Annika Stroh has been a QM assistant at Giovanelli Fruchtimport AG for two years and is extensively involved in supplier and quality management. In the following summary, Mrs Stroh reports on the many challenges in this area and tells us why she successfully advocated the use of Agriplace last year.
Challenge:
"Collecting documents from our growers and suppliers proved to be heavy before the introduction of Agriplace. One of the biggest issues was ensuring documents were up to date and managing document requests with our large supplier base. The current way of working required us to send requests manually and keep reminding suppliers to return the documents. Maintaining an overview and ensuring that the certificates were up to date was a major challenge and required an enormous amount of time on our part. The administration of our suppliers required a full-time employee to request all certificates using the manual procedure."
"As customer requirements, particularly those of wholesalers and retailers, are becoming stricter and certificates are required right up to the grower in the field, it is no longer possible to request certificates manually. "
Solution:
"The processes that have improved by using Agriplace are mainly related to the function of being able to send automatic requests to collect documents to suppliers and growers."
"In order to satisfy our customers and provide all the necessary certifications from the producers, Agriplace helps us to clearly visualise the supply chain and the producers' certifications and share them directly with customers. The normally very difficult and cloudy process of finding out all the sub-suppliers of each direct supplier and gaining an insight into the entire supply chain has now been simplified. I can now query our direct supplier's growers in Agriplace and add them to my own supply chain overview. During audits and spot checks of retailers, this ensures that the required certificates are available at the right time. It is also practical to search for the GGNs of a supplier in Agriplace and to be able to view the links in your own supply chain."
Result:
"I can definitely recommend Agriplace and give the tip to pick up the suppliers well before the introduction of the platform and to inform them about it. This enabled us to ensure better cooperation. You should take enough time to create the rules with which the system will later work and, ideally, carry out a few tests with selected suppliers. There are always a few exceptions, but once the requirement rules are in place, the platform will be a great support in day-to-day business. You just have to get started!”
They also followed to mention how the Industry would collectively benefit from implementing Agriplace and drive connectivity in safe supply chains even further.
“We would also be delighted if other companies in the sector were to use Agriplace, because it is simply needed. Personally, I would like to see even more networking in the sector, because everyone has the same problems with the supply chain and certificates.”
“I can say that thanks to Agriplace, our new way of working has become much more time-saving - most of it works automatically and you only have to look up the document requests you receive.”
Key Takeaway for other Companies:
Embracing Agriplace early is recommended, but you must invest time in rule creation, and collaborate with supplies. The platform has been said to streamline supply chain management, making processes automated, saving time, and hopefully helping foster industry-wide connectivity.