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Total Quality Management to Boost Floricultural

Exports of Egypt: an integrated techno-managerial

approach for the chain from farm to consumer

Authors:N.P.G. Botden (MSc.) and A.M.L Terhürne (MSc.)HortiSolutions BV, Marijkeweg 22, 6709 PG Wageningen, The Netherlands

Phone: +31 317 483036, Fax: +31 84 2241219E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author), Website: www.hortisolutions.nl

Country: Egypt

Project: USAID / Chemonics Inc. contract No. 263-C-00-04-00010-00. / Agricultural Exports

& Rural Incomes program.

Date of submission: 20 January 2006Keywords: Egypt, EgyptFlor, Total quality management, (summer) cut flowers, production,

post-harvest, cool chain, Dutch flower auctions.

Regional Consultation on Linking Producers to Markets topic of interest:• Diversification into Higher-Value Products and Markets

Fresh horticultural crops, especially for export

• Organizing to Supply High-Value Domestic and International Markets Improving supply chain management, including traceability

Establishing quality assurance standards and certification systems for key export

markets Organizing, training, and linking small-scale farmers to high-value markets

Abstract:Global horticulture is a very dynamic sector. Social opinions are changing forcing

floricultural production companies to comply to final customer (consumer) demands. This in

order to be able to compete on global markets against other suppliers of the same product.

Producers have to convert from a supply driven context towards a market driven orientation.

When the distance to the customers is large, and margins are small, there is an increasing

interest in optimizing product and chain performance to decrease or avoid financial losses. This

paper explains the history and current situation of the Egyptian floricultural sector and its

motivation to co-operate on international markets to survive as the floricultural sector of Egypt.

In their wish to professionalize and become internationally recognized as a quality flower

supplier, a flower grower association named EgyptFlor started implementation of Total Quality Management. This paper explains step by step how this is currently implemented on farm and

chain level. Final result is an internet based Quality Performance monitoring system for

management optimization and benchmarking possibilities.



Global floricultural production and trade, a dynamic environment

The horticultural world is a very dynamic and fast changing environment. The distancebetween production, market place and final consumer is increasing: southern areas are producing

for northern markets. Also in the cut flower business, fast developing trends such as total

production volume increase, product quality, diversity and availability, up-scaling per company,cost reduction activities and horizontal and vertical chain integration can be observed each day.Generally spoken, most of the time there are more producers than buyers. So growers in African

countries compete with each other to become the preferred supplier of buyers in Europe. Eachgrower tries to be recognizable in the market by means of product availability and quality, for

example by delivery at the right moment with extra services. And buyers can choose most of thetime from a set of growers all offering the same product and they choose the quality-price-

combination which is most favourable for them. Combined with so called “soft”-factors such asgrower’s reliability, track record, relations etc, this will result in a certain market price which the

grower can get based on total market supply and total market demand for his or her product.Over the last century, the Dutch flower auctions with their famous auction clocks succeeded

in making complex information about supply and demand more transparent. The Dutch flowerauctions have a co-operative configuration, where in principle all producers can offer their

supply and all buyers can show their interest to buy. This resulted over the years in an auctionsystem where still the Dutch flower auctions are facilitating a floricultural marketplace where

world supply and world demand is meeting each other. Currently the Dutch flower auctions andits surrounding Dutch floricultural trading companies have been developing as giant players in

global floricultural trade, where world floral price formation is daily realized and from their oninfluencing floral trade all over the world.

For consumers exclusivity and good experience with a product are still the main factors whenbuying flowers. Flowers will be sold in increasing amounts via supermarkets. Environmental

friendly production, vase life and convenience are becoming more important. To guarantee this,tracking and tracing and certification are becoming more popular. Also product responsibility is

increasing, and adding value to products will be more important in near future. Based on this,collectivity and transparency of the chain is more important and this leads to more close

cooperation between companies. Importance of the auction clock will decrease and be replacedby more direct sales methods in fixed chains. The wholesaler will change into flower provider

and deals with coordination of supply and logistics and sometimes with marketing which isneeded to fulfil the wishes of the client (Rabobank, 2002). An overview of the general trends is

