Wiadomości

For those who no longer remember: the Q-Group comprises of the former associated companies De Bruycker, Vleescash and Excell Meat which were established by Etienne De Bruycker. The success story began in the eighties with the slaughter of beef in the slaughterhouse of Elversele (near Temse), followed by the slaughterhouse of Sint-Niklaas and finally in Slaughterhouse Verelst in Dendermonde. Guy De Bruycker, CEO of the Q-Group: "Since 2003, De Bruycker operates under the name Q-Beef. The company has evolved into a breeder and slaughterer of beef which is exported mainly to France and Holland. We slaughter and trade on average three hundred animals per week which should result in a turnover of fourteen million euro's this year." When Etienne De Bruycker moved to the slaughterhouse in Sint-Niklaas he decided to partly renovate the building in Elversele and begin a small cutting plant. Thus began Vleescash. Initially it cut carcasses which came from De Bruycker but soon meat was also processed from other slaughterhouses. The company only really took off when Guy De Bruycker took control in 2000. He explains: “Ever since

we transferred the activities in 2003 to the new site in Lokeren, the company, which in the meantime has been renamed Q-Meat, has become one of the top Belgian cutting plants. We have experienced a tremendous growth especially in the last two years. In August 2005 we were barely processing forty tons of beef per week, whereas today we are turning over thirty tons per day. This is due to the installation of a continual, fully-automatic production line with which we process an entire cow every six minutes. We intend to expand this set-up even further this year to sixty meters so that we have all the stages - from carcasses to the final packaging - in one smooth line! In the meantime Q-Meat offers two production categories. The muscle and organs go to Belgian butchers, supermarkets and pre-packers, whereas the bulk products, usually deep-frozen, are sold to industrial manufacturers in seventeen European countries. Due to the fact that we will be chiefly concentrating on the third arm of the Q-Group we expect the sales figures to stabilise to about fourteen million euro's." The most recent activity of the Q-Group consists of portioning the cut meat and manufacturing meat and poultry products such as sausages, beef olives, cordon bleu, turkey slices etc. This year the company also wants to concentrate on producing ready-made meals. The customers comprise mainly of large kitchens and large distribution companies in Belgium. However, Q-Food is also aiming at the French, Dutch and German market. The company arose in 1998 from the previous Excell Meat which is a fusion project that Q-Meat started together with one of its most important customers Van Dorselaer (specialised in the supply of all types of cut meat to collectives, restaurant and catering companies, ready-made

meal manufacturers and large department stores). Guy De Bruycker: "The objective is to increase Q-Food's sales figures by forty percent this year. Although the Q-Group team consists of 117 employees, such a big step could never be realised without an adequate ERP system. For years we have been using Vers 3000, the programme from ReflexSystems, formerly known as B&B Slasoft. The application, in the meantime, has become the real core of our company. The order processing, storage, administration and the HACCP/BRC quality system are all controlled with this programme."

Envious of nice labels

It was once a different story. The companies within the Q-Group worked in the traditional 'manual' way until 1999. The management decided to look at a Terp application due to the fact that five people were walking back and forth between the administration and production, a lot of mistakes were being made plus the new tracing legislation was being introduced. The choice quickly fell on Vers 3000 from B&B Slasoft. Guy De

Bruycker explains why: "It was our customer Enco that led us to this supplier. We were slightly envious of the labels they were suddenly sticking on the crates. When we visited other users of the programme we quickly realised that Vers3000 could achieve a lot more than just creating nice labels and, above all, it suited our company to a tee. Not only did the programme concentrate specifically on food processing but the modular was also put together so that we could implement it in stages. That was crucial as so many of our employees were very distrustful of introducing computers onto the shop floor. This way, they were given the time to get used to the idea. We quickly introduced the order registration module. It was a simple solution. Orders were inputted in the system and retrieved in the finished products department where they were then scanned when weighed. This resulted in a huge saving of time, more efficiency and fewer mistakes. At a later date we expanded the system with the stock & production modules and implemented these in all the production departments. However, it was in 2001 that we made the biggest step forward with the introduction of the functionality to actualise a watertight tracing system."

