Recognising that traceability is paramount to ensuring sustainability at every step of the seafood value chain, Reykjavík-headquartered Wisefish has developed sophisticated, single-solution software that’s already helping several leading companies in Iceland and an expanding number of users in overseas markets manage the sourcing, handling, sale and distribution of their seafood products.
The fast-growing company’s success to-date and its solution’s continued development have been underpinned by an Icelandic seafood industry that has historically supported new innovations and technologies, and with many enterprises in the country actively seeking to incorporate these into their business strategies. In more recent times, Wisefish has seen increasing requirements from global supply chains and also end-consumers to know exactly when and where their fish was caught and by whom, as well as the journey it has taken to the plate.
To progress these expansion opportunities, and to support existing overseas customers, Wisefish is in conversation with potential industry partners in a number of key markets.
“Our ‘source-to-plate’, cloud-based software solution has been specifically-designed to make seafood businesses more efficient: to give them valuable insights into their costs and to enable them to determine and reduce their environmental impacts,” said Wisefish CEO Ingvar Vilhjálmsson. “It’s tailored to each specific company and through it, users can make much better-informed decisions, connect their costs and optimise their processes, whilst also solving problems that may arise.”
Built on the dynamic Microsoft Dynamics Business Central ERP system, Wisefish’s solution gives every stage of the production process instant one-step-forward and one-step-back traceability. Having this intuitive connectivity span the value chain means, for example, that when raw materials are received from a fishing vessel or from a fish farm harvest and they enter into the production chain, everything about that batch of fish is known and calculated – from its specific origins through to the end-results at the consumer-purchasing stage.
Not only does this establish a robust business platform through which seafood companies can manage their operations more sustainably and profitably, it can facilitate the significant reduction of waste in the overall supply chain. It can also support those companies looking to progress their “green accounting”, whereby various environmental costs are factored into operations’ financial results.
Another key capability that sets Wisefish apart from other tools in the market is its trading module component. Initially designed for Iceland’s primary fish producers exporting large quantities in shipping containers, this now also serves a broader range of users, including inventory traders, production traders, and distributors.
“Traceability is central to each trading process. Raw materials can be traced from its origin to delivery, and also produced goods can be backtracked to their origin,” Vilhjálmsson explained.
The Wisefish logistics system is usually the final step for most of the company’s current client-base. As well as providing the central point for warehouse workers’ picking lists and all necessary customs documents (including catch certificates), the solution either records known CO2 emissions from the transport used for a consignment or it calculates an estimate.
Additionally, transportation costs can be recorded and attached to specific sales. Furthermore, it’s at this stage that the solution attaches unique tracking numbers for tracing products from the start of their production process to the end, and back again. (Wisefish is currently in the process of developing a tool through which a scanned QR code will show the complete journey of a seafood product.)
The practical usability of the system stems from the close connections that Wisefish’s staff have with the seafood industry. Indeed, most of its employees have either worked in or have family members that are employed in the sector.
Moreover, as the seafood economy continues to evolve, so too does Wisefish’s solution. The system’s most recent additions include the incorporation of more artificial intelligence and the Power BI business intelligence tool that makes data collecting and reporting a lot easier. Amongst other things, these are enabling more current and actionable information to be extracted from the system and for results to be analysed much quicker than before.
“It’s a great, progressive tool at a management level and for those teams working on the factory floor. With it they can make better, more-informed decisions about the best utilisation of the products that they have. As such, it offers a lot of value for our customers, and a means to advance ahead of the competition,” Vilhjálmsson said.
Vilhjálmsson added that Wisefish is very much looking forward to showcasing the company and its solution at IceFish 2024 in September, and to discussing ways in which it can tailor its offering to help more companies capitalise on traceability opportunities.
At the event, the company will also explain how the solution is being adapted to optimise its applicability to aquaculture supply chains, as well as other future directions it intends to take, including a new forecasting facility.
Caption: Wisefish’s ‘source-to-plate’, cloud-based software solution seeks to bring greater efficiencies to seafood supply chains