shown in table 1.Since flowers are products of mother nature, flower production can be irregular and difficult

to forecast. Also flower consumption can be irregular and is for example influenced by actualweather, seasonal patterns and the presence of personal or religious celebration days. Also this

consumption is hard to forecast. More over, supply chains (logistics) to transport perishablesfrom producers to consumers are most of the time not constant in performance. When this

irregular production, consumption and supply chain performance are combined, a very complexmarket place is realized where the value of reliable information is very high when translating

strategic goals into daily operations. These daily operations should add value to the product andresult in profit for a company.



Table 1: An overview of developments in different stages in the flower supply chains (FSC) (Van der Vorst, 2000)

Stage in the SCM Developments

Growers / Producers

• Increasing production costs due to governmental rulesconcerning environmental and consumer related issues

• Lower prices due to liberalization of markets

• Reducing number of and scaling-up of farms

Wholesalers • Scaling-up, concentration and global sourcing

• World-wide concentration and/or co-operation of wholesalers

Retailers • World-wide concentration and/or co-operation of retailers

• More consumer knowledge through new ICT

• Growing relative importance of supermarkets

Consumer Market • Saturated markets and Mass customization

Quality management models, a tool for the horticultural sector

As mentioned before, the turbulent, uncertain and highly competitive global floriculturalenvironment forces links of the Flower Supply Chain (FSC) to be more efficient and effective.

This results most of the time in redesign of the FSC. Some main factors behind this are:

1. Attention to customer value: The socio-economic developments described earlier have led

to increased emphasis on the creation of value for customers. This has implications for allstages in the FSC. Retailers have to reshuffle their assortments and delivery strategies,

distributors have to improve logistical performances, and producers have to use moreenvironment friendly production methods. Producing companies are forced to change from

push (supply) oriented production to pull (demand) oriented production.2. Increase of decision-making uncertainty: Changes in markets, products, technology, and

competitors are occurring at an increasingly rapid speed. As a result, decisions should be

made on shorter notice, with less information and with higher penalty costs.3. The need to redesign flower supply chains: The keys to long-term competitive advantage

in today’s marketplace are flexibility and customer response. To maximize a competitiveadvantage, all members in a FSC should work seamlessly together to serve the end customer.

The knowledge that other actors in the FSC can damage all the efforts taken to preserve highproduct quality, leads to a thorough understanding of the necessity to perform well as a total

FSC. It can be estimated that by creating a responsive customer driven FSC, the profitabilitycan improve drastically (Van der Vorst, 2000 en Chainge, 2002).

Like mentioned already, customers wish more and more that value is added to floricultural

products they buy. To serve these consumers, companies have to work closely together. So there

is a high need for transparency in the chain to make value adding processes profitable andeffective. Not all existing and new companies and chains will achieve this transparency, sopossibly two groups of companies will emerge in the international flower market:

• Product-providers: Companies that are incapable of acting flexible on uncertainties willstay in every-day-faster trading, with huge amounts of flowers, with low added value and

with other customers and chains every day. Margins are low and so are transaction costs.

• Service-providers: Cost price of the product is lower caused by more effective processes inthe chain. This is possible because chains are transparent and companies are working closely



together to serve the consumer with highest possible service. This lower cost price isreinvested in service and will lead to more direct sales in fixed chains and more long term

profits (Rabobank, 2002 and Botden, 2002).

Based on the very dynamic factors mentioned before, especially when agricultural products

have to travel a long way through an international chain before reaching a market place, there isan increasing interest in optimizing farm and/or supply chain performance, to prevent financiallosses. That is when the interest for improved levels of managing farm and/or chain gets

generated. From initial farm and/or chain development stage, this should finally lead to a highermanagement performance as implemented in the supply chains (Van der Vorst, 2000). Some

characteristics and development levels are visualized in figure 1.

EgyptFlor members

Supply

Chain

Management

Standards for:How to get

High Quality Chain

performance

Chain efficiencyChain approach

Chain controlCont. improvement

Etc.


