Brüninghoff secures its integrated production with industry-specific software

When someone says "German veal", they usually mean veal from Brüninghoff. The owner-managed company offers a value chain that begins with the milk for the calf feed and extends to cut and portioned veal. The Security and Efficiency controls and monitors the processes in the company Brüninghoff with the software “winweb-food” specialized in the meat industry.

Josef Brüninghoff built his first calf barn over 40 years ago and today, with 100 employees and 70 million euros in annual revenue, is a leading specialist provider in the meat industry. At Brüninghoff in Bocholt, all Production stagesfrom feed and rearing to Slaughterand Disassemblycombined. Operational structures that integrate two or more production stages generally offer an added level of security and facilitate the Traceability. At the beginning of this chain is the purchase of the calves, which are then about 21 days old. The calves originate from the home regions of the large German dairy farms.

The prepress stages comprehensively integrated

The specialist provider also buys the essential components for calf feed from the dairy industry: skimmed milk and whey are purchased in liquid form. In contrast to the usual purchase of dried milk products, this feed offers important quality and environmental advantages: The nutrient content is better, the feed can be adjusted flexibly over the course of the rearing period, and there is no need for the very energy-intensive liquefaction of the dry components. In this way, the company from Bocholt makes a contribution to environmental protection and to eliminating transport routes. The fact that Brüninghoff not only influences the upstream agricultural stage, but has integrated it comprehensively, is a central pillar of the quality promise.

Anyone taken by Jan Roggenkamp through the slaughter and cutting operation in the Bocholt industrial area experiences specialist expertise – from milk to veal escalope. Roggenkamp, who is preparing for business succession as a member of the management board, likes to go into depth on all topics. This is how he succeeds best in explaining the company's unique position: This concerns, for example, the 60 locations of the calf barns where the contractually bound farmers carry out the rearing according to Brüninghoff's specifications. The barns belong to the farmers. The calves – between 200 and 4000 per farm – are from the outset the property of Brüninghoff. The transport time from one of these barns to the slaughterhouse is no longer than one hour for any calf. This specialist expertise shapes the company in all areas. There is the specialization in German veal (DDDD =born, fattened, slaughtered and disassembled in Germany). There is the specialization of the employees - so in the Disassembly employs exclusively its own staff, many of whom have been with the company for over 25 years. And there is the specialization in “veal to order”, because every conceivable customer request is fulfilled, for example with regard to the cutting of individual pieces or packaging.

Software specialist instead of generalist

This specialist expertise also characterizes procurement in the company. When deciding to invest in new business software, Josef Brüninghoff and Jan Roggenkamp narrowed down the providers and said to themselves “We do not want a software partner who has three or four other industries in mind besides meat”. From the experience with the previous software provider, they had learned that before there had been a solution from a generalist. Such people know a little about everything, but nothing specific about the meat industry. This specialized knowledge that Roggenkamp demanded concerned, for example, questions of traceability and quality assurance, but also costing and pricing. The motto was: “We are ourselves an industry specialist and we also want to work with an industry specialist in the area of software”.

When selecting possible software providers in 2009, the provider Winweb from Aldenhoven had a head start. Because eight years earlier, Brüninghoff already needed special software – it was about managing and monitoring calf rearing. Since then, calf rearing has been organized with a special module from Winweb’s industry programs. But despite this advance trust, Jan Roggenkamp first created a specification sheet. That means: He did not examine the existing software offerings to see which one best suited his company, but instead specified to the software companies what his new enterprise software had to be capable of. “Software is ‘soft’, so it must also be able to adapt,” he says about this.

Specifications for the new software

Jan Roggenkamp received advice from various providers Reference companiesnamed, visited them and asked about their experiences. And ultimately, as with any investment, there was of course a financial framework: There were price expectations, both for the purchase and for the ongoing costs. Because of this cost limit, some providers with prices 'beyond all reason' were ruled out from the outset. The fact that this meant that the "very large providers" in particular were no longer in the closer selection was also good for the Brüninghoff manager for a structural reason: "It was also important to me to have a partner on equal footing. In day-to-day business, I want to be able to reach the competent people directly by phone and not end up in a call center".

Four years have passed since Jan Roggenkamp wrote his specifications for the new enterprise software, and the system “winweb-food” has been in successful use for three years. The overall verdict is clear: “We can do everything with veal. And Winweb can do everything with software for meat.” The basis for this positive assessment also relates to the implementation of special requests, such as being able to manage three addresses for one customer as standard: one for the place of delivery, one for the recipient of the goods, one for the recipient of the invoice. The connection of a new laboratory device for testing the milk quality for calf feed also proved to be an unusual requirement. This system from dairy equipment now automatically provides Brüninghoff’s buyers with the data via “winweb-food” for evaluating the milk deliveries, which in turn, similarly to a commercial grade, form the basis for pricing.

What Winweb means by "user-friendliness" was proven at Brüninghoff right from the initial phase. Jan Roggenkamp: "During the entire implementation of the program, there was not a single day on which it was necessary for Winweb employees to be here with us on site. We were able to handle the connection of scales and other hardware ourselves with support from Aldenhoven". The system, which virtually explained itself to Brüninghoff employees right from the introduction, is also structured in such a way that employees can be deployed flexibly. The junior boss sums it up: "Who Purchasing can, they also have to with us Salescan. Anyone who can enter an order must also be able to enter a job. This works if the software is structured logically and symmetrically.”

Focus on processing and trade

The software company Winweb is a provider exclusively specialized in the meat industry. This focus on meat processing and trade results in practical user benefits:

• Everything included. The software covers all service areas that a meat processing company or the trade can have – from livestock purchasing and slaughtering through purchasing, cutting and production to sales and branch control.

• Easy start. The software was developed in such a way that commercial and practically skilled employees can work with the system in the shortest possible time without special IT training. Working is fast and does not require a dedicated IT department within the company.

• Everything securely networked. Integration of peripherals from different manufacturers throughout the entire process chain is standard. Winweb is familiar with the technology used by its customers in the areas of scales, scanning and price labeling.

• Everything calculated safely. In addition to technological operational reliability, there is commercial certainty – the user can see the achieved contribution margin for every customer and item, for every batch and delivery. This provides a reliable view of cost of goods sold, gross profit or branch success.

• Everything securely traced back.The solution grows with the requirements of legislators, retailers and consumers for
Traceability of a meat product back to the living animal.
Production planning as well as quality and origin assurance work "hand in hand.