Case Study: Reducing Stock Outs for US Based Wholesaler
Customer
A US based manufacturer of electrical motors, servicing a wide variety of industries
Challenge
A manufacturing operation combined with a complex supply chain and increasing sales
Solution
Shelf Planner’s Demand Forecasting for WooCommerce
Scope
Reduce Stock Out situations by generating automated order proposals and safety stock.
The company has grown to become a recognized leader in the design, development and manufacture of mission critical motor controls and drives
In 2017, the company added a ready-to-order stock catalogue to their business, based on WooCommerce platform. Launching the B2B portal had an immediate and significant impact to the business as most customers jumped on it from day one. However, it also meant a surge in demand that was hard to meet and difficult to plan.
The client was in a state of flux, acquiring new businesses, and trying to keep all customers happy in the process.
In 2020, the company was one of the first Shelf Planner pilot customers and we were brought in as a key part of their new demand planning strategy.
The ambition was to implement the latest in artificial intelligence demand forecasting methods to begin to align their inventory operation with the market leaders.
We began by connecting the client’s WooCommerce store to the Shelf Planner AI demand forecasting engine.
The operational side of the Shelf Planner team also helped the client change their forecast schedule from monthly down to a weekly cycle – preparing the business operators for regular replenishment optimisation decisions to be made as the client executes further elements of their technology transformation.
The results of this project were delivered via the forecasting module in the Shelf Planner AI platform which was connected directly to the client’s B2B portal to facilitate batch ordering and safety stock calculations.
The operational and technological changes implemented for this client have driven more efficient inventory management and business planning, and allow the client to test the world of A.I in their business operations.