"As a banana planner, your work was never done. Any time there was any change in the planning, from transport all the way up to the retailer, vessel delays or waste everything had to be recalculated, which meant that I had to always be available to work, regardless of being on holiday or sick, the calculations couldn't wait. I also thought to myself at one point, what if something bad were to happen to me...what would happen then? There must be a better way and a way to automate this process," said Robert.
This is what brought Robert to speak with Marco Klein, CEO of ActiveIT, back in 2013. After developing the software for 4 years, the pair have gotten to the point in the last year where they were able to bring the "FIPS" to the market. The software has been promoted for bananas, mangos and avocados, but Robert said that it can be used for any type of fruit or vegetable.
"The great thing about the FIPS system is that it can connect to any ERP system that the customer might already have and is able to carry out both long term and short term planning. The master data holds all of the information about how long the bananas should ripen, how long transport from one port to the other should take, planned orders for retailers etc. and recalculates and sets up alerts when planning needs to be adjusted," said Robert.
The FIPS system is all about transparency and having a centralised and precise information point for all parties involved. For example, supermarkets and other customers also have the ability to access and enter data in an account created for them so they can also enter things like promotions, an increase in sales and other vital information regarding planning, so that there are no last minute surprises for either party. It is also possible to view all data 'anywhere, any time' with a mobile app called the "info center", which can be downloaded on any smart phone.
"Being the first company in the world to offer this kind of software solution for the ripening industry, we have already been met with an overwhelming response from interested parties all over the world. We are currently active in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, but have received interest from additional European countries, as well as the US and Australia. Since we have just started, we only have the capacity for Europe at the moment, but ideally, we would love to partner up with software companies in the US so they would be able to offer FIPS there."
For m
ore information:Robert Schwaiger
activeIT Software&Consulting GmbH
Tel: +43 664 524 9958
Email: r.schwaiger@active-it.at
www.active-it.at