The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) is on track with its digital programme that will see inspectors country-wide hanging up their clipboards in exchange for tablets. According to the PPECB’s CEO Stuart Symington, the training of more than 300 inspectors will be completed by the end of May this year. After that pilot projects at four pome and ten citrus pack houses will kick off before full implementation takes place around October this year. “The software development programme that we are rolling out will completely transform the way we operate as it will allow real-time information access that will ultimately allow us to be more efficient and costeffective in the long term,” he said. It has been interfaced with the Department of Forestry and Fisheries database. “It is a case of business unusual at the PPECB,” said Symington. “If we want to produce different results we have to do things differently and we are very excited about the commercial business and the way we are moving forward.” He said there had been major changes within the organisation in the past two years – including the revision of the PPECB Act which is currently before Parliament. “We have streamlined our human resources processes and IT is being dispatched into the field. Through these processes we have structured ourselves more efficiently and therefore we are now more effectively speeding up processes. He said the tablet technology would undoubtedly change the game and improve customer service which would boost exports in the long run. “The ultimate aim is to get export certificates out quicker and we believe that we will be able to do that with this technology. Not only did we address the technology but we also made sure that we implemented the right culture within the PPECB to allow for all of this change.” INSERT & CAPTION The ultimate aim is to get export certificates out quicker and we believe that we will be able to do that with this technology. – Stuart Symington
