Supply Chain Trends Your Business Needs in 2025
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Supply Chain Automation for Food and Retail Suppliers: Challenges and Solutions for Small, Mid-Sized, and Large Businesses
May 30, 2025
17 minutes
Contents
From taking orders over the phone – to enabling customers to place purchase requests independently with help from AI assistants. From jotting down notes in notebooks – to managing customer data and payments through ERP platforms. From tracking stock in Excel – to using advanced WMS systems.
Over the past decade, digital tools have evolved from supporting supply chains to actively managing them. Today, these systems can forecast demand and scale customer engagement as well as experienced managers can. At the very least, they can automate routine tasks and track inventory.
By 2024, 50% of companies had implemented AI tools into their supply chains, and the use of warehouse robotics had increased by an average of 20% each year. Retailers' expectations are evolving as well: 92% of chains in the U.S. and Europe now prefer to work with local suppliers and are shifting toward Q-commerce, which delivers goods within minutes rather than hours. According to Shopify, over 600 million people worldwide now shop through dark stores, forcing suppliers to compete based on speed and margins – down to the second and cent.
In this race, small- and mid-sized suppliers are increasingly competing with industry giants due to their better understanding of local market needs. As a result, smart warehouses, end-to-end analytics, and AI-driven operations have gone from optional to essential.
Operational challenges persist at all levels. According to the GEODIS Supply Chain Worldwide Survey, only 6% of the 623 companies surveyed reported having a fully transparent and traceable supply chains. Meanwhile, 47% said their current AI tools are insufficient for accurately forecasting demand and optimizing costs.
So what should suppliers focus on in 2025? Should small businesses rethink automation – or is sticking with Excel and one-on-one customer service still viable? Can B2B e-commerce solutions and predictive analytics help midsized suppliers grow? Do big brands have a future in a world that favors local producers and sustainable practices?
In this article, we’ll explore where automation stumbles, where supply chains leak, and which technical solutions can help close the gaps.
Getting Started with Supply Chain Automation for Small Businesses
Small businesses remain the most vulnerable segment of suppliers when it comes to supply chain management. Many start out as small farms or family-owned businesses that supply local restaurants and shops. They often rely on outdated processes: orders come in via phone or messaging app, inventory is tracked using Excel or paper records, and warehouse operations are managed manually. Their relationships with customers, especially restaurants and retailers, are typically based on personal trust and verbal agreements. Technical talent is often scarce or non-existent.
Success story. Labatt Food Service is now one of the top 10 food distributors in the U.S., but it started as a small, family-owned business that served local restaurants, schools, and institutions. As early as 2002, Labatt began using voice picking technology in its warehouses to improve order accuracy and operational efficiency.
On the one hand, small suppliers often win when it comes to quality. According to McKinsey, consumer interest in healthy, locally sourced food in Europe is expected to increase by 30% by 2025. Additionally, 40% of F&B producers now cite sustainability as their top priority. This trend of supporting local communities creates new growth opportunities for small suppliers, especially in regional markets.
However, operational inefficiencies are holding them back. Most small businesses lack sales analytics, which makes it difficult to adjust prices or identify the most profitable products. Consequently, they often lose business to competitors who use automation to offer better prices, faster delivery, and a more consistent service experience.
Ready to incorporate automation software into your supply chain? Tell us about your business goals
Human Error from Manual Workflows
Without an automated supply chain, a business becomes entirely dependent on human accuracy, which is risky. Orders may be missed, incorrect items or quantities may be recorded, and invoices and packing slips may contain errors. These inconsistencies lead to underdeliveries, lost shipments, and dissatisfied customers – especially in high-pressure environments such as restaurants with tight schedules or retail chains with automation solutions.
✍ Example. Smaller suppliers often ship products without a standardized labeling system. There are no stickers, barcodes, product names, or packing dates on the boxes. At the client’s warehouse, receiving becomes a guessing game. Staff must match physical boxes with an Excel spreadsheet or a WhatsApp screenshot. Even if the products are high quality, constant confusion and manual errors can ruin the relationship.
