Creating an award-winning app to help G’s Fresh import and export produce after Brexit

Sector

Private sector | Fresh produce

Location

Barway (Ely), United Kingdom

Revenues

£500 million

About

G’s are growers of the finest quality salads and vegetables.

G’s supply all the major UK and many European retailers with a vast range of fresh, tasty and healthy produce.

Guy Shropshire started G’s in 1952 and today his eldest son, John, is the Chief Executive.

Outcome

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Significant operational process improvement

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Full transparency across the supply chain

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Reduced admin for hauliers and G’s staff

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Future strategic platform

Executive Summary

In response to Brexit-induced logistical challenges, G’s Fresh collaborated with us to develop a bespoke app, streamlining import and export processes for fresh produce between the UK and the EU. Through close consultation and analysis, the app seamlessly integrates with UK and Spanish ERP systems, facilitating customs declaration and paperwork management.

Its accessibility and potential for expansion into retail underscore its value in enhancing transport management and operational efficiency for G’s Fresh, ensuring regulatory compliance while elevating data analysis capabilities and automation support for G’s Transport. This solution represents a significant advancement in navigating post-Brexit logistics, optimizing processes from field to depot and mitigating risks associated with manual data handling.

The Challange

Following Brexit, regulatory and process changes were brought in around importing goods into the UK

Following Brexit, G’s Fresh was challenged with adapting to a new logistics process to account for new regulations around imports and exports of fresh food between the UK and the EU.

They had previously been able to transport tonnes of fruit and vegetables between Spain, France and the UK without much worry over exact quantities or weight restrictions. However, now the firm had to figure out how to prove their produce had the right paperwork, manage different types of pallets, and estimate exact loads. G’s Fresh needed a new system and processes to connect all the moving parts, people and documentation that was needed to make importing and exporting quicker and easier.

The Solution

Develop a bespoke app to manage the documentation process

We led this project from start to finish, working closely with the G’s Fresh IT team, leadership team and employees in both the UK and Spain. We spent hours talking to the team to understanding the challenges, and reviewed all the new import and export guidance surrounding fresh produce. We explored all the necessary data inputs and documentation we’d need to make this process smoother and simpler

The Success

Redesigned the process and developed an app to fulfil all regulatory requirements

In our pursuit of regulatory compliance, we undertook a significant process redesign and developed a custom app catering to G’s Fresh’s diverse needs. This bespoke app seamlessly integrates with both UK and Spanish ERP systems, streamlining customs declaration and paperwork management for the respective authorities.

What sets this app apart is its accessibility, available to all stakeholders regardless of network connection. This open access allows hauliers to access crucial customs documentation for their trucks at any time and extends accessibility to third-party Spanish agriculture producers.

The app’s key benefits are manifold: it has the potential to expand into retail and further enhance transport management, providing a secure and robust platform that is highly available and scalable. The app enables increased automated support for G’s Transport without incurring exponential resource costs and integrates JDE and JAVA data to facilitate customs document production and enhance end-to-end reporting in G’s Spain. It significantly improves data analysis, reducing manual data handling risks and enhancing haulage fulfillment through improved controls and data analysis capabilities. The app ensures clear reporting and document audit, elevating operational efficiency from field to depot.