Einhamar Seafood produces fresh cod and haddock fillets for same day air freight export.
The company operates at a fast pace with up to 400 product numbers per day for customers around the globe. Everything that comes into their production hall needs to be processed, packed and shipped within five hours from crating.
Accurate, reliable and easy to use
“Reliable, sophisticated software that tracks and tackles the entire process and allows us to maintain an in-depth overview of the production is essential in this fast-paced environment,” says Alda Gylfadóttir, managing director of Einhamar Seafood.
She continues, “This is the main reason for our installation of the Innova Food Processing Software from Marel. Another, equally important factor was the full traceability we gain from the system.”
Traceability and trust
Increased awareness and concern for food origin and treatment has impacted the food supply sector in recent years. For fresh fish processors like Einhamar Seafood, this has been a welcome development.
“Having a full traceability system in our production facility gives us a lot of benefits,” says Alda. “First of all, this generation of consumers—as well as the next one—wants to know what they're consuming, where it's coming from. They want clean healthy food. Being able to present full traceability for our products strengthens the trust between us and our customers.”
Detailed info on every piece
With the Innova software, Einhamar Seafood has detailed information on every piece of fresh fish that goes out to their consumers. It can easily be traced straight back to the source; through all the processing steps back to the fishing grounds where it was caught.
“People want to know what they're eating,” says Alda. “They need to be able to trust the information about the product, and that's why I am certain that using software like Innova is the future in fish production.”
Full production overview
Traceability data is collected from the minute the fish is caught. Data on each catch lot is entered into the Innova system. Each boat is entered separately into the system and the lots are automatically updated throughout the process.
“Innova makes my work so much easier,” explains Alda. “It's much better in every way. I'm able to always have full production overview, something I wouldn't have if I had to be running around checking boxes.”
Fulfilling different needs
Einhamar Seafood caters to a large number of customers with very different product needs. Different sizes, different labels, different packaging, varying orders and changing requirements need to be managed securely on the fly.
“Installing Innova food processing software here has changed everything,” says Alda. “I can now connect everything for each customer to the product lot that comes in and is processed for them.”
Detailed info on every lot
“If a customer asks for any information about their products, I can view their lot and find everything related to the delivered product,” explains Alda. “I have full traceability and an overview of the treatment of each piece of fish on its way through our facility. I can see when the fish was caught, by what boat, the temperature throughout and how it was handled and processed. I can see exactly what the nematode situation was or if there were bones. With one single report, I can see everything.”
Complete order control
The Innova Food Processing Software allows Alda to easily plan and manage the entire process. She has complete control over order fulfillment at her fingertips. She can adjust the graders from her office to get the exact sizes she needs for specific customers. This has maximized product utilization and increased yield.
Easy to plan ahead
“In the morning, I enter all the orders to the Innova software and produce directly according to orders. I've already planned the day, sometimes two days ahead,” says Alda.
She adds, “I know exactly what we are going to do and how much fish I need for it. What’s more, the staff can see on their screens exactly what they are supposed to do, how many boxes to pack. We finish the processing and fulfill all our orders within five hours and take them to the airport every day.”
From paper to iPads
The company went from the traditional paperwork to the sophisticated yet user-friendly Innova that is managed on iPads, accessible on terminals and controlled with a keyboard instead of a pen. “We have no paper at all anymore. We’ve gained a lot going from paperless,” says Alda.
She adds, “To begin with I gain more security. The Innova software tracks everything automatically and the data recording is consistent and reliable. It makes sure you don't forget to do anything. In addition, I’ve gained an overview of our by-products. Something I did not have before.”
Automatic registration of by-products
Before installing Innova, Einhamar Seafood did not have an automatic registration of by-products. Today every by-product is in the system giving Alda an accurate record of the quantity and types of heads, bones and mince there are. Everything is weighed and labeled and managed by the system.
Labeled, registered and counted for
“The first of every month, I print out all my by-products for the month, and the invoice is out of the system one hour later, or so,” says Alda.
She continues, “It's way faster than before and you're sure of what you have, and you're not losing any of it. Before we didn't have any labels, we'd just count the by-products manually, and there was always the possibility of losing some on the way. Now we know if it's not labeled, it's not weighed and needs to be registered. This makes the process more accurate and secure.”
Partnership with the Innova Team
“Our relationship with the Innova team has been very good, excellent,” Alda says. “It's very important to me to have this relationship like I have with the Innova team, because I know what I want from a system, and they know how to give it to me. That's been working very well for the last few years. All the things we've done here, we've done them together.”