Food Distribution and Restaurant Supply Moves to EnterpriseOne
The Client
The client, who is the world’s largest distributor of food products to the world’s largest QSR restaurant company, is headquartered in the US, but their scope is worldwide. They have over 3,900 employees in 30 distribution centers in 6 countries. 8,400 QSR stores around the globe count on them for everything they need – from beef, to fries, to operating supplies – with deliveries every day.
The Problem
The client standardized on Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne ERP platform. This ERP platform was upgraded recently to EnterpriseOne 9.0 release and successfully deployed to all US distribution centers in May 2011. Smartbridge assisted them with the technology component of this successful upgrade effort.
The management established a corporate goal to standardize all North American and possibly European operations on the JD Edwards ERP 9.0 platform and implement ‘One North American Way’ of doing business. In 2010, the client’s corporate IT department performed a high-level gap analysis for the Canada distribution operation. They identified primary business requirements and processes utilized in the operation of the Canada business unit and compared them against the functionality that exist in the JD Edwards OneWorld system model currently being used in the United States.
CLIENT PROFILE
EMPLOYEES: 3.900+
INDUSTRY: Supply Chain
HEADQUARTERS: Illinois
FOUNDED: 1956
The Canada operation currently services approximately 1,450 stores and 700 active items and use DOS2000 software as their primary distribution center enabling system. Other bolt-on systems include Paragon as the routing software, Xatanet as the on board computer system and Syntelic as a Warehouse & and Labor Management System. To meet the corporate goal, the challenge was to move all the Canadian Distribution Centers’ processes to the JDE 9.0 platform without interruption to customers and suppliers.
The Solution
The client partnered with Smartbridge to develop a comprehensive implementation plan to deploy JDE 9.0 to the Canada operation. This plan included current state assessment, detailed gap assessment, scope, timeline, resources, cost and implementation recommendations. This plan was used by the client’s implementation team to execute the implementation phase of the project.
The instance of JDE software that supports US operations was not enabled to support other languages, like French, which is a key requirement for Canada. Smartbridge upgraded the JDE system to support French language and other non-English languages in preparation for the Canada and subsequent European implementations.
Smartbridge deployed a team of senior functional and technical resources each with a minimum of 15 years JDE experience to work closely with the client’s personnel and management to understand, assess and develop a future state model for the Canada deployment which included the configuration and setup of multi-currency and Canadian taxes. The Smartbridge team worked closely with the client’s IT and User personnel to meet key milestones set within the project plan and completed the Canadian project on time and under budget.
The experienced Smartbridge team significantly reduced the custom modifications necessary to meet the client’s business needs.
The Result
The client’s Canada distribution centers’ six operating processes were successfully integrated and transitioned into the US JDE EnterpriseOne system. The project went live on time as originally planned with minimal issues and has been recognized as one of the most successful projects executed by the IT group by the management.
There’s more to explore at Smartbridge.com!
Sign up to be notified when we publish articles, news, videos and more!
Other ways to
follow us:
