SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION??

The industry is looking for an answer to these challenges, and one could be TRACKsys Supply Chain Management (SCM), which provides a tailored solution that gives organisations visibility and control over the flow of produce, to meet customer expectations and minimise operating costs.

TRACKsys SCM consists of two complementary components that form a solution that aims to improve a company’s overall business performance:

• TRACKsys Warehouse Management System (WMS) for managing the smooth and efficient flow of produce through your warehouse

• TRACKsys Automated Data Capture (ADC) for capturing accurate data via wireless devices.

EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY

TRACKsys SCM is a role-based system that supports users with the information and processes they need to maximise their productivity.

Shop floor staff can keep track of product movements and packhouse operations quickly and accurately.

• Supervisors have access to inventory information, customer orders and packing operation output to direct work activity.

• Workers are guided through processes, which allow new and temporary workers to become productive quickly. By using TRACKsys WMS, the providers claim that warehouse staff will better manage increased throughput in busy periods and office staff have access to real-time data to help them with their tasks.

• Co-operative accounting is made simpler and quicker by full tracking and reporting of the grade and quantity of supplier deliveries as well as the packaging materials used and trade prices achieved.

• Management can analyse business performance using the library of Crystal Reports.

• Product Technologists can use reports to control quality level and investigate issues quickly and efficiently.

• Purchasing employees can see real-time inventory levels and receive alerts to replenish on time.

REAL-TIME INVENTORY

Accurate data is essential to the smooth functioning of the whole business. TRACKsys WMS makes accurate inventory information available to those employees that need it. However, a computer is only as accurate as the data that is fed into it.

Barcode scanners are much quicker at reading and inputting data than humans and 10,000 times more accurate. Automated data capture increases the speed with which workers carry out tasks and the accuracy of the data.

TRACKsys ADC integrates scanning barcode technology and is RFID ready for when the user needs to take the next step.

IMPROVE ACCURACY

TRACKsys SCM can reduce the potential for inaccurate dispatches, stockouts and the resulting contractual penalties.

Customer orders can be imported from external systems and dispatch processes enforced to fulfil these orders. With standardised processes and more efficient workers any business will be better able to satisfy customer demands in busy periods.

LOW COST

“TRACKsys SCM harnesses the latest technology to provide an affordable solution that has been developed for quick implementation, flexibility and minimising maintenance costs,” says a company spokesperson.

“TRACKsys SCM is an out-of-the-box solution that can be adapted to meet evolving business requirements.

“It does not require an IT department to keep it up and running. In fact, an IT literate employee with Tracksys Technologies training will be able to maintain the system dedicating only a couple of hours a week.

Tracksys Technologies offers flexible pricing and purchasing options to minimise upfront costs and synchronise them with the return on investment curve.

“The TRACKsys SCM system is based on industry standards to provide a secure investment. Hardware, software and programming languages used in the system are proven technology that is in widespread use within industry.

“Tracksys Technologies has brought this technology together with an understanding of industry requirements to build a solution to fit the needs of the fresh produce sector. Tracksys Technologies offers a portfolio of services to provide a total solution encompassing software and services.”

SOME OF THE KEY BENEFITS OF TRACKsys SCM

• ‘By using TRACKsys WMS your warehouse staff will better manage increased throughput in busy periods.’

• ‘Using TRACKsys ADC reduces the mistakes made in shipping, product

identification and handling.’

• ‘Complete traceability and transparency down the supply chain without

lengthy and costly investigations.’

• ‘Reports allow tactical analysis of re-occurring problems and overall business performance.’

• ‘TRACKsys WMS provides reports to meet co-operative

billing requirements.’

• ‘Remote authorised users have access to the system via a web browser.’

‘Expect (SME’s) to typically recoup their investment in (wireless networks) and their business applications within six months.’

• ‘RFID technology will be economically viable by 2006, with early adopters, primarily coming from the CPG/Retail industry, realising value in 2004.'

MAKE THAT PC EARN ITS KEEP

The development of technology-based solutions is a key reason why more and more small businesses can come to exist and grow successfully: the small retailer can afford, for example, the same computing power as his large multi-site competitor.

This applies in marketing just as it does in other areas. In fact, if you look at what the big boys do, technology is a focus of their marketing activities. What major retail group doesn't have a loyalty scheme built around a smart card and their EPOS till? Everybody pushes their website at you. They're all trying to exploit SMS (small message service) ie text on mobile phones.

First, you shouldn't get twitchy about this. You are not getting left behind. There is a tendency in the big company marketing departments to get so excited about the communication potential technology offers that they forget it's the message that matters, not the delivery system. They're so busy hunting the Holy Grail of technological edge that they forget about the customer.

That customer doesn't like being processed by machines; he or she likes personal service. Even that most complete of government monopolies, the Passport Office, has recognised this and replaced technology with people for the first point of contact. A business in a competitive market can therefore assume its potential customers will go elsewhere if they don't like being processed by machines.

That said, most small businesses tend to miss opportunities by not exploiting what they already have available to them. In essence, this means the phone and the desktop computer and the possibilities each present.

Admit it, there's a personal computer sitting on your desk that is not earning its full living. The first way to turn it into a moneyspinner is to develop a customer database. A programme like ACT costs under £100 and is easy to learn and use. If you ask every customer for their details you will rapidly build a valuable sales tool. You want name, address, telephone number, mobile number and home e-mail address.

