Food processing ERP in Morocco for SMEs and cooperatives

What makes food-business management different

A biscuit maker in Casablanca, a cannery in Agadir, an olive oil mill near Meknes, a jam producer in the Loukkos or an argan cooperative in the Souss do not make the same product, but they share the same constraints. Raw material is bought during the season, over a few weeks, when strawberries or olives are available; cash goes out all at once while sales are spread over months.

Add processing losses that vary from one season to the next, supermarket customers who pay at term, often by LCN, and a workforce that swells during the season on fixed-term contracts. Running all of this across several spreadsheets means discovering at year end that a flagship product's margin was much thinner than expected.

• Purchasing concentrated in the season, sales spread over the year
• Yields and losses that change with the raw material received
• Batches that must be traced quickly after a customer complaint
• Supermarket payments collected at term
• Seasonal workers to hire, follow and pay every year

The true cost of a jar of jam, losses included

In SOGESTIO, a product's bill of materials can be defined for a production batch, for example one cook of 1,000 jars. Each component carries its quantity and its loss rate. For strawberries, sorting and hulling losses are 8% here: to get 450 kg of usable fruit, 486 kg must leave the store.

With strawberries at 10 DH per kg, 280 kg of sugar at 7 DH per kg, glass jars at 2.10 DH, lids at 0.60 DH and labels at 0.25 DH, the batch of 1,000 jars costs 9,770 DH in materials, or 9.77 DH per jar. Had the loss been forgotten, strawberries would have been costed at 4,500 DH instead of 4,860 DH: a gap of 0.36 DH per jar, repeated with every cook of the season.

When the manufacturing order is completed, the components leave stock and the 1,000 jars enter it at the actual cost consumed. Sold at 14.50 DH excl. VAT to a supermarket chain, they leave a material margin of 4.73 DH per jar, before labour, energy and overheads, which are tracked separately, for example through cost accounting.

Seasonal purchasing: moving prices and packaging to plan ahead

During the season, the price of raw material changes from one delivery to the next. Each goods receipt brings the goods in at net purchase cost and recalculates the weighted average cost (CMUP), so later manufacturing orders consume strawberries or olives at their real average cost, not at the price of the first delivery. The cost price follows the season instead of staying frozen.

Packaging is often harder than the raw material: jars, bottles, cans and cartons have long lead times. Requirements planning starts from customer orders and minimum stock to tell you what to make, then which components to buy, and minimum-stock alerts flag the items running low. With the Pro plan, requests for quotation put packaging suppliers in competition and framework contracts lock in a price for the season.

Batches: from goods receipt to delivery

Each item can be tracked by batch. The batch number is captured when goods enter stock, follows them from one warehouse to another and appears on the customer delivery. After a complaint from a retailer, you find which customers received a given batch instead of digging through paper delivery notes.

Multiple warehouses separate raw materials, finished goods and, where relevant, stock held at a distributor. Transfers between warehouses are traced, and stock counts correct any discrepancies.

Supermarkets, LCN and seasonal cash flow

Supermarket chains and wholesalers rarely pay cash. For each customer you set payment terms and a credit limit, and the due date of every invoice is calculated automatically. Cheques and bills of exchange (LCN) are recorded with their number, bank, due date and status, so no bill is forgotten when it is time to present it for collection.

The 13-week cash forecast sets seasonal purchases still to pay against expected receipts, so you see in advance the week when cash gets tight. Payment terms between businesses are regulated by law; have your terms checked by your chartered accountant.

Seasonal workers: contracts, leave and payroll

A cannery or a cooperative can double its headcount during the season. The HR module records contracts (permanent, fixed-term, ANAPEC, internship, temporary) and alerts you before a contract or trial period ends, so you decide on renewal in time. Leave and absences are counted in working days.

Payroll produces payslips with CNSS, AMO, income tax and seniority, posts the payroll entry automatically and prepares the DAMANCOM file for the CNSS return. Labour-law rules for seasonal staff should be checked with your legal adviser or accountant: SOGESTIO prepares, the company validates.

What SOGESTIO covers, what it does not, and which plan to choose

SOGESTIO handles the management side of a food business: purchasing, batches, stock, material cost, sales, collections, payroll and accounting. It is not a food-safety tool: it does not replace your HACCP plan, your own checks or your dealings with ONSSA, Morocco's food safety authority, which remain the job of your quality manager. For a cooperative, the accounting and tax rules specific to its status should be validated with your accountant.

Production, purchasing and payroll are included in Pro, at 449 DH/month or 4,490 DH/year excl. VAT, for one company and up to 10 users; Starter does not include production. If you run several companies, for example a processing unit and a distribution company, Groupe at 990 DH/month excl. VAT includes three with a consolidated view. Free 14-day trial, no bank card required.