High Quality Farm

perfomance

Total

Quality

Management

Efficient, reliableEmployees optimal

Internal controlCont. improvement

Etc.


High Quality

production?

Production

Process

Quality

Better varietyOptimized irrigationOptimized fertilizerOptimized grading

Etc.

Technical

Production

environment


High

production?

VarietyHow much water?

How much fertilizer?Grading

Etc.

EgyptFlor membersEgyptFlor members

Supply

Chain

Management


High Quality Chain

performance



Etc.

Supply

Chain

Management


High Quality Chain

performance



Etc.


High Quality Farm

perfomance

Total

Quality

Management



Etc.


High Quality Farm

perfomance

Total

Quality

Management



Etc.


High Quality

production?

Production

Process

Quality


Etc.


High Quality

production?

Production

Process

Quality


Etc.

Technical

Production

environment


High

production?



Etc.

Technical

Production

environment


High

production?



Etc.

Figure 1: Farm and chain characteristics and development levels, edited from Beulens, 2001.

The increased interest in Supply Chain Management has also been spurred by intensified

competition (due to open EU-markets), and demographic and market developments combinedwith developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). A driving force

behind SCM is the recognition that the sub-optimal is reached if each organization in a SupplyChain attempts to optimize its own results rather than to integrate its goals and activities with

other organizations to optimize the results of the entire chain. This results in higher benefits forevery link of the chain. (Van der Vorst, 2000 and Botden, 2002).

Market information can be converted towards production planning and result in informationon what to produce, when to produce, how to produce and how to supply. The earlier

information from the market is known upstream in the chain, the better the chain will perform as

it will be able to respond efficient to consumer demands. Since the complete FSC is using thisinformation and depending on each other, these FSC become more closed since valuableinformation is shared throughout the complete FSC, mostly based on trust in each other. This

leads to more closed supply chains who simultaneously work together in trying to serve finalcustomers as best as possible. (Botden and Van Kooten, 2001).



Flower quality is more than product quality

Flower quality can be defined as if the expectation of the buyer before purchase does meet orexceed his or her experience after purchase. In the past, this flower quality was mostly defined

by product quality. This initial product quality is created up till the moment of harvest. After

harvest, everything should be done to maintain this initial product quality or to minimize anydecrease in product quality. When the distance to the market is large, even more attention shouldbe paid to quality aspects in order to compete with other suppliers on the market. The main

quality problems, which can occur in post-harvest phases of cut flowers are: heterogeneousmaturity, mechanical damage, fungi infections, bacterial growth, problems with flower opening,

wilting and overheating during transport. (Botden, 2002; Terhürne, 2004 and Van Houtte, 2000).As mentioned, in the past flower quality was mostly defined by product quality. However,

these days flower quality is besides the product quality also more and more defined by involvedprocess quality. Flower buyers demand from companies active in horticulture that they pay

respect to the environment (planet), and to social aspects for workers such as health care, safetyand working conditions (people), that they comply with demands made by the retail sector

(profit) and that this is all regularly checked (labelling, certification). The impact and speed of these changes is high and is leading to regular strategy changes by producers of flowers or

companies active in the chain, in order to reach the flower-buying consumer. When currentstrategies cannot be changed in future, connection with society and the market will be lost.

Important is that all links in a flower supply chain are aware of these responsibilities because thetotal chain will have a certain performance based on the performance of the individual links

(Rabobank, 2002).All processes in a chain that look after flower quality are together called Total Quality

Management. Performing well on social quality levels and environmental quality levels, willgive a ’licence” to also perform on commercial quality levels, and thus performing on Total

Quality Management. The matrix of these 3 different components is shown in figure 2.

prod trade cons

PlanetPlanet EnvironmentalEnvironmental

QualityQuality

PeoplePeopleSocialSocial

QualityQuality

ProfitProfitCommercialCommercial

QualityQualityBranding

Labeling

Certification

prod trade cons

PlanetPlanet EnvironmentalEnvironmental

QualityQuality

PeoplePeopleSocialSocial

QualityQuality

ProfitProfitCommercialCommercial

QualityQualityBranding

Labeling

Certification

Figure 2: Flower quality as result of 3 quality factors, edited from De Boon, 2003.