Present your database activity as a customer service - you might call it a club. Tell people you'll send them information on new products, special offers and reminders. As a traceability exercise, this is especially relevant, as you can track the product’s life in a domain that is accessible to your customers. Without a computerised database this would be next door to impossible.

Once you've got that information, use it regularly but judiciously. Let's start with e-mail. The simple fact is that most people still like to receive e-mails as private individuals. Certainly, you have to press the recipient's interest buttons very early, preferably in the 'subject' column, but once you've done that, it's so easy for him to hit reply and say "OK tell me more". He may just as likely say "no thanks", but that's valuable too - you don't waste more time and money on him.

Sending e-mails to clients or contacts, regularly updating them on new ideas, special offers, keen pricing and just information that your database tells you should be of interest is both easy to do and builds up a rapport and regular communication system. It's tempting to overdo it but resist that temptation.

Next month, the telephone.

GLOBAL ENTRANTS GOOD NEWS

“In the highly demanding and competitive fresh produce world, pressures on suppliers have never been greater.

The drive to deliver high quality produce on time against increasingly tightening deadlines and at reduced prices is taxing the ingenuity of the most efficient suppliers. Furthermore, the trend towards sole supplier status on specific product lines is creating additional downward pressures on margins.

In such a trading environment, the role that can be played by Information Technology can mean the difference between success and failure.

The move towards an integrated and seamless supply chain scenario is likely to test the capabilities of the current system suppliers. Many lack the necessary financial and technical resources to completely redevelop their solutions to take advantage of new technological advances.

As a result, companies have had to create supplementary systems to augment their core applications. The impact has been disparate islands of data that are difficult and expensive to manage while failing to provide vital up to date information on client and product trends.

The challenge facing senior fresh produce executives is to integrate all of their business processes into a system that provides an agile solution that reflects the needs of their customers.

While industry consolidation is having a major impact on the fresh produce sector, a similar trend is affecting the IT industry.

Three years ago, there were over 50 credible suppliers in the global business management software arena. Today, less than 20 remain and industry analysts are predicting that the numbers will be soon in single figures.

What this means for customers is the end of new functionality for certain product lines. The stakes are therefore very high for those customers affected as new business opportunities may be limited by the restrictions of their core business applications.

The move by major global software vendors such as SAP and Microsoft into this market is good news for the industry. It provides fresh produce companies with access to world class core business applications that can quickly be configured to meet both the needs of the industry and, more importantly, the specific requirements of the user company.

As a result, such companies can benefit from the massive research and development investments made possible by the financial strength of such organisations.

The new breed of business management solutions embrace all of the core business activities carried out within an organisation.

They include finance, order processing, EDI, inventory management, customer relationship management, manufacturing, distribution and human resources. In addition, being already Web enabled makes them ideally suited to the holy grail of supply chain integration so desired by major customers.

Furthermore through Web services, they offer innovative mobile solutions designed to provide account managers, field workers and delivery personnel access to key business information. In the information age, the ability to centralise and virtualise core business processes can be a major differentiator in competitive business situations.”

ON-LINE BLIGHT

Internet potato-blight warning service BlightWatch starts its fourth year when it goes live on-line again in time for the 2004 crop year, in mid-April.

The website is free of charge for growers and observers and gives up-to-the-minute local blight forecasting and weather information.

“BlightWatch includes a daily update on Smith periods, supplemented by regular disease reports and agronomy advice as well as historic daily records of the local situation,” said Jo Palmer, website editor. “Using sophisticated computer modelling and interpolation of live Met Office weather records from more than 200 meteorological stations across the UK, BlightWatch calculates Smith periods and Near Smith periods down to individual postcode levels. It gives the highest possible accuracy down to a local level and...this year the service has been improved further to include a weekly graphical representation of the UK showing where Smith periods and Near Smith periods have been recorded on a national basis.”

Those who register at the site www.potatocrop.com are sent warnings daily via e-mail or SMS text message. And the BlightWatch website can be used with the British Potato Council’s Fight against Blight site so users of both services receive notification of blight outbreaks reported by BPC scouts as well as local information on crop development and weather conditions on national mapping systems.

Site users can view data on the website for up to 10 selected areas across the UK including Northern Ireland.

“The BlightWatch service in 2003 proved to be an unqualified success with many more e-mail alerts and text messages being sent to growers and advisers than the previous year,” said Palmer. “...Overall growers were successful in maintaining effective spray programmes and this undoubtedly dampened down the threat of a more widespread epidemic.”

To register this year, log on now at www.potatocrop.com

PORT ‘ATLAS’ ADDS DIRECTION TO TRADE

A new on-line shipping service world atlas has been launched by the Port of London.

The ‘Connections Atlas’ is an interactive facility that offers people in the shipping, logistics and related transport sectors an easy way to match their shipping requirements with the services and terminals available within the Port of London.

Its features include:

• details of shipping services to and from the Port of London

• details of the shipping companies and agents providing the relevant services

• details of Port of London terminals and port facilities

The Atlas has been developed by the Port of London’s marketing team, working closely with the website design company Futura Interactive. It is based on the award winning interactive Port map launched last year.

Users simply enter the type of cargo concerned and the origin and final destination of their shipment. The system then provides instant access to the options available to move cargo utilising the variety of shipping services available to and from London.

Geoff Adam, Port of London head of marketing, said: “This Atlas has been developed to meet the needs of the global marketplace. Anyone looking to ship cargo via London can gain detailed information about terminals and shipping routes to and from London from their computer, wherever they are in the world.”

The connections atlas can be viewed at www.portoflondon.co.uk/connections