A PUBL ICAT ION OF V ION IM&T

NOV2017

CUSTOMER IN THE SPOTLIGHT:MARK VAN DER HEIJDEN, MANAGER SHARED SERVICE CENTER (SSC) THE NETHERLANDS AND PORK GERMANY

SAP team reaches milestone

A milestone was reached when the first Dutch abattoir switched to SAP FICO in November 2017. This strengthens the standard working method within the Vion Food Group. A total of nine Dutch companies now work with SAP FICO, including Vion NV, IM&T and Vion Financial Services.

IM&T has been standardising the application landscape for some time now. If more locations use the same

software, it means we increase the efficiency regarding licences, hosting, maintenance and management. Furthermore, it becomes much easier to implement adaptations while working with a single system as we only have to implement the adaptations once, centrally, instead of at each location. Finally, working with the same software stimulates us to use comparable processes at all locations, leading to a more effective way of working and a better way of comparing results between them.

CONSISTENCY IN FINANCIAL PROCESSESThe latter is most important for Mark van der Heijden. He is responsible for the SSC the Netherlands and the SSC Pork Germany. “When you work with a single application and a single financial standard, you achieve more consistency in working methods and processes. This makes it easier to compare the figures and results of the various locations, because you record the data in a uniform manner.” Working with only a single application also means that process improvements can be implemented earlier.

Vion has decided to start working in accordance with the international IFRS accounting rules at all locations from 2017. The general ledger accounts have been modified to this standard for all of Vion, and the financial module in SAP, called FICO, is entirely set up in accordance with the IFRS rules. We also all speak the same language.

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2INSIGHT VION IM&T - NOVEMBER 2017

This makes it easier to communicate with each other and we will reach a consensus about the figures more quickly.”

Another advantage is that all financial information is recorded in SAP now. Mark: “In the upcoming period, we plan to convert the other 17 Dutch enterprises to SAP. We previously worked with the financial software packages FIS, CSB and Navision in the Netherlands. But in those software packages we did not use asset accounting (the continuous recording of the value of fixed assets such as buildings and machines). That is why we continued to do this in Excel. It is very time-consuming and very complex to correctly keep track of this. In SAP, everything is consistently and comprehensively processed, which saves us a lot of time.”

The implementation of SAP FICO and the corresponding Asset Accounting module in the Netherlands went smoothly. “We were able to use the experience we gained in Germany, so we did not need to reinvent the wheel ourselves.” The new accounting process with SAP was audited by Ernst & Young in September. Their opinion was very positive.

WORKFLOW INCOMING INVOICESAnother improvement is the standardisation and automation of the workflow for incoming invoices. Vion will use SAP Invoice Cockpit for this purpose. All incoming invoices are scanned and will then enter a totally digital approval and booking process. Mark: “We have designed a new process in which we want to receive all invoices of our suppliers digitally in the SSC. Invoices that are still sent by (post) mail are scanned by us on a daily basis. Next, the digital invoice goes to the appropriate colleague at a location for approval, after which the invoice can be made payable.”The workflow for incoming invoices is completely identical in Germany and the Netherlands. In Germany, and in cooperation with the SSC Emstek, nearly all Pork enterprises have switched to the new working method. In the Netherlands, the new workflow will be activated at a location as soon as it has been switched to SAP FICO. This is also a good example of uniformity in the way of working.

Finally, upon receipt, we already book the invoice (this is called direct posting), so at the end of the month, we no longer need to make provisions for the invoices still to be received. This saves time, which means that we have a much better view of where we are at the end of the month, allowing us to be much more reactive. This really helps the controllers.

SAP FICO AND NEW INTERFACE WITH FOBIS DESIGNSAlthough the Dutch enterprises could make use of the experiences gained in Germany for the implementation of SAP FICO, creating a good interface with Fobis (goods administration) was a long drawn-out affair. Designing and testing the interface has cost a lot of time, especially because of the complex processes at the abattoirs. Mark: “The abattoirs have much more different types of entries than the non-production enterprises. This means, logically, that the structure of the interface from Fobis to SAP is more complex for these enterprises. We involved various people in this: departmental heads, SSC experts, IM&T, people from the Pork division and of the locations.They agreed reasonably quickly on how the process should look, but it was not that simple to make this 100% correct on the software level. “That was difficult and time-consuming”, Mark tells us.

