UNFI Opening Finance Shared Services Center

UNFI is taking steps to standardize and simplify the way our suppliers, customers, and associates interact. It is the reason that we moved to One Sales Team, are investing in enterprise technology, and are integrating Haddon House and Gourmet Guru so quickly. As part of this goal, we are opening our first Finance Shared Services Center in the Providence metro area by the end of July 2017. Through the Finance Shared Services Center, UNFI will:

• Provide suppliers with a single UNFI point of contact for all inquiries
• Deploy simpler, more standardized processes to receive payments and resolve inquiries
• Improve resolution time on inquiries and payments

The Accounts Payable function will transition to the Finance Shared Service Center first. Billings and Deductions will follow, transitioning from July 2017 through October 2017.

We are excited to announce this change and to strengthen our business relationship with you. We will update you each step of the way, so please stay tuned for additional information regarding specific changes as we make them.

Thank you.

Haddon House Howell DC Conversion

The conversion of Haddon’s Howell Distribution Center to UNFI systems is under way and scheduled to go-live on March 13, 2017.  The changes include implementation of UNFI’s purchasing, warehouse management and order processing technologies.

As part of the conversion event, the Howell DC will have a period of down time in which we cannot accept deliveries. We will provide more details on the period of downtime in the coming weeks and you will be contacted directly if you will be impacted.

Changes to Contacts and Ordering

Haddon House suppliers will experience some changes as a result of the team integration and systems conversion:

• No changes will occur to receiving schedules in the Howell DC leading up to or immediately after conversion. There may be adjustments after UNFI and Haddon House have evaluated the delivery territories and options for servicing customers. 
• There will be changes to Haddon House / UNFI pick-up and vendor ship procedures after the Howell DC conversion.
• Suppliers moving from Haddon House / UNFI pick-up to Vendor Ship: After the DC conversion, all Purchase Orders will need to be delivered to the Howell DCs if we are now unable to pick them up. 
• Suppliers moving from Vendor Ship to Haddon House / UNFI pick-up: After each DC conversion, UNFI will be picking up Purchase Orders for the Howell DCs at the same time that other UNFI Purchase Orders are picked-up. Your UNFI buyer will be contacting you shortly to discuss this topic and if it will impact your current procedures with UNFI.
• Please continue to send your invoices for the Howell and Richburg DCs to the Haddon House Corporate Office at PO Box 907, 250 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055. If you are a supplier that uses EDI, please continue to send your invoices via EDI.
• Your Buyer and Supplier Relationship Manager may change. Please refer to the updated Buyer Assignment List. Your Supplier Relationship Manager will not be changing at this time, but may change in the next few months.
• Haddon House Purchase Orders will now be in the UNFI Business System (UBS) format. On the new Purchase Orders, you will see only cost of goods and off invoice promotions as their own line item. Allowances will not be included as separate line items on the invoice. 
• Order patterns and quantities may shift. Inventory Optimization (IO), UNFI’s inventory and purchasing technology, takes into account demand, sales history, and lead time to determine an optimal ordering frequency. For example, you may no longer receive orders on the same day (e.g., every Tuesday) as you do now. Buyers will communicate any expected shifts in ordering patterns to reduce impact to your production. IO also takes into account promotional activity and lead time to optimize order quantities. For example, you may see an increase in purchases during promotional periods.