When a supply chain team decides to integrate a new enterprise solution, such as Supply Chain Planning, there is a general understanding that the process is lengthy and requires effort. The integration of a new solution is usually driven by the need to overcome organizational and technical inefficiencies. In a world of constant supply chain disruption and consumers expecting lightning-fast delivery, supply chain teams have never been more pressured to achieve high levels of efficiency.
Today’s customer case story features a company that sought out a new solution from a legacy provider and was left dissatisfied with the results. Back to manual Excel entries, the company could not afford another lengthy implementation process. Luckily enough, they found a solution provider who agreed to build out a custom tool to address their issues while not requiring an entire rip and replace.
Philipp Bruckner Breaks Down PPF’s Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations
I had the opportunity to sit down with Philipp Bruckner, Senior Manager of Supply Chain Development at Partner in Pet Food (PPF), a leading pet food manufacturer in Europe.
PPF is responsible for multiple production facilities across Europe, serving customers all over Europe. They faced significant challenges in supply planning due to complex production requirements, tight margins, and the need for high efficiency. Their business model centers on private label manufacturing for supermarket chains and pet specialists, while also managing a portfolio of own brands, requiring flexible and efficient production runs to accommodate different languages, formats, and packaging requirements across markets.
PPF initially implemented a demand planning solution from a legacy provider, which worked well for forecasting but encountered obstacles when extending to supply planning, particularly in production planning and master production scheduling. The legacy provider’s system failed to accommodate the company’s need for high utilization and efficient production batching, resulting in lower utilization rates and excessive changeovers. PPF attempted to model complex requirements such as bundling products with different labels for various markets; however, multi‑label and language‑cluster–driven variants could not be adequately supported in all cases. As a result, the team continued to rely on traditional, manual Excel‑based processes.
How ketteQ and PPF’s Collaboration Began
After unsuccessful attempts with the legacy system and many months of implementation, PPF decided to engage with ketteQ, a name familiar to Philipp, who has had prior experience with various planning systems. ketteQ proposed a co-development approach, building a tailored solution to address the company’s specific bundling and efficiency needs, integrating directly with the existing demand planning system. The integration required transmitting both master and transactional data to ketteQ’s data solver. This system then evaluates multiple planning scenarios before returning the optimized production plan.
The development and integration process was rapid. ketteQ leveraged its knowledge of planning system models to streamline communication and data mapping. The implementation team in PPF was small, with most members balancing project work alongside daily responsibilities, yet the project progressed quickly due to ketteQ’s agile approach. The co-development model ensured that enhancements would benefit both PPF and future ketteQ clients.
The new solution drastically reduced planning time from hours to minutes but revealed underlying data quality and decision-making challenges within the company. Standardizing and cleaning master data, documenting capacities, and clarifying bundling strategies became critical steps to fully leverage the new system. The first plant that went live with ketteQ saw a 13% increase in capacity utilization, resulting in $8M in projected annual savings through improved production alignment and reduced waste. PPF now uses the optimizer to compare unconstrained and constrained scenarios, enabling more informed decisions about which customer forecasts to prioritize when capacities are limited.
The Future Collaboration Between ketteQ and PPF
Today, the solution is live in two factories, with rollouts planned for additional sites while PPF concurrently implements a new ERP system. I asked Philipp what future collaboration with ketteQ would look like, and he anticipates that in the long term, they will focus on inventory planning once the ERP rollout is complete.
ketteQ’s ability to drive measurable change for companies through its scenario modeling program, without requiring a “rip and replace” of legacy systems, is attractive to potential clients who have experienced lengthy implementations and are seeking a faster option. Supply chain teams are scarred by months- to year-long implementation processes, yet still want to implement changes to address pressing issues. PPF’s and ketteQ’s collaboration is a positive example of being able to address supply chain planning challenges without the massive efforts of implementing an entirely new solution suite.
Partner in Pet Food (PPF) is a leading European pet food manufacturer specializing in high-quality private label and branded solutions. Headquartered in Hungary, the company operates a network of state-of-the-art production facilities that supply nutritious cat and dog food to major retailers across more than 38 countries. They are recognized for their commitment to innovation and quality assurance, ensuring that millions of four-legged critics across the continent receive healthy, balanced meals.
ketteQ is a provider of AI-driven supply chain planning and execution solutions designed for the modern era of volatility. Built natively on the Salesforce platform and powered by its proprietary PolymatiQ solver, the company helps organizations transition from static, legacy planning to an adaptive, real-time approach. By leveraging machine learning and advanced analytics, ketteQ enables businesses to simulate thousands of scenarios, optimize inventory, and improve demand forecasting accuracy. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company serves a global clientele, empowering them to build resilient, transparent, and highly efficient supply chains.
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