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FLAGSHIP CASE STUDY

Harbor Fresh Kitchens · Refrigerated Meals

A regional producer of fresh, ready-to-heat meals with short shelf life, complex 3PL networks, and demanding grocery and foodservice customers.

Food & Beverage · Refrigerated ready meals · Grocery + foodservice

WHO

Harbor Fresh Kitchens

Regional refrigerated ready-meal producer selling into grocery and foodservice channels.

WHERE

Plants, Co-Packers, 3PLs

Multiple plants, refrigerated 3PLs, and grocery networks across the region.

WHAT

Freshness & Traceability Stack

Unified ERP, 3PL, and co-packers into one FEFO and recall-ready data layer.

WHEN

12–16 Week Program

Discovery, design, build, and monitored go-live.

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WHY

Short Shelf Life & Waste

High write-offs, markdowns, and slow mock recalls were eroding margins and trust.

HOW

DataShip Blueprint

Standardized lots, FEFO logic, and a recall cockpit layered on existing systems.

THE CHALLENGE

Refrigerated meals require FEFO execution, high-frequency production, and precise lot-level traceability across a network of plants, co-packers, cold storage 3PLs, and distributors. Without a unified visibility layer, even disciplined producers face short-dated inventory, emergency markdowns, and slow recall response times.

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  • Fragmented visibility. Shelf-life data was spread across spreadsheets, 3PL portals, emails, and ERP exports.

  • Co-packer & 3PL complexity. Partners used different lot coding structures and file formats, preventing standardized workflows.

  • High scrap & markdowns. Short-dated product was often discovered too late, driving waste and unplanned promotions.

  • Slow traceability & recalls. Mock recalls took hours as teams emailed spreadsheets to connect batches, lots, and shipments.

 

THE DATASHIP SOLUTION
DataShip implemented a Freshness & Traceability Stack that unifies ERP, refrigerated 3PL WMS, co-packers, QA, and customer channels. All lot and expiry data flows into a central engine that applies FEFO scoring, aging alerts, and recall-ready traceability.

DISCOVER

Mapped lot flows, shelf-life rules, and partner data from plants, co-packers, and 3PLs.

BUILD

Integrated D365 Business Central, WMS/3PL, co-packers, QA, and portals.

DESIGN

Defined a unified lot & expiry model with FEFO rules and recall workflows.

OPERATE

Rolled out dashboards, recall cockpit, and FEFO-aware allocation.

ARCHITECTURE BLUEPRINT

The Harbor Fresh solution is anchored by the DataShip Freshness Engine that sits between ERP, WMS/3PL, co-packers, QA, and retail portals. Partner data is normalized into a single model where FEFO logic, lot lifecycle tracking, and recall workflows are applied consistently.

SOURCE SYSTEMS

  • ERP: D365 Business Central

  • Co-packers & in-house plants

  • Refrigerated 3PL WMS

  • QA & lab results

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DATASHIP FRESHNESS ENGINE

  • Lot & expiry normalization

  • FEFO scoring & allocation rules

  • Aging alerts & exception handling

  • Full audit & traceability logs

CHANNELS & CONSUMERS

  • Grocery & foodservice orders

  • Allocation & pick/ship tasks

  • Recall & withdrawal cockpit

  • Freshness & waste analytics

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OUTCOMES

25–35%

Reduction in write-offs & markdowns

< 10 min

Recall impact analysis time

Single View

QA, Ops & Sales in one system

FINANCIAL IMPACT

$350k–$550k

Annual waste & markdown savings

< 9 months

Payback period on program

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3–5x

ROI over first 3 years

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FOOD & BEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY STACK

MICROSOFT-CENTRIC STACK

  • ERP: Dynamics 365 Business Central

  • WMS / 3PL: ShipHero, Extensiv 3PL, refrigerated 3PL partners

  • EDI / Commerce: SPS Commerce, grocery & foodservice portals, Shopify

  • Reporting: Power BI with DataShip freshness datasets

VIEW THE ANIMATED ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM

See how DataShip connects ERP, WMS/3PL, co-packers, QA, and retail channels into a single freshness and traceability layer.

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