During our visit of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, we got the opportunity to listen to a lecture by the advisor of Ajinomoto General Foods. The company is the number one food maker in Japan, creating revenue of $11 billion. Ajinomoto also has a joint venture with Kraft Foods. The speaker touched on some critical success factors, which include maket trends, consumer patterns, and other competitors in the industry. The market has changed from local mama/papa shops to big multi-national retailers. Since Japan is an aging society, most consumers value freshness and the ease to cook when they go shopping. To adjust to such challenges, Ajinomoto sets supply chain and logistics goals. Their key word is integration. They want to maintain their competiveness and lower inventory. To achieve this, they integrated IT into their odering process and inventory management system. Then they developed new plans of purchasing and production. Lastly they improved their delivery functions such as packaging and delivery plans.
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