GraceKennedy Limited is the Caribbean’s leading food manufacturer and distributor. Since its beginnings in 1922, GraceKennedy has provided authentic Caribbean food products to generations of Caribbean people earning… and still deserving… the name ‘Grace, the Good Food People’. Presently, Grace is still largely a Caribbean food company, but have expanded into Canada, the United States and the UK, so their customers can enjoy the taste of the Caribbean where ever they are.
CHALLENGES
• Customer service levels were negatively impacted due to stock-outs and missed international shipments.
• Raw materials, packaging materials, and finished goods inventories were growing out of control in manufacturing plants.
• Procurement team made extensive use of stand-alone spreadsheets due to lack of trust in MRP proposals.
• Buyers and production planners were overloaded and constantly in ‘fire-fighting’ mode.
• Supplier performance was unmonitored and lead times were unpredictable.
SOLUTIONS
• Grace Foods engaged Reveal in an oVo® inventory reduction and optimization project.
• Educated Buyers, Production Planners & Managers on available SAP tools to uncover, analyze, and pro-actively manage inventory and service levels.
• Changed MRP run frequency and settings to improve data currency and system performance.
• Advised on housekeeping activities to improve data accuracy and improved user confidence in SAP data.
• Aligned organization around best practices to provide sustainable inventory management strategies.
• Advised Management on intercompany process structural changes that resulted in demand-driven manufacturing that reduced plant finished
inventories.
• Grace Foods appointed a Chief Supply Chain officer and re-aligned all Supply Chain groups to support integration.
• Implemented exception management mindset.
• Implemented new KPI’s to ensure sustainability of oVo® program benefits
BENEFITS
- Improved data accuracy and understanding of SAP standard tools improved user confidence in MRP
- Raw and packaging materials inventories decreased, reduced manufacturing plant finished goods over 30%
- Demand-driven production improved service levels to distribution facilities over 25%
- Reduced procurement workload by focusing on managing exceptions, rules, and behaviors
- Increased visibility on vendor performance and active supplier management
- Improved visibility and integration across Global Supply chain and faster supply issue resolution
- Improved readiness for automation and supplier collaboration programs
