KK Fine Foods installs Ross iRenaissance technology
has installed the Ross iRenaissance suite as its enterprise
technology to support its UK warehousing, planning and
manufacturing operations.
KK Fine Foods, a manufacturer of frozen convenience foods, has installed the Ross iRenaissance suite as its enterprise technology to support its UK warehousing, planning and manufacturing operations. The Ross solution is designed to provide increased management reporting, and will help KK Fine Foods conform to the forthcoming EU traceability legislation coming into effect in January 2005.
KK Fine Foods is a manufacturer that makes to order, and therefore completes many short production runs each day. The company needed to install support for its process manufacturing and integrated financial arrangements.
In January 2003, the company moved to a new, specially-designed 22,000 sq ft factory in Deeside. The manufacturer says that Ross Systems was chosen due to its experience of working with growing, mid-size manufacturers. KK foods felt that the IT solutions provider understood the regulatory requirements thoroughly, and was impressed at the rapid 70-day implementation of its iRenaissance suite.
iRenaissance will replace KK Fine Foods' current system, which involves numerous linked spreadsheets.
"We are a growing company and realised that we needed a more sophisticated system to support us through our next phase of growth," said Graham Jackson, chairman of KK Fine Foods. "iRenaissance from Ross Systems will provide the framework to enable us to maintain and build upon our success. Ross has a strong track record in the food industry and we have great confidence in Ross' technology and people."
Traceability has become a key concern for those operating in food processing. Supermarkets, feeling the heat from public concerns over safety, are demanding to know exactly what happens to a product at every stage of production, and legislation will soon be in place that obliges producers to provide detailed accounts of the supply chain.
"Traceability is all about record keeping," Scot McLeod, Ross Systems vice president for marketing, North America told FoodProductionDaily.com earlier this year. "It means keeping track of raw materials through to shipping a final product, and everything in between."
This increase in accountability means that producers are under a lot of pressure. "Imagine if you supply a retail chain, and you have 30 customers," said McLeod. "Each one makes up a large percentage of your business. If you are not protecting them, then you will lose them.
"For example, if a customer phones up and demands information on a certain product at a certain point in the supply chain, a company with a fully automated system should be able to trace it within three hours. If they can't, then the customer is likely to take their business elsewhere."
Growing public awareness of food safety issues, the growing threat of bioterrorism and the introduction of stringent legislation are changing the face of food production. Supermarkets on both sides of the Atlantic are introducing RFID technology, and those in the food production industry are beginning to be aware that they have little option but to move with the changes.
"Food manufacturers in the past have tended to differentiate themselves on price and customer service," said McLeod. "Now we are seeing a third consideration: brand protection. And this can be seen up and down the supply chain."
