New Zealand is known the world over for the quality of its meat, and the importance of the industry to the country’s economy can’t be overstated. The sector accounts for over 13% of international trade.
ANZCO Foods is one of New Zealand’s largest meat producers. A strong focus on quality, animal welfare and food safety has seen ANZCO grow into a multinational concern, with more than 3,000 employees and a customer base that spans the globe. The company works very closely with the farming community to secure the best beef and lamb raised on New Zealand’s lush, green pastures.
The New Zealand meat processing industry – the challenge of overcapacity
A recent shift in land usage across New Zealand from meat to dairy has left the country’s meat processing industry with significant overcapacity. This has created a major challenge for ANZCO and the industry as a whole – there is simply not enough livestock supply to match processing capacity.
As a result, ANZCO and its industry peers have had to look very closely at their planning functions to ensure that they maximise revenue, and ultimately profit, from each animal processed. Brendon Williams, who led the implementation of the Supply Chain Planning and Optimisation solution explains, “With livestock supply being ANZCO’s primary bottleneck, we have to think of the supply chain as having customers at both ends. A significant component of ANZCO’s challenge is matching livestock supply with customer requirements, not just at a raw material level, but also at the supplier level.”
Brendon continues, “In many cases, it’s not enough that animals meet the raw material requirement of a customer. Livestock may also have to be sourced from a specific set of audited and accredited farms, greatly increasing the planning complexity. Also, we can never be sure that the raw material is fit for purpose until it is hanging on a hook. If it doesn’t meet the requirement it was purchased for, it still needs to be utilized in the best possible way with no planning lead time!”