Check out our case study on how we helped a client integrate with Oracle and automate their order intake process.
New website and personal account for B2B
We created a platform for a company that imports and distributes electronic components. They wanted to get away from the outdated site where you could search components and automate some of the sales processes.
Poor Traceability and High Delivery Costs
Without a centralized inventory system, it's possible to accept orders for products that are no longer in stock, which can result in missed deliveries. Without real-time inventory tracking, it's difficult to identify stock surpluses or shortages before they cause problems that are costly to resolve.
For small suppliers, low volumes make it even harder to control costs per order or optimize logistics. They often can't compete with the delivery efficiency or discount power of more automated competitors, which puts them at risk of losing customers.
✍ Example. A dairy supplier agrees to a rush delivery for a new restaurant client. Later, they realize that part of the order is stored at a different warehouse, which adds two hours to the delivery route. Although logistics costs are high, the price has already been agreed upon. The supplier barely breaks even, and a few days later, the client receives a competing offer with the same products for 5% less and guaranteed delivery windows. The client makes the switch.
Compliance and Documentation Challenges
Suppliers in both the U.S. and Europe are facing increasing regulatory pressures. In the U.S., for instance, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Rule 204 requires suppliers to track products from farm to final point of sale and maintain that data digitally. In Europe, the transition to e-invoicing and electronic documentation via PEPPOL is accelerating, along with stricter traceability standards for agri-food products, including labeling and veterinary certificates.
For large distributors, these processes are part of their daily routine. But for a small cheese maker, farm, or workshop, they are daily source of stress. Managers and accountants are forced to deal with multiple document formats, track submission deadlines, and manually upload invoices to customer portals or government systems. One mistake can result in a rejected shipment or financial penalties.
✍ Example. A supplier still using outdated software and manually generating PDF invoices may find that orders are rejected at the point of delivery simply because required electronic documents are missing. The shipment is returned to the warehouse, and the company must scramble to upgrade systems and find new buyers – all while risking spoilage or loss of product value.
Lack of Integration with Customers
Restaurants and retailers are increasingly adopting digital procurement systems. For smaller suppliers, connecting to these platforms can be a serious challenge. For example, a large restaurant chain may require electronic data interchange (EDI) integration. But many small businesses lack both the in-house technical expertise and the budget to implement it.
Integration gaps also appear in the last mile. Even when both the supplier and the customer have digital tools, such as ERP system or logistics application, they often don't talk to each other. For example, a supplier might send an invoice in one format, but the customer's system can't read it. This leads to delays and the need for manual fixes.
✍ Example. A chef emails an order to a small farm, and the farmer re-keys it into his own system. Or the farm has a modern consumer-facing website, but no way to digitally confirm a B2B order. The result is miscommunication, follow-up calls, and missed deliveries – and, in some cases, lost customers.
Struggling with retail automation? Tell us where you're stuck and we'll find the right solution
Tech Solutions for Small Suppliers
Nowadays, even small suppliers have access to affordable digital tools that can help them overcome many of the challenges described above.
B2B Marketplaces
To simplify the ordering process, small producers can connect to existing B2B e-commerce software solutions. These solutions allow restaurants to place orders with multiple suppliers through a single interface.
Popular solutions in the US include:
- Pod Foods;
- Cheetah;
- Cut+Dry.
In Europe, common platforms include:
- Choco;
- Mercateo/Unite;
- FoodRazor;
- Apicbase.
These systems operate using a common digital workflow. The restaurant places an order online. The supplier sees the order in real time, confirms it, and the invoice is automatically sent to their accounting system. This process is fully compliant with digital documentation standards.
See how we created a secure and transparent marketplace for small-scale producers and artisans with Godno.
Godno: development of a marketplace for small businesses and handmade sellers
Story of the marketplace website and mobile app development aimed at organizing convenient sale of designer items from local brands, artisans and small manufacturers.
