Minotaur Software Aug.2014 | Page 35

method for the company. At the time, Halenda’s did not have any means of assessing costs at the various stages of meat production. This was of particular concern because all of Halenda’s products received as raw materials are subject to shrinkage. Meat processors need to track the condition and weight of meat through the entire manufacturing process. Halenda’s needed to know exactly what was being received as raw materials and what was being sold as final product. Starting Point Halenda’s Meats began its operation in 1979 out of Oshawa, Ontario. In 2004, the company decided to expand its business by starting a distribution division. CEO, Richard Halenda knew that in order to successfully implement this growth, the company would need to improve several areas of their business. Halenda’s’ first challenge would be to increase the efficiency of order processing. While expansion was on Richard’s radar, he knew that the manual handling of inventory was holding the company back. Halenda’s was utilizing two full time employees to manually enter orders into QuickBooks. This process was slow, labour intensive and prone to error. The only way Halenda’s could imagine keeping up with incoming orders was by hiring more data entry clerks, which was an unattractive option. Finally, Halenda’s needed to develop a means of product traceability. Government inspectors and retailers mandate that processors adopt a method of tracking precisely where raw materials come from and where finished goods go to, in order to pass ‘recall audits’ and be ready in the event of a recall. Halenda’s needed to prepare for this by implementing an automated traceability system. Halenda’s also needed to develop a standardized costing 33 33