Based in Northamptonshire, Whitworths manufactures healthier snacking, breakfast, baking and cooking products such as dried fruits and nuts, which are distributed to many major UK supermarkets and other retail outlets.
It sources raw materials from a range of countries and regions, including China, the US, Southern Europe and North Africa. All suppliers are vetted according to stringent criteria and their products are checked for nutritional value and freshness, among other characteristics. This makes procurement and managing supply a complex process, which must also take into account changing customer demand to ensure the best quality products are delivered on time and in the right quantities.
“The legacy IT systems and processes we had in place relied on spreadsheets to manage our inventory, distribution and financials,” said Steve Griffiths, head of IT at Whitworths. “This has served us well up until now, but as we enter our next growth stage and experience increasing demand from our larger customers, we need to further improve our supply chain efficiency and customer service levels. To do this, we are upgrading our 20-year-old IT infrastructure and implementing a unified IT strategy based on IFS Applications 8.
“Whitworths selected IFS ahead of other ERP providers, Microsoft AX and Epicor, following a competitive tender process.”
The new IFS system will be deployed across the whole business, supporting over 200 users in eight departments.
IFS will also help improve Whitworths’ overall business performance by adding intelligence to its factory operations and in doing so enable the company to forecast months, even years, in advance.
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