by Angela Guess

According to a recent press release, “From today, retail supply chain teams will be able to use the Blue Yonder Replenishment Optimization solution to overcome two key challenges they face in ordering and distributing stock: (1) Predicting store demand and using these predictions to automate the stock ordering process. (2) Deciding how to distribute and ration the available stock when the store orders differ from the deliveries into the distribution center. Blue Yonder’s Replenishment Optimization for Distribution Centers uses artificial intelligence to optimize and automate these decisions to better balance oversupply in the warehouse with out-of-stock and waste situations in the store. The new solution ensures that the distribution center has exactly the right amount of products available that the stores will need (not more, or less).”

The release continues, “Currently, most supply chain managers use a mix of manual processes and rule-based logic from their fulfillment systems to decide what to order and where to send available stock. With this new solution from Blue Yonder, machine learning enables grocery retailers to calculate the likely demand from each store based on individual customer purchasing patterns, including the potential profitability of the decision. In today’s fiercely competitive grocery environment, shifting consumer lifestyles means the battle for profit – and therefore survival – is won and lost based on delivering the best customer experience, this is even more mission critical for fresh items. Decisions at the distribution center need to be optimized to ensure business success.”

Read more at Business Wire.

Photo credit: Blue Yonder