BEST FOOD LOGISTICS CASE STUDY

Best Food Logistics is the leading supplier of supply chain solutions to the UK hospitality sector. It provides a choice of tailored services including the purchasing, warehousing and distribution of ambient, chilled and frozen food as well as non-foods and small wares. Best Food Logistics relies on robust IT infrastructure to support its cost-effective, responsive and durable service solutions. As part of its continued commitment to improve service excellence Best Food Logistics looked to upgrade their IT infrastructure to ensure they stay ahead of the field.

Fast, reliable network to underpin time-critical operations

Access to extended IT team and knowledge sharing, delivering competitive edge

Increased agility bringing new users, depots and initiatives on stream quicker

Challenges

Best Food Logistics went to market to:

Secure a fast, reliable and scalable network that would underpin its time-critical operations
Explore convergence as a potential route for its voice strategy
Forge a strong supplier relationship that would add real value going forward
Ensure its ICT capability could remain fully aligned with the needs of an agile, fast-growing

Best Food Logistics’ Director of IT Cindy Howarth-Stares knew exactly what they were looking for: “We needed a supplier who would work with us as a partner. This wasn’t just about technical capability and capacity, or about competitive pricing, it was far more about how a supplier would engage with us and understand our goals. Someone who would work with us, and offer proactive suggestions to help us take the business forward.”.

What impressed us from the off was the quality of engagement. Yes, we had to be satisfied as to what was being proposed technically and commercially, but above all, we needed to have confidence in Redcentric as a delivery partner.

How Redcentric helped

With Best Food Logistics also looking to replace its PBX and open to alternative approaches, Redcentric proposed a converged solution as the most streamlined, cost-effective and resilient option for upgrading its networking and telephony provision. Redcentric would run its hosted Unity IP telephony service over a new MPLS network, encompassing 400 staff at head office and six depots nationwide.

It would also deploy its specialist call centre offering to allow Best Food Logistics’ customer services and telephone sales teams to benefit from the extended functionality, flexibility and continuity afforded by the hosted environment.

Continues Cindy: “What impressed us from the off was the quality of engagement. Yes, we had to be
satisfied as to what was being proposed technically and commercially, but above all, we needed to have confidence in Redcentric as a delivery partner.

It’s also been echoed throughout the Redcentric organisation. A challenging implementation and number changeover was completed with minimum disruption. Day-to-day support and the inherent reliability of the managed services have freed up the team for more added value projects; and the overriding quality of the converged solution is providing us with sound operational assurance.”.

We didn’t want to be jumping through hoops to get what we needed, and we didn’t want a passive supplier who was content with just going through the motions. The Redcentric account team very quickly switched onto the drivers and dynamics of our business. Their prompt, proactive professionalism has been a hallmark of our relationship to date.

Business benefits

Cindy Howarth-Stares points to Redcentric’s double triumph at Best Food Logistics’ annual supplier awards (winning Best New Supplier and Best New Account Manager) as evidence of the positive impact they have made. As for tangible business benefits, Cindy has identified a number of important gains:

Increased performance and resilience – Users across the organisation, especially those at depots, are enjoying faster application speeds.

Improved value for money – Convergence and per seat provisioning has delivered ‘more for less’ by better leveraging of network investments and elimination of waste.

Increased agility and scalability – Best Food Logistics can bring new users, new depots, new initiatives on stream more quickly than ever before, with operational and cost certainty.

Greater ICT and business alignment – Best Food Logistics has quicker, easier, more affordable access to ICT solutions and resources identified as key to strategic objectives.

Enhanced supplier relationship – Best Food Logistics is confident in its IT capabilities thanks to Redcentric’s dependable delivery. Both teams are combining well to help keep Best Food Logistics at the forefront of logistical excellence.