Making the Milk Move at California Dairies
California Dairies, Inc. is the number one dairy cooperative in the number one dairy state in the United States. California Dairies, Inc. is the result of a successful 1999 merger of three of California’s most financially successful cooperatives; California Milk Producers, Danish Creamery and San Joaquin Valley Dairymen. All three cooperatives were rich in tradition and established their roots back near the turn of the 20th century.
California Dairies processes in excess of 46 million pounds of milk a day (17 billion pounds/1.98 billion gallons per year). The co-op boasts over 700 member dairies, 6 plants throughout California, and revenues in excess of $3 billion in all 50 states and 52 countries.
Situation
When the three co-ops, California Milk Producers, Danish Creamery and San Joaquin Valley Dairymen, merged in 1999, they knew another enterprise system
was necessary.
One of the biggest challenges for CDI was paying the co-op participants. As a dairy cooperative, CDI pays participating dairymen based on many factors. These can include milk test results, market prices, and quantities. To complicate the matter, the government regulates milk pricing.
Manual processes - inefficiency
In their old system, one of the formerly independent dairies used to have to print a report that contained all of the test result information, quantities, and deductions (mostly to advisory board, marketing organization, state and county, administration fees, etc.). After the reports were printed, checks were printed. These were then matched up and the checks signed. Then envelopes were prepped, and finally the checks were mailed. For about 120 dairies, this process was workable, though extremely time consuming. It would be far too time intensive, however, for the 700+ dairies with the merger.
The other main problem for the dairy cooperative was the ability to track all the information about the milk, including test results, where the milk went for
processing, what it was used for, and so on. Because the milk/dairy industry is highly regulated by the state and counties of California, easy access to accurate data was essential to the success of the project.
Solution – Beck & Microsoft Dynamics
Beck Consulting began the project with an in-depth definition of their needs. Using Beck Consulting’s standard methodologies and the software solution now known as bcFood for Microsoft Dynamics, the implementation plan was set. With all major issues approved by CDI before going forward to ensure that no big surprises would arise during implementation.
Beck developed the enhancements needed to make the standard Navision software package (Navision is the previous name for Microsoft Dynamics, on 11 July 2002 Microsoft bought Navision) a perfect match for California Dairies’ needs. With the use of Navision’s and the developed software enhancements that are now part of the standard bcFood package , Beck was able to cut processing times for certain routines from 6-7 hours to a matter of minutes.
Results – Efficiency & Automation
The process of paying the dairymen went from a 5-step, time-consuming procedure to a streamlined, consolidated task. The reports containing the entire test result data, deductions, quantities, and state and county information now prints with the check below – complete with an authorized signature, mailing address, and postage all-in-one.
Navision’s incredibly reliable database ensures that history is available instantly. Now instead of keeping paper copies of all transactions, which would take up huge amounts of space given the volume, the history is kept only in the system. All documents are readily printable from the system – no more chasing the paper trail!
Sustainability
With all of their unique issues, CDI is bound to have more challenges in the future. But with their Navision enterprise software, ongoing expertise and support from Beck Consulting and now bcFood, as well as a few happy cows, the business will continue to thrive and grow.
