Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Associated Food Stores is a grocery cooperative serving independent retailers across 11 states. The organization supports 512 grocery stores across grocery, frozen, general merchandise, produce, deli and dairy categories. The company recently launched a pharmacy warehouse, now supplying 430 pharmacies across the country.
成功案例
相关食品店
Advanced Warehouse Replenishment
Associated Food Stores expands its warehouse replenishment capabilities with Blue Yonder
公司案例
业务挑战
Associated Food Stores had been using Blue Yonder Advanced Warehouse Replenishment for many years. The business wanted to expand usage to its stores. As the company prepared for an upgrade to Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment, Associated Food Stores teams’ was aware of risks involved. Much of the system knowledge sat with one individual who departed the company, creating uncertainty around implementation readiness, process documentation and workflow continuity. At the same time, the business wanted to advance beyond warehouse replenishment and include store-level replenishment, with the goal of automating forecasting and order recommendations to reduce lost sales and improve store support.
解决方案
Associated Food Stores upgraded to Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment an all-encompassing solution that combines all the features and functions of Advanced Warehouse Replenishment and Advanced Store Replenishment in a web enabled user interface designed to optimize the user experience. The solution includes the foundational replenishment tools and is powered by machine learning through the embedded Seasonal Profiler. Additionally, the solution supports multi-tier configuration by allowing for flexible logistics networks, ensuring Associated Food Stores has a synchronized supply chain with coordinated safety stock, order levels, and lead times. Blue Yonder Professional Services supported the implementation by documenting workflows, connecting process details and helping Associated Food Stores move through its upgrade with clarity. Since moving to the updated solution, the company has continued tracking inventory levels, with forecast accuracy improving as use of the solution expands.
“We’ve been with Blue Yonder for over 28 years now, and we’re continuing to find new ways of working with them to make our business scalable and more efficient.”
–Chris Cole, Inventory Manager and Buyer, Associated Food Stores
From long-term replenishment use to a broader platform
Associated Food Stores already had a long history with Blue Yonder’s replenishment capabilities. With a history of over 28 years of using Blue Yonder, the company’s challenge was not a lack of familiarity. It was moving from an environment shaped by older purchasing processes and custom code into a broader, more flexible solution that could support the next phase of replenishment.
When Associated Food Stores prepared for its upgrade with Blue Yonder, a key concern was the knowledge gap created when much of the code history had been written by an associate who was no longer available to explain it. Associated Food Stores needed more than software deployment, it needed workflow visibility, process mapping and practical support.
Making replenishment easier to use
The Blue Yonder Professional Services team laid out diagrams, documented workflows and connected process details needed to move Associated Food Stores’ upgrade forward.
“Working with the Blue Yonder Professional Services team was seamless and quick. We were often the ones holding them up on the next step, and not the other way around,” says Cole.
With Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment capabilities, Associated Food Stores improved its usability by opening access to different modules through a more unified solution.
“Our team had been heavy users of the prior Blue Yonder solutions, but the new combined approach made use of the solution much easier,” says Cole.
With Blue Yonder’s solution, Associated Food Stores has been tracking inventory levels, service levels and forecast accuracy. Forecast accuracy continues to improve, giving the business a stronger base for future replenishment decisions. Increased visibility helps Associated Food Stores distinguish between internal buying, maintenance issues, and external supply constraints.
A partnership for the next phase
Associated Food Stores recently renewed with Blue Yonder for another three years. That decision reflects confidence built through long-term use, a successful upgrade and continued relevance of its replenishment roadmap.
“We had no intention of going elsewhere. Blue Yonder is a best-in-class solution,” says Cole.
Looking ahead, Associated Food Stores is focused on utilizing more of the Advanced Replenishment functionality and moving store replenishment from aspiration to execution. From there, the cooperative can use results, store feedback and replenishment performance to support wider member adoption. As forecast accuracy improves and the company gains more experience with store level replenishment, Associated Food Stores can make the case for smarter ordering practices grounded in actual demand signals at the store. The business value would mean fewer avoidable lost sales, better alignment between warehouse supply and store need, clearer diagnosis of service-level issues and a more scalable replenishment process for a cooperative with hundreds of retail locations.
