A major agricultural holding specializing in the production and processing of meat and dairy products was the customer of the project. The group includes, among others, a large turkey production site, for which the project was implemented.
Implemented solutions: GoodsForecast.Planning, GoodsForecast.Distribution
Producers of perishable products need to supply the market with exactly the right amount of products to maximize demand while avoiding write-offs of surplus and fitting within the constraints that come directly from the production process. Addressing that business challenge requires solutions that can quickly forecast demand and, considering multiple factors and constraints, more accurately balance the utilization of production lines.
Therefore, back in 2020, the group's management decided to integrate a state-of-the-art output planning solution into its IT infrastructure. The tender resulted in the contract being awarded to the Russian vendor GoodsForecast and CROC specialists were also invited to perform the implementation work.
The joint project team, which included experts of GoodsForecast, CROC and the customer’s specialists was tasked with building a system that would accelerate demand forecasting and output balancing decision-making processes, making these processes more accurate and cost-effective. The ultimate goal of the project was to maximize the demand for the company's products.
In the course of the project, processes for collecting and preparing data for analysis were created. Predictive models were built based on historical data and enabled forecasting changes in demand two weeks ahead and “tomorrow” as well as “the day after tomorrow” orders. Models for balancing orders across production sites were also set up, considering various constraints and priorities.
After the launch of the system, the customer's time spent on forecasting and balancing output has decreased and their accuracy has increased. It is now possible to perform “what-if” scenario analysis, forecast order volumes for the next days, prioritize jobs based on their importance and factor in any capacity and raw material availability constraints.
As a result, the underutilization of production assets was resolved and it became easier to align production plans with the company’s financial goals. Comparative tests have shown that the GoodsForecast-based system ensures a 5% higher volume of confirmed orders than the manual process. The annual economic effect generated by the use of the system has been estimated by the customer at RUB 60 mln in additional profits.
By applying the new solutions, the agricultural holding can plan the output of each type of product more accurately and with less labor input, order the required quantities of packaging and optimize its slaughtering, freezing, promotion campaign and other schedules.
This approach makes it possible to better utilize employee time and equipment, evenly utilize production lines, reduce human error and improve customer relations through higher order coverage and service levels.
This is one of the first projects of such kind in Russia in the superfresh category.
"This project is exemplary and important for the entire industry. Just 2–3 years ago, manufacturers of perishable products could not act for certain and risked underutilizing their assets, failing to meet demand, under-receiving revenues and worsening customer relations. Now forecasting and balancing enabled to reengineer processes and utilize available resources with greater efficiency and benefit both for the company and its customers," Andrey Lisitsa, CEO of GoodsForecast, said..