Significant growth and evolving consumer tastes exposed the limitations of Adnam’s existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Adnams migrated to Oracle JD Edwards with Redfaire, enabling them to make smarter and faster choices to improve their bottom line.
“Implementing JD Edwards on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure has exponentially boosted productivity and agility at Adnams, a 150-year-old UK brewer. The team is been impressed with the unparalleled performance and availability delivered by OCI and their ability to independently optimize business processes thanks to the latest innovations delivered by JD Edwards.”
Stability is absolutely critical for an ERP system. According to the Adnams CIO, moving JD Edwards onto OCI has provided “unparalleled availability” and excellent performance. The flexibility and scalability of OCI has given the business the strong foundation it needs to meet fast-changing market conditions.
The company was formed in 1890 after the Adnams family purchased the Sole Bay Brewery in Southwold, Suffolk. It was a quintessential English local brewer in a beautiful coastal location, right next to the quaint town’s iconic lighthouse, which opened in the same year.
With a focus on fine beers, the brewery went from strength to strength, and its custom spread from the Suffolk coast across East Anglia.
Soon, it built up its pub estate alongside its hotels, and in 1987, it added a retail store where customers could buy Adnams produce directly. Today, there are ten stores nationally. As beer sales continued to soar, a new eco-friendly distribution centre opened just outside Southwold in 2006.
Adnams opened a distillery in 2010 and was soon producing award-winning spirits such as Copper House Gin alongside its famous beers like Southwold Bitter and Ghost Ship. A cider, lager and alcohol-free beers followed.
Today, Adnams’ annual revenues top £60 million, and the company enjoys a fine reputation across its portfolio of brewery, distillery, hotels, public houses, and retail stores.
Adnams has enjoyed significant growth since the turn of the century, developing its brewing and retail operations and investing in a new distribution centre.
However, this upward trajectory and evolving consumer tastes exposed the company’s out-dated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, called System 21.
There was inefficiency and too much waste because production and distribution planning could not adapt fast enough to changes in supply and demand. Weekly decisions needed to become daily ones, so it was clear an ERP overhaul was required. Only then could Adnams make smarter and faster choices to improve its bottom line.
Management needed an ERP system that pulled every business vertical operation under one umbrella. For example, data from the distribution centre needed to integrate smoothly with information from the brewery, distillery, retail stores and hotels.
Adnams knew JD Edwards was a good fit for this, so it was only a question of who to partner with. After a thorough selection process, the company turned to Redfaire. Redfaire’s knowledge and experience informed that decision.
Redfaire’s existing work in the food and consumer packaged goods sector is invaluable. It has helped other clients with complex production and supply chains, especially those whose products have a relatively short shelf life, like beer.
Adnams was very clear about what it wanted from its ERP partner:
The JD Edwards offering would turbocharge Adnams’ ability to be quick on its feet. This was a priority as smarter and faster operational decisions based on real-time data would improve efficiency in the brewery, which would positively impact distribution, supplies and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.
Better ERP management benefits all aspects of the business, but an excellent example of how JD Edwards helps Adnams is with its beer shelf life. The warehouse and brewery teams are now alerted automatically a few weeks before beer casks approach their expiration date. This gives staff time to test the product to decide if it needs to be disposed of or if its shelf life can be extended. In most cases, it is extended, reducing waste and improving profits.
With a top-class ERP system in place, a business can make fast decisions across the board. If it needs to pivot and refocus, JD Edwards brings the data and knowledge to make it possible. COVID was a perfect example of businesses needing to pivot. As a brewery serving the hospitality sector, Adnams faced losing two-thirds of its revenues overnight as pubs and stores closed.
The company knew it could upscale its direct-to-consumer website sales, but this presented logistical and distribution issues. With JD Edwards already embedded within the business, Adnams could interpret the new sales data and shift distribution in-house. The company’s fleet of environmentally friendly vans began delivering directly to consumers from its retail stores.
Adnams is now confident it can adapt fast to future changes in consumer demands. It’s also thankful that its ERP system now automates many repetitive and unfulfilling tasks, freeing staff to focus on more creative and meaningful work.
Redfaire has been our partner with JD Edwards since the very beginning in 2019 when they were instrumental in the project to bring it live within Adams. Since then that partnership has continued to flourish.
Adnams is delighted with its relationship with Redfaire. The transformation in data collection and how it is presented, combined with resulting efficiencies and process improvements, justify the investment.
Improving the shelf life of its core product (beer) is a huge positive in itself, but the company’s ability to pivot during COVID, backed by the power of JD Edwards, shows how adaptable it can now be.
Everyone in the business has embraced the partnership, which gives Adnams confidence that it can meet future market conditions head-on, reducing waste and improving its bottom line.
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY THANKS TO AUTOMATION
REDUCED COSTS
REDUCED WASTE
FASTER, MORE STABLE AND FUTURE-PROOF INFRASTRUCTURE
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