Software

Software Reviews for the Food and Drink Sector

This page contains links to software review documents you can download to your own computer or view from this webpage.

Each review contains many hyperlinks to the URLs or web addresses of software products relevant to food and drink businesses. It is recommended to follow these hyperlinks and view the websites of software products you are interested in, to gain a first-hand understanding of the products on offer and to download brochures for further reading. (The hyperlinks can be triggered by pointing and clicking, and also holding down the [Ctrl] key).

There are seven reviews available, covering 105 different software products in total. Each review represents a different set of business functions.

The reviews are available below: (please note that they will open as Word Documents in a new window.)

- Review 1: Manufacturing, order processing and stock control processes (14 products)

- Review 2: Livestock information management (30 products)

- Review 3: Generic and Open Source Software to support Food and Drink businesses - including accounting, graphical and web publishing packages - 17 products)

- Review 4: Farm operations and management (25 products)

- Review 5: Operations of Food and Drink businesses (8 products)

- Review 6: Companies offering bespoke software solutions to clients including those in the food and drink sector (5 companies)

- Review 7: Manufacture and distribution of bakery products (6 products)

Reviews will have some or all of the following types of information about products:

1. Proven solutions:

Already used by businesses in Devon and highlighted in case studies at the recent summer and autumn 2008 ICT events;

2. High specification products:

Identified as being of higher quality and were scored satisfactorily against one or more sets of requirements gathered from Devon food and drink businesses;

3. Basic specification products:

These are included to demonstrate the range of products on the market which could be useful in specific business scenarios.

They are not necessarily lower quality (or lower price) products, but were often identified as satisfying fewer of the sets of requirements gathered from Devon food and drink businesses. As such, they might represent a more risky investment, whilst still being useful in the business scenario they relate to. Software products from providers which were a greater geographic distance from the region or based abroad were more likely to receive a basic specification, as were those from companies which were less responsive to enquiries.

While some basic specification products might have more limited functionality compared to some of the higher specification products, they are often designed and built by companies with a background in food and drink industries and which offer a suite of similar software applications targeted at business scenarios specific to food and drink industries.

4. Hosted solutions:

Software services provided online.

Please note: All URLs given were correct as of November 2008. However, since the worldwide web is continuously changing, these URLs will be updated by the suppliers over time and so the use of a search engine such as Google will be required to find the products on the suppliers' websites, by using the product and supplier names plus any descriptive comments as search terms.

For further information and advice on selecting, investing in and optimising the use of software products in your business, please contact the following support organisations:

Business Link:

Units 3 - 4, Cranmere Court
Lustleigh Close
Matford Business Park
EXETER
EX2 8PW

Tel: 0845 600 9966
Email: info@peninsula-enterprise.co.uk

Devon County Council:

Kathryn Edwards
Lucombe House
County Hall
Room AB2
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 4QW

Tel: 01392 382949
Email: kathryn.j.edwards@devon.gov.uk