They know all too well at Avebe that a potato is more than just good company for meat and vegetables. In fact, this international cooperative of potato growers has been innovating with this beautiful crop for a hundred years. Quinso is helping Avebe do just that, in the areas of IT and process innovation. The app that Avebe and Quinso launched early this year is a good example of that intensive and multi-year collaboration.
Potatoes are rich in high-quality raw materials, such as starch, protein and fiber. Avebe processes those ingredients into semi-finished products for innovative applications in the food, paper, construction, textile and adhesives industries. Avebe’s members harvest about two million tons of potatoes a year. That harvest goes through an ingenious logistics chain from production sites, port terminals and storage points, to bulk silos, bagged goods and big bags at the customer’s premises.
The beginning of a partnership
Avebe works continuously to improve its logistics process. Bas Wijnbergen, Supply Chain Manager at Avebe: “Delivery reliability and the high quality of our ingredients are important reasons for customers to choose Avebe. So it is essential that our logistics process runs as efficiently, reliably and smoothly as possible. Quinso helps us with that.” The seeds of cooperation between Quinso and Avebe were sown with several projects around vertical integration between SAP and the Manufacturing Execution System, and links to the external transport platform and Logistics Management System, among others. Jilt Bakkes, Director ICT at Avebe: “As part of that integration, Quinso introduced a traceable pallet system which means that stock is now directly visible in the administrative system at the office. It is now much easier to pick pallets and lead times have decreased significantly.”
A smart system for error-free bulk deliveries
Avebe then launched a major project to ensure the reliability of bulk deliveries. To that end, Quinso and Avebe jointly designed an innovative concept for greater insight into the logistics process.
Previously, it was a challenge to recognize a container of bulk cargo as a unique identity in the administrative system,” Bas explains. “That increases the risk of errors, which could, for example, result in the wrong bulk product ending up in the silo with the customer. Now this is no longer possible because each filled container has a unique code in SAP that corresponds to a physical label attached to the container.”
How it works
When a container arrives at the port terminal, the driver scans the QR code on the label, using a special app on his smartphone. That application connects in real time with SAP, so the driver knows exactly which container needs to go to which customer. At the customer, the driver scans the label again as well as scans a code at the bulk silo. That final scanning moment has three functions: a check takes place whether the right product is going to be unloaded into the right silos, the invoicing process is automatically initiated, and inventory is updated in SAP in real time. Quinso designed the procedure, implemented the innovative SAP technology and built the mobile application for drivers.
First time right
Bas: “Thanks in part to Quinso, we have now succeeded in making our existing logistics process more transparent. As a result, our products find their way to customers faster and returns are no longer necessary.” Jilt adds: “For customers this is an important reason to choose us. Our deliveries always go first time right. For customers, that means reliability and stability.”
The mobile app that drivers are now working with is the first business application within Avebe’s logistics chain. Jilt: “Quinso managed to make the app very practical and user-friendly, even though the underlying technology is quite complex. I am proud of this project because it helps drivers do their jobs better in a simple way.”
A true partnership
Quinso and Avebe are now very much in sync. Jilt: “Of course we know our own organization better than anyone else, but Quinso was interested in our processes from the very beginning and was able to understand them very quickly. As a result, we complement each other and act as equals.” Bas: “The people I interact with at Quinso have a special interest in logistics. I don’t even know whether they are IT people with a love of logistics or logistics professionals with a fascination for IT. I think that’s a good sign. They really think with us on a much broader level than just SAP.”
Jilt: “Because at Quinso they cleverly knit together the knowledge of SAP, logistics processes and Avebe, they always know how to design the solution that best fits the situation. We really see Quinso as an expertise partner and work together based on trust, which is a good starting point for the projects we will do together in the future.”
About Avebe
Avebe has two organizational units, Avebe Commerce and Avebe Operations. Where Avebe Commerce is responsible for sales, marketing and innovation of starch-based solutions for customers in the diverse Food, Feed, Paper, Building, Adhesives, Textile and Specialties markets. And Avebe Operations is responsible for the internal chain serving the markets and includes production, logistics, maintenance and procurement.