Introduction

Agrodis and Nefyto – collective associations of crop protection distributors and manufacturers respectively in the Netherlands – formed Agro CloSer, a partnership which delivers seamless data connectivity between their members creating significant business opportunities and delivering crucial traceability.

Agrodis represents more than 30 crop protection distributor companies and Nefyto represents 13 manufacturers, representing a huge segment of the Dutch crop protection industry.

Facing growing interest for greater traceability, Agrodis and Nefyto came together to investigate solutions that facilitate more accurate product recalls in the future. For this, Agrodis and Nefyto referenced the CRISTAL recommendations for barcoding and labelling agriculture products, created by the ECPA (European Crop Protection Association).

The Challenge

Dutch crop protection businesses wanted the ability to trace all transactions, this new implementation would grant benefits such as:

• Improved quality of records and speedier communication between manufacturer and distributor
• Complete traceability for order history
• Real-time visualization of product movement, location, and transactions

The Strategy

Realizing the scope of the digital integration needed to acquire this functionality, Agrodis and Nefyto approached Proagrica, the leading global provider of integrated data connectivity solutions and data insight for the agricultural sector.

With such a variety of different ERP (enterprise resource management) systems among individual businesses, it became clear that manufacturers and distributors would need to join a network of connectivity, be able to extract and analyze data from multiple sources and translate that data into actionable and useful information for each business, delivering:

• Complete product and transaction history
• Intuitive user experience, adaptable to any ERP
• Real-time visualization of product movement, location,  and transactions
• Easier communication between businesses

Following consultation, Proagrica implemented a solution which combines EDI (electronic data interchange) and portals, fitting seamlessly within each business’ ERP system, allowing connection between partners and a complete overview of each products’ history.

Traceability

All transactions are recorded electronically for both the distributor and manufacturer, with all orders being traceable by their point of origin and manufacture date – completely eliminating the need to order a recall of an entire range.

Web solutions

Portals have granted advanced functionality for both manufacturers and distributors. Manufacturers can open orders, reply, and see delivery notes and invoice data. For distributors, an ecommerce-style portal makes purchasing simpler and more convenient.

Analytics

Dashboards that visualize product histories and credit partners in real-time, facilitating simpler product recalls and greater understanding of transaction history.

Agro CloSer – the new legal entity founded by Agrodis and Nefyto to lead this drive towards connectivity, is now piloting data integration for the Dutch crop protection market.