Global optimization of supplier management and food product listing
Effective supplier management and rigorous product listing have become major priorities for companies operating across multiple sites and markets. This case study highlights the digital transformation of an international foodservice player faced with the need to centralize and optimize its supplier and product management processes on a global scale.
3 key takeaways
Centralizing and automating processes through the BlueKanGo platform enabled optimized management of suppliers and product listings on an international scale.
The solution ensures regulatory compliance, traceability, and data reliability through full integration with the ERP system and dedicated quality and supplier modules.
Digitalisation, scoring, and advanced oversight strengthened operational efficiency, reduced costs, and secured control over strategic information.
In the foodservice sector, service quality is a priority across the entire production and supply chain. This includes internal quality (suitable procedures, service quality, and so on) and external quality, particularly the quality tied to suppliers of raw materials, processing, packaging, and transport. Internal non-quality must therefore be measured, monitored, and corrected on an ongoing basis.
An international foodservice player present in more than 100 countries with nearly 20 production sites approached us to optimize the management of its suppliers and the listing of its food products.
Each year, the company lists several hundred new items in its internal system. These products change regularly over their life cycle (logistical modifications, quality updates, regulatory changes, and so on). This volume and complexity called for a robust, collaborative solution that was fully integrated with their internal information system, which is used for product listing, logistics, and quality.
The challenges: standardizing and gaining efficiency
The organization wanted to move away from a way of working based on Word and Excel files, which limited the traceability of changes, the standardization of product sheets, and control over quality data. The priority was therefore to have a single platform capable of industrializing and automating the entire listing process, with greater consistency across all sites, both in France and internationally.
Another major priority concerned regulatory compliance and quality control. The company applies demanding standards such as IFS, BRC, and ISO 22000, and needed to incorporate reliable, complete data into its system: nutritional values, allergens, packaging information, and product characteristics. The tool also had to improve collaboration among the procurement, quality, and supplier teams in order to ensure consistent oversight that meets legal obligations.
Greater fluidity in exchanges with the information system was also central, particularly to synchronize the creation and updating of items, automatically retrieve supplier data, and feed internal applications, including those used by marketing. Finally, the project aimed to replace certain existing tools, consolidate a single reference database, and improve operational efficiency by speeding up exchanges between departments and reducing the costs associated with the multiple solutions used until then.
BlueKanGo ensures the tracking of items and suppliers
BlueKanGo was deployed and fully integrated with the information system through daily two-way exchanges. Items are first created in the internal ERP, then automatically imported into BlueKanGo, where a logistics sheet is generated and duplicated in the Quality module. The various departments then fill in the required information until internal specification documents are produced. This synchronized approach ensures the consistency and currency of data across the entire information system.
BlueKanGo provides centralized management of product listing, the supplier directory, site sheets, specifications, evaluation criteria, and all product characteristics (dimensions, composition, trade names, allergens, and so on). The tool offers two distinct spaces (one dedicated to quality and the other to suppliers) which makes navigation easier and helps distribute roles.
A scoring module allows buyers to input the data needed to automatically calculate supplier performance. The quality department can then manage its panel based on these results and decide whether to retain, audit, or delist a supplier as needed.
Finally, thanks to Power BI integration, our client benefits from advanced oversight based on indicators such as listing status, the status of product sheets, supplier performance, and quality compliance, thereby strengthening overall control of the process.
The benefits: structured, reliable data
With BlueKanGo's QHSE software, the company standardizes its entire listing process and makes it more reliable. It has structured data that is automatically updated and fully traceable. Integration with the internal ERP has greatly improved responsiveness, particularly when creating and modifying items, thanks to automated exchanges and collaborative work among departments.
The solution has also strengthened the security and compliance of quality information by incorporating regulatory requirements and ensuring better control of product data. The scoring system has optimized supplier panel management through objective, dynamic oversight. In addition, digitalization has reduced costs by eliminating redundant tools and improving overall efficiency. Finally, the fully customizable platform was configured to fit the client's operations and internal ecosystem precisely, providing a solid, scalable foundation for the future.
Whether you have a Quality, OHS, or CSR project, or a specific issue to solve, our industry experts are at your disposal. Let's schedule a personalized demonstration of the BlueKanGo platform to discover how to digitize your Integrated Management System (IMS) and meet your compliance and sustainable performance challenges.
