Revolutionizing Supply Chain Management with the KeHE Connect Platform
How MadeLabs built a comprehensive digital ecosystem for one of America's largest organic food distributors ($10B revenue), reducing supplier onboarding by 30% and serving 6,800+ employees across 18 distribution centers.
Download PDF Case StudyScaling Beyond Legacy Systems
As one of the largest organic and natural food distributors in the United States, KeHE's growth was putting significant strain on legacy technology systems. The compounding risk of an aging IT workforce and less market-available technology skills, as well as the increasing need for robust and user-friendly systems to keep scale with the business demanded that KeHE make a change.
KeHE sought out experts in software engineering and architecture to design a bespoke solution, seeing this opportunity as a future competitive advantage in the marketplace. A forward-thinking vision on data visibility, stakeholder collaboration, and end-to-end business process automation is what led KeHE to work with MadeLabs staff.
About KeHE
KeHE Distributors, headquartered in Naperville, IL, is a leading organic and natural food distribution company, boasting an annual revenue of approximately $10 billion. KeHE Distributors is one of the nation's top wholesale food distributors with 18 distribution centers across North America.
KeHE helps natural & organic, specialty and fresh brands get onto retail shelves and online for sale across thousands of grocery stores. KeHE has grown significantly since COVID both organically and through strategic acquisitions. It is paramount that the dedication and innovation of over 6,800 employee-owners is not inhibited by a complex technical environment with several legacy and disparate systems.
Outcomes Snapshot
- $2B/year retailer digital platform and growing
- Lowered supplier onboarding time by 30%
- Master data management with single source of truth shared by retailers, suppliers, and employees
- Extensible data integrations to critical systems throughout KeHE
- Reduced labor costs
Rapid Growth Without Compromise
KeHE needed to handle rapid growth while maintaining industry-leading fill rates and without adding significant headcount. Without changes to the technology strategy, KeHE's growth could have been its downfall.
The Connect Platform Solution
In collaboration with MadeLabs staff, a modernization initiative was undertaken to provide a secure and user-friendly platform for all stakeholders that interact with KeHE's systems including retailers, suppliers, and internal staff. The collective system is called the Connect Platform.
This solution comprised purpose-built portals for retailers (Connect Retailer), suppliers (Connect Supplier), and internal staff (Connect Enterprise). Connect Retailer facilitates product discovery, purchasing, and access to invoices, while Connect Supplier streamlines supplier onboarding and provides analytics on brand performance.
Connect Enterprise serves as a back-office solution for securely accessing transactional and master data. The entire system is governed by a comprehensive set of APIs, ensuring scalability and seamless integration to their technology ecosystem and participating partners.
The Impact
The collaboration between KeHE and MadeLabs staff exemplifies how innovative technology solutions can revolutionize supply chain management, amplify competitiveness in the industry, and ultimately drive business growth, profitability and value.