Reducing Average Lead Time Between Order Placement and Goods Readiness with Supply Chain Analysis for a Food Processing and Packaging Company

Overview of the global processed foods industry

North America is the biggest market for processed foods due to the increasing snacking trend.

Typically, processed foods are stored in the household as well as commercial refrigerators and other commercial cooling systems. These food products are extensively consumed by consumers on a daily basis and need to have proper taste, flavor, and quality. Processed foods are thus stored in cooling systems that help maintain the properties and quality of food products and prevent microbial damage. The processed foods market is fast growing in the Asia Pacific region due to the increase in population and consumers’ buying power. Cost competitiveness coupled with the availability of raw materials are some of the growth drivers for the processed foods industry in India and China.

However, our analysis of the global food and beverage industry shows that processed food and packaging companies are facing challenges in terms of:

• Changing customer preferences: Consumers of today are becoming more informed and can choose from a wide variety of products due to advancements in technology. Therefore, top organizations in the processed foods market are facing the need for offering end-user products that meet the requirements of the target audiences.
• Supply chain: With the slow recovery of the global economy, the supply of processed foods is likely to get impacted, and consumers are expected to witness a decline in the supply of products across the food and beverage industry. This is because the processed foods industry mainly relies on the supply chain to reach out to the end-user markets and meet the relentless demands of the target customers.

A comprehensive supply chain analysis will assist processed foods manufacturers in accomplishing better product differentiation, along with a comprehensive understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. Supply chain analysis also provides business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The Business Challenge and Journey

Client background: A world leading multinational food processing and packaging company.

Client issue: Apart from dealing with a high turnover ratio, the company faced high recruitment and training costs for their logistics staff, and there was insufficient in-house knowledge of the ocean and air logistics and shipments. The client was also contending with a lack of supply chain visibility on their international purchases and, consequently, a lack of end-to-end ownership of global shipments.

To provide the processed foods client, better end-to-end visibility, the supply chain analysis experts at SpendEdge conducted a comprehensive research and carried out discussions with prominent stakeholders in the food and beverage industry.

Client journey: The client implemented a Control Tower model, which involved outsourcing of the company’s entire logistics department – including order management, carrier booking, shipment documentation, and shipment visibility

Key questions answered in this supply chain analysis engagement

The Results

With the help of SpendEdge’s supply chain analysis solution, the processed foods client reduced the average lead time between goods readiness and order placement. Additionally, the client now has visibility on each defined milestone in their supply chain and can benefit from higher container utilization as well as lower overall supply chain costs.

To know more about our supply chain analysis solutions for food and beverage clients