This meant that the project took up more time than initially thought. “Our processes are indeed complex. You want the software to support the processes. This means that the process becomes simpler and more efficient for the employees. We considered it important to take our time for this, and to really test the newly developed interfaces. This now bears its fruits because with SAP we have greater transparency than before, and the end-to-end process has become more efficient.”

SUCCESSFUL CONTINUATIONThe project is not finished yet. Various Dutch enterprises are scheduled to switch to SAP FICO. But Mark already is enthusiastic. “The main part of our financial processes in Germany and the Netherlands are now in SAP. We have gained a lot of experience with quickly switching enterprises to SAP FICO. We have managed to automate various tasks which were done manually before, which means this work is now done quicker and faultless. The major advantage is that all SSCs can start working in exactly the same way, which has led to uniform accounting across all of Vion.” It was not always easy, but the cooperation with the IM&T project team led by Michel Mensik ran smoothly. “I want to praise everyone who is or was involved because it is a large and complex project. We are well on track and we are fully focussed on successfully switching the remaining enterprises too.”

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Flatter IM&Torganizationgives moreresponsibilityto teams

IM&T has reached a level of maturity that makes these big changes possible. Marc de Thouars: “A lot happened in the past year. We have taken great steps in standardizing our IT landscape. The day-to-day business is under control and the number of major IT-related failures has decreased significantly. At the same time, we see teams working smarter together, taking advantage of trainings and the knowledge of the business growing tremendously.”

That is the foundation we need to run a flatter organization. Starting in 2018, teams will be responsible for managing their budgets and for measuring their performance against the KPI’s we agree to. Having control over the day-to-day business and permanent staff with good knowledge of the business reinforce each other and make IM&T stronger. By transferring some activities to the teams, we can manage our finances more closely and react to customers quicker than before.

IM&T’s goal is to support business processes. That alignment has not always been good enough in the past, Marc admits. “Now we are taking big steps forward. We have the basics in order, and can focus more on what is of value to the business. That’s nice, because with that, IM&T is contributing more to Vion’s overall success. Of course, it’s not all perfect. Things still go wrong, not all projects run smoothly and we still have inexplicable disturbances. However, we are doing better every day. I want to thank everyone within IM&T for that. It is absolutely a team effort.”

STABILIZATION AND GROWTHIM&T is entering a period in which we can stabilize and benefit from the work we did. Marc: “The new organization in place, and the collaboration between IM&T and the VIPER Software House is taking shape. Let’s now focus on familiarizing ourselves with the new methods and processes. Looking ahead, more organizational work is coming. For example, by Q1 2018, we will have made a major investment in training and certifying local IT staff in networks, applications, and IT systems management. This fits in with the idea of running a flatter organization, because in-house knowledge of the business is essential to our long-term success.”

IT’S YOUR MOVEMarc requests: “When you see things that can be done differently or better, please speak up. Keep looking for ways we can improve and discuss your ideas with your team members and your manager. I am completely open to receiving your business proposals. We are stronger when we work together.”

Over the last few months, we’ve gone through a major restructuring. With the establishment of the VIPER Software House, we reexamined how we manage the business and found efficiencies that enable us to organize ourselves in a flatter management structure that gives more responsibilities to the teams. As a result, Jan Maenen and Joost Pigmans are no longer actively working for IM&T. Their duties were partly transferred to the IM&T Director and partly to the quartermasters, effectively eliminating a whole management layer.

4INSIGHT VION IM&T - NOVEMBER 2017

Steps in the modernising of Vion’s infrastructure

As everyone knows and regularly experiences, important parts of our infrastructure are not up to date. This applies to both the WAN (wide area network which are the network connections between our locations and the external data centres) and the LAN (local area network

or the network at the locations). In 2017 and 2018 we are working on a major upgrade. Through this newsletter, we wish to inform you about the status of both projects.

