Egger Gemüsebau
Digital orders, fast delivery
Freshness is what determines success or failure in vegetable trading. For Egger Gemüsebau AG based in Wertbühl, Switzerland, it is the key promise they make to their customers, in addition to reliability and adaptability. To fulfill these expectations in their day-to-day operations, the family-run business has opted for consistent digitalization of its processes. At the core of their strategy is the CSB-System: as the centralized ERP, it controls all key processes, from ordering to goods receiving and picking.
On the fertile soil surrounding the company’s headquarters, about 70 employees grow a wide variety of vegetables and lettuces. Fruits and vegetables from select regional producers complement the product range. Egger Gemüsebau supplies its produce to the hospitality sector, market vendors, and wholesale and retail stores all across Eastern Switzerland.
The expectations of these customer groups are demanding: a wide range of products, always fresh produce, and all with quick delivery times. To meet these expectations efficiently, the company has modernized its IT landscape, choosing the ERP system from CSB. They were looking for a system that not only mapped their existing processes but also supports future business growth.
The CSB-System successfully went live after a six-months project phase. Since then, it has been the organization’s digital backbone, providing Egger Gemüsebau with a platform for continued development and integration of additional functionality.
Webshop extends order time frames
The introduction of a B2B online store was one of the key milestones. Before, orders mainly came in via telephone or email. The employees then needed to transfer these orders manually to the ERP system – a task that was not only time-consuming but also made finding the reason for incorrect deliveries tedious.
Now, the Webshop has digitalized this process. Customers can place their orders directly online. Orders that come in before midnight will be delivered the next morning. Customers can also keep track of their orders in the system.
“Our customers’ feedback on our Webshop has been overwhelmingly positive. They truly appreciate the flexibility it has gained them,” says Pascal Egger, CEO and head of purchasing and sales. The system’s benefits are also clearly evident in internal processes: better structures in the order processing, reduced error rates, and improved efficiency in internal workflows.
Mobile picking replaces paper
Egger Gemüsebau is now poised to digitally transform its warehouse and processing operations. Their employees will no longer need to work with printed changeover sheets. Traditional redundant workflows, such as transferring hand-written notes of the quantities picked to the ERP system, will be a thing of the past.
Instead, the entire picking process will be managed by the ERP system. Pickers will be using mobile devices with built-in scanners to guide them to one of the twenty picking stations equipped with scales.
The system helps the employees locate the exact bin location, indicating the products intended for the specific customers. Relevant data is captured directly where it is created and updated in the ERP system – without any detours.
The effect is similar to a navigation system at the warehouse: all steps are clearly guided, error rates are reduced, and full traceability up to the customer is maintained.
Clear strategy for digital transformation
These examples show how Egger Gemüsebau expands its digitalization, one step after another. Rather than introducing stand-alone solutions, the company pursues a clear strategy. Processes are digitalized where processes are digitalized they deliver measurable value. The digitalization not only improves the company’s competitiveness. It also reduces the employees workload with time-consuming routine tasks. “We focus our digitalization efforts on business processes that provide tangible value to our organization and our employees,” summarizes Pascal Egger.
In doing so, Egger Gemüsebau shows how you can combine traditional farming and modern IT. Fresh products will continue to be at the heart of the business. But digital processes ensure that they reach customers faster, more safely, and more efficiently.
