About Zangersheide: World-renowned Stud Farm and Studbook.
More than 10,000 foal registrations per year
The largest studbook in Europe.
Zangersheide, located in Lanaken, is a world-renowned stud farm and leading Belgian studbook specializing in top-level show jumping horses. -> Zangersheide
The Zangersheide Studbook is distinguished by its open registration policy, where only horses with exceptional sport and breeding qualities are admitted. -> Stamboek Zangersheide
With innovative techniques like embryo transfer and genetic screening, the studbook supports both breeding and sport performance.
Every year, Zangersheide attracts global attention with prestigious events such as the FEI World Championships for Young Show Jumping Horses. The studbook plays a crucial role in international show jumping.
Challenge: Innovation at Zangersheide - Implementation of a custom ERP system.
Zangersheide is known for its innovation. After launching the new website, the decision was made to move forward with phase 2: the development of a custom ERP system.
Each year, Zangersheide Studbook registers around 10,000 foals, a process that needed to be made as simple as possible for both customers and employees. However, this proved to be a complex challenge, given the international nature of their clientele and the need to register the foals with local authorities. Additionally, the project had to take into account various local and international regulations.
Through a thorough analysis by the PHPro team, we identified several opportunities to automate and streamline the process. This resulted in faster foal registrations and allowed Zangersheide Studbook to process a significantly higher volume of registrations without compromising on quality or accuracy.
Want to learn more about how Zangersheide’s digital journey began? You can read about it here.
With our new ERP system, we are taking an innovative step forward: we combine simplicity, efficiency, and international collaboration to optimize the foal registration process worldwide.
From Easyhorse to Z-Horse
Het was natuurlijk zeer belangrijk om de bestaande data die doorheen de jaren gegroeid is mee over te nemen in het nieuwe systeem. Hiervoor werd een uitgebreid datamigratieplan voorzien om niet alleen de paarden, maar ook de koppelingen met de users, de overheid systemen en hun documenten mee te nemen in het nieuwe systeem.
For years, Zangersheide relied on Easyhorse, a German product developed for stallion breeding farms. However, Zangersheide is much more than just a stallion breeding farm, which meant they had to make numerous adjustments to align the digital product with their operations. Over time, as Zangersheide grew exponentially, they began to hit the limits of Easyhorse. It also became increasingly difficult to ensure data quality, which is crucial for a studbook like Zangersheide!
For this reason, the decision was made to start from scratch and build a completely custom ERP system. Thanks to our extensive knowledge of the website, we were able to achieve an efficient integration of the ERP. This ensured that the number of connections could be minimized, optimizing the system's maintainability.
It was, of course, essential to transfer the existing data accumulated over the years into the new system. To achieve this, a comprehensive data migration plan was developed to ensure not only the horses but also the connections with users, government systems, and their documents were successfully transferred to the new system.
"Better and faster customer service"
"The legal framework for registering a foal is very complex, but Zangersheide aims for a fast and practical system. Through workshops, it was determined which steps could be automated. Passports are now automatically generated and sent overnight, missing data is followed up monthly via email, and Belgian passports are registered directly with the government."
One account, all data: Taking customer-friendliness to a new level.
In the old Easyhorse system, it was not possible to link multiple owners or breeders to a horse, which resulted in multiple membership numbers and logins per owner. This made managing customer and horse data cumbersome. With the new Z-Horse system, this problem has been solved: customers can now manage all their horses and data from one account, leading to improved customer data and an enhanced user experience.
Additionally, email addresses of breeders, owners, or foal holders can be linked, even if they don't yet have an account in the portal built with Sulu CMS. The mentioned individuals will receive an email to confirm or decline the connection. Once confirmed, an account is automatically created, ensuring that horses are immediately and correctly linked. This not only makes the process more efficient but also more user-friendly.
