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CSB helps success flow for Fripa

A software solution from CSB-System is helping German food wholesaler Fripa maintain its reputation for prompt delivery. The company prides itself on taking less than 24 hours between customer order and delivery, a speed enabled by the smooth process flows of the system from CSB.

Fripa supplies its 900 customers, mainly in the foodservice sector, with a wide variety of meat products, fish, baked goods, delicatessen, cheese, vegetables and spices.  The EPR system from CSB supports employees during order entry by displaying on screen the relevant details about customers, order behaviour, products, quantities, prices and inventory stock, meaning all staff need to do is enter the orders in the system and release them for picking.

In addition, Fripa recently started up a B2B online shop – developed by CSB-System – to give them all the advantages of state-of-the-art multichannel sales. The shop is fully integrated into the ERP system, so incoming orders are immediately available in the coverage planning modules, while manual, time-consuming and error-prone data maintenance is eliminated.

Another important reason for the seamless integration of resource planning is that, in addition to price maintenance, any data related to food aspects – for example weight, durability dates, lot sizes and traceability - is provided automatically.  Thanks to the direct connection between the online shop and the ERP system, users can automatically check the availability of the items in the order, taking into account the required delivery times, meaning picking and dispatch can be initiated immediately after the order has been placed.

Speed is also of the essence for the collection of the goods. Fripa pickers in the dry and refrigerated warehouses use mobile end devices with scanner functions, which are connected online with the CBS system and receive the orders via WLAN for processing.   Orders are sorted in advance by storage location, meaning the processing sequence and therefore the routes of the pickers can be optimised.  This speeds up the procedure and has substantially increased daily output.  

When the picker acknowledges the pick process on the MDC device, the completed order is automatically reported to the inventory management system and the stock on hand is updated.

For frozen goods, which are stored at a minimum of -20°C meaning mobile devices do not function very well, picking is controlled by voice.  Via WLAN, the CSB-System communicates with a mobile speech processor, which converts the order data to voice and transmits it to pickers’ headsets.  As well as secure and error-free workflows, this process means pickers have their hands free and can act faster and more flexibly.  Confirmation of the pick process is also done by speech input with online connection to the inventory management for stock to be updated in real time.

“The software is a productive factor for us,” says Fripa managing director Ralf Hahl. “In particular, the quality in picking has improved significantly. Compared to before, our processes are much faster and smoother. Since we are not using picking notes anymore, the error rate is close to zero. Overall, the software helps us secure a vital competitive advantage: speed. Within less than 24 hours after the order has been placed, we deliver the goods to the customer.”

Fripa is currently planning the addition of further CSB modules.  For example, the company wants to manage its reusables with the help of the software, having identified further cost saving potential in that area.