Bill McClellan, Vice President, Foodservice at Dawn Foods and IFMA Board Member stopped by to share his passion for the industry best practice collaboration model. Hear why Bill, who also serves as the 2016 Chairperson of the Operator Collaboration Model (OCM) Committee, participated in the development of this model and how Dawn Foods has benefited from utilizing this model.
IFMA: Tell us a little bit about yourself: Title, organization, and a little about your specific role and responsibilities.
Bill McClellan (BM): I'm the Vice President, Foodservice at Dawn Foods, a full service provider of sweet baked goods solutions. We provide everything from mixes to finished, ready to serve product and everything in-between. We are a global company, doing business in 106 countries.
IFMA: Why did you choose to join the IFMA Operator Collaboration Model (OCM) committee in the development of an industry best practice?
BM: I believe we needed to break barriers regarding communication obstacles and provide a common language for improved business dialog. To drive innovation, the traditional roles of “vendor & buyer” have to be discarded and a new penetrating communication process between trading partners has to be developed.
IFMA: What have been the greatest benefits of participating on the development committee?
BM: Discovering that operators have a multitude of issues that they face, and that we have to adapt to a new type of customer relationship. I have a better perspective of how operators view vendors & what they want from vendors. I also found out that vendor’s view of the relationship is very different than how operators view relationships.
IFMA: How have you or your organization benefited from attending OCM training?
BM: The training has helped us in regards to customer segmentation, prioritizing resource allocation based upon where the customer fits in the pyramid and defining how we will approach new target accounts.
IFMA: Please describe how your organization has adopted the OCM? Who led the initiative, what functional groups have been involved, have you segmented your trading partners, etc.?
BM: I have led the initiative in our organization. I have presented to our Leadership team, our Distribution Company & marketing. And we have segmented our trading partners regarding resource allocations per the pyramid & allocation grid.
IFMA: What have been the greatest benefits of utilizing OCM within your organization?
BM: This has gotten our sales personnel to look objectively at their customers and account targets regarding resource allocation.
IFMA: What’s next for your organization with regard to the OCM initiative?
BM: Moving into Phase 2, Joint Business Planning, in 2017 with a large bakery café operator.
IFMA: What would you tell an organization that is unfamiliar with the best practice and thinking about adopting OCM?
BM: First, you can modify the process to meet your needs. Second, it is a very good model to utilize in customer segmentation, and a great tool in determining resource allocation. Finally, it provides a road map for sales personnel to utilize in defining customer relationships.
Interested in learning more about OCM? Watch the IFMA TV video: