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When an innovator works in partnership with a leader

What happens when an innovator works in partnership with a leader.

A new Emydex system has helped production run a lot smoother for Danish Crown subsidiary KLS Ugglarps in Hörby, Sweden

A blue-chip client

When Danish Crown approached Emydex about designing and implementing a kill line system on a pilot basis for their plant in Hörby, naturally we were very interested in talking to them.

After all, Danish Crown is one of Europe’s largest meat processing companies and the world’s largest pork exporter. As a group it is involved in a long list of other food products with subsidiaries that include a number of very well-known names in the industry: Friland, KLS Ugglarps, Scan-Hide, Tulip Food Company, Tulip Ltd (UK), Sokolow, Dat-Schaub, ESS-FOOD and WestCrown.

Danish Crown was established in 1887 by Denmark’s first co-operative meat company and today has market access to more than 130 countries around the world. It has sites spread across 10 countries in mainland Europe, the UK and most recently China. Working with this blue-chip organisation presented a great opportunity for Emydex.

The pilot site

The pilot site was the operation in Hörby, Sweden and the brief was to create a modern factory floor IT system that was both highly-configurable and flexible that Danish Crown could potentially roll out across multiple production sites within the group

A challenge for Danish Crown was that through acquisition of processing plants around the globe, their factories use various software solutions of different origin and version, which were difficult to for their Global IT team to manage, as they weren’t integrated, and so some factories were not running as efficiently as they could be.

How we approached it

We assembled a project team of Emydex solution engineers and managers working in Dublin and Danish Crown’s central IT team working in Denmark and they collaborated to commission and configure a state-of-the-art Emydex software solution for the Hörby plant.

The new system featured a number of Emydex modules including Beef and Lamb Kill Line, Primary Packing and Processing, Yield Reporting, Carcass Management and Order Processing/ ERP Integration.

One of the more important elements we had to include was integrating with the Swedish Central Animal Database (CDB) which enables files sent by the government listing every live beef animal to be imported into Emydex. When animals are entered at the stables as they arrive at the factory, their ear tags can be validated against the central database.

Going live

We were ready to launch phase one within 5 months of contract signing, and in January 2019 the collective team from Ireland and Denmark met at the Swedish plant, to prepare for and go-live with the new Emydex system. The implementation went very smoothly thanks to rigorous testing and preparation.

The results

Hörby now has a robust factory floor solution and the most immediate result has been increased productivity for KLS Ugglarps and Danish Crown. “With the new Emydex system one of the added benefits is that it enables vet inspections all along the kill line in real-time. Hide processing has increased visibility and carcass intake is smoother via ASN or parse barcodes which eliminates onerous data entry” said Shane Hayes, Business Analyst/Technical Sales with Emydex

In other’s words

Speaking shortly after the Emydex system go-live in Hörby, Henrik Frøsig, Director, Solutions & Innovation, Global IT, Danish Crown commented,

“From day one we were able to slaughter and process more animals than usual. The kill line didn’t stop as it usually might, and everything was more stable and more efficient from the get-go. Our operators are very pleased with the solution… it has a nice interface and does its job very well. They didn’t need much training at all because the screen tells everyone what they need to do and when.

Efficiency and ease of use is why I recommended it to our other facilities around the world. Plus Emydex service is very good, they react very well to our requests and are getting better and better at what they do as they scale up with us. They listen, respond and react and that’s why we are taking them out of the pilot phase and into our group operations worldwide.

(It is) a good system with a great overview with all the information we need at our fingertips. Inventory overview, for example, is now an easy thing for everyone to see immediately. Emydex gives us data we never really had access to and that means innovation and growth is coming to us too, bringing maturity to our own factory here.”

What’s next?

The next stage of the project will include rolling out the Hörby solution to the other six sites in Sweden and then approach Danish Crown’s global network of sites.

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South Africa offers vast opportunities for Irish Agritech exporters

Ongoing uncertainty over Brexit has increased awareness among Irish companies of the need to diversify exports into new markets. In the agritech sector, where the consequences of a hard Brexit could be acute, South Africa offers vast opportunities for suppliers of agri-machinery and technology, as well as companies that offer livestock supplements and feed.

South Africa has the most diverse and productive agri-farming industry on the continent. In 2018, the overall agri value chain contributed 14pc to GDP, while 33pc of revenue earned from South African exports resulted from primary agri-produce. Additionally, the agri sector grew by 6.5pc in the third quarter of 2018.

Farming productivity and sustainability are key trends in South Africa and farmers are looking for new ways to improve their efficiency.

