Case Study: Friendly's Ice Cream Corporation achieves dramatic forecast time savings and high‑ninety customer service with Demand Solutions

How Friendly’s Ice Cream Corporation Became a 15-Year Demand Solutions Customer

Friendly’s Ice Cream Corporation, a 500‑restaurant chain and national retail brand, faced a slow, rigid forecasting process that relied on a mainframe MRP and spreadsheets—requiring seven people and roughly 40 hours each month, with little ability to adjust weekly or daily flows or perform statistical analysis. To support its Wilbraham, Mass. manufacturing planning needs and a migration to a new order management system, Friendly’s selected Demand Solutions, deploying Demand Solutions Forecast Management and Demand Solutions Requirements Planning for finished‑goods and raw‑material planning.

Demand Solutions delivered a fast, simple planning solution that Friendly’s still uses after 15 years: forecasts that once took a team 40 hours are now updated by one person in minutes, with only a few productive hours per month spent on exception review; Requirements Planning runs in about ten minutes. As a result of Demand Solutions’ implementation, Friendly’s can respond to one‑day order spikes and maintain customer service levels in the high‑nineties.

Friendly's Ice Cream Corporation

Kevin Wright

Production Planning Manager