Simple Analytics and Reporting
Small suppliers don't need complex dashboards to get started. Basic reporting is enough, including tracking inventory levels, product expiration dates, and outstanding customer payments. A simple system can help you track overdue invoices and automatically send reminders. You can also analyze sales data to identify which products are selling well and which are underperforming. You can export data by date range and use it to forecast seasonal demand, helping you prepare more effectively for the next cycle.
Cloud Services and ERP Systems
In both the U.S. and Europe, there are plenty of off-the-shelf cloud solutions for managing inventory, purchasing, and sales digitally. These tools allow you to:
- Track stock levels in real time;
- Generate error-free invoices and shipping docs;
- Set up basic features such as product and price catalogs, automatic inventory deductions when sales occur, and easy-to-generate sales performance reports.
This reduces reliance on manual processes and speeds order fulfillment.
The same goes for the warehouse. By adding a barcode scanner to your inventory system, you can instantly track incoming and outgoing goods, reducing the time and human error associated with inventory counts. You can also set up bin-level storage and batch labeling, ensuring that you always know exactly where each product is stored.
General Recommendations for Process Automation in Retail Industry
For small suppliers, the ideal retail automation technologies should be affordable, easy to implement, and scalable. These companies need quick results, such as reduced manual work, improved inventory visibility, and peace of mind regarding compliance.
At the same time, their systems must evolve alongside them. As product lines and customer bases grow, vendors should be able to add new functionality, such as integrating warehouse software with online marketplaces, without starting from scratch.
✍ Example. While building a mobile app for Sizl, a fast-growing dark kitchen network based in Chicago, we utilized several ready-made integrations, ranging from customer support platforms to analytics tools. This setup enabled the product to scale flexibly and adapt to Sizl's growth. We continue to expand this retail automation platform today, and launching new features typically takes just one to two days.
Sizl: How we became the tech partner for the Chicago-based Dark Kitchen Network
This is the story of how to create a dark kitchen app for a fast-growing network offering food delivery and pickup in Chicago. It started with a complete rebuild of the existing platform and evolved into ongoing development of new features.
Mid-Sized Suppliers: Growth, Integration, and Efficiency
Mid-sized delivery networks have grown beyond the micro-business stage, but haven't yet reached the scale of large corporations. These networks typically operate in one or more regions and serve dozens of restaurants, cafés, local automated retail chains, and dark stores. These networks usually manage two to three warehouses and a product catalog of hundreds to several thousand SKUs.
Their teams typically consist of 20 to 100 employees, including salespeople, logistics coordinators, warehouse workers, drivers, and accountants. Many of these companies have their own delivery fleet and use basic accounting or inventory platforms, such as QuickBooks, Odoo, or NetSuite.
According to the logistics firm Warehousewiz survey, 55% of mid-sized companies are now focused on making their supply chains more resilient and flexible, and 57% of those companies rank full traceability as a top priority.
✍ Success story. Norwegian distributor ASKO Midt-Norge implemented an automated high-bay warehouse equipped with an intelligent picking system. The result is faster handling of 270 high-turnover stock keeping units (SKUs), improved picking accuracy, increased operational efficiency, and significantly reduced logistics costs.
Many mid-size companies struggle with automation gaps that directly affect their efficiency and profit margins.
Fragmented Systems and “Islands of Automation”
Many mid-sized companies have some degree of automation, but it's often scattered across different departments' disconnected tools. There is no unified, end-to-end system tying everything together. For instance, the warehouse may use a standalone tool like Fishbowl – or even Excel – to track inventory. Meanwhile, the sales team might use Zoho CRM or HubSpot, and customer orders come in via email, web forms, or phone calls. The accounting department uses QuickBooks or Xero, and the logistics team plans routes manually in Google Maps.
This often creates "islands of automation," which are parts of the supply chain that don't communicate with each other. The result? Sales managers must manually assemble orders, reconcile inventory levels, and transfer data between systems. These issues lead to delayed deliveries, inconsistent reporting, and slower decision-making.
✍ Example. A sales rep receives an order from a restaurant via the website. They manually enter it into the CRM, call to confirm details, and forward the information to the warehouse. The warehouse pulls inventory from Excel, checks availability, and sends the numbers to accounting for invoicing. However, because the order was created in several disconnected systems, an item is missing during fulfillment. The restaurant receives an incomplete shipment and must scramble to find a replacement.
