Quality pasta and pastry specialist selects IT solution from Strategic IT
’SI Foodware’ offers best fit for companies in the food and beverage sector'
Antwerp, 14 May 2008 - Quality pasta and pastry specialist Abramo in Zwevegem, Belgium, has signed contracts with Strategic IT. Abramo will implement Microsoft Dynamics® NAV with SI Foodware®, the sector specific solution for companies in the food and beverage sector. Abramo had been looking for a professional solution to improve their business processes and flow of information because they had grown rapidly over the last fifteen years into a medium-sized business with an extensive clientele. ‘We have chosen Strategic IT’s solution because they have a great deal of knowledge and experience in the food & beverage sector,’ explains Robert Lamote, Business Manager at Abramo.
Gourmet pasta and pastry products
Abramo’s speciality is high-quality pasta and pastry dishes. By only producing to order and not holding products in stock, Abramo can guarantee that all its products are fresh. Products are produced, garnished, chilled and packed all on the same day, for delivery to clients the following day. Abramo’s product range consists of seven different types of dishes from traditional cuisine, such as lasagne, bite-size appetisers, savoury pies, potato dishes and casseroles. A large proportion of the products is destined for domestic caterers and butchers via the cold meats wholesale chain. Additionally, Abramo is a valuable partner for many distributors.
Selection process
In recent years Abramo has grown into a medium-sized business but its custom-built software hasn’t grown along with the company. This created the need to select a professional solution to improve the business processes and the flow of information. ‘We have been through an extensive selection process; we even had a student work on this for his graduation project,’ says Lamote. ‘We conducted a thorough investigation into suppliers of ERP software for companies in the food and beverage sector and that is how we found Strategic IT.’ The solution offered by Strategic IT is based on Dynamics NAV in combination with SI Foodware. The advantage of Dynamics NAV is that it is very user-friendly and the software is easy to integrate with other software solutions. Furthermore, the SI Foodware add-on is a custom solution for the food and beverage sector, and SI Foodware follows market developments and is adapted to changes in legislation. SI Foodware is developed and maintained by Schouw Informatisering, Strategic IT’s Dutch parent company. ‘The combination of Dynamics NAV and SI Foodware offers the best fit with our company,’ says Lamote.
Quality
Lamote goes on to explain, ‘By best fit I refer to the wide range of functionality offered by SI Foodware, particularly in the area of Quality Assurance. With the help of SI Foodware we are now certain that our products satisfy current quality requirements.’ The General Food Law states that companies in the food and beverage sector must be able to trace all their products at any time. This is also one of the fully automated features of Dynamics NAV with SI Foodware.
Implementation
‘Besides the solution offered we were convinced by Strategic IT’s long-standing knowledge and experience of the food & beverage sector,’ Lamote explains. Work has already started on implementation and if all goes according to plan the first phase will go live on 1 July. This phase includes modules for financial affairs, procurement, sales, planning, production and quality. In a subsequent phase we will tackle aspects such as EDI, RF scanning and reporting. For further information about Abramo please visit www.abramo.be.
