Frankenstein systems are software systems that have had so many updates, add-ons and quick fixes that they have become clunky, frustrating monsters that are expensive to update. To many of us in the ever-changing and complex dairy industry, these types of systems are painfully familiar. But it doesn’t need to be this way: enter the era of the automated, cloud-based, centralized system developed especially for the dairy industry.
Milk supply chains are one of the most complex and ever-changing systems you could run. You’ve got a perishable product to be collected and lab tested. You’ve got a crowd of lorries to fuel-efficiently schedule. You’ve got producer payments to calculate and make, shareholders to inform, and local law changes to keep ahead of. This is hard enough for a domestic dairy processor, let alone one that operates globally. With so much change and complexity, it’s little wonder that many milk processors have ended up with systems so patched together, modified and clunky that it’s expensive to update and difficult to get an overview of what’s going on. To solve this, successful dairy processors are now choosing to shift to a centralized cloud-based system to take care of all those idiosyncrasies of the milk supply chain and consolidate all their Master Data in one place. These platforms are automated, integrate seamlessly to ERPs such as SAP, they’re easy to customize, and any detail - from scheduling and collection of milk to finished products in store - can be seen in real time by HQ at the click of a button.
So, why should you consider moving away from your Frankenstein system to a centralized, modern milk supply chain platform?
Cost
Having disparate systems means you’re dealing with a whole lot of software vendors, and monthly retainers can blow out (e.g. Nestle dealt with 27 vendors before it switched to one centralized platform, and saved 80% on maintenance costs as a consequence). If you’re using a unique system that was built inhouse and became Frankenstein-esque, those highly-skilled personnel working hard just to maintain and build add-ons (or inputting redundant data) could be freed up to take your company forward by focusing on more high-value, innovative projects.
Real-time decision making
With Frankenstein systems, it would be extremely complex and costly for HQ to see its operations and results in real time. Moving to a centralized platform means those who need to can drill down to the lowest level of detail as it happens. And with Master Data all in one place, trends can be pulled out instantly to inform good business decisions or rectify issues before it’s too late.
Traceability and sustainability
Today’s consumer demands provenance and sustainability. Using a centralized platform, traceability is simple, as is putting in place carbon emissions targets and being able to measure and achieve them too. Whereas Frankenstein systems make these tasks incredibly complex.
Support
With a perishable product and factories/farms that work around the clock, you can’t afford to have downtime and you need software support that’s reliable 24/7 - from people who know the milk supply chain industry. Cloud-based software enables support teams to be based in different time zones so support is always available - and because they know both your industry and the highly-configurable software, updates can be created and pushed out without pain or delay.
Accuracy
When you’re paying a multitude of stakeholders (or levies) for everything from haulage to milk quality, milk volume, and a person’s position on-farm (owners/sharefarmers), the payment amount changes with every load of milk, every farm. You can’t afford for your calculations to get this wrong. Software designed specifically for the milk supply chain industry has all the algorithms to calculate and make payments already incorporated, and they’re incredibly accurate as a rule.
Communication
Communicating with farmers and other stakeholders such as haulers and Field Service Officers is so important, and is made painless with a move to a centralized platform. Through an app, users can see their own milk production/haulage history, lab results, scheduling, payments, receive real-time notifications, fill out forms for new regulations (eg. health and safety or animal welfare), and more. What’s more, you’ll know whether messages have been received and read.
Moving away from Frankenstein systems and towards a modernized central platform - one that is built for the milk supply chain - is like taking a blindfold off and removing the pain points, setting you up for a future that is agile and streamlined.