Welch's Streamlines Business Processes to Extend Global Reach

As the world's leading producer of juice, jam and jelly products made from Concord and Niagara grapes, Welch's is streamlining its business processes with the Oracle E-Business Suite in an effort to compete more profitably in the global market. E-Business Suite will help Welch's support its goal of making better decisions surrounding product mix and production and to more efficiently market its offerings in light of emerging dietary trends and volatile supply and demand. "Our new Oracle investment will help us to consolidate many duplicate systems and processes into a single, consistent platform that can support future growth," says Larry Rencken, information services vice president and CIO, Welch's.

"Previously, we had an infrastructure that we could not upgrade, and now we are creating a service-oriented architecture that will enable us to integrate seamlessly with our customers and suppliers." Internally, Welch's is realizing benefits resulting from its Oracle implementation. Using Oracle Financials, the organization can now close its books faster for a more accurate and comprehensive snapshot of its financial position. Leveraging Oracle's self-service Human Resources (HR) applications, Welch's conducted open enrollment for benefits online for the first time in late 2005. The new HR system, based on Oracle Advanced Benefits, enabled the company to complete the enrollment process in just two weeks. As Welch's continues to deploy Oracle applications, executives plan to standardize and automate production processes, enabling the enterprise to more efficiently deliver customized products and packaging to customers.