Carrefour becomes first French retailer to utilise AI in supply chain optimisation

One of the world’s leading food retailers has become the first French retailer to use artificial intelligence to optimise its supply chain process.

Carrefour Group announced in a statement this week that, as part of a €2bn annual investment budget included in the "Carrefour 2022" transformation plan, the company’s supply chain has selected Viya’s AI solution developed by SAS. Carrefour will complete an 18-month trial period and utilise the SAS solution to collect and process data from its stores, warehouses and e-commerce websites. It will allow the company to predict demand and refine supplier orders.

"The deployment of the SAS platform will help us turn the corner in optimising our supply chain," says Franck Noël-Fontana, Forecast Director at Carrefour France. “By freeing up time for teams, artificial intelligence will allow them to focus on developing differentiated forecasting strategies and better meeting customer expectations while reducing waste."
 

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The implementation of AI represents an industry first in the French retail sector. Carrefour will take advantage of SAS Viya’s multi-channel distribution and inventory optimisation to reduce waste and create value.

“AI will also enable people in new occupations - such as data scientists for data processing and demand planners for business expertise - to work in parallel on forward planning tasks,” says Carrefour. “Optimising the work of the supply and planning teams, the SAS platform can process a variety of data from the Carrefour Supply Chain information system. It will also make teams more agile by allowing them to integrate new working methods and continuously improve their forecasting processes. The SAS open AI solution will also offer Carrefour experts an opportunity to develop their own bespoke algorithms to meet their specific needs.”