NTT DATA Business Solutions

Integrated Food ERP Software Solutions from Crop to Plate

Increasingly demanding customers and suppliers, stronger traceability focus and new technologies are altering the way food companies do business. Find out how you can lead this transformation.

Food ERP Software
Agri-Food

Optimise Food processes with tailored solutions from NTT DATA Business Solutions

Today’s Agri-Food businesses face a host of new challenges. Customers want to know exactly what they consume: from which grower in which country? Is it grown, harvested and processed in a safe and environmentally friendly way? And in a way that optimises the nutritional value?

Suppliers want a flexible business partner, who can commit to a long term volume contract combined with short-term process cycles and who can help them leverage new technologies on smart farming and the Internet of Things. More stringent food safety regulations and fierce competition force agri-food companies to optimise their traceability and recipe management.

To overcome these challenges, agri-food companies need to bring all of their processes together in one platform – with tailored Food ERP Software providing integrated planning and transparency across the supply chain.

NTT DATA Business Solutions has a lot of experience in the food sector and knows the best practices in our industry. Thanks to NTT DATA Business Solutions, we now are able to better prepare ourselves for future developments, supported by a standard ERP solution that grows with our needs.

Wilfert van Veldhoven, Manager Finance & Control, Sensus (Royal Cosun)

Current Hot Topics for Food Companies

Connected Food Supply Chain

The Internet of Things is transforming the way farmers, food manufacturers and distributors produce, process and sell food. It all starts at the field, where farmers optimise yield, reduce the usage of scarce natural resources and make the most efficient use of existing arable land by leveraging IoT technology. The use of GPS services, smart equipment, sensors, drones and satellite imagery collects and combines real-time data on crop growth, moisture level, soil characteristics, weather conditions and more.

Decision support systems translate the input data into agronomic advice. With this information, the farmer can precisely determine when to plant, when to irrigate and what crop protection to use. The “Food Supply Chain 4.0” continues with transportation companies, who have connected their cargo with sensors and apply predictive analytics: not only to track locations and provide their business partners with real-time delivery information but also to monitor the freshness of the products by monitoring temperature and humidity level in their containers or trucks.

Food manufacturing companies use the IoT to connect with their business partners and achieve full supply chain transparency – improving food safety and reducing the probability and the impact of recalls. Manufacturers also streamline their own operations by connecting their machines and tools. Required maintenance can be signalled before a machine actually breaks down, which reduces downtime. Quality issues can be reduced by the use of sensors: eg. by signalling the door to a refrigerator room has been left open too long. Inventory and storage conditions can be optimised.

Last but not least, the consumer experience is transformed due to IoT. Fresh food boxes with recipes delivered at home; QR codes on a food product, allowing the consumer to get detailed product information; personalised coupons; personalised nutrition information; scan-and-go apps using smartphones… Also, grocers are experimenting with determination of food freshness by using video analytics and gas sensors; all in order to avoid spoilage and optimise the consumer experience.

The Connected Food Supply Chain transforms the way of doing business for farmers, food manufacturers, food transportation companies, CPG brands and consumers. NTT DATA’s solutions are designed to support you in this transformation. Our technology platform enables you to process data from any kind of machine, mobile device or sensor – merging it with transactional business data, geographical services or unstructured information from social media; then turning it into relevant business steering information.

Global Batch Traceability

Transparency across the food supply chain is not only driven by regulation, but also by consumer demand. Consumers want to know exactly what they consume: from which grower in which country and which region is the product? Is it grown, harvested and processed in a safe and environmentally-friendly way? And in a way that optimises the nutritional value?

Consumers also want clean labels: detailed specifications in comprehensive language, which indicate at a glance if the product is meeting their expectations (e.g. biological, gluten-free, halal, without preservatives, …).

NTT DATA Business Solutions with SAP Food ERP Software is tailored to support all these demands. Our industry solutions are based upon the SAP S/4 HANA platform, enabling seamless integration with your business partners. Our Global Batch Traceability solution graphically displays all steps in the supply chain, from raw material to end product, on batch level. Source data is coming from our ERP solution but can also come from other sources like co-packers, suppliers or quality control agencies.

Matching Demand and Supply

Food companies have specific planning challenges that stem from working with fresh raw materials/livestock. Being its seeds, flowers, vegetables, dairy or meat: the supply of raw material is always fluctuating. This can be due to seasonal patterns, changing growing or harvest conditions, volatile market prices…In any case, long-term supply can only be planned at a high level (e.g. estimated volumes, period, quality) whilst detailed material specifications are often only known upon material receipt.

