Client Case
Wageningen University: WUR and Yenlo are doing more with less
Fill in the form below and we will send you an unique download link in your mailbox in minutes. As always: Don’t forget to check your spam folder.
Background
A drone flies across the fields to inspect the condition of the soil. Meanwhile, there’s an incoming alert saying it’s time to milk the cows. The drone starts its descent; the farmer starts his rounds. This may sound like a pie in the sky to some people, but to farmers that are associated with the Research Center of the Wageningen University, it’s just another day.
The Wageningen University and Research Center (WUR) is hailed at home and abroad. Year after year, the For Quality of Life institution is voted the best Dutch University, while its researchers and students travel the world contributing to breakthrough studies in the field of engineering and health. The WUR owes a greater part of its international success to the combination of science and IT, two components that are inseparably linked in Wageningen. Thanks to this two-unit, the university has gained a competitive edge over the other players in the field, resulting in an outstanding position in the world of research and innovation. It was only a matter of time before the WUR took a next step, and called in the Yenlo Gurus to implement a complete solution for the supply chain management of their corporate systems.
The challenge
This is why a few years ago, team leader of Middleware Erik Sanders and his team went looking for a product that would provide them with a complete supply chain integration solution. Their goal was to implement an affordable, manageable and scalable integration platform that would connect all corporate systems. Erik Sanders: “We found it important that the new product could be purchased in blocks. Because why would you pay for parts you don’t use?” Apart from these conditions, there was a desire for an open source platform.
One of the disadvantages of a big and international institution like the WUR, is its large number of systems, information streams and people. Student Information, Human Resources and Finance; all is supposed to be connected, resulting in a tangled web of data that is hard to unravel. Another problem is caused by the corporate systems, that age rapidly and are often managed by staff members whose knowledge disappears when they retire. At the same time, the WUR stands in direct contact with its students, employees and researchers, that all demand speed, efficiency and transparency.