Olga V.
Business Manager
Want a more transparent supply chain? Book a quick consultation and we'll show you what it could look like
Warehouse and Inventory Management
Without a robust warehouse management system (WMS), inventory storage can quickly become chaotic-especially as product assortments grow. When there's no clear logic for shelf placement or bin locations, inventory checks slow down and warehouse workers spend too much time searching for the right items.
The problem becomes more difficult when multiple warehouses are involved. Companies struggle to balance inventory across locations, determine appropriate delivery amounts, and maintain proper storage conditions. Without a unified system, replenishing inventory for restaurant and retail customers becomes inconsistent and error-prone.
✍ Example. The company operates three warehouses, one of which is overloaded with seasonal products. Without centralized oversight, the logistics manager stores products wherever there's space, ignoring warehouse logic. When a rush order comes in, staff spend 30 minutes trying to find the right batch. As it turns out, the same product was available in abundance at another warehouse, but no one knew because the systems weren't connected.
Customer relationship management
For many midsize suppliers, customer management starts with an ERP system. However, as businesses grow and add new sales channels, such as direct-to-consumer or e-commerce, the volume of customers and data increases dramatically. Tracking popular products, maintaining customer loyalty, and analyzing performance across multiple channels becomes challenging.
✍ Example. A few years ago, the seafood retailer John Dory approached us about relaunching its loyalty program as a mobile app. The company's goals were to reach more customers, speed up the process of earning points and discounts, and gain deeper insight into sales data. After the app's release, it climbed to #2 in its category on the App Store, and it continues to attract 8,000–10,000 new users each month. As a result, John Dory expanded its regional footprint and launched a new direct-to-consumer sales channel.
Read the full John Dory case study for more details.
John Dory. Multifunctional loyalty programme app for a large seafood retailer
We created a cross-platform mobile application for a fast-growing seafood retail chain that combines a loyalty programme, customer support chat, product showcase, interactive map of all points of sale and unique promotional offers.
Logistics Costs and Inefficient Routing
As mid-sized suppliers expand beyond a single city into multi-region operations, logistics quickly becomes one of the most complex and expensive parts of the business. In fact, delivery costs can account for 15% to 30% of total operating expenses.
When delivery routes are planned without factoring in traffic patterns, delivery windows, truck load capacity, or order compatibility, the consequences pile up fast: trucks run half-full, drivers waste hours on detours, and fuel costs skyrocket. For high-volume restaurants and dark kitchens, even a 30-minute delay can result in canceled orders, lost revenue, or last-minute supplier swaps.
Want to learn more about managing peak logistics? Check out our article:
Poor logistics also affects the bottom line. If a supplier can't accurately calculate the cost of delivery per order, it will either eat into its margin – or price itself out of the market.
✍ Example. A supplier of chilled snacks receives a "next day" delivery request from a coffee chain. The sales manager rushes to confirm the order without checking the stock locations. It turns out that part of the order is in a warehouse in a neighboring region. The driver must make a detour, doubling the delivery time and fuel costs. The order arrives late, so the café temporarily removes the item from the menu, unwilling to risk another delay.
Gaps in Analytics and Forecasting
As a business grows, it begins to generate massive amounts of data, such as sales by customer and delivery point, seasonal demand fluctuations, product category performance, logistics costs, rebates, and returns. However, for many companies, this data is stored in multiple, disparate systems, and pulling it together requires a lot of manual work.
To accurately assess business performance, you need end-to-end analytics. This involves understanding which customers are profitable and which are draining resources with high shipping costs or low-margin orders. It also means comparing purchase prices with the actual profit margin of each product.
Without forecasting tools, companies fall into one of two traps. Either they overstock and face large write-offs, especially for perishables. Or they understock bestsellers and lose sales and customer loyalty.
Olga V.
Business Manager
Looking at AI-powered forecasting fits into your supply chain? Schedule a free consultation!
