On the other hand, consumer goods companies mainly Automate business operationsthe path to technology-enabled processes is often complex and unique to each organization.
Douglas Guilherme, Global Vice President, Supply Chain The Hershey CompanyNitin Murali, Vice President, Supply Chain, Wine Company Garodiscussed their approach to implementing decision intelligence and AI in the supply chain at a recent industry event held by Aera Technology.
For Guilherme, efforts always start with the problem, not the technology. That’s why Hershey recently identified three areas that need attention.
Preventing supply chain losses: Balance supply and demand to avoid stockouts, overstocks, and overall waste.Standard setting: Standardize parameters across different supply chain nodes (manufacturing and planning) so that everyone plans with the same set of rules.Material loss: Optimize the timing (advance, delay, or cancel) of material orders to prevent production line stoppages and avoid excess material and waste.
The first project saw savings approximately 90 days after launch, highlighting the speed of information provided. This allows the company to track results by day, user, click, and skill.
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In change management, this upgrade allows Hershey to identify when employees are not acting on recommendations, address challenges, and improve solutions. This metric also makes buy-in easier because stakeholders can see visible and measurable savings on a daily basis.
As for future investments, Hershey is eyeing package and truck optimization and touchless order management, with three skills expected to be operational by early 2026.
