Industry News

Emydex at Foodex UK 2014

7th March 2014

Emydex technology are exhibiting our software at the Foodex trade show which will take place at the NEC Birmingham from 24th – 26th March 2014.

The Emydex stand that we will share with a UK hardware partner MWS Ltd of Leicesterwill be located in the UKWA Pavilion in Hall 20, at stand J369 where David McMahon, Emydex CEO, James Grennan, Emydex CTO and Peter Kettell, Emydex UK Sales Manager will be on hand to demonstrate some of Emydex’s software modules and answer any questions you may have.

The exhibition will showcase the Emydex Recipe weighing module running on a RADWAG PUE5.15. PC terminal / weight indicator for whom MWS are UK agents. The recipe module will be configured for burger production.

Also on the stand will be Emydex’s latest OCM packing station software. Again running on a RADWAG PUE5.15.

Demonstrations and presentations will be available on other Emydex Meat Industry software modules.

MWS will be showing a selection of their high quality stainless steel weighing equipment, equipment stands and printer cabinets

Recipe System

Applicable to meat processors with added-value operations, the recipe module will step-by-step, instruct food operators as to the ingredients, weights and cooking instructions required to create finished goods. The system will also verify actual weights measured in real-time to ensure the correct weights have been applied, and allows for full traceability of all constituent parts of the finished product.

Emydex software in use on Meat Factory floor terminals

Arthur Mallon’s fully operational with Emydex

26th August 2013

Arthur Mallon Foods specialise in the production of fresh, frozen and cooked sausages. They supply fresh and frozen pork, to the major Irish retailers and export frozen pork sausage to Holland. Mallon’s sausages have won multiple awards in Ireland, UK and France and have achieved two Great Taste Awards in 2012. They operate from a purpose built modern production facility in Hilden, Co. Monaghan.

Arthur Mallon Foods identified a requirement to upgrade their existing production management systems to a single production management system that was scalable and flexible to meet with growing demands for specific industry, customer and supplier requirements. They required a single system to manage and report on order control, stock control, recipe formulation, traceability, quality control and yield control. With these objectives in mind they contacted Emydex in 2012.

Phase 1 – In order to minimise disruption to normal day operations, the project was split into a number of smaller project phases. Starting at the end, in Phase 1 Emydex customised their Packing & Processing module to suit Mallon’s particular needs including features such as Unit, Box and Pallet Labelling. Packing stations allow operators to work to Packing Work Orders whilst enabling them to switch quickly between Work Orders.

As part of this same project phase, Emydex’s Warehouse Management module covering Dispatch was implemented ‘off-the-shelf’ with only a few tweaks required to meet their particular requirements. “The key point about Emydex software is the standard module offerings are very comprehensive and cover almost everything we need, and if they don’t have specifically what we need, it’s not a major hassle to change it” said Paul Kearney in Arthur Mallon Foods.

In parallel with the Emydex factory floor install

Mallons also upgraded their ERP system, and Emydex integrated seamlessly with this. Sales orders are keyed into their financial system and then sent directly to Emydex for order picking and dispatching. Purchase orders are generated within Emydex, and then exported to the financial system upon receipt of goods.

Phase 2 of the project covered Raw Material and Dry Goods Intake, as well as Issuing Stock into Production via handheld scanners to ensure stock levels are accurately maintained.

Phase 3, Emydex’s Recipe formulation system is currently being implemented, and about to go-live. This module will track and control the levels of ingredients being issued to recipes as well as the calculating yields from finished recipes. Implementing the recipe system will assist Arthur Mallon’s with Quality Control and Traceability reporting, as well as provide key information in real-time to the floor managers as to the performance of the line.

“Already we are seeing the advantages of having Emydex as well as the capabilities and possibilities for the future. With the software and the excellent backup and service from all the staff in Emydex we feel we have the complete package.” Paul Kearney
For more information on the Emydex system click here or contact Emydex on +353 1 8855990

Emydex Customers grow via Acquisitions and Expansions

8th July 2013

Emydex’s existing customer base has grown significantly over the past 18 months, with Emydex customers adding 10 new sites to their existing food processing operations. Whether a sign that Irish & UK based Agri-food industries continue to perform strongly in a global market downturn or a sign that food processors that invest in Emydex systems continue to be successful or both, it is certainly a positive development for all parties involved.

Most recently the Kepak Group announced the take-over of ABP’s beef processing facility in Ballybay, Ireland (formerly Silvercrest) on the back of winning the Burger King contract to exclusively supply burgers to Burger King Restaurants in Ireland and the UK¹. The acquisition safeguards 125 jobs at the Ballybay facility.

Also announced in the past few months, Euro Farm Foods are to extend their beef abattoir processing facility in Duleek, Ireland by adding a new boning hall operation that will create 50 new jobs for the region².

In addition a recent Emydex customer Kavanagh Meats in Co Wexford, Ireland has begun work on a new project with Emydex to build a new Beef and Lamb abattoir to add to their existing Beef and Lamb Boning hall operation in Enniscorthy. Meanwhile in Scotland, Vivers/Scotlamb this month (July 2013) announced their intention to extend their Emydex lamb kill line system into their existing Lamb boning hall operation in Dumfries.

All these developments follow a series of expansions and acquisitions by two of Emydex’s largest group customers over the past 18 months. The Dunbia group last month opened a £12m revamp of their Lamb processing facility in Llanybydder, Wales that includes an innovative de-boning operation provided by Emydex in conjunction with SF Engineering³. This follows the Dunbia Groups’ acquisition of the G Woods pork processing operation in Mansfield, England in March 2013⁴, as well as the acquisition of Heathfield Foods in Crewe, England in November 2011⁵.

