Since 2020, Dorfinger KG - one of the largest potato, onion and garlic packaging companies in Austria - has been relying on traceNET, the enterprise resource planning system for the food industry from activeIT. Production processes have been controlled and optimized since 2021 with PECS, the production efficiency control system from the Styrian software provider. In combination with an integrated EDI solution from EDITEL - one of the leading international providers in the field of "Electronic Data Interchange" - this has led to advantages for the more than 100 year old family business, that was founded in 1919.
The traceNET enterprise resource planning system has already been in use at the traditional Austrian company since 2017, but it was never used intensively and to its full extent. "We used to use the software only for supplier registration, without assigning batch numbers. traceNET was just a small fringe and isolated solution for us," says Karlheinz Zelinger, operations manager at Dorfinger KG.
"As a company, we were faced with the choice of changing and expanding or leaving everything as it was. Our company has now been around for more than 100 years. After growing steadily and repeatedly running out of space, we suddenly had six locations, which was very inefficient, not just in terms of internal travel. So in 2020 we invested in a new location, closing down all the others - with the exception of the store in Inzersdorf and the onion production in Breitstetten. All this went hand in hand with a proper operating system for our operational business."
The exchange with business partners who also rely on activeIT's ERP and production solutions led to the initial spark at Dorfinger KG, as Zelinger makes clear: "The decisive factor was not only the operational future, but above all the feedback from our business partners. As we already had traceNET and all of our partners were completely satisfied with it, we decided to expand traceNET and to integrate it into our operations more extensively. After a short conversation with activeIT we knew immediately what we wanted. That's why the project was implemented quickly."
Efficiency, optimization & quality
The introduction of traceNET & PECS brought an unbelievable simplification of the daily routines at Dorfinger International, Zelinger says: "Previously, we worked with handwritten slips of paper, even at goods receipt and in production. Now we have beautiful screens. We can suddenly see all the information at a glance and we can track batches, for example, at the push of a button."
Zelinger clearly sees a real advantage of PECS through the increase in efficiency: "There are so many important aspects around our products. Every step of the process involves an incredible amount of information. From delivery and cooling to sorting and washing to production and delivery - with PECS we now have an overview and this overview is extremely important and useful, and above all very easy to retrieve. By clicking on the batch, I can see all the information I need and - based on that - make decisions quickly. This was not possible in the past, when we were still juggling handwritten notes. To find out when a product arrived, how long it had been present, and where it was currently located, we had to search for and ask the people responsible. Internal processes also improved as a result of PECS."
The topic of customer complaints, or the traceability of quality problems, has also been optimized by activeIT's solution: "We can notice this in particular when we have to research something - for example, in relation to customer complaints. If a product has quality problems, we know at the push of a button when the batch was delivered, when it was washed and when it was packed. Such information is incredibly important to us, as it allows us to understand why the quality of the goods should deviate, down to the smallest detail. Through PECS, we can immediately see that potatoes that are the subject of a complaint will have been in cold storage longer than comparable flawless goods. This means we can draw the necessary conclusions and not only improve the quality of our products, but also learn a lot regarding business operations."
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Images: Dorfinger KG
For more information:
Dorfinger KG
A-1230 Wien
Laxenburger Straße 367
Tel.: +43-1-616 99 40-140
Fax: +43-1-616 99 40-145
E-mail: office@dorfingers.at
www.dorfingers.at
activeIT Software & Consulting GmbH
Premstätter Staße 165
A-8054 Seiersberg-Pirka
Tel.: +43 316 23 12 01
www.active-it.at
www.editel.at