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 Success Stories - Large
Food ProcessorFormula
Management System
Business Challenge - Shorten Time to Market
The Product
Development department for a large food processor could not keep
pace with the increasing demand for new & innovative
products. Critical business information was kept on paper and
stored in file cabinets. Few tools existed to automate the
hundreds of tasks required to bring a new product to
market.
A Suite of Integrated Systems
The Synchronicity Group helped the client develop a suite of
integrated systems to accelerate & enhance the Product
Development process. Product developers now have online access
to a comprehensive database of products, formulas, ingredients, and
marketing information. There are tools to prototype formulas,
calculate nutrient levels, create the ingredient statement, and
generate documents for pilot plant packs and production runs.
Critical processing parameters can also be identified and tracked by
Product Development personnel.
Ingredient, Formula, &
Product Data
The database stores over 600 ingredients with 62 different
attributes including ingredient composition, cost, nutrients, label
names, and prep procedures. Final, prototype, and alternate
formulations are also stored. Product information like countries of
manufacture and sale, product family, effective date, and shelf life
is stored for over 1000 products.
Formula Prototyping Tools
 Formulas
are created and evaluated on a custom Excel workbook with a built-in
interface to the database. The user selects ingredient and amounts
for one or more formulations. Summary information like cost,
protein, fat, calories, etc. is automatically calculated for each
formulation making it easy to try a variety of "what if"
scenarios.
Document Creation &
Management
The system also generates template-driven manufacturing
documents by merging product data with standard
text. The documents are created in Microsoft Word and then
converted to Adobe PDF for distribution. Document review
status is also tracked by the system.
Benefits
By automating many of the routine tasks and calculations,
the system shortens time-to-market and provides an earlier
opportunity for "Go/No Go" decisions. Formulas can
be prototyped and evaluated electronically. It facilitates
cost-driven reformulations by identifying where ingredients are used
and the calculating the cost impact of alternate ingredients.
Critical product development information is now delivered quickly
& accurately, speeding entry into additional markets.
These new capabilities preserve the client's investment in formula
development and provide a technical infrastructure for other
projects.
Technical Approach
The Formula Management System was developed using Microsoft Visual
Basic and its extensions for MS-Word and MS-Excel, Visual Interdev,
SQL*Server, and Adobe Acrobat. The system is deployed on an NT
server and NT workstations.
Comprehensive Implementation
As prime contractor, Synchronicity had the
opportunity to work with several subcontractors whose efforts were
key to the success of this project. Synchronicity provided project
management, business consulting, and rollout support. System
design, development, installation, and support was provided by
Premier Solutions. Synchronicity also collaborated with KotaRed
for end-user training and documentation. New operating
procedures were drawn up by Elkins Consulting.
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