As they are willing to invest in innovative machinery and services that deliver value for money, the reputation that Ireland has developed for producing high-quality equipment has been well received by large commercial farmers.

At present, there is a demand for precision agricultural equipment, such as tractors, planters, balers, sprayers, storage, and soil-testing equipment, most of which are imported.

One Irish agri company, Abbey Machinery, moved into the market in 2018 after a sales enquiry led to one of its diet feeder machines proving its mettle in the country's demanding Highveld region.

Michael O'Grady, sales, marketing and business development manager at Abbey Machinery, said: "The dealer who contacted us had initially seen opportunity only for our feeders but one of the mega farmers also saw a need for one of our slurry tankers because it had more elements he could use than his current machine, which was also imported from Europe.

"There's lots of competition in South Africa - we're not the first foreign agricultural machinery manufacturer in the market - but farmers liked the quality of the machine, how well it was built, and how well it was able to handle the feed."

Easyfix also entered the South African market last year, offering rubber matting and flooring solutions via distributors.

PJ Burke, sales director of the Ballinasloe-based company, toured several farms and believes that farmers are willing to spend money on quality products that add value to their operations.

"We've equipped six farms with our products so far. Obviously there's competition with established products, but we've got a good hit rate and the feedback we're getting from the installations so far is very positive," he said.

"It's not an important market for us yet but it will be. The farmers that I've visited, eight to 10 of them, all have high-production herds, so there's a real opportunity for our range of products to get a foothold there."

Software company Emydex has grown its presence in South Africa over the last six years and a local partner has assisted the company in setting up 16 factories across Southern Africa.

Its tailored solutions and standard products are implemented across food-processing industries, including beef, ostrich and cold storage in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

"Emydex entered the South African market with our first factory floor implementation in 2013," said Shane Hayes, a business analyst who covers technical sales for Emydex.

"With assistance from Enterprise Ireland using market research, Emydex was able to establish a pipeline of prospects that fit with our vision and business model."

Emydex now plans to work in close collaboration with both Enterprise Ireland in Africa and their local partner to expand into new countries within the market, including Kenya and Nigeria.

Abbey Machinery, Easyfix and Emydex are among several Irish companies that are establishing the Irish brand in South Africa.

Enterprise Ireland will continue to support Irish agritech companies that enter and have presences in South Africa and other African countries.

Article written by Dr Ureshnie Govender - a senior market adviser in Life Science and Agritech for Enterprise Ireland in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

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Australia goes ‘green’ over Irish contracts worth $10m

More than $10 million in new Australian contracts including investments in ICT and emerging technologies - along with a new Melbourne office for Enterprise Ireland - has been announced as part of a Trade Mission from Ireland.

Irish Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys - accompanied by 71 Irish companies from the fintech, medtech, high-tech construction, agritech, emerging technologies and ICT sectors - announced the deals.

“Australia is a mature and highly developed economy that offers significant opportunity for Irish exporters,” Humphreys said in announcing the deals.

“Despite the long distance to market, Australia’s open economy, significant infrastructure expenditure and strategic location at the doorstep of Asia has led many Irish companies to enter and perform strongly in the market. The size and scope of this trade mission demonstrate that now more than ever the importance of this marker.”Heather Humphreys -Irish Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys -Irish Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

Humphreys said the deals - and the opening of the Melbourne office of Enterprise Ireland - are a direct result of continued growth in export to Australia and New Zealand from Ireland to the sum of $404 million last year - an increase of 43 per cent over the past three years.

On the technology front, the deals are as follows:

- Kingspan Insulated Panels announces a $8 million capex investment for a new state-of-the-art machine that will operate at its factory in Greater Western Sydney.

-Solgari and Barhead strike a deal to bring Solgari’s Dynamics 365 All-Channel Solution to Barhead Financial Service & Retail customers in Australia. The partnership gives Solgari access to Microsoft’s global partner network and millions of potential customers.

-Emydex announces a contract with Harvey Beef, the largest meat processing company in WA, to provide its food processing software.

-Eppione announces a contract to license oits software to HR consulting firm Talenting.

-Combilift announces a contract with E Store Logistics, which is set to become the second largest user of the Combilift Aisle Master product and largest private user across A/NZ.

Humphreys said 320 Irish companies are now exporting to Australia - companies that employ over 25,000 people in Ireland.

“Our ambition is to grow client exports to $574 million by 2020. I am delighted to lead this Trade and Investment Mission to Australia and engage in an extensive program of activity which focuses on supporting Irish companies to expand exports into this significant market," Humphreys said.

