Fresh4cast and berry marketer Driscoll’s were nominated for a Technology Champion Award at the recent FPC Fresh Industry Awards. We asked Fresh4cast’s Michele Dall’Olio to tell us more
In the world of fresh produce, every day presents a new challenge, such as unpredictable weather or rapidly shifting consumer demand. But challenges are also opportunities. Over the last decade, Fresh4cast’s collaboration with Driscoll’s UK team has transformed these hurdles into stepping stones, driving productivity and responsiveness through innovative planning and cutting-edge technology.
The fresh produce sector operates on tight margins under highly variable conditions. So effective planning requires fast coordination across sales, procurement and operations. Plus, data that shows grower supply and retail demand must be part of it.
Our work with berry marketer Driscoll’s exemplifies the combination of technological solutions and human expertise to achieve these goals. We have implemented something called Integrated Business Planning, which supports demand-driven operations and reduces the workload traditionally associated with detailed planning.
Before, the group relied on manual, resource-intensive processes that were hard to scale up. But with our cloud-based planning tools, it reorganised workflows and reduced data integration times. Mark Palmer, demand planning manager at Driscoll’s UK, summarises: “Tasks that used to take minutes are now completed in seconds, shortening our lead times and allowing us to focus on strategic work.”
This transformation has accelerated processes and fundamentally changed Driscoll’s UK responsiveness. Sales teams can adjust demand plans with much greater granularity, and they can plan daily, and much further ahead, by SKU and by delivery depot. Bulk modifications of thousands of records can be executed in seconds, which reduces the administrative burden and enables a stronger focus on strategic relationships. The tools can also be used to create plans that are 100 times more detailed.
People first
A key takeaways from our collaboration is that technology alone cannot drive transformation; people are central to success. Driscoll’s project manager Rob Keskeys says the evolution of planning technology has been remarkable. “Witnessing the collaboration come to life, step by step, has been a very rewarding experience,” he comments. The Driscoll’s UK team has embraced those new methods and worked actively with Fresh4cast, and we have ensured that the technology served its users, not the other way around.
As a result, Driscoll’s can now access a centralised control system to manage supply availability against projected demand, monitor turnover, and track customer performance. The integration with its ERP system means both short- and long-term demand planning are directly linked to product and operational planning. This means the ERP remains the single source of truth. No more Excel spreadsheets, just quality data and decision-making.
