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CASE STUDY
Ellison Bakery
CUSTOMER
PROFILE
Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ellison Bakery manufactures cookie products
using top quality ingredients. A thriving family business, the company
recently celebrated its 57th successful year. While sales are mainly in North
America, Ellison’s growth as a company has led them to confidently pursue
customers that have a global presence. Growth of the company is a primary
driver, and to do this successfully, the right systems have to be in place.
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THE
CHALLENGE
“Lot tracking capabilities drove us to look for a new system.
We were previously on an IBM AS400 platform, and we
needed to be able to provide our customers with more data
on our products,” says Todd Wallin, General Manager of
Ellison Bakery. “As we worked with larger companies, they
demanded a level of transparency in regards to lot tracking.
One of the requirements was to lot track every raw material
to every finished good. We had to find a way to deliver
tracking from raw to the end customer.”
Ellison was already becoming more automated by putting
in systems like a computer controlled batching system. Due
to growth, the company could no longer be in the position
of doing items like statistical process control manually.
They needed to do a better job of tying all facets of the
operation together.
“As a commercial bakery, Ellison operates in a high paced environment.
We had two key business requirements that drove the need for a new system”
explains Jon Ellis, Plant Manager of Ellison Bakery. “First, our desire to improve
lot traceability was critical. Second, the need to juggle our production schedules
based on our customers’ ever changing demands. The best way to solve these
issues was with an ERP solution that automated every step of our business.”
3
THE
SOLUTION
THE
BENEFITS
From the beginning, Ellison always believed in
working with the best. Their motto had traditionally
been, “The only way to make the very best cookies is to
hire the very best employees,” but as they grew they
realized that they also needed to work with the very
best technology.
Having the ability to work with customers that they
In 2005, after much searching, they decided to
go with JustFoodERP, a key Microsoft Dynamics
partner focusing on software for the food industry.
quality assurance and personnel safety. Though
wouldn’t have been able to work with before these
systems were in place is the biggest benefit.
Ellison is heavily invested in quality and compliance
standards. They follow established manufacturing
practices and strictly adhere to all standards for
using the best systems to ensure this might not
As well as meeting their lot tracking needs, the
system based on Microsoft Dynamics addresses
many of the needs of a growing company.
“With much more information efficiently available,
customers are very confident in what we deliver.
Though we haven’t been caught in the recall issues
that many companies have been involved in this
past year, we have avoided this because we are very
prepared. Reporting and tracking data is essential, and
we have the systems in place to do this now.”
always be more labor efficient, it does allow for an
impeccable reputation and the ability to work with
the best companies.
Another benefit is that they have enhanced the
business process. With more data available, areas
like the purchasing process have changed to
be more efficient both from storage and a cost
perspective. Data can readily be incorporated into
management reports and it can be looked at from
many perspectives and angles.
“ Having JustFoodERP and Microsoft Dynamics in place allows Ellison to manage
relationships with the largest ice cream and candy manufacturers
in North America.”
Todd Wallin, General Manager of Ellison Bakeries
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THE
FUTURE
After a successful implementation, Ellison bakery
is now looking at how to maximize its systems
for the future.
Wallin explains what the next moves will be:
“When we first started this process, we were
slowed down because we didn’t allocate enough
resources for the process. Now we’ll take our
learnings and move forward even further towards
greater integration of systems. The next move
will be to tie our computerized batching system
directly into our Dynamics system so that they can
communicate back and forth.”
“The three most important
SOLUTION SUMMARY
JustFoodERP and Microsoft Dynamics
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Implemented Modules:
Finance, Sales, Purchasing, Inventory,
Manufacturing, Quality
ingredients required in our
selection process were ease of
use, working with a company
that understood our industry,
and having a full Microsoft
solution” says Jon Ellis. “ With
JustFoodERP, we have all three
of these things.”
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