Finning Canada
Clear Plan
and Strategic
Execution Key
to Finning’s
Dramatic
Transformation
The company’s overhaul focused on
a customer-centric approach
By Jim Timlick
I
n the business world, there are typically two types of
transformations when it comes to supply chain man-
agement — those that happen because of choice and
others where there really is no choice.
Yogi Suryawanshi, general manager, supply chain, for
Finning Canada, has no doubts about which of the two
categories his company’s recent transformation falls into.
“This one was no choice. Failure brought all of these is-
sues out and we had to close those gaps,” he says. “Time
was the enemy.”
Finning Canada is the biggest division of Finning
International, the world’s largest Caterpillar equipment
dealer, and has upwards of 50 warehouses and distribu-
tion centres across the country. The company has had a
presence in Canada since 1933 and sells, rents and pro-
vides service in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the
Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
That presence was very nearly threatened in 2011 when
the company launched its own enterprise resource plan-
ning (ERP) system. The new system became necessary
SUPPLY CHAIN CANADA • QUARTER 1 2017 • 21