It’s quite impossible for chickens to have a happier life... this is the thought that immediately comes to mind when you take a look behind the scenes of ”Wanderhuhn“ (the company name translates as ”Roaming Chicken“) to see how their egg-laying hens are kept. They are so happy because they have mobile chicken coops specifically created for this purpose, which are regularly moved to a different location. That way, chickens always have a green meadow, which makes them peck away happily. In addition, there are other things that make hens happy. One example is that chicken flocks are smaller than normal: while 6,000 hens typically live in a free-range coop, at Wanderhuhn there are only 1,250.
Wanderhuhn’s goal is to make chickens happy, and there are several challenges that must be overcome to make this happen, specifically when it comes to logistics: this is mostly about registering eggs at the packing station as swiftly as possible and then dispatching them to retailers.
After all, ”time is of the essence when it comes to selling eggs,“ said Franz Denk, Wanderhuhn’s managing director.
Integrated EDI interface for fully automated data exchange
Since April of this year, Wanderhuhn has been saving even more time thanks to the interaction between a cloud-based software solution by its ERP partner Winfo Data and an integrated EDI interface by EDITEL, which allows for fully automated data exchange. Orders (ORDERS) placed by SPAR are received as jobs in Wanderhuhn‘s ERP system and the process is fully automated. These orders are then filled without delay. In addition, invoices are also automatically sent to SPAR headquarters as electronic EDIFACT documents (INVOIC) and can then be processed without any manual entry. ”Other than saving us a lot of time, this ensures high process reliability with virtually zero transmission errors,“ said Franz Denk.
When asked about the implementation of this project, Mr. Denk highlights the ”easy and smooth processes.“ Just as an aside: the entire project was implemented during the lockdown caused by COVID-19. The successful project was a result of the tried-and-trusted collaboration between Winfo Data and EDITEL. Günter Winterstätter, managing director of Winfo Data GmbH, agrees: ”As an IT systems vendor, we believe in selecting business partners who can work well with our software developers. For us, EDITEL Austria is the number one choice when it comes to EDI interfaces for the automated data exchange between our clients and their business partners. The ‘Wanderhuhn‘ project is impressive testament to the benefits such a solution has for all involved partners,“ he said.
