Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 - (Page 10)

CPG Maker That Bought Forecasting Software 10 Years Ago Still Benefits Editorial Director Jean V. Murphy A conversation with Sam Dragotta, senior director of supply chain at consumer goods manufacturer Church & Dwight, Princeton, N.J. Church & Dwight Co., founded in 1846, is the leading U.S. producer of sodium bicarbonate, popularly known as baking soda, a natural product that cleans, deodorizes, leavens and buffers. The company’s Arm & Hammer brand is one of the nation’s most recognized trademarks, but it produces a variety of products under other brands names as well. In recent years the company has grown rapidly, largely through acquisitions. Its forward-thinking decision a decade ago to implement forecasting and transportation management solutions from JDA Software continues to pay off for it today. modates both divisions. We have seven primary plants throughout the U.S. and four primary distribution centers connected to plants, all of which we own and operate—there are no third-parties involved. Not all locations service both divisions, but those that handle the specialty division also handle our consumer products area. Q: We are all familiar with the Arm & Hammer consumer brands. What other brands or products does Church & Dwight manufacture? Dragotta: In addition to Arm & Hammer baking soda, within the consumer products division we have a variety of household cleaners and deodorizers, oral care products, laundry products and personal care products. We sell these through grocery stores, drugstores, dollar stores and mass merchandising stores. In addition we have a line of pet products that we sell through these types of retailers, as well as through stores like Petco and PetSmart. Our biggest brand there is Super Scoop cat litter. We also have an Arm & Hammer specialty products division, which focuses strictly on the businessto-business side. It provides bulk quantities of baking soda in a variety of grades to manufacturers of food products, cleaning products and drugs—all types of consumer goods. A small part of this business also is focused on the agricultural market with products that help dairy farmers improve milk production and increase their profitability. A lot of shipments by this division are bulk, moving in 50pound bags, super sacks or bulk trucks and railcars. It’s a different type of business than the Arm & Hammer consumer goods that you normally see on the shelf. The consumer division represents probably 85 percent of our volume. Our plant-to-DC distribution network accom- Q: I know you have partnered with Manugistics, now JDA Software, for quite some time. What started that relationship? Dragotta:In the early ’90s, we had a rather antiquated and homegrown enterprise system and not much in the way of forecasting and production planning—mostly just some spreadsheets. Communication was very spotty between the plants and the planning department, which at the time only had three planners. These planners had no idea what the plants were doing on a daily basis and we didn’t have any good reporting mechanisms in place. In the mid ’90s Church & Dwight decided to install SAP, which we knew would give us a better understanding about what the plants actually were making and what they had on hand, as well as orders that were in the system. But we still needed a forecasting system, and one of the associates on our team at the time had some previous experience with Manugistics, now JDA Software. Our supply chain managers were convinced that the software provider could help us improve our forecast accuracy and production planning, as well as our communication with the plants. So the decision was made to implement. The executives at Church & Dwight believed that a good planning system would result in a more efficient supply chain, which at the time was a very forward-thinking decision. The software implementation went well, but we ran into problems afterwards because we did not do the training needed to actually have our people use the system the way it was designed. Changing behavior is always difficult, and our associates were used to using spreadsheets, which seemed much simpler. 10 MARCH 2008

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Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 Editorial GL & SCS Exclusive FastForward Up Front The Green in Green Think Inside the Box Have a Second Look Can't Happen Here Opinion: Stay in the Black as Your Workforce Fades to Gray Opinion: Four Critical Steps to Managing Change in the Supply Chain Industry Voices

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008

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