The WAN can only be tackled Vion-wide, but the LAN can be updated location by location. We will first take a closer look at the WAN.

QUALITY AND COSTS ARE COMMUNICATING VESSELSFor non-IT staff, a network is a network. However, there are many different technologies and, within those technologies, there are also many different configuration possibilities. The choices you make have an impact on the costs, the bandwidth of the connections (how fast the network is), the availability (what the risks are of disruptions and what backup facilities we have in case of disruption), the flexibility (how fast we can adapt the network to changing circumstances) and the future-proofing. The costs and the other aspects are communicating vessels.

BuchloeSingaporeLeeuwardenBoxtel

Local network(LAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Sven Brouwer,

WAN project manager

5

We can choose a design with an availability of 99.999 percent (representing a minimal risk of outages leading to P1 or P2 faults), but there is a price to pay for this so we have make choices.

In addition to this, the impact of an outage is much larger at some locations than at others. So, one location would be prepared to pay more for increased availability than another, simply because it is able to earn back those costs.

Initially, we chose a design which turned out not to work as we anticipated. The problems were the worst in Buchloe, where we encountered unexpected network behaviour, resulting in many disruptions. Because the initial design also offered less flexibility to allow us to offer various service levels, we decided to halt the project and to produce a new, better design. This resulted in a re-start of the project. All locations will be connected to the WAN, making it possible to exchange data between them and later, for instance, to make voice calls at lower cost and hold video conferences via the Meadow. A normal internet connection suffices for the smaller locations and sales offices. For the larger production locations, we chose a MPLS connection in combination with an internet connection. They will, therefore, have a double (redundant) connection. If there is a disruption to one of the lines, we can continue to work on the other.

PROJECT WITH THREE PHASESThe new project consists of three phases. This also means that we will visit the sites at least three times. We chose to do this because there are many dependencies between the locations. By dividing the project into phases, we can better manage these dependencies.

PHASE 1 started in September and is expected to last until the end of November. During this period, nearly all locations will be connected to the WAN lines of Interoute (our supplier) and Quality of Service will be implemented. This means that we can easily set up divisions between the different types of network traffic. If the network is very busy, critical traffic is prioritised. In this way, we can do with a little less bandwidth, which has a large impact on the costs. Up to now, phase 1 is progressing according to plan. During the migrations, we encountered virtually no problems and certainly no problems leading to P1 or P2 faults.

PHASE 2 has just started and is expected to run until the end of January. We can start phase 2 at a location as soon as phase 1 has been completed. Phase 2 entails

an upgrade to a software-defined WAN. This is a WAN in which all management tasks are automated, making management much more efficient. The local internet break-out will also be implemented in this phase. This means that ordinary internet traffic (e-mails you send, websites you visit) does not go through one of our three data centres, but directly to the internet. This also has a positive impact on the required bandwidth and therefore on the costs.In addition, certain other technical work will be carried out, aimed at reducing the management burden.

PHASE 3 runs from December to March and can start when phase 2 has been completed at a location. In phase 3, we will implement WAN optimisation. This means that we will investigate which network traffic we can send in compressed form, so we can achieve even greater WAN speeds. It involves zipping certain files, so to speak, without you, the users, having to do anything. This will also have a positive impact on the required bandwidth and therefore on the costs. In this phase, we will also install the final security. And at large sites, such as Boxtel, we will install a back-up connection between our internal network and the Interoute network; the so-called last mile. The chances of something happening to that small length of glass fibre network are minimal, but if it were to break, it would cause major problems. This is why we are investing in a second line at some sites.

AN EFFICIENT NETWORK IN THREE STEPSSo, in three steps we will do everything possible to use the network as cleverly and efficiently as possible, while keeping the costs as low as possible. This means that we can achieve a high bandwidth and reduce the risk of disruptions at a relatively low cost. In this way, we can put the communicating vessels to the best possible use.

