Imagefarm puts muscle in frozen food business controls

The company, which is experiencing rapid growth, is implementing an integrated business management system from Access Supply Chain to replace an accounting package and spreadsheets. Imagefarm is know primarily for tis whole-muscle and re-formed poultry products, aimed at the food service sector and, in particular, restaurant groups and brewery chains. Systems analyst and project manager Ian Lycett explains: “We knew we needed to introduce significant changes to maintain the level of efficiency we’d become accustomed to. We wanted an integrated solution that would allow us to consolidate our information and improve its visibility throughout the company.” He says the company spent 10-months reviewing the market, before selecting Access Supply Chain. “The software jumped through every hoop and the professionalism demonstrated by the people was instrumental in our decision to select them.” Lycett says the system will be transformational: “As soon as a sales order comes in, it will be visible to everybody – we expect that to contribute significantly to the effectiveness of our purchasing, planning and scheduling. And we will build on those improvements, using the system’s flexibility to help automate some of our more time-consuming processes.” He also makes the point that regular introduction of new products is vital for companies like Imagefarm to maintain their competitive edge. “Access Supply Chain will support the introduction of new recipes into the factory by allowing us to refine costings through information gathered during production trials and subsequent production runs. That will allow us to really nail down our costs.”