Foodimpuls wanted to move away from its separate systems in order to gain more insight, expand online services, and be scalable for the future. One requirement was that the new IT partner had to have in-depth, in-house knowledge of scanning solutions and warehouse management. That's how Gido de Jong, controller of Haarsma Foodimpuls, ended up with SAP Business One and Aiden's WarehousePro WMS solution. "Now we can process orders quickly and efficiently, automatically record quality checks, and track deliveries at all times."
Foodimpuls represents the two family-owned companies of Haarsma Foodimpuls and Booijman Foodimpuls. Together they engage in the procurement of both food and non-food products, which they sell and distribute to food entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. In addition to nationwide coverage, the joining of forces provides benefits in the areas of procurement, logistics, services and marketing. In the market, Foodimpuls specifically distinguishes itself with its high level of quality and service. This is how Foodimpuls supports their customers in becoming more successful, getting more out of their stores, and remaining future-proof.
Previously, Foodimpuls worked with an ERP system for the food industry, linked to a financial package. Gido de Jong explains: "These systems, while linked, were only one-way. As a result, we missed the context and additional information of the data in the financial package. For example, you could not click directly from a journal entry to the corresponding sales order. With SAP Business One, this is all integrated into one system, which has significantly increased reporting capabilities across disciplines."
De Jong continues: "SAP offered more options for linking with e-commerce. Our customers can now order online via a web shop and a mobile app. The link to SAP Business One allows them to see in real time whether the desired products are in stock. This is a major step forward for our services."
The scalability of the SAP solution with one central database was a key reason for the switch. The wholesalers are now linked to the central administration of Foodimpuls. As a result, all master data on items, customers, prices and suppliers are managed centrally in one place. "it is now relatively easy for us to add any new member to our partnership. This makes it a future-proof and efficient solution," says De Jong.
Because Foodimpuls was already working with a scanning solution, De Jong says it was a must that the new party had in-house knowledge and expertise of warehouse management. This is how the family business came to Asecom, which develops and implements the WarehousePro WMS solution, fully integrated with SAP Business One, in-house.
A scanning solution is indispensable for Foodimpuls, says De Jong. "Each of our products has a unique weight and is charged per kilogram. Therefore, the exact weight of a product must be recorded. This can be done by scanning each product specifically. This means we process a significant number of transactions daily, exceeding 30,000 during peak periods. At that point, you can't get away with checking off individual packing slips."
WarehousePro offers the possibility to pick orders according to the routes to be driven. "This component works wonderfully and allows us to pick the routes more efficiently. We are also pleased with its flexibility. For example, for Christmas orders, we also drove on Saturdays. But now we can prepare this without issue and schedule it as a normal workday."
Thanks to the scanners, new order pickers are able get started right away, with minimal explanation. "The scanner directs the order picker to the correct sections and indicates what the next section is. This makes order picking 'dummy proof,' anyone can use it," says De Jong.
An additional benefit of WarehousePro is that Foodimpuls can now also process the receipt of goods via the scanner. "Before, we still had to sign off and enter receipts at the PC, which meant a lot of running back and forth. Now we can count and record receipt at the pallet via the scanner terminal — a big improvement. The scanner hangs from the wrist, so warehouse workers always have it with them."
The scanning solution makes it possible to enforce checks after picking, such as whether the order is complete. When receiving goods, the scanner can ask quality questions via decision trees and follow-up questions. Are the received goods at the right temperature? Is the packaging still intact, are the goods clean, or are there any special abnormalities? "These types of questions must be answered before the receipt can be booked, and they are very important for our certification and to ensure quality. In addition, you can always trace any problems to a particular delivery, as well as factors like what the temperature was during delivery," says De Jong.
"WarehousePro offers convenient reporting capabilities to optimize your warehouse processes. For instance, the dashboards provide insight into how many of certain items have been picked or from which location in the warehouse. This way, you can often place goods that are picked in the same aisle or rack," concludes De Jong.
De Jong is pleased with the collaboration with Aiden. "I feel that the knowledge and experience of Aiden's consultants have been valuable. They have translated lessons learned at other parties and in other sectors to our situation. Naturally, we appreciate that. Furthermore, Aiden's client days are fun and educational."
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