The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Kevin Grundy: Got it. Okay. I wanted to step back, maybe ask you a little bit differently to Nik’s question, just around the systems and the processes around FP&A and then extensively your guidance we can appreciate the volatility of the environment. It has not been easy cost. And then in your case, of course, sympathetic to the fact that we’re still trying to find a bottom here with sell-through. But that said, I mean, forecasting even in the near term, particularly around gross margins. It’s been really difficult. Where are we with the investments around your systems to improve clarity around KPI and processes? How would you characterize where we are? How would you characterize your visibility? How would you characterize your conservatism around your outlook?

Frank Smalla: Yes. Kev, let me take that. I think there are multiple reasons where we are with the gross margins where we are. Part of it is visibility, part of it is also the relatively low volume level that we have reached in the declined and given the limited reactivity that we’re in the supply chain. But I’ll get there in a second. Let me first cover the systems implementation. So the systems implementation, which is really a process change, it’s implementing an end-to-end process supported by the systems, we’re well underway and well underway. The 3 main components, I would say, is a warehouse management system, which is SAP, then we have a planning system, which is complete planning suite that not only covers demand planning, but it’s demand planning, supply planning, production planning, inventory planning.

And the third major component is order management within SAP. So we have started the implementations. We have implemented the warehouse management system in one facility in Ohio. The 2 other ones in Delaware and in Pennsylvania will follow later this year. The planning system, we have started with a demand planning module that has gone live and well during the middle of the year, we’ll implement the supply planning, module as well. And kind of in parallel, we will also do the order management. And then there are some site modules that we’re also working on like MRP. So this is going, and we should be in — when it comes to systems and visibility much — in a much better place by the end of the year. Just I want to caution one is implementing the systems.

And the second thing is there’s a huge change management effort that comes with it because we need to be able to run those systems. And when we did the wealth management system in Ohio, we’re actually pretty happy with it because that’s a massive change. And you might have heard that with other companies. the main focus was to keep on being able to keep on receiving materials to ship so that there’s no disruption in the supply chain. We have accomplished that and now we start leveraging all the benefits. This is underway. And I think the other thing is, and that’s partly what we have the gross margin is, I’d say, because of the scrap is we have our supply chain at the moment with the volumes that we’re taking. We have declining volumes. And the reactivity is not relatively high, to be honest, because what we can react on short term is only with the internal breweries.

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