The impact of a Food Chain Centre (FCC) value chain analysis project, which looked at how both Anglia Pea Growers (APG) and Birds Eye work to deliver Birds Eye frozen peas, has revealed an action plan to make chain more efficient.
The project focused on the frozen pea supply in the east of England: APG, a group of pea growers in Suffolk and Norfolk, and Birds Eye frozen foods, which has a freezing factory and coldstore in Lowestoft.
The supply chain has a 150-minute target to adhere to, which means that peas have to be frozen within 150 minutes from the time that they are detached from the plant in the field. This is a commercially imposed target, which differentiates Birds Eye peas from other brands in the marketplace.
The project identified four potential types of constraint in the supply chain that could be preventing the system from being as financially efficient as it should be.
The constraints identified fell under the following categories: physical, where a bottleneck in the plant due to the 150-minute limitation meant peas were lost due to field bypass or not being able to freeze the peas in time; logistical, where breakdowns and stoppages at the factory led to loss of harvest time; managerial, where haulage efficiency and vehicle utilisation were not measured so it was unclear whether the allocation of lorries to harvest teams were correctly aligned; and behavioural, where best change-over practices for employees were not being standardised.
The FCC found the weakest link in the chain was the pea-freezing capacity, and then compiled an action plan that focuses on improvement activity, looks at all constraints simultaneously to establish a new schedule, and the balance flow of materials not capacity.
Richard Hirst, chairman of APG, pictured, said: “This project has exposed me to a new way of thinking that has the potential to improve the profitability for all APG growers.
“The improvements we have already made make the chain more capable and flexible, and so better positioned to cope with variability caused by both natural and commercial considerations. We are committed to fully implementing the action plan and I would recommend the whole approach to all fresh produce.”
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