« December 2006 Table of Contents 
Equipment Focus: Computer systems
Software programs keep producers up to date on inventory and customer labeling requirements
By Fiona Robinson
December 01, 2006
It's almost impossible for any company in this digital age
to operate without a reliable computer system. Seafood
shipments need to be tracked from the time they arrive at your
back door to when they get shipped to your customers. Losing
product, mislabeling it or delivering it late can cost money
and jeopardize your customer relationships.
A variety of software systems has been designed
specifically with seafood processors' and distributors' needs
closely in mind. These technologies allow small
to
medium-sized operators to provide key information required by
buyers and regulatory agencies and also help with in-house
record keeping. Here are five different
systems that can keep
your business running like a
well-oiled machine.
Astra software
automates distribution
Astra Information Systems' Advance Availability Assessment
(A3) eliminates fresh-seafood distributors' need for
white-board inventory tracking by integrating incoming and
outgoing product orders for real-time inventory assessment. A3
calculates and displays product availability, based on incoming
purchase orders, product lead time, open sales orders,
current
available inventory, production orders, yields and production
requirements.
Astra automates the cutting room with its Point of Scale
module, which interfaces the scales used by cutters and packers
directly with the sales orders that are driving the production
and packing process. Operators can scan a bar-coded
picking/cutting ticket or select products off a screen list.
The system prints a customized product label with
country-of-origin information and customer, truck route and
weight details. The weights are electronically fed back to the
original sales order for billing, eliminating manual keypunch
time
and errors.
To streamline deliveries and reduce trucking costs, there's
the Windows-based Astra Graphical Truck Routing module, which
interfaces with the Astra Sales Order Processing module. By
adding barcode scanning at truck loading, the program ensures
no orders are missed.
Astra Information Systems
Weston, Fla.
(800) 305-5567 ext. 111
www.astrainfo.com
Computer Associates updates ERP software
with BI
Enterprise
Computer Associates has added an innovative business
analysis tool to its industry-specific Seasoft ERP software. BI
Enterprise is a flexible and intuitive business intelligence
solution that provides an interactive and graphical tool for
accessing and analyzing customer sales, inventory, financial
data and other key performance indicators (KPI).
By displaying this information as intuitive dashboard
objects, organizations can quickly identify business trends,
respond effectively to changing issues, generate standardized
reports from multiple sources, monitor progress toward goals
and diagnose a business' overall organizational health.
Computer Associates has also developed the Seasoft
Production Packing Interface, a complete solution that meets
all of the requirements of a state-of-the-art seafood
production department. The interface takes Seasoft's production
packing software, production-ready, touch-screen workstations,
fully integrated electronic scales and bar code label printers
direct to the production floor. The result is more efficient
and profitable production processing, accurate production
yields and the elimination of manually entered shipped weights
for every order.
Computer Associates Inc.
Smithfield, R.I.
(800) 422-4782
www.caisoft.com/seasoft
Net•Yield v.5.0
unveiled this month
Net•Yield software handles weight-based, lot-controlled
inventory management for both large and small seafood
companies. First offered to the seafood industry in 1989,
Net•Yield has developed into a completely integrated platform
that can run an entire business, including sales and
purchasing, inventory, shipping, processing and
accounting/reporting.
Version 5.0 of the Net•Yield software is scheduled for
release this month and features advanced merchandising tools
that let the sales department send advertisements, price lists
and other communications to their customers via e-mail and
fax.
The software provides many unique tools that are needed in
the fast-paced seafood marketplace, such as complete lot
traceability, the ability to sell product in advance of
receipt, highly accurate daily margin reporting and calculation
of actual "yields" during processing. Other industry standard
tools include country-of-origin labeling, and automated data
exports for the National Marine Fish-
eries Services'
S.A.F.I.S. (Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information
System).
The software is available for purchase or rental and runs on
Microsoft Windows operating systems. A free trial download is
available from the company's Web site or by calling (800)
352-6463.
Net•Yield
Plymouth, Mass.
(800) 352-6463
www.netyield.com
Disc,
Design & Data
to introduce
Fishmonger Plus™
Fishmonger Plus™, a Java-based Windows version of the
Fishmon-ger enterprise, is scheduled for release by Disc,
Design & Data (DDD) in 2007. The new software was developed
using the AddonSoftware™ Rapid Development Environment in
conjunction with AddonSoftware™ of Beaverton, Ore., the
company's new strategic partner.
The Fishmonger™ enterprise resource planning software has
been managing seafood companies since DDD was founded in 1978.
In addition to its secure and feature-rich accounting and
inventory interface, the software seamlessly integrates total
business control with real-time yield processing, sales and
order management and lot control. Fishmonger™ is in full
compliance with all government record keeping and reporting
requirements for shellfish tracking, country of origin and
method of production.
Paperless office functionality has been enhanced to add
automatic electronic delivery of all customer and vendor
paperwork by e-mail or fax across the Internet, eliminating
wasteful paper copies when-
ever possible. Extensive yet simple
configuration options give the
user total control of document
delivery options as well as internal document archiving for all
Fishmonger™ documents.
Disc Design & Data
Northfield, Ill.
(847) 501-6570
www.fishmonger.com
WiseFish v. 4.02
ideal for small to
medium-sized
producers
With the latest release of WiseFish Version 4.02, small to
medium-sized producers can harness the wealth of information
available from their automation investments in an
out-of-the-box solution previously only available to large
companies that can afford to build complex, custom systems.
WiseFish offers a standard interface that integrates Marel
and other leading automation hardware and software for data
capture on the plant floor. The new version of WiseFish also
incorporates production registration and track and trace
capabilities and the Microsoft Dynamics NAV corporate finance
and accounting system. This enables companies to work with
abstracted data from production systems across multiple
departments and locations without being
faced with the
drawback of either slowing system performance or manually
consolidating summarized data.
The new version of Wise Fish
allows companies to deploy a
strategic management solution to serve all critical business
divisions.
Maritech Software
Seattle
(877) 394-3474
www.wisefish.com