Technology is a powerful catalyst for supply chain success, enabling food enterprises to operate with greater speed, accuracy, and resiliency.

From real-time data analytics and automation to advanced forecasting and digital collaboration tools, supply chain leaders are leveraging technology to make smarter decisions, optimize processes, and respond swiftly to disruptions.

Supply Chains Embrace Technology

But with the application of technology comes the need to manage change in operations and strategy. This point was highlighted at the recent annual Food Shippers Conference when several supply chain professionals described how they apply technology to their business operations. The conversation was led by Zach Schuchart, Senior Vice President, Head of Sales with Optimal Dynamics, a provider of next-generation artificial intelligence solutions. In preparation for the session, he surveyed 90 food companies and their logistics partners to explore their technology initiatives and resulting change management.

Zach Schuchart with Optimal Dynamics discusses supply chain technology with Brian Wnuk (Rise Baking Company), Melanie Foster (Sunsweet Growers), and Peter Zedler (Schwan’s Company) during the recent annual Food Shippers Conference in Palm Desert, CA.

Food supply chain professionals have been heavily leaning on high-tech solutions in recent years. In fact, 88% of respondents said their company has implemented supply chain technology within the past three years. A majority (41%) said they implemented a transportation management system (TMS), while another 14% said they implemented optimization and/or automation technology. Approximately 9% cited visibility solutions, while another 8% said they implemented procurement technology.

Schuchart said that 62% are planning to implement supply chain technology in the next year. The kind of technology they are planning to implement next year.

According to Schuchart, more than one-third of respondents (34%) said they believe optimization and automation technology will drive the most value in the future, with another 25% predicting procurement technology will drive the most value.

Rise Baking Company: Taking It In-House

Rise Baking Company manufactures a broad range of recognized brands in North America, including Brill® baking solutions, South Coast Baking® cookies, Table Talk® pies and desserts, Henry & Henry® fillings and glazes, Karps® cookies and muffins, and New French Bakery® and Bakestone Brothers® breads. Walk into a bakery section of most major grocery chains and you’ll likely find products made by this leading baking goods company, according to Brian Wnuk, Director of Transportation.

Formed in 2013, Rise has been rapidly growing through acquisitions – and with that comes a lot of change management.

“Every time we acquire somebody, they have a different way of running their freight,” says Wnuk. “They have a different ERP system, different TMS systems, different cultures. We try to figure out how we get everybody under the same way of doing business so we can leverage our spend and service our customers in the best way possible. That has been quite a journey for us.”

Wnuk says that 2022 was a pivotal year when Rise evaluated its entire portfolio and made major changes. At that time the company was using a third-party logistics company to manage all freight, including procurement, payables, and planning.

“We didn’t have a transportation team at that time,” says Wnuk. “The Brill side of business, where I came from, had our own internal transportation team and our own TMS. We had a lot of experience in how we wanted to go to market and how we wanted to collaborate with carriers. So after Covid hit and we saw some resemblance of a normal market again, we decided to bring all of that business in-house.”

“We brought it in-house because we wanted to leverage the relationships with our carriers to gain better control,” continues Wnuk. “We also wanted information faster and we found that sometimes going through a middle person took longer.”

What does Rise’s significant operations and supply chain look like today? Rise maintains 20 manufacturing plants and 44 distribution warehouses, says Wnuk. Each year, through 80 carriers and 11 internal associates the company manages 30,000 full truckloads and 16,000 LTL orders – of which 95% are temperature-controlled. It ships 944 million pounds, which equates to 782,000 pallets.

“Of course a lot of sophisticated technology is linked into our network,” notes Wnuk. “Through our TMS system we get great data on how our carriers are performing, how we’re performing to the market, where we need to buy more and where we need to buy less.”

He also notes that the company leverages rate, network and capacity analytics technology platforms to ensure competitive rates and that they’re treating carriers fairly based upon what the market is showing. In addition, Rise uses an eProcurement tool to cut costs and add value, and currently is implementing a new platform that enables the company to evaluate carrier performance, track on-time delivery, and manage mini-bids and annual RFPs.

“So we have a number of these different market tools where we can see how we’re performing,” concludes Wnuk.

Schwan’s Company: Technology and Benefits Driving the Business

A subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang, a South Korean international food company based in Seoul, Schwan’s Company’s product portfolio includes trusted brands like Red Baron®, Freschetta®, Big Dadd’s™ and Tony’s™ pizza, Edwards® and Mrs. Smith’s® desserts, and Bibgo® and Pagoda® Asian-style foods. The company is launching many more brands in both the U.S. and Canada, and has become the top-ranking player in foodservice pizza, according to Peter Zedler, Director of Transportation.

“We still do direct-to-store delivery on the frozen side and not a lot of players still do that,” says Zedler. “We have 18 manufacturing locations in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas. Each year we deliver directly to 20,000 stores and serve 1,800 foodservice distributors, and we have various DCs for both our consumer brands and our foodservice network.”

Sunsweet Growers: “Doing A Lot With Little”

Sunsweet Growers is the world’s largest handler of dried tree fruits, including cranberries, apricots and prunes. A grower-owned marketing cooperative representing more than one-third of the prune market worldwide, Sunsweet processes more than 50,000 tons of prunes each year.

Sunsweet ships prunes globally through three plants – in Yuba City, CA, Fleetwood, PA, and Santa Cruz, Chile, according to Melanie Foster, Distribution & Transportation Manager, who has been with the company for 35 years.

Like many food shippers, Sunsweet Growers relies heavily on its sophisticated network of third-party logistics providers to leverage their technology investments to bring efficiencies and visibility to the cooperative’s supply chain. Foster says that Sunsweet Growers utilizes warehouse consolidation programs and their technology. She says the organization has planning software and utilizes SAP for their ERP system and WMS.

She also notes Sunsweet Growers uses EDI to transfer data between Sunsweet and its third-party providers.

“Because we handle such a heavy volume of prunes worldwide, I spend most of my time currently on the import side and I work with a very small team,” says Foster. “We do a lot with a little, as we have not made technology investments on the transportation side.”

Foster notes that Sunsweet relies solely on its third-party warehousing partners to leverage consolidation programs to deliver to their customers. “We do a lot with emails, Excel spreadsheets, a lot of old tried-and-true methods. We get the job done, in large part through the support of our 3PLs who are very good partners. They’ve invested in the technology of the TMS and other systems that can help us communicate and get the information back to us.”

Successful Change Management Through Technology

How do you increase your chances of successful change management when you’re planning and implementing technology into your supply chain strategy and operations? It requires a carefully planned and meticulously designed blend of tools or platforms, processes, and people.

Zedler says there are three big steps he learned while implementing all the tech-driven initiatives at Schwan’s.

“You’ve got to communicate, communicate, communicate,” he emphasizes. “Talk with your internal stakeholders, your external carrier base, your warehouse base. Let them know ‘here are the changes coming and here’s why.’”

Zedler also recommends creating a clear scope of work with all vendors.

“Make sure you’re all on the same page of understanding the problem you’re trying to solve, and make sure it’s all reflected in the scope of work with the end-game in mind so that we come up with a good solution.”

Lastly, he recommends thorough testing prior to actual implementation of the technology solution: “Make sure that everything’s going to work with your business.”

Follow these three practical tips and you’ll increase the likelihood of success in implementing the technology solutions in your food chain operations.

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• Food Shippers Conference Highlights Key Focus Areas: Technology, Theft and Tariffs
• Adapt to Deliver: Driving Resilience through Talent and Technology
• Supply Chain Transparency: Leveraging Technology to Achieve the Perfect Shipment

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