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Kinnerton Confectionery Transforms Product Creation Process with Aras
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries
- Consumer Goods
- Food & Beverage
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Following waves of growth and expansion, Kinnerton's process for new product development and introduction (NPDI) had grown overly complex and unpredictable. Employees from various departments lacked visibility into the overall process and struggled to manage the huge volumes of documents associated with such a wide range of products. This extended the early phase of production and forced product teams to compress the later stages of the NPDI process, creating financial risks. Kinnerton needed to find a way to get its product information and NPDI process under better control to get new products into production faster and cut out the 'firefighting' late in the process.
About The Customer
Kinnerton is the UK’s largest independent manufacturer of chocolate and novelty confectionery, employing approximately 800 people across three manufacturing sites in the UK. The company produces a wide range of products including chocolate bars, lollies, advent calendars, biscuits, and Easter eggs. Kinnerton also specializes in character licensing, creating products around popular movie or cartoon characters, and has a dedicated factory for producing chocolate products for people with nut allergies. The company prides itself on its flexibility and ability to innovate quickly to stay ahead of rapidly evolving customer demands.
The Solution
After evaluating several PLM systems, Kinnerton chose Aras Innovator for its flexibility and ease of deployment. Aras Innovator's open, web-based platform allowed Kinnerton to continuously incorporate new processes and capabilities over time. Kinnerton worked with Aras certified partner AESSiS to deliver the new approach. Together, they mapped Kinnerton’s requirements onto the Aras technology, creating a bespoke data model to capture and manage new products. The deployment began with a pilot focused on the basic product development process, which evolved based on user feedback. The next step was building electronic workflows to underpin the product development process, representing a major step forward for the business.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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