Implementation

Modernise without losing how your operation works.

Larder is introduced around the realities of an established food wholesale business: live orders, experienced teams, imperfect data and systems that cannot simply stop. We agree the first useful phase, prove it and move across in a controlled sequence.

Talk through your operation

A practical first conversation about fit, risk and what a sensible first phase could look like.

Example first phase

Rehearse one order workflow at one site.

An illustrative starting scope for a meat wholesaler, agreed after discovery. Keep the existing system authoritative while a small set of representative orders is checked alongside it.

Larder prepares

A focused set of customers, products, prices and opening lots; an order-to-allocation workflow; and a rehearsal plan covering actual weights, delivery evidence and finance review where included in scope.

Your team supplies

Representative records and awkward examples, the people who own the workflow, device models and label requirements, and time to check the imported data and results.

Together we test

Normal and short-stock orders, variable weights, corrections and trace-back. Reconcile line quantities, stock movement and invoice values. Test physical scales, labels and printers separately at the site.

You approve the move

Review the reconciled results, unresolved issues, staff readiness and fallback plan. Both teams agree the acceptance record; live work moves only when the named customer owner approves the phase.

A successful software rehearsal does not approve hardware or the live changeover. Further workflows and sites are agreed separately. Midland Foods has shaped this development and implementation work; its acceptance work remains ongoing.

The implementation path

A controlled route from current state to confident use.

The exact plan depends on your sites, processes, data and integrations. These are the disciplines we use to make the work visible and keep decisions grounded in evidence.

01 / Discover
Understand the operation
We map how orders, stock, processing, traceability, weighing, delivery and finance hand-offs work today, including the spreadsheets and workarounds people rely on.
02 / Prepare
Make the data usable
We agree which customers, products, prices, suppliers, stock and history need to move. Data is mapped, cleaned and checked with your team before it becomes operational.
03 / Configure
Fit the workflows and connections
Larder is configured around the agreed operating model. Existing finance systems, scales, printers, scanners and other integrations are assessed individually before any compatibility is promised.
04 / Prove
Rehearse before live use
Representative synthetic or anonymised orders, lots, weights, exceptions and finance hand-offs are tested away from live work. We reconcile the results and agree acceptance criteria with the people who do the work.
05 / Prepare people
Train by role
Office, warehouse, production, delivery and management teams learn the parts of Larder they will actually use. Feedback is resolved before each workflow moves across.
06 / Go live
Cut over in controlled phases
We agree the sequence, decision points and fallback plan for each phase. There will be change, but it is planned around keeping the operation moving rather than forcing a single big-bang switch.
07 / Improve
Support, measure and expand
After go-live, we help teams settle into the new workflow, review real use and address issues. Further sites, integrations and processes are added as separately agreed phases.

A shared implementation

Make the customer-side workload visible from the start.

Larder brings the product and implementation method. Your people bring the operating knowledge and make the final decisions. We plan that involvement upfront, focus it on the moments where it changes the outcome and make responsibilities clear on both sides.

What we will need from you

An accountable sponsor who can make timely operational decisions
People who understand orders, stock, processing, traceability and finance
Representative data and examples, including awkward exceptions
Time for data validation, workflow testing and role-based training
Clear ownership of internal change, communications and go-live approval

The likely customer-side workload, owners and decision timetable are set out during discovery, before implementation work begins.

The difficult parts

Address the risks before they become go-live problems.

Messy or incomplete data

Older systems rarely contain perfectly consistent data. We profile what is available, agree what matters for the first phase and make gaps visible. Larder does not silently guess business-critical values.

Disruption to daily work

No ERP change is disruption-free. The aim is to reduce risk through rehearsal, phased scope, clear go-live criteria and a fallback plan understood by both teams.

Staff confidence and adoption

Experienced employees often carry knowledge that the old system never captured. We involve them in workflow validation and train around real responsibilities so the new process is familiar where it should be.

Existing systems and hardware

Keep what still has a job to do.

Larder does not require every system to disappear on day one. Finance platforms and specialist tools can remain part of the operating model while their hand-offs are defined. Scales, printers, scanners and other devices are checked for model, connection method, operating requirements and fallback process before integration is included in scope.

Data ownership and exit

Your business data stays yours.

Before implementation, we agree the records in scope, who can access them and how they can be retrieved. We also agree the export, retention, deletion and transition responsibilities that apply if the relationship ends, so exit is considered before the system becomes operationally important.

Start with the operation, not a generic implementation plan.

Tell us what runs the business today, where the friction sits and what cannot be put at risk. We will explore whether Larder fits and what a sensible first phase could be.