ERP: Ocean
Spray has spent millions on it, and may spend millions more to fix it, do you know what it
is?
"Implementations of ERP systems are struggling throughout
the world. They take too long, cost too much and fail to deliver the promised benefits of
competitive advantage and cost reduction. Despite the promise and the high investment
required to implement ERP systems, statistics show that more than 70 percent of ERP
implementations, whether self-created or designed by established ERP software vendors,
fail to achieve their corporate goals." Source: Strategy and Business
article
ERP, or enterprise resource planning was
supposed to be the high tech solution to running the complex operations of large
manufacturing and distribution companies like Ocean Spray. But its history has been
anything but stellar. One of the largest pharmaceutical distribution companies, FoxMeyer,
for example, spent two and a half years and $100 million dollars in an effort to improve
its competitive position with rapid deliveries. Instead this company with $5 billion in
annual sales went bankrupt and was sold for a mere $80 million.
Even a computer giant, Dell, spent $200 million
and two years before scrapping the system. Still, companies are spending tens of billions
of dollars to implement ERP systems. To learn more how and why ERP fails, and how to make
it succeed, read the technically dense but excellent article called "Making ERP
Succeed: Turning Fear Into Promise" by Scott Burkhout, Edward Frey and Joseph Nemec
Jr. in Strategy and Business,
here
Press release about ERP that
you may have missed
Ocean Spray Cranberries New Plant Cuts
Deployment Time 30-50% by Standardizing on Intellution FIX Dynamics Software and Windows
DNA for Manufacturing - Tuesday, February 23, 1999 HERE
Publicly
traded companies
Have you ever wondered how much information is available to you about
publicly traded cranberry companies? Read the most recent SEC filing from Northland here.
The antitrust suit against Coca-Cola enterprises by a
small Maryland distributor has been settled out of court. B.K. Miller had accused Coke of discriminatory
pricing, fraud, wiretapping and other harassing tactics. Coke countersued,
claiming Miller transshipped, breaking the Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act. As part
of the settlement, Miller sold its Coke assets. Also at Coca-Cola, who is facing a racial
discrimination suit, a so-called "diversity advisory council" has been former.
Coke chairman and CEO Doug Ivester states "ours is an environment where all people
advance simply based on their ability and performance." Source: Beverage World
Know your co-op: read the
actual case of United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit OCEAN SPRAY
CRANBERRIES, INC., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. PEPSICO, INC.,
Defendant, Appellee. Click here
The case for 2nd
preferred stockholders of Ocean Spray
by Linda Rinta
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Market news:
Aronia Juice, alternative to cranberry?
6/5/99: Aronia is a berry
native to North America, but no longer cultivated here. It is currently being imported
from Poland. Wildland® Aronia Berry Juice Cocktail is being promoted as a healthy
alternative to cranberry juice. Distribution began on the west coast last spring, but the
product was just spotted in a Star Market in Massachusetts. Read more about aronia here. While BevNet hasn't rated the Wildland
product line yet, it has reviewed, and given an A+, to the (SoBe) RedTea with Selinium,
which derives its flavor from aronia, on bottom of page here. Read
about the phenominal growth of New Age drink leader SoBe here.
Point | Counter-point:
6/3/99 The debate
continues: Follows is a letter that Bruce Lachney of Rainer
Mountain Cranberries in Eatonville, Washington, wrote to Don Hatton, Chairman of the Board
of Ocean Spray, which Mr. Lachney kindly shared with Stressline, and a spirited debate
that has been generated on the Forum.
I read with interest the letter from T.
Gelsthorpe espousing his prognosis in regards to Ocean Spray's future. It is with his
points in reference that I would like to share my views and concerns.
Mr. Gelsthrope affirms that an independent Ocean
Spray can not survive, that capitalization of Ocean Spray's business goodwill through
public trading is the only sensible means to achieve grower equity. At best this is a
dangerous proposition to realize short-term equity gain, at worst it is an ill conceived
plan to reorganize the corporate entity without regard for posterity. Continued here.
Other Co-ops in the news:
650 member Coop Sunsweet Growers and Kings Canyon Corrin
form partnership
Sunsweet Growers Inc. and Kings Canyon Corrin
have entered into a partnership to test market the Sunsweet brand name of California tree
fruit and grapes, according to a news release. Sunsweet and Kings Canyon Corrin will
support sales with value- added programs. Sunsweet, based in California, is a cooperative
of 650 grower/members. Kings Canyon Corrin is a privately held company that markets 4.5
million cartons of tree fruit and table grapes. See related article at the top of the
page.