The Dawn Meats group, one of Ireland’s largest food processors opened a new €14m facility in Carroll’s Cross, Ireland in June 2012⁶. The 40,000 square foot facility was purpose built to service a €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef annually for McDonald’s. The beef processing facility produce up to three million hamburgers per day, which are exported abroad to McDonald’s markets throughout Europe. This new plant follows the Dawn group’s acquisitions of West Devon Meats, England in April 2012⁷ as well as Duerden Meats, England in September 2011⁸.

References

IT Solutions in the Food Industry Event on 28th May

1st May 2013

IT Solutions for the food industry

Recent events concerning horse meat found in the food supply chain have renewed focus once again on the need for integrated Financial, Traceability and Quality Systems to manage the complex food processing supply chain.

The Microsoft Food Industry event on 28th May will feature presentations and integrated demonstrations from 3 leading Irish software vendors, each with their own specialist area of expertise and software systems to help Food Producers manage different aspects of their businesses.

This seminar will be an opportunity to learn how joined up IT systems specially tailored for the Food processing Industries can deliver a "total plant" IT solution enabling:

Financial Management & Control
Stock Control & Stock Management
Production & Traceability Reporting
Yield, Costs and Give-away Reporting
Factory, line and Operator performance Reporting
Quality & Food Safety Management

For Plant Managers & IT Managers

Emydex technology, Simply Dynamics and Safefood 360 provide a fully integrated solution covering Production, Finance and Quality management systems

For Production & IT Managers

Emydex Technology are the leading supplier of Production Management Software Systems to food Processors in Ireland, and count companies such as Dawn Meats, Dunbia Group, Kepak, Liffey Meats, Oliver Carty, Moy Park and Rockabill Fish as customers.

Developed using Microsoft technologies, Emydex's factory floor data capture and Traceability reporting systems are operating in over 40 food processing plants spread over Ireland the UK and France, for some of the largest Food processing companies in Industries such as Beef, Lamb, Pork, Poultry and Fish.

The system is highly customisable and configurable such that it can be tailored to match the specific business requirements of any food processor.

For Finance & IT Managers

Simply Dynamics is a leading provider of ERP business management software. Amongst our customers we are proud to count Liffey Meats, Oliver Carty, Horgans Delicatessen Supplies, Devenish Nutrition and Flahavans. A Microsoft Gold ERP Partner, we have a single product focus: supplying, modifying, and supporting Microsoft Dynamics Nav. We also develop an extensive range of customised Dynamics Nav software add-ons.

At Simply Dynamics, we are committed to providing the highest quality customer service, working closely with our customers to ensure the success of their ERP systems. We are headquartered in Dublin and have a team of dedicated ERP specialists with multi-disciplinary business backgrounds, and over 100 man years of ERP industry knowledge.

For Quality & Technical Managers

Safefood 360 is a young, innovative technology company dedicated to developing and supplying the global food industry with food safety compliance software solutions that work. Our team is made up of practitioners from both the Food and IT industries who know the needs of our end users because we worked in these roles.

This experience and insight is built into our solutions from day-one making them powerful, intuitive and a pleasure to use. Our solutions allow food processing plants set-up, plan, record and reports on all aspects of food safety management including HACCP, PRP's, management, documents and monitoring.

It is perfect for companies seeking or maintaining certification to GFSI standards, FSMA, retailer and legal compliance.

Emydex at MeatUp UK 2013

24th March 2013

Emydex will be exhibiting at the forthcoming MeatUp 2013 exhibition taking place at the NEC Birmingham on 2nd and 3rd of July 2013.

Emydex are sharing a stand (313) with a UK hardware partner MWS Ltd of Leicester.

Also on the stand will be Emydex’s latest OCM packing station software. Again running on a RADWAG PUE5.15.

Demonstrations and presentions will be available on other Emydex Meat Industry software modules.

MWS will be showing a selection of their high quality stainless steel weighing equipment, equipment stands and printer cabinets.

7.5m Head of Livestock

7th February 2013

Those in charge of the mammoth administrative task of buying and tracing 7.5m head of livestock per year in Ireland have emerged intact from the horse burger controversy.

Much of the credit must go to companies like Emydex in Dublin.

Emydex software is designed to manage food production processes from door to door, from arrival of animals to the abattoir, through kill line, boning hall, warehousing and dispatch.

The system includes real-time links to both the government-run animal movement and tracking systems as well as quality assurance schemes, and provides for full meat traceability.

It manages the complex system of payments to farmers, but also enables customers to run their food production lines more efficiently; manage, control and report on stock; analyse their yields and costs; and report on food chain traceability and factory and operator performance.

Today, Emydex is running in four out of the top five meat producing companies on the island of Ireland, and in more than 40 plants spread all over Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and France.

The company is celebrating its rollout in the Dawn Meats Group, one of the largest suppliers of Irish and British beef, pork and lamb in Europe, and an Emydex customer since 2007. It is planned to complete the Emydex roll-out across the group in 2013, including the lamb processing in Ballyhaunis.

Emydex also supplies software to Kepak, and the Dunbia Group and Moy Park in the UK. The software runs on any compatible hardware system.

Just how complex the challenge is can be seen in the very first step of the meat chain, procuring livestock and paying for them.

Each year, Irish export plants buy almost 1.4 million cattle, 2.5m sheep, and 3.5 million pigs …

Emydex at Foodex UK 2014

Request a Demo

Arthur Mallon’s fully operational with Emydex

Request a Demo

Emydex Customers grow via Acquisitions and Expansions

Request a Demo