PAULA FISH, a food processing company, improved its effectiveness with the IFS APPLICATIONS™ 9 system

THE COMPANY

The company operates its own processing facilities of pelagic fish, salmon, flounders, and cod. The facilities are provided with modern freezers and cooling chambers. The company controls the entire process of procurement, processing, storage, sale of frozen products and transport to the domestic, European, and Asian markets. The dynamic growth of the company is supported with the IFS Applications™ system, ensuring optimisation of operational processes and improved effectiveness of operations.

Paula Fish products are sold and delivered with the company’s own vehicles to the domestic market as well as to many European and Asian markets.

NEED FOR A CHANGE

The development of the business of Paula Fish was made obstructed with non-integration of IT tools. Business information was inconsistent and difficult to obtain while data flows within the organisation were restricted. The company required an integrated ERP class IT system, covering all business processes. After an analysis of solutions available in the market, the management of Paula Fish decided to select InfoConsulting as the partner guaranteeing success in the implementation of the IFS Applications™ 9 system.

At the beginning of 2017, a contract for implementation of the solution was signed.

“When the company develops dynamically, access to information becomes crucial to support management processes. That is why the company decided to implement the ERP system. The development of the originally small family business now is directed towards a corporation while data quality and the time to extract such data have become a core element of management. We have decided to select the IFS Applications system due to its flexible architecture and positive opinions of users in sectors similar to the one in which our company operates. We have selected an experienced partner – InfoConsulting which is one of the largest integrators in Europe”, says Marek Putzlacher, managing director at “Paula Fish” Sławomir Gojdź Sp. J.

IMPLEMENTATION

Before the IFS Applications system was implemented, Paula Fish used a multiple stand-alone solution, including for instance in handling cold storages, finances, and HR. Many aspects of the company’s business were handled with spreadsheets and other specialised tools. The core objective of the ERP system implementation project was to reflect the entire business of the company in a uniform integrated system.

The implementation covered all processes performed in the area of fish processing and storage and an integration with the logistics and transport handling system. Focus was made on core distribution and production processes and their financial representation. The IFS Applications™ system covers the core business area of the company such as: finances and controlling, input logistics with advanced pallet handling, manufacturing, output logistics, maintenance, and HR. Under the project, a new organisational structure of the company was defined, adjusted to the new tasks. Additionally, competencies of individual units and working positions were determined. The objective of the work was to improve work effectiveness and enhance company management.

The system was implemented and launched efficiently and in compliance with the pre-approved time schedule. The works were commenced in April 2017 and the solution was launched to production in January 2018.

Originally, about 50 users were planned to use the system. During project development, it turned out that due to the broad implementation a larger number of people were required to work with the system. Now almost 100 users work with the system. InfoConsulting keeps maintaining and developing the solution.