Posch combines separate software for recipe management, cold storage and trade

Posch from Aßling in Upper Bavaria is a medium-sized, family-run company. The full-range supplier for specialties from the butcher's shop sees itself as a pioneer in puff pastry, snack and turkey specialties. 1000 customers choose from around 4000 items, 13 multi-compartment refrigerated and frozen trucks are on the road. The ERP system winweb-food supports Posch throughout the entire process chain from delivery in purchasing to the customer.

25 years ago, senior Helmut Posch was already developing turkey products, and these items are still among the bestsellers in the range today. The pioneering spirit for products with a high degree of convenience paid off and allowed the company to grow: while there were still twelve employees in 1985 when moving into the company building in the Aßling industrial area, by 2010 as many as 135 employees were ensuring high quality and fresh ideas. Milestones for the technical equipment along this path were the Storage management with wireless scanners in 2006 and the first certification according to the “International Food Standard” (IFS) one year later.

Selection process

A new merchandise management system was introduced a year ago.
To find the right software partner, Richard Posch opted for a multi-stage selection process with several software companies: “Security has priority. An IT decision is highly sensitive, as an ERP system affects and interlinks all company areas.” The decision in favor of Winweb Informationstechnologie GmbH was made for both professional and structural reasons. From a professional perspective, it was crucial that the company from Aldenhoven offers simple solutions and is a medium-sized software provider. At Posch, the collaborative partnership with many medium-sized suppliers and customers is seen as the basis for success.

The initial situation showed separate software systems for the Recipe management, the Deep-freeze storage and trade. The goal was to eliminate the existing isolated solutions and introduce a new ERP software that integrates all processes in one system.

Process reliability and time savings

Winweb offers a complete system that is continuously further developed, and moreover has many years of experience also in trade. Richard Posch emphasizes that this is also reflected in the better technology in competition on the market. For example also in being able to Traceability to be able to present a product faster and better than other providers. IT Director Gerhard Karl describes a particular technical challenge: "We have enormous complexity in our products and with our customers." Articles are purchased as merchandise, but at the same time are also raw materials for theProduction. Due to the flexibility in fulfilling individual customer requirements, there is a very complex item and customer master data set.
After the investment decision for winweb-food, the master data is transferred from the legacy systems. Given the complexity of the master data, the data transfer already went well. In some cases, follow-up work was required, for example for the type of pricing, the price units and the delivery units. To be on the safe side, each item was then checked once on the screen – everything was correct.
With the new system, time is saved, for example during order entry, because the salesperson can now see more quickly and clearly on his screen what the customer has purchased so far. The gain in clarity results in additional recommendations that are just as important in telephone sales as in Sales at the counter. Other essential components of the integrated information processing are the mobile data collection with MDE devices in goods receipt and in picking as well as dynamic storage bin management.

Project implementation and service

When introducing a new ERP system, there is always an individually varying setup and training effort. The system is used across the company and therefore has to be used and ultimately accepted by many employees. The necessary setup work was shown step by step on the system and largely carried out directly by the later users. By dispensing with classroom training in favor of direct contact with the system, later independent use is easier. In addition to the on-site setup and training work, the Winweb Support available by phone for additional questions. Further customer support, the installation of updates and patches is also handled by support. Especially when questions arise during system setup, this is a good addition to on site appointments, a topic can quickly be refreshed over the phone. Gerhard Karl is also happy to use “TeamViewer” as a remote maintenance option for the system. This allows a Winweb employee to connect to any workstation at Posch, make settings and provide assistance directly on the user’s PC without being on site.

Richard Posch GmbH

- 125 employees, 25 million EURO revenue

- Specialist wholesaler for fresh and frozen foods, full-range supplier for butcher supplies

- Producer of frozen specialties, focus on dough and turkey products