Wessanen: coordination with Isoware

Royal Wessanen has for many years been a successful competitor in the food industry. The Dutch company was established in the eighteenth century and has its roots as a seed trading company. Through the years, Wessanen has developed into a conglomerate of dozens of companies in the food industry which are composed of well-known and lesser known brands, such as Zonnatura and Beckers. After a large number of acquisitions, Wessanen in the last two years has added a new dimension, focusing on, among other things, the synergy between the different components of the company.

Coordinating work processes and embedding quality plays an important role. Corporate director of Quality Control Management, Henk de Vries, is at present involved with the worldwide expansion of Isoware, the digital quality control management system of Metaware.

“The approach to quality in the food industry frequently limits itself to the strict rules for food safety. Other processes and departments such as marketing, human resources and sales remain outside the consideration of quality. Our aim is to become certified according to the standards of ISO-9001 and ISO-14001. In order to accomplish that a system is required which covers all activities in the entire organisation”, states De Vries, who heads a department of three people in the head office in Amstelveen.

Wessanen operates in Europe and North America and generates a volume of trade worth billions with the production and distribution of foodstuffs

In addition to well-known brands, Wessanen is also an important supplier of private-labeled articles for supermarkets. The diversity of companies and activities and the geographical locations create a challenge for the introduction of a universal quality control system, but De Vries is convinced that Isoware is the correct tool. “It is very adaptable to our wishes and insights, is quickly installed and is available by means of our intranet. Everyone can connect at any time and from any location.”

The implementation of Isoware is preceded by improved networking. Afterwards new and improved processes will become evident. “That yields, besides a qualitative impulse, much more involvement of the users”, declares De Vries, who at present frequently travels to different locations to keep up to date on developments. “Most of the quality control managers within our organisations are now involved with completing the database with descriptions.” After the expansion, seventy percent of the nine thousand employees within Wessanen will have access to Isoware.
For the former more independent subsidiary companies, the arrival of Isoware means a significant cultural change. During this harmonisation De Vries sometimes encounters great differences: “a number of companies already had a hard copy quality system, one even had a digital system in place.

With the assistances of Metaware, we can easily change to Isoware. But there are also companies where employees have no access to Internet and there is even a company that still is not completely on our network.” In 2005 all Wessanen subsidiaries will be on one WAN. Also Wessanen will switch to Lotus Notes for e-mail.

The results of the new approach to quality are as yet not easily measured, however the manager of quality control already sees an improvement.
“Wessanen in its entirety is undergoing improvement. That is already evident in the cost structure of our operation. Eventually our aim is to improve the service to our customers. Quality Control Management is one of the pillars supporting this movement.” De Vries expects that from the beginning Wessanen, after this period of harmonisation and standardisation, will again begin with acquisitions. Integration in the existing operation will then be an important aspect. “We are in any case prepared.”