Révolution Fermentation, based in South Quebec, aims to make home fermentation accessible to a global audience. Founded in 2018 by Jean-Luc Henry and his wife, the company specializes in creating fermented foods like kombucha, yogurt, sourdough, etc., using living cultures such as yeast, bacteria, and molds. The product line includes starter kits, living cultures, and tools—everything one needs for at-home fermentation.
Jean-Luc describes the business as catering to a "niche but wide" market. This has led Révolution Fermentation to provide comprehensive educational materials like recipes and FAQs via their website, which drives around 80% of sales. The company’s mission is simple: “Popularizing home fermentations with quality products and advice from passionate people.”
Home fermentation experienced explosive growth during the pandemic. This led the company to its first expansion into a small warehouse in 2020 and a subsequent entry into the French market in 2021. Today, Révolution Fermentation has two third-party logistics partners—in Canada and France—and a growing number of SKUs (stock-keeping units).
MRP was a new concept
Initially, Jean-Luc ran the fledgling operation using a combination of spreadsheets and simple inventory planning software. However, as production volumes grew, the team started facing recurring stockout issues.
Jean-Luc recalls: “We needed to do regular stocktaking to purchase the right amount of materials. By the middle of the month, the stock levels had changed substantially, which the spreadsheets weren’t reflecting. So, we needed to restart the process a lot. It was a real pain to plan out quantities and schedule production.”
Jean-Luc didn’t know what MRP (Material Requirements Planning) was before a consultant introduced him to the concept through a business incubation program. He quickly realized the potential of automated production software and began to explore MRP systems.
After comparing a few options, he decided on MRPeasy. “Other competitors looked great on the outside but seemed missing key features. MRPeasy seemed to have the best engine and very good support. So we decided to give it a try.”
Implementation took just 10 days
Implementing MRPeasy turned out surprisingly quick for Révolution Fermentation. In December 2023, after about a week of research, Jean-Luc decided to move forward with MRPeasy. With the help of a consultant with MRP implementation experience, he set up basic functionality in just 10 days.
“I understood that using processes built into the software and designed by manufacturing engineers would be more efficient than creating my own solutions from scratch.” Jean-Luc notes.
The first Bills of Materials (BOMs) and routings were established, and MRPeasy was tested with a few products. While the initial implementation was fast, Jean-Luc admits that understanding the logic behind MRP and connecting the elements within the system was a challenge for him as a newcomer to manufacturing software.
Thankfully, support from MRPeasy's team proved invaluable. "I asked many questions and most of the time, I got good answers quickly," Jean-Luc shares.
Inventory control saw immediate improvements
Révolution Fermentation began to see MRPeasy’s benefits almost immediately. The first major advantage was real-time inventory tracking. “Before MRPeasy, we were doing stocktakes constantly but the data in the spreadsheets was still outdated,” Jean-Luc explains. "Now, we trust MRPeasy to know exactly where our inventory stands at any time."
Using MRPeasy, the team can also accurately plan how long each task will take and allocate labor accordingly. This is crucial as business is highly seasonal, with demand for specific products fluctuating throughout the year.
Another major benefit is MRPeasy’s ability to provide precise cost calculations. "We had a rough idea of our material costs but labor and manufacturing time were much harder to estimate before," Jean-Luc admits. “Now, we can accurately calculate the actual cost of production, greatly improving our pricing and profit margin analysis.”
A scaling business’s best friend
Jean-Luc aims to grow the business from $1M in sales to $10M. While there are challenges and more integrations to roll out, he believes MRPeasy’s robust functionality and great support make it an indispensable tool for his company.
To other manufacturers on a scaling path, Jean-Luc notes: “If it’s yourself that’s slowing your growth, look at your business model. However, if production or stock issues are slowing down business, MRP is the path to go down. I would pick MRPeasy every time for production efficiency."
For more information, visit https://www.mrpeasy.com/.
