EDMONTON, ALBERTA - Founded in Edmonton in 1940 when a group of farmers established the "Alberta Poultry Producers Ltd.”, Lilydale Inc.’s primary business at its inception was providing eggs to Great Britain
during World War II. With over 2,100 employees, today it is known as one of Canada’s leading poultry processors.

Widely recognized by its "It’s not just chicken, it’s Lilydale!“ slogan, Lilydale has a reputation for providing premium quality food products throughout Canada. The company operates six manufacturing facilities and three hatcheries in Western Canada and produces hundreds of products that are sold to retail and foodservice customers throughout the country.

The company prides itself on the diversity of its product lines, which include both fresh and further- processed chicken and turkey. Under the guidance of the company’s R&D team, Lilydale is constantly developing new products to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers. 

"We enjoy an excellent reputation for product quality and constantly strive to exceed customer expectations,” says Lilydale President and CEO Ed Rodenburg. Thanks to a recent partnership with CSB-System, Lilydale is now able to utilize a business IT solution that optimally manages their business processes.

Rodenburg says CSB-System's technology allows his company to efficiently track the large amount of data moving throughout their production facilities. “We were seeking the best solution for managing our industry-specific processes through state-of-the-art technology in order to help us meet the everyday requirements of the poultry market,” he says. “With the fully integrated turnkey CSB-System, we have found that solution and have been able to successfully eliminate our disparate legacy systems.”

Fast & Efficient Order Fulfillment Reduces Expenses

With the Phase I implementation of the solution completed at four Lilydale plants (including their headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta), Lilydale is confident that the system was the right choice for an all-over sense of enhancement to their company. For example, orders can now be processed in a fast and efficient fashion. Through touch-screen terminals and RF Hand-held devices, products are labeled and scanned, and all data is captured and validated at the point of origin. Via the wireless network, mobile devices give employees easy access to all required picking data straight from their handhelds. All this, and the system is also very user friendly. “Our employees enjoy working with the CSB-System due to its simple and easy-to-understand user interfaces,” says Rodenburg.

Process Optimization via an Integrated Solution

At Lilydale, the high degree of integration offered by CSB-System results in much-improved process efficiency. Lilydale Corporate Controller Suzanne Young says having access to data in a centralized, real-time environment has allowed the organization to make decisions concerning production much faster than before.

"The CSB-System delivers all the detailed information we need for our business," she explains. “Consolidating the plants under one solution helped to reduce overhead costs and avoid redundancies.”

Efficient Implementation through Expertise and Trust

Once the CSB-system was in place at the company’s first plant, the Lilydale team was able to introduce it seamlessly at its other facilities. Rodenburg says the rollout of the system was the smoothest of four similar projects that he has seen during his career.

Lilydale Project Manager Juan Garcia agrees, adding that the mutual respect and confidence that flowed between both teams was a key factor. “Our relationship with the CSB-System team is built on trust and this is one of the core elements of our collective success,” he says 

The first phase of the implementation addressed the following critical areas:

• Inventory Management
• Product Identification & Labeling
• Sales & Distribution
• Financial Accounting

The second phase will include the critical areas below:
• Production, Cutting, Product Costing
• Planning
• QA
• MRO
• Purchasing and Receiving

Safe, Wholesome, Premium Quality Products through HACCP

Food safety is top priority at every food company – and it’s also something that CSB-System is supporting at Lilydale. Both Lilydale and CSB-System are committed to generating a real-time, accurate method of traceability.

Lilydale has strict food safety and product specifications in place as part of the Lilydale HACCP plan, which will eventually be incorporated into the CSB-System solution. This will inevitably facilitate Lilydale’s continuous growth and success within the poultry industry.

For more information, go to: www.csb.com