In the supply chain for animal nutrition, few experts can match the track record of success of Jim Dunn, MA and MBA-AG, a former North American field research director for ADM and currently a senior consultant with Cornerstone Ag. With more than 10 years of experience using BESTMIX, he has helped feed producers streamline operations, increase profitability, and optimize diets.
In the early stages of his career, Dunn worked as a researcher developing bypass proteins for egg processing. Later, he moved into technical support and sales management roles and advised technical teams in the field. That’s how he quickly gained a deeper understanding of – and appreciation for – the need for agriculture-centric recipe-management ERP platforms.
ADM, Jim’s employer at the time, had a global footprint and massive infrastructure to manage and optimize its animal-feed business.
“When I became a commercial business manager, our previous ERP software platform was no longer a viable option,” he said. “By that point, we weren’t merely unhappy – the platform had become untenable, and we were interested in exploring other options. We knew we had to complete a migration to a new and modern platform – and since we had 150 users at the time, the complexity and cost meant this was a high-stakes move.”
With his consultative mindset, Jim helped his company through a thoughtful evaluation cycle. “We analyzed three or four different options,” Dunn explained, “and that led to several meetings with BESTMIX. In addition to the BESTMIX software, we were so highly impressed with the technical team. They really understood our business, our market, and our challenges – and that gave us reassurance when we made our move.”
Managing Recipes Out in the Field
Leveraging the power of cloud-based architecture, BESTMIX Recipe Management software offers precise formulation, real-time cost analysis, and compliance tracking, empowering food and feed manufacturers to optimize recipes, ensure quality, and enhance efficiency throughout the production process.. “In some ways, we wanted to move very cautiously before making this change,” admitted Dunn. “BESTMIX was a company from Europe, not the U.S., and we had to demonstrate that its security model was world-class. Agriculture companies aren’t typically thought of as leading-edge adopters, and we were pushing a cloud-based solution – which gave us pause at the time. There had to be excellent reasons for going with BESTMIX, and fortunately, there were.”
According to Dunn, a key benefit of the BESTMIX solution was its mobile accessibility. Instead of relying on printed reports, his company’s sales team could visit their farm customers in the fields and barns and show live screens on laptops and tablets, to make real-time, data-driven decisions. And with a cloud-based architecture, the company also benefitted from SOC 2-certified security and redundancy, too.
“We really needed that kind of security – not just to repel typical hackers, but also actors from hostile states,” said Dunn. “We didn’t want to worry about adversaries using BESTMIX to penetrate or corrupt these systems that manage very sensitive data.”
‘No way I can do my job without BESTMIX’
Dunn noted another key benefit of the BESTMIX deployment was the ability to unlock new improvements, leading to better yields and outcomes. “Probably the biggest win for us was bringing the internal dairy model on top of the NRC dairy model – which wasn’t even in use back then,” Dunn said. “The BESTMIX team put together the model, the regression equations, and other IP to solve that challenge – in about one afternoon. That was really impressive. And because my employer was always at the cutting edge, there were always new models to implement – and BESTMIX helped us do that quickly and keep our company at the forefront of this industry.”
Dunn also praised BESTMIX’s flexibility. “We were able to do rations in swine, dairy, beef – some in poultry or rabbits – and BESTMIX has the flexibility to handle it all, plus all of the ingredients that come along with every one of those databases. That’s really helpful. I can bring in commercial ingredients and everything’s preloaded. MultiBlend also helps us find the best possible prices. That’s a very valuable tool to ensure you get the best ingredients in your bins at the best prices – and that’s an excellent reason for choosing BESTMIX. That alone delivered the return on our investment.”
In his present role, Dunn consults with numerous firms for Cornerstone Ag, building on his successes and experiences during his many years at ADM. “There’s no way I could do my job without BESTMIX,” he said. “The service and support are unsurpassed in this industry – the people are all just so deeply technically sound and very easy to work with. And at the end of the day, that might be what matters most of all. The people I’ve collaborated with at BESTMIX are absolutely top notch.”