Tech Solutions for Mid-Sized Suppliers
For mid-sized businesses, automating processes means to solve problems on a different level – helping to identify sales bottlenecks, improve the customer experience, and regularly optimize operational costs.
B2B Cabinets for Clients
Custom-built B2B platforms make the ordering process smoother and more transparent for customers. Restaurant and retail managers can log in to their personal account, browse a live catalog of updated inventory, pricing and promotions, place orders around the clock, and receive the documentation they need immediately. This reduces the need for manual inquiries and phone calls, freeing up the sales team and minimizing data entry errors.
The right onboarding flow is essential. It's not enough to give customers access – they need to be shown how to use the system effectively.
✍ Example. For Polimertorg, we developed a B2B client account that goes far beyond order automation. It includes smart entry suggestions to reduce errors on the client side, a full order tracking dashboard with calendars, alerts, and news updates, as well as integrated live chat for real-time support. The result? 80% of customer interactions are now automated, and the average order can be completed in less than 2 minutes.
Explore the full Polimertorg B2B account case study here:
Polymertorg. Creation of a personal account for b2b, business automation and digitalization
We helped to digitize the large businesses, reduce the labor hours on working with customers, improve the service, and step into a new digital era. This allowed the company to differentiate itself from its competitors, introduce analytics and marketing tools, and automate many processes.
Business Intelligence Automation and Reporting
Big data is becoming a powerful tool for suppliers to make day-to-day and strategic decisions. For midsize companies, this process typically begins with enhanced reporting and gradually progresses to the adoption of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions. These solutions use platforms like Power BI, Qlik, or Tableau to aggregate data from various systems and provide real-time visualizations.
Predictive analytics is the next step. Even a simple AI model trained on historical sales data can predict demand for the coming month: when seasonal spikes will occur, how much raw material to order before the holidays, and where to increase purchases to avoid stockouts and missed sales.
These insights can be presented as interactive dashboards that highlight trends, red flags, and growth opportunities at a glance. Unlike manually compiled Excel reports, BI tools can generate reports in minutes and make them instantly accessible.
✍ Example. We recently developed a ticketing system for Malpa Games to manage customer feedback. It not only collects messages from multiple channels and organizes support workflows, but also enables quick, on-demand analysis across time periods and product lines.
Read the Malpa Games case study for full details:
Malpa Games. Customer feedback management software for a mobile games publisher
The story of how we organized the full-cycle customer feedback software, including role separation, filtering, flexible delivery of analytics and response automation using artificial intelligence. And the prospects of becoming a full-fledged SaaS product.
Integration Solutions (EDI/API)
To stay competitive and retain large clients, mid-market suppliers increasingly need to invest in digital integrations. Many retail chains, restaurant groups, and marketplaces are using automated procurement systems – and they expect their suppliers to keep up.
One of the most common integration formats is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). With the help of a service provider, suppliers can establish a seamless exchange of purchase orders, invoices, and shipping documents in the formats they require.
Here's how it works: an order placed in the customer's system instantly appears in the supplier's interface. The response – whether it's an order confirmation, a shipping notification, or an invoice – is automatically sent back through the same channel.
This type of integration is especially important when working with enterprise customers and national chains, where EDI compliance is often a non-negotiable requirement for doing business with them.
General Automation Advice for Growing Suppliers
The biggest challenge for growing businesses is achieving scalability. As the number of products, customers, orders, and transactions grows, IT systems must be able to handle the increased workload while maintaining speed and stability.
This is why traditional off-the-shelf software and SaaS products often don't meet the needs of mid-market suppliers. They have limited functionality, and customization usually comes at an additional cost. In a rapidly changing business environment, companies need solutions tailored to their specific workflows.
The ideal setup for midsize companies is a modular architecture – one that allows you to add new functionality, departments, or sales channels as you grow, without disrupting the overall logic of your operations. This approach keeps your system agile and reduces the risk of costly downtime as you scale.
Olga V.
Business Manager
Seeing gaps in your supply chain? Book a free consultation and we'll help you find the right solution!
