“The fresh produce market is more complex than people from other industries realise,” says Prophet South Africa Director, JD van Wyk. “The traditional South African fresh produce exporter, who is the primary focus of Prophet SA’s QX product, for example buys produce in South African Rand, pays shipping costs in US Dollar and sells in British Pounds. You then have different units of measurement throughout the supply chain that further complicates the traceability of said produce."He continues: "The farmer delivers his product, for instance apples, in 500kg bins which is the volume of apples for which he expects to get paid. In the packhouse, it’s repacked and palletised and perhaps again repacked abroad to the measure in which the supermarket wants to sell it for. If, for example, the supermarket sells loose apples and a consumer buys four apples, that again introduces a change in measurement to the supply chain. We consequently cover the entire process from a 500kg bin to the four loose apples and back again to the farmer. The software has to be able to handle all of these complexities.”
Prophet tracks all of the costs along the fresh produce supply chain, both locally and internationally, as well as its reimbursement, including shipping documentation. Most of Prophet SA’s clients are export companies and logistics providers but also includes associated packhouses and prominent cold storage facilities.
Initially providing software primarily to keep track of stock within the packhouse and cold storage facilities, Prophet’s South African-developed QX software was designed to answer the request of clients (some of whom have been using the software since 2003) who said: You’re already doing the workflow within the packhouse and cold storage, can’t you do the finances of the fruit for the rest of the supply chain?
In the fifteen years since the launch of QX, thousands of hours have each year been devoted to updating the system, always incorporating the wishes and needs of clients as well as the constant changes within the ecosystem of the international fruit trade for example, this year, the local introduction of e-certification. Prophet SA holds several client-focused sessions each year to further ensure that the QX product stays abreast of any industry-specific requirements.
The supporting resources for the QX software are based in South Africa, supporting QX clients as far afield as South America and Malaysia.
This time of the year, due to the citrus season, Prophet SA is very busy; some of their clients are among the largest South African citrus exporters and citrus makes up the largest segment of South Africa’s export fruit volumes.
For more information:JD van Wyk
Prophet SA
Tel: +27 21 852 9521
Email: sales@prophetize.co.za