(844) 416-5000 Book a demo
Home Case studies TerraSana goes from Excel to optimized ordering with EazyStock

TerraSana goes from Excel to optimized ordering with EazyStock

Instead of making endless calculations in Excel files, our purchasing team can now quickly review and approve order proposals generated by EazyStock. This gives them more time to spend on strategic purchasing decisions
– Wouter van der Zwaan, Finance & IT Manager at TerraSana
Download case study

TerraSana is a Dutch organic food distributor that sells healthy food products via niche eco-shops across Europe. With rapid growth in the organic food industry, TerraSana faced several new stock challenges and a need to automate its inventory management processes.

TerraSana’s products are produced by small family businesses and farmers worldwide. Some of the goods are ready for consumption on delivery, and others are processed and packaged at their central warehouse in Leimuiden, from where the finished products are then delivered to stores.

terrasana-logo

The challenge

Rapid growth in demand for organic and sustainable goods saw TerraSana’s business grow quickly.

As stock levels grew, the team at TerraSana soon realized that they needed better control and management of their inventory and warehouse. They also wanted to find a system that could automate as much of their inventory management as possible to avoid errors that often occurred when handling large amounts of data manually.

We buy ingredients from all over the world, and the lead times can vary greatly, ranging from a couple of weeks to up to 100 days. And when we started delivering to larger and more professional food chains, expectations for fast and reliable deliveries also increased.
Wouter van der Zwaan, Finance & IT Manager at TerraSana

The results

TerraSana implemented EazyStock so that they could automate their ordering processes. EazyStock generates daily, optimized order proposals based on statistically calculated demand forecasts, current inventory levels, stock on order, and much more. All stock parameters are calculated automatically and updated regularly to reach order fulfillment targets.

It was quick to get started with EazyStock and see results. After some minor adjustments to our business system to improve the quality of the data that synced over, EazyStock now generates accurate and reliable forecasts and purchasing proposals. Our purchasing team went from spending several hours a day going through order lines to quickly reviewing and approving order proposals generated by the system. And instead of making endless calculations in Excel files, they can now spend time on more strategic purchasing decisions.

Advanced features: Supporting challenging supply chains

TerraSana is also finding EazyStock’s order fill-up functionality of great benefit.

With the help of EazyStock, we can identify the difference between the minimum order quantities stipulated by our suppliers, and our optimal order volumes. If the difference is large, we can often negotiate and come up with a solution so that we avoid buying excessive volumes,
Wouter continues.

The function can also be used to fill containers in the most efficient way possible. With a shortage of shipping containers since the Covid-19 pandemic, this has been very useful for the team:

The ‘order fill-up’ function helps us to fill the containers we have available as efficiently as possible. It’s not only necessary when there is a shortage of containers, but it’s also more sustainable for both the environment and the economy, which is important to us.

The global ‘container crisis’ meant that TerraSana risked having a shortage of goods due to delayed shipments. The ‘risk of runout’ report in EazyStock comes in handy to handle sold-out items as early as possible and communicate with customers so that they know when the products are expected to be in again. Customers appreciate the clear and transparent communication, and the sales team feels that relationships are strengthened because they can have a more open and proactive dialogue.

Next steps: Production planning

TerraSana has started linking its sales forecasts with EazyStock’s demand forecasts and will soon use them for production planning. The forecasts and purchasing proposals for raw materials will be matched to the demand for the final products so they can reduce the risk of production stoppages due to items missing from stock.

Smooth implementation with the help of SucceedIT

TerraSana appointed EazyStock’s Gold Partner, SucceedIT, to implement EazyStock and connect it to their ERP system.

The collaboration with SucceedIT was great. They were transparent and clear, which is extremely helpful when you have to implement a new system. The consultant was very knowledgeable and always available to answer our questions. We still have contact, long after the implementation, giving us that extra layer of support.