Gary Hanman and his Dairy Co-op makeover
Source: 5/3/99 Forbes Online
Article "Bet the Farm" by
Bernard Condon
"Brand ownership is an established
strategy among farmer co-ops: That's what Ocean Spray (cranberry drinks), Sunkist (orange
juice) and Land O'Lakes (butter) are all about. But with brands and factories come much
greater risks."
6/2/99: Hanman heads up the $7 + billion (sales) co-op,
Dairy Farmers of America, which was formed last year when three dairy co-ops
merged. Now with some 20,000 farmer- growers, the co-op is a force to be reckoned
with in the $80 billion milk industry. He has turned the DFA into a hybrid cross between a
food manufacturer and an ag co-op, similar in fact to Ocean Spray. Click here to read Forbes article
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Cranberry Stressline Forum
=>
Although not mandatory, I encourage posters to sign their
messages.
Longer essays will be considered for publication as Op-Ed pieces.
All of the Forum messages and replies, as they are posted,
can be viewed and responded to from
HERE
Re: Good-bye and Good Riddance
Saturday, 05-Jun-1999 15:12:17
Brace yourself. I've heard that if the board fires Bullock, which it doesn't look like
they are going to do, they might bring Murphy back. Wouldn't that get our company back on
its feet in a hurry!!! They say things have to get worse before they get better....
C. Winters
Enough is Enough - Tuesday, June 1, 1999 10:05 PM
- Message: Enough is enough. The time is now for us to take a keen
interest in our own future. I am a new grower in the co-op and joined because if the
desire for "stability" in returns.....what a joke! I have six questions
that the board needs to answer and answer now. Message and replies
cont. here
TAKE CHARGE -Tuesday, June 1, 1999 1:38PM
- Message: Tom Bullock and the B.O.D. are giving away YOUR Company and
most of the future casualties are happily taking the ride. It should be painfully obvious,
to even the most ardent supporter of Ocean Spray's management team, the Co-op is coming
apart and the men responsible are blaming forces beyond their sphere of control. Cont. here |
Now ain' t that pitiful!
from Paul Rinta, Monday, 07-Jun-1999 7:00AM - "When I read the letter from the west
coast grower in chapter 12, I know that I should get on my knees every night and thank
Ocean Spray for saving my farm." Continued
here.
Saturday, 05-Jun-1999 10:52:08
A Modest Proposal
(With apologies to Judy and Irene who do a nice job for us.)
Fellow cranberry growers! It is time to test the grass roots strength of this website! Our
means have become more modest and it is time for austerity measures. I have been
ruminating on the money spent during our decadent Ocean Spray annual winter meetings, and
I have come up with the perfect way to save the co-op, and ourselves personally, money.
And yet, we won't be sacrificing any of our fun, or for that matter, any of the vital
business operations performed. Take this past winter meeting for example. Held in Florida.
Peak of the season. Well, being quite well traveled myself, I have remembered a location
just as exciting as St. Pete Beach, which for some reason I don't understand is off-peak
as a tourist attraction in February. Have you guessed it yet? Bismarck, North Dakota!
Now for next year, we scrap the San Antonio plans and book into the Motel 6 in
Bismarck. Our room rates just went from in the neighborhood of $200 a night to $36. Now
compare this scenario to last winter in Florida. I (and you) helped pay for upper
management's suites. They faced the ocean. I also helped pay for the Director's suites.
They faced the ocean. Beautiful sunsets, I'm told. I paid for my room all by myself. I was
on the other side of the building. About half my window was above ground level. My view
was the grill of a Dodge Ram Van. The joke was on the people in the suites, though. Those
sheer curtains couldn't keep out the moonbeams. No one got any sleep unless they had one
of those black-out masks like Mrs. Howell used to wear when she took naps on Gilligan's
Island. And, through some mistake, there was only one mask per suite handed out at
registration time. Meanwhile, on my floor, all the lightbulbs in the hall were burned out
so I didn't even have light shining in through the crack under the door. Slept like the
dead. (Being used to looking out for myself, I had smashed the headlights on the Ram Van
before sundown to make sure the owner didn't turn them on in the night and startle me.)
