Atria, a leading food supplier throughout the Nordic region, Estonia and St. Petersburg area in Russia, has turned to RELEX’s “Superuser as a service” offering to ensure supply chain stability in the aftermath of COVID-19. A long-time RELEX customer, Atria has used RELEX’s demand forecasting since 2013.
Atria’s demand forecasting process is highly automated, but, as it did for many retailers, the impact of COVID-19 caused unexpected demand fluctuations that required a rapid response from their demand planning team. To quickly manage forecast fluctuations and mitigate their impact on the business, Atria’s Finnish planning team recognized a need for additional support during a critical time.
They turned to RELEX’s “Superuser as a service,” a service offering set up specifically to support customers impacted by COVID-19. Through the service, RELEX’s own experts offer additional hands-on support to customers’ planning teams, helping them navigate difficult decision-making processes in challenging situations.
In engaging the Superuser as a service offering, Atria’s main goal was to minimize long-term forecast fluctuations to improve and efficiently carry out the primary production plans for their produce. In addition to immediate support, Atria saw the service as an opportunity to train its own superusers to better manage future demand planning and deepen their understand of the factors impacting demand. The manufacturer hopes that in doing so, the service will ultimately help reduce manual adjustments to their forecasts.
“RELEX quickly set us up with an expert who was able to help us achieve visible results almost immediately.”
“RELEX quickly set us up with an expert who was able to help us achieve visible results almost immediately,” says Atria’s Planning Manager Mikko Soini. “We’ve seen our own expertise grew through this service, so we are happy to utilize the Superuser as a service offering in the future as well.”
Especially during the coronavirus crisis, planners have had their hands full having to quickly adapt to changing customer demand. RELEX’s ability to lessen the burden on their planning team has been extremely valuable to Atria. RELEX also offers its customers additional 24/7 Hypercare support to ensure immediate RELEX action on newly opened superuser tickets. They have also successfully implemented “markdown as a service” to customers need to increase sales to avoid excess stock and maximize margin.
“We always work closely with our customers and do everything within our power to support them under all conditions, no matter how challenging,” says RELEX’s Director in Finland and Baltics, Emma Aidanpää-Salmi. “We’re extremely proud that customers like Atria see us as a genuine partner and are eager to deepen our relationship even after the solutions have been implemented.”