Enterprise-Scale Suppliers: Fast Client Onboarding, Big Data, and Proactive Operations
The largest food distributors are national wholesalers and major regional companies that serve dozens, or even hundreds, of customer locations. Their customers include major restaurant chains (such as McDonald's, Domino's, Starbucks), grocery retailers (Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, Tesco), hotel groups (Marriott, Hilton), and online marketplaces or delivery platforms (Amazon Fresh, Ocado).
These companies manage massive product catalogs with tens of thousands of SKUs and operate their own warehouses, truck fleets, and cold chain logistics. They're already running advanced ERP systems like SAP or Oracle, and many have automation in warehouse processes, from sortation lines to robotics in supply chain.
✍ Success Story. Amazon continues to lead the way in warehouse automation. By 2025, the company will deploy more than 750,000 robots-including models such as Proteus, Cardinal, and Sparrow. These robots will work alongside human employees to perform tasks such as picking, sorting, and transporting goods. For example, Proteus is a fully autonomous mobile robot that safely navigates shared warehouse spaces. This automation enables Amazon to fulfill orders more quickly and cost-effectively while allowing human teams to concentrate on more complex operations.
But despite their advanced infrastructure, large distributors still face systemic challenges:
- Integration bottlenecks and data blind spots – 70% of major retailers and distributors in the U.S. and Europe say their IT architecture is built on legacy systems that don’t talk to each other – blocking innovation;
- Limited agility and slow scalability – traditional ERP systems struggle to support fast-changing supply chain scenarios and fluctuating product demand;
- Rising operational costs – on average, logistics and fulfillment expenses have increased 15-25% over the past three years;
- Low transparency and fragmented analytics – many enterprise organizations still lack centralized tools to track purchasing, storage, fulfillment, returns, batch traceability, and customer-level profitability in one view;
- Aging logistics infrastructure – 60% of U.S. distributors report they can’t handle peak demand without adding more headcount – a sign of poor automation coverage.
We’ll dive deeper into these challenges in the following sections.
Olga V.
Business Manager
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Let's discuss your goals, our areas of expertise,
and how we can collaborate
Core Challenges for Large-Scale Suppliers
Systemic, architectural, and organizational barriers that enterprise-level suppliers face every day.
Outdated and Overcomplicated Systems
Many large enterprises are still running on legacy systems – ERP or CRM platforms built 10-15 years ago. These systems are often heavily customized, which makes even minor updates risky and time-consuming. Change one module, and another may break. Rolling out modern technology, such as API integrations with marketplaces or support for mobile interfaces, becomes a lengthy, expensive project.
✍ Example. A new customer has requested either real-time warehouse synchronization or EDI integration. However, the supplier's current system doesn't support these capabilities. Implementing this capability could take several months, by which time the opportunity may have passed.
Onboarding New Clients
When a major supplier enters a new region or launches a new line of business, quickly onboarding clients becomes one of the biggest challenges. These new clients may be restaurants, retail chains, hotels, or marketplaces, each of which has its own requirements for onboarding, such as documentation, logistics setup, terms of service, and account configuration.
To streamline the process and reduce the burden on account managers, many enterprise vendors are now implementing automated onboarding flows. These solutions typically include:
- Instant delivery of standard onboarding materials – contracts, user guides, and terms and conditions – triggered by registration or inquiry;
- Digital onboarding checklists – to guide the customers through delivery terms, access to the B2B portal and order placement;
- Integration with customer systems (via API or EDI) – to enable automated exchange of orders, confirmations, and status updates;
- Marketing automation – send up-to-date catalogs, special offers, and product documentation based on specific triggers (e.g., new sign-up, product interest, or price list download).
If a required field or document is missing, the system can automatically request it instead of forcing account managers to track it down manually.
✍ Example. While building a portal for a leasing company, we designed a structured intake process. Users filled out a detailed form, and the system immediately assessed their eligibility, directing them to the next step. This reduced human involvement and dramatically shortened the onboarding time.
