Press release -

A supply chain for all weathers

Arla Foods Ingredients shapes up to meet global customer demands no matter what.

A new supply chain structure is slotting into place at Arla Foods Ingredients to enable a faster, more flexible response to customer needs in the future despite ongoing fluctuations in raw material supplies due to the global milk shortage.

The introduction of the new structure follows the recent years’ rationalisation of the ingredients business. Tying the corporate functions, business groups and production sites more closely together, it aims to create valuable synergies and ensure a more uniform response to customer requests. At the same time, a series of central support functions are now positioned to optimise operations.

This is the final process in establishing the common culture that will make us one global ingredients business, says Jens Ingvardsen. We know that future challenges will be more global. It is important for us to have an organisation that can support that enabling us to react faster.

Strong support

One of the support functions is quality assurance, which has been expanded to include environment and health & safety with the goal of achieving uniform systems and documentation at all plants. In addition, a new supply chain development function will optimise production operations and structure, focusing on, for example, best practices to develop more in-house skills.

The new structure also marks the launch of Functional Production a unit responsible for sourcing additional raw materials for milk-based ingredients and ensuring they are of the right quality.

As a global player, it is important that we are able to source raw materials elsewhere when a drought in Australia and floods in Argentina impact global milk supplies. It is critical for us to be able to respond to these world situations, Jens Ingvardsen says.

As part of this, he anticipates, more joint ventures will be established at strategic locations around the world.

More global, more integrated and working towards one primary goal Arla Foods Ingredients is ready to meet the world’s demand for high quality milk-based ingredients no matter what the weather brings.