Grilstad Selects Blue Ridge Supply Chain Planning Solutions to Execute a Better S&OP Process

Blue Ridge, a leader in supply chain planning solutions, announced today that Grilstad, a leading producer of meat products in Norway, has selected solutions from the Blue Ridge Supply Chain Planning platform to execute a best practice sales and operations planning (S&OP) process. One of Norway’s largest producers of meat products, Grilstad began as a cured meat factory in Trondheim in 1957.

“Having a best practice S&OP process in place is a vital strategic initiative for us,” said Jørgen Nicolay Wiig, CEO, Grilstad. “We felt that the solutions from Blue Ridge, who already show impressive results in other Norwegian companies, would bring us into the elite division competitively.”

“Planning production in a food processing company is a complex and fast-moving target,” said Terje Kløver, food retail supply planning manager, Grilstad. “We are dependent on having all of the steps in our production process totally in sync, and at the same time considering shelf life, capacity and inputs from the sales organization. Blue Ridge handles all of this complex planning in one integrated solution and we are very much looking forward to reaping the benefits in our everyday planning.”

Blue Ridge Supply Chain Planning (SCP) solutions uniquely integrate demand forecasting, supply planning, inventory allocation, replenishment and strategic investment opportunities:

• Supply Chain Planning creates fully configured orders, economically optimized to company goals for up to 24 months in advance. These precise order projections are completely automated without user intervention and adhere to order schedules, SKU-level rounding requirements and order-level constraints.

• Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization (MEIO) calculates the daily need for inventory across the supply chain network based on both customer demand and the unique configurations of a company’s supply chain. MEIO delivers a precise prediction of customer demand with the constraints that impact the actual ordering of goods.

• Integrated Business Planning (IBP) supports the orchestration of profit-oriented, multi-enterprise convergence to synchronize revenue, demand supply and financial plans. IBP enables companies to craft one, consensus operational business plan that ensures accountability across functional silos.

“Blue Ridge’s planning solutions will enable Grilstad to meet customer demand at the lowest possible cost and bring simplicity to the planning process,” said Maarten Baltussen, general manager, Europe, Blue Ridge. “These next-generation, industry-differentiating features are designed with food wholesale/distribution and manufacturing, like Grilstad in mind.”

Blue Ridge SCP solutions plan and manage $2.9B in Revenue sold in Europe across industries including Retail, Food, Wine & Spirits and Durable Goods. In 2020, customers have accepted 99 percent of the planning recommendations provided by Blue Ridge SCP solutions, enabling them to maintain an overall 95 percent in-stock rate. This accuracy empowers Blue Ridge customers to consistently deliver a 98 percent service commitment to their customers, in tandem with significant inventory cost reduction. In total 59 million order lines were managed in Blue Ridge SCP.