Kraft Heinz is leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and a dedicated control tower to improve efficiency, quality and visibility within its supply chain.
“Our goal is to create a self-driving, fully integrated supply chain with full visibility from farm to fork,” a company spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
The food product maker has been on a transformation journey it calls “Agile@Scale” since 2022, and upgrading its technology capabilities in pursuit of an autonomous supply chain is a key pillar.
A proprietary control tower built in partnership with Microsoft is at the core of Kraft Heinz’s digital ecosystem. Dubbed Kraft Heinz Lighthouse, the tower provides real-time information and visibility across the company’s supply chain, including plant operations and distribution channels, per the spokesperson.
The ability to make data-driven decisions in real time has shifted the company’s supply chain approach from reactive to proactive, CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference in February.
Kraft Heinz is also experimenting with AI, machine learning and automation technology to improve production efficiency and ingredient quality.
The company built its own internal AI engine, according to Abrams-Rivera, which optimized manufacturing processes and streamlined SAP rollouts in China.
At the ingredient level, Kraft Heinz is using a machine learning model to reformulate its products’ nutritional profiles, per Abrams-Rivera. It is also using its internal AI capabilities to further enhance the quality of ingredients it uses for its products.
As an example, the AI system automates cucumber quality inspections to increase precision and efficiency for its Claussen pickles production.
“We’re using proprietary AI vision to improve ingredient quality so precisely, that our technology can pick out a defective cucumber from a truckload,” the spokesperson said.
Using AI enabled Kraft Heinz to up pickle production efficiency by 12%, Bill Durbin, head of North America logistics and planning, told Food Dive in February.
“We are getting better quality from the start. That’s allowed us to get more cases out of that factory as we’ve improved that efficiency, which means better service for our customers,” Durbin said.
Kraft Heinz is also piloting a generative AI-enabled product called “PlantChat” that gathers real-time insights across the supply chain from employees making strategic decisions.
“We want to automate processes where it makes sense while ensuring humans are in the loop and their efforts are focused where needed most,” the spokesperson said.
Although Kraft Heinz has already made significant strides to overhaul its supply chain, it continues to pursue additional enhancements to support its overall business transformation.
“We are proud of the progress we’ve made, and we are just getting started,” the spokesperson said.
