Dollar General has picked RELEX Solutions to run forecasting, replenishment and allocation across more than 21,000 stores and 34 distribution centers in North America. The three functions ran in separate systems before.
A supplier shipping into those distribution centers now works to ordering schedules and lead times set in one place rather than several.
The platform sets store replenishment, ordering schedules, lead times, supplier coordination and fulfillment methods. Sales patterns and other demand signals feed the plan directly, so the distribution centers and the stores work from the same numbers, per Supply Chain Dive.
“We chose RELEX because it gives us a practical way to use AI in our planning and helps our teams focus on the issues that truly need attention,” said Jeff Vaughan, Dollar General’s senior vice president of global inventory management.
This is the third change to Dollar General’s inventory operation since June. The retailer created a chief data and AI officer role and put delivery operations under it. It then told investors its SKU cuts were getting more surgical, with planogram tests pulling a substantial number of items out of low-volume stores.
Inventory turned 4.6 times in the second quarter, up from 4.3 a year earlier, on 2.7% less inventory per store and a flat total of $6.6 billion.
