Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. will roll out its Relex Solutions supply chain planning platform in roughly a dozen distribution centers this month, executives told investors on a March 10 earnings call.
- The wholesale food distributor expects to deploy the AI-powered technology across its entire distribution network by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends Aug. 1, CEO Sandy Douglas said.
- “As our Relex implementation progresses, it's helping us to improve customer service, fill rates and inventory management, which is, in turn, improving our free cash flow,” Douglas said.
Dive Insight:
UNFI’s Relex Solutions system rollout, which started in 2023, is part of a broader supply chain overhaul that pairs advanced planning technology with automation and a standardized lean operating model. The model is built on a lean management philosophy that prioritizes continuous process improvement.
Over the last year, the company has added automation equipment to at least four facilities and implemented a lean framework in at least 34 of its 49 distribution centers.
Despite this progress, UNFI is still in the early stages of its lean transformation and believes there is significantly more value to unlock for customers, suppliers, associates and shareholders in the months and years ahead, CFO Giorgio Tarditi said on the latest earning call.
As part of this broader transformation, the Relex inventory system was first installed in the company’s natural foods distribution centers, with implementation now underway in its conventional food facilities, Tarditi said at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference on March 12.
The technology complements UNFI's move to decentralize its procurement model, in which small teams at each distribution center read local demand signals to quickly adjust purchasing decisions, Tarditi said.
The procurement approach and technology investments sit within a broader plan. In 2024, UNFI launched a multiyear transformation strategy to build a next-generation supply chain through improved processes and advanced technologies, Douglas said at the company's analyst and investor day last December. The project aims to better serve customers and suppliers while reducing operating costs.
