Over the last 12 months, Horizon Fruits has been using a bespoke information management system that was developed by the Netgen team. It’s a great privilege to take a project like this from start to finish, and then see how the solution has changed a business for the better and then proceed into the next phases.
Meeting their requirements
Our first job was to sit down with Horizon Fruits and discover what exactly it was that they needed from us. In order to achieve this, we needed to know what they do. Essentially, the company “facilitates the movement of the fresh produce from the farm gate to retail shelf,” according to Johann Le Roux, Logistics Manager of Horizon Fruits. This requires a lot of moving parts and the company needed an information management system that provided transparency at every point of the logistics chain.
Now that we had a starting point, it was time for the team to formulate a plan for the software solution. Our team also had to be aware of two biggest challenges that could face this project:
- The system we created needed to be able to integrate with a wide range of other systems that were already in operation with Horizon Fruits and their service providers.
- Horizon Fruits does not have a dedicated IT department. Netgen would have to liaise with the different departments within the company in order to ascertain and meet their individual needs, as well as the overarching requirements.
The process of creating an information management system
Our team was now well on its way through the first two phases of the Software Development Life Cycle – Planning and Analysis. Next up, was Design and then Implementation. Through these phases, our team was in constant contact with Horizon Fruits to ensure that we were on the right track. Once the software was ready, it was handed over to the Netgen testers and put through rigorous sessions to check each process.
We finally presented the software to Horizon Fruits and took them through it. There will always be feedback from these sessions, tweaks that need to be made until the client is completely happy. Le Roux admits that it was “a very challenging project”. However, “Netgen has assisted us with the necessary guidance and patience to facilitate the development of the system in a timeframe that is considerably shorter than we originally anticipated.”
Get your own custom solution
Since implementation, we have continued to provide support and maintenance for the custom software solution that we created for Horizon Fruits. It’s been a rewarding partnership for both companies, and we’re looking forward to the next 12 months.
The process of developing a custom solution is simple. It just takes time and the understanding of an expert team to ensure your needs are truly met. Contact us today and let’s get the ball rolling on your solution.