Martin Brower

Success Story

Martin Brower

Demand Planning, Supply Planning and Fulfilment

Martin Brower transforms waste management with Blue Yonder’s AI solutions

The company

Martin Brower is a global supply chain and logistics provider with over 90 years of experience, offering sustainable solutions to leading quick-service restaurant chains worldwide. The company operates 78 distribution centers across 18 markets, delivering over 720 million cases of product annually to more than 26,000 locations. The company’s expertise spans product sourcing to last-mile delivery, and it is focused on innovation and sustainability, aligned with the company’s 2050 net-zero target.

The business challenge

Martin Brower’s customers have traditionally evaluated supply chain success by prioritizing cost efficiency, speed, and reliability. However, the industry landscape has evolved, placing sustainability at the forefront. Due to rising environmental regulations and shifting consumer expectations, the company required a solution to improve forecasting, minimize inventory waste, and support resilient, eco-conscious logistics.

The solution

Blue Yonder’s AI-driven demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions were selected for their ability to balance product availability while minimizing inventory waste through intelligent automation. As a result, Martin Brower has improved efficiency, strengthened market responsiveness, and advanced sustainability efforts, helping to support more reliable replenishment across its global distribution centers and restaurant customers.

“We help customers innovate creative solutions to manage downstream materials more sustainably, reinforcing their circularity goals and reducing environmental impact. Circularity is complex, intersecting with brand trust, operations, IT, and finance. By partnering with Blue Yonder and their demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions, we have created bespoke tools to streamline data collection and analysis, making it easier for customers to execute their circularity strategies effectively and efficiently using the power of AI.”

–Amy Senter, Global Vice President, Sustainability, Martin Brower

Advancing recycling and sustainability efforts

Martin Brower manages seven different types of recycling streams, including fiber cups, used cooking oil, and cardboard, creating valuable opportunities to reduce waste and reuse materials in a circular economy. This focus helps customers reduce surplus, recycle more efficiently, and advance sustainability efforts. Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions help Martin Brower’s customers to streamline recycling processes and buy-in through broader visibility to expected waste volumes and value.

Boosting forecast accuracy and reducing waste
With Blue Yonder’s AI-powered demand and supply planning, Martin Brower has minimized excess inventory, improved forecast accuracy, and strengthened market responsiveness. Key solution capabilities—such as machine-learning forecasting, constrained supply planning, and promotion planning—help the company align supply with real-time demand fluctuations and diverse stakeholder priorities. These solutions also boost operational efficiency, reinforcing the company’s commitment to waste reduction and sustainability. Senter explains, “Martin Brower has leveraged Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning solution to support our sustainability solutions and generate more accurate forecasts and minimize inventory surplus. Martin Brower’s expert teams, together with Blue Yonder Fulfillment, efficiently replenish our distribution centers and restaurant customers across France, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., supporting efforts to achieve optimal inventory levels and reducing waste and GHG emissions.”

Harnessing AI to optimize forecasting and inventory management
The demand classification capability has sharpened the company’s ability to identify trends, leading to an improvement of up to 2.5% in forecast accuracy while optimizing stock levels and reducing excess inventory. As a result, Martin Brower has achieved forecast accuracy levels exceeding 95% in certain markets, strengthening its ability to anticipate demand, optimize inventory, and enhance decision-making.

Supply chain adjustments have helped to reduce forecast exceptions and cut manual workloads by up to 25–40%. Powered by Blue Yonder’s demand response capability, these adjustments help Martin Brower react dynamically to changing demand signals, contributing to improved accuracy and efficiency. Forecast configuration enhancements have also streamlined operations, reducing processing time by an average of 30%. Additionally, with Blue Yonder’s promotions planning and AI-driven predictions, Martin Brower can adapt more effectively to market shifts, offering alignment with demand trends while improving resource allocation and customer engagement.

Leveraging global data analytics for waste reduction
Accurate data insights and advanced automation play a crucial role in helping Martin Brower’s customers achieve their sustainability goals. Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions address the company’s fragmented data, helping to generate more reliable forecasts and avoid excess inventory. They also enable dynamic adjustments to stock levels and distribution, which improves planning efficiency, lowers operational costs, and strengthens supply chain resilience.

Martin Brower is now collaborating with customers in 10 countries worldwide to identify opportunities for reducing waste. These efforts include working with restaurant customers in the UK, the Middle East, and France to collect their used cooking oil. Leveraging Blue Yonder tools, Martin Brower has created data systems and restaurant engagement strategies to predict the amount of waste each restaurant should generate and track recycling rates. By maximizing the recycling of this oil, Martin Brower can work with processors to convert it into biodiesel, which is used to fuel Martin Brower’s trucks. This program has helped the company reduce transportation costs, increase recycling efforts, and helped lower emissions while allowing its customers to generate additional income by selling their used oil.

Empowering sustainable transformation
The results of these initiatives are far-reaching. Martin Brower’s approach to sustainable resource management, supported by Blue Yonder‘s demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions, has led to reductions in product wastage of up to 30% and reduction in costs of up to 20%. The company’s innovative recycling programs have also enabled customers to transform otherwise discarded products into valuable assets, resulting in potential profitable opportunities.

This holistic strategy supports circulatory goals, reinforces brand integrity, and boosts operational efficiency. It also underscores Martin Brower’s commitment to sustainable solutions. By prioritizing eco-friendly practices, the company reduces its environmental footprint and contributes to a greener world.

The collaboration between Martin Brower and Blue Yonder showcases a powerful synergy that drives both economic and environmental success. Together, the two organizations are paving the way for a more sustainable and profitable future, demonstrating the value of innovative and responsible business practices.

Watch the video to learn how Blue Yonder empowers Martin Brower to leverage machine learning to improve forecast accuracies, maximize service levels, reduce waste, improve planner efficiencies and more.

Hear directly from Martin-Brower president Julie Dell’Aniello about how she approaches attracting – and retaining – women to supply chain careers.