Food and drink IT specialist CSB has been awarded a silver medal at the International FoodTec Awards - regarded as the leading awards for international food technology - for an innovative logistics solution at Dutch meat producer ProMessa. The solution made it possible to automate intralogistics and the supply chain, resulting in increased freshness, efficiency and performance.

Jointly developed by CSB-System AG and CSB-Automation AG, the core of the solution is automated intralogistics technology, which is controlled and monitored by the IT system.  The system acts as the central nervous system, linking the entire process chain from procurement to production, intermediate storage and order picking to dispatch.

“The creative use of CSB Factory ERP has redefined the common boundaries of logistics components,” explains Max Studer, Managing Director of CSB-Automation AG, which was primarily responsible for the project in the CSB Group.  “In the ProMessa 2020 project, the vision of the "Smart Factory" has been consistently, efficiently and profitably implemented.”

The solution required both the selection of the right technical components, and then intelligently interlinking them to form a powerful overall system for greater flexibility. The software and identification technology makes it possible to use warehousing and conveyor technology much more efficiently. The entire intralogistics system is based on the principle of decoupling process steps, so that all upstream and downstream activities, from production to dispatch, are able to work independently in order to achieve permanently high productivity and flexibility.

“The software thus assumes the function of a central nervous system,” continues Max Studer. “In this way, the project demonstrates that a high degree of automation can be achieved through digital business processes. ProMessa is already in a position to realise a batch size of one at the very lowest logistics costs.”

Output has also doubled from 50,000 packs to over 100,000 packs per day with the same number of employees, and further economic benefits have been achieved in warehousing.  ProMessa can also respond even faster to repeat orders without having to build up a large stock. This has a positive effect on capital employed and increases cash flow.

"In the past, we used to have a much higher proportion of buffered goods that we had to have on stock,” says ProMessa Managing Director Harold Rouweler. “Thanks to the speed of our logistics system, we now only buffer pre-packaged and unlabelled goods for one day."  This means that daily delivery to customers is possible even with a very short order lead time, while delivery performance is over 99 percent.

"We are very pleased that our solutions have been able to help achieve such a productivity boost for a long-standing customer,” concludes Dr. Peter Schimitzek, CEO of CSB-System AG. “It shows that automation and information technology are key factors in the food industry; and when all components work together perfectly, we will come a big step closer to the Smart Factory."

For more information, visit www.csb.com.