In Quebec, La Petite Bretonne is an institution. Its products are a staple of the pastry and bakery aisles in large and small grocery stores. Most of you may have already eaten its mini-croissants or chocolatines. A robust manufacturing and distribution operation are what gets these pastries to us so that they can brighten our day.
Find the right “recipe”: The selection process of the ERP system
Preparing a million mini-croissants takes a day for La Petite Bretonne. In contrast, selecting the right ERP system for their needs and goals took them a year, and for good reason! We can’t say it enough: an ERP system is the best ally to gain productivity and competitiveness. Audrey Laurin, VP of Finances and Administration, understood it well. That’s why she put together a team of people from each factory and department of the company to identify and prioritize all the business processes and functional needs that needed be optimized.
Selecting such a central strategic tool is a long-term investment that must meet current needs and potential changes in business realities. It was therefore necessary to plan for the future and choose an evolutive ERP systemthat could support them for many years.
Audrey Laurin and her colleagues were looking for a team capable of adapting the ERP system to their requirements. In short, they were looking for a designer, not just an integrator. Also, the fact that Commsoft Technologies is a company based in Montreal was an important asset. Indeed, having its ERP software provider nearby and collaborating between Quebec SMEs – consequently speaking the same business language – makes it easier to configure some features. For example, the buy-back process was a crucial point for La Petite Bretonne. Therefore, Fidelio’s experts took the lead to perform a demonstration devoted to this process. They presented the already existing features and discussed the possibilities of improvements based on special requests.
Finally, finding the right recipe is a question of collaboration, communication and teamwork!
Benefits of the ERP software implementation
Promote data analysis
« We didn’t want to be data entry clerks anymore »
The manufacturer did not want to spend more time than necessary on management system data entry anymore. Time spent analyzing data and implementing business strategies should be promoted. This is why it was important to rebalance the hours to free up time for value-added tasks.
Improve checkpoints
« Cashing a check is cashing a check. But…»
The whole control process is interesting. For example, creating purchase orders which, as soon as they are received, are directly transformed into invoices is a great advantage, especially when the inventory is linked to it in real time. Following costs and quantities, knowing if everything is right at each stage, all of this is facilitated with the automation carried out by the ERP Fidelio software.
In other words, system trust enables reduction and improvement of the different checkpoints!
Optimize the heart of billing
« For us, the heart of billing is the buy-back process »
Previously, the buy-back process had no flexibility. Commsoft Technologies’ and La Petite Bretonne’s teams worked together to customize Fidelio ERP system according to their business needs.
Every detail matters
« Performing a search in Fidelio is super convenient! »
This may seem like an insignificant detail but winning time also happens when searching within the ERP software. Not having to close a window to open another one thanks to a powerful drilling mechanism or being able to perform searches with a word or a product code without considering capital letters and other special characters saves considerable time.
Harmony is on the cards!
Every need is filled, according to priorities. Whether it is the human or the machine, everything works in symbiosis. As the needs evolve, features are developed or simply implemented when already offered within Fidelio.
It is this harmony that makes La Petite Bretonne happy with its choice and that makes the Fidelio’s team so proud to count the manufacturer among its client.
La Petite Bretonne in few dates…
1966Creation of La Petite Bretonne. At the early beginning, Serge Bohec took care of everything: purchases, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, billing, collection and started over the next day. At the age of 18, he cooked his little madeleines in the family oven.
1999Purchase of a second factory in Joliette. Initially looking for a tunnel oven, which is very difficult to transport, the choice was made to buy the entire factory instead!
2006Construction of the current Blainville factory. The high demand saturated the production capacity of the already existing Blainville factory.
2014Innovation with the implementation of the Fidelio ERP System.
Read the case study here.
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