The perfect recipe in the warehouse

Chocolat Frey, based in Buchs, attaches great importance to sustainability throughout the entire value chain. In cooperation with the non-profit organization "UTZ Certified", the chocolate manufacturer Frey is committed to sustainably, socially and environmentally friendly cocoa cultivation.

The company is the number one in the Swiss chocolate market. The traditional company's product range of around 2,400 items includes everything that makes chocolate lovers' hearts beat faster.

Centralized master data maintenance, transparent processes, reduced material search times and virtually no more inventory differences. Chocolat Frey achieved this by harmonizing its SAP landscape and introducing the MSB Mobisys Solution Builder.

With the SAP add-on, the company was able to map its entire intralogistics with a lean mobile solution, thereby optimizing it end-to-end and making it more efficient. The Group relied on the many years of expertise of its strategic partner Trimaster.

Mobile intralogistics

When it comes to optimizing and adapting the SAP infrastructure in use, Chocolat Frey has relied on Trimaster's expertise and advice for years.

The Swiss SAP consulting company was also involved when it came to making the Group's logistics area more efficient. Chocolat Frey had set out the framework conditions in a precise project plan:

Organic structures in the entire intralogistics system were to be broken up, individual warehouse areas standardized, processes optimized and, last but not least, the SAP infrastructure harmonized.

Martin Städele, Head of Logistics at Chocolat Frey, describes the starting position as follows:

"We had reached a point where we had to become more flexible and also more efficient in order to meet the constantly increasing market requirements and reduce the associated cost pressure."

These challenges could only be overcome by Chocolat Frey bringing together what belongs together. Städele summarizes the benefits he expects to gain from this as follows:

"By using a mobile solution for our entire intralogistics, we have the necessary data to hand more quickly, can minimize errors and significantly reduce search processes in the warehouse area."

Four steps to standardized and transparent logistics processes

Chocolat Frey opted for the MSB Solution Builder integration platform from Walldorf-based SAP software solution partner Mobisys. This allows all processes in intralogistics to be mapped on a mobile basis.

One of the key features of the SAP add-on was that the interdisciplinary team was able to map all the necessary processes, quantities and value flows in the distribution warehouse in the existing SAP landscape using the MSB client with little effort.

In the second project step, the task became somewhat more complex: the old scanner system in the raw materials and packaging warehouse was replaced.

"By getting rid of our outdated legacy systems and introducing the MSB Client, we were able to eliminate superfluous middleware, further optimize our logistics processes and increase inventory quality"

says Martin Städele.

From this point onwards, all items in the raw materials and packaging warehouse were also posted online directly in the SAP system.

Batch tracing with a bite

Following process optimization in the distribution, raw materials and packaging warehouse, the third project phase, called Chark, focused on seamless batch tracing.

This enables Chocolat Frey to ensure complete traceability. The perfect integration of the MSB platform into the SAP system makes it possible to master this enormous administrative and logistical effort.

The traceability of goods is a must for Chocolat Frey. Due to the fact that the company only processes UTZ-certified cocoa in its production, this step is necessary, as otherwise the quality seal cannot be maintained.

The implementation of seamless traceability was accompanied by considerable process effects in production. By sensitizing the entire production area to the fact that it is also responsible for numerous logistics steps and must work hand in hand with logistics, the team was able to lay the foundation for seamless batch traceability with Chark.

"The rethinking of our employees was exemplary"

reports Städele.

Production moves along

Since then, numerous employees in production have also been using the mobile MSB client. They use a scanner to precisely book the raw material consumption for each process order directly in the SAP backend and can also conveniently and reliably initiate push-backs of unused components back to the warehouse.

Employees can now even use handheld devices to quickly and easily book the distribution of production products in goods receipt and initiate transportation to the distribution warehouse.

This makes the results of the batch where-used list even more accurate, as pallets can now be traced precisely. Another advantage: thanks to transparent processes and the increased sense of responsibility among employees, Chocolat Frey has been able to significantly reduce its inventory discrepancies.

Identical processes - different warehouse numbers

Following the standardization of the logistics processes and their mobile connection via the MSB client, the Connexus project was launched with the aim of standardizing the two productive warehouse numbers. Städele explains:

"Although we now had lean and identical processes, we still had two historically grown warehouses with different warehouse numbers in operation, to which we booked our goods movements."

As part of Connexus, the two warehouse numbers in a central SAP warehouse organization level were centralized to one warehouse number in an SAP system.

In this way, the master data could be significantly reduced and consolidated. As a result, Chocolat Frey was able to significantly reduce the administrative effort involved in master data maintenance and eliminate errors in advance.

"With the successful completion of Connexus, our master data is much leaner, always up-to-date, error-free and complete"

says Städele.

Outlook: Continuous improvement

From the purchase of high-quality cocoa beans to the distribution of the finished product, Chocolat Frey uses the MSB Mobisys Solution Builder integration platform to map each individual production step transparently and reliably.

Around 130 clients are now in use throughout the company and ensure real-time data exchange via WLAN - from handhelds to forklift terminals.

The integrated system landscape with standardized data storage and flexible, mobile logistics processes has an enormous advantage: detailed information about where certain groups of goods are stored and where products are returned to can be called up at any time.

Modern and flexible machinery completes the efficient production and packaging of Chocolat Frey's wide range of chocolate and sugar-free chewing gum.

"It is enormous how much our entire way of working and philosophy have changed with the technological change"

says Martin Städele.

"We have reduced the complexity of our system landscape, are fast, have efficient, secure logistics processes and have gone paperless. Manual reconciliation with printed lists in logistics is finally a thing of the past"

he takes stock. After all, the company is far from finished with the modernization of its IT.

Rather, the successful implementation of the individual sub-projects has created a solid basis on which continuous improvements can be realized in the future. The Swiss chocolate manufacturer has therefore also found the perfect recipe for its IT.

Requirements from Chocolat Frey

• Highest quality standards for production and logistics
• Implementing sustainability
• High market requirements and increasing cost pressure
• Breaking up organic structures in intralogistics
• Optimization and adaptation of the SAP infrastructure in use

Advantages of the MSB solution

• Precise project plan thanks to implementation partner Trimaster
• Standardization of storage areas
• Seamless batch traceability
• Transparent logistics processes
• Precise monitoring
• Error minimization
• Mobile mapping of all intralogistics processes