“I enjoy this,” says Glenn Bainathsah, commercial manager of Axians, when he enters Verhoeckx en Zn. In his tailor-made suit he is in stark contrast with Paul Verhoeckx and Brigitte Smits, who can both often be found among the mushrooms. The link between them is the software used by the company. It has been taken care of by Axians for some time now.
“We have a new ERP system form NAV,” Brigitte explains. “The previous software was outdated. We now have a newer version.” By now, the company is working with the new software. “In the fresh produce sector, people tend to work with very old software,” Glenn says. “I have four companies for which we are implementing new software to replace the old.”
Retyping and printing
Although an IT company might be scared by the age of the software, Glenn sees no objections. “That a company has old software has to be respected,” he says. “The systems work.” There is another factor that causes the outdated packages, which plays in the background. When the companies bought the software packs a few years ago, the standard packs did not meet the sector’s requirements. “There is a lot of custom-made work, but because of that, it is tricky to apply new functionalities.”
A new systems means more digitisation in the first place. Glenn gives two examples. In some companies, it happens that people are standing in the cells and write something down, which they then have to retype. With new software, which also works on smartphones and tablets, that will become a thing of the past. Additionally, many companies print the invoice, scan it, and then mail it because the software cannot create PDF files. That will no longer be the case with the new software. “That convenience alone is a great thing for companies, but with the new software, more functionalities will become available, and, for example, reports have been built into the software.”
Digital evolution
Because the average age of the board of directors is over 50 for many companies in the fresh produce sector, that can sometimes be restrictive for progress. “Change is often a big thing for them, so it has to be done in stages. Not a revolution but an evolution,” Glenn continues. “They learn to use more functionalities in the system automatically, and when younger employees are hired it becomes self-evident.” He is therefore convinced that someone from the ‘digital generation’ should be in each company’s management. “They are the people enabling change.”
Axians has been in the fresh produce sector for years, but creating visibility in the fresh produce sector is relatively new for the company. “For the coming years, there will be much more focus on that,” Glenn says. “Our latest fresh produce customer noticed that we are quite modest online. Perhaps that is to our credit, but nowadays it is much more important to have a lot of publicity online. We have to be found much easier online. Fresh produce is strategic for Axians.”
“I love the mentality of the companies. An agreement is an actual agreement in the sector. Not only do the companies make you keep your agreements, they also keep theirs.” Additionally, he has also noticed that it is important to speak the sector’s language. “The large companies have an IT manager, but smaller ones do not. You need to offer much more support then, and also act as a project manager a bit. Keep it stupidly simple.”
Besides the fact that Glenn was surprised by the age of the software, he also sees a challenge for CRM. “Traders know a lot about their customers, but they do not have an integral customer view,” Glenn noticed. “Whenever we start talking about it, the response is often: but do we not already know everything about our customers?” According to Glenn, however, it is important to put that information into a system. “Personal things, such as birthdays, unpaid bills, complaints,” Glenn sums up a few things that should be put in the system. “Be informed, it is also important in the fresh produce world. Personal contact with your suppliers and buyers is important, the human touch. Growth in fresh produce often also means growth in relationships, both domestic and international. It would be wise to save this data centrally. You can no longer have all the knowledge about your relations ready. Small fresh produce companies grow into large companies. It is an art to still maintain that personal approach.’’
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Axians
Glenn Bainathsah