Read the full Reso case study for more insights:
Reso. Personal account for car leasing
We thus helped it to become the first among the leasing companies to offer the whole leasing document package to be filed online. Which also makes things easier thereafter. Insurance, certificates, excerpts are all in the customer's personal account.
Big Data Analytics
Large retailers generate massive amounts of data, including hourly sales by region, seasonal trends, customer behavior, returns, logistics metrics, and rebates. However, without the right analytics strategy, this data does not translate into business value.
Although most companies use BI tools, they primarily use them for historical reporting, not forecasting or decision-making. The market now needs predictive and prescriptive analytics to forecast and recommend next steps.
✍ Example. Food distributor Bidfood implemented AI-driven demand forecasting models to reduce excess stock in its warehouses. The result was a 12% reduction in write-offs and over £500,000 in annual logistics savings.
However, success stories like these are still the exception, not the rule. The biggest blockers are:
- Lack of data science expertise;
- Legacy and siloed data systems;
- Poor integration across internal platforms.
Companies that learn to use their data more effectively than their competitors will have a long-term advantage – not just operationally, but also strategically.
Enterprise-Grade Solutions: Strengthening Supply Chain Traceability
Here are some proven solutions that help large suppliers improve supply chain visibility and control.
Warehouse and Distribution Center Automation
Enterprise distributors are increasingly investing in physical automation, including conveyor systems, sortation equipment, automated racking, and warehouse robotics. These technologies are particularly prevalent in high-volume distribution centers (DCs) that handle thousands of cases per day.
Warehouse automation not only speeds up order fulfillment, but also dramatically reduces picking errors. Additionally, many large companies have implemented automated environmental monitoring. IoT sensors track the temperature and humidity of coolers and refrigerated trucks, alerting teams in real time when conditions fall outside acceptable ranges. This helps maintain the quality of perishable and frozen products at every stage of the supply chain.
Learn more about intelligent monitoring systems in our feature article:
Tracking Technologies: A Simple Guide to Setting Up a Monitoring System for Your Business
Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Models
As distributors scale, they accumulate massive amounts of data-regional sales, inventory levels, demand fluctuations, delivery routes, marketing campaigns, even weather patterns. To turn this data into actionable insights, more companies are deploying AI-driven models across critical supply chain functions:
- Demand forecasting – AI analyzes historical sales, seasonal trends, marketing activities, and customer behavior to accurately predict how much of each product will be needed in any given location;
- Inventory optimization – AI helps balance inventory across warehouses and distribution channels, indicating when and where to move inventory before overstocks or out-of-stocks become a problem;
- Predictive logistics – Algorithms anticipate traffic congestion, delivery delays, warehouse bottlenecks, and weather disruptions, then recommend proactive actions such as rerouting trucks, adjusting delivery schedules, or increasing capacity ahead of peak demand;
- Dynamic Route Optimization – AI integrated with your TMS continuously reassigns delivery points based on real-time traffic, load conditions, and demand – speeding fulfillment while minimizing impact.
These models work by pulling data from systems such as ERP, WMS, CRM, payment platforms, and weather APIs-and crunching millions of records to generate predictions and what-if scenarios. The insights are visualized in BI dashboards, helping managers quickly identify risks, spot trends, and make decisions with confidence.
Want to explore real-world AI use cases in retail and distribution? Check out our in-depth guide
End-to-End Analytics
Large enterprises are increasingly adopting integrated KPI dashboards that provide real-time visibility to everyone – from frontline operations to top executives. These systems track the entire lifecycle of an order: how quickly it was received, how efficiently it was picked in the warehouse, how it was delivered, when and how it was sold, and where delays occurred.
This kind of visibility helps companies identify bottlenecks and target investments where they'll have the greatest impact.
Additionally, companies are implementing performance management systems that track the metrics of individual warehouse workers, drivers, and managers. This creates a culture of continuous improvement, where decisions are based on real data instead of gut instinct.
Example. When we started developing an app for the Beerpoint retail chain (with over 250 stores), our initial goal was to create a loyalty program. Today, however, the app is much more than a product catalog or online store—it's a front-end interface to the company's internal operations. It collects valuable analytics, supports warehouse management, and provides KPI tracking for store managers.
