Vitelia Voeders: streamlined quality control thanks to BESTMIX® Quality Control
Until recently, quality control at Vitelia Voeders was mainly performed manually. Although this method met all legal requirements, the efficiency and time-intensity could still be improved. Moreover, the overview was sometimes lost. Since the implementation of BESTMIX® Quality Control, quality control at Vitelia Voeders is now digital and streamlined. Thanks to the integration with BESTMIX® ERP Suite and BESTMIX® Recipe Management, quality control is fully embedded in Vitelia Voeders' business processes.
Vitelia has been created out of a cooperative still existing today. This company serves agricultural customers throughout the Netherlands: livestock farmers, plant and tree growers, customers in the arable and horticultural sector… The entity ‘Vitelia Voeders’ produces and sells feed for chickens, pigs and cows. Its product range meets the needs of the animals at every live stage. On a yearly basis, more than 450.000 tons of feed and raw materials leave the modern factories in Oirlo and Ysselsteyn.
What preceded
Quality and safety are the most important aspects for Vitelia Voeders. Previously, the required samples and test results were mainly transmitted via Excel spreadsheets and separate PDF files. “Although that system worked properly, it ran into its limits due to the growth of our company, the larger number of users…,” says Ton van Paassen, Head of Quality Assurance. When Vitelia Voeders planned the implementation of a new ERP system and recipe formulation software, it also immediately started working on a quality control software tool.
The starting point
With BESTMIX® ERP Suite and BESTMIX® Recipe Management, Vitelia Voeders opted for two BESTMIX® Software solutions. After a market analysis, the quality control software from this same supplier also turned out to best meet Vitelia Voeders’ needs. “From the start, we aimed for a full integration within our factory systems and lab environment. BESTMIX® Quality Control was the only one able to meet that need,” according to Ton van Paassen.
Integration in processes
The raw materials reach Vitelia Voeders mainly via trucks and small cargo ships, also known as ‘barges’. Ton van Paassen explains: “BESTMIX® ERP Suite notifies BESTMIX® Quality Control of new purchase orders. This quality control software generates all the necessary samples and inspections. BESTMIX® Quality Control creates the necessary sample labels indicating to the operator which physical samples to take. Subsequently, he will stick these sample labels on the little sample bag, after which they will be sent to the internal or external labs.”
After having evaluated the supplier documents and a compliant first visual inspection, BESTMIX® Quality Control allows BESTMIX® ERP Suite to release the load. A deviating visual inspection will result in a refusal, rejection or release for processing as a raw material with lower quality properties.
After the analysis, the lab results will automatically end up in BESTMIX® Quality Control. The lab will also generate a certificate in PDF format, as an attachment to the samples. “Only if the NIR analyzes and other tests lead to a favorable result (in the field of mycotoxin and salmonella, for instance), we will release the silo for production,” says Ton van Paassen.
The BESTMIX® Quality Control’s update matrix functionality allows to calculate the average values of the samples and to compare them with the expected values. “Of course, one hopes that those values will correspond as much as possible with the predefined bandwidths. If it isn’t the case, it will have an impact on our product composition. A disappointing quality will also affect the price we will pay to our suppliers for that load. The update matrix functionality helps us to easily determine those quality fluctuations and to adjust the bandwidths if necessary.”
When further inspections are required in the production flow, BESTMIX® Quality Control will notify the operator. “Apart from the standard quality follow-up, we also perform customer-specific inspections. Sometimes, the livestock farmers ask us to document one or more properties of the finished product. BESTMIX® Quality Control includes it in our analytical schemes and provides the necessary labels.” BESTMIX® ERP Suite and its own MES software also check the production orders, sales orders, transfers, storage, transshipment and returns.
The user experience
As a quality employee, Suzan Lamers is in the right position to evaluate BESTMIX® Quality Control. “The analytical schemes generated by the software offer us many advantages. We no longer need to verify which samples to take per load. BESTMIX® Quality Control adapts the required samples based on the load volumes. Another asset is the overview: the analysis data are carefully documented and easily accessible.”
Shortly after the implementation of BESTMIX® ERP Suite and BESTMIX® Recipe Management, BESTMIX® Quality Control went live. “That was really tough,” Suzan Lamers remembers. “I was the only employee who had followed the BESTMIX® Quality Control training. Looking back, it might have been better to involve an extra colleague in the integration process. It would have allowed us to check things once more. However, product manager Jeroen Beheyt has supported me optimally and continues to do so today. He knows his software extremely well and always provides us with advice and assistance!”
“Although we master the program quite well one year after its implementation, we notice that we are still not making maximum use of some functionalities. In the near future, we also want to immediately send an internal e-mail in case of deviating values in the intake process. This way, we can avoid that the load would end up at another location of Vitelia Voerders. It should also allow the purchasing department to notify the competent authorities when necessary,” Ton van Paassen explains. “Now, we keep working on this together with Jeroen.”
“BESTMIX® Quality Control has a lot to offer to the quality manager and has real specialists who speak the customer's language,” Suzan Lamers concludes.