An important message is that quality is not made in the “office by the management team of acompany”. To serve final customers with a high flower quality, companies need full commitment

of their employees. This commitment is called the HHH-principle, which is shown in figure 3.The first “H” is for the hands employees use to handle the product. Usually employees just carry



out their work automatically, without thinking about the product. When they start to think aboutit as a perishable product which can be easily damaged and should be handled with care, the

second “H” for head also starts to play a role in determining final product quality. Whenemployees are made responsible for certain parts of the process and therefore product quality,

they will also start to feel responsible. And they will become proud of their work, the company

and the product. That is where the “H” from heart comes in!

Heartands Head

TQM Performance

Heartands Head

TQM Performance

Figure 3: HHH-analysis method.

Floricultural exports from Egypt, a status quo analysis

In this rapidly changing international horticultural business, the Egyptian floricultural sector

is trying to establish its place. Egypt is suitable for floricultural production as it has a goodclimate, a good availability of production factors like water, light and fertile soils and relative

cheap labour. Very important is also it good location to supply both markets in Europe and in theMiddle East.

Egypt has a history in growing flowers on relative small scale for mainly domestic markets,but the current market situation offers the opportunity of exporting Egyptian flowers. Main goal

of the Egyptian floricultural sector is to export successfully to destinations such as Dutch

auctions or by direct sales to Europe. Egypt wants to become a long term successful and strongsupplier of flowers in the world market. It wants to be able to compete with existing flowersuppliers around the globe. By doing so, it wants to achieve a better development of rural areas, a

better quality of life in Egypt and improvement of business development in the country.To achieve this, production needs convertion from supply driven to market driven, a

continuously, reliable supply of high quality flowers should be realised and good relations withbuyers need to be established. For this, growers need to co-operate, as it appeared too difficult

for individual growers to deliver export quality produce and compete on the internationalmarkets. This was recognized by some flower production companies, which lead to the birth of

EgyptFlor.

EgyptFlor, an ambitious co-operation of Egyptian flower producers

About two years ago, the exporting flower growers started to work together in exports asEgyptFlor, mainly exporting to the Dutch auctions. This was not easy, since the growers were

still competing on local markets but working together in building up an export market position atthe same time. In this process, supported by the Dutch governmental Centre for Promotion of

Imports from developing countries (CBI), the co-operation became visible in airfreight



consolidation by shipping the flowers together resulting in good airfreight prices. TodayEgyptFlor starts also in joint purchase of goods needed for flower production.

As they ship together now, EgyptFlor is defining its strategy for the future. The members of EgyptFlor agree that further co-operation is necessary in order to build up an international

market position which is favourable for the EgyptFlor farms, but also for the total floricultural

sector of Egypt, now and in the future. Co-operation should lead to reliable supplies of highquality flowers and to marketing power, by creating volume and diversity. To support the co-operation and the realisation of their common goals, in summer 2005 EgyptFlor successfully

requested USAID funding for the implementation of a total quality management system (TQM).

EgyptFlor TQM objective and configuration

Market label; EgyptFlor

E n v i r o n m e n t / s o c i e t y

Market label Management; strategic, forecast, planning production

tactical label management (sales, marketing)

Flower product flow in supply chain; operational surrounding

Quality

Assurance

SGS:

EgyptFlor

approved

Auction/

buyersLogistics

Sorting,

Grading,

Packing

Harv

est

Quality Control

Quality Design

Quality

improvement

Market

Market label; EgyptFlor Market label; EgyptFlor



Market label Management; strategic, forecast, planning production

tactical label management (sales, marketing)tactical label management (sales, marketing)

Flower product flow in supply chain; operational surrounding Flower product flow in supply chain; operational surrounding

Quality

Assurance

SGS:

EgyptFlor

approved

Quality

Assurance

SGS:

EgyptFlor

approved

Auction/

buyers

Auction/

buyersLogistics

Sorting,

Grading,

Packing

Harv

estLogistics

Sorting,

Grading,

Packing

Harv

est

Quality ControlQuality Control

Quality DesignQuality DesignQuality Design

Quality

improvement

Quality

improvement

MarketMarket

Figure 4: EgyptFlor TQM configuration.

