When a company grows quickly the need for good ICT solutions often grows just as quickly. This was also the case for Patisserie Hoeben BV. This modern bakery in Liessel develops and produces fresh pastry specialities every day. The family business weekly delivers approximately 100,000 pastries to 1200 unique addresses in the Netherlands among which well-known retailers such as Jumbo , Dirk van den Broek and Dekamarkt. Co-owner Leon Hoeben talks about the dynamic development of his company and the consequences for its automation.

 A baker’s tradition of 140 years

“We are currently the fifth generation of bakers from the same family,” says Leon “Thirteen years ago we started the large-scale production of artisan flans, gateaux and pastries. Fortunately we soon had a contract to deliver to Sligo Food Group. Three years ago we built a new factory. On these premises we can comply with the latest rules and regulations in the field of food safety and work with the latests techniques. Our staff grew from 8 to 85 employees.”

Leon is enthusiastic about these developments. “We can now add many special flavours to the assortment and make our customers a seasonal offer. In addition, product development has become a fixed company activity so we can keep on surprising and delighting our customers with the latests trends. Our family business has become agile and can therefore quickly adapt to the wishes of our customers. We observe a close contact with our customers and we like to combine quality with a very personal approach. You can see for yourself in our company film.”

Good ICT solutions are essential

Leon also talks about the challenges they faced when their company started to grow so fast. ”We use Exact Globe Next for the automation of our processes. We found we increasingly need custom-made solutions. Employees in the various departments wanted to have reports with specific information. Our system could not deliver.”

“Acconet’s T-Box does allow us to do just that We can access every bit of information we need. All customers have their own methods of delivery. They determine how they wish data to be conveyed and our system needs to adapt to that. T-Box makes that possible for us. In the forwarding process the correct delivery needs to go to the right customer. Our products are packed in crates, cool boxes and/ or containers. We need to know how many products will fit into each type of packaging. T-box makes use of the information we place in the free fields within Exact and in that way we can produce the desired reports.”

Eliminating human flaws

“All calculations we can automize prevent errors,”  says Leon. “This works fast, efficiently and conveniently. This is of prime importance in a company like ours. It is necessary to think about organising and controlling your company processes beforehand. In Aconet’s T-Box we have found people who can help us do that.”