Case study / D2C food brand
Building the Connected Operating Core Behind a Growing D2C Food Brand
From demand signals to quick-commerce shelves — procurement, quality, production, 3PL fulfilment, finance and MIS working through one connected core.
- D2C food brand
- Quick commerce
- QA-gated production
- 3PL fulfilment
- Industry
- D2C food & nutrition
- Operating model
- Make-to-stock with QA gates
- Channels
- Quick commerce · D2C
- Fulfilment
- Third-party (3PL) warehousing
- Core areas
- Planning · Procurement · QA · Production · Inventory · Finance · MIS
[ The Turning Point ]
Watch theTransformation Story.
Go behind the systems and see the operating decisions that shaped the transformation.
[ The operation before ]
Fast channels.Slow hand-offs.
A food brand selling through fast-moving channels can only grow as quickly as its operation can plan, buy, make, check and ship — and every hand-off was a manual one.
- Demand & salesQuick commerce · D2C
- Channel ordersPlatform portals
- Customer POsPDFs + email
- Sales viewExported reports
- Make & checkBuy · QA · Produce
- PurchasingSeparate POs
- QA resultsCheck sheets
- Production planSpreadsheet
- Stock & money3PL · Finance
- 3PL stockPartner reports
- InventoryCentral record
- Product costCost sheets
Orders, QA results and 3PL stock are re-keyed and compared before anyone can plan.
- Areas working apart
- 03
- Separate records
- 09
- Live view of margin
- 00
[ Where it broke ]
Same SKU.A week of different numbers.
Demand moved faster than planning, so procurement and production reacted rather than prepared — because nobody saw the same stock at the same time.
Finished goods were counted before post-production QA released them.
The 3PL report arrived in batches, days behind the shelf.
Purchasing planned from Monday’s number all week.
- Counted before post-production QA release
- Purchasing still planning on Monday’s 120 units
Illustrative figures · units
[ How we approached it ]
From demandto doorstep, connected.
Akhilam connected the flow from demand to customer — with quality built into procurement and production, and finance and MIS running across the whole system.
- 01
Understand
Mapped how demand, purchasing, QA, production and the 3PL actually connected.
- 02
Design
One flow from demand to customer, with QA gates inside purchasing and production.
- 03
Connect
3PL stock, customer POs (through OCR) and banking linked to the same core.
- 04
Run
COGS, MIS and AR / AP analytics run from the transactions themselves.
What we built
- Procurement with QA
- Production
- Post-production QA
- Quick-commerce sales
- Demand forecasting
- COGS
- MIS
- Bank integration
- OCR — PO to SO
- AR / AP analytics
- 3PL warehouse
[ The operating journey ]
One order.From demand to doorstep.
Follow one replenishment through the new operating flow.
A quick-commerce demand signal updates the plan
Material is purchased for the plan
Incoming material passes QA before it enters stock
Produced against material that is actually available
Post-production QA releases the finished goods
3PL stock updates the same inventory picture
A customer PO read by OCR becomes a sales order — COGS posts
[ Process & capability exhibits ]
How the key processesnow work — try them.
Each exhibit is interactive. The values are illustrative; the logic is how the system works.
- Customer
- Quick-commerce partner
- PO number
- PO-77214
- PO date
- 18 Sep
- Deliver to
- Partner DC · Bengaluru
| Item | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| High-protein meal · Paneer | 240 | ₹165 |
| High-protein meal · Chicken | 180 | ₹185 |
| Protein bowl · Rajma | 120 | ₹149 |
- Customer
- PO number
- PO date
- Deliver to
- High-protein meal · Paneer240 × ₹165
- High-protein meal · Chicken180 × ₹185
- Protein bowl · Rajma120 × ₹149
- Customer matched to master
- Items matched to SKUs
- Quantities within order limits
- Prices match the agreed price list
Waiting for a document…
Illustrative purchase order. Validation runs before a sales order is created; anything that fails is routed to a person with the context.
- Material receivedpassed
- Incoming QAWithin specificationpassed
- Stock available for productionpassed
- Producedpassed
- Release QAReleasedpassed
- Available to the 3PLpassed
Finished goods released — stock is sellable in every channel.
Illustrative situations and values.
Stock seen through a weekly partner report.
Illustrative SKUs and quantities.
- Ingredients (yield-adjusted)₹76.60
- Packaging (yield-adjusted)₹14.89
- Conversion₹18.00
Gross margin33.6%
Illustrative costs. In the system, these come from purchase prices, BOMs and production records — not a spreadsheet.
[ Before vs after ]
What changed,line by line.
- Before: Demand reacted to after the factAfter: Demand signals feed the plan
- Before: QA results kept in separate sheetsAfter: QA gates inside purchasing and production
- Before: 3PL stock seen in reportsAfter: 3PL stock in the same inventory picture
- Before: Customer POs keyed in by handAfter: POs read by OCR into sales orders
- Before: Margins assembled for managementAfter: COGS and MIS from the transactions
- Before: Payments handled outside the systemAfter: Bank payments through approval workflows
[ Business outcomes ]
What changed wasn't one process.It was how the whole operation runs.
- ConnectedDemand, procurement, production and fulfilment on one system
- ControlledQuality gates before material and finished goods move
- Visible3PL stock, COGS and margins available to management
- StreamlinedCustomer POs captured as sales orders without re-keying
- ClearReceivables, payables and cash exposure in one view
- ScalableA foundation ready for more products and channels
Outcomes are described qualitatively. Figures appear only where validated by the business.
“Placeholder for a client-approved quote on what changed in how the brand plans, makes and ships.”
[ Go deeper ]
The ConnectedD2C Brand.
Our research and implementation perspective on demand planning, quality-gated production, 3PL and quick-commerce fulfilment, product costing and cash for growing consumer brands.
- 01Demand → materials planning
- 02Quality-gated production
- 033PL, quick commerce + margin
Business email, first name and company — nothing more.
[ Could this be your business? ]
Selling fast,planning slow?
If several of these sound familiar, you are where this business was before one connected operating core.
- Quick-commerce demand moves faster than your purchase plan.
- QA results sit in sheets, apart from purchasing and stock.
- Your 3PL’s stock report and your inventory rarely agree.
- Customer POs arrive as PDFs and get keyed in by hand.
- Product-level margin takes days to assemble.
[ Related capabilities ]
What made thistransformation possible.
[have a similar challenge?]
Your Business Won't Look Exactly Like This. That's the Point.
We don't implement from a template. We understand how your operation actually works, identify where value is being lost, and build the technology foundation around what the business needs next.