Data-driven beef production: John Dee’s digital transformation

Based in the Darling Downs region of Southeast Queensland, John Dee prides itself on supplying consistently high-quality products to a global and local market. They specialize in high-value cattle sourced from nearby Southern Downs and New England regions. A processing plant in Warwick, situated two hours from Brisbane, enables fast service to both export and domestic markets. Keeping their production as local as possible ensures consistency and quality control.

Preparing for the future

Shifts in global beef markets offer an opportunity for export growth of Australian beef in 2024. As the decline in North American beef production continues and demand for quality and grain-fed products in Japan, South Korea, and the US remain stable, Australia is filling the supply gap. As an established exporter with a global reputation for high-quality beef products John Dee is in an ideal market position. The increased yield and traceability provided by Marel software adds another edge.

When it came time to upgrade their software, John Dee conducted lengthy investigations. They wanted to be sure they were transitioning to a system that improved efficiency, yield, and operational control and set their business up for the digital future. Marel's flexibility, openness, and support met their needs, and our software partnership began.

In 2020, John Dee began implementing a customized Marel Software system tailored to their needs, including solutions for:

• Primary processing, such as Slaughter, Carcass Inventory and Boning Room
• Secondary processing, including the SensorX Accuro for yield optimization
• Order processing, with Packing Software, BoxSorter and a Custom conveyor solution
• Palletizing and Dispatch processes, where Finished Goods Manager Software ensures efficiency

Supporting the seamless integrating of third-party software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), and robot palletizer enabled all aspects of the John Dee business to work together. "Marel software's built-in ability to interface has provided us with a highly integrated system. Our finance, production, shipping and forward order systems, along with compliance requirements, are well served by the built-in functionality," Henry Hart, Executive Director of John Dee.

Enabling data-driven decision-making in real-time

For John Dee, the software’s extensive data capture and enhanced data management capabilities have been one of the biggest game changers. "Since implementing Marel software, we have observed a tremendous increase in the visibility of our information, which has resulted in yield improvements and efficiency gains. We have far greater traceability over every cattle we produce," Henry Hart.

Marel software offers incredible interface opportunities with other platforms. Using dashboards, operators can access real-time order and inventory matching, allowing enhanced inventory and dispatch management. Issues can be spotted and rectified quickly, even across multiple orders. "The outcome of the dashboards has been greater transparency into the production, efficiency and yields of all our products. It's also helped our customers. They now have a complete view of every single cut of meat that we produce.".

In addition to internal benefits, the improved data capabilities are also enhancing customer relationships through increased transparency.

Using data to build better customer relations

Traceability in the beef supply chain is a hot topic, with regulations that improve food safety and supply chain transparency becoming more stringent. Along with collecting their own key data at crucial points during production, John Dee recognized the importance of sharing that data with their customer base, improving transparency and supporting supply chain traceability compliance.

After two years of operating with the software, John Dee leveraged the source data held by Marel's inbuilt inventory management system to build a secure API for their customer base to integrate. Providing transparency on John Dee products from livestock entry to carton exit. "We've furthered our reputation for quality and reliability within the global beef market. One of our key customers recently told us they were very impressed with the quality of the near real time information feed from our API," Henry Hart. This can only give John Dee products an even greater edge in the competitive beef market.

Before extending the benefits of advanced software and improved supply chain traceability to their customers, John Dee needed to fully integrate the software into their own operations.

Integration and implementation: the road to success

Transitioning to a new, advanced software system is no small thing, and there were some inevitable bumps along the road to integration. "The biggest challenge we faced during the initial installation of the Marel software was the inability for our antiquated hardware to run in parallel with the new system," Henry Hart. The John Dee team remained committed to the process and confident in Marel's ability to get them through. "The Marel team were outstanding. They diligently worked through all of the issues we encountered, and no problem we came across went unsolved."

Implementation can mean a steep learning curve for staff, which is why training and onboarding are key to the success of any new system installation. To ensure John Dee's approximately 550 employees were equipped with the knowledge and skills they needed, the Marel team were onsite throughout the whole process, providing training, coaching and support. The result was a smooth transition within a short time frame. Thanks to Marel’s ongoing support, John Dee continues to keep their software systems optimized, making sure they are always getting the most from their investment.

The age of data is here

The John Dee team know how crucial accurate, detailed data is for staying competitive in today's beef market. By being able to easily and efficiently access, use and manage their data they can address industry challenges, increase margins and make informed decisions. Just a few of the ways data is driving their business forward are:

Protecting and boosting brand reputation: the system facilitates the collection, storage, collation, and accessibility of tremendous amounts of relevant data, enabling traceability over individual cartons produced. Recall, if necessary, is fast and specific, minimizing waste and meeting international compliance regulations for food safety.

Labor is more efficiently managed: the enhanced reporting ability aids with boning room planning and yield monitoring throughout the factory.

Management of large number of product codes: "In the grain fed beef industry, flexibility of the cut plan is very important. The number of packing specs required to leverage multiple world markets throughout a single production run is very high. We are able to manage all of this extremely efficiently with Marel software," Henry Hart.

What does the future hold for John Dee and Marel?

"The Marel software offers a fantastic base. I can easily see it can be applied to nearly any production background. At John Dee, we're constantly innovating and a key part of that is having a flexible based software system that allows us to customize," Henry Hart.

The landscape of beef processing is continually changing. Consumer demand for transparency, ever shifting market trends, along with supply chain challenges and regulations mean digitalization is now crucial for staying competitive in today’s beef industry. As John Dee continues to move into a bright and continually more digital future, Marel is excited to share the journey with them. Supporting them as they provide high-quality products for the next four generations.

More info: Axin food processing software