Banken Champignons implements Microsoft Dynamics NAV and SI Foodware:
‘We will earn back the investment within 3 years'
Etten-Leur, 17 January 2006 - Banken Champignons from Elst in the Netherlands focuses on the production, marketing and sales of mushrooms and edible toadstools at European level. Because of the increasing importance of traceability and growth by acquisition, Banken Champignons has decided to implement a new ERP system. Following an extensive preliminary investigation and based on ROI calculations, Banken Champignons has chosen Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV in combination with SI Foodware® from Schouw Informatisering. Rob Banken, Financial Director of Banken Champignons expects to earn back the investment within 3 years: ‘By avoiding double transactions, improving insight into our data and introducing far-reaching administrative automation we can realise considerable savings.' In the meantime Banken Champignons has successfully implemented the financial modules in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Three reasons to look for integrated software
Banken Champignons has branches in other countries. ‘Because we have taken over several companies', Rob Banken says, ‘we have had to deal with different business applications which couldn't be integrated with each other properly. This meant that some transactions had to be entered more than once and this increases the chance of mistakes. And furthermore traceability has become a hot issue in our sector. It's not just the government setting the requirements here, but certain customers also carry out audits. We had difficulty getting this to work properly with a combination of different applications. A third reason why we were looking for a new ERP solution is that until recently we didn't maintain an automated inventory administration. This was because the inventory only stayed in our organisation for a few hours. However, due to the growth of the company and the increased importance of traceability we now need an automated inventory administration system', Rob Banken explains.
Selection process: looking for a partner who understands ERP and the Fruit & Vegetable sector
Rob Banken: ‘Before we started the selection process we drew up a list of our internal wishes and requirements. We presented these to our current supplier, but they could not offer us a suitable integrated solution. We then asked other Fruit & Vegetable organisations which packages they used and whether they were satisfied. In this way we decided on Dynamics NAV and Schouw Informatisering. Schouw Informatisering has a proven track record in the Fruit & Vegetable sector and they have developed their own software which matches the requirements of our specific business processes.' Rob Banken adds: ‘Another advantage of Schouw Informatisering is that through Building IT they are also knowledgeable about network infrastructure and they can supply this and ‘fine tune' it for Dynamics NAV. Building IT is part of Schouw Informatisering: a one-stop shop.'
Hard and soft criteria
Based on an extensive preliminary study Banken Champignons, together with Schouw Informatisering, drew up a detailed project plan and made ROI calculations. ‘Everything in the project is included: software, hardware, implementation and training. We expect that the investment will pay itself back within three to four years. This is excellent. Besides the hard selection criteria we have also taken soft criteria into consideration. What kind of people will we be working with, do they speak our language and do they understand our business? How do they treat reference visits: are their clients satisfied? We ought to be able to get on together. We have been through an extensive selection process, because this project has a far-reaching impact on our business and we need to select a supplier for a long-term relationship.
Phased implementation
The project planning assumes a phased implementation. ‘We did this to keep the project and the impact on the organisation within manageable proportions', Rob Banken adds. ‘After each phase we carry out an evaluation and only then do we proceed to the following phase. We first implemented Dynamics NAV 4.0 for the financial administration in the Netherlands and Belgium. We will then go live with: the sales order administration (order entry), inventory administration, tracking & tracing, the transport administration including an interface with on-board computers and a limited production administration for the packaging and repackaging of the mushrooms. RF scanning is also included in the project. Besides Dynamics NAV we are also using the add-on from Schouw, SI Foodware. A possible subsequent project is the roll-out to Poland.'
About Banken Champignons
Banken Champignons has two divisions: the production and commercial divisions. In total Banken Champignons employs 450 people in the Netherlands and Belgium. Banken has an average annual turnover of 33.5 million kilo mushrooms, of which 90% is common mushrooms and 10% is other types of edible toadstools. Three target groups are supplied: retailers (60%), food service companies (30%) and import and export companies (10%). The distinctive qualities are created by offering a total product range of high-quality mushrooms and edible toadstools. There is a special department that imports exotic products such as truffles, chanterelles and for instance pieds du mouton. In addition Banken Champignons owns its own transport fleet so that they can guarantee the high quality of the products. Rob Banken: ‘Mushrooms are really rather vulnerable, they are extremely sensitive to temperature changes and they stay fresh longer at 2 degrees Celsius. By using our own trucks we can guarantee the right temperature and hygiene, so that the shelf life of the mushrooms is more than adequate when they arrive in the south of France, Scandinavia or in Eastern Europe'.