With a strong focus on the fresh produce industry, LINKFRESH's ERP software can help streamline the process that takes products from the field to the consumer's hands. Integrated within Microsoft's Dynamics enterprise software, the LINKFRESH software suite can make the supply chain easier to handle.
“The fresh produce sector is a unique industry,” said Ron Myers, executive vice president for LINKFRESH. “You have to do a good job of demand forecasting because of the limited shelf life of products, and you have to have track and trace capabilities throughout the process. There are also statutory requirements and many downward pressures on margins, so our value is to increase margins through a more efficient supply chain.” Those thin margins mean growers, shippers and retailers have to be efficient in order to be competitive, and LINKFRESH's suite of products can help with that.
Working closely with Microsoft, LINKFRESH have developed a software suite that helps everyone involved in the supply chain monitor the entire process and gather valuable insights that can save money. The ability for grower-shippers to handle consigned lots and make accurate and speedy Grower Returns is one of the things the software excels at. Growers and packers receive and trade product, providing valued added services, such as grading, packaging or branding the commodity, and make settlement and payback to the original Grower based on the Net revenue value. The challenge is to accurately budget and record all the supply chain costs and quickly and accurately determine the settlement value and be able to view a real-time and individual Profit and Loss for each Consigned Lot. With a full real-time P&L for each Consigned Lot both Growers and Packers have the information required to drive down costs and increase efficiencies and thus increase margins.
“Consignment processing is our secret sauce,” said Myers. “With our software, all of the activity that adds value to the product flows naturally through the consignment engine.” So handlers of consigned lots don't have to worry about taking extra steps to figure out what they've done and what they're owed; they can, instead, focus their efforts on adding value to the product being handled.
“It's about getting the right product at the right place at the right time at the right value,” said Myers. “If you can do a good job of speeding up the supply chain, you can reduce waste and reduce costs.”