN’S SAFE INVESTMENT
“I should conclude with some proof of the pudding,” Walker says. “All of the above should be put to a simple test. Has your prospective software supplier retained their customers over time?
“This is our key performance indicator and it should be the same for you when choosing a supplier. Prophet’s average customer relationship is over eight years - we have been given the opportunity to develop not just a relationship, but also a thorough knowledge of how our customers’ businesses work, thrive and grow. We have seen what works and what doesn’t. We have had the chance to make mistakes and learn.
“A good example of this is Sam Dennigan Ltd, based near Dublin. Now in its eighth year of use, Dennigan’s began using Prophet as its wholesale market solution and also for the potato supply business for Dunnes Stores, one of the Irish Republic’s largest supermarket chains.
“The company started out as a user of a much smaller company with a much smaller system using a “green screen” Unix system from Prophet. Over time it gained strength and now supplies all Dunnes salads and vegetables, whilst remaining a potato company at core.
“It has upgraded as each new version has become available and this year sees Dennigan’s seamlessly upgrade this system to the very latest Windows based Pr2 system over one weekend. No loss of data or working time and no wasted investment,” says Walker.
So if you are looking for a new system this year, answer the following questions. Can you trust your chosen software supplier to:
• be experienced with user driven technology and your users’ business requirements?
• implement a complete system rapidly, successfully and on budget in year one?
• keep that system used, relevant and within your original budget when you get to year eight?
“Look for a proven track record and real user experiences. Be wary of a slick sales process and the promise that it can do anything and everything,” says Walker.
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