Less wastage and stockouts for national supermarket chain thanks to Mendix
For supermarkets, empty shelves and wastage translate to lost sales. Maintaining the right level of on-shelf availability requires accurate inventory counts. We helped a national supermarket chain to improve its shelf audit processes with an ingenious, data-driven Mendix application integrated with SAP S/4HANA.
What was the challenge?
Modern supermarket ordering systems rely heavily on automation, making accurate stock counts essential. Inaccurate inventory data can disrupt replenishment processes, leading to over-delivery or under-delivery, which often results in lost revenue or unnecessary wastage. To mitigate this, regular manual counts are conducted.
The supermarket chain asked us to develop an application that accelerates and streamlines inventory counts, allowing store employees to spend less time on this task while minimising the risk of errors. In response, we built a convenient, user-friendly Mendix application that provides employees with easy access to the precise information they need for an efficient counting process.
What solution did we deliver?
The fewer counts required each day, the better. Another game changer involves prioritising items with presumed inaccurate stock levels during the counting process. By collaborating with the supermarket chain’s specialists, we developed a process that generates counting lists based on data-driven logic and prepares them in SAP.
We also developed the Mendix application to streamline the counting process. Store employees can use this application with handheld PDAs. The app provides a clear, prioritised list of items to be counted each day. Employees go to a specified shelf, count the items and enter the current stock — it’s that simple. Counts that have to be performed urgently automatically appear in a digital ‘urgent tray’ for high visibility.
Where did the complexity lie?
Successfully implementing automated ordering systems requires integrating diverse data sets, such as accurate shelf and warehouse stock levels, sales trends and pending deliveries. Different product groups often require specialised data that may not be relevant to other items, necessitating the need for a customised approach.
With meticulous attention to detail and close collaboration with the client, we made the counting lists as airtight as possible. Numerous integrations with SAP were necessary to create a user-friendly Mendix application that serves a national supermarket chain with hundreds of branches.
How did we make the difference?
Despite the complexities of the ordering process, we prioritised simplicity for end-users. Leveraging our extensive knowledge of retail processes, SAP, Mendix and UX, we streamlined the counting process to enhance accuracy and efficiency.
And we continue to enhance the application as it is gradually rolled out, closely monitoring behaviour and performance with various analytics tools. If any issues arise, we promptly intervene to address them and resolve the underlying problems.
