Coles Supermarkets has turned to Ever.Ag in an effort to modernise the way it plans and manages its fresh meat supply chain, using data science and optimisation software to replace much of the manual work once required across beef, lamb and pork.
According to the company announcement, the retailer previously relied on long hours of coordination between teams, spreadsheets and specialist knowledge to build supply plans. The new system now pulls data automatically from across the...
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operation and turns it into production and distribution recommendations, supported by predictive analysis and compliance rules built into the platform.
Ever.Ag chief executive Scott Sexton said meat remains one of the most complicated categories in food retail, adding that Coles was demonstrating what can be achieved when advanced analytics are applied at scale to day-to-day operations. Coles executive general manager of supermarket operations Martin Smithson said the priority was to improve the customer experience and make sure fresher cuts were available at the right price.
The retailer says the platform has already cut planning time from hours to minutes, while also improving consistency in the application of business policies across the three meat categories. It has also been used to reduce operational risk by capturing institutional knowledge in the system, improve responsiveness when demand changes, and strengthen planning accuracy for freshness, pricing, production and stock management.
The next stage of the partnership is expected to go beyond volume planning and towards value-based optimisation, where profitability, efficiency and customer outcomes are assessed together. Coles and Ever.Ag say that would allow the business to test scenarios, prepare for market swings and make choices that balance operational performance with environmental considerations.
Ever.Ag, which positions itself as an agrifood technology provider, offers software and market intelligence tools across dairy, livestock, crops and wider agribusiness operations.
Source: Noah Wire Services
