Integrated production and distribution facility planning at Ault Foods

In the late 1980s, Ault Foods Limited initiated a study of its fluid division’s facilities in Ontario to see if changing its existing facility network would improve financial performance without sacrificing customer service. Ault relied on a cross functional team of company personnel and an external consultant to develop a model of its facility network. Ault management used the results from the model to make a number of important changes, closing several plants and warehouses and shifting production and distribution responsibilities. These changes improved Ault’s competitive position. The main reason for the project’s success was not the technical beauty of the network model but that the project team developed a network model that Ault management understood and results it could accept.