Case Franprix Improving Operational Efficiency through AI-Driven Forecasting and Replenishment

A leading convenience store retailer, Franprix has some 900 store locations throughout France, mainly around the Paris area. While the majority of these locations are franchised, about one third are centrally owned and operated.

The Challenge: Decentralised Ordering Led to Operational Inefficiency

Franprix’s replenishment process was decentralised and time-consuming, with store associates placing replenishment orders manually. A lack of optimisation led to unnecessary stock-outs, waste, or over-stock. This decentralised ordering model also led to delivery peaks on their typically high-volume weekends, causing capacity issues in both stores and the distribution center. Store personnel struggled to replenish shelves and deliver customer service at the same time, while excess stock often spilled out of crowded back rooms onto sales floors.

Realising their business could no longer be supported by their existing processes, Franprix sought a supply chain solution that could:

• Automate previously manual store ordering, including for challenging fresh products

• Optimise forecasting and replenishment to increase availability and reduce food waste

• Increase operational efficiency by leveling out the flow of goods into stores so that store personnel could focus on clients and added-value services

Change Management Was Key to Rapid Transformation

Embarking on an ambitious supply chain transformation initiative, Franprix evaluated RELEX through a fresh replenishment pilot in three stores and, after strong results, chose RELEX to provide their 270 centrally managed stores with AIdriven forecasting and replenishment. They were compelled by the ability to optimise forecasting and replenishment for short shelf-life products like fresh bread to increase availability and reduce food waste.

“We were a bit late in automating forecasting and replenishment compared to our main French competitors,” admitted Franprix’s Head of Operational Excellence Arthur Caron. “However, this allowed us to move straight on to using the latest technology available, which gives us a clear competitive edge.”

Preparing for a technological step-change, Franprix developed a cohesive change management plan that ensured employees developed trust in the new tool and processes. During the roll-out phase, the company assigned up to ten “on-the-ground” employees to travel continuously to Franprix stores and speak with store managers. Mostly former store managers themselves, these change management facilitators were able to understand and speak directly to store personnel’s concerns and wishes—a key part of any change management project that is too often bypassed.

Franprix also assigned more than ten central employees to respond to store personnel during roll-out, checking store-level sales and other data in RELEX to quickly answer staff questions and adjust system parameters as needed. Much of the success of their RELEX implementation can be attributed to the investment they made in bringing store personnel on board. It took time, but it was worth it.

Results

Results at a Glance

• 67% decrease in stockouts

• EUR 1.7M (USD 2.2M) reduction in inventory value

• 30% decrease in product spoilage

• 2 pp margin improvement

Due to their thoughtful change management campaign, Franprix has seen remarkable improvements from the adoption of RELEX. The solution’s AI-driven demand forecasts have improved replenishment accuracy by automatically capturing store-SKU-level sales patterns impacted by weekday variation, seasonality, market trends, and even local weather forecasts.

The ability to leverage machine learning algorithms to automatically calculate the impact of weather data on demand has proven quite valuable for Franprix, as the impact on products and stores varies depending on a store’s location or customer base. “I noticed on the news that a heat wave was coming and thought to myself ‘shoot, I should have seen this earlier, I need to let my planners know,’” said Caron. “But when I reached out to the team, they told me not to worry. RELEX had already adjusted our forecasts based on the latest weather forecast.”

Forecast accuracy also drove improvements in store replenishment. Though Franprix stores are small, they carry a large inventory of fresh products, including meat and fish, salads and sandwiches, bread, and dairy. Taking store-level demand data into consideration, RELEX automatically optimised Franprix’s fresh and ambient product replenishment, reducing stockouts by 67%, fresh food waste by 30%, and inventory value by €1.7M.

Franprix has also benefitted from RELEX’s proactive “delivery flow smoothing,” which autonomously considers future order projections and pulls orders for long shelf-life products forward to smooth out flow of goods. With a more level, manageable flow of goods into stores, they no longer experience overwork and stress from store personnel having to replenish shelves while also meeting customer needs during footfall peaks. The risk of congesting small stores with big deliveries is much lower, and they’ve also seen improvements in DC capacity management, which was struggling with more than 500 stores placing their largest order of the week every Friday. This smoothing helped reduce DC workload by 20% on Fridays.