Article written by Jennifer O'Brien (CIO)

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Coldstore Management systems for 3 South African Customers

Following on from previous successful implementations in Southern Africa, together with Summit Process Solutions, Emydex has rolled out three additional cold store projects for three new customers in South Africa.  These include the Emydex Cold Store Warehouse Management System to QK Cold Store South Africa, located in Johannesburg, as well as to Table Bay Cold Storage and GPS Food Group RSA, both located in Cape Town. Over the past 18 months, the Emydex development team have added new functionality to the Cold Store module such as a Web Client, Stock Maps and EDI Integration.

QK Cold Stores

QK Cold Store SA offers a wide range of solutions from case picking to blast freezing, tempering, re-palletising and container loading on the deck, as well as offering a primary transport solution.

QK Cold Store SA had a requirement for a Full Warehouse Management System, capable of covering their four operational warehouses.

In phase one, Emydex implemented its Warehouse and Production Management modules, providing QK SA with a full solution from intake right through to dispatch. The project went live in October 2017, streamlining its operational processes. They now have functionality for operators to use handheld scanners to catch all movements of stock in real-time, allowing them to track all stock in their Cold Stores.

Further phases are scheduled for 2019 and will include integrating with customers’ systems, through EDI functionality, giving customers more visibility over stock sent to QK, stock being held in the Cold Store and stock that has been dispatched, in real-time.

GPS Food Group RSA

GPS Food Group provides sales, marketing, and stock control services from the UK for the sale of BMC, MeatCo and additional customer products in Europe.

GPS Food Group UK, an existing Emydex client, acquired a facility in Cape Town, with plans to build a Cold Store and later extend to a Value-Added Processing Plant.  GPS approached Emydex in 2017 to advise of the project requirements which were to be broken into two phases.

Phase one of the project kicked off with Cold Store functionality including stock intake, SDA Warehouse functionality, Dispatch and Client Invoicing. Later in the year phase two began, implementing the Emydex Production and Traceability reporting modules which covers their Value-Added processing operations in the same plant. This included adding functionality to cover 3rd party raw materials intake, de-boxing, de-frosting, processing, ingredients dispensing, recipe formulation, tumbling & injecting, cooking, packing, order picking and dispatch, all with full product traceability and yield monitoring.

Web Client – Distribution Warehouse System

Emydex, in conjunction with cold store customers in Southern Africa, developed a web interface that links directly to the Emydex customer database.

As a part of the DWS application, customers will be able to create Advance Shipping Notes (ASN) remotely. These ASN’s are then able to be allocated to a purchase order and will help to eliminate human error and increase the efficiency of the intake process at the Cold Store.

Additionally, their customers will also be able to create dispatch orders remotely, enabling them to create work orders, directing the cold stores to dispatch products. These work orders specify which product, how many, when and what destination the product is to go to.

As well as this, their customers can drill down into their stock that is on-site, enabling them to look at quantity of product(s) they have, batch numbers and other relevant traceability information. Emydex will also be implementing functionality to allow their customers to put product onto Quality Control hold, meaning that when a recall occurs product can be put on hold instantly and remotely as required.

Stock Maps

Some of the Cold Store systems delivered also include the latest version of Emydex’s Stock Maps functionality, enabling Cold Stores to view and search against a visual representation of their stocks, by drilling down through areas and warehouse locations, and interrogating stock via graphical views of racks, rows and bays. This latest version of Emydex Stock Maps system enables Emydex customers to configure, build and maintain Stock Map views themselves in-house via an easy-to-use Stock Map configuration editor. This allows the virtual representation of the cold store to be able to mimic the physical layout of the customers actual warehouse.

EDI Integration

Customer files containing high levels of detail of stock sent to the cold stores, are imported into Emydex, in order to let managers, see purchase orders, inventory levels and product details such as quantity and weight coming into the Cold Stores. Operators can validate that they’ve received the correct stock using handheld scanners, which feeds the information back into Emydex, speeding up the process of data exchange and eliminating the need for paperwork or phone calls.

Summit Process Solutions Hardware & Aftersales Support

Together with SPS’ industrial waterproof hardware such as the reliable PT9000 – 17” Touch Screen Waterproof Shop Floor Computer and Industrial Stainless-Steel Smart Scales, integration is seamless and simplifies while speeding up operations to our customers’ maximum benefit.  SPS have been a loyal partner when it comes to supplying either – hardware, training of customers, aftersales service or supplying of relevant information, to Emydex and its customers and always puts service first.

