A lot of meat in a small space

Efficient, transparent management of all merchandise management processes requires the right software

The Hochhauser family's “Bruckwirt” inn in Pichl dates back to 1750. And in 2014, the family's butchery tradition celebrates its 100th anniversary.
What great-grandfather Hans Hochhauser founded shortly before the outbreak of the First World War has now become a modern slaughtering, carcass cutting and processing operation that meets EU standards

Leading niche specialist

Until 1990, Fleischerei Hochhauser also followed the traditional model: production took place “in the back,” while sales took place “up front.” But over the years, it became clear that more and more customers were buying meat and sausage products at supermarkets. The butcher family’s response was: “Then we’ll build a supermarket too.”
The retail counter was closed, and the supermarket plan was implemented at the original premises. Their courage paid off: today, the butcher family owns three Spar supermarkets. From then on, the business went from strength to strength, becoming a niche specialist of importance beyond the region and supplying a broad range of customers, from small food-service businesses to large industrial meat-processing companies. Throughout all these expansions and modernizations, the Hochhauser family remained true to its roots. “We only source animals from the region. And by region, we primarily mean the Hausruckviertel area of Upper Austria,” says Managing Director Hannes Hochhauser. Visitors to the butcher’s facility are amazed by the enormous quantities of meat processed at this relatively compact site. Having achieved success, the Hochhauser family has now also invested in operational reliability.

Manage a wide range of business tasks

Using integrated business software, Hochhauser manages and monitors all areas involving money: incoming– and outgoing goods, the acceptance and fulfillment of orders, delivery notes and invoices. Hochhauser considers investing in the right software to be one of the most important decisions of all. He therefore prepared for the decision with great care: Years in advance, Hannes Hochhauser used his contacts with industry colleagues to ask about their experiences with software.
However, he did not find a solution among his colleagues that fully satisfied him: “One system was good for slaughtering, while another offered good sausage costing. But there was nothing suitable for the level of detail at which our business operates.”

Data overview

With the introduction of Winweb’s winweb-food software, time-consuming and laborious work with Excel spreadsheets is now a thing of the past. When asked, „Have your expectations been met?“, Hochhauser answers without hesitation: „Yes, my expectations have been fully met in every respect.“ The young managing director cites price maintenanceas the most important advantage. This is because the many different cuts and customers’ special requests generate a large volume of data.

The second key area in which Fleischerei Hochhauser has now gained a competitive edge by investing in the software is “traceability.” Hochhauser explains: “I don’t just mean the traceability of animals, meat, or production batches. Being able to track customer data is also a major benefit.” Before submitting a quotation, he likes to check: “What quotations have I recently given this customer?” and “What did this customer last buy, and when?”

Attractive employer

The benefits of the new software are not limited to the owners of the family business. After all, ten PCs as well as scales, label printers and scanners – from packaging to dispatch – are connected to the software. And these devices are also used by employees who had never worked with a computer before. This makes Hochhauser not only an attractive place to shop, but also an attractive place to work.

Along the way, the new software also accomplished its most important task: “Everything is significantly faster, giving the members of the owner family a little more free time. The final question for Hannes Hochhauser concerns value for money. His answer: “A good mechanic should also buy good tools.”

www.hochhauser-fleisch.at
www.winweb.de