Demand in food is, on the other hand, getting more and more specific: both private label and retail customers are improving their labelling and quality requirements. Balancing make-to-order and make-to-stock is, therefore, a key requirement for success.

Food ERP Software

Become a Member of Our Inner Circle for Consumer Products

Apply to become an exclusive member of our Inner Circle for Consumer Products companies as we build a community of Life Science Industry IT professionals who share similar issues and challenges in the sector.

Meeting quarterly, in a face-to-face setting, the Inner Circle is open to SAP customers, SAP community or those organisations considering SAP technology for their business.   You do not need to be an NTT DATA Business Solutions customer to attend.

 

Apply to Join

Our Food Specialties

Food ERP Software

Potatoes

The potato chain will look completely different in 20 years. Innovation is a must to meet the rapidly changing demands of consumers and the increase of stricter laws and regulations. Not to forget the increasing focus on sustainability and the environment. Technological innovations speed up all changes. NTT DATA Business Solutions can help you make the next step.

Food ERP Software

Bakery & Confectionery

Over the past few years, sales figures in the bakery & confectionery industry have stagnated due to customers’ changing nutrition habits. However, to stay competitive, you have to ensure that all processes – such as recipe management and quality control – run smoothly. Our experts support you with industry-specific SAP solutions so that you can concentrate on your core business: the production of culinary delights.

Food ERP Software

Meat Industry

Food safety regulations are particularly stringent in the meat industry, and compliance is vital for avoiding costly penalties – or, even worse, closure of the company. Moreover, legal requirements are changing fast and it is not easy to keep track of them all. We will support you with our proven expertise and SAP solutions that are tailored to your unique requirements.

Food ERP Software

Dairy Sector

The growth of the healthy snacking culture and of online and mobile shopping are changing the way dairy food is being bought and consumed. Adapt to these trends through better use of technology and data to target customers with tailored offers. At the same time, ensure that supply and demand are in line through better inventory management. With our extensive knowledge of dairy industry processes, we can help you overcome these new challenges.

Food ERP Software

Durables

Digital transformation and changing consumer buying habits mean that analytics and big data are now requirements in the consumer durables industry. Companies must tackle the topics of cloud adoption, data security, and SAP HANA to stay competitive in the growing global market. Profit from our technological thought leadership and industry-specific knowledge to overcome any challenge you may face.

Are You Facing Similar Challenges in the Food Industry?

  • Are you struggling to meet traceability demands, both regulatory and from your customers and business partners, across the food chain?
  • Is your outdated IT infrastructure leading to inefficient business processes?
  • Are you struggling to get real-time insight into your process efficiency; to optimise your recipes, your co-products and by-products, your yield and your operating margins?
  • Is it increasingly difficult for you to match supply and demand?
  • Is your supply management influenced by fresh raw materials with seasonal harvest patterns, fluctuating quality characteristics and volatile prices?
  • Are your demand predictions being complicated by short cycle times and tight restrictions on a/o Country of Origin, Biologic, Halal?
  • Are you familiar with all the compliance issues and food safety risks caused by a growing global economy?
  • Are you struggling with emballage management?
  • Is a lack of system integration making it difficult to gain a clear and complete picture of your overall operations?
  • Is data transparency and data analytics increasingly important for your company?

If you are currently facing one or more of these challenges, we can help you rethink your processes.

Industry-Specific Processes for Food

Inventory and Supply Chain Management

1) Manage inventory in multiple, concurrent units of measure where needed, and allow seamless processing in all units (e.g. pricing at the in-process scale); 2) Manage all inventory formats, including customer-owned, customer-pegged (promised), made-to-order (private label), quarantined, pre-approved by quality, etc; 3) Manage all traceability issues, lot track & trace, quality recall management.

Sales and Operations Planning

1) Evaluate all options for improving the business; 2) Explore product mix, customer mix, supply planning with ingredients and dry goods sourcing, supply chain costs, and optimisation of cost options to maximise margins; 3) Collaborate across all roles and functions to build the best plan.

Product Lifecycle Management

1) Streamline PLM from product inception to disposal – and align the business’s product portfolio to its objectives; 2) The transition from R&D to production in a well-planned, thoroughly coordinated manner;

Pricing, Promotions, and Commissions

1) Manage complex customer pricing including deep top-to-bottom logic to accommodate complex contractual pricing component details; 2) Assign prices based on individual product characteristics; 3) Handle promotional pricing issues connected to the physical logistics planning cycles (inventory, transportation, etc.); 4) Implement automated price optimisation based on demand; 5) Compensate broker/distributor channels accurately, with links to the end customer where needed.