READY FOR THE MEADOWIf everything goes according to plan, all locations will have an up-to-date WAN at the start of 2018. This means that all locations will then have a 10Mb connection. And that is what you need if you want to start using Voice over IP and video conferencing; in other words, if you want to make optimum use of all of the Meadow’s functionalities. Furthermore, if necessary, we can scale up to 100Mb at every site. In effect, we have built a motorway with ten lanes and we are currently using only one of them. This scalability is necessary, because we expect much more network traffic in future. We are ready for that now.

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BuchloeSingaporeLeeuwardenBoxtel

Local network(LAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN)

6INSIGHT VION IM&T - NOVEMBER 2017

In addition, the local infrastructure - the LAN, the WiFi and the local data centres - must also be brought up to date. That is why we are currently carrying out the so-called infra health checks at all locations.

Reynold Chandansingh is leading this project.

“At many Vion locations you will find outdated hardware and cabling,” he explains. “We have to improve and modernise in order to reduce the risk of disruptions. Furthermore, Meadow will later need a certain basis on which to operate. This is why we are charting the current status at all locations, what ‘gaps’ exist in comparison with the desired situation, which improvement projects have the highest priority and what costs all of this entails.”

INVENTORY FOR PORK COMPLETEDInitially, the health checks were carried out at 14 Pork sites. Preparations started in August, including drawing up the checklist to be used at every location. During September, the 14 locations were visited. And in October all of the results were processed into a complete overview and an overview per location. These contain the necessary work, the prioritisation and the required 2018 budgets. Attached to these overviews is a list of risks that we run if a part of the infrastructure is not at the correct level. The probability of the risks occurring and the investment needed to eliminate the risk is also included. Photographs of the systems and cabling have even been added to the list, to also make it clear visually the risks posed by outdated systems.

INFRA HEALTH CHECK AT BEEF NOW STARTINGThe Pork project has now been completed. The interim reports were not only shared with the Pork management and location managers, but also with the Beef management. Although the budget planning for 2018 is already underway, they can see the added value of this type of Health Check and have asked for the Beef process to be speeded up. “The process which took three months for Pork will now be completed in three to four weeks for Beef,” Reynold explains. “Fortunately, much of what we designed for Pork can be re-used, such as the check lists, the reporting formats and the assessments of the investment

required to bring the infrastructure up to date. For instance, we no longer need to request quotes from multiple suppliers.”

Sometimes the infra health checks are combined with the scan for the Meadow, which we completed at all locations. This scan specifically aims to chart the required adaptations at a location, to allow Meadow to function optimally.

RISK-BASED APPROACHReynold is happy with this risk-based approach. “Every company with outdated systems should look at its IT landscape in this way. Because you then reach entirely different decisions than if you only focus on resolving problems. Our approach aims to prevent problems. IT always costs money, but when you use this money to prevent disruptions and reduce production costs, the business case is positive. We no longer only look at what something costs, but at what value it adds.”

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Dear colleague,

We would like to invite you to our ChristmasDinner Show to thank you for your commitment and dedication this past year. We would like to reflect on the past year during a Dinner Show.The show will be about a family business, ‘behind the scenes’, where nothing goes as it should be,but the show must go on…

The dinner will take place:Date 14 December 2017From 18:00 to 23:30Location Inspiration point Maastrichterweg 13 - 17 5554 GE Valkenswaard RegistrationPlease let Annet Kerstjens know before Friday17 November 2017 if you will be attending or not. We will make arrangements, such as hotel and transport, for our colleagues in Hannover.

The colleagues of the VSH in Hannover will beinvited to the Christmas dinner on 13 December in Munich. If they also want to come to Valkenswaard then they are more than welcome.

We are looking forward to seeing you at our Christmas dinner show. There is no business like show business!

MT IM&T

I N V I T A T I O NVion IM&T

C H R I S T M A S D I N N E R

It’s showtime!

Infra health checks chart required LAN investments

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Meadow

All functionalities have been testedEvery month we keep you posted on the progress with Meadow. It’s a bit boring now, because the biggest news is: we are still on schedule but with tight deadlines.

