Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins Wholesale Arm Re-Engineers Its Supply Chain

Attendees at the three-day Momentum conference at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge this week got a chance to hear how National DCP LLC accomplished this task during a session titled, “Dunkin’ Supply Chain Runs on MANH.”

Darrell Riekena of National DCP LLC and Mona Maurelli of Deloitte Consulting LLC note the importance of training when overhauling a supply chain software system.
Darrell Riekena of National DCP LLC and Mona Maurelli of Deloitte Consulting LLC note the importance of training when overhauling a supply chain software system.

National DCP LLC, the supply chain arm of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins, re-engineered its supply chain processes companywide without any customization in a 10-month period. Attendees at the three-day Momentum conference at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge this week got a chance to hear how National DCP LLC accomplished this task during a session titled, “Dunkin’ Supply Chain Runs on MANH.”

Darrell Riekena, chief information officer at National DCP LLC, noted that the project, dubbed “Project Fresh Start,” resulted in a new ordering system. Joining Riekena on stage was Mona Maurelli, a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, which assisted National DCP LLC in deploying the new ordering system. Riekena said National DCP does about $2 billion in annual  sales and exports to 51 countries in addition to its domestic operations.

“Project Fresh Start,” when completely deployed, will merge four regions into one enterprise platform.

Order entry is the basis of the new enterprise platform, Maurelli said. “We are all about the perfect order,” she said. The cloud-based order entry system integrates with the company’s SAP ERP system.

“This impacted everything from order entry all the way through to the delivery process,” Riekena said. The company chose Manhattan Associates software due to the company’s track record in wholesale distribution.

The project improved website functionality, invoice accessibility, product availability and inventory management. One noticeable result was improved on-time deliveries. “Everything ties back to inventory,” Maurelli said.

The project improved the delivery capabilities on the back end, including cleaner pallets. It also improved invoicing and reconciliation. “We really cleaned up the invoice and reconciliation process,” Maurelli said.

The company has deployed the new system in the Southeast region. This was accomplished in one weekend. Riekena said the next week’s deliveries all went out on time. “We didn’t miss a beat,” he said.

The company will continue the deployment to other regions.

A major aspect of the deployment was training, Riekena and Maurelli noted, echoing a theme that was heard throughout several Momentum 2015 sessions this week. National DCP used Manhattan Associates’ Fast Track training tool.

The 50-person training team, which included National DCP, Deloitte Consulting, SAP, DCP and Manhattan Associates,  developed 23 courses for National DCP employees. Employees attended a total of 69 classes in a four-week period.

A total of 500 warehouse employees and 750 transportation workers will be trained in the new system. Sixty five drivers will have trained in using PeopleNet onboard communication devices.

“We tried every avenue possible,” Riekena said regarding the training, referring to website information, webinars and classes. Added Maurelli, “There’s different messaging that goes to different players. You cannot over communicate.”

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