Read the full Beerpoint case study for more details:
Mobile app for beverage and snacks saler
A story about the development of a mobile app for a large chain of 189 draught beer stores. It started as a simple renovation of the loyalty program. But in the end client got a proper communication channel that allowed them to gather information about their customers, increase average check amount and be better customer oriented.
Strategic Guidance for Enterprise Automation
The core challenge for large distributors is clear: innovate faster than the competition without sacrificing operational stability.
However, as companies grow, the challenges they encounter evolve from technological to structural.
First, there's the problem of scale. Even a small change to a large system requires extensive coordination, including cross-departmental approvals, compatibility checks, and process alignment. What should be a minor update can turn into a project spanning several months. Internal IT teams excel at maintaining core systems, but they're often not prepared to quickly launch new initiatives or test bold ideas.
Second, there's prioritization. Internal teams focus on uptime, risk mitigation, and ensuring day-to-day operations run smoothly. Anything outside of that – innovations, prototypes, or exploratory projects—either overwhelms the current team or gets pushed aside.
That's where technical partners come in. They take ownership of new development, integrate non-standard tools, and help validate ideas quickly without disrupting the core business. For this model to work, the external team must truly understand the company's architecture, work directly with internal stakeholders, and share accountability for the outcome.
Olga V.
Business Manager
Planning a new product or reaching the limits of your current system? Let's talk and find the right solution together
Conclusion
Today, every type of supplier faces the same challenge: delivering quickly, accurately, and at scale while keeping logistics costs under control. This includes farmers with notebooks, regional distributors, and large enterprises with warehouse robots.
Automation doesn't always mean overhauling your entire tech stack or rushing to implement Artificial Intelligence in logistics. Rather, it means improving the most important aspects of your business, so your managers don't have to dig through boxes to find inventory, calculate outstanding balances by hand, or explain the order process for the fifth time.
For some, it starts with moving beyond Excel. For others, it means integrating systems so that different departments can communicate with each other. For many, it means giving innovation room to breathe, even if it means stepping outside the walls of the internal IT team.
Your business is growing. If your tools aren't keeping up, it's time for a change.
FAQ
What is supply chain automation?
Supply chain automation involves using technology to streamline and optimize supply chain processes with minimal human intervention. This includes using tools like AI, machine learning, and digital process automation to automate tasks and processes throughout the supply chain, from manufacturing to delivery.
What systems do suppliers use?
Most suppliers use a combination of systems, depending on their size and needs:
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – to manage inventory, finance, sales, and procurement;
- WMS (Warehouse Management System) – to control warehouse operations and stock movement;
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – to manage client interactions and orders;
- TMS (Transportation Management System) – to plan and optimize delivery logistics
Small suppliers may start with simpler tools such as Excel, QuickBooks, or Google Sheets and then scale up.
How does AI help in supply chains?
AI improves decision-making by forecasting demand, optimizing inventory, predicting delays, and suggesting faster delivery routes. It can identify inefficiencies, recommend actions, and automate tasks such as pricing, inventory redistribution, or scheduling – often in real time. AI turns raw data into actionable insights that save time and money.
Which is better: Excel or ERP?
Excel is great when you're starting out – it's flexible, familiar, and cheap. But as soon as you start managing multiple products, customers, or warehouses, Excel becomes a bottleneck. ERP systems provide the structure, visibility, automation, and scalability needed to reduce errors, synchronize teams, and grow your business efficiently.
What’s the difference between ERP and WMS?
An ERP system covers your entire business-inventory, accounting, human resources, purchasing, and more. A WMS focuses specifically on warehouse operations: shelving, picking, packing, barcode scanning, and inventory rotation. Think of ERP as the brain of your business, and WMS as the muscle behind your warehouse.
What mistakes are common in automation?
Common mistakes include:
- Automating bad processes instead of fixing them first;
- Trying to implement too much at once;
- Not training staff properly;
- Choosing tools that don’t scale with the business;
- Failing to integrate systems, creating “data islands”.
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