The name Keelings is well known in the fresh produce industry as a provider\nof fruit and vegetables, but the Irish company has added another string to its\nbow. Keelings Knowledge is a company which provides ERP systems from fresh\nproduce people to fresh produce people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBack in 2012 one of our customers in the Dutch market was looking at ERP\nsystems so Caroline Keeling, our CEO arranged for them to come over and we let\nthem see how our ERP system worked,\u201d explains Eamonn Flynn, Managing director\nat Keelings Knowledge. \u201cThey went back and looked around for six months for a\ngood ERP system, then called us back and said that they couldn\u2019t find anything\nas good as what they has seen at Keelings and asked if they could use our\nsystem in their company. That was where it all started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keelings Knowledge has been around for about 5 years, but has changed from\nbeing an in-house service to a separate stand-alone organisation within the Keelings\nGroup. They are also present in Asia as well as Europe and have gone from a\nsmall team of five to a team of 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at all the ERP systems they are all similar,\u201d states\nEamonn. \u201cOur system is specific to the fresh produce business and when people\nare explaining what they need, we understand. Functionality is specific, if you\nlook at Microsoft they developed excel and the majority of people using excel\nonly use about 50% of the functions the rest is wasted. In our software all\nfunctions are used by our Customers, it was developed by the end user, for the\nend user which is the big benefit of what we do. Our ERP software system can be\nused within all parts of our customer\u2019s businesses \u2013 purchasing, sales,\nlogistics, cost control up to management information. For companies involved in\none or all of the wholesale, retail or food service sectors, our software\noperates well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of the development is done in Ireland, nothing is out-sourced and\nKeelings Knowledge along with its Dutch partner offers all the training and the\nsupport that customers need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCompanies in the fresh produce industry work on very tight margins and they are concerned about how they can get a return from the software,\u201d said Eamonn. \u201cWe can come in and after a couple of days of an IBR (initial business review), find areas where they can make savings and see a return on their investment. That is key because we are not just a software company we are also in the fresh produce business with experienced people who can help companies become more transparent and efficient, that is the huge benefit that we bring to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n