Waitrose has rolled out SAS forecasting software to help
it manage its supply chain.
The software will help the supermarket forecast demand for its
products based not only on the past history of each item, but on
variables such as the weather, sports events, holidays and
promotions.
Rob Thompson, Waitrose's head of supply chain, said, "SAS's
event forecasting software enables us to incorporate knowledge
about our business into the forecasting process and enables us to
forecast the demand for thousands of items quickly and accurately.
We anticipate that the return on investment we will achieve on
reduced wastage and increased revenues will be significant."
The SAS system will be used to forecast some 20,000 Waitrose
items across the company's stores.
After trials, one Waitrose store fruit and vegetable manager
said the system had cut his order amendment rate by half. Other
managers said the system allowed them to reduce the amount of items
they had to store on site.
Waitrose is planning to roll out the system to all stores next
year, after further trials in the run-up to Christmas.
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