The pandemic disrupted much of the global economy and supply chain which caused a lot of uncertainty.
Of course, we consumers felt the impact when shopping, but retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers were reeling from the shockwave. Some companies were in a good position to pivot to meet the demand, while others were greatly unprepared.
In the midst of all of this, technology really helped fill the gap between predictability and uncertainty. So, to highlight this, I’m joined by Sofia Martinez, Associate Director of Financial Planning & Analysis for Reily Foods. We’ll chat through how they partnered with Workday using Workday Adaptive Planning to redefine & streamline finance and demand planning & analysis. We’ll also dive into the importance of data for financial decision-makers to have intelligent conversations with peers to drive quality decisions faster.
Highlights
01:57: Sofia highlights her background and Reily Foods with its 100+ year history.
04:12: The Food Industry Association is out with its latest U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report and how, due to the pandemic, 49% of consumers are cooking or preparing their own meals more. Sofia touches on this point, the ripple effect on food suppliers and the strain on the supply chain as well as the major pivots companies had to do.
07:07: The impact of the pandemic shifted everyone’s expectations which created a major shift in demand planning. This allowed technology to fill in the gap and surface insights. And, for Reily Foods, this was especially critical. Workday helped them get real analysis which supercharged and accelerated their decision-making process.
One source of the truth…if everyone opens this report at any given time, they will have the latest information…to make their decisions and feel very comfortable.
14:05: Reily Foods made the strategic decision to invest in their technology ahead of the pandemic. This put them in the perfect position to be ready for the uncertainty that was to come.
16:32: Sofia shares the amazing reporting capabilities from Workday that allows them to dimensionalize the data, and even see run rates out through the next year.
20:19: The tedious data entry caused Reily Foods to lose critical insights into the business operations. Workday allowed them to go deeper into the day-to-day processes and see if they need to adjust labor assumptions somewhere along the line, or staffing assumptions.
23:37: Wild swings in the labor markets and uncertainties in the commodities markets make it tough to forecast your need, or monitor shifting customer expectations. Additionally, gathering all the necessary data to then organize and analyze it requires a huge amount of time. Sofia said they were able to flip the script and easily click a button to get the exact report they need.
27:48: “I was very lucky that I had a leadership team that was very open. And I think, you know, we really kind of laid it out for them,” said Sofia. “They had seen the challenges that we had with some of our forecasting and budgeting. And we were able to show just the accessibility, the adaptability and the ability to react.”
Reily Foods is a 5th-generation, family-owned company that provides the wholesome and authentic foods and beverages that create meals and memories that bring together family and friends.
