TROPOS is a powerful and flexible ERP system, widely used in the UK food and drinks industries. TROPOS has been developed for regulated, short-cycle demand-driven manufacturing using the process model. This is typical of food processors and packers, particularly those supplying the major retailers or those distributing short
shelf-life products.

Dairy Products

Dairy products include milk, cream, butter, yoghurts, cheese, chilled desserts and products containing a significant proportion of dairy-based ingredients. Dairy products are usually stored and delivered chilled, although some such as ice cream are frozen and others such as milk powder are ambient. Ingredients are usually bulk products and subject to cost, grade and seasonal variations. Process plants are often highly automated and need sophisticated integration with business systems to provide visibility of in-plant operations.

The TROPOS features that support the manufacture of short shelf-life food products are ideally suited for manufacturers and distributors of dairy products. However, these manufacturers have functional requirements in addition to those required for other food products. These may include:

• Information systems integration with process plant and equipment
• Management of cheese production (forward planning, maturation, grading)
• Manufacture of bulk intermediate products with multiple finished products
• Delivery management, such as consumer delivery rounds and van sales to small retailers, van sales reconciliation
• Dairy-specific quality management
• More complex inbound logistics to cater for bulk, grades, quality specifications
• Special timing considerations

TROPOS Features for Dairy Products

TROPOS includes industry-specific applications to address the pain-points experienced in particular industries. For dairy products these include:

• Cheese Planning Workbench to manage maturation and grading to meet demand forecast
• Van Delivery Management to manage customer orders, vehicle stocks, order cycles and invoicing.