Associated Wholesale Grocers optimizes forecasting and replenishment
The nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets is upgrading its legacy approach to distribution management.
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) will implement the Relex Solutions artificial intelligence-driven forecasting and replenishment solution to replace its legacy in-house proprietary systems and manual processes. As a result, AWG intends to optimize distribution center forecasting and replenishment, including fresh optimization, across its network.
AWG serves 1,100 member independent grocery retailers and 3,500 locations across 33 states from nine wholesale division support centers. The company’s goal is to balance freshness, availability and cost efficiency across its members’ diverse demand patterns.
"As we continue to scale our operations, we needed a partner with deep expertise in both wholesale and fresh optimization around demand forecasting and replenishment," said Tye Anthony, AWG chief merchandising & marketing officer. "Relex’s unified and scalable platform provides AWG and our members with optimal in-stock positions and fresher products, and a more responsive, data-driven supply chain. This partnership between AWG and Relex ultimately ensures that our members’ customers benefit from the highest quality products and a superior shopping experience."
By implementing Relex technology, AWG intends to deliver scalability and automation to support improvements in forecasting accuracy, reduce waste, and directly enhance member store performance. The company hopes to improve visibility across its supply chain to enable data-driven decisions and closer collaboration with member stores and suppliers.
In addition, by ensuring the right products are available at the right time, AWG seeks to enhance the shopping experience member retailers can provide to enable increased customer satisfaction and higher sales across both fresh and center store categories.
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"We are proud to support AWG’s mission to provide independent grocers with the tools they need to compete favorably in all markets served," said Doug Iverson, senior VP, North America at Relex Solutions. "Our collaboration helps AWG drive freshness and availability at the lowest possible cost, empowering their independent members with the right products in the right place at the right time."
