Winweb on the third attempt
The German company Schönecke GmbH recently started working with Winweb – after Managing Director Henner Schönecke had initially chosen other software providers in 2001 and 2010. A decision he now regrets: “If I had chosen Winweb from the outset, we would have been spared a great deal of effort.”
His chickens can be relied on: Egg sales are the focus of Henner Schönecke's family business.
One consolation for Schönecke: „The transition to winweb-food went almost entirely smoothly.“ His experience of the last transition in 2010 was very different, and he does not look back on it fondly. „It is all the more gratifying that we began planning with Winweb in May 2022 and were able to go live as early as October.“ The first week with the new system was a little bumpy, but all in all it was „a dream transition“, Schönecke says with delight. „We broke new ground with this project“, says Winweb Managing Director Willi von Berg. „We integrated the specific requirements of the egg trade into our standard software winweb-food, which until now has mainly been used in the meat industry.“
Eggs are sorted automatically
The poultry company Schönecke grades and packs eggs from its own production and from a small group of selected suppliers. For this purpose the eggs are automatically graded by size and quality in the egg grading system and recorded in winweb- food. Origin information such as farming method, farm of origin and laying date is stored directly in the batch and added to the inventory management system. In addition, all crates and boxes used to transport the eggs are provided with labels displaying the relevant information – printed directly from the system. „All of this plays a crucial role in making the relevant data available“, says Winweb-project manager Michael Hermanns. Complete inventory tracking and the associated traceability are therefore guaranteed. This also allows data to be transferred from winweb-food to the KAT-database for controlled alternative animal husbandry with a single click. The latest organic inspection in early June showed that this works well in practice: „In the past we often had discrepancies of several tonnes“, Schönecke recalls. „After the introduction of winweb- food the traceability process took just half an hour and ultimately we had a discrepancy of only a few kilos.“
“After winweb-food was introduced, the traceability process took only half an hour.”
In the egg grading facility, information such as the production system, farm of origin and laying date is stored directly in the batch.
Reliable labeling
Another major area of Schönecke’s business is the wholesale trade in fresh poultry and sausage products as well as selected meat specialties. Reliable product labeling is essential for seamless inventory management in this area. Since the introduction of winweb-food, all items have therefore been recorded in the ERP system upon receipt: “We scan the barcodes of incoming products and the system extracts the data relevant to inventory management from the information provided by the various suppliers”, explains Schönecke. If the labels on the goods are illegible or missing altogether, winweb-food can be used to generate labels. This guarantees that all items in stock are labeled. “By labeling products consistently, we always have an accurate overview of our inventory”, says Schönecke. “And we have less work because recording incoming products has been firmly integrated into the workflow.” The use of mobile data collection devices further optimizes workflows and significantly reduces the distances employees need to walk. “We also use the scanners for picking orders and taking inventory”, explains Schönecke. This reduces errors and ensures faster order picking.
“Consistent labeling means that we always have an accurate overview of our inventory and less work, as the recording of incoming products has been firmly integrated into the workflow.”
Henner Schönecke checks the current intake of eggs at the grading machine in winweb-food.
Complex analyses
winweb-food also ensures the EDI connection to suppliers and key customers. To simplify collaboration with the Schönecke business partners, the EDI converter developed by Winweb was used to implement the entry of purchase orders, electronic delivery order notifications and invoice transmission – making the process significantly more efficient and less prone to errors. “Because the delivery notes are sent by the system, they now reach our partners faster than the goods themselves,” explains Schönecke. “The number of EDI messages and the differing requirements of the various partners posed a minor challenge,” says Hermanns. “However, our experience and prior knowledge from other projects enabled us to implement the connection quickly.” Managing Director Schönecke is pleased that winweb-food makes many tasks much easier and faster: “Even complex reports can be generated with just a few clicks and, if required, run and sent automatically.” However, there is still more to be done on both sides: Soon, documents will be collected in the document management system : incoming invoices posted via winweb food, cost invoices, supporting documents or delivery notes. Everything will then be automatically assigned to the relevant transaction using a barcode-recognition system. The delivery staff at Schönecke could use the Winweb- returnable-empties app , which simplifies the return of returnable empties and the processing of delivery notes. And Winweb could consider how the egg value chain can be mapped in the ERP system. “An interesting task,” says Hermanns. “We had not dealt with eggs before, but that has changed since Schönecke. We are now continuing to expand our expertise in everything related to chickens,” says the Winweb project manager, who is looking forward to exploring the new topic.
Images: Schönecke, Melahn
Published in Fleisch & Co
Winweb Content Team
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