Meat Processor Prepares Employees For New Technology And Processes

CLIENT OVERVIEW

• Multi-billion dollars in revenue
• More than 4,500 employees
• Privately held
• Family run
• Operates four harvest plants, two ground beef plants, three case-ready processing plants and two cook plants
• Supplies more than five million pounds of beef products per day and is the largest lean beef supplier in the country

HOW THE CLIENT OPERATES

Vertical integration allows the company to control all aspects of beef production. It partners with ranchers and operates feed lots, ensuring cattle are fed to their standards. In addition to its processing capabilities, the company operates its own trucking line, providing products from farm to table. The company supplies beef to the US retail grocery and foodservice markets, federal school lunch programs and the US military worldwide. It also exports to markets in 38 countries.

PROJECTED BENEFITS OF CHANGE MANGEMENT ACTIVITIES

THE CLIENT’S CHANGE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES

The client was moving from manual processes and old systems to a modern system, so their employees faced a big learning curve. Unfortunately, their ERP vendor only provided them with a “jump start” program that only covered particular deliverables and activities. For example, they provided an overall communication approach but not a communication plan.

The client recognized their need for more comprehensive change management, so they asked us to fill in the gaps. To supplement the vendor’s communication approach, we developed a robust communication plan. This included details on the who, what, where, when, why and how of communication.

This robust change management plan was necessary due to the significant differences between legacy systems and modern ERP systems. Another factor necessitating a strong focus on change management was the client’s multiple locations, each with unique requirements and different languages.

OUR APPROACH

We worked with the vendor’s change management lead to scope a change management strategy and deliverables. The vendor’s deliverables included a communication approach as well as a complete stakeholder analysis. We worked with the vendor to outline the details of each of these deliverables.

In addition, we performed the following activities:

• Developing communication plan
• Developing ongoing collateral to support the communication plan (i.e., email, brochures, flyers and newsletters)
• Working directly with the client's communication lead to coordinate and plan communications
• Creating and training a change champions network team
• Working with the client to brand the ERP project using a memorable theme and consistent messaging

Our next step is defining the change impacts of the ERP implementation for each functional area and using this information to design employee training. We will begin leading employee training soon.

Panorama Consulting Group is a technology-agnostic consultancy specializing in Digital Business Transformation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementations for mid- to large-sized private- and public-sector organizations worldwide. This highly respected firm is 100% independent of software and technology vendor affiliation. They offer a phased and integrated approach to strategy alignment and execution, enabling each client to achieve its unique business transformation objectives by transforming its people, processes, and technology.

Panorama clients include multi-national conglomerates from Amazon Robotics to Valcor Engineering, as well as governmental entities, including state and local governments, municipalities, school districts, state offices of the attorney general, and tribal governments.

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