# Blue Yonder > Blue Yonder is a leading supply chain management software company. ## Blue Yonder Company Information ### [Responsible AI | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/responsible-ai) > Blue Yonder is dedicated to ethically and securely leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform supply chain operations. We uphold the highest standards of privacy, data protection, and data security. Guided by our core values of empathy, integrity, and teamwork, the following principles outline our responsible AI practices, our commitment to regulatory compliance (including the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act and the General Data Protection Regulation), and our fundamental beliefs when delivering AI solutions for the benefit of our customers. Responsible AI Blue Yonder is dedicated to ethically and securely leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform supply chain operations. We uphold the highest standards of privacy, data protection, and data security. Guided by our core values of empathy, integrity, and teamwork, the following principles outline our responsible AI practices, our commitment to regulatory compliance (including the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act and the General Data Protection Regulation), and our fundamental beliefs when delivering AI solutions for the benefit of our customers. Responsible AI Principles Human-Centered Design We design Blue Yonder AI systems around human responsibilities and business outcomes. We aim to align automation, oversight, and safeguards with the level of risk to keep accountability clear. AI Literacy and Responsible Usage We promote AI literacy by making role-relevant information about our AI Systems available to users where appropriate. We encourage responsible use that considers expected benefits, potential risks, and best practices, while remaining aligned with the context and intended use cases for which our AI systems were designed. Transparency and Explainability We aim to provide users with clear and appropriate information about Blue Yonder AI Systems, including when AI is being used. Where appropriate, we provide understandable information about relevant data sources, material factors, and human oversight behind significant AI outputs or actions so users can interpret and govern their use responsibly. Fair, Unbiased, and Non-Discriminatory We design and operate AI Systems with the goal of supporting fair and non-discriminatory outcomes. We put in place proportionate measures, including tools, testing, and ongoing monitoring, to identify, assess, and reduce unfair bias in data, models, and processes across the AI lifecycle. Data Security and Privacy We design and operate AI Systems with technical and organizational controls intended to protect customer data, consistent with customer agreements and applicable law. We aim to minimize data use to what is needed for the intended purpose and apply access, retention, and privacy protections proportionate to risk. AI Security We build AI Systems with security and resilience in mind, including controls for AI specific threats where relevant. We use risk-based testing and vulnerability management along with detailed reporting and logging to assess and improve these controls over time. Governance and Accountability We use governance processes for AI Systems throughout the life cycle, including defined roles, review practices, and escalation paths. We evaluate risk to align the level of controls with the degree of impact. Applicability We offer AI Systems where they can deliver meaningful value for the use case and operating context. Before deploying or expanding automation, we assess fitness for purpose, limitations, and potential impacts. Sustainability We consider environmental sustainability in how we build and run AI Systems. Where AI-enabled optimization may improve efficiency, we aim to support reduced waste and resource use. Trustworthy and Reliable We design and build our AI Systems to perform reliably for their intended use through in house and real-world validation, quality controls, and continual improvement. Conclusion These principles represent Blue Yonder’s approach to responsible AI practices. We will continuously update our processes and procedures to align with evolving legal and regulatory standards, technological advances, and societal norms. ### [Global Impact | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/global-impact) > We believe the right people equipped with the right technology and expertise can change the world. That’s why we’re busy every day working to build a future that provides more. More for organizations, people, and the planet. This commitment informs every aspect of our business, including how we design and build new products, operate our portfolio, collaborate with stakeholders, and report progress. Global Impact We believe the right people equipped with the right technology and expertise can change the world. That’s why we’re busy every day working to build a future that provides more. More for organizations, people, and the planet. This commitment informs every aspect of our business, including how we design and build new products, operate our portfolio, collaborate with stakeholders, and report progress. Global Impact Preparing tomorrow's supply chain leaders Blue Yonder is the first-ever title sponsor for the Master of Science in Supply Chain Management Program for the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. The strategic partnership aims to provide students access to the real-world knowledge and expertise needed to power the supply chains of tomorrow. Read the Press Release Creating sustainable abundance We strive to make the vision of sustainable abundance a reality. Our AI-powered, end-to-end platform can help businesses optimize supply chains to increase efficiency and reduce carbon emissions and waste for a more sustainable world. Learn More Building an inclusive culture We aim for a culture that is as diverse as the world around us, and one that is inviting and inclusive. When minds from various backgrounds, cultures, places and experiences come together, great solutions and workplaces are made. Diversity and inclusion are core to our culture. Learn More ### [ICONic Awards | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/iconic-awards) > ICONic Customers are achievers, innovators, and leaders who drive impact in their organization through exceptional usage of Blue Yonder’s solutions. ICONic Customer Awards ICONic Customers are achievers, innovators and leaders who drive impact in their organization through exceptional usage of Blue Yonder’s solutions. They have leveraged our solutions to deliver differentiated customer experiences, reduce costs, improve forecast accuracy, manage labor shortages, drive sustainability, and so much more. The Categories The Trendsetter This award honors a pioneering leader who has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to introduce transformative innovations, improving processes, efficiency and product quality. The winner demonstrates exceptional creativity and progress, setting new industry benchmarks and driving significant advancements in their industry. The Groundbreaker This award honors a company that has leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to break new ground in their industry by challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries. The winner’s groundbreaking approach to utilizing technology sets new standards for operational efficiency and inspires transformative change. The Dynamic Operator This award recognizes a company that demonstrates exceptional agility and adaptability in their operations by swiftly responding to market demands through the strategic use of Blue Yonder solutions. The winner has adopted dynamic strategies that drive sustained growth and competitive advantage, setting a standard for operational excellence. The Game-Changer This award celebrates the company that has best leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive their future business and meet the changing demands of their customers. The winner has embraced the power of technology to transform their operations, resulting in improved efficiency, customer centricity, and profitability. The Accelerator The winner of this award has utilized Blue Yonder solutions to accelerate its transformation in order to meet the evolving needs of its business and customers. This winner exemplifies innovative thinking, sets new standards, and inspires excellence within their industry. The Visionary Connector This award celebrates a company that excels in fostering collaboration and connectivity through seamless integration using Blue Yonder solutions. The winner’s visionary approach to connectivity demonstrates what is possible with next-generation cognitive supply chains powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud. The Eco-Leader The winner of this award is leading the charge toward a more sustainable future. The winner has woven sustainability into their operations using Blue Yonder solutions to drive sustainable practices throughout their supply chain, resulting in reduced waste, improved energy efficiency, and a lower carbon footprint. Their commitment to sustainability sets a high bar for the industry and serves as an inspiration for others. The Innovator This award recognizes the company that has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive innovation and transformation in their operations. By embracing advanced technologies, the winner has enhanced supply chain efficiency, improved service delivery, and optimized logistics processes. The winner demonstrates how digital innovation can revolutionize their industry and inspire excellence across the sector. The Trailblazer This award recognizes a forward-thinking organization that is blazing a trail of innovation by harnessing the latest Blue Yonder solutions and cloud technologies. It celebrates pioneers who not only optimize operations with Blue Yonder solutions but also set a benchmark for industry-wide collaboration, inspiring others to embrace a unified vision for success. 2025 Award Winners https://blueyonder.com/customers/bayer https://blueyonder.com/customers/martin-brower https://blueyonder.com/customers/micron https://blueyonder.com/customers/arcadia-cold https://bevchain.com.au/ http://dickssportinggoods.com http://heineken.com http://penske.com https://www.discounttire.com/ Previous Winners Our previous winners represent the innovators redefining supply chain excellence with Blue Yonder. From industry leaders like Discount Tire and Penske to many others, these organizations have delivered measurable impact—driving efficