Derek Hoffman, Head of Operations at Bizzy Cold Brew, beams with pride when he talks about Bizzy’s journey from a buzzing startup to the booming operation it is today. What started as a coffee concept in a tiny apartment back in 2013, is now a beverage industry leader found in over 6,500 stores with a full range of brew-at-home and ready-to-drink options.
Hoffman started with Bizzy in 2021 and was there to usher in a major growth spurt. Though this was his first foray into the beverage industry, he had plenty of experience in the manufacturing sector.
The old way of using spreadsheets and Google docs certainly stored all of Bizzy’s information, but as Hoffman says, “management of spreadsheet data is tedious, and scaling to the next level of compliance certification was out of reach. When we implemented Wherefour, the payoff was immediate and onboarding our team was simple. Because so much time was freed up with the elimination of spreadsheet management, we were able to create a solid process for production.”
Hoffman went on to describe the benefits of having access to real-time data in a cloud-based platform. “No matter if you’re working on location or virtually, the data is always available. We were able to anticipate production capabilities, monitor inventory and forecast solutions from anywhere at any time. Not only that, but we had trustworthy data storage with end-to-end traceability and it was all paperless,” he said.
Hoffman elaborated on how these improvements affected the individual team members at Bizzy. “The current workforce is comprised of people who have grown up with technology. It’s not new to them. So when we started using Wherefour, job satisfaction and process efficiency improved immediately. Today’s workers have three priorities: personal satisfaction, a positive work culture and compensation. Infusing technology improves all three. Our employee recruitment and retention has been amazing since teaming with Wherefour,” said Hoffman.
The latent benefits of streamlining data showed up for Bizzy in a multitude of ways. “Unburdening the team from tedious paperwork simplified daily tasks. It freed up lots of time, and we really got to work, working on our business and not just in our business,” reports Hoffman. “There are always going to be surprises and hiccups, but when you have a solid process and you’re able to plan ahead, then the stress of adjusting to those surprises is eliminated,” he said.
One thing Hoffman can say from his many years in manufacturing is that all businesses who are able to scale successfully have something very important in common, “They have their process down to a science.” And the secret to a good process is making sure that your people, your equipment and your products are all in sync. In the manufacturing world, being in sync is made possible with a dependable cloud-based ERP partner.