4 Weeks to Success: Icicle Makes Food Software Implementation Easy

How long does implementation take for new technologies in your business? Sometimes it can take months or even years for everyone to get the hang of a new system, and this learning curve makes the idea of implementing a whole new software solution seem nearly impossible – but that’s far from the reality.

Well, at least it is with Icicle. Many of our clients came to us after using solutions that took six or seven months to integrate into their businesses and many projects fail. These long projects present many challenges; they disrupt routine operations, reduces employee productivity, and results in lost time and money.

The reality is, companies need to adopt automation technologies to keep up with the market. We’ve built Icicle with rapid implementation in mind so it won’t take you six months to start streamlining your business with our connected, automated food management software – for most companies, it’ll just take four weeks.

Icicle Inspires Adoption From The Ground Up

Many experts warn companies that implementation of any new technology will take time. That’s true, but we know that the most difficult aspect of automating isn’t actually identifying suitable systems but securing employee buy-in and successfully transitioning employees to adopt new processes into their daily duties. Systems that produce long-term results are systems that are easy to deploy and easy for new users to understand.

As a result, it’s critical for companies to consider their employees in the implementation process. Here’s how we get your employees to buy in so that you can be ready to go, sooner:

• Engaging onboarding for every type of employee. From production control, to food safety, to shipping, our training demonstrates the benefits of Icicle to every employee in every department to encourage company-wide adoption.
• Demonstrating the job-simplifying elements. Showing how Icicle’s connected tech makes everyone’s job easier is the fastest way to convince employees that the transition is going to be a good one. We ensure these benefits are communicated to every department.
• Designing a user-friendly software environment. Confusing software tends to disengage employees so our user experience experts have made Icicle easy to learn with intuitive layouts, workflows, and visually appealing interfaces.

Another way we create long-lasting change is by giving you the power to gradually roll out Icicle in your organization. You start with one area, such as food safety, and fully implement and train before moving on to the next department, whenever the time is right.

Short Implementation Makes For Quick Return on Investment

From the very beginning, we knew we wanted Icicle to perform for food manufacturers in just weeks, not months or longer. Having to wait three months to a year for a new system to be fully operational, in our minds, is simply unacceptable for most situations.

With an implementation plan that gets Icicle up and running effectively in just two weeks or less, you don’t have to wait ages to reap the rewards of your investment. Take Paul Cappelli, a premium olive oil and conserve producer in Italy. When Paul received six-weeks notice of an FDA inspection at his Italian facility that sold products to the United States, he knew he didn’t have enough time to set up a HACCP program on its own since the documentation required was far more complex than he had realized. He needed help, so he reached out to Icicle. Our implementation experts guided Capelli through the entire process, ensuring every olive, tomato, almond, and other ingredients could be analyzed, controlled, and connected via the Icicle system.

Paul found, as many of our users do, that Icicle’s technology itself makes the process faster. Icicle’s system gently guides users through the creation and maintenance of a HACCP plan so that you can create a HACCP program faster than ever before. One of the ways we speed up the process is through intelligent big data algorithms, like Icicle’s Smart Hazard Suggestions feature. Paul used this feature to automatically identify common hazards for his ingredients and process steps then utilize the user-friendly hazard analysis interface to control the hazards.

“Smart suggestions streamlined things and helped me understand what was needed at each step, with flow charts that made everything clear. This saved me a ton of time and paper.”

– Villa Capelli

When the FDA inspector arrived just a few weeks later, Cappelli’s HACCP plan could be pulled up at the touch of a button, the flow of ingredients and processes could easily be followed, and they passed the inspection without a hitch. What could have been a disaster for Cappelli turned out to be a smooth experience, all because of Icicle’s rapid deployment paradigm.

Relational Customer Service And In-House Expertise

Though our software features a variety of automated help and support functions, we never want to automate relationships. You can always count on another human on the other side of the line when you need assistance.

Our in-house experts are readily available to help you incorporate your processes into Icicle, troubleshoot any problem that might arise, and find answers to your food safety questions. In fact, you’ll always have a dedicated account manager who understands your business’s needs that you can rely on. Just take it from Ester Falk from Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry:

“Support with Icicle has been amazing. Their team is quick to answer questions and I rarely have to wait more than 24 hours.”

– Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry

We don’t just hand you the software and leave you to swim or sink. We personally work with you and your employees from start to finish: through the initial assessment, consulting, modeling, implementation, training. You’ll be proficient in effective food management by the time we give you the reigns.

Want to have a dynamic, automated food production management solution in place by this time next month? Request a free demo of Icicle and we’ll get back to you shortly!