Industries
With almost 3,000 employees, 12 production sites, and a strong position across many European markets, Partner in Pet Food (PPF) is a heavyweight in the pet food industry. The company offers both wet and dry food, as well as snacks, distributed under its own brand name and white label. Innovations and new products launched in the past 24 months represent no less than 45% of the company’s turnover, demonstrating the importance of product innovation to the growth of this major player.
About Partner in Petfood
The PPF Agile Manager explains: “Our extensive range allows us to respond to the specific needs and energy requirements of the market. For example, we have ranges for dogs and cats with special needs, such as food for young and older animals, and pets on prescribed diets. Our customers — from retailer to wholesaler to veterinarian — know that they can come to us for a complete range of the highest quality.”
The starting point
PPF has expanded significantly in recent years with the acquisition of production facilities in Poland, Sweden, and Italy, among others. “That growth presented us with challenges in terms of software,” explains the PPF Agile Manager. “Each site used its own formulation package. We didn’t have a helicopter view of ingredients, and it was difficult to compare the data at ingredient level per location. It took a huge amount of time to map out all the information. In addition, some factories were using legacy systems, which lacked functionality.”
The solution
Harmonization of the various systems was the way forward. PPF researched the market extensively. “We created a scorecard with all the different requirements. That exercise revealed BESTMIX® Recipe Management as our best option. Since our Swedish branch was already using the software, we had some understanding of what the package offered.”
The User Experience
The cloud version of BESTMIX® Recipe Management 4 facilitates the broad overview that PPF needed to achieve. “The data insight is much greater. All raw materials are linked to central codes. This allows us to remotely monitor prices across all our factories and compare ingredients. This way we can eliminate errors and further optimize our purchasing. With the help of these datasets, we can also align the recipes more quickly for new acquisitions.”
The PPF product development team is enthusiastic about the user experience that the software offers. “This is about what BESTMIX® Recipe Management 4 looks and feels like to work with. Everything feels intuitive, with simple icons and clear text. There’s no unnecessary fuss.”
PPF uses the Multiblend functionality. “We have quite complex recipes, composed of various mixed products. Thanks to Multiblend we can estimate the impact of changing an element of the recipe on the end product. These insights are not only more accurate but can also be accessed much more quickly.”
The implementation
PPF used the “train the trainer” principle for the implementation of BESTMIX® Recipe Management 4. “We appointed a team of ‘super users’. These six colleagues focused on the BESTMIX® integration and subsequently transferred their knowledge to all our production facilities. And we had great support from the BESTMIX® software team. Daan Segers and the other consultants who’ve guided us know their job inside out, which provides great added value. We’ve also passed on suggestions ourselves, which have often been reflected in software updates. I see that interaction as real enrichment.”
The BESTMIX® perspective
"What immediately struck me was the dedication of the PPF team to this project,” explains BESTMIX® consultant Daan Segers. “They were hugely invested in the implementation of our software from the start. PPF has extensive in-house expertise, so they were also able to suggest new additions or optimizations. Customers like PPF challenge us to do better every day — and that’s totally in line with our mission. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with PPF.”