Efficiency meets innovation: how industry leaders are revolutionizing business processes
The world’s largest chocolate factory, a premium pet food brand, and Belgium’s top full-service partner for farmers and gardeners—three industry leaders. Each boosted efficiency through a pragmatic, innovative approach to business processes and IT.
In an unstable economic climate characterized by rising costs and hyper-competition, businesses must improve efficiency. To stay ahead of the competition, you must streamline and optimally integrate business processes. Every link in your business operations presents opportunities for optimization and cost savings.
At the same time, the market is changing rapidly. Therefore, efficiency improvements must inherently involve transformation. Being lean and mean is essential but insufficient; you must also be agile and future-proof. Those who can couple efficiency with innovation and quality establish themselves as leaders in their sector.
That's the theory.
How do you put this into practice? Here are a few cases showing how companies have become more efficient—often without significant investments or experimental technologies.
Barry Callebaut: optimal tank capacity management
Barry Callebaut, the world leader in chocolate production, was hit by a salmonella crisis in 2022 at their largest factory in Wieze, Belgium. A contaminated batch of lecithin led to a 70-day shutdown. The company tightened quality controls to prevent recurrence, requiring a 24-hour waiting period for test results. This would necessitate up to 60 additional trailers for temporary storage, with an estimated cost of up to €60,000 per day. Supply Chain Manager Sumit Gupta had to find a more cost-effective solution that ensured food safety without disrupting operations. Tips at valueXstream.
Barry Callebaut: optimal tank capacity management
Barry Callebaut, the world leader in chocolate production, was hit by a salmonella crisis in 2022 at their largest factory in Wieze, Belgium. A contaminated batch of lecithin led to a 70-day shutdown. The company tightened quality controls to prevent recurrence, requiring a 24-hour waiting period for test results. This would necessitate up to 60 additional trailers for temporary storage, with an estimated cost of up to €60,000 per day. Supply Chain Manager Sumit Gupta had to find a more cost-effective solution that ensured food safety without disrupting operations. Tips at valueXstream.
Arvesta: consistent product information across all channels
Arvesta is a versatile player in the agricultural sector, serving farmers, gardeners, and consumers through various channels. Their offerings include animal feed, farming supplies, and retail (AVEVE and Eurotuin stores). The challenge: delivering consistent product information to diverse audiences across different channels. For instance, farmers and gardeners use the Sanac webshop, while consumers visit the AVEVE webshop. Product catalogues vary by audience: printed for professionals and digital for consumers and shop owners. GS1, responsible for standards in product identification, also requires specific data. How do you keep product information consistent, accurate, and up-to-date across all these groups and systems? IT Director Jan Steukers explains everything, supported by TheValueChain.
Arvesta: consistent product information across all channels
Arvesta is a versatile player in the agricultural sector, serving farmers, gardeners, and consumers through various channels. Their offerings include animal feed, farming supplies, and retail (AVEVE and Eurotuin stores). The challenge: delivering consistent product information to diverse audiences across different channels. For instance, farmers and gardeners use the Sanac webshop, while consumers visit the AVEVE webshop. Product catalogues vary by audience: printed for professionals and digital for consumers and shop owners. GS1, responsible for standards in product identification, also requires specific data. How do you keep product information consistent, accurate, and up-to-date across all these groups and systems? IT Director Jan Steukers explains everything, supported by TheValueChain.
Edgard & Cooper: robot-driven order creation
Edgard & Cooper produces food for dogs and cats. The customer service team struggled with the manual processing of numerous orders via email, leaving little time for customer relations and care, much to the team's frustration. Thus, automating order creation became a top priority. Edgard & Cooper implemented robotic process automation (RPA), integrated with SAP. The technology from Metamaze extracts and classifies data from emails and documents. Discover the benefits, as revealed by Anke De Prijck, customer service manager at Edgard & Cooper. Signed: Studio Emma.
Edgard & Cooper: robot-driven order creation
Edgard & Cooper produces food for dogs and cats. The customer service team struggled with the manual processing of numerous orders via email, leaving little time for customer relations and care, much to the team's frustration. Thus, automating order creation became a top priority. Edgard & Cooper implemented robotic process automation (RPA), integrated with SAP. The technology from Metamaze extracts and classifies data from emails and documents. Discover the benefits, as revealed by Anke De Prijck, customer service manager at Edgard & Cooper. Signed: Studio Emma.