Sponsored Content

Technology is a critical driver of success for Ballymooney Foods. Pat Doyle was a butcher by trade before he ventured into the world of wholesale, setting up Ballymooney Foods in 1996. He evolved the company a specialist beef, lamb, poultry and game supplier, building on mainstream offerings to provide wild and exotic meats.

Customers in Ireland include major supermarkets, specialised retailers, and Michelin star restaurants, as well as an international customer base across Europe. With BRC as standard and certified by Bord Bia’s Origin Green, the business also prides itself on its sustainable credentials.

Evolving Technology Needs

Pat notes that customers expect convenience at all touchpoints, and changing technology has made a huge difference in both the way the company operates internally, and in how it communicate with customers. Pat has gone from using a mobile phone and a van to introducing purchasing, ordering and production technology across the entire business. “Technology is the driver of profit,” he says. “If we are going to succeed, we have to use every bit of technology we can get our hands on.”

IT Project Manager Josh McCormick expands on just how reliant Ballymooney Foods is on technology. “We have VOIP phones and handheld tablets for doing all stock-taking. Pretty much all our workflow from order taking to dispatch is based on technology,” he explains

Before moving into a new purpose-built facility in Clane, staff were experiencing lags when carrying out even the simplest tasks because of outdated internet services. Coupled with the company’s entire traceability system running on their own servers, that led to delays and frustration.

In Association with

The solution was a reliable high speed broadband connection that would save time and improve yields, efficiency and workflows throughout the business. As Pat puts it: “One of the challenges for the business is to make sure that our technology is reliable and always does what it’s supposed to do.”

Transformative Solution

Choosing Vodafone Gigabit Broadband as the solution was an easy decision for Ballymooney Foods, citing a reputation for reliability and coverage, as well as a consistently positive experience with Vodafone mobile products, as their main reasons.

The new technology has resulted in time savings, fewer mistakes on orders, improved communication with customers, and production and efficiencies have been boosted by about 10%. “Where it used to take two people up to 10 hours to manually count everything, now we can scan everything wirelessly and it can be done by one person in 20 minutes,” says Josh.

Ready for the Future

Vodafone Gigabit Broadband has given Ballymooney Foods the confidence to introduce new technologies and move forward into the future knowing they have a reliable broadband connection to enhance their operations and boost business results.

Pat affirms: “Vodafone Gigabit Broadband is actually the foundation of the future of our business. We can do whatever we want now with the business and it really is going to be a technology-led change”.

The future is here, and it’s available from Vodafone.

Visit www.vodafone.ie/business

Photo: Pat Doyle, Managing Director, Ballymooney Foods