Case Study: Butterball achieves sharper forecasting, lower obsolescence and cost savings with Blue Yonder

Blue Yonder Solutions Prove the Perfect Ingredients to Help Butterball Improve Its Forecasting and Replenishment Processes

Butterball, the best-known turkey brand producing about a billion pounds of product annually and supplying 98% of U.S. grocers and retailers in 30+ countries, faced complex supply-chain challenges from highly seasonal, promotion-driven and date-sensitive products. Its short-term, labor-intensive planning left the company vulnerable to obsolescent inventory and inconsistent service levels, so Butterball sought a solution to improve forecasting accuracy, inventory freshness and replenishment efficiency.

Butterball implemented JDA Demand and JDA Fulfillment with JDA Support and Technical Services to shift to longer-range, exception-based planning that accounts for perishability, seasonality and promotions. Results included exceeding first-year cost-savings estimates by 75%, reducing distressed obsolescent inventory by 28%, improving short-term forecast accuracy by 2% and cutting long-term forecast bias by 50%, while reducing manual work, boosting planning efficiency and enabling VMI collaboration with retailers.

Butterball

Dean Lisenby

Director of Demand Planning