Tait Farm Foods manufactures more than 65 specialty food products, selling through wholesale marketplaces, direct wholesale, Amazon, its online store, and a physical shop. Keeping track of demand across these channels, however, got increasingly difficult. Production Manager Nikki Mattern-Klinger couldn't reliably see incoming orders, sales, or available inventory.
“I was running blind,” she says.
The company's first inventory software was designed primarily for e-commerce. It tracked online transactions but couldn't properly account for offline purchases or manufacturing requirements. Employees had to adjust inventory manually, making it difficult to determine what was actually available for sale or production.
After implementing MRPeasy to connect sales, inventory, and manufacturing, Tait Farm Foods finds it much easier to forecast ingredient requirements. The company can also identify when buying larger quantities makes financial sense, rather than purchasing materials based on incomplete information.
“We now have much more clarity around how much we need to buy and when we should buy it,” says Karen Addenbrook, Sales Manager.
The manufacturer reports lower material purchasing costs, less manual calculation, and improved profitability. More accurate production costs also allow it to adjust product prices as ingredient and labor costs change.
Chocolate maker finds a solution to seasonal spikes
With manufacturing ERP, orders from different channels can be consolidated into a common production plan. Instead of planning from separate sales reports, manufacturers can evaluate total demand against finished goods inventory, ingredient availability, and production capacity.
York Cocoa Works, a British chocolate manufacturer, faced increasing difficulties forecasting demand and planning production. Its paper-based and spreadsheet processes provided insufficient visibility, especially during busy periods.
“We had significant challenges around anticipating demand and resourcing,” says founder Sophie Jewett.
After introducing MRPeasy, York Cocoa Works gained clearer inventory and purchasing information, helping employees understand what could be produced and which ingredients needed to be replenished. According to Jewett, the company has also improved resource utilization and delivery performance, particularly during seasonal peaks.
Frozen food manufacturer manages D2C and B2B production together
Different sales channels may also require different products, packaging, order quantities, and delivery arrangements. Managing these variations becomes particularly demanding when the manufacturer is producing for other brands.
Frozen Garden, a nine-person frozen food manufacturer in Indiana, supplies customers directly across the United States while also producing private-label products for other businesses. They use MRPeasy to connect planning, inventory, ingredient costs, and shop-floor performance.
“When we started, we produced 200 smoothies a day,” says founder Allyson Straka. “Now we produce 1000 with the same number of people.”
Having accurate production data helps the company evaluate capacity and costs as demand changes. This is especially valuable when balancing its own products with manufacturing commitments to other brands.
Pet food manufacturer keeps delivery dates reliable
For food manufacturers supplying wholesale and B2B customers, reliable delivery dates are especially important. Large orders, long-term commitments, and imported ingredients with extended lead times all need to be considered when scheduling production.
Advanced Pet Care of Australia manufactures dry pet food for domestic and international customers, with exports accounting for around 73% of its production. The company uses MRPeasy to connect customer orders, inventory, ingredient purchasing, and production schedules.
“MRPeasy allows us to quickly determine whether we are able to fulfill an order in the requested timeframe or when the earliest completion date would be,” says Director Peter Atsaros.
This helps the company respond to customer requests without promising delivery dates it cannot meet. It also supports longer-term production planning as Advanced Pet Care prepares to increase its annual manufacturing capacity from 13,000 to 63,000 metric tonnes.
One production plan for every sales channel
Wholesale, retail, and ecommerce orders may arrive through different systems, but manufacturing still depends on the same materials and capacity.
Bringing demand into one production plan helps manufacturers avoid overselling, identify purchasing requirements, schedule work more reliably, and provide accurate delivery dates.
At Tait Farm Foods, this has made customer commitments much easier to manage.
“I can press a few buttons and instantly know when we’ll be able to deliver the goods to a client,” says Mattern-Klinger.
For small food manufacturers, that visibility makes it possible to serve more sales channels without losing control over production, inventory, or customer commitments.
For more information, visit www.MRPeasy.com.
