Retail giant Carrefour has chosen SAS Viya to optimise its supply chain as part of the company’s global transformation plan to better meet customer expectations through advanced technologies.
Carrefour aims to create a unique online and in-store shopping universe where the most suitable merchandise for recognised loyalty customers is guaranteed any time, any place. The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise the supply chain is a first for the French retail sector.
To meet the challenges of omnichannel distribution and inventory optimisation the company is using SAS Viya to collect and process data from stores, warehouses and e-commerce sites. Analysis of the data will improve downstream forecasting and upstream ordering with suppliers – reducing waste and overstocks.
Following an 18-month test period, SAS Viya will be deployed at Carrefour in a way that allows procurement and replenishment teams greater agility for integrating working methods and continuously improving forecasting processes. Robust, secure, open and elastic, SAS Viya stores and processes large volumes of data and will allow Carrefour’s experts to develop tailor-made algorithms to meet their specific needs.
“The SAS Viya deployment will allow us to take a step forward in our supply chain optimisation. “Artificial intelligence will free up time for our teams to focus on developing differentiated forecasting strategies and best meet our customers’ expectations while reducing waste,” said Franck Noel-Fontana, Forecasting Director at Carrefour France.
SAS and partner Capgemini will offer Carrefour technological and business expertise throughout the deployment.
“With so much talk about AI, it is projects like this one at Carrefour that help separate the reality from the hype,” said Oliver Schabenberger, SAS Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer. “We have seen incredible advances in making algorithms perform – with stunning accuracy – tasks that a human could do.”