But hey I'm not really complaining about the room rates. The hotel really isn't making
all that much money. They couldn't afford windows or even screens on the beachside
"Pelican Cantina". Weird-colored birds kept flying through dropping feathers and
what-not on to our tables during meals. I can vouch for secure windows at the Motel 6.
Now, let's think Bismarck again. First, it's centrally located in the continent,
approximately in the cranberry lattitudes. Everyone can save money by driving instead of
flying. Now don't think of this as a sacrifice. Think about the last time you were broke,
back in your college days. Sure, times were tough, but don't you get nostalgic about all
the fun you had living on the edge? This has given me a great idea how to have fun! Get
this: The rusty VW Microbus competition! Jerry Garcia died a couple years back. He was the
lead guy of the band "The Grateful Dead". No more Grateful Dead concerts. The
market for touring VW Microbuses has crashed. Perfect timing for us. All growers wishing
to particpate in this activity must arrive in Bismarck in a microbus. Winner will be
judged on "most psychedelic" or "least remaining metal" or whatever WE
decide. Added bonus: we can't afford to hire mechanics on the marsh any more, so nursing
these vehicles cross country will be good drill for us. Plus, you meet the nicest people
when you're broken down along the interstate!
What can we tour in Bismarck? Only the famous bakery that put the town on the map! Or
how about the National Open Air Cold Soak Laboratory on the mall? |
Temperatures reliably hover at 50 below at this time of year, with
prairie winds of 80 mph prevailing from the northwest. This makes Bismarck a magnet for
scientists preparing to test equipment for artic exploration, glacial experiments, and
high altitude mountain climbing. What died-in-the-wool frost watcher doesn't want to get a
load of that? Banquet facilities? Hey, what's wrong with a good old fashioned pot luck?
But a word of caution to the wise is in order here. Don't make a tacky "faux
pas" by bringing a cranberry dish. Meat dishes may be out of the reach of our
pocketbooks, but we can all still afford a dished based on more valuable commodities than
cranberries, such as okra, or parsnips.
Entertainment after the big banquet? What could be more fun than an audience
participation event? You know what I'm thinking! The big Wet T-shirt and Beer Belly
competition down to Flabby Freddy's Grill on Hereford St!
This has got the potential to save the company 25 cents a barrel and still be more fun
than any annual meeting to date.
So, let's see if we average growers have got the clout to make this come true! Start
printing the T-shirts and bumper stickers!
FOLLOW ME TO BISMARCK in '00 !
signed,
Peat Farmer
Sunday, 06-Jun-1999 05:43:51
Dear Peat,
I can't vouch for Bismark, but Souix Falls is nice. They got the Corn Palace after all. I
was there for a meeting. I never did get to the Corn Palace but I sure heard a lot about
it! The Sheraton there had a nice Ocean Spray logo on the place mats and really went the
distance promoting the products. Of course, they only had Mango Mango and Strawberry Kiwi.
We grow those don't we?
I think S. Dakota is just as economical as North D. and it may be a shorter driving
distance. I'm working on my van right now. Do you think we need snow tires? That could
throw the budget off.
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Communication
Friday, 04-Jun-1999 10:33:06
Message:
204.214.112.205 writes:
The frustration of growers is apparent when we read the messages that are being posted
here on stressline. Ocean Spray management and the Board of Directors are frequently
bashed here with no response from either group----isn't this telling you something? It is
pretty reasonable to assume they are reading the postings on this site, but strange that
they are silent. When they choose not to defend themselves one can assume they must be
guilty as charged. I was a grower for O.S. for 30 years and communication was always a
problem, but until the last few years the information we received was credible.
When you read Tom Bullock's letter of May 27 you quickly come to the realization that
management doesn't realize they are the ones that are supposed to solve problems not
create more. Read what he says about customer issues, problems with shipments, out of
stock situations, and resulting CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION. He goes on to say "These
problems were primarily the result of low inventories". We want to know why these
things happened, what caused them to happen, and when are you going to change things. In
other words address the issues!
This will happen when a management change takes place. This will take real leadership by
the board of directors. Is the new chairman capable of this kind of leadership or will he
simply once again apologize for them?
Even though I am no longer an O.S. grower, I feel I have every right to criticize what is
now happening to this company. Over the years I, along with others, helped build O.S. with
our stock purchases. Now we want them to succeed and continue to lead the industry, and we
want to be assured that our stock will be redeemed. This position is not self serving, it
is only what we were lead to expect and we do.
Roy Peters
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