Safety from milk to schnitzel

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 calves' 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 for 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 Breakdowncombined. Operating 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.

Fully integrated prepress stages

From the dairy industry, the specialist provider also purchases the essential components for calf feed: 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 flexibly adapted over the course of the rearing period and there is no need for the very energy-intensive liquefaction of the dry components. Thus, the company from Bocholt makes a contribution to environmental protection and the elimination of transport routes. The fact that Brüninghoff not only has an influence on the upstream agricultural stage, but has comprehensively integrated it, is a central pillar of the quality promise.

Anyone led by Jan Roggenkamp through the slaughter and processing operation in the Bocholt industrial area experiences specialist expertise – from milk to veal cutlet. Roggenkamp, who is preparing for business succession as a member of the management team, likes to explore every topic in depth. This is how he best succeeds in explaining the company’s unique position: It includes, for example, the 60 calf barn locations 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 – belong to Brüninghoff from the very beginning. 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 dismantled in Germany). There is the specialization of the employees – so in the Breakdown exclusively employs 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 regarding cut portions or packaging.

Software specialist rather than generalist

This specialization also characterizes purchasing 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”. Experience with the previous software provider had taught them that, previously 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, which 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 software sector”.

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 the management and control of 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 initially created a specifications document. This means: He did not examine the existing software offerings to determine 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.

Requirements specification for the new software

Jan Roggenkamp was approached by various providers Reference companiesname them, visited them and asked about their experiences. And ultimately, of course, as with any investment, there was a financial framework: There were price expectations, both for the acquisition and for the ongoing costs. Because of this cost limit, some providers with prices 'beyond all reasonable limits' were ruled out from the outset. The fact that, as a result, precisely the “very large providers” were no longer in the narrower selection was also good for the Brüninghoff manager for a structural reason: “It was also important for me to have a partner on equal footing. In everyday 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 “winweb-food” system has been in successful use for three years. The overall verdict is clear: “We can do everything in veal. And Winweb can do everything in software for meat.” The basis for this positive verdict 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 trade class, form the basis for pricing.

What Winweb means by “user-friendliness” was already proven at Brüninghoff in the initial phase. Jan Roggenkamp: “During the entire implementation of the program, it was not necessary for a single day for Winweb employees to be here on site with us. We were able to handle the connection of scales and other hardware ourselves with support from Aldenhoven”. The system, which practically explained itself to the 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, he also has to with us Salescan. Anyone who can enter an order must also be able to enter a sales order. This is possible if the software is structured logically and symmetrically.“

Focus on processing and trade

The software company Winweb is a provider specializing exclusively in the meat industry. This focus on meat processing and trading results in practical user advantages:

• Everything included. The software covers all areas of operation that a meat processing company or retailer may have – from livestock purchasing and slaughtering to purchasing, cutting and production, all the way to sales and branch control.

• Simple start. The software was developed in such a way that commercial and practically skilled employees can work with the system in a very short time without any special IT training. Working is quick and does not require a dedicated IT department in the company.

• Everything securely networked. The integration of peripheral devices 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 reliably. Technological operational reliability is complemented by commercial reliability – the user can see the achieved contribution margin for every customer and item, for every batch and delivery. This creates a reliable view of cost of goods sold, gross profit or branch success.

• Everything safely traced back.The solution grows with the requirements of legislators, retail and consumers regarding
Traceability of a meat product back to the live animal.
Production planning as well as quality and origin assurance go hand in hand.