Testimonial : Namur

Namur, an artisan confectioner, uses Mercator for the production and marketing of its confectionery.

The Luxembourg business produces and markets a wide variety of pralines, cakes, petits fours, pies, ice creams, etc. This is an opportunity to present to you the application of Mercator's production management to the food sector.

Namur has a history of over 150 years. Nicolas Namur, the first link in the family history, opened a confectionery store in 1854 in California. He then returned to Luxembourg where he opened the first "Namur" store, in the capital.
Today, it is the sixth generation of the family that continues to run the business. Namur is currently six stores, a distribution network and one production site.

The development of the production phase

In 2007, the sixth generation had a brand new production site built that employs approximately one hundred people. Designed with hygiene and the product path in mind, the site spans three floors:

On the lower level, goods are received and temporarily stored in refrigerators.
On the middle level, they are distributed between the workshops: patisserie and decoration, bakery, biscuits, etc. Each finished product is sent to the dispatch area, which operates intensively between 4 and 8 a.m.
The top level is that of the ice cream and chocolate/confectionery workshop. There may be no traces of flour there (restricted to the floor below) due to allergen issues. It is here that, for example, between 70 and 80 different types of pralines are produced.

Namur Luxembourg

Software to maintain the entire production chain and its characteristics

An interface for the seller, the workshop manager, the management, etc. and rights for each person.

Mercator is customised for each activity: users only see the functionalities that concern them. For ease of use, the interface has been simplified as much as possible.
Mercator also makes it possible to give access to certain functionalities only to a defined group of people.

Namur delights

Last-minute orders

At Namur, orders can be added even if the production for the day is in progress. This is often the case for restaurants that place their orders late at night. Mercator makes it possible to print a differential report showing the workshop the orders added at the last-minute.

Control over production

Mercator requests a confirmation of production and of receipt of purchases, which enables the checking of the quantities produced, of what arrived or was sold in-store, etc.

chocolate Raving Rabbids

The production of finished products using intermediate products

Certain products (e.g.: a pie), involve the production of intermediate products (pastry, decoration, assembly, etc.) In Mercator, the ordering of one of these complex products automatically generates an instruction for each of the workshops involved.
Likewise, certain products always go hand in hand with others (a custom decoration for a cake): Mercator can manage this type of production.

Easy resupply for stores

Certain Namur stores regularly order the same items from the plant. In their Mercator system, they can obtain predefined product lists. They simply have to print them, go around the shelves to note the quantities to be reordered and enter them in Mercator.

Customising Mercator to match the activity

Customisation of user profiles, addition of buttons and shortcuts, customisation of reports, etc. Mercator has been highly customised and personalised to meet all the specific needs of this production site.

Software to manage the activity from A to Z

The entire confectionery activity, from production to sale and accounting, is managed with Mercator.

The path of items in Mercator:

Order by a customer or the stores.
Receipt in Mercator and transfer to production: sending of the instructions to the workshops.
At the end of production: correction or confirmation of the quantities produced.
Addition of these quantities to the stock.
Preparation of the delivery: creation of labels and delivery notes.
In the store: receipt and checking of the delivery with confirmation or correction.
Invoicing.

Namur production

Rather than stopping at this level of development, Namur has plans to add yet more functionalities and modules to their Mercator system to further manage the small details of their business.

Mercator is a standard but fully customisable software and here is a good example of this.

Visit Namur's site