The EgyptFlor TQM system will show the performance of each farm on daily basis bymonitoring a large set of key performance indicators, and should harmonize the performance of each individual farm towards EgyptFlor group standards to achieve more homogeneous floral

exports from Egypt as whole. TQM will also give reliable, independent information about theEgyptFlor product at the point of sale, in order to monitor the performance of the total supply

chain. The configuration of the TQM system is shown in figure 4 and is explained in followingchapters.

Step 1: Life-cycle, Development- and HHH-level analysis to define mode of entry of TQM

For co-operation and strengthening of performance in export, Egyptflor farms, though

competing on domestic markets, should share information. Sharing information is based onmotivation and trust. A farm wants to share valuable information with another farm when it gets

the same value in information back. Co-operation is easier, when farms have similar positions inlife-cycle analysis and have about the same development level (Figure 5). By analysing HHH-

level (see figure 3), capability and motivation levels of farms for co-operation andimplementation of TQM can be defined.

Based on these three analyses, it has become clear which farms are comparable and whichfarms are very different. Concluded has been that farms compete on productivity and quality



realised during production, and that the farms are not equal in performance on this level. AllEgyptFlor farms have agreed that they are weak in post-harvest management and further supply

chain optimization, so this was chosen as the mode of entry for TQM implementation.

Figure 5: EgyptFlor life-cycle (A) and development level (B) analysis

Step 2: Quality Design

As mentioned before, flower quality is a combination of environmental, social andcommercial quality performance. As it is almost impossible to start with improvement of every

quality aspect at once, EgyptFlor decided to start with commercial quality aspects, more specificwith product and process factors which directly influence post-harvest quality of flowers (Figure

6a). First, EgyptFlor formulated standards for product and process quality, so called KPI (Keyperformance indicators). KPI’s belonging to the same family are grouped in KSF (Key success

factors). For example, KPI’s water temperature and water bacterial contamination are belongingto KSF water quality. These KSF sets are focussing on different parts of the supply chain, from

field till final auction clock if applicable. This is shown in figure 6b.

Figure 6: EgyptFlor TQM possible quality modules (A) and KSF-configuration for EFM-Q(uality) module (B)

The total set of standards for product- and process quality has been spread over 4 TQMphases, where TQM phase 1 is a small set to start with. When a farm successfully implements

these standards, a next set can be added, leading from TQM Phase 1 to Phase 2 and so on (Figure

BirthProduction

focus

1

87

6

5 3

2

GrowthMarketfocus

AdultCost Consolidation

focus

DyingStop / Sell

focus

= EgyptFlor farm

BirthProduction

focus

1

87

6

5 3

2

GrowthMarketfocus

AdultCost Consolidation

focus

DyingStop / Sell

focus

= EgyptFlor farm

Supply

Chain

Management

Total

Quality

Management

Production

Process

Quality

Technical

Production

environment

1 87

6

54

3 2

= EgyptFlor farm

Supply

Chain

Management

Total

Quality

Management

Production

Process

Quality

Technical

Production

environment

1 87

6

54

3 2

= EgyptFlor farm

Sowing + starting material

Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking

Logistic to auction / customer

Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

EgyptFlor KSF-standards for EFM-Q(uality)

W a t e r Q u a l i t y

F a r m H y g i e n e

I r r i g a t

i o n + F e r t i g a t i o n

C r o p p r o t e c t i o n

L o g i s t i c s

C l i m a t e

F l o w e r H a n d l i n g

P r o c e s s M a n a g e m e n t

H R M

G e n e r a l M a n a g e m e n t

S p e c i f i c C r o p r e q u i r e m e n t s


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

EgyptFlor KSF-standards for EFM-Q(uality)

