Quality assurance and process optimization

A new software system, “winweb-food”, was introduced at the Berger butcher’s business in Lower Austria

The Berger family is now running a butcher’s business in Lower Austria in its fourth generation. Based in Wilhelmsburg, the Bergers are a family business through and through, as demonstrated not least by the fact that two generations are currently working together at the helm and with great passion. What the great-grandparents established in the late 1920s and the grandparents Franz and Gertrude Berger continued (founded in 1960 as a livestock and slaughter-cattle trading business) has now become a modern EU-standard slaughtering, carcass-cutting and processing facility as well as a model rural butcher’s shop.

The Bergers stand for quality and tradition, and you can see and taste it at the country butcher’s shop on the main square in Wilhelmsburg, where a wide variety of savory delicacies are still made using traditional artisanal methods. The finest beef and veal from animals slaughtered in-house is also available here. Until 1996, the business still slaughtered and sold its products in Wilhelmsburg. To meet growing demands, the Berger family built a modern slaughtering, cutting and processing facility to EU standards in neighboring Rotheau in 1996. „As important as tradition is, when working with animals and producing meat in particular, you have to move with the times“ explains Franz Berger sen.

Berger recently introduced a new software system, “winweb-food”. Deciding which provider would be the right long-term partner was not easy, recalls Franz Berger jun., a qualified master butcher who has worked in his family’s business for several years: “Choosing an ERP system is a very critical decision, as it must map and integrate all current and future business requirements.”

The meat industry in particular has highly sensitive requirements such as traceability, classification, quality assurance, labeling, etc., which, due to the sensitivity of the products, must be met flawlessly within the shortest possible time. Winweb offers a comprehensive system specifically for the meat industry that is continuously enhanced, combined with an extremely high level of industry expertise. Indeed, as Ms Berger says: “It was very important to me to find an IT partner capable of understanding, mapping, and optimizing our complex processes. Winweb keeps pace with the times, has a clear industry focus, and is a medium-sized company – just like us.”

High quality standards

The issue of quality assurance is a top priority at Berger, as the company produces both conventional beef products and products bearing the AMA quality seal. All products are subject to the criteria of the Beef Labelling System (BOS), which requires extensive monitoring and documentation.

The AMA seal of quality is also an officially recognized, independent quality program of Agrarmarkt Austria Marketing GmbH for conventionally produced food of above-average quality that is independently inspected and fully traceable. AMA products originate exclusively from Austria and are inspected at every stage, from rearing through to the finished product.

This meant that, in addition to the Berger family, Quality Manager Ralph Zickbauer was also involved in the selection process. Zickbauer explains the specific requirements that a software provider must meet. “We slaughter and cut cattle in accordance with the AMA quality program, which makes seamless traceability essential. When selling primal cuts, traceability down to the individual farmer must be ensured.” To meet these requirements, individual animal batches are created at slaughter, enabling winweb-food to provide detailed information on the precise origin and all relevant data for each animal.

During cutting intake for each cutting day, animal species and quality programme and in conjunction with the individual animal data a batch is created. This ensures batch or individual animal labelling of the cutting products, as well as recording at goods issue with the corresponding data shown on the accompanying goods documents.

In addition, winweb-food generates a cutting yield report and an automatic AMA notification. “Winweb impressed us and presented a solution that not only meets our requirements, but is also significantly easier to use than our legacy system and saves time,” says Ralph Zickbauer.

Implementation

Implementing a new software system cannot be compared with commissioning a new machine. The goal is to optimize business processes and this creates a process that challenges employees, as all company procedures must be reconsidered and ultimately mapped in the software. This conceptual work during the implementation phase continually gives rise to new requirements, to which a software provider must respond. At Berger implementation was carried out with guidance from Winweb and focused on knowledge transfer. After an initial kick-off meeting, at which the basic requirements are defined together with the customer and a project plan is drawn up, the actual implementation begins. The customer’s employees are directly involved and thus learn how to use the system from the outset. The consulting team’s approach consists of on site meetings, web-based training via „TeamViewer“, and telephone support. During training sessions the team works with employees to determine how each process can be mapped optimally in the software and explains exactly which data must be entered and how. Telephone support can be reached via an Austrian number and is available to answer any questions that arise, updates are also installed by the support team in consultation with the customer. „Winweb’s approach has been tried and tested many times and it shows. If you need a refresher a few days after a training session, you can pick up the phone and quickly get back up to speed“, says Franz Berger jun.

The time savings are particularly noteworthy. Franz Berger jun.: “These time savings are achieved, for example, in goods dispatch, order entry and labeling, as well as when importing slaughter data”. For example, labels are generated automatically and precisely for each individual item based on the cutting list. During goods dispatch, the products are scanned and no longer need to be entered into the system manually. “With Winweb, we feel ideally equipped to meet the demands of tomorrow”, says Regina Berger.

www.berger-fleischer.at
www.winweb.de