Articles
A PRACTICAL CHAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE DUTCH HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY
One is the need for an active market approach by growers and consequently increasing relationship with buyers and suppliers.
A second development is the increasing amount of firms that are implementing quality management systems, because buyers are more and more asking for assurance of meeting the customer requirements.
The purpose of the research project ‘A Practical Chain Management System in the Dutch Horticulture Industry’ consisted of two parts:
- Developing and implementing a practical chain quality management system with examples in the Dutch potted plants, cut flowers and glasshouse-vegetables sector.
- Developing a practical manual for the implementation of a chain quality management system in the Dutch greenhouse sector.
On the basis of the literature study it was determined that the developed system should ensure that the critical information processes, the communication, between links in the chain were working.
After analysing the information processes between (at first) two links in the chain they could be finally divided into eight critical control points.
Every critical control point was worked out in a procedure, as is used in quality assurance, to ensure the optimal exchange of information between partners in the chain.
The next step was pointing out areas of attention in the different relationships in the chain.
Areas of attention should get concrete solutions.
A number of sessions were arranged for the participants of the different firms, involved in the project, to solve the areas of improvement.
This brought up all kinds of solutions to be implemented through the developed chain quality system.
The main result of this research project is a manual for chain quality management in the Dutch horticultural industry.
In this manual the total system is described.
The core of this manual is formed by eight model procedures for ensuring the critical control points in a relation between links in a chain.