Rethinking information logistics: Transparency and control for all processes

The Gustav Heess Group is active in the production and distribution of high-quality oils for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and chemical industries. The group's objective is to implement a comprehensive quality management system and to ensure seamless end-to-end information logistics. Yaveon introduced Microsoft Dynamics NAV with Yaveon's industry solution for quality control, financial accounting and merchandise management. The challenge for the new ERP system was to combine all business processes with Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

The Gustav Heess Group, a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality oils for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and chemical industries, has set itself the goal of practicing comprehensive quality management. This also includes seamless, end-to-end information logistics. Previously, quality control, financial accounting and merchandise management were managed in separate systems: Now Gustav Heess combined all business processes into one ERP system with the Yaveon industry-specific ERP solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Vegetable oils and greases are a special kind of substance. Cold-pressed or refined, oils with the most diverse properties can be found all over the world, as can their use in the most diverse branches of industry. As pure oils in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, but also as ingredients or additives in technical applications such as the coatings industry, etc. The Gustav Heess Group is a traditional Swabian family business with an international focus that specializes in supplying its numerous customers in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and chemical industries with suitable vegetable oils and fats. Procuring and delivering the right oil with the desired properties is the company's core business.

As with all companies, order processing, logistics (SCM) and quality control must therefore work hand in hand in order to meet customer requirements correctly and on time. This is all the more true in terms of quality, as customer requirements regarding the purity and properties of products have increased significantly in recent years. While the food industry is increasingly demanding organically produced oil, compliance with the European Pharmacopoeia is a priority in the pharmaceutical industry. In chemical-technical applications, the product and processing properties must always be guaranteed.

"It is now declared company policy to include all processes within the value chain in the QM system," says Joanna Weretka, Sales Manager and one of the two ERP project managers at Gustav Heess, quoting the company policy. "In order to turn these ideas into reality, it was necessary to put the previous company IT on a new footing," adds Jan-Gregor Nitsche, IT manager and second project manager. Gustav Heess is certified to ISO 9000 and the laboratory to ISO 17025.

But the numerous quality audits from customers and testing bodies can be simplified with a system in which all status information and documents converge in one place. After the project managers had drawn up a comprehensive list of requirements together with the specialist departments, various systems suitable for SMEs were evaluated from 2009 onwards. It soon became clear that Microsoft Dynamics NAV represented a future-proof and scalable solution for the further development of Gustav Heess. "Finding the right partner for the implementation was not easy, as there are several NAV partners experienced in the food industry. But the workshops with Yaveon showed us that they understand our needs best," says Jan-Gregor Nitsche. Last but not least, the GMP know-how was crucial if the Gustav Heess Group wanted to remain able to supply its pharmaceutical customers in the long term. From spring 2010, the new system based on Yaveon's industry solution was developed jointly at the Gustav Heess Group's headquarters in Stuttgart.

The central components of the new solution are seamless lot tracking, comprehensive quality and certificate management and the management of article specifications. "We now maintain all article and batch data just once in the integrated data master," explains Annette Schaffer, Head of Laboratory at the Gustav Heess Group. "All certificates and specifications can be called up immediately and the labels are printed directly from Microsoft Dynamics NAV." Almost all stocks now have the correct batch numbers, bilingual designations and barcodes. This significantly reduces errors. And with just a few clicks, all the necessary certificates of analysis can be called up and provided to the customer as proof.

Thanks to the integrated field security, articles or suppliers can only be released by authorized employees. Misunderstandings are avoided and special customer requests can be passed right through to the beginning of the supply chain.

Yaveon's industry-specific ERP solution records all customer requests and restrictions and makes it easier to assign the correct batches thanks to the central information pool. In future, the system will schedule the batches and plan procurement. "However, we have to do some homework to integrate external production at various contract manufacturers into the system," says Schaffer.

In addition to comprehensive quality assurance, logistics forms the second core of batch management. The entire flow of goods is now mapped directly in the system. When the tanker trucks arrive at the gate, the necessary inspection orders are generated immediately and the results of the laboratory are stored in the system. In warehouse receiving, the approved batch can then be pumped from the tanker truck into drums or IBCs via transfer stations.

The scales are fully integrated into NAV for this purpose, so that the quantity and batch information is immediately transferred to the warehouse data. "We were even able to find the convenience functions of our double scales in Microsoft Dynamics NAV so that there was no process slowdown at the filling station," says Nitsche. The connected label printer ensures clear labeling of the containers and reliable batch traceability.

Separate storage zones for certified organic oils, chilled goods and others prevent contamination or gross mix-ups. Within the zones, the Gustav Heess Group operates a dynamic warehousing system in which goods are generally picked according to the FIFO principle. There are also different transfer and filling stations. For example, oils for foodstuffs can be filled in accordance with the HACCP concept, while technical oils require less effort.

Yaveon not only had the right industry solution, but also a suitable implementation methodology and employees with extensive industry expertise. "I have already experienced three NAV implementations with three partners in my professional life. The one with Yaveon was by far the best," says Head of Logistics Bettina Pillich. "It wasn't just that the Yaveon employees always understood us professionally. They also showed great commitment." Yaveon's approach is always geared towards the processes, but also adapts to the circumstances at Gustav Heess. "It was so important to involve all departments in the change process. Nobody could be overburdened," says Joanna Weretka.

The project team therefore made sure that all absolutely necessary processes were introduced first. Others, however, were initially only prepared so that they could be implemented step by step later, when more experience in their use was available: After six months of live operation, for example, almost the entire inventory has been handled once and provided with barcode labels. "Only now does it make sense to record not only the scales electronically, but also the individual containers and batches," says Pillich, some of whose employees in logistics had never worked with IT support before. Simple masks for the industrial touch panels at the filling stations are also tailored to the needs of the logistics processes.

The real launch on February 1, 2011 went completely according to plan and the entire project was exactly on budget. There was no loss of data and all orders could be processed from day one. The financial accounting could also be converted immediately - with the items already posted in the current year. With the integrated ERP system, Gustav Heess is now in a position to optimize its business processes. It can also respond to the challenges of globalization and market changes at any time.

"With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we have gained a good deal of flexibility and investment security," says Nitsche. With the possibilities of data exchange within and outside the organization, further end-to-end automated business processes will increase quality and thus customer satisfaction over time. "This was a very successful project for us," says Joana Weretka, summarizing the result.