Effective supply chain management is essential for maintaining product quality, meeting customer demands, and optimizing operations in the meat and fish industry. SAP Meat and Fish utilizes a sophisticated push-and-pull planning mechanism in its disassembly engine to address these needs.

Understanding Push and Pull Planning

Push-and-pull planning comprises two contrasting strategies:

• Push Planning: This method involves producing goods based on demand forecasts. Products are manufactured in advance and "pushed" through the supply chain. The benefits include economies of scale and a steady product supply. However, risks include excess inventory and waste, particularly problematic for perishable goods.
• Pull Planning: In contrast, pull planning is driven by actual demand. Production starts only when an order is placed, which helps minimize inventory and waste but requires precise demand forecasting and a highly responsive supply chain to prevent stockouts.

Application in SAP Meat and Fish Solution

SAP Meat and Fish integrates push and pull planning in its disassembly processes, optimizing meat and fish processing.

Push Planning in Disassembly:

• This approach uses forecasted demand to plan the disassembly process. For instance, processors prepare specific cuts during peak seasons or promotional events in advance to ensure availability. Meat and Fish’s "cut list" feature helps allocate resources efficiently, reducing downtime and maximizing throughput.
• By analyzing historical data and market trends, Meat and Fish predicts demand for various cuts (e.g., steaks, chops), ensuring processors can maintain optimal inventory levels and consistently meet market demands.

Pull Planning in Disassembly:

• Pull planning focuses on real-time customer orders. Meat and Fish uses real-time data to adjust disassembly processes based on current orders. SAP Fiori apps provide insights for quick adjustments to production schedules, allowing dynamic modifications of cuts to meet specific customer requirements.
• This flexibility ensures changes in demand, such as a sudden increase in orders for fish fillets, are addressed promptly, minimizing lead times and delivering fresh products.

Hybrid Approach:

• Meat and Fish effectively employs a hybrid approach, combining push and pull to allow bulk production of staple items while remaining flexible enough to respond to real-time orders. This dual strategy enhances the agility and adaptability of the supply chain.

Benefits of Integrated Planning:

1. Optimized Inventory Management: Balances inventory levels, reducing waste and holding costs while ensuring product availability.
2. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Enables swift fulfillment of custom orders and maintains availability of standard products.
3. Improved Operational Efficiency: Integrates predictive analytics and real-time data for better coordination, reduced downtime, and maximized throughput.
4. Quality Control: Ensures high standards and regulatory compliance through precise planning and production scheduling.
5. Sustainability: Aligns with sustainability goals by minimizing overproduction and waste.

Implementation Success Stories:

• A major seafood company improved processing efficiency 20 percent by integrating push and pull planning, significantly reducing waste and enhancing profit margins.
• A large meat processor balanced inventory levels effectively during holiday seasons, managing demand for premium cuts without overstocking.

Conclusion

SAP Meat and Fish is a modern approach to supply chain management, combining push and pull planning strategies. This integration enhances operational efficiency, responsiveness to customer demands, and product quality, making it an essential tool for any meat and fish processing enterprise.