Halben Foods

Sage PFW and Halben Foods: Bon Appetit!

Chefs throughout the Midwest reach for the Lasco brand many times a day to create their masterpieces. Whether they need drink mixes, salsas, barbecue sauces, salad dressings, gravy mixes, soups, ready-to-use sauces, puddings, gelatins, or baking preparations, they know they can count on Lasco for quality and consistency.

For more than 50 years, Lasco has served institutional cooks at restaurants, hospitals, schools, military facilities, and nursing homes. Lasco products are manufactured by Halben Food Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of Allen Foods, Inc. Halben also produces signature items based on customers’ proprietary recipes, private-label runs, and a “Smart Solutions” line for residents in long-term care facilities.

How to Make Profits Rise

Halben saw that savings could be made by improving inventory management and controlling waste, and began looking for a system to automate its process manufacturing operations. Most packages were unsuitable, as they handled only discrete manufacturing processes. Halben does multi-level manufacturing, creating both end- and intermediate-type products. A sauce, for instance, might be sold on its own, and also used as an ingredient for yet another product.

Only one system proved up to the challenge: Sage PFW ERP-a comprehensive process manufacturing and financial solution that allows Halben to manage everything from labeling and bar coding to accounts receivable, no matter how complicated its recipes or reuse of intermediate goods.

Recipe for Success

“One of the best things about Sage PFW is the flexibility it gives us when dealing with inventory,” says Larry Modene, MIS manager at Halben. “The system tracks every inventory transaction with each of our 3,000 items, keeping a running record of stock on hand. This is essential, because we might buy raw materials in 100-pound shipments, but only pull out three pounds at a time.”

“Sage PFW runs our entire enterprise. There’s no way we could handle our current volume of business without Sage PFW.”

The system stores formulas for each of Halben’s 400-plus products. Either a running inventory or physical count “snapshot” of goods on hand can be used to determine whether supplies are sufficient for jobs in process, or are already committed for other projects. When stocks are low, Sage PFW automatically generates a purchase order. This saves money by reducing overstocking costs and waste, and prevents expensive production delays caused by shortages.

“Having accurate, up-to-date inventory information allows us to do better production scheduling,” explains Modene. “And with Sage Sage PFW, we can make multiple finished products out of a single bill of materials, a real convenience for us. It’s exactly what a company like ours needs to succeed.”

System users log on to Sage PFW and access financials with a click of the mouse. Modene likes the seamless integration between manufacturing and financial modules because it’s easier for him to provide user support.

“Sage PFW runs our entire enterprise,” says Modene. “It’s impossible to quantify the savings and efficiencies we’ve achieved by implementing it. It has enabled us to grow rapidly while maintaining rigorous quality standards. Put simply, there’s no way we could handle our current volume of business without Sage PFW.”