Success Story - Gourmet

Onion specialist

Gourmet is a family business in Grootebroek, North Holland. "Our product is mainly home-grown. Nine to ten months a year, we supply from our own growers. The rest of the year we import from abroad to supply our customers. Our customers are mainly in retail in Europe. We respond to consumer needs and like to think along with our customers. For instance, we package our products for the customer: we have some twenty packaging lines. We also distinguish ourselves through our specialties, such as white, pink, or baby onions and various shallot and garlic varieties." 

"Quality is incredibly important to us. We have agreements on quality with all our customers. We also have many certificates. We have to work according to certain standards to meet the requirements of those certificates. These are all processes that need to be recorded. Inspection bodies naturally appreciate it if you execute proper process management by accurately recording and describing your processes." 

If someone was looking for something, or someone was not present, or someone left, we would run into trouble retrieving everything and keeping it up to date.

Steering by data

In a fast-growing company, you no longer want to steer by gut feeling, Mathieu says. "You want to steer by data. This requires ensuring accuracy at the source: data input. For that, you need unambiguous and consistent processes." 

"At the beginning of 2019, we had an ERP implementation. This suddenly gave us access to a lot more data, but it also meant we had to look closely at our processes. New working methods were introduced for many colleagues. So we needed to map and record those processes properly." 

Until recently, all that information was scattered all over the organization, on hard drives or simply by memory. "If someone was looking for something, or someone was not present, or someone left, we would run into trouble retrieving everything and keeping it up to date."

Not too complex

So it was the right time to examine all the processes closely. Of course, a system to safeguard these processes had to be included. After some research on the internet, a matching system was found in the form of WoodWing Scienta. 

"Version management was important to us. And above all, it had to be simple enough. If it becomes too complex, it is doomed to fail. Especially because people are not used to using it." 

That's why Gourmet is starting slowly with WoodWing Scienta. Meanwhile, there have been consultations with each department, and an administrator has been appointed. This is someone responsible for the processes of the relevant department. Mathieu: "If you start slowly, you will find that more demand arises from within the organization at a certain point. In my experience, that works better than forcing them to use all functionalities immediately." 

Does WoodWing Scienta meet expectations? "Yes, WoodWing Scienta is user-friendly. It encourages us to execute and record those processes thoroughly. We have employed an intern to map and record our processes in WoodWing Scienta. It really makes a difference. For us, it's a good safety net."