Automatic Creation of Horses and Foals
Nieuwe veulens worden nu automatisch aangemaakt in het ERP van Zangersheide, wat heel wat manueel werk bespaart. Ze worden op basis van hun standplaats naar het juiste overheidssysteem en naar Hippomundo, ’s werelds grootste paardendatabase, gestuurd.
Na het schetsen door de dierenarts wordt deze informatie automatisch in het portaal, gebouwd met Sulu CMS, opgeladen. Dankzij de koppeling met Hippomundo zijn veulens sneller vindbaar, wat grote commerciële waarde biedt voor fokkers en eigenaars, en een return on investment oplevert!
New foals are now automatically created in the Zangersheide ERP system, significantly reducing manual labor. Based on their location, they are automatically forwarded to the appropriate government system and to Hippomundo, the world's largest horse database.
Once the veterinarian sketches the foal, this information is automatically uploaded into the portal built with Sulu CMS. Thanks to the integration with Hippomundo, foals become more easily discoverable, providing substantial commercial value to breeders and owner but also delivers a clear return on investment.
Automatic Horse Creation - event
As mentioned earlier, Zangersheide does much more than just horse registrations. They also organize events such as Z-festivals and stallion approvals. Our team has automated these processes as well. When a user registers a horse for an event, predefined criteria are automatically checked to determine whether the horse is eligible for participation. If the horse meets the criteria, it is automatically created (if not already existing) and linked to the event.
This automation allows Zangersheide's staff to spend more time focusing on the actual event organization, rather than worrying about the administrative tasks involved in managing registrations.
Innovative Global Auctions at Zangersheide: Live and Online!
Zangersheide organizes auctions both online and live, where horses are sold on behalf of third parties. To facilitate this, we implemented two auction formats: live and online.
Online auctions are held exclusively on the website, featuring an automatic countdown timer. If bids are placed in the last few minutes, the timer resets, allowing customers to continue bidding until the very end. When the timer expires without any further bids, the system marks the horse as sold. Winners automatically receive a confirmation email, and the system also determines the sale location based on the final bid.
Live auctions combine physical and online bids. A screen displays the current status, while a staff member opens the auction, brings horses into the ring, and processes bids. Online bids are automatically recorded by the system, alongside the in-person bids that staff manually enter.
Een 'zuivere' database voor Zangersheide
In het verleden kampte Zangersheide met dubbele paarden in de database door verschillende koppelingen en verbindingen. Het nieuwe systeem voorkomt vervuiling door grondige controles op UELN, chipnummers en Hippomundo-data. Daarnaast wordt de pedigree automatisch aangevuld op basis van Hippomundo. Wanneer het systeem afwijkingen opmerkt tussen de database en Hippomundo, zal het deze verschillen automatisch signaleren zodat ze kunnen worden opgelost. Dit zorgt voor een correcte en zuivere database, waardoor integraties soepel verlopen en de kwaliteit van de data wordt gewaarborgd!
Directe facturatie door naadloze boekhoudintegratie!
Paarden inschrijven en/of lid worden hangt natuurlijk samen met een kostenprijsje. Vroeger had de boekhouddienst de handen vol hiermee. Het nieuwe systeem voorziet een integratie met een boekhoudsysteem dat ervoor zorgt dat na inschrijving de facturen (en dus ook de klanten) automatisch aangemaakt en geregistreerd worden! De klant zal de factuur via mail ontvangen samen met een betaallink. Op die manier kan de klant online betalen en zal de factuur in het boekhoudsysteem automatisch afgeklopt worden. Makkelijker voor de klant en het boekhoudteam!
Future-focused: Innovation continues to unfold!
With the launch of the new ERP system, innovation at Zangersheide Studbook is just the beginning. Work is already underway to automate events, with features like automatic point distribution and the generation of catalogs and jury books!
The next step? Optimizing the breeding process and semen orders. PHPro continues to support Zangersheide in enhancing data, efficiency, and profitability – with even more innovative milestones on the horizon.
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