Multichannel Sales

1) Direct; 2) Indirect via brokers/distributors; 3) B2B and B2C e-commerce and online stores.

Analytics & Yield Management

1) Align analytics with strategic needs throughout your business process; 2) Manage yield throughout the buying, production, storage, and logistics execution processes – focus this effort on critical control points rather than inefficient all-encompassing scope; 3) Increase visibility to key performance areas for business leadership in real-time; 4) Streamline end-of-month and end-of-year processes for fast, accurate completion; 5) Leverage embedded analytics for real-time feedback on critical issues, such as yield.

We understand the subtle differences among the food & agriculture industry’s specialities. As such, we have developed a multitude of industry-specific products to provide our customers with tailored SAP solutions – whether on-premise, cloud, or hybrid.

Jacques Scheutjens, Food & Agriculture, NTT DATA Business Solutions Benelux

agri-food SAP solutions

When Experience Meets Innovation in Food & Agriculture

As a trusted long-standing partner of SAP, NTT DATA Business Solutions is part of the development process for industry-specific solutions from the outset. Combined with over 30 years of experience in SAP Food ERP Software, this gives us unparalleled knowledge of the consumer products industry. It also puts us at the forefront of innovation in the sector, meaning that as we grow, you grow.

What’s more, thanks to our global presence, you can benefit from our best-in-class B2B and B2C solutions and round-the-clock consulting, wherever you are.

How SAP Solutions Help You

How Our Customers Benefit from Us

agthia-1920x600-SuccessStoryBanner
Agthia

Agthia Group is a leading Abu Dhabi based food and beverage company. Agthia offers a world-class portfolio of integrated businesses providing high-quality and trusted food and beverage products for customers and consumers across the UAE, GCC, Turkey, and the wider Middle East.

Image Kamps GmbH
Kamps GmbH

Proactive application support, end-to-end system monitoring and a flexible support model by NTT DATA Business Solutions ensure that Kamps benefits from outstanding performance and security within daily business.

Commercial Planning | Premier Foods
Premier Foods

SAP Analytics Cloud Planning was implemented as a solution to improve and standardise the commercial planning process. The integration with SAP SuccessFactors will help drive the HR planning process.

Een toekomstbestendig visbedrijf met SAP S/4HANA
A market leader in fish and shellfish processing

The conversion and migration to S/4HANA was carried out very successfully, quickly, and smoothly.

Dagrofa – Qlik Sense

Dagrofa Inspires Grocery Store Managers to Play with Data.

Marlow Foods – Quorn

The SAP S/4 HANA project has delivered a full suite solution comprising; Finance & Controlling, Manufacturing, Sales and Distribution, Procurement, Supply Chain and Logistics. The project was delivered using the Activate Methodology.

Clemons Food Group Banner Image
Clemens Food Group

In operation for over a century, Clemens Food manages procurement, production and logistics services from birth to finishing, supplying food service companies and retailers with a full range of pork products.

Image FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH
FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany

FrieslandCampina Germany is a subsidiary of Royal FrieslandCampina located in Amersfoort, Netherlands. The company is renowned for milk products of consistent high quality and famous brands such as Landliebe, Tuffi, Frico, Holland Master and Chocomel.

KWS SAAT SE, Einbeck, Germany

KWS SAAT, one of the world's leading seed producers, has been cultivating agricultural crops for the temperate climate zone for more than 160 years. With high-quality seeds for maize, sugar beets, grains, oilseed rape, sunflowers, soybeans, and catch crops, KWS meets all customer requirements.

Farmbot in Action with SAP Leonardo and SAP Cloud Platform
Watch on Farmbot in Action with SAP Leonardo and SAP Cloud Platform

Food & Agriculture | Farmbot in Action with SAP Leonardo and SAP Cloud Platform

How will we feed nearly 10 billion people in 2050 on this planet? How can we handle the growth of food demand short term in the next years? How can we stop nature destruction and foster natural awareness for our future?

Imagination and new ways of thinking are needed to handle the global food challenges of the future. In this video, you can watch a replay of the original pitch at the global NTT Data Hackathon to showcase the potential of a farmbot network to establish a platform for future Smart City Farming.

Speak to Us Today

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Do you want more detailed advice from our expert or wish to book one of our Food & Agro workshops?

Just contact us – we will be glad to help you.