ARCOP Inc. has been innovating supply chain management since 1978 when it was officially incorporated in February in Ohio by four franchisees who served as the co-op’s first Trustees: Tom Johnson Jr., John Bohlsen, Mike Schulson and Dick Elias. The independent, non-profit QSR supply chain system was devised by Arby’s founder Leroy Raffel and several franchisee leaders, and the first President Tom Q. McKinnon to answer the call for a central, dedicated supply and procurement management team to manage day-to-day supplier relationships, logistics, and commodity price negotiations for the greater Arby’s system.
The inaugural ARCOP team developed a holistic, strategic model focused not only on mitigating costs for franchise and corporate restaurants, but establishing uniform expectations, standards, and mutual respect between the Arby’s system and its supplier community. In a matter of a few years, the first ARCOP team succeeded in evolving a multifarious, individual entity-focused commodity supply culture into a unified, sophisticated system-wide supply network – saving hundreds of thousands of dollars for the system in their first year alone.
Today’s ARCOP team manages over $1.2 billion in annual spend, maintains contracts with nearly 350 Arby’s suppliers and over 900 contracted SKUs, and moves over 27 million cases throughout the Arby’s system annually.
ARCOP’s founders, members, and team have made it a point to be a customer of choice, provide a winning, cohesive, and innovative culture and to “deliver excellence in every case.” ARCOP is solutions-driven and its members strive to truly embody the collaborative “family” atmosphere which has always been a key element in Arby’s success.