SADAF Foods is a Los Angeles-based Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food importer, manufacturer, and distributor that was founded by two brothers who immigrated to the U.S. and found they longed for the flavors and aromas from home. They started the company with 17 products distributed locally and have grown to more than 1,000 products, including imports from 15 countries worldwide, which are delivered throughout the U.S. and Canada. Products are transported in California by their own fleet and by third parties across the rest of the U.S. and Canada.
Company Information
- Industry: Food & Beverage
- Business size: Mid-market
- Solutions implemented: Food & Beverage WMS
- Results: Reduced product losses by $50,000 per year with improved inventory management
The Challenge: SADAF Foods Struggled to Fulfill Perishable Foods With Manual Processes
The food and beverage industry presents unique challenges due to perishable products and the regulations surrounding them.
SADAF found that perishable products stored in their warehouse were going to waste due to a lack of inventory control, creating massive losses year after year. Their simple spreadsheet for tracking inventory was no longer serving them after going from a handful of products when they opened their doors in 1982 to more than 1,000 separate SKUs today.
SADAF engaged the warehouse management experts at Made4net to help them solve their inventory control issues and digitize operations so they could quickly and easily locate products in their warehouse, pick more efficiently and improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency across their warehousing operations.
SADAF Foods Improved Inventory Management With Made4net
Made4net implemented its WarehouseExpert™ Warehouse Management System (WMS), which SADAF now uses across every process in their warehouse, from receiving to shipping and everything in between, including their in-house manufacturing facility. The system was configured specifically for SADAF to solve their inventory management issues through real-time inventory tracking and to help them keep track of product expiration dates to reduce spoilage across their operations. It also orchestrates the feeding of raw material into their production facility, with lot traceability and the receiving of related finished goods.
Using the data collection and reporting tools that are part of Made4net’s WMS, stakeholders at SADAF were able to improve associate productivity throughout the warehouse. Real-time visibility makes solving problems, answering customer questions, and handling customer service issues quicker and easier.
SADAF management found Made4net to be the best WMS option for them due to the affordable price point and the ability to add on additional supply chain execution solutions as their needs change down the road.
Benefits of Implementing Made4net’s WMS for Food & Beverage Companies
With its flexible and configurable platform, Made4net created new, automated processes for SADAF that were supported by business rules and workflows.
SADAF gained a dramatic increase in productivity throughout the operation with the replacement of paper-based processes. In receiving – every pallet is now assigned with a license plate and tracked throughout its life in the warehouse. Putaway and replenishment are now fully automated and system-driven, enabling storage optimization and timely replenishment of pick locations. Picking is now optimized and pallets are systemically built ahead of picking according to the destination, such as local distribution versus national shipments, to optimize space on trucks.
With the real-time inventory control gained since implementing Made4net WMS, SADAF has cut more than $50,000 per year in product losses due to inventory management issues.
Additional benefits include:
- Tracking and warehouse mapping reduced time spent looking for products.
- Real-time inventory tracking improved visibility across operations.
- Tracking expiration dates to ensure product doesn’t go to waste
- Cut more than $50,000 per year in losses that were created by inventory management issues.
- Maintain Lot traceability in both raw material and finished goods.
