Software4Distributors: Black River Produce Increases Productivity With VAI S2K

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Black River Produce Increases Productivity With VAI S2K

Black River Produce is a food service distributor located in North Springfield, Vermont. It has delivered fresh and frozen provisions from local farms and regional markets to buyers throughout Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York for more than 30 years. Employing more than 180 people, the company’s revenue exceeded $78 million in 2015.

In 2011, the company found that its existing technology was limiting its ability to scale and grow: The existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) application had been heavily customized and, as a result, had not been upgraded in some time. Reporting within the existing application was difficult and time consuming, and offered only limited visibility into business operations because of challenges with integration of data from the warehouse and other areas. Black River needed a system that would provide greater end-to-end visibility into the business from the warehouse to orders and deliveries, and could support its growth needs.

Deployment of VAI S2K initiated a business transformation that supported Black River’s mission of increased efficiency, full accountability of all departments, and a support plan for continued growth.

Key benefits of the implementation have included: 

Increased productivity. The implementation of voice picking and other automation increased productivity and efficiency in the warehouse.
Visibility across the business for accounting, buyers, and sales reduced the time spent searching for information for decision making.
Reduced inventory shrinkage. The implementation of a voice picking system and accessibility of real-time business analytics resulted in reduced shrinkage.
Decreased errors. Greater visibility and automation resulted in fewer customer credits issued because of delivery errors and incomplete deliveries.
Increased visibility. With greater visibility into business operations across the board, managers can now implement and track the impact of their decisions while having a better handle on employee and team performance.

To read more about the Black River Produce implementation, and learn more about the products and services offered through VAI, visit their website's Newsroom.

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