5 The TINE Cases
5.3 Marian Fish Filets
5.3.4 Transformation of Marian Fish Filets
The transformation of Marian fish filets and the various types of packaging used to contain this product are shown in the following figure 5.17:
Fig. 5.17 The main transforming activities and types of packages used in the flow of Marian fish filet
The figure shows how the finished packed fresh fish filet products are transformed from a fish inhabiting the Barents sea until it is placed on the shelves of a Norwegian supermarket. The Marian fish filets in the consumer
Sort
packs are parts of the original fish. Marian fish filets are physically transformed but not combined with other products or given additives other than the nitrogen and carbon dioxide that is injected into the consumer package to reduce the rate of material decay. The following sections describe how Marian fish filets are transformed in the flow of goods to the end-user.
Fishing, gutting and cleaning
The fishing vessel is a trawler. Fish are caught in a net where the openings in the net are regulated in accordance with government-set specifications to hinder catching smaller and younger fish. The net is in the sea for 2-5 hours.
The catch is then hauled on board and is sent through an opening on deck into the holding room. There the fish is beheaded and gutted and hung so that the blood runs out of the meat. This is done to secure a white colour of the meat. It takes about 30 minutes for blood to drip out. When this is done the fish is cleaned, sorted, and then registered according to species and size.
Ice is placed at the bottom of the fish crates and the fish above this. A label with a colour code is placed on top of the fish. There is one colour for each day of the week. Ice is then placed on top of the fish and the paper label. A lid is used to cover the contents of the crate and the crates are then placed in the ship’s refrigerated storage room.
Delivery to Aker Seafoods Hammerfest
After 5-7 days at sea, the trawler returns to its base at Rypefjord on the outskirts of Hammerfest where the Aker Seafood’s terminal and production facilities are located. Beside these facilities is a deep-water pier that the trawlers use. The fish crates are unloaded using forklifts and moved into the arrival terminal area indoors. Fish of the same species, within the same size margin, and caught on the same date, are collected into a plastic fish tub. The fish are loaded onto a conveyer belt that dumps them into a the large plastic fish tubs used at the production facility. Ice-water is poured into the tub to help preserve the fish. Fish is usually kept for 2 days in these containers.
Cod or saithe that were caught less than two days previously by the trawler are used to produce Marian fish filets. The fish are kept for only a few hours in the fish tub before entering production. The empty fish crates continue on the belt and undergo an automated cleaning process. After cleaning, the fish crates are put in a storage room until being loaded back onto a trawler.
Production at Aker Seafoods in Hammerfest
The fish is emptied from the plastic container into a filleting machine. Aker Seafoods uses only fresh raw material meaning no frozen fish is provided from the trawlers and used in their production. All the production and terminal facilities at Aker Seafoods Hammerfest are refrigerated. These 20-year old machines are run by one person and automatically remove the skin
and bones from the fish. The filets are then sent to a trimming line. Here, 32 persons manually trim the fish on one production line. They remove remaining skin and bones and cut the fish into the appropriate pieces. Marian fish filet products contain loins (upper part of the fish), centre portions (belly), or tails.
The fish filets go mainly to three different product categories. Aker Seafoods delivers fresh fish that is packed in Styrofoam-based fish containers measuring 40cm x 60cm. These products are distributed to fish processing industries, mainly in Europe, or to sales from fish counters in European supermarkets. Aker Seafoods also packs fish filets in various types of consumer packages that are frozen. These products are marketed under the FINDUS brand.
The Marian products represent a unique production process and are packed using equipment that at present is only used for these products. New machinery is used to pack the goods into consumer-level packaging. This packing process is highly automated using new equipment. The filets are packed into consumer packages and a label is attached. The production takes only a few minutes and as the consumer packages come out of the machine, they are placed into GILDE-packs. When these are full, they are moved onto Euro-pallets, which, when full, are placed in the terminal storage area.
Handling and transport to the TINE distribution centres
Nor-Cargo Thermo transports most of the pallets of Marian fish filets to their terminal at Skårer outside Oslo. Nor-Cargo Thermo operates a fleet of trailer-type long haul transport vehicles. All their trucks have 2 refrigerated storage compartments that can be separated by folding doors. Monday and Friday afternoons, when Marian products are produced, Nor-Cargo Thermo drives a truck out to the loading ramp at Aker Seafoods’ Hammerfest facility and picks up pallets of Marian products together with products from Aker Seafoods. The truck may carry both frozen and fresh products since it has two main compartments and each of these compartments may have a different storage temperature. The transport takes 38-40 hours; the goods sent on Monday arrive on Wednesday, and the goods sent on Friday arrive on Monday. Nor-Cargo Thermo uses a double set of drivers to ensure continuous, refrigerated transport that follows the shortest route, through Finland and Sweden, a distance of more than 2000 km, to the Nor-Cargo Thermo terminal at Skårer outside Oslo. The goods are transported together with other fish products from Aker Seafoods and other suppliers. At the Skårer terminal, the Marian goods are loaded onto other vehicles bound for TINE’s various distribution centres in the Southern part of Norway. These vehicles carry mainly TINE products.
