Fresh Produce ERP Forecasting Tools Facilitate Smooth Operations, Better Results

Just as the process for growing great-tasting fresh produce is a matter of delicately balancing several key factors, running your fresh produce business takes a careful, measured approach to optimize results. It’s vital to have all available information and insight at your fingertips as you go about managing operations.

For that reason, accurate forecasting is a critical component in formulating your strategy for production. Having a firm grasp of what you can expect in terms of demand, sales and yields will allow your organization to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risk.

Let’s take a look at how purpose-built forecasting features of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions help fresh produce companies utilize data for smarter decision-making. We’ll also explore the additional complementary benefits that Aptean’s system offers.

Important Projections for Fresh Produce Businesses

While the mythical “crystal ball” that reveals the future is still just a fantasy born of imagination, having a good understanding of what’s to come is possible with the right technology. The robust analytics tools of purpose-built fresh produce ERP utilize historical figures and emerging trend patterns to create realistic forecasts for the following:

• Demand – By assessing past sales data and factoring in the seasonal nature of fresh produce items, ERP platforms can predict the level of demand for a given variety with reliable precision. This, in turn, will help your organization make smart purchasing decisions that meet customer preferences while minimizing loss through waste, and you’ll be able to plan ahead for staffing to overcome the ongoing labor shortage.

• Yield – Once your crops are planted, fresh produce ERP solutions can create projections for your harvest based on climate data and other quantifiable variables. As conditions vary throughout the growing season, the model adjusts and updates its results, constantly dialing in on the most likely outcomes as the situation changes.

• Sales – Knowing what to expect in terms of sales volume is critical for managing your financials, so industry-specific ERP solutions are built with projection functionalities that weigh individual client habits in addition to the actual demand on the market at the time your products are being prepared for shipping.

The forecasts that ERP systems provide can allow your fresh produce business to move with the agility and confidence necessary to navigate a competitive and complex sector. The added intelligence that these crucial features offer can be the key to getting the leg up on competitors.

Benefits of Aptean Produce ERP that Complement Your Forecasting Efforts

We’ve looked at the ways that forecasting features can directly affect your outcomes, but there are additional benefits that come with Aptean’s fresh produce ERP that supplement these functionalities to streamline your critical processes and keep your operations moving smoothly. Each serves to connect your various departments and keep the organization in-sync despite a constantly changing market landscape:

• Real-time updates based on last-minute order changes ensure that your projections adjust with unexpected fluctuations. That way, you’ll never have to worry that a day’s production will be insufficient for fulfillment or excessive to the point of wasting resources.

• The ability to import from Microsoft Excel spreadsheets allows your staff to share information on a unified platform to eliminate information siloes and ensure that everyone in the organization acts from a “single source of truth.” Likewise, our solution can also export figures to Excel, giving you the flexibility you need to relay forecasts to supply chain partners when necessary.

• A detailed production and packing schedule overview ensures your teams are on the same page in terms of what to expect on a day-to-day basis. With Aptean fresh produce ERP, you’ll be able to balance staffing and equipment usage effectively given the demands you face.

• The grower portal facilitates communication with and management of your suppliers so that expectations are clear and all interested parties stay apprised of alterations to original forecasts and plans. With the importance of maintaining a healthy and transparent supply chain normal in today’s industry, the value of a feature dedicated to handling partner relationships is clear.

The Foundation of a Digital Transformation

There’s still more to love about our ERP solution for fresh produce, including the underlying Microsoft Dynamics 365 framework. This gives our offerings an edge on new integrations and user experience, and consistent upgrades ensure that functionality is expanded as new demands emerge.

We also offer flexible cloud deployments and encourage clients to consider this option to remain resilient in the face of future disruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for remote work options, and our system can be made accessible for anyone with a WiFi connection and internet browser.

Finally, by choosing Aptean, you’ll be able to leverage our extensive industry experience and knowledge of best practices. We’ve guided thousands of successful implementations of our ERP platforms for food and beverage businesses and can act as a partner during the process, from creating an initial roadmap to rolling out all of the features that your business needs.

Want to know more about how Aptean Food & Beverage ERP and its forecasting tools are specially suited to fresh produce operations like yours? Contact us today or request a personalized demo.