A one-day lockdown of Caribbean Producers Jamaica’s (CPJ) facilities near the end of October was for a systems upgrade.
The distribution and manufacturing company, based in Montego Bay, is adding a new technology platform to improve its supply chain and logistics management functions.
Chief Executive Officer David Lowe said that the current upgrade was the first part of three phases. CPJ is spending US$1.5 million overall in the project, which Lowe said was necessitated by the fact that the business continues to grow, both in its home market of Jamaica, as well as offshore.
“Therefore, our investment in technology is not only strategic but necessary to remain efficient and manage costs as we continue to grow,” he said. “The deployment of new technology will enhance a number of functional areas of our business model.”
The logistics platform is a 24-month project due for completion next year. The wider expansion programme also kicked off last year and will wrap up in 2019. Overall, Caribbean Producers is spending US$2.7 million annually on the projects, over a span of three years, according to Lowe.
CPJ supplies tourism operators in Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean, with more than 3,000 items, including goods manufactured in the company’s food and beverage plants.
Lowe said the company’s business model relies heavily on logistics management
“Our logistics platform operates across multiple geographic locations outside of Jamaica,” he said. “We are really a logistics company first, followed by distribution and manufacturing in that order.” The technology is meant to maximise the company’s capacity to “buy on a large scale and deliver”, the CEO noted.
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The Gleaner
Avia Collinder