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Emydex South Africa Market Update

Over the course of 2018 the Emydex Technology delivery team in Dublin worked in close partnership with Summit Process Solutions, Emydex’s local market agent based in Johannesburg, to successfully deliver three new cold store projects for three new customers based in South Africa. These included the Emydex Cold Store Warehouse Management System complete with required hardware to QK Cold Store South Africa located in Johannesburg, as well as to Table Bay Cold Storage located in Cape town.

A third Emydex system was commissioned for GPS Food Group RSA, also located in Cape Town. The GPS Food Group Cold Store implementation was extended later in 2018 to add further Emydex Production and Traceability reporting modules covering their Value-Added processing operations in the same plant.

The addition of these three new customers, bring the number of Emydex customers to nine in the Southern Africa region.

Stock Maps

Some of the Cold Store Systems delivered include the latest version of Emydex’s Stock Maps functionality. This new functionality enables the Cold Store to view and search against a visual representation of their stock by drilling down through areas and warehouse locations and interrogating stock via graphical views of racks, rows and bays. This latest version of Emydex Stock Maps System now enables Emydex customers to configure, build and maintain Stock Map views themselves in-house via the easy-to-use Stock Map configuration editor.

Distributed Warehouse System

The Emydex Web Application development team in Dublin is nearing completion of a brand-new Distributed Warehouse System (DWS).  DWS is a web-based application for Cold Stores to provide remote access to their customers to run self-service queries on their stock, send ASNs and even Sales Orders via the web client to the Cold Store for action.

Other customers include Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco), the largest beef processing operation in Namibia.  Meatco is running Emydex in several of their processing, slaughter, de-boning and further processing plants, as well as a mobile Abattoir operating in the Northern Namibian region.

In addition, the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) is similarly the largest beef processing operation in Botswana and operates with Emydex’s Packing & Processing software modules at its three processing facilities in Lobatse, Francistown and Maun.

In South Africa, Klein Karoo Meat - the world’s largest Ostrich processor is situated along the garden route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.  Klein Karoo Meat make use of Emydex’s Shop Floor, Production Control and Traceability Reporting Systems which are running in their three slaughter and de-boning plants based in Oudtshoorn, Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet.

16 Plants Operating Emydex Software in Southern Africa

In total there are now sixteen separate plants operating Emydex Software in Southern Africa, the bulk of which were delivered in partnership with Summit Process Solutions.  Summit Process Solutions integrates weighing, labelling, inspection, processing, data capture, factory floor software and IT systems to create tailor made solutions for companies in Southern Africa.  Combined with their vast range of industrial equipment like waterproof - computer terminals, scanners, scales, printers etc., they are a perfect match for Emydex’s Software Systems.

Commenting on the Emydex’s success in the region, David McMahon, Emydex CEO based in Dublin said “the success of Emydex in Southern Africa is very much dependent on our local partner Summit Process Solutions.  Not only do they supply, install and support all the industrial waterproof hardware required to run the Emydex Systems, but their professional services team assist with the planning, scoping and gathering of specifications required before the Emydex System is configured by the Emydex Dublin team.  When the time comes for system testing and go-live, Summit are again on hand to assist with preparations for go-live including testing, training and support.  It’s an ideal partnership where each side provide complementary products, services and skills. The Summit team’s twenty plus years of operating in the African region means they have the domain knowledge and expertise needed to have meaningful discussions with both customers and prospective customers alike.”

Rodney Macer-Wright, Summit Process Solutions Managing Director said “In the Southern African market, Emydex offers a perfect software package for our customers as they can offer a complete solution from raw material intake right through to finished product despatch or a standalone system such as the Emydex Quality Management System.

In a changing market such as ours, it is extremely important that a factory floor software keeps up with current trends. With Emydex’s focus being their factory floor software, they are continuously making improvements. They understand the customer’s requirements and are extremely agile in making changes and improvements to the Emydex software solution in order to streamline the customer’s production process. The partnership between Emydex and Summit Process Solutions offers our customers a proven solution with a great match of software and hardware”

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Harvey Beef live with Emydex in Western Australia

In operation since 1919, Harvey Beef is located in the town of Harvey, south of Perth in Western Australia. Part of Harvest Road Group and privately owned by the Minderoo Group, Harvey Beef is Western Australia’s leading beef processor. Stretching across 1.2 million hectares of pastoral farmland, Minderoo cattle stations are dedicated to producing high quality beef for both domestic and export consumption.

Harvey Beef were previously using a legacy factory floor software system comprising a number of software modules including data capture, labelling and 3rd party barcode scanning, that were integrated to their back-office Microsoft Dynamics Nav ERP system.

