Flex²B Supply Chain Management Solution

Flex²B is a solution for the Fresh Produce industry, including vegetables, fruit, wood, … to provide in depth information for the Cold Chain, Logistics, Quality, Location positioning, … It is proven to be a wide accepted, strategic tool, for more than two decades of loyal customers and site.

As an extend to the local used application, Oryx has made the decision to let Flex²B break out of local implementations and be shared over intranet and internet connections.

To provide an interface to a wide public and a wide integration, Oryx provides through Flex²B a wide range on connectivity and clients to attach and hook in, into Flex²B.

To open its connectivity, Flex²B has 2 major components for the Web and Cloud environments. 

It provides a full set of Web Objects and Methods to automate a wide range of clients and operating systems using miscellaneous techniques. This component can be used by 3rd party clients, such as industrial PDAs, automation lines, B2B sytems…

The Flex²B Cloud/Web edition is designed as one platform that integrates information across applications and business processes.  It navigates through your quality and delivery information, revealing what’s important to know, to manage, to strategize, to decide and to act.

The latest cloud & web version (build in 2013, first operational since 2014 and maintained until now) is built on top of Microsoft IIS using dHtml, javascript and json techniques. 

Positioning

Oryx includes the Web services, background utilities, Windows GUI, Cloud & Web module as well as the integration between Flex²B and ERP systems, Lab environments, Agronomist environments … – as being a part of the Flex²B suite, spreading over 3 Pillars. The ‘Pillars’ is one of the three important legs of the Flex²B suite. 

The Flex²B software solution tracks, controls and protects produce from harvest to customer. 

Traceability, a key business requirement in the fresh produce business, is the core of Flex²B.

The Flex²B approach is unique! It adapts to your operational processes. The collected data provide better business insights. Flex²B offers real time integration. It tracks any agriculture data throughout your complete supply chain.

Flex²B is the ideal solution for growers, distributors, packers, shippers, processors, importers, 

forwarders, …

Protect your

Main pillars

Grower Interaction 

• The produce starts its “life” within Flex²B when it is announced as a future harvest in a Grower Web Application. When the harvest arrives at the site location, it will be weighed, controlled and accepted. 
• Several weights can be traced during the life of a stock unit. 
• The grower gets feedback of this acceptance and the available information can be further used or exported to any farm contract management system. 
• Additional harvest characteristics will be assigned to these stock units: picking date, best by, the harvest conditions, net usable weight, other quality indicators of the grower or field.

Quality Control 

• Quality actions and quality data can be inserted at any step of the process. 
• Quality processes assemble visual or technical control information, by PDA scanning of barcodes or any other means of data input. 
• Produce can be graded and sorted into different sizing and quality categories. Produce can be packed and repacked. Lab results can be incorporated. Produce is assigned to production or shipping orders according to any customizable method (FEFO in combination with quality indicators of the produce and customer. 
• Stock units can be segregated or blocked and forced into an extra quality control step. 
• Claims can be entered and tracked by the customer directly and exchanged with an external system.

Produce Operations

• Master Data Management is embedded within Flex²B or integrated from an external system: raw produce, sellable products, packaging material, customers.
• Stock locations can be assigned in the field, production hall and cold store units. Full WMS functionality is included. Connection to automated WMS is possible.
• Each stock unit gets a stock unit number, an SSCC according to global GS1 coding standards. All-important AI’s of GS1 are integrated.
• Barcode labels can be fully customized. 
• Forklifts and operations personnel get or override instructions via PDA apps. 
• Data can be gathered from the production lines (counters, weights,) for traceability and cost calculation purposes.
• Production is driven either by customer order, by internal planning methods or by market forecasts. 
• Shipment and transport documents are prepared, extra controls can be implemented.
• Real time and batch Integration with sales and distribution systems can be implemented and monitored.

Food Safety

• Stock units can be blocked for shipment until all food safety controls are cleared. (e.g. confirmation of crop sheet evidence, confir­mation of certificate, waiting for lab results, pack and repack action etc.)
• Track & Trace can be implemented at stock unit level (pallet, bulk, container,  ..) as well as at handling unit level (box, bag, sack, pack, ..)
• Recalls, for internal stock or already shipped produce, can be implemented via real time available track and trace reports.
• Packaging traceability is supported.
• Temperature logging can be integrated to track cold chain interruptions.
• All information required by food safety legislation, or any end-to-end food transparency platform (e.g. food origin and carbon footprint) can be tracked.

Core points

• Flexible Software
• Adaptable to your business
• Consultancy
• Implementation
• Connectivity
• Training
• Services
• Global representation
• Global support
• Business advisory

Please note that this documentation is only giving you a definition how Flex²B is working. In any business, the business processes are a little different. Due to this dynamic element, it is hard to make a documentation typical per business. We really want to advise you to define your internal process flow and map it to Flex²B defined operations. Please read your internal implementation documents.