Young’s Seafood transforms IT operations

17-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 18-Jul-2013 at 14:32 GMT

Related tags Enterprise resource planning

Young's will be able to proactively address IT issues as a result of its overhaul, boosting factory service levels

Young’s Seafood has transformed its IT systems, bringing them in-house to boost service to all its factories and improve IT support.

That’s according to Bill Dougan, transition manager and project head at the frozen fish processor, who told FoodManufacture.co.uk the initiative had already smashed return on investment targets.

“We were looking at the cost versus service and benefit, which was set at 3–5% in the first year … we have exceeded that significantly,” said Dougan.

The changes had brought Young’s, which is part of the Findus Group, to the position of being able to implement a new enterprise resource planning system, he added.

Many Young’s Seafood workers using IT systems for operational purposes started their work early in the morning and the overhaul would limit lost time if things went wrong during those hours, he said.

‘Mission critical things to do’

“We wanted to make sure we had the right response and technical solutions to apply to those people who have mission critical things to do.”

The move, which cost the company more than £100,000, drew on support from LANDesk Software, which had previously provided Young’s with a reliable service, said Dougan.

Support for 1,100 desktop computers and more than 260 servers has been centralised through the investment, creating a system that could predict potential IT problems rather than just react to them, he said.

Software performance for an estimated 400 mobile devices will also be managed through the new LANDesk Total User Management system.

Peak efficiency

The new process was able to keep systems finely tuned so they ran at peak efficiency, added Dougan, who runs the Blue Prairie consultancy. “One of the biggest challenges we face as a business wasn’t necessarily that we weren’t delivering a service, but that we weren’t delivering a good enough service.

“There was an underlying theme for continuous improvement. That was a driver from day one and today we believe we have now started the journey to make that reality.”

IT systems failures, errors and breakdowns can interfere significantly with service levels and as a result prove highly costly for food and drink manufacturers.

“It is imperative that organisations can maintain the services and software updates expected in a secure environment, as well as quickly understanding if anything fishy is going on,” said Nigel Seddon, area director, LANDesk Software.

“Without the right solution, this can add a great deal of cost to the organisation.”