From Full Traceability to IFS Certification: The Success Story of Campoaves Viseu + BRAINR

Campoaves Viseu is a Portuguese poultry processing company producing a large range of fresh SKUs through many small daily production orders. After replacing paper-based processes and manual data entry with BRAINR, the company digitised 100% of operations in 4 months, achieved IFS certification, and gained full real-time traceability across all lines.

4 months to full digitisation

21 production lines digitised

80+ users trained

40+ devices connected

The Challenge

Campoaves Viseu operates without its own slaughterhouse, which means the entire operation is built around 100% fresh raw materials with very short shelf life. Every production day starts with incoming stock that has a narrow window. Miss it and the cost is immediate.

The company produces many SKUs through a large number of low-volume daily production orders in poultry processing. This creates a particular kind of complexity: planning is never simple, execution has to be precise, and cost tracking across dozens of small orders is difficult without real-time data.

Before BRAINR, the factory relied entirely on verbal communication and paper. Data was recorded by hand and then transferred manually into Excel. This created a compounding set of problems. Products could often not be traced back to their lot. Incorrect shipments reached customers, adding return costs on top of the waste. And non-productive costs such as cleanings, set-ups, and specific consumables were being systematically under-recorded, leading to costing errors that accumulated to alarming levels.

Manual data entry into labelling machines made things worse. A single typing error could generate a major traceability issue across an entire batch.

The Trigger

Campoaves Viseu had already begun modernising its corporate operations with a SAP ERP implementation. Alongside that initiative, it recognised that the factory floor was still running on outdated methods and that the two systems needed to work together.

The critical driver was elimination of daily manual errors. Data recorded on paper and re-entered into Excel was not just inefficient — it was creating product traceability failures and shipping mistakes that had direct financial consequences. The need for easy production scheduling across many simultaneous small orders was equally urgent.

With IFS certification as a target, the company needed a system that could meet retail-grade standards for quality control and auditability. Paper processes could not get them there.

The Implementation

Start date: March 2023

End date: June 2023

Duration: 4 months

Team: 2 implementation specialists

Modules implemented in sequence:Gatehouse, Reception, Planning, Production (trimming, deboning, cutting, slicing, packaging), Shipping, Warehouse, Quality

Note: Slaughter module not applicable -Campoaves Viseu does not operate its own slaughterhouse.

Additional: Integration with SAP ERP

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What Changed

Planning and execution of high-volume, small-batch production

The core operational challenge at Campoaves Viseu is managing many small daily production orders simultaneously without losing visibility. With BRAINR's advanced planning capabilities, the company can now sequence and execute these orders in an optimised way, with real-time interconnection between reception, production, shipping, and warehouse at every step.

Full digitisation of goods-in and goods-out

100% of inbound and outbound processes are now digital. Human errors and process deviations in receiving and shipping have been significantly reduced. The inbound to dispatch visibility that BRAINR provides means every movement of product through the factory is tracked, timestamped, and traceable.

No more manual data entry into labelling machines

One of the most error-prone steps in the previous operation was typing data directly into label printers and recording weight scale readings on paper. BRAINR's integration with labelling machines and scales eliminated this entirely. Labels are now generated automatically from production data, removing the risk of labeling errors and the traceability failures they caused.

IFS and HACCP-aligned quality control

BRAINR enabled Campoaves Viseu to implement a structured quality control system by vehicle, product batch, and factory section. This alignment with IFS and HACCP standards made it possible to achieve IFS certification — something that was not achievable with the previous paper-based approach. Full end-to-end lot traceability across the factory is now standard.

Vehicle traffic management

The company gained efficient control over vehicle traffic at the gatehouse: entry, weighing, docking, and exit are now managed digitally, reducing waiting times and improving coordination between inbound and outbound flows.

Integration with SAP for accurate costing

Shop floor operational data now flows directly into SAP through BRAINR's MES system integration. Non-productive costs such as cleanings, set-ups, and consumables are captured automatically at the line level, giving management accurate production cost data for the first time and enabling real margin improvement.

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Why It Worked

The Campoaves Viseu implementation succeeded for the same reasons BRAINR consistently succeeds in complex food factory environments.

The first was relevance. BRAINR understood the specific constraints of a fresh poultry operation producing many small daily orders without its own slaughterhouse. The solution was designed around that reality, not adapted from a generic template.

The second was continuity. A 4-month rollout across a live factory producing 100% fresh products with short shelf life carries significant risk. The implementation was structured to protect production at every stage. There were no delivery failures, no traceability gaps, and no disruptions introduced by the transition.

The third was the SAP integration. By connecting BRAINR directly to the existing ERP, the company avoided creating a new data silo. Operational data from the floor now informs financial reporting automatically, closing the loop between production and cost management.

The Result

100% of operations on BRAINR in 4 months. 21 production lines digitised. More than 80 users trained. More than 40 devices connected, including PCs, picking guns, and label printers. IFS certification achieved. And a factory that replaced years of paper-based processes with a fully digital operation without a single day of production disruption.

Interested in what BRAINR could do for your operation?👉Book a demo

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