Improved store replenishment

RELEX’s AI-driven demand forecasts allowed Franprix to increase product availability and reduce food waste.

Beyond forecasting and replenishment, Franprix has leveraged RELEX’s powerful analytics for continuous assortment optimisation. The system monitors each SKU’s sales and profitability and automatically provides recommended assortment adjustments for each store on a weekly basis. Franprix is now able to quickly excise poorly performing products and replace them with products that both better meet local demand and maximise store profitability.

“RELEX’s flexible automation makes it simple and straightforward to implement changes in accordance with our company strategy,” said Caron. “I continue to be impressed by the flexibility. The range optimisation that we do with RELEX, for example, would not have been possible with any other tool.” Using that same flexibility, Franprix has been able to analyse and systematically drive down stock for long-tail products as well.

As Franprix looks to the future, that flexibility will serve them well as they continuously adapt their supply chain practices to the dynamic conditions of modern retail. RELEX will help them evolve their business well into the future, but RELEX’s team will also be there every step of the way. “The collaboration with RELEX is a true partnership,” said Caron, “and we’re going to make incredible strides together for years to come. We have many projects in mind!

Advanced assortment optimisation

Franprix is now able to maximise store profitability by leveraging RELEX’s powerful analytics in replacing poorly performing products with products that better meet local demand.

“This means each store doesn’t have to place an order, but software gathers and analyses the data, making a forecast based on the stock, sales and delivery expectations, to avoid any shortages and maximise sales. It is a very efficient way to replenish the stores. The software works with three years’ worth of historical data, so it can notice trends and events at certain times of the year, specific to each SKU within each store. Relex also provides external data for automatic replenishment purposes, such as customer behaviour based on the weather. It is all about the machine estimating what a human would have done manually.”

When it comes to assortment optimisation, Relex assists in selecting the right products for each store to meet the local customer demands. Arthur explains, “Relex helps us to select the most efficient assortment for each store. On a weekly basis, the software detects the products that are not efficient enough by analysing the sales, pricing and cost, suggesting which SKUs should not be replenished because they are taking up too much valuable space. If a product is performing well in a similar store, you have the opportunity to optimise the store assortment by replacing it with this SKU. It is a step-bystep process, leveraging the personalised data for each store.”

For the 750 stores that are not using automatic replenishment, Franprix is working on a new tool to allow them to order products from the warehouses more easily. Arthur elaborates, “In a nutshell, we want to give stores a full B2C customer experience using the website for ordering from the warehouses. It is about creating an enhanced, interactive online experience and customer journey with relevant images, product descriptions and order suggestions based on popular products and the store’s order history. The stores that order every day want something easy to use that taps into their everyday technology use. That is our vision, but it is still very much early days.”

With so many fantastic projects in the pipeline, we look forward to seeing Franprix’s future plans come to fruition.

For further information on Franprix, visit www.franprix.fr lcumus’ vision is to create the safest, most ethical global network of responsible buyers and suppliers for a better working world. Alcumus helps organisations to gain critical visibility of the compliance and non-compliance of their supply chain from tier one to four and beyond.

Anthony Hanley, SVP of Global Supply Chain Compliance at Alcumus, says, “We are focused on simplifying supply chain compliance, to create visibility and enable buyers and suppliers to connect with ease. Working with over 900 buyers across multiple industries, including 50 per cent of the FTSE 100, and over 45,000 contractors and suppliers across the globe, 2,000 of which are sole traders, no business is too big or too small. Our aim is to ensure the supply chain understands the requirements expected of it by their buyers from a compliance perspective. We act as the interface between the buyer, client, and their supply chain.”

There have been catastrophic waves of disruption in recent years and there are no signs of it slowing down. Coupled with the rising trend of increased regulations, organisations have a battle to survive, let alone grow. As Anthony explains, “New regulations are coming thick and fast. Workplace safety regulations are commonplace, driven by the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), but now with the emergence and significant focus on sustainability, we’re moving to a world where implementing stringent ESG practices is the strategic priority. The pace of change is phenomenal.

“The tide is rising and in-flight regulations, such as the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the EU proposed Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and the Procurement Bill, signify a permanent shift in expectations on organisations to do more. It’s hard to keep up. But they all have common ground and a legal spotlight that cannot be ignored to avoid huge financial and reputational consequences. It’s about having transparency of your supply chain, understanding who you are working with, and whether they have the same values as your organisation and meet your standards.”

