To maximize the returns for each of its growers, Blue Diamond needs to not only develop new products, it also needs to operate at top efficiency. This dedication to strategic innovation was one of the driving factors behind the transformation of their supply chain from a cumbersome and disjointed manual process to a fully digitized solution powered by SAP, project44, and XpertMinds.
Challenge
The primary objectives of Blue Diamond Growers was to transition from a disjointed, manual demand, supply, and logistics planning process to one that is fully digitized, provides a single source of truth across the expansive enterprise, and provides multiple ways to increase efficiency.
This need was driven by the fact that the organization was managing $300 million supply chain and logistics functions using a disjointed collection of documents, spreadsheets, and processes. This cumbersome system relied on time-intensive and error-prone manual processes for everything from promotion scenario planning to securing logistics resources and obtaining order status, offered extremely limited opportunities to run scenarios or simulations, and made it nearly impossible for customer service reps (CSR) to gain accurate or timely visibility into critical order information. Sometimes, it would take days for a CSR to collect the information needed to respond to a customer.
The pandemic put the many shortcomings of this chaotic environment into the spotlight as the company struggled to deal with rapid and wild fluctuations in supply and demand alongside limited and unreliable transportation resources. For example, the lead time required for securing freight increased exponentially from about three weeks to five months. And the lead time for planning new promotions more than doubled, increasing from two to five months. These issues combined with legacy manual processes severely impacted Blue Diamond Growers’ ability to satisfy demand in a cost-effective and consistent way.
It was clear that Blue Diamond needed to move to a completely digitized supply chain, and they needed to do it quickly. They turned to ERP software leader SAP, with whom they had been working since 2014, to help them build a world-class supply chain solution.
Solution
The solution Blue Diamond Growers chose to implement with XpertMinds, the go-to SAP implementation partner for supply chain and logistics, is SAP Transportation Management and SAP Business Network for Logistics, enhanced with an integration between SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace and project44 to connect critical visibility data. This new capability, combined with the previously deployed SAP Integrated Business Planning solution, provides Blue Diamond with a complete planning solution from demand and supply through to logistics to provide an improved customer experience.
This solution is designed to provide a single source of truth that encompasses the planning and logistics process from end to end. It is also purpose-built to enable faster, more dynamic planning while simultaneously eliminating bottlenecks and shortages. Together, all these efficiencies help improve response times for better planning agility and customer support functions.
Results
As a result, Blue Diamond was quickly able to achieve their most important objectives:
1. A single source of truth across the entire enterprise
The new solution provided a unified plan for demand, supply, manufacturing, and logistics. It gave the organization one dynamic tool for securing freight and a single source of truth. This made it possible to respond much more quickly and easily to customer service inquiries. At the same time, enhanced visibility into the supply chain helped Blue Diamond eliminate shortages due to supply or freight issues.
2. Faster, more flexible and dynamic planning capabilities
With the new solution, Blue Diamond Growers planners and support representatives are able to plan ahead to successfully meet demand, identify and close supply gaps, and stay one step ahead of transportation gridlock. Previously, logistics planners had to access multiple carrier websites, multiple times per day, to effectively manage logistics planning and gather updates. The new solution enables a single source, thereby reducing the time required to plan and manage freight.
3. Better supply chain visibility and planning tools
With a consolidated view across the entire business, Blue Diamond Growers is now able to eliminate shortages due to supply and ocean freight issues. The visibility enables our customer service reps to offer improved and timely updates to our customers.
4. Increased efficiency and better use of Human Resources
Implementing the SAP and project44 solution enabled Blue Diamond Growers to reduce the number of systems supported by the IT team from five to one, greatly improving efficiency for the IT department. On the planning side, the new system eliminates the low-level Excel tasks that were a core part of the previous manual process, allowing employees to take on additional responsibilities as product managers and experts.
$1M
reduction in scenario planning time – down from six hours to 20 minutes
95%
reduction in scenario planning time – down from six hours to 20 minutes
99%
fill rates for customer orders, compared to an industry average of 89%
10%
improvement in forecast accuracy
20%
of reduction in supply on hand – down from 75 to 60 days of inventory
About Blue Diamond Growers
Founded in 1910, Blue Diamond Growers is the world’s largest almond processing and marketing cooperative. This global enterprise represents approximately 3,000 growers and exports to more than 75 countries.