Handling and transport from TINE distribution centres
Marian Fish filets are usually received at the TINE distribution centres early in the morning and immediately moved to the area where they may be picked up for delivery the same day. The GILDE meat containers are usually broken, meaning that individual consumer packages are placed into a roll-rack container together with other products distributed through LFD. The Marian fish filets are then placed together with TINE cheese products, mainly, onto the same roll-rack. If a retailer has ordered a large amount of different Marian products, these are collected into one Gilde meat container.
The roll-racks and Gilde meat containers are placed in the designated location at the terminal and transported out later in the morning to the retailers in accordance with LFD.
Handling by the retailer
Roll-rack containers are unloaded off the delivery truck and the Marian fish filets are immediately placed in a refrigerated counter together with other refrigerated fish products. The three different products are placed in separate locations next to each other. This area is usually close to where meats and poultry products for dinner purposes are also displayed. The products must be sold within 5 days of arrival or they have to be disposed of as waste.
5.3.5 Information Directing the Delivery of Marian Fish Filets This part shows how information is provided and used at sorts to transform the Marian fish filets as described in the previous part.
Production and distribution planning
Production and distribution planning are carried out by Aker Seafoods in order to secure a necessary supply of raw materials. The actors and information involved in this relatively long-term planning regarding Marian fish filets are shown in fig. 5.18 below:
Fig. 5.18 Production and distribution planning of Marian fish filet (Double-headed arrows indicate information exchange)
The supply of Marian products is managed using weekly forecasts made by Fjordland. Marian is a new product that consumers are relatively unfamiliar with. Forecasting demand for Marian products is therefore a challenging task. The forecast is used by Fjordland to inform Aker Seafoods of expected orders for the coming week. Aker Seafoods uses this information in its own production planning. In practice, however, the actual production volume of Marian products is based on orders, and the forecast from Fjordland therefore serves mainly a supporting role to Aker Seafoods Hammerfest. The supply of raw-material fish from the trawlers is based on an annual agreement negotiated between the Norwegian Government’s fishery department and fishing vessel organisations. An annual fish quota for each of the fish species is assigned to the individual active trawlers used by Aker Seafoods. The fish quotas, together with the total anticipated demand for all of Aker Seafoods’ products, are used to make a monthly production forecast for Aker Seafoods Hammerfest. This production forecast is created at the head office in Oslo and then e-mailed to Aker Seafoods Hammerfest. This information is used in a Maritech production management system which system is an information system that is not interlinked with other information systems and used to manage, control, and register the production of fish at the Hammerfest production facility.
Aker
Informing about the delivery of fish from the trawler
The following figure 5.19 shows the actors and information involved in informing about delivery of fish from the trawler:
Fig. 5.19 Informing about the delivery of fish from the trawler
The trawler carries a fishing log. This log is used to register the volume of the catch of each species, the location of the catch, and the time when the trawl containing the fish was hauled on board. The fishing log is a paper-based system and information is registered manually in a book. The trawler informs Aker Seafoods daily of the volume of the catch of each species and size. Either a GSM mobile phone or satellite-based phone system is used for this communication, depending on how far out at sea the trawler is. This information, together with the expected arrival time of the trawler, is used to plan the actual production. Upon arrival at Aker Seafoods Hammerfest facility, the fish crates are counted to get an overview of the volume and sizes of fish delivered of each species.
Ordering by retailers
Ordering and informing about delivery of Marian fish filets to retailers involves the following actors and information as shown in fig. 5.20 below:
Fig. 5.20 Informing about the delivery of Marian fish filets to retailers Trawler
Fishing log
Aker Seafoods Hammerfest Informing; daily
catch of fish
Register arrival of fish
Dairy
MOVEX ERP system:
• Picking list
• Transport labels
• Transport document
Retailers
MOVEX ERP system:
• Order list
The retailers place orders in units of consumer packages containing Marian fish filet products of “Seifilet”, “Steketorsk”, or “Koketorsk”. When the Marian products arrive at the TINE dairies they are handled based on the same order-based information as that used to handle TINE Lettmelk and other products distributed by TINE dairies (distribution centres). This involves using the MOVEX ERP system, which creates all the documents and labels needed to deliver Marian fish filets in the same manner as TINE Lettmelk is delivered to the retailers. The basis for these documents and labels are customer orders, where Marian fish filet is kept in the same order form as Lettmelk, but with a different product code and text.
