In close collaboration with the SAP AppHaus Network member Trifork Smart Enterprise, Royal Greenland created a suite of iOS–based apps built on SAP Business Technology Platform. They enable fishermen to submit their catch data in a fast and simple way. With this step, Royal Greenland strengthens their supplier relations with local fishermen, streamlines the company’s procurement process, and contributes to global sustainability goals.
In 1990, Royal Greenland spun off from the fishing company Kalaallit Niuerfiat and is now one of the world’s leading groups in the seafood market. The government-owned company has more than 2,500 employees and operates 40 fish processing plants and ship bases around the world’s largest island. The global organization runs around 50 production facilities in Greenland, Canada and Germany, as well as sales activities on all continents. Hereby, Royal Greenland is committed to bring wild-caught, high-quality seafood from the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean to consumers. As a member of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, Royal Greenland has a strong focus on driving sustainable practices for fisheries.
To stay ahead as leader in the seafood industry, Royal Greenland recognized that innovation is key along the whole value chain. Thanks to consequent innovation efforts, the company has been able to enhance the efficiency of its harvesting operations and reduce carbon emissions by combining their long-standing fishing experience with latest technology.
Monitoring complex supply chain data with technology
Due to ever-changing environmental conditions, fishing supply chains of wild-caught fish (as opposed to farm-raised animals) face higher uncertainty and are particularly complex. For Royal Greenland, it is almost impossible to control their productivity. According to Corporate IT manager Lars Hassinggaard, that was the challenge the company hoped to overcome using IT systems and latest technology.
Throughout Royal Greenland’s vertically integrated fishery supply chain, it was challenging to combine management measures. This unique setup required an ongoing dialogue with local suppliers and individual fishermen. At the same time, the company had to ensure that all fishing activities were registered and carried out in full compliance with laws and regulations, and duly reported to the appropriate authorities. Another inconvenience to be solved was that for all 70.000 purchase orders per year at Royal Greenland, 70.000 pieces of paper had to be filled in and signed by fishermen in frosty weather – only to be digitalized manually later on. So, Royal Greenland aimed to holistically digitalize the process of bringing fish into factories and tie this together with a full quality control and registration process.
We try to digitize the process of bringing the fish into the factories and tie this together with the entire quality control and registration process. We have developed apps for all these scenarios, and we use this platform strategically to build a close partnership with the local catchers.
– Lars Bo Hassinggaard, Corporate IT Manager, Royal Greenland A/S
Accelerating the digital journey
For this complex digitalization endeavor, Royal Greenland collaborated with SAP AppHaus Network member Trifork Smart Enterprise. Together, they leveraged SAP Business Technology Platform to create an iOS-based digital solution. With the aim of solidifying the company’s supplier relationship with local fishermen and streamlining the procurement process, Royal Greenland and Trifork developed a suite of highly intuitive and user-friendly iOS-based apps. These apps help fishermen submit their catch data in a fast and easy way.
Along SAP’s Human-Centered Approach to Innovation as an overarching innovation methodology, Trifork and Royal Greenland provided a platform for continuous communication with local fishing communities. The digital solution is the result of an intensive design process. It spans from field research and Design Thinking workshops to concept validation, always in close collaboration and involvement of local fishermen as Royal Greenland’s end users.
Reporting on the go for 2,200 fishermen
Even for people with limited smartphone experience, the intuitive solution requires no on-boarding training. It enables local fishermen to register their catches and secure documentation, which can then also be used by municipalities to secure transparent and sustainable fishery. Empowered through mobile devices with seamless access to SAP data and processes, 2,200 fishermen now have access to the technology and can register relevant data on the go. This eliminates pen and paperwork completely. Until now, 70,000 purchase orders, formerly on paper, have already been converted to digital documentation.
With these groundbreaking apps, we strengthen our supplier loyalty, optimize internal processes and help local fishermen document that they fulfill the sustainability requirements that allow them to obtain higher prices for their catch.
– Lars Bo Hassinggaard, Corporate IT Manager, Royal Greenland A/S
Gaining competitive advantage through mobility and innovation
Like in a classical win-win situation, the solution helps both sides increase efficiencies: It simplifies accounting and tax reviews for the fisherman which is a great incentive for them to sell to Royal Greenland. In turn, it increases the number of fishermen delivering to the company. What’s more, the application plays an important role in facilitating open collaboration and loyalty with the local fishing community. The suite of apps ensures the fulfillment of legal requirements on registration, compliance with local regulations, and documentation of certificates. Several time-consuming manual tasks for fishermen are obsolete now, while the risk of errors is reduced significantly. As a result, the number of discarded shippings could be reduced. Ultimately, the collaboration with Trifork helped Royal Greenland to improve their forecasting, data transparency, and planning capabilities. Staff allocation can be precisely matched with incoming amounts of fish at procurement locations. This optimization and digitization of processes across the whole value chain gives Royal Greenland a true competitive advantage in the fishing industry – through innovation, mobility and sustainability.
Making innovation real
The SAP AppHaus Network is proud to present Trifork’s project with Royal Greenland as a successful example of making innovation real. It displays both the innovative value of SAP Business Technology Platform and the power of SAP’s Human-Centered Approach to Innovation. Even so, when it comes to customizing technological solutions to the needs of customers and users who work in very specialized environments and niche industries.
Our partnership with Trifork has been of tremendous value. With their Design Thinking approach, we have been able to pinpoint the needs of our end-users. Within a few days of launching our new app, we had fishermen asking proactively for access. This is the ultimate proof that we have created a solution that adds true value to our end-users: Fast and easy documentation of their daily catch, compliance with governmental regulations and improved foundation of income.
– Lars Bo Hassinggaard, Corporate IT Manager, Royal Greenland A/S
Article originally published by SAP News Center.