Pacmar, the Wellington-based fruit juice packing and production company, has implemented a Baan process management and reporting system from JSE-listed CS Holdings.
The system, implemented through CS Holdings` Integrated Solutions Division, includes the food and beverage reference model of Baan IV (c4), Baan Data Navigator Plus, as well as Baan`s finance, sales, purchasing, warehouse inventory management and process manufacturing modules.
Stefan Coetzer, a director of the Integrated Solutions division says, "the scalability and functionality of the integrated Baan solution was a major drawcard for Pacmar, with long term benefits that are synonymous with a fully integrated ERP system, such as improved inventory control, quality assurance and distribution."
Coetzer adds that the interface between EDI and Baan also provides Pacmar with the opportunity to receive and process orders electronically.
Pacmar specialises in custom packing wine, fruit juices, vegetable soup and food products for its clients - including some of the leading national retail chains - under their own branding - and product quality guidelines. These include the Wilde range of freshly squeezed fruit juices (packaged for long-life storage at the Pacmar factory using an innovative gable top box), de Oude Brug juice and soups, and a number of export-quality products for distribution to Europe and Asia.
Pacmar financial director Dennis van Jaarsveldt says that together with its sister company Fruition, Pacmar scoped the market for a Y2K-compliant, integrated management and reporting system to facilitate its production processes and steer its growth projections well into the new millennium. "The company is booming from a R7m turnover last year to a projected turnover of R42m in 1999," says Van Jaarsveldt. "Clearly we needed a solution that would not only integrate our various production cycles but help us manage our varied production lines, from packaging types to fruit juice concentrate recipes."
"Although we`re still in the early stages of learning and using the system, it already gives us the opportunity to monitor our product lines by packaging type, flavour and ingredient mix, correlate our figures with actual sales, and focus our business on the more profitable lines," says Van Jaarsveldt. "We have to be innovative to remain competitive, which implies flexibility for making production decisions quickly. Baan gives us this flexibility, but not to the point where we`re not making a profit."
Van Jaarsveldt adds, "traditional production lines are not controlled to the point of tracking small product quantities in mass volume lines, but this discipline is fundamental to our future growth and profitability. We now have the means to put a logical system in place to guide our business practices from the boardroom to the factory floor, and can already see the dividends of our efforts through increased productivity and sales."
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