The compliance conversation on modern slavery has accelerated. Anthony continues, “Organisations around the world are reacting to greater emphasis from governments, consumers, society, investors and regulations to be more transparent, especially around human rights. They need to make sure they are protecting people, the planet, and their bottom line, with profit being the third most important factor.

“A staggering 50 million people are currently estimated to be victims of modern slavery worldwide. Domestic work, agriculture, construction, and manufacturing are among the most prevalent sectors, with migrant workers being particularly vulnerable. Well-known brands will claim to be sustainable, when in fact the working conditions in factories are unethical. Fortunately, the prevalence of mobile phone footage, social media whistleblowers and NGOs has brought this hidden side to the forefront. The days of plausible deniability are over.”

Virtually all supply chains have a dark side. They’re often exploitative and unsustainable, particularly to the poor or desperate. Supply chain and procurement experts need to make sure their operations are clean and clear, and that there are no violations that could negatively impact the brand or result in business licenses getting revoked.

On the consumer side, Generation Z is changing buying behaviours, basing them on how ethical a business is, and so how can organisations drive safe, ethical and sustainable ways of working? Anthony answers, “There is a real shift change at the moment. Implementing strategies to ensure that workplaces are not engaging in risky or unethical practices should be top of the agenda for every organisation. It all starts with the data. The first step for any organisation is to understand who is in their supply chain. What data do you have within your business about your supply chain? It is often manually-driven, paper-based and in silos. There is never a consolidated view, unless the organisation is quite mature.”

Alcumus has a large ecosystem of contractors and suppliers that are already compliant, having gone through a robust health and safety audit and ESG assessment. Anthony says, “Invariably, about 50 per cent of a buyer’s supply chain is already with us, so we can turn on the compliance visibility of their supply chain in very little time. Going from 0 per cent visibility to 50 per cent is a remarkable place to start. I’ve seen first-hand the immediate impact this has on the board, procurement, safety and supply chain teams by having the ‘lights turned on’ for the first time. The strategies then come in as to how you can unlock that visibility to 100 per cent, working at board level to interconnect the whole business with a consolidated, centralised data view, to ensure a compliant supply chain. Effectively, we are transforming the supply chain compliance position and the ability to manage and monitor it. We are the next generation approach, as we don’t just focus on tier one. We create visibility throughout the chain, and tackle the blind spot of subcontracting head on.”

Many organisations are tackling the issue of gaining visibility from their tier one suppliers and contractors, but fall short when it comes to tier two, three and four etc. Anthony elaborates, “The further you go down the tiers of a supply chain, the lower the visibility. It is not just blind spots, but the dark side of the supply chain. When you are focused on tier one, you don’t really understand the risk that sits deep into your supply chain. Without direct visibility of whether a subcontractor is safe, insured, competent, has rights to work, has modern slavery policies etc, it is a real problem. You need to take a whole supply chain approach, risk-mapping it to understand all the different layers and companies within them, from tier to tier. It is the only way to tackle compliance in your supply chain.”

Anthony says he is passionate about helping organisations to understand that compliance should not be driven just by regulations, but because it is the right thing to do. He continues, “If you do it because it is the right thing to do, it will open up endless possibilities about how you can create a compliant supply chain. Our job is two-fold; to help the buyer organisation understand how it gains visibility, and to educate the supplier and contractor community to ensure they are working to the compliance requirements set out by the buyer they work for. The understanding of compliance is still quite low, so the more you complete your ecosystem of suppliers and contractors that share the same ethical values, the more you will work towards creating a positive world.”

A compliance journey with Alcumus typically takes 12 to 16 weeks, with the target of reaching 85 to 90 per cent compliance within this timeframe. Anthony adds, “We get to our goal very quickly, so that is one of our USPs. The remaining 5 to 10 per cent is the challenge. These may be organisations that the client decides not to use in the future, as they will only work with suppliers and contractors who meet the compliance requirements.”

