"Making sure vegetables and fruit of the right quality are delivered"
Belgium: Flex²B monitors fruit and vegetables from grower to shop
Monitoring
"Flex²B responds to the customer's need by taking care of their logistics, loading, receipts, quality management, inventory management, and warehouse management. These links in the chain are continuously tracked. We can supply this system per link, but preferably for the whole chain. Businesses can also order modules for the system," Jozef says. "There is a standard Flex²B solution, but we can also install according to customers' wishes. Implementation can be done both centralised and decentralised. The system is definitely worth investing in, and will quickly pay for itself." Oryx is active throughout Europe, and mainly in the Benelux, Germany, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand. The company also sees opportunities in Brazil and Asian countries. Oryx creates a yearly roadmap in collaboration with customers and distributors.
Jozef de Smedt of Oryx
Zespri
Zespri is a customer that has been working with the Flex²B solution for years. "Zespri has growers in several countries, and Flex²B insures that all kiwis are tracked, and eventually delivered to the right place and of the right quality. We try to prevent mistakes and loss as much as we can, and that is why the whole process is closely monitored. There are several characteristics to classify fruit, such as firmness and sugar content of the fruit. We know our customers, we know the market, and we know what our customers want. An important part is reducing fruit loss. We want to avoid that and maintain quality, but also guarantee turnover. We know perfectly well what affects the quality of the products by systematically grouping anomalies together, and continue from there with that information."
Grower modules
Jozef explains that products are monitored, starting at the grower. "We've grouped growers in specific areas, working at field level. These get a growers' code. That's because we know fruit is susceptible to certain weather conditions or other factors that make it ripen quicker. We use the Grower Module to store specific information per grower. A grower can enter information on how he wants his products treated. They can also indicate when and how much is harvested. This allows us to make a forecast, and cater to the market in the right way."
Traceability
Our smallest tracking unit is a box of fruit. The smallest trading unit or stock unit is a pallet. We keep track of everything up to box level. These logistical units are all numbered with an SSCC code in accordance with GS1 coding. We know precisely where which product is, both in stock as in transit, through our 'location' modules. We are specialised in DESADV messaging, also know as an electronic delivery note, and we take that to extremes. This is an indispensable tool for tracking & tracing. Flex²B can also exchange information with prevailing software."
Blocking
It's virtually impossible to lose track of pallets, according to Jozef. "It used to happen every once in a while, but Flex²B minimises the chances. The year before we installed the software at a company, 60 pallets were untraceable. The year after there were only three. Everything is fully automated. If there are contaminations, it's nearly impossible for them to reach the market. Our blocking mechanism takes care of that, making recalls obsolete. Possible contaminations are swiftly detected, and pallets are blocked by us before they are unloaded. Shipments don't have to be recalled, and bad publicity can be avoided."
Messaging System
Flex²B provides a messaging system besides the blocking mechanism. A direct message could be sent to a forklift driver. He may then be given an assignment to carry out.
For more information:
Jozef de Smedt
Oryx N.V.
Zonnelaan 29
B-1860 Meise - Belgium
T: +32 2 270 27 60
F: +32 2 270 27 50
www.oryx.be
info@oryx.be