consolidation or outsourcing ( if they are needed ), and finding new capabilities that we can leverage .
“ The second pillar is Integrated Margin Management , which is basically our productivity program ,” he adds . “ The focus , here , is on identifying opportunities on mostly a cost basis across the entire supply chain , so we have a strong team of people always looking at how we can optimize formulations , integrate better , reduce waste , increasingly automate , and digitize our supply chain . All this is part of a wider company effort to be more efficient and lean in our manufacturing and distribution processes .
“ The third concerns End-to-End Planning and the retooling of related processes ,” comments Ale . “ This area is utilizing data science and has successfully implemented artificial intelligence to aid that reconfiguration ; consequently , thousands upon thousands of models have been created to find the right weekly location for item combinations . Another concrete example we have used to bolster this pillar is a tool called Blue Yonder – a software that allows us to be much more agile in terms of supply and long-term capacity planning .
“ Finally , we have pillars four and five ,” he notes . “ Talent Management is a pillar that reflects how we attract , maintain , and develop our people and offer them a pathway to a successful future , and the final pillar is Sustainability , which can be broadly summarized by improving our operations through five areas of priority : decarbonization , packaging , agriculture , waste , and water . For each of these , we are building programs that mirror our commitment to the environment .”
Ultimately , each pillar underpinning the Fuel for Growth program is sustained by a core element : Conagra ’ s continued investment in technology . This includes , for instance , Connected Shop Floor , an innovative program that will neatly digitize and standardize all of the food giant ’ s manufacturing sites , and Oracle Transportation Management ( OTM ), a logistics service used to upscale a range of execution capabilities .
On a larger scale , Conagra has also recently opened a new , 245,000-square-foot vegetable processing plant in Waseca , Minnesota . The state-of-the-art facility processes fresh vegetables – taking them from harvest to frozen in just five hours – to support Conagra ’ s frozen division and Birds Eye brand . The
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