System aims to forecast demand and speed replenishment

SALISBURY, N.C. — Ahold Delhaize USA said Wednesday that it plans to expand its use of a forecasting and replenishment solution proven to get perishables and other merchandise to stores faster.

The solution delivers integrated end-to-end forecasting and replenishment for fresh food and center store products using a flexible rules engine, which enables each of the retailer’s banners to tailor the technology to customers’ needs, according to the company.

By leveraging artificial intelligence, the system constantly learns from itself to enable increasingly sophisticated forecasting decisions, the company said.

The solution is being implemented by Ahold Delhaize’s services subsidiary, Retail Business Services, which oversees supply chain operations for the retailer’s Food Lion, Giant Food, GIANT/MARTIN’S, Hannaford, Peapod and Stop & Shop brands.

The system has been tested at Food Lion and Hannaford since early last year. Success of the pilot prompted Retail Business Services to decide to scale the solution to support each of Ahold Delhaize USA’s local brands, the company said.

“By implementing this game-changing solution, Retail Business Services is further enabling Ahold Delhaize USA’s local brands to deliver on their ambitions to be there for their customers anytime, anywhere with the freshest products,” said Chris Lewis, executive vice president of supply chain for Retail Business Services. “Not only will it provide local brand stores with the flexibility they need to best serve their customers, it will enable a complete supply chain transformation at a time when customer expectations are rapidly changing the way groceries are bought, sold and delivered.”

Retail Business Services is partnering on the project with U.K.-based RELEX Solutions, a provider of merchandising software designed to help retailers and manufacturers improve sales. Its automated software sorts through sales and inventory data, using statistical methodology to determine the performance of a product category at the store and regional level.

“Together, we share a common mission to optimize inventory levels and ultimately improve the shopping experience for consumers, no matter how they shop,” said Michael Falck, president, North America, for RELEX Solutions.