W a t e r Q u a l i t y

F a r m H y g i e n e

I r r i g a t

i o n + F e r t i g a t i o n

C r o p p r o t e c t i o n

L o g i s t i c s

C l i m a t e

F l o w e r H a n d l i n g

P r o c e s s M a n a g e m e n t

H R M

G e n e r a l M a n a g e m e n t

S p e c i f i c C r o p r e q u i r e m e n t s


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

TQM possible module example

E F M - Q ( u a l i t y )

E F M - G A P ( r e t a i l e r d e m a n d s )

E F M - E ( e n v i r o n m e n t ) = M P S

E F M - S Q ( s o c i a l q u a l i f i e d ) = F a i r F l o w e r s p r o g r a m


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

TQM possible module example

E F M - Q ( u a l i t y )

E F M - G A P ( r e t a i l e r d e m a n d s )

E F M - E ( e n v i r o n m e n t ) = M P S

E F M - S Q ( s o c i a l q u a l i f i e d ) = F a i r F l o w e r s p r o g r a m



7A). EgyptFlor decided to start implementation on a few pilot farms, and to copy theirexperiences towards the other farms (Figure 7B).

Figure 7: EgyptFlor TQM-phases for up-scaling (A) and TQM implementation configuration in group (B)

Step 2a: Quality Design of Product quality KPI parameters

Product Quality KPI parameters were clearly designed, formulated and valorized in co-operation with the farm managers of the EgyptFlor group for the pilot products Carthamus,

Moluccella and Solidago. For every involved product quality parameter, EgyptFlor groupstandards (current target) and EgyptFlor Optimal levels (future goal) were set, valorized by

assigning weight factors. To catalyse the group discussion leading to product quality standarddefinitions, adaptive conjoint analysis software was used. See figure 8.

Figure 8: Adaptive conjoint analysis software (A) and Product Quality definition list of TQM Phase 1 (B)

Step 2b: Quality Design of Process quality KPI parameters

Also Process Quality KPI parameters were designed, formulated and valorized. Most optimallevels of a KPI (future goal) and weight factors were set by HortiSolutions based on scientific

and practical knowledge. HortiSolutions prepared a list of about 145 process quality parametersfor all stages from production till place of shipping. During a complete farm tour, then following

factors were investigated for each process quality parameter:

• If the process quality parameter was applicable on Egyptian flower companies

• If the process quality parameter needed to be reformulated

• What the current performance was of the process quality parameter (EgyptFlor standard)

Pilot Farm implementation: EmmeFlor

Quality Factor

Optimal

Level

EgyptFlor

standard

Weight

Factors Nr. of flower buds/stem 4 buds / stem 5 buds / stem 25%

Diameter 10 mm 10 mm 19%Maturity Stage / Ripeness stage 2 stage 2 19%Leaf Quality Some Tip burning No Tip burning 19%

No of leaves per flower branch 3 pairs more than 5 pairs 12%Flower bud size diameter 2.5 cm diameter 4 cm 7%

100%

Pilot crop 1: Carthamus

Product Quality Standards EgyptFlor TQM Phase 1


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

TQM step 4

TQM step 3

TQM step 2

TQMstep 1


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chainlevel

Farmlevel

TQM step 4

TQM step 3

TQM step 2

TQMstep 1


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chain

level

Farmlevel

Other farm Pilot farm Other farm

EgyptFlor

TQM

Project


Propagation

Harvest

Grading

Packing

Logistic to airport

Air cargo

General Management

Growing

Pre-cooling

Post-cooling

Unpacking


Sales

Chain

level

Farmlevel

Other farm Pilot farm Other farmOther farmOther farm Pilot farmPilot farm Other farmOther farm

EgyptFlor

TQM

Project

EgyptFlor

TQM

Project



• What the wanted checking frequency was for the process quality parameterResult of this tour was a complete list of about 145 farm Process Quality KPI parameters with

their EgyptFlor standard (current target) and their optimal levels (future goal) and weight factorsas set earlier by HortiSolutions. Also this list was then spread over the 4 TQM phases of

implementation. (Figure 9)