Last month we informed you on the first results of the Proof of Concept (PoC). In October the first stage of the WAN project is finished in Boxtel, which means that recently we could add Voice over IP and video calling to the PoC. “This works really well”, says project manager Stan Wychgel. “Of course we need to fine tune a little bit, but overall users are very enthusiastic.”You can make video calls from your fixed work station or a laptop, but also from a mobile phone. “This is useful for employees who travel a lot. You can attend a meeting from your hotel room or a restaurant where you have lunch.”

FIRST MEADOW USERS. WHO WILL BE NEXT?Stan gets more and more requests from teams that want to be part of the PoC because Meadow has some specific advantages for them. Last month we informed you that employees of Otto Nocker and the employees within the KISS-project in Grossostheim are using Meadow. Now also the Axxerion team requests to be part of the PoC. They want to share the same mailbox and that’s more easy in Office 365 than in Lotus Notes.

Stan: “It’s nice to see that Meadow meets demands that couldn’t be met before.”When you receive this issue of Insight IM&T Distrifresh is about to go live in the coming weeks. They will be followed by Apeldoorn and Leeuwarden. Those sites are both scheduled for this year. After these sites, Scherpenzeel and Buchloe will follow.

MEADOW TRAINING The complete education program is finished. Stan: “We tested the basic training and made some adjustments based on the feedback we got from the first users. Furthermore, we have installed some online training modules on the Meadow site that people can go to when they want to follow some specific Office 365 programs.”

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENTAlso a lot of progress is made with the Life Cycle Management contract. Instead of purchasing new hardware we are going to rent it: hardware-as-a-service. Every four years the equipment will be replaced by the latest versions. This way we can always stay up-to-date with the hardware.

To conclude: it looks like we are going to meet all deadlines that were set for 2017. So we are almost ready for the big roll-out in 2018.

8INSIGHT VION IM&T - NOVEMBER 2017

Ludger Simon 27 NovemberGaston Aust 28 NovemberRob Breukhoven 29 NovemberAnnet Kerstjens 3 DecemberEnrico Aderhold 5 DecemberHorst Vorholzer 9 December Yoran Schers 10 December

Birthdays

WHAT ARE YOUR REASONS TO JOIN VION? WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR JOB? In April 2011 I started in Boxtel at the expedition department as EPT chauffeur (Electrical Pallet Truck) and within six month I covered almost every position at that department. I switched-over to the function of document controller. Again after half a year I requested for a more challenging and complex job. The next job I had within Vion was at the technical department as an intermediary between production and suppliers of information / controlling systems. Lately Marc van Hoof approached me to take part in the Field Support Engineer project.

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR JOB AND YOUR TASKS?About 30% of my time I still work for the plant in Boxtel and for the other 70% I am deployed Vion wide. For instance for the SIS-projects in Apeldoorn and Groenlo. I’ve also been asked for the new factoryin Leeuwarden. I work completely on project basis,among other things on projects concerning automation and data gathering, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES systems), system administration, system optimization and thinking of inventive solutions.

WHERE DO YOU GET ENERGY FROM? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME?Lots of things, I play piano, guitar and bass guitar. Photography is a hobby of mine, as well as programming of micro-controllers.

WHAT ARE YOU PROUD OF?‘De feestbus’ is something I believe I am most proud of. I was approached to build the audiovisual installation for a party bus, an orange vehicle completely with lasers, intelligent LED, microcontrollers, all handled via a tablet. You can see the bus in the video clip of Nielson, ‘Nachtdienst’.

YOU CAN WAKE ME FOR…?A visit to the pub with friends or my colleagues, people I am very fond of. And of course if you need help, you can call me anytime, only if it is urgent.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO MY COLLEAGUESI like challenges. So please call me for things that are challenging!

Townhall meetings

EMPLOYEEIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Lukasz Bartuzi Field Service Engineer,ICT Intermediair

Boxtel 20 November 12.00 – 13.00Hannover 24 November 12.00 – 13.00

No town halls in December

Christmas dinner 14 December 18.00 – 23.30 Valkenswaard

Scan or click on this QR-code to watch the video.