Vrumona: the rich taste of quality

On the spot in the Utrecht hills where the Sourcy spring water surfaces, Vrumona has had a plant for more than 50 years. The soft drinks giant from the Heineken Group is a household name, and not just in Bunnik. With brands like Pepsi, Sisi, Sourcy, and 7 UP, Vrumona holds a prominent place on the soft drinks shelves. In all, the company produces several dozens of soft drinks and fruit juices, and each of their recipes is cherished by the company. Quality is one of the absolute factors for success within the organization.

Vrumona uses isoware, the digital quality system developed by Metaware, to assure the quality of its products.Some years ago, Hans Aalbers initiated the digital quality project at Vrumona, a company originated in 1948 as a result of a merger of some thirty small soft drinks manufacturers in the Utrecht region.

Aalbers had previously managed such a quality project at Heineken. One thing was clear in his mind: the system had to be digital. "I know from experience that a paper system takes a lot of time. Maintenance, use, retrieval of old procedures, all these things take an enormous amount of time. A digital system is simply much faster." Searching, especially, is much easier because of the highly accessible databases, says this corporate care manager.

Aalbers opted for isoware after a pilot presentation made him enthusiastic about the system. The decisive factor was that isoware, like all other Metaware products, is based on Lotus Notes. This application has recently been introduced throughout Vrumona. Aalbers also sees isoware as an "open" application that makes it easy to implement customer-specific modifications.

Vrumona has been quality-conscious for years. Anyone who orders a 7 UP, for instance, wants his drink to taste exactly like 7 UP is meant to taste. That is as it should be and as it has always been. A thorough knowledge of raw materials, recipes, and production processes forms the basis for meeting those consumer demands. "In the old days, this was realized by experienced employees telling rookies what to do, with notices tacked on the bulletin board, and with work instructions kept in folders," explains Aalbers. But in his eyes, that set-up was not foolproof.

"Suppose something goes wrong, and the production of a particular soft drink has to be suspended temporarily. Ask five employees how this should be done, and you'll get five different answers.

On the whole, these answers will be similar, of course, but there will always be minor deviations. If you have a good quality system, these minor differences will also disappear. That's the way to achieve uniformity." Such uniformity has been realized within Vrumona at an early stage. Because of Vrumona's efficient corporate training schemes, all employees know what is expected of them and which procedures apply to their work. The highly accessible quality system ensures that employees can consult the procedures at all times and can suggest ideas for improvement. Not everyone who has access to the system can modify it. In the end, only the department managers can truly change the databases. The system is therefore a highly effective tool for achieving Vrumona's ambition to market high-quality products.

Every year, Vrumona sells hundreds of millions of liters of soft drinks. The market is developing satisfactorily. The Heineken subsidiary introduces several new soft drinks each year.

The new Royal Club and Xi tastes are good examples. The quality system should be flexible enough to absorb these new recipes and the procedures that go with them. For the recipes, for instance, a customer-specific module has been developed that is integrated into the quality system. Aalbers is positive about the opportunities offered by isoware on that score: "It is easy to adapt the application to specific needs; it's also easy to maintain and very user-friendly." In the future, Vrumona wants to link an audit module to the system. And consumer product information should also become integrated into the isoware application. Nevertheless, Aalbers maintains, all of this is still based on the knowledge and experience of the Vrumona employees. There should always be room for personal initiative - within certain limits of course. "The quality system should support the day-to-day processes and decision-making. It should never become a straitjacket."