A new standard in organic certification in Switzerland

bio.inspecta was founded in 1998. It inspects and certifies - unbiased and independently - more than 80% of all Swiss organic farmers and more than a hundred processors and traders of organic products. bio.inspecta attaches great importance to providing a consistent and uniform service when certifying producers, traders and processors to assure credibility in organic products.

Initial situation

bio.inspecta’s most essential requirements for a software system were a fully digitalised inspection and certification workflow, an efficient sanction and deadline management system and the integration of invoicing into the management software. It needed to have its inspectors be able to do their paperwork independent from time and place, and to reduce the great number of different documents produced.

bio.inspecta wanted a software system that would speed up file processing times and improve internal processes by taking into account their specific organisational structure.

Realisation

With e-Cert bio.inspecta managed to set up a standardised With Ecert bio.inspecta managed to set up a standardised electronic inspection and certification workflow in three different languages (German, French, Italian). By using laptops, inspectors now enter the inspection results into Ecert during or right after an on-site inspection. In doing so the inspection report is generated with just the push of a button and can be sent out to the client right away. All inspection data is available immediately for the next workflow step.

When sanctions are imposed or deadlines set, they are automatically transferred into a sanction and deadline management window where staff members can control them efficiently.

After successful certification, operators receive their certificate within a few days. An electronic version of the certificate is provided on the bio.inspecta website and can be downloaded anytime. Client invoices are issued and printed in Ecert and are then matched with the data in bio.inspecta‘s bookkeeping software “Abacus” via an electronic interface.

Frank Rumpe, Managing Director:
“With Ecert’s web services we can offer a better service to our clients than other certification bodies. They also have an open door to new markets and new business fields.”