Streamline your supply chain with the right ERP system for the food and beverage industry.
Streamline your supply chain with the right ERP system for the food and beverage industry.
RubinBrown’s independent ERP consultants carried out a rapid assessment to understand the client’s process requirements. The review showed important gaps in the legacy systems, including heavy manual work and missing standard procedures that affected analytics, accuracy, and parts of the supply chain. With these findings, RubinBrown provided full implementation support, helping the client choose an ERP vendor and managing the project through every major step.
This U.S.-based producer of fresh prepared foods and deli salads has expanded from a regional operation into a national supplier supporting retailers, foodservice partners, club stores, and convenience markets. The company operates two advanced facilities focused on quality, consistency, and strong food safety programs. They follow key food industry standards such as HACCP, GMP, and SSOP to maintain regulatory compliance in the food and beverage space. The company now serves customers across the country and continues to grow its national presence.
The client is a growing food manufacturer that needed a modern ERP system to support its next stage of growth. The company was depending on a custom-built system overseen by one person, which created risk and limited flexibility. With plans to expand through organic growth and acquisitions, leadership recognized the need for an enterprise resource planning platform that could streamline operations, support best practices, and help create a successful ERP implementation.
This technology change was also an opportunity to rethink the business. Many employees had deep industry knowledge, but older tools and manual work slowed them down. Key processes were not streamlined. Shippers had to hand-deliver invoices to finance, and the lack of scanning tools meant inventory visibility was often inaccurate. These issues limited the company’s ability to manage traceability and quality control across its food production lines. Moving to a modern system would give the organization better visibility, clearer processes, and the structure needed to support long-term growth.
The operational assessment began with interviews to understand high-level needs across all core Business Processes. These included Quote to Cash, Plan to Produce, Warehouse and Inventory Management, Requisition to Pay, and Finance and Accounting. The team also reviewed system needs such as recipe management, food-specific data controls, and food safety requirements common in food manufacturing.
They identified many manual workarounds caused by the aging custom-built system. These manual steps reduced inventory visibility and slowed important quality control activities. The team also documented improvement ideas for invoicing, Inventory Management, and real-time visibility across the organization.
During vendor selection, the team developed a detailed information packet and set evaluation standards. They supported vendor research, demonstrations, and contract conversations to find a solution that met the client’s business needs and provided strong industry-specific value.
The team began by completing a rapid needs assessment to understand the client’s challenges, goals, and daily workflow. This assessment led to a full evaluation of the existing homegrown system, which lacked the flexibility and support needed for future growth. The team documented detailed system requirements, created a clear vendor information packet, and coordinated product demonstrations with multiple providers. After reviewing the options, the client selected the right ERP software to support its manufacturing processes, improve efficiency, and fully move away from the outdated custom-built platform.
The consulting team helped the client create a strong business case for ERP transformation and guided them through the full approval process with their international parent organization. Their structured approach ensured that all due diligence steps were completed, which led to a fast and confident approval. Once approval was granted, the client selected the preferred vendor, and the team handled contract negotiations to secure the best pricing and contract protections. This support gave leadership confidence that the project was set up for success.
The client also recognized the value provided during the initial assessment and vendor selection. Because of this, the consulting team stayed on to manage the ERP implementation. The RubinBrown team helped the organization modernize operations, support food industry requirements, and strengthen traceability across key functions.
"Our team spent a lot of time debating whether or not to hire an outside consultant for this project but partnering with RubinBrown was one of the best strategic decisions we could have made. The level of service and their commitment to meeting our specific needs blew us away. We know we chose the right ERP system, but that's because we chose the right consultant to help us get there."
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