Grande implements Arkieva’s supply planning solution

Arkieva, advanced planning and scheduling specialist of software tools for manufacturing companies, has announced that Grande has selected the Arkieva Supply Chain Planning Software Suite to create an enhanced supply and scheduling process.

Grande has an established presence in the marketplace as a leading provider of fine Italian cheeses and value-added whey products. The Arkieva planning project corresponds with Grande’s commitment to quality and processes. The planning and scheduling solution will enable Grande to handle the scope of their manufacturing and distribution process in daily and long-term planning, which is not possible with their current Excel spreadsheets.

Much like most businesses that outgrow Excel, the Wisconsin-based cheese company has faced the decision to either streamline, standardise, and improve supply chain processes or to continue using spreadsheets that were becoming increasingly complex.

Chris Richards, director of supply chain at Grande, says, “While we service our clients incredibly well and have no obsolete products, it was time to turn our attention to managing the risk associated with using spreadsheets. We had multiple different spreadsheets that we were combining to create a monthly plan. We knew that we needed to move from a manual based spreadsheet process to a systemised supply chain solution.

“Arkieva’s solution is well suited for Grande’s needs. It utilised both the standard software functionality as well as configuration based modeling layer of their software. This fit our needs very well. It’s outstanding!”

The implementation plan includes the Arkieva Supply planning solution, materials planning, and whey scheduling.

Dr. Ken Fordyce, director of analytics at Arkieva, comments, “We are thrilled to be working with Grande on this project. The proposed solution with Arkieva will provide an integrated system that supports decision making and transparency throughout the supply chain.”

Supply Planning projects include: developing and implementing a solution to streamline master and capacity planning; detailed reporting and analytics for improved supply chain visibility; data integration and migration from manual spreadsheets; best practice planning and Arkieva solution training to ensure higher user adoption and process improvement.