As a global organisation, Alcumus has a genuine appetite for global prequalification. Anthony concludes,

“It is about embedding a compliance standard across your whole supply chain around the world, perhaps by different region or language. Our expert people support buyers and suppliers to ensure all information is accurate, relevant, and easily understood. As market leaders for over 20 years, we are heading towards a single global solution that will help organisations gain critical visibility of the compliance or non-compliance of their entire supply chain. Being able to bring all the data centrally back to the organisation is key. We are a hugely purpose-led business, helping organisations react to some phenomenal disruptions by building resilient supply chains.”

For further information on Alcumus, visit www.alcumus.com

Fire, pestilence, zombie apocalypse… how protective clothing got a fashionable makeover.

Image credit: Vollebak/Sun Lee

Adventuresome

TWIN BROTHERS NICK AND STEVE TIDBALL, THE BRAINS BEHIND INNOVATIVE CLOTHING COMPANY VOLLEBAK, HAVE HARNESSED TECHNOLOGY, MATERIALS AND SCIENCE TO MATCH FUN TO SERIOUS SURVIVAL.

hacky and wonderful besides intensely practical, their clothing ranges are designed for the next century, they say.

Every item they launch is considered and beyond fit for purpose. Take their Waterfallproof gear – jackets that are waterproof to over 40,000mm and will keep wearers warm down to -40ºC. The range also includes a parka made of a three-layer Swiss material with an intelligent membrane that opens and closes in the heat. It is coupled with self-drying nanotechnology that mimics the surface of a lotus leaf.

Too boring? Try the Titan range, which was constructed with NASA technology and tested down to -100ºC in a liquid nitrogen chamber. For those expecting even more extremes, the Apocalypse gear has more pockets than anyone will ever need and is built to withstand black lava, flash fires, chemical erosion and, tongue in cheek, zombies.

The tech behind the textile that led to the solar charged range winning awards is a phosphorescent compound, layered inside translucent mesh. This material can be charged instantly so it glows in the dark. Weighing 230g, it is soft enough to roll up and pack. By daylight it looks like any other trendy lightweight base layer, but the compound rapidly stores any light it encounters and re-emits it.

Besides the extreme, Vollebak has ventured into the creation of more recognisable collections like the Garbage range, made of recycled plastic bottles combined with old clothing. As part of the project Vollebak designers could not resist seeing what they could do with discarded bulletproof vests and firefighter suits made of aramid fibres. The result is a sweater that looks like a sweater to the uninitiated, and unless someone asks more about its colour or cool design, or tries to set fire to it, no-one would ever know of its properties.

Since the launch of its first product in 2015, Relaxation hoodies, designed to help wearers chill out, Vollebak has sought out ways of using a variety of materials to create innovative and technical textiles. So there are 11 kilometres of copper built into each Full Metal jacket. Copper is biostatic, meaning bacteria and viruses cannot thrive on it, and it has antimicrobial properties. It was an idea already under exploration when Covid-19 hit. Vollebak is keen to point out that copper has been central to innovation for thousands of years, used by the Egyptians to make medical tools and sterilise wounds, and alloyed to create bronze. In communications, it helped create the Gutenberg printing press, telegraph and the telephone, and it is also in telescopes, batteries, circuit boards and computer chips.

Reimagining uses for carbon fibre, ceramics, PBI, ballistic nylon and Dyneema, to name a few others, helps the company create clothing that gets talked about. None of it comes cheap, but scarcity is part of the appeal to fans and followers, who are always on the look-out for the next launch.

In 2022 the brothers unveiled their equivalent of an invisibility cloak, a computer-programmable thermal camouflage jacket. In partnership with the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, they created patches, each comprising 100-plus layers of pure graphene. Bringing physics and optical materials together with electronic control systems, textiles and engineering, the graphene patches are controlled like pixels via a microcontroller, and gold and copper printed wiring that applies voltage. Ionic liquid forces ions between the graphene layers reducing the thermal radiation emitted. Every patch is programmed individually and can emit thermal radiation at different levels, helping the jacket as a whole blend into its surroundings. Though currently only invisible on the infrared spectrum, the jacket is not yet for sale. Nick and Steve hope to produce a device that will control the textiles on all wavelengths. The process of continuous development resonates with the reason they started up Vollebak in the first place.

“Flying cars and invisibility cloaks aren’t going to magically appear by themselves just because we read about them as kids,” they say. “We know that the future doesn’t build itself.”

For further information on Vollebak, visit www.vollebak.com