Leading part in production

At present the Q-Group uses about seventy percent of all the functions that Vers 3000 offers. The main part of the programme lies in production. It automatically places an order at the suppliers based on the sales orders and stock and then couples a lot number to it. As soon as this order has been confirmed the operator receives a summary of the planned purchases on the Flex to ensure that the planning for the boning department can be prepared and coordinated. Upon arrival in Q-Meat, the meat is automatically unloaded and weighed on a rail scale which is linked with Vers 3000. From that point on the programme immediately receives a label listing all the tracing data (lot number,

supplier, origin, date of slaughter, sanitel identification number etc.), weight as well as the time that the processing needs to be complete. This is attached to the carcass which is then automatically brought to the cold store. During the unloading of the carcass, the operator enters all the HACCP data from the supplier into the system: is the lorry clean, are the driver's clothes in order, was the temperature in accordance with the requirements etc. The ERP programme then prints a weighing list which also contains the HACCP observations. This is re-checked by the purchasing department and then given to the driver. At this point in time, Vers 3000 provides a counterpart entry of the purchase invoice to ensure that there is a complete check of what has been registered, delivered and invoiced. Guy De Bruycker: "The programme begins a rate of return calculation for each lot using the calculation module. As soon as all the meat has been processed then I immediately know what the return in kilograms is per lot and, taking into account the cost of labour, how much profit we have made." The boning and cutting takes place according to a work form which is automatically produced by the ERP programme. This is based on the instructions regarding cutting rates and quantities by those responsible for the production. Once everything has been processed the meat is weighed. At the moment Vers 3000 automatically produces a label in accordance with the customer's specifications (tracing data, weight, possible sales price etc.). Jan Ickx, a manager at ReflexSystems: "As of last year, these labels have an EAN-128 barcode which contain all the tracing data. Each time a customer needs something the picker merely has to scan the article after which the ERP system automatically prepares the invoice. Thanks to the stock control module, Q-Meat also knows exactly how many pallets with finished products are in the cold stores and deepfreeze."

From Q-Meat to Q-Food

Meanwhile, Vers 3000 is also used by Q-Food. This department orders the meat at Q-Meat which, in turn, picks the order by way of scanning (the ERP application automatically ensures a stock adjustment). Upon arrival in Q-Food, the meat is weighed. This is a procedure by which the lot number is taken over by the application and is sustained throughout the entire production line. Guy De Bruycker: "The only difference with the work in Q-Meat is that we make compound products with ingredients that each has their own lot number. Vers 3000 provides a working plan with detailed recipes in order to achieve watertight tracing. Each ingredient which is taken out of the stock needs to be scanned to ensure that the lot number is registered in the application each time. The programme then assigns a new lot number to the production. This is always stated on the packing slip so that backward and forward traceability is possible."

Commercial tool

Recently, Q-Group is making increasingly more use of the commercial functions of Vers 3000. The customer relation file is very popular among all the operators. Jan Ickx: "It's a sort of database which allows a memo to be written at every contact person. This is not only useful to the sales agents but also to inside sales who can consult Vers 3000 to check which appointments have been made with a customer or supplier. Meanwhile, the logistics module is also well established at the Q-Group. This has been created to set up route lists. Finally, the article management module has become a frequently used tool. This allows product updates (other ingredient amounts, sales price, composition etc.) to be inputted in the system from one central point. Just a few seconds later and everything has been updated: the shop floor receives the correct recipe, the customer label has been changed etc."

Virtually all advantages

Guy De Bruycker predicted that without this programme Q-Group could never have experienced such a growth. He is therefore suitably satisfied that he joined alliances with ReflexSystems. "The supplier is always available to solve any problems or defects as quickly as possible which is crucial given that the ERP programme is the heart of our company. Above all, Vers 3000 is an extremely reliable application. We have never had a serious failure in seven years. In addition to this, it is user-friendly so that even operatives quite easily manage to master the system. Finally, the modular structure is a big selling point: it allows you to choose the modules which you really need. Furthermore, you can implement the application in stages whereby you don't make the learning process too difficult for the users of the system. Of course there is a price tag attached but, as a result of the improvement in efficiency and reduction in errors, you see a doubling in return on your investment. The only disadvantage is that Vers 3000 has increased in scope to such an extent within Q-Group that we need an IT specialist to manage the application. However, this merely proves how much importance we have attached to the ERP application!"