Full end-to-end Factory Floor Processing System

Due to the aging of the current system, difficulty of upgrading, and rapid growth within the business, a review was undertaken to determine the best course regarding their future IT systems, whether to upgrade or invest in a new system. Opting for the latter option Harvest Road, in December 2017, invited Emydex to submit a proposal to supply and implement a software system which would improve their ability to address their current issues and support growth plans. After the publication and evaluation of an RFP, and a competitive tender process, Emydex was selected to provide the full end to end factory floor processing system, in tandem with Empired being selected to implement Nav 2018 as their choice of back-office ERP system to cater for Harvest Road’s core financials and non-meat inventories.

The key objective of the project was to deliver an integrated system where data is entered only once, with users having access to real time, accurate inventory. Visibility of information across the organisation, along with visibility of stock produced to orders and availability of stock for dispatch, were all key requirements. The system also needed to be able to support new and changing business requirements, increase productivity, reduce inefficiency, and facilitate options for automation and cost savings.

Front row (L-R) - Ian Carson, Emydex Australia, Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, & Wayne Shaw, General Manager Harvey Beef, signing contracts. Back row (L-R) Kevin Sherry Executive Director Enterprise Ireland and David Eccles, Director Enterprise Ireland A/NZ, were present in Australia for the signing.

The project schedule was spread over five separate phases covering Cattle Processing Line and Payments, Boning Hall and Finger Scanning, Warehouse Management and Nav Integration, Retail Ready and Production Planning.

Kill Line and Payments

Phase one went live in June 2018 and comprised Kill Line and Payments including Livestock Delivery. This automated process allows livestock to enter through an RFID gate and to be scanned into the Emydex kill line system. NVD (National Vendor Declaration) details are recorded and links lot details to appointments, providing traceability and consistency of data from appointments through to grading and payments.

Commenting soon after the kill line go-live in June 2018, Wayne Shaw, General Manager of Harvey Beef said “I think we can say the kill line go-live went pretty well. On week 1, we achieved within 100 head of our maximum capacity which is a good effort for a change this big. The staff are very positive with the result. Everyone can see it is a better system. By weeks end the system was having no negative impact on throughput speed with the kill line system operating at speed, and operators up to speed with using it. Overall a great outcome.”

Boning Hall System

Work on Phase two of the Emydex project commenced soon after, with a subsequent go-live in September 2018, that consisted of Boning Hall, covering Carcass Management and Packing & Processing.  As part of this implementation phase BRI (Boning Room Input) delivers better control over which carcases go into each Boning Work Order (WO). The WO has a set of Rules each carcass must adhere to to be eligible for the Work Order. This gives more control to the planner on what is required for the Work Order.

Warehouse Management and Dispatch

Most recently Phase three of the project, the largest phase of functionality delivered to date, went live in January 2019 and included Warehouse Management, Dispatch as well as Dynamics Nav 2018 Integration. This project phase also delivered intake of third-party raw materials, transfer between internal entities in Harvest Road, transfer out to Cold Stores, and the ability for the Cold Store to dispatch on behalf of Harvest Road. It also included BSM (Buy, Sell, Move) integration, reducing manual entry for producing export documentation.

Commenting on the Phase 3 Go-Live,Wayne Shaw from Harvest Road said  “The feedback has been positive. The rollout has gone better than expected, and I have had a lot of positive comments about functionality being really good. BSM Integration is saving a lot of time that previously was spent manually entering information into BSM, so the integration back and forth between the two systems has saved a lot of time and is a real plus. The scanning inventory in real-time has meant that stocks are correct, which is also saving on average, four hours a day. The feedback on the sales functionality is very positive, with users saying it has exceeded expectations. So well done. The team has done a great job.”

Upcoming Phases

The next phase of the Emydex project beginning shortly, is Retail Ready, which will see the Emydex Retail Packing Software module being implemented. This will be followed by the final phase, Production Planning, which will begin later in the year.

Commenting on the project phases delivered to date, Lorna Daly, Head of Emydex Australia operations said “Following the Emydex roll-outs over the course of 2018 and early 2019, Harvest Road today have a robust end-to-end Factory Floor data capture system that delivers data on-time and accurately. They have more control over data going through the kill line as data is consistent between appointments, delivery and graded information. Real time data for inventory, yields and market pricing, allows for better decision making and view of stock coming close to being out of date. This has led to increased confidence in key metrics, such as stock on hand. Staff now have a modern system and direct access to data, meaning Traceability reports are easy and quick to run.”

 

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