As fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and have limited shelf life, retailers must handle their inventory with care to avoid spoilage and waste, especially when handling with demand forecast of seasonal products.

At this F&V Distribution Center, orders were created manually and registered several times a day according to the ongoing demand, resulting in a high depreciation rate, and delayed store delivery due to wrong products’ picking & quantity calculations. Transportation was operating until 11pm, occasionally, delivering to the same geographic area several times daily to assure next day product availability.

In addition, no one at the HQ had accurate information on the F&V inventory per store and as so, mistake rate was very high. Algoretail implemented the Automated Orders module considering all dedicated parameters adapted to fruits & vegetables like seasonality, special commencing sales dates, yearly events, and so forth.

Results:
– Orders are created automatically by 6am, considering the full day sales forecast, including safety stock and end-of-the-day visibility stock according to the store promotional plan.
– Each store is delivered only once a day – stock level is accurate for the daily consumption to keep products fresh.
– No more working until 11pm, the DC closes by 5pm daily.
– Inventory snapshot on chain level.
– In cases of product shortage, the system supports instant decision-making for distribution according to the available stock at each store and sales forecast until next delivery.