Supermarkets are heavily impacted by unexpected peaks in demand and product unavailability from areas that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This global health crisis has uncovered vulnerabilities in our food supply chains and logistics, affecting the capacity of food retailers to ensure its continuity. It is critical for retailers to quickly respond to these sudden changes, but many struggle with this because their planners still rely on spreadsheets and legacy tools to plan their logistics operations.
These methods aren’t made to solve today’s complex food logistics planning challenges. The methods can indicate how well plans have been executed, but lack the capability to help manage unforeseen challenges on current operations and in the future.
Fortunately, there are solutions available that can help retailers cope with disruptions. Planning and optimization software, powered by mathematical optimization, can perform calculations based on all available data sources to generate optimal plans It will help your planners manage existing resources and constraints to meet your business goals.
The right software, such as DELMIA Quintiq, can empower retailers to adjust to a new set of constraints and requirements in real time such as:
- New pick-up locations
- Sudden changes in volume
- New or additional modes of transport
- Changes in network of stores
- Traffic congestion
Here’s a recent example of how DELMIA Quintiq enabled a large European retailer to efficiently respond to availability issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Recent developments have signaled that the time has come for retailers to take their supply chain agility to the next level. Read more to discover how a planning and optimization system can help you deal with today’s disruptions and tomorrow’s challenges.
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Global Marketing Specialist at Dassault Systèmes, Netherlands