Univeg has a fine sense of taste with IBS softwareCustomer Story After an impressive range of acquisitions, Univeg has reached the absolute top - very quickly. With regard to bookkeeping and financial reporting, Univeg relies on the IBS worldwide network of offices and a sophisticated international project management approach. IBS has clearly contributed to the company’s growth.
Growth through acquisition
Univeg is an export company dealing in vegetables and fruit. The company was founded in Belgium in 1983, originally operating in the cultivation of mushrooms. Univeg has obtained a leading position in the food industry by means of a well-considered acquisition strategy.
The most recent and most significant expansion was in 2006 when Univeg merged with the Italian company Bocchi. Both companies appeared to be fully complementary and as a result, the Univeg group has realized a major scaling-up.
The parent company of the Univeg group is located in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium. Univeg has subsidiaries all over the world including Argentina, Brazil, France, Poland, Portugal, Italy, South Africa, The Netherlands, Spain and the US.
The group consists of well over 7,400 employees, in 140 companies in 22 countries. Today, Univeg consists of four departments. The company acts as a commercial enterprise in vegetables and fruit, and in that market segment, is one of the five most important players in the world. Univeg also consists of additional departments including flowers and plants and convenience products - such as cut vegetables and prepared meals - and transport and logistics.
Univeg operates according to the principal of vertical integration by purchasing and producing locally in South Africa, South America and North America. The logistics and transport department then guarantees shipment to Europe. Univeg’s customers are mostly major retailers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
One global solution
Because of the company’s rapid growth, Univeg needed one global and solid financial platform. In 2005, Univeg chose IBS Financials as its financial system and started with the roll-out of this solution in the company’s different sites. Shortly afterwards, the decision was made to merge with Bocchi and to bring all companies from that group to IBS Financials. This way, IBS Financials is used as single platform for bookkeeping and financial reporting within the whole Univeg group.
Moreover, Univeg needed an international partner to execute the project because its own IT department was insufficient. IBS made sure that every location had a dedicated team that was responsible for implementation, operational support and the training of users.
IBS Software is the core system
Univeg had an urgent need for consistent information within a heterogeneous environment. This was a huge challenge for IBS. Because of its decentralized history, the group uses a variety of applications: from SAP to Navision, Baan, Movex, Axapta and a great number of custom-made solutions.
IBS has installed IBS Financials within this environment as a platform for bookkeeping and reporting and to connect the software to the local ERP application. The core system that gathers all financial information is located in Sint-Katelijne-Waver. “IBS operates in a very flexible way and easily deals with our mish-mash of systems”, explains Johan Vanovenberghe, CFO, Univeg. This way, IBS allows Univeg to keep a global financial overview, which is crucial for the company policy.
Decentralized history
IBS Financials was implemented as the core system in Univeg’s main office in Belgium. From there, the system was easily rolled out and integrated with the local ERP package in the different sites. The IBS solution was implemented within one year in several countries, including Belgium, Poland, France, Russia, South-Africa and the US. After each additional acquisition by Univeg, IBS will follow with the implementation of its software solution. In the near future, for example, the implementation of IBS Financials will be achieved in Uzbekistan where a new acquisition will join the group.
A taste of the future
In the long run, the whole IT infrastructure of the group will be uniform. Future projects will be concerned with automation, e.g. automation of invoice flow, both within the group and with customers. Digitization of the approval process of incoming invoices is a priority. In addition, the advantages of projects relating to asset management and document handling will be further discussed. Univeg is convinced that IBS will play an important role in the further growth of the company.
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