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The origin of SIMATIC IT Interspec… Unilever Bestfoods Nederland - Specification Management

Harmonization

At the Nassaukade, about 70 different products are made, such as Blue Band Goede Start, Croma and Becel. Each product has its own range of ingredients, flavours, intermediate products, pre-mixes, packaging materials, but also process regulations and agreements with clients. All relevant arrangements are laid down in the specifications.

 

50 Centimetres Of Paper

How were the specifications used until recently? "All specifications were carefully laid out on forms which were kept in files in about eight departments such as development, production, QA, where about 40 or so employees eventually made use of them. The system itself was excellent, it's just that the problem was that it required filing cabinet full of 50 centimetre thick files. And then we haven't even mentioned the risk that the same version would not be present in each file.", explains Bertha Bouwkamp.

 

"The system for making and laying down the specifications gradually came off the rails. We just wanted to change the manner in which specifications were approved and stored and use modern communication technology to do it."

 

At the end of 1997, a project group was created which included representatives of all disciplines that work with the specifications and a number of other affected parties. In other words, development, which draws up the specifications, production, which handles specifications, and QA, which checks if the specifications are adhered to.

 

"The good aspect of this project, but one which also made it difficult, is the international character. For the content of the specifications, this entailed frequent harmonisation with other Unilever firms. System-wise too, because everyone works with the same system and changes to the system must be harmonised with different companies." explains Willie van de Burgt, IT project manager with Van den Bergh Netherlands. "A key to success was that we chose to set out the preconditions for the system ourselves and leave the actual construction of the system to Siemens/Compex IT Plant Solutions, for whom this is a core activity. So this is a win-win situation. Nicholas Willcox of PMC-SC (Process Management Centre Supply Chain), as project leader responsible for the development and the introduction of Interspec, has given equal weight to the wishes of all users in FBE and ICFE. He has translated these wishes into specifications for the software which, under his outstanding leadership, was programmed by Siemens/Compex IT Plant Solutions. At this moment, 3 years after the start of the project, Interspec has developed into the standard Unilever Specification Administration system for Foods as well as HPC. Nicholas, who now works at HPC North America, is extremely busy trying to tie us in with the Interspec implementation that already exists there."

 

Form

"We, as product developers, draw up technical product specifications for the products that are manufactured. Improved specifications for existing products and new specifications for newly developed products. In the past, we drew up this proposal on forms that were sent to the various 'approvers', who all assessed various aspects of the specification. One of these forms was sent in an envelope by internal post and arrived in the office of the employee who was to check if the proposal was in order. When he had time, he opened the envelope. The form, now covered with notations, went back to the developer, who then altered the proposal. It then went to the reviewer", explains product developer Marcel Segers.

"The signature lists were legendary. Delay was more the rule than the exception", confirms Roland van den Bossche, who worked in production at the time of the project.

When the whole approval process had finally been run through and all the initials were on the form, Quality Assurance still had to give the green light. This method of work is very time consuming and led to errors and losses. Often, we could not make the planned deadline for the specification to become operational. Marcel Segers: "Now the paper and internal post are history, and we use the computer and the electronic highway. We now draw up proposals on the computer and send that digitally to the reviewers, who e-mail us back if there are any comments. We also always know precisely what the status of the proposal is and who is dealing with it. That is fast and efficient and saves a lot of time. For us as product developers, it is especially important because each hour that we have to devote to paper work is not creative, not productive."

 

Operational

After final approval, the specification is ready to be used. It was formerly the case that everyone would have to be informed about the new specification. Forms with the specifications, introductory pages and new content papers were circulated in order to be put in the files in the departments. "In the digital system, it is built in that the specification is automatically operational on the planned date and replaces the previous specification after approval. At that moment, everyone has the same specification on their screen and there is never any doubt about whether the correct version is on hand. What's more, there is an interface to MFG. This is the MRP-system through which materials are requested. The composition of the products is now processed automatically by Interspec. The administration no longer needs to implement changes manually. There are wishes and options to create more interfaces in the future. An additional advantage of Interspec is that the history of the product is now saved in the computer. So we can now see what sort of ingredients were being used six months ago", explains system administrator Gert Jaap van der Bij.

Roland van den Bossche: "It is important that there are specifications, that everyone has the correct specification at their disposal and that everyone works with the same specification. With Interspec, the chance of mistakes is minimised."

In September 1998, the digital system was ready and a start could be made on entering all the specifications. In other words, the content of 50 centimetres of paper was transferred into the computer, and the paper mountain was a thing of the past.

"The phased and planned approach of the project, the involvement of all team members and other colleagues, an open-minded attitude to making optimal use of all knowledge have ensured that the roll out took place without any major problems. As Interspec was not yet operational when we began importing the data, there was still room to make meaningful improvements and enhancements to the system based on experience. Now that the system has been rolled out in practically all European Foods Companies, or is in a particular stage of roll-out, a great many people are reaping the rewards.", explains Kees Poot, who represented the roll-out-team of the PIT-SC of FBE in the project team.

 

Exciting

"The roll out of Interspec at the Nassaukade was an exciting event for everyone, because that was to be the first company within the Foods group where the system was to be used in its entirety. Success there was a prerequisite for the further roll out of the Standard Specification System, so that in the end all companies of FBE and ICFE would be dealing with their specifications in the same manner.", says Kees Poot. "That is certainly necessary for innovation centres because we develop products that must be marketable throughout Europe. It is made much easier if we all handle the same uniform procedures and rules."

At this moment Interspec is fully operational at Nassaukade, other Foods-companies in Europe are already completely or almost completely operational. But there is more - installation or preparation is underway all over the world, not just in Foods companies but also in Home & Personal Care (HPC). When in future all companies make use of the same system, the harmonisation of ingredients will become easier and advantage can be taken of economies of scale in purchasing. 

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2009.08.04