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Bellako Sp. z o.o. has modernised production planning and speeded up the process of handling orders. The Challenge Changes in the economic environment triggered by Poland’s accession to the European Union toughened the competition between manufacturers in food processing market. Now, the competition is not solely limited to the quality of the products and requires also raising the standards of realisation of contracts. In order to improve one’s position in the market, Ballako had to reorganise their activities not only to catch up with their market rivals but become their strong competitor. Having taken the decision to carry out their plan, Bellako set the direction of changes in their organisation:
Briefly... Main benefits
Bellako Sp. z o.o. is a 100% Polish company producing seasonings used in food industry. The company was set up in 1987 and currently employs 70 people. Bellako products are sold by wholesalers all over Poland. The headquarters of the company and its Sales Office are located in Warsaw, its factory facilities are situated in Zabrze. Implementation process Before the implementation Bellako used systems which functioned independently of one another. The exchange of the information between departments was paper-based. Such system was expensive, required a lot of work and was a frequent cause of mistakes and complaints. When Macrologic was chosen as a supplier of an integrated IT system, the analysis of requirements and business processed began. The needs were specified , “production bottlenecks” – identified. That was the most important stage of the implementation. Throughout all this time, a joint Ballako and Macrologic project team defined the scope and the schedule of the implementation, taking into consideration suggestions related to the reorganisation of company activities. The aims of the works and implemented changes were set at the very beginning of the implementation. The next step was the implementation of finance – accounting, personnel – payroll and warehouse management systems simultaneously in all company subsidiaries. Thanks to that, the whole process did not last long and did not disturb the ongoing business activities. The first departments to become fully computerised were the accounting department and the personnel department. Their staff were instructed in the use of the systems and organisational changes were introduced. Precision, with which the goals of the implementation were defined, allowed the project to be completed within 5 months. Now, thanks to the use of ApplicationSERVER architecture, both subsidiaries can work on-line. Such a solution makes it possible to analyse joint data and swiftly react to the changing situation. The implemented solution is used by 20 out of 70 employees of the company. The knowledge of the sector In the food manufacturing sector competitiveness is all about the ability to adjust supply to demand, run a balanced warehouse policy, maintain high quality and be in control of the whole distribution process. – It is crucial for the company operating in this sector to have tools which ensure harmonious, timely and efficient supplies. What is more, our products must reach the customers keeping all the quality norms. That is why, cooperating with our customers, we observe three basic rules:
Macrologic’s solution is the answer to those needs. Apart from the obvious necessity for ensuring smooth information exchange, solutions should also enable monitoring use-by dates of ingredients, controlling realisation of orders, checking the conformity of purchases and production to orders, as well as providing automated customer service. – In our sector it is very important to control individual batches of products in case there is a necessity to withdraw them from the market. Thanks to Macrologic’s solutions we can find individual batches in the distribution channel almost instantly. The successful implementation of the system began the process of computerization of all management areas of the company – in case of Bellako, the next step was CRM system. ‘We have invested in the solution provided by Macrologic because using a modern IT system our company can face up to the competition from other EU countries.’ Business advantages Introduction of on-line work, ensuring up-to-date information about the performance of the company in all subsidiaries, will help the company to develop the distribution network. The planned opening of a new subsidiary in Eastern Europe, will enable the sales of their products e.g. in Latvia, Ukraine and Byelorussia. Thanks to the accessibility and the cohesion of data - the results of the implementation, on the basis of the analysis and reports, we can continue the expansion of our company into new markets, win new customers and become a strong player on the market of concentrates manufacturers. Bellako introduced changes in the process of customer service. Thanks to the implementation of the system, each employee placing a production order has at their disposal all necessary data, such as the history of contacts with the customer, the history of orders, the list of invoices, etc. Fast exchange of data between the departments makes it possible to control financial settlements with customers. It also enables employment of appropriate discount policies and prevents the company from carrying out orders placed by customers who fall behind with payments for previous orders. Another advantage was better organisation in production planning, which resulted in the speed of realisation of short series orders. The average time of realisation of such orders has decreased sevenfold and is now 2-3 days. The type of orders which are directly sent for production has changed too. Now, the size of an individual order may fluctuate from a few to a few hundred kilograms, so the offer can be better adjusted to the needs of customers. Such a system of realisation of orders has been linked with the capability of precise planning of component purchases, which lead to the decrease of the costs of their storing. The possibility of planning the production and purchases in a better way enables the company to carry out more orders, which Bellako welcomes in the face of the forecast upward trend in food exports and the expansion into eastern markets. Solution Macrologic’s solution applied in Bellako is based on finance, personnel-payroll and warehouse modules. The solution operates in Linux environment, with graphic interface on workstations. A three-layer system architecture enables authorised users to access the system remotely, from any location. Why Macrologic? One of the ways towards meeting our business goals was a decision to implement an integrated IT system. We chose Macrologic’s software on the basis of the references of companies, which have a similar production cycle. Verification of the supplier’s competence was for us a very important criterion. During one of the visits at Macrologic’s customer’s we had an opportunity to check the efficiency of the solution and learn the opinions of its users. |
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