Everfresh Group harvests the fruits of success with IBS' integrated supply chain management software
Fresh ideas, excellent IT support and constructive customer relations. Only a few companies have put them into practice as the fruit and vegetables importer, Everfresh.
Company background
The Everfresh Group was founded in Sweden in 1987. Its initial objective was to import fruit, primarily from South America and Cyprus. As time progressed, the range of fruits expanded, vegetables were added and the number of countries from which products were bought was increased.
The Everfresh Group is dedicated to supplying fruit and vegetables to wholesalers, stores and in some cases to importers in the Swedish market. The business is based on a rich international network of suppliers from all corners of the world.
The Everfresh Group employs 285 people and had a turnover of EUR 300 million in 2003.
Business issues
In the fruit and vegetable industry, logistics is a hot potato. The Everfresh Group depends extensively on IT support to handle the business. Goods turnover is extremely fast and customers are much less tolerant of late deliveries than in other industries.
The Everfresh Group felt that the traditional supply chain from grower to consumer involved too many parties. The group wanted to change this out-dated method. Radical thinking such as buying speculatively from the grower and arranging the dispatch of products directly to the supermarkets, would see customer service levels blossom.
The Everfresh Group's warehouse – the most modern in Europe and the very heart of the vast logistics center in Helsingborg – provides evidence of innovative thinking. Fruits and vegetables arrive from suppliers all over the world. The group processes products seven days a week and handles an average 100,000 boxes daily, with each box containing 10kg of fruit or vegetables. Individual pickers can lift approximately 1,500kg per hour. In order to better handle the weight, the Everfresh Group intended to use a robot, which had to interface with a new software solution and focus on carrying heavy products.
One of the tricks of the trade is to move products quickly. The Everfresh Group needed the ability to speculate with buying patterns and ship orders that arrived, all in the same day.
The Everfresh Group is a young company and with IBS software as a tool, we have been able to increase our market share from 7% in 1997 to 25% in 2003. It goes to show that a good IT partner is essential for survival in today's competitive business environment.
Lars Äström
Managing Director
Everfresh Group
Solution and capabilities
The Everfresh Group used an earlier version of IBS' integrated supply chain management software. The capabilities and reliability of this solution were an important factor in the decision to implement a more sophisticated and comprehensive solution from IBS. The company discovered that the new version of IBS software included many of the functionality that the Everfresh Group had previously added on its own.
Another reason for choosing IBS software was the ease of connecting it to external systems such as 'On-Lime', the group's own e-Commerce system.
The Everfresh Group's business is dedicated to one overriding principle – transparency of operations. Unlike many companies, the Everfresh Group wants its customers to be familiar with its pricing and overheads. IBS software not only provides this functionality but is also being utilized as a purchasing application. In addition, the group's customers can utilize IBS software to compile sales statistics and even print smart signs.
Orders are transmitted from IBS software straight into the Everfresh Group's warehouse, where 20 percent of the goods are automatically picked by a robot, interfaced with IBS software. Small computers are fitted to the company's fork-lifts, where order details are checked off, before being re-transmitted to the IBS solution for invoicing.
As each pallet arrives, it is labeled with a unique sticker containing a serial number and a bar code. This 'pallet passport' determines exactly where the pallet is placed in the high-rise refrigerated warehouse and the order in which it is delivered to the Everfresh Group's customers.
Benefits and value
The entire order process at the Everfresh Group is now 100 percent electronic and paperless. Electronic invoices are issued to 20 percent of the group's customers, which leaves more time to monitor the flow of goods.
IBS software allows the Everfresh Group to act as the purchasing department for its customers. Over a period of time, the group can guarantee the best bargain. This way, the Everfresh Group grows along with its business partners: the more they buy of the total assortment, the lower the prices will be. This has led to an increase in customer satisfaction.
Due to the comprehensive interface between the picking-robot and IBS software, the group's warehouse is free-flowing and cost-efficient. By reducing the workload of its pickers, the Everfresh Group can retain its workforce longer.
The Everfresh Group has an inventory turnover of 1.6 days. Orders are shipped the same day they are received. Not only has IBS software for Financial Management been a valuable tool in monitoring how margins vary hour by hour, it has provided the company with a sharp competitive edge. The Everfresh Group is able to keep track of the extremely rapid flow of goods, an essential benefit of growing a profitable business.
The Everfresh Group's investment in IBS software did not take long to bear fruit. The company has been able to grow its market share from seven percent in 1997 to 25 percent in 2003, achieving a turnover of EUR 300 million. The Everfresh Group will shortly reach a stage where the cost of increasing the domestic market share is prohibitive. In order to reap increased turnover and profitability, the company will need to focus on foreign markets. With IBS software as its chief business system asset, the Everfresh Group can look towards a ripe future.
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