INTEGRATED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITY PLANNING AT AULT FOODS

In the late 1980s, Ault Foods Limited initiated a study of its fluid d ivision's facilities in Ontario to see if changing its existing facili ty network would improve financial performance without sacrificing cus tomer service. Ault relied on a cross functional team of company perso nnel and an external consultant to develop a model of its facility net work. Ault management used the results from the model to make a number of important changes, closing several plants and warehouses and shift ing production and distribution responsibilities. These changes improv ed Ault's competitive position. The main reason for the project's succ ess was not the technical beauty of the network model but that the pro ject team developed a network model that Ault management understood an d results it could accept.