“We went from grade school to grad school.” That’s how Keith Attman, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain at Acme Paper & Supply Company, described their transformation after implementing Blue Ridge.
After decades of managing inventory with legacy tools and manual processes, Acme Paper & Supply knew it was time to modernize. Growing complexity, rising costs, and the pressure of unpredictable disruptions, tariffs, seasonal shifts, and supply shocks, demanded a smarter, more responsive way to plan.
The Trigger to Change
“Our old system relied on rolling two-month averages and tribal knowledge,” Keith shared. “There was no intelligence, no linking between items, and any seasonality adjustments had to be coded in manually.”
After exploring native ERP tools and evaluating options recommended by their buying group, Keith discovered Blue Ridge through an industry peer. “He had nothing but great things to say and we could see why. Blue Ridge offered what others couldn’t: strategic control and daily simplicity.”
A Smart (and Real) Implementation Story
Keith played a hands-on role throughout the implementation process. “I’m not a developer, but I could lead it without needing constant technical support. That was a huge win for us.”
While the data cleanup process was tedious, Keith emphasized the payoff: real-time visibility, fast adjustments, and fewer daily touches. “We’ve learned how to be strategic instead of reactive. Things like adjusting total lead time in one place instead of adding a day to every PO, those small wins add up fast.”
What Changed for Acme
- Acme Paper saw meaningful gains across their supply chain operations after implementing Blue Ridge: Fewer stockouts and tighter exception management.
- Real-time visibility into A-item performance via a custom dashboard.
- Smarter replenishment with advanced inventory stratification (ABC/DE).
- Improved buyer productivity, with the groundwork in place for future consolidation.
- Seamless integration with NetSuite, including new functionality that pushes planning insights into saved searches for daily buyer use.
“Every morning, my buyers know exactly where their attention needs to be focused. This allows them to being proactive in correcting and addressing them without logging into multiple systems. That’s game-changing.”
“I’m fully in the camp of recommending Blue Ridge. I’ve already done it multiple times. The platform, the roadmap, and the people make it a solution worth betting on.”
Ready to Level Up Like Acme?
Blue Ridge empowers supply chain teams to eliminate guesswork, reduce stockouts, and plan with confidence—no developer degree required. If your current system is holding you back, it might be time to make the leap from grade school to grad school.
