SUMMARY:

The National Cooperative of Milk Producers, best known as Conaprole, and STATUM have released three projects to digitalize and accelerate Conaprole's internal processes.
 

INFORMATION:

The process that has been implemented registers the sending of product samples from all the plants located throughout the country to the central quality laboratory located in Montevideo.

All products go through a quality control to ensure that they meet the health standards. For instance, when a milking parlor sends milk to a plant, a sample is taken to determine the presence of chemical substances that may alter the composition of the product.

"The purpose of this process is to digitally register the sample sending,” commented Enrique Schickendantz, representative of STATUM.

The form filled at the plant must state the type of vehicle in which the sample must be transported and if such vehicle must be refrigerated.

This accelerates Conaprole's internal processes. "Before implementing the digital process, sample sending was registered in paper, which caused inconveniencies if handwriting was not clear." This slowed down the tasks as the laboratory officers in Montevideo should call the plant to check the information.

When the sample arrives at the central laboratory, some analyses are performed by different areas of the company. Such tasks are carried out with Apia, the tool acquired by Conaprole. If, for instance, an officer must analyze a sample of milk powder, s/he will view in the screen the tests to be performed on such product. "This avoids mistakes," he added.

Currently, 10 samples are sent every day from the 12 plants to the central laboratory. Such samples are "very variable," commented Schickendantz. The system is used by 90 officers, among which are those who receive the samples, those who send the samples and the officers that perform the tests at the laboratory.

The project was implemented in May. The use of the tool is constantly monitored in order to improve the user experience.

Conaprole expects to implement the electronic file system with ApiaDocumentum as well as a system to manage complaints received from the customers abroad.

The company, founded in 1935, is the largest private company in Uruguay and the main exporter of milk products in Latin America. More than 50 products have arrived to more than 53 countries, CEO Gabriel Valdés told Semanario Búsqueda.

The exported milk positions Uruguay in the second place, after New Zealand, in the ranking of the 18 countries with lower carbon footprint in the world, according to a survey conducted by DairyNZ, a private consulting company, and published in January 2021.