MANA Nutrition Feeding Children Powered by Love and Tech
Meet Chris Whitfield, the CFO of MANA Nutrition. MANA Nutrition is a nonprofit organization in Charlotte, NC that produces ready to use food for humanitarian giants like Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and World Peace.
Their mission is simple: to feed as many at-risk kids as possible. With the help of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, they’re doing just that! Check out how Chris and MANA Nutrition used software like NetSuite to help get rid of malnutrition and cut their production costs by more than 40%.
Why is solving malnutrition so important?
“Over 3 million kids die from severe malnutrition every year” -Chris Whitfield
Malnutrition is caused by not having enough to eat and can have deadly results. While we don’t typically have to worry about malnutrition here in the U.S. (in fact, our eating disorders tend to skew in the other direction, towards obesity), malnutrition is common in many developing countries.
Malnutrition is an especially large problem among refugee communities, where people are forced from their homes and moved into areas that often don’t have access to the resources needed to feed hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Currently, this is a huge issue in areas where war and conflict are common, such as parts of West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Managing the cost of production
In order to continue distributing food as a nonprofit, MANA Nutrition’s production process has to be as efficient as possible.
“The lower the cost, the higher the number of units, and consequently the more kids are saved,” Chris explains. “For us, really managing the cost of production is critically important.”
That’s why they turned to ERP software. Using NetSuite’s software, they were able to cut their production costs down by more than 40%.
What is ERP software?`
Known also as Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP software is crucial for business growth. Think about all of the day to day functions of your business–from accounting to inventory to human resources. ERP software takes all of these functions and integrates them into a single platform that helps you streamline and automate your business processes.
The benefits of ERP software include:
- Saving employees time by showcasing information on a single, cohesive platform
- Providing more accurate reports and information
- Automating day to day processes so that employees can work faster
- Providing a more holistic approach to customer service
How did MANA Nutrition use NetSuite to cut production costs?
In order to distribute food to as many at-risk children as possible, MANA Nutrition realized that they would need to cut production costs and keep their overhead low. That’s when they turned to NetSuite.
NetSuite is a full-fledged ERP system that made it possible for MANA Nutrition to cut their production costs by more than 40%.
Using NetSuite, they were able to:
- Track and control inventory
- Manage quality control
- Collect accounts
- Discover the true cost of manufacturing
- Automate accounting and finance functions
“Our own financial strength is driven by our ability to manage a reasonable bottom line for a nonprofit. NetSuite has been very good to us and has really helped us on our path to success.” –Chris Whitfield
The Takeaway
- In order for businesses to grow, they need to encourage productivity while maintaining costs
- ERP software provides a real-time platform that allows businesses to streamline processes and keep an eye on their true costs
- Businesses that use ERP software experience tremendous growth once they are able to create a cohesive database