Customer
Seasonings, LLC
Industry
Sauces and other Foods
Solution
for Dynamics GP
Diversified Foods and Seasonings Gets Help From BatchMaster Mfg as It Furthers Its Legacy of Flavor
Nearly 40 years ago, a taste sensation was born in Louisiana! Diversified Foods and Seasonings began preparing its patented chicken seasoning mix for one small restaurant. That one small restaurant would grow into Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and become both a nationwide and worldwide success. Diversified Foods and Seasonings continues to manufacture and supply seasonings to Popeyes restaurants and has added other products and contract services for its clients. This growth and other external factors, propelled Diversified to upgrade their process manufacturing ERP software to BatchMaster Manufacturing for Dynamics GP . Diversified is looking to BatchMaster Manufacturing to carry them forward managing all facets of manufacturing and accounting today and for years to come.
Diversified Replaces PFW With Batchmaster
Diversified Foods recognized the importance of managing formulas, costs and inventory within an ERP solution and had worked with Sage PFW for many years. When Sage announced their plans to retire PFW, Diversified began to review replacement ERP solutions. “The announcement from Sage gave us an opportunity to evaluate our ERP product and begin the process of selecting a new solution that would include additional important functions,” shared David Fontenot, IT Director of Diversified Foods and Seasonings.
“We evaluated nearly 15 ERP systems during our review period and selected BatchMaster Manufacturing because it could fill every need we had.”
New Benefits Smooth the Way for System Adoption
“Working with a product for many years as we did with PFW, we found that there were other reasons to move to a new solution, independent of the product being retired. We had a substantial amount of old data in the system and there were several missing features in the older product as well,” stated Fontenot. The IT Director shared that some of the staff was a bit apprehensive about switching to a new ERP solution, but the transition was smooth due to similar main functions. Diversified went live with BatchMaster Manufacturing in March, 2015.“Our staff started seeing new benefits with BatchMaster Manufacturing right away, and this helped us all get on board quickly. If there was ever a question about data or a report within BatchMaster Manufacturing, we’ve found that the system has never been wrong. As far as trusting the new solution, BatchMaster Manufacturing is rock solid.” Fontenot says that just a few weeks ago, their Manufacturing Director ran a surprise product mock recall with all the plants. “The results of the mock recall along with the lot traceability in BatchMaster Manufacturing were far superior than it was in the Sage product,” attested Fontenot.
BatchMaster's Functionality Offers Big Advantages
Fontenot shared that Diversified was looking for some key advantages with BatchMaster Manufacturing. “We knew that BatchMaster Manufacturing would give us our return on investment due to the fact that it is designed for formula-based food manufacturing companies, but we were also looking for some specific functions,” stated Fontenot. Because food safety and quality at Diversified are recognized as having met or exceeded industry standards, Quality Control and Assurance within BatchMaster Manufacturing had to meet Diversified’s criteria. “Having quality-control tests and results fully integrated with production formulas and with lot tracked inventory items was a big advantage for us,” indicated Fontenot. “Another feature we needed was a Formula Approval process that assures that we ONLY use approved formulas in production and BatchMaster Manufacturing provides this.”
BatchMaster Manufacturing was also selected for its MRP/MPS integrated functionality. Diversified has both finished goods that are ordered consistently and those that are seasonal and less predictable. “We have started implementing the MRP functions and have seen how using MRP reporting along with integrated order scheduling can drastically reduce various manual processes,” expresses Fontenot. “We are phasing in this process now and seeing the benefits from this integrated method.”
Business as Usual Means Growth, Quality, and Customer Satisfaction
With three manufacturing plants located in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Alabama, Diversified Seasonings operates 24/7 to meet their product demand. In addition to manufacturing seasonings for Popeyes and its own Chefs Creations label, the company offers product development and production services to customers for a variety of food establishments, including casual dining, retail, club stores, quick service, and more. Fontenot says that as a contract manufacturer, Diversified combines talented chefs and food scientists who work with its customers to create their culinary vision. Its ‘Technology Culinary Center’ focuses on delivering state-of-the-art R&D and new product innovation aligned with today’s emerging consumer trends to support its customer’s culinary goals.
In the past year, Diversified continues to see strong company growth. “Updating to BatchMaster Manufacturing for Dynamics GP was a strategic move as we continue to operate around the clock to meet the needs of our customers,” shares Fontenot. “We’ve seen our company grow without having to add new staff. BatchMaster Manufacturing will continue to play a significant role in our continued growth,” shared Fontenot.
About BatchMaster Software
BatchMaster Software is a leading provider of ERP solutions that help emerging and growing formula-based manufacturers streamline their operations and scale production while reducing costs and complying with changing customer demands and ever more stringent regulatory mandates. The company delivers industry-specific solutions for Food, Beverage, Nutraceuticals, Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics, Chemicals, and other process industries. BatchMaster ERP is seamlessly embedded within SAP Business One, providing a comprehensive process manufacturing solution that is available on-premise and in the cloud. BatchMaster Software has served the process manufacturing market for over 30 years and supports thousands of customers worldwide.
