Who are De Graafstroom?

De Graafstroom is an independent dairy company that produces Gouda cheese in a

region known as the Green Heart of the Netherlands a rural area located between
Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam. De Graafstroom is committed to
producing high quality cheese with a perfectly balanced moisture, fat, protein and
salt content. As the fundamental ingredient (milk) is a natural product, the variance
in its characteristics must be proactively regulated right from the very start of
production through to the end product.
Use of QIS
De Graafstroom uses QIS as a company-wide resource to monitor production. Right
from the very first step in the production process, information is continually
gathered and analysed in order to actively reduce the variances in subsequent
stages of production. Firstly, QIS helps operators to manage the production process.
The data enables them to take immediate action in response to the natural variance
and to react to other causes of variance inherent to any manufacturing process.
Secondly, the large volumes of data in QIS are also tremendously valuable after the
production process. The analysis options provide the basis for further improvements
in quality and productivity (Overall Equipment Effectiveness/OEE), and data relating
to De Graafstrooms CSR objective is also visible.
Development of QIS
Since its implementation in 2004 De Graafstroom has stepped up its commitment to
quality by fully integrating its ERP, MES and QIS information systems. QIS now plays
a business-critical role in data collection, the supply of relevant real-time
information for quality control purposes, and continuous improvement. All
logistically relevant information is gathered from the production process in QIS and
subsequently forwarded by QIS ProcessLink* to Infor M3.
Results
QIS supports the efficient manufacture of cheese with a reliable and consistently
high quality. It significantly reduces the impact of downtime, waste and CO2
emissions. Nowadays, virtually all production processes are managed in QIS,
allowing an integrated data flow between the MES, QIS and Infor M3. The result:
efficiency and control.
Thanks to the dedication and united approach of both De Graafstroom and its
implementation partners QiSOFT and Alfa-Beta Solutions, the team completed the
on-time delivery of a smooth-running business-critical environment with a very high
uptime. All the parties involved succeeded in improving the quality and efficiency of
production.
*ProcessLink contains a library of standardised interfaces.