Together with logistic departments of the EgyptFlor group, also KPI parameters weredesigned, formulated and valorized for the logistical parts of the supply chain using the samemethod as for creating the KPI parameters for process quality applicable on farm level.

vol

g

nr Use Department KSF

KPI

nr T Q M P

h a s e 1

T Q M P

h a s e 2

T Q M P

h a s e 3

T Q M P

h a s e 4

Criteria Method 1: Bad

2:

Moderate 3: Average 4: Good

5:

Excellent

31 04: Harvest

01: Water

Quality 12 x x x x Use of chlorine in harvestbuckets Check status of this rule no sometimes always

32 04: Harvest

01: Water

Quality 13 x x

Dose of chlorine in harvest

bucket or harvestwagon

(concentration chlorine)

Measure concentration of

the chlorine

No (0 ppm)

or too

much

chlorine

(120 ppm)

Hardly any

chlorine (0 -

4 ppm)

Little

chlorine (4 -

12 ppm)

Sufficientamount of

chlorine

(12 - 40

ppm) or

(100 - 120

ppm)

Good

amount of

chlorine

(40-100

ppm)

33 04: Harvest

01: Water

Quality 14 x x x

When chlorine in the harvestbucket, pH of the water in the

harvest bucket

Measure pH of the water in

the harvest bucket? > 7 of < 4,5 6,5 - 7 6 - 6,5 5,5 -6 4,5 - 5,5

34 04: Harvest01: Water

Quality 15 x x x xLoose leaves are t aken out of thewater Check status of this rule no sometimes always

35 04: Harvest

02: Farm

Hygiene 01

Frequency of cleaning harvest

tools s uch as k nives Check status of this r ule

< 1x / 2

weeks

1x / 2

weeks 1 x / week 2x / week 1x / day

36 04: Harvest

02: Farm

Hygiene 02 x x x

Cleaning harvest tools such as

knives with desinfectant Check status of th is rule

< 1x / 2

weeks

1x / 2

weeks 1 x / week 2x / week 1x / day

37 04: Harvest 05: Logistics 01 x x

Time between filling of harvest

buckets with water and filling with

flowers

Average lead time of three

harvest buckets from

moment of water filling and

moment that flowers are put

in > 60 min < 60 min < 45 min < 30 min < 20 min

KPI Ident TQM Level Criteria

Figure 9: Snapshot of Process Quality KPI parameters

Step 3: Quality Control

The KPI’s for product and process quality have to be measured with different frequencies.Some are quantitative (for example temperature) where others are qualitative (source of water).There are different checkpoints in the chain assigned:

• Each farm has one responsible TQM person assigned who ensures data collection andimportation into the TQM management system which automatically reports the farm status

and defines necessary improvements. Reliability of these data is independently checked on aregular basis by an EgyptFlor TQM inspector who has been assigned by the EgyptFlor group.

• At Cairo airport, defined KPI’s are controlled and results are put in the central TQMmanagement system.

• After arrival at the Dutch Flower auctions, also KPI’s about product- and process quality arecontrolled. For product quality parameters, the same set is used as on the farms where the

change in value can be used as measurement for initial quality loss.The checking procedures go along with TQM manuals which describe how to check a parameter

and why a parameter is important.

Step 4: TQM continuously monitoring and improvement ICT infrastructure

Current trend in floriculture is that farm and/or chain managers get more and moreinformation each day because of improved information channels by for example improved ICT.



It’s important that the huge amount of information is filtered, and that only information which isnot within the range of set standards is going through. In this TQM project, this is realised by

online internet based analysis of the differences between actual value and the standard of a KPI.In general this works as a combination of a funnel and a traffic light (Figure 10):

• Green: KPI performance is within the set standard range. Information is not going through

the smart TQM filter and is not reaching the manager by any warning. .• Orange: KPI performance is within the set standard range, but reaching the boundaries.

Information is going through the smart TQM filter and reaching the manager as “warning”.

• Red: KPI performance is out of set standard range. Information is going through the smartTQM filter and is reaching the manager as “alarm”.