Informing to produce
Information is provided from different sources laying the foundation for production of Marian fish filet products at the Aker Seafoods Hammerfest factory. Information used to carry out production involves the following actors and types of information as shown in fig. 5.21 below:
Fig. 5.21 Informing about production
The fish supplied by the trawlers are registered into the Maritech information system. Aker Seafoods Hammerfest receives orders from each of the TINE dairies. The dairies place these orders based on forecasts for each of the Marian products made by Fjordland. This information is registered in an EXCEL data sheet and used to calculate the volume of production of each of
Aker Seafoods Hammerfest
Maritech:
• Raw materials
• Production
• Finished Products EXCEL:
Production-mix
TINE Distribution
centres Orders
EXCEL:
Orders of Marian products
Supply of fish raw-material
Labelling on consumer package
Fjordland Forecasts
the three Marian products. Furthermore, another EXCEL data sheet is used by Aker Seafoods to calculate the combination of its entire range of different goods produced on that certain day. This system is, however, not used to inform about the planned volumes of the different Marian products, which are thus produced based only on the received orders. The product-mix that is to be produced is then registered in the Maritech information system together with orders for Marian fish filet from the TINE dairies. This system then assigns different types of fish raw material to various modes of production and packing. The Maritech information system accordingly provides information regarding how much and what raw material has been used, how this raw material has been produced, and how much finished product have been packed in various kinds of packaging. The Maritech information system is also utilised to operate the production line that packs Marian products. This line also produces the labels on the consumer packages of Marian products. The Maritech information system is an isolated system and does not register order information from TINE distribution centre customers.
Informing about transport from Hammerfest to TINE dairies
While the catching of raw material and the production of the Marian white fish products are located in Northern Norway, markets for these products are located mainly about 2000 km away, in the Southern part of Norway.
Information about this long distance transport is therefore important in order to be able to supply customers. The following actors and information are involved in informing about transport Marian fish filets from Hammerfest to the TINE distribution centres as shown in fig. 5.22 below:
Fig. 5.22 Informing about transport from Hammerfest Aker Seafoods
Hammerfest
Nor-Cargo Thermo
TINE
Fjordland Transport document
Informing;
time of loading
TINE web page:
Transport requirements
Transport labelling
Aker Seafoods Hammerfest uses one of its EXCEL data sheets to register information regarding the orders of each Marian product to each of the 23 TINE dairies that function as distribution centres. This EXCEL sheet calculates the number of Gilde meat containers needed and how many pallets of Gilde meat containers are to be sent to each TINE distribution centre. A paper copy of this EXCEL sheet is made and provided to the terminal workers handling the finished Marian products. Based on the EXCEL data sheet, transport labels are created manually using the data screen. The consumer packages are placed into labelled Gilde meat containers, and Gilde meat containers are placed onto labelled pallets in accordance with this information. At the same time, a transport document is created. This document is also sent to Fjordland in Oslo where this information, together with other transport information, is entered into TINE’s web-based information system. Nor-Cargo Thermo must access TINE’s web-page daily themselves to receive orders regarding transport services needed from them.
Based on this information, Nor-Cargo Thermo in Hammerfest plans the loading and transport of its trailer from Hammerfest to Oslo. When Aker Seafoods reaches the end of the daily production of Marian products a call is made to Nor-Cargo Thermo’s representative in Hammerfest requesting that a trailer come to pick up the goods at an agreed-upon time. When the goods have been loaded onto the truck the driver is handed a transport document that he/she signs and brings with the goods to the Nor-Cargo Thermo terminal at Skårer. When the goods arrive at the terminal facility, information provided from TINE’s web- page regarding the distribution of its various products is used to handle the Marian products from Hammerfest, together with other TINE products. New transport documents are then provided for transport to different TINE dairies. The labelling on the distribution and transport packaging remains unchanged.
Informing about the product by the retailer
Informing about Marian fish filets at the supermarket involves the following actors and information shown in fig. 5.23:
Fig. 5.23 Informing about Marian fish filets at a supermarket
Marian Fish Filets arrive at the retailer facility together with TINE Lettmelk and are received in the same manner using a common order document. The Marian products are then moved into the store display area. When Marian products are purchased, it is registered in the store computer system, and the need for stock replenishment is carried out manually in the same manner as for TINE Lettmelk. Marian products are displayed with a label reading the name of the product and price on the shelf or inside a counter of the refrigerated area. The consumer selects the product based on this label, together with product information on the consumer package label. Marian Fish filets are displayed in the store together with a wide range of other fresh meat, poultry and fish-based products. Marian Fish filets is a new product choice, and informing the consumer is therefore important as regards sales to households.