
Turnover Case Study
Business benefits of Keelings Knowledge
- Flexible ERP built specifically for the fresh produce industry
- Increased visibility of costs, for improved negotiations with suppliers
- Increased control over the business, leading to better decision making
About Client
- HQ: Barendrecht, Netherlands
- Annual turnover €80 million
- 38 employees
Past
In the first quarter of 2016, the Dutch fresh produce company Jaguar TFC was planning to outsource its warehouse function to the third-party service provider Kivits Goes. Normally, most companies that take this step need to coordinate information like purchase orders and stock orders manually between their internal ERP and the warehouse provider however Jaguar TFC had other ideas. Whenever Jaguar TFC carried out production at a third-party site before, the work was not integrated on its system, but to achieve true efficiencies between the operations, Jaguar TFC needed to have its existing Keelings Knowledge ERP system integrate smoothly and automatically with Kivits Goes’ warehouse management system (WMS). This would ensure communication across the following areas:
- Expected goods-inwards/transport
- Goods-in receipts
- GA intake
- Sales order fulfilment
- Production orders
- Outbound transport
- Stock control and
- Supplier invoice matching
A critical aspect of the project was that business should suffer no disruption during the physical move to the new premises. “It’s was big project, it was complicated with a fixed deadline and so for me it was very important that we shouldn’t affect the business, specifically that stock control and invoicing to clients should always be possible.” Ed Heijnen, Managing Director of Jaguar TFC.
Present
Jaguar TFC had previously upgraded its system for managing production to Keelings Knowledge which was specifically developed for the fresh produce sector. Now, Jaguar TFC saw potential benefits from outsourcing its warehouse and particularly from the system integration. The goal of this project was to integrate Keelings Knowledge with the WMS in a real-time fashion, without the need for manual intervention or triggers. Jaguar TF also wanted to remove the duplicate workflow within the Keelings Knowledge ERP process flow for tasks that would now be conducted by the WMS. Jaguar TFC also sought to change some of its ways of working to align with the new system design. The project was delivered on time, on budget and to scope, with a working solution from day one and all outstanding post-go-live tasks were cleared within four weeks. It took close to 400 man-days and involved five stakeholders: Keelings Knowledge, Jaguar TFC and their respective IT partner @xit and Kivits Goes.
- System integration between ERP and WMS creates a ‘real-time dialogue’ for managing the business
- Outsourced warehouse and in-house operations now part of a single, seamless whole, with better management of its operational costs
- Automation enables Jaguar TFC to focus on its core business of trading fruit and vegetables
- Jaguar TFC now has the ability to manage exceptions without paper or phone calls
Future
“What I wanted from this outsourced warehouse and especially the system integration was to create a realtime dialogue for managing the business. That was the benefit of the system integration,” says Ed Heijnen. “Before, we always called it the third party when we did production outside Jaguar TFC but now we have more or less a paperless business where you can see each purchase order or stock order. I don’t know if there’s anybody in Holland who has such integration on this level with a logistics service provider and in the fruit and vegetables food business but I still recommend Keelings Knowledge.”
“I think the success of this project is about a good relationship and a good understanding on all levels. Keelings Knowledge understood what we and our partners were looking for and now further on with the project leadership, Keelings Knowledge continue to have a huge impact on the results.”
Company Director