Quality Design =

EgyptFlor TQM STANDARDSfor product and process

Quality Control =

EgyptFlor TQM DATA COLLECTIONfor product and process

More

Internal

Data

More

External

Data

Smart TQM info filterTraffic light

Difference OUT of +/- range:

Immediately action allert

Difference CLOSE to +/- range:

Warning action allert

Difference WITHIN +/- range:

NO warning

Analysis of data

Quality Design =

EgyptFlor TQM STANDARDSfor product and process

Quality Control =

EgyptFlor TQM DATA COLLECTIONfor product and process

More

Internal

Data

More

Internal

Data

More

External

Data

More

External

Data

Smart TQM info filterTraffic light

Difference OUT of +/- range:

Immediately action allert

Difference CLOSE to +/- range:

Warning action allert

Difference WITHIN +/- range:

NO warning

Analysis of data

Figure 10: Configuration of smart internet based TQM information filter

Result is a system that generates management information based on the actual performance of an

Egyptflor company. The system, which will be implemented step by step in spring 2006, offers:

• 14 departments per farm which can be accessed online individually• 10 KSF families on generic process quality parameters and 3 crop specific process quality

parameters (the three pilotcrops)

• About 170 KPI are within these 13 KSF families to monitor farm and chain performance

• Benchmark possibilities to compare KPI performance between companies

Current project situation is that the system has been setup, but is not yet available online. We

are currently implementing an SQL server with Web-interface so that the growers in Egypt canstart to view their weekly submitted data of TQM1 phase. The growers and chain partners who

will have access to the EgyptFlor TQM portal will see management dashboards where the KPI asmentioned above are shown for their performance and indicated with a kind of traffic light if the

performance is according to the EgyptFlor standards or not. Instant graphics, reports, analysesand drilldown can be printed and exported to Excel or Powerpoint (Figure 11).

Based on the data in the online TQM database, strategies for further improvement of the farmor chain can be defined and implemented. And if farms or chain links are working according to

own and/or internationally recognized standards, certification of the farm is possible which isalso a good communication tool for marketing purposes.



Figure 11: Example TQM ICT Infrastructure based on KPI dashboard farm and chain departments.

Establishing a technical information flow is not the whole solution to the problem. When theemployees throughout the chain care for the product, total quality management is possible. So

time and money should be invested to allow employees to develop an emotional link with theproduct and to share the goal of the company.

References

Beulens, A; 2001. A ECR and ICT: Current and Future Developments. Lecture MansholtInstitute

Botden, N., 2001. Quality scan rose production by Edesa Group in East Africa on farm and

Chain Level. Thesis practical period, Group Horticultural Production Chains, Wageningen

University, The Netherlands. (confidential)Botden, N., 2002. Critical control of dew point reduces risk of Botrytis. In: FlowerTech, 2002,

Volume 5, issue 2

Botden, N. and Van Kooten, O., 2001. Result of thought and discussion at 31 October 2001.

Thesis practical period, Group Horticultural Production Chains, Wageningen University, TheNetherlands.

Chainge, 2002. www.chainge.nl

De Boon, H., 2003. “Top quality is not good enough”. Opening lecture at 8th

International

Symposium on Postharvest Physiology of Ornamental Plants. August 10-14, 2004.Doorwerth, The Netherlands.

Rabobank, 2002. De kleur van Samenwerking. Rabobank Nederland, afd. Agrarische Zaken.Terhürne, A., 2004. Understanding the Supply Chain for Horticultural Products Being Imported

into The Netherlands and Utilizing Market Research Skills to Asses Market Opportunities for

Selected Horticultural Crops. Study tour evaluation report for AERI project, May 9 – 22,

2004.Van der Vorst, J.G.A.J., 2000. Effective food supply chains. Generating, modelling and

evaluating supply chain scenarios. Dissertation 22 sept 2000, Wageningen University, TheNetherlands.

Van Houtte, F. ; Hegger., D.; Le Bloas, C. and Kmetova, Z., 2000. Floriculture in Kenya and the

Netherlands: A Comparative Analysis. Principles of Environmental Science, Case Study,

October 2000, Wageningen University, Netherlands

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