According to the USDA, Americans are consuming more vegetables and fruit. Potatoes and tomatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetables and apples and oranges are America’s top fruit choices. Produce comprises the majority of fresh consumption. Grocers are doing a number of things to drive increased produce sales including innovative recipes, geotargeted social media campaigns, and in-store videos – all aimed at increasing awareness of health benefits. Consumers continue to seek out flavorful alternatives and grocers are looking to partner with distributors. Transparency within produce is important to create and maintain trust with the consumer.
Major grocery players are making investments and acquisitions in customer-value proposition, customer experience, picking and delivery that are driving true transformation in the farm to table food chain.
These trends and the corresponding shifting demand mean that your organization must be flexible and agile to deliver innovative products and value-added services timed to market needs, all while managing costs and risk.
The Adroit team helps organizations to improve their agility. Our team works to understand your specific operational challenges, jointly craft solutions that incorporate best practices, leverage your existing software assets, and where necessary implement Adroit’s software solutions.
Working with Adroit, you are better positioned to efficiently create and produce products and services in response to newer trends.
Looking Deeper – Frozen Food Operational Challenges
Produce and Fresh distributors meet the challenge of temperature controlled logistics with short shelf life products to offer their customers the convenience of providing consolidated fresh inventory and delivery services. Often they provide distribution at the local level. Products and services can include their own inventory and customer base or as a third party logistics provider.
The fresh distributor often will provide three bundles of services including temperature controlled food logistics, warehousing and transportation. The logistics services include integrated and turnkey planning and consolidation services across the multiple distribution channels served by their customers.
For produce and fresh food distributors, inventory turnover is a key focal point as expiration dates are a constant pressure. The inventory turnover requirement require the development of logistical competencies that enable rapid order fulfillment and shipment as triggered by standing order patterns. The rapid inventory turns drive increased focus on warehouse organization and flow.
The supply chain planning function must incorporate a focus short code date products with the sales plan focused on moving those products via promotions or secondary channels.
Adroit can help you solve your production and inventory control challenges with the application of best practices, optimizing your existing food distribution software, or through the implementation of an Adroit software solution.
Produce and Fresh Food Distribution Industry Solutions for Improved Operations
Whether it is crafting targeted solutions to specific operational issues or helping to improve the processes of the entire supply chain, Adroit understands the unique challenges of frozen food distribution.
Fresh food distributors have to manage supply and demand of large numbers of SKUs, and meet desired customer service with high velocity short shelf life product. Local and national distribution means organized picking, route planning, and direct store delivery confirmations. Inventory accuracy must be maintained.
Key process and food distribution systems requirements of Food Distributors support the six major activities of the SCOR model which include Planning, Sourcing, Production, Order Fulfillment, Returns Processing and Enablers.
Planning includes integrated supply chain planning that brings together demand, supply, inventory, and financials. These four plans are integrated to produce a cost effective plan that meets the required service levels of the distributor.
In many cases, we can help understand how a food distribution ERP system in combination with a Supply Chain Planning system can be leveraged to meet key challenges, including:
- Developing cohesive sales, operations, and finance plan (SOP Planning) with accurate forecasts, warehouse management capacities, inventory inclusive of distribution pipeline and planned expiration, and financial metrics.
- Eliminating manual and labor-intensive traceability through the application of traceability software.
- Improving warehouse productivity through improved seek and put times and minimizing travel
- Organizing inventory into zones and locations based on velocity and dimensions
- Integrate the record-keeping and document management challenges into ERP software
- Improving inventory accuracy through task automation
- Complying with a GFSI food safety schema, supported by independent record-keeping and plans
Fresh food distribution ERP/WMS software and other key business systems all have a role in helping to modernize operations. When properly aligned with overall strategy, these systems help manage complex traceability and record-keeping mandates.
Adroit brings industry experience to each engagement and takes the time to understand the specifics of your fresh food distribution operations. We can help you migrate from informal and disjointed systems to a cohesive and op