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Replenishment Tool for SKUs with short shelf-life​

January 23, 2023 3066 Views

Biobest is an expert in pollination and biological control. Among other things they are specialized in the production and transport of live insects and mites. These help agricultural organizations around the globe to apply effective pest control strategies. These insects are produced in Morocco and shipped to Belgium (replenishment) before they are processed, packed and distributed to the global market.

 

Opportunities

As the insects leave the production facility the shelf-life is limited to a couple of days. At the same time, customers want to order as late as possible, meaning that Biobest is forced to place replenishment orders before they know their final customer demand. Given the short shelf-life, it is critical to balance supply and demand as imbalances quickly lead to significant lost sales or product waste. 

Solution

Groenewout has developed tooling which helps Biobest enhance their decision-making process for the replenishment quantities. The tooling provides forecasting capabilities such as triple exponential smoothing which are used with detailed inventory to calculate optimal order quantities.

Benefits

  • The tooling enhanced the decision-making capabilities for their replenishment orders by providing data driven suggestions. Before the introduction of this replenishment tool, replenishment quantities were based only on the experience of the staff.
  • The tooling includes simulation capabilities which shows the impact on lost sales and product waste for different replenishment strategies. This allowed Biobest to adjust the replenishment strategy so that the ratio between lost sales and product waste is in-line with their service levels.