Caribou Coffee – balancing the challenges of a growing supply chain
Challenge
As one of the leading branded coffee companies in the United States, Caribou Coffee’s supply chain was becoming increasingly complex. With the company having expanded to more than 500 locations, spreadsheets were no longer the answer when it came to managing its supply chain.
The Caribou team knew relying on spreadsheets meant they were missing a big opportunity for integrated business planning. Spreadsheets couldn’t provide the accuracy and responsiveness they now needed to manage their growing supply chain.
It was time to move away from gauging demand just by the order-fill numbers of products leaving the warehouse. Caribou Coffee needed a solution to help manage its many supply chain components, drive a more efficient operation and expand product sales.
Solution
Caribou Coffee implemented the digital supply chain platform Logility Demand Planning. The AI-based solution gives Caribou a clearer picture of demand and allows the company to understand future market needs.
With strong analytics software, Caribou could expand the level of sophistication in its supply chain beyond forecasting and into production, promotions and new product introductions.
The introduction of the Logility platform has established the foundation for strategic business planning.
Impact
The Logility platform has enabled Caribou to completely transform its forecasting techniques, moving from monthly to weekly demand planning and forecasting.
The team has a clearer picture of available capacity, which products are obsolete, and when inventory needs to be in the warehouse to meet demand without the risk of overstocking. Write-offs due to aged inventory have decreased significantly.
The team is also now able to optimise inventory levels and increase inventory turns. Inventory turns, which started at eight to nine turns a year, have accelerated to between 13 to 14 – a 35% improvement.
The platform has also boosted customer service through product availability, accurate order fulfilment and on-time deliveries. Since implementing Logility, Caribou is operating at above 99% service levels.
