Papa Johns free essay sample

In 2007 Eric Hartman, Papa John’s senior director of logistics, decided that it was time to give the company’s supply chain a complete makeover in order to keep up with the company’s rapid growth (Trunick). Different areas of the supply chain were hindering efficiency and costing money, a recipe for disaster (Trunick). Specifically, the planning, inventory, and shipment areas were in the most need of transformation. The planning aspect at the store level, or quality control center, required managers to call in the supply orders the stores needed. This ordering system was sometimes ineffective because stores would often order too much, or not order enough due to miscommunication. Thus, many items were ‘written off’ or placed in off-site storage, both of which were unnecessary costs to the company. To combat the issue, Papa John’s teamed up with PJ Food Service, ‘Papa John’s parent company†, to provide stores with an electronic ordering system (Hochfelder). We will write a custom essay sample on Papa Johns or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The backbone of Papa John’s, the ingredients that make up an individual pizza, were particularly tricky to deliver because almost all the supplies have a shelf life of one week (Burnson). Here, inventory ran the risk of being thrown out simply because the ingredients surpassed the expiration date, another unnecessary cost. In addition to the monetary loss, Papa John’s ran the risk of unsightly brand exposure: Papa John’s philosophy, â€Å"Better ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa Johns† insures quality ingredients, a promise that could not be jeopardized. With the company reputation at risk, Papa John’s recruited Manhattan Associates, a company specifically designed to help other companies manage their supply chain. The solution proposed by Manhattan Resulted â€Å"introduc[ed] new vendors and origin locations† to Papa John’s (Trunick). This resulted in fewer miles driven, faster delivery to stores, and better quality control of inventory. Finally, the third issue Papa John’s needed to address dealt with tracking shipments. Just as Manhattan Associates was utilized for inventory needs, Papa John’s contracted Isotrak, a company that â€Å"helps companies manage their transportation and field operations† for their shipment tracking issues (Isotrak). Tracking shipments is essential to damage control for Papa John’s. For example, if a carrier became stranded midway through a delivery, he needs to be able to give his exact location to the driver who will pick up the inventory. Remember, the shipments contain supplies that have a 7-day shelf-life, therefore speediness and efficiency are essential. Also, once a location is determined, an exact delivery time can be determined as well. If that time frame is too long for the store in need, then another store can lend supplies until necessary. Isotrak facilitated this entire process and helped Papa John’s become much more time and cost efficient (Trunick). The issues that Papa John’s addressed led to a more efficient, and successful supply chain. Without the changes implemented, Papa John’s would not have been able to handle Super Bowl 2011 as well as they did. In fact, Papa John’s sold over 1 million pizzas on Super Bowl day! â€Å"That means more than 2 million pounds of cheese and 350,000 pounds of pepperoni were shipped† successfully over 300,000 miles, quite a feat for a company who had once struggled with basic deliveries.