The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) is using technology to improve efficiencies and reduce human error in the export of fresh produce.According to Nina Pretorius, the organisation’s business intelligence manager, it has become increasingly important not only to transform the large amounts of data at the PPECB’s disposal into more meaningful formats, but also to share findings and analysis with the industry more freely.“Innovation and digitisation is an ongoing process at the PPECB. Including all stakeholders in our uptake of tech is just as important,” she said. “Several of our processes, such as product inspection and cold chain export notifications, are already digitised processes. Other functions are still being transformed and models are still under construction. We have, however, come a very long way in this technology transformation so far.”Addressing The Exporters Club Western Cape, Pretorius explained that data and technology only held value if they were used to connect the dots by finding the commonalities and correlations between stakeholders – ultimately allowing for corrections to be made to operations, thereby improving efficiency.“Data is only as good as the system and the humans capturing it. We have realised the importance of training in this regard as it is essential for people capturing the data to understand why it needs to be done accurately,” she said. “Data is also a re-usable product and we are continuously looking at how we can find new ways of doing just that – by looking at it from new angles.”She said the success of technology lay in it being used to answer specific questions that delivered an outcome, such as improved efficiency and less error. “This results in a return on investment. At the PPECB the technology needs to be fit for purpose. It is about delivering data with integrity that brings about real change within an organisation.”Pretorius emphasised that good decisions were based on people being well informed. “Through automated data reports shared across platforms, we can collaborate and improve our industry potential significantly.”With this in mind, she said, the PPECB had made several of its export reports available on its website at no cost. “Part of our goal is to make data more accessible to the industry and to ensure that we are as informed as possible as a collective.”The reports available include one on the exported volumes of perishables with a year-on-year comparison; a report on inspected versus exported volumes that can be viewed by fiscal year, calendar year or season; an inspection year-on-year comparison; and an exported year-on-year comparison.“We have also made our export analysis available. This focuses on the top five perishable products exported and gives insight into aspects such as where the produce is coming from, where it is going, and which harbours are taking the bulk of the product.”She said the PPECB was open to feedback from the industry on the reports currently available and whether they were useful and applicable to businesses. “It is only when we work together that we can develop solutions such as this platform to meet the industry’s needs. There is no doubt that we can bring more value to exporters through our data and with the use of technolog y."
