IBS software is Doggy’s best friendCustomer Story With a market share of 25 percent, Doggy is the largest manufacturer of dog and cat food in Sweden. The company turned to IBS to streamline is manufacturing process. 
Company background
With a market share of 25 percent, Doggy is the largest manufacturer of dog and cat food in Sweden. The company also exports its products to the European market, mainly to Germany, where it has a subsidiary company. In fact, the growing export business accounts for up to 25 percent of Doggy’s turnover.
Doggy employs 140 people and had sales in excess of EUR 39m in 2003.
Business issues
Doggy sells 40,000 tons of pet food each year from its main distribution facility in Sweden, mainly to supermarkets and pet stores. New products are constantly introduced to the market. Food for animals must be of a high quality and meet demanding health standards, no matter whether it is fresh, frozen or processed.
An ‘expert panel’ of 60 cats and dogs thoroughly and continuously tests Doggy’s products. Feedback from these animals is crucial to the activities of the product development department, which focuses on customer satisfaction. If the food is not to the animals’ liking, it is back to the drawing board for the product development team.
Managing its manufacturing processes from a customer point of view is extremely important for Doggy. Customer demand-driven manufacturing is the key to profitability and competitiveness.
Doggy’s senior management found it difficult to locate information about annual, weekly and daily historic sales figures under the company’s legacy IT system. This missing information became a rapidly escalating problem that soon hounded the entire company. The lack of historic sales data harmed the sales team’s ability to negotiate additional sales when it came to repeat business, and customer service levels suffered.
Problems with sales order processing created further issues and often led to bottlenecks or out-of-stock situations. Doggy found it was barking up the wrong tree. With such a large chunk of pet food to produce and new products to introduce, Doggy needed a software solution that would dramatically improve its manufacturing process and control, as well as promote visibility in its supply chain.
In short, Doggy found significant shortfalls in the information available from its old business system. The company wanted to streamline its manufacturing process, increase turnover, grow its market share, and ultimately, increase profit.
Solution and capabilities
After considering a number of software suppliers, Doggy decided that IBS and its integrated supply chain software suite, ASW, offered the right ingredients for the job. ASW is IBS’ business system software, developed to streamline a demand-driven manufacturing process. ASW can also enhance customers’ profitability by increasing sales, reducing costs, shortening lead-times, improving customer service, realising greater efficiency in internal and external processes and offering excellent visibility of management information.
One of the most important factors in its choice of IBS was the extensive manufacturing software available within ASW. The software’s demand-driven functionality is designed to improve supply chain responsiveness through finite capacity planning, operational tools for controlled capital and lean production, and future demand forecasting.
ASW is ideally suited to the food distribution industry and also serves up opportunities for quick Return on Investment (ROI) and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
ASW Analyser is an extremely useful tool for everyday analysis of operational information and strategic boardroom decision-making. It is geared towards manufacturing, sales, logistics and financials with advanced profitability analysis of both customers and products. The IBS software enables real-time information flow throughout the Doggy organisation.
To deliver food products in the quickest, most cost-efficient manner, IBS has provided Doggy with an integrated IT solution that automates and optimises all its processes from manufacturing and warehousing to customer support.
Benefits and value
After implementing ASW, one of the most immediate and impressive benefits for Doggy was a vast improvement in production control. The IBS solution has allowed Doggy to take charge of its manufacturing process and management is extremely happy with the result. Today, all costs are accounted for and controlled. This has led to an increase in turnover, together with a more flexible and responsive operation that offers improved stock availability.
The reporting functionality in ASW Analyser is crucial for monitoring product profitability and product life cycles. Reports and enquiries are produced much faster than before, leaving more time for staff to concentrate on the development of its customer base.
Doggy has seen its customer service levels rise to a stunning 99 percent since implementing IBS software. Supply chain integration, intelligent planning tools and tight inventory control have all contributed to improved customer service without increasing stock levels.
For Doggy, IBS software has provided improved supply chain visibility. This in turn has brought the company closer together with its customers. Doggy’s senior management is now truly out of the doghouse and can spend more time running a profitable business.
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