Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Production Operations

To better address increasingly complex supply chain challenges, Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. will deploy Blue Yonder Production Planning to improve customer satisfaction, enhance asset utilization, and reduce waste in the supply chain. The project will be implemented by PwC, Blue Yonder’s strategic partner.

Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. is one of PepsiCo’s important subsidiaries in China, focusing on the development of the beverage business. The company mainly produces and sells popular beverage brands such as PepsiCo, 7-Up, Mirinda and Gatorade, and provides the Chinese market with products and marketing strategies. This project will digitally transform production planning for Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. by improving production efficiency and optimizing inventory structure and levels, thereby enabling the company to reduce production, inventory and delivery costs while meeting its business needs.

With Blue Yonder Production Planning, Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. will be able to:

• Reduce operating costs with the ability to factor in complex constraints and faster response times to changing demand and supply conditions.

• Create an optimized, feasible production plan that balances demand with material, capacity and customer date constraints.

• Modify rules, assess different scenarios and respond in real-time to any changes on the shop floor.

• Coordinate schedules across facilities, reduce inventory and work-in-process, and minimize equipment changeovers.

• Optimize plant operations and scheduling to enable continuous flow production and waste reduction.

• Meet customer commitments while balancing schedules that respect different option capacities, material constraints, and workload distributions.

Blue Yonder Production Planning solutions balance manufacturing objectives, material usage and customer service requirements through an optimized plan with high planner interactivity to accommodate strategic and tactical considerations. This will enable Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. to increase efficiency, improve customer service, and reduce waste and costs across their production operations.

“Successfully managing a supply chain the size of Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd.’s requires real-time visibility and coordination,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We’re excited to team up with Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. to help optimize their operations and transform their supply chain into a competitive edge.”

What this means for ERP Insiders

Do you fit the ideal customer profile (ICP) for Blue Yonder Production Planning? Blue Yonder typically serves companies with revenues ranging from US$100 million to multi-billion dollars, enterprises with multi-site operations or global manufacturing networks, and businesses with complex, multi-step production processes or extensive product portfolios. Blue Yonder’s Production Planning Solution is particularly well-suited for the manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, aerospace and defense, and high-tech and electronics industries. Customers typically manage production across multiple regions, requiring centralized oversight and local adaptability. They have high product variability, meaning diverse SKUs, high levels of customization, or made-to-order production models. And these companies have dynamic demand, manifesting as seasonal fluctuations or unpredictable demand patterns, necessitating agile planning. The high-traffic use cases Blue Yonder addresses with this customer base include scenario planning, encompassing the need to evaluate various production scenarios to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities. Another use case is real-time adjustments, where companies require agile solutions to respond quickly to demand or supply chain disruptions. And complex scheduling is another use case, seen at manufacturers with intricate production schedules involving multiple constraints and dependencies.

Panasonic ownership stake could be seen as positive for Blue Yonder prospects and customers. Panasonic made an equity investment in Blue Yonder in 2020 and currently occupies six out of the total seven Board of Directors seats at Blue Yonder, including the Chairperson seat. Panasonic’s hardware expertise in IoT devices, sensors, and automation systems complements Blue Yonder’s software capabilities in supply chain, manufacturing, and retail. Customers benefit from seamlessly integrated solutions that combine physical and digital systems. Blue Yonder’s software is enhanced by Panasonic’s IoT innovations, enabling real-time data capture and analysis at the edge, improving visibility and decision-making. Also, Panasonic’s expertise in robotics, scanning devices, and automation technologies pairs well with Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and execution systems, offering customers more efficient and automated operations. Panasonic’s AI and ML innovations are integrated with Blue Yonder’s Luminate™ platform, enhancing predictive and prescriptive analytics capabilities for supply chain optimization.

Learn from Blue Yonder’s global production planning customer base. BIC, a manufacturer of stationery, lighters, and shavers, implemented Blue Yonder’s factory planning capabilities at their Charlotte packaging facility. This transition from a manual rolling schedule to an automated process led to a 40% reduction in changeover times, eliminating one to two changeovers per week. Additionally, BIC identified 20 extra hours of packaging capacity per week, negating the need for capital investment in a new facility. JFE Steel, a Japanese steel manufacturer, faced challenges with manual data collection and outdated planning processes. By adopting Blue Yonder’s Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) solutions, they achieved a 50% reduction in long-term planning time and gained immediate visibility into demand changes. This integration enhanced customer satisfaction through faster, more reliable order promises and real-time access to order statuses. Infineon Technologies, a semiconductor manufacturer, sought to improve their sales and operations planning to better align demand forecasts with production plans. Implementing Blue Yonder’s S&OP solutions enabled Infineon to achieve a 30% improvement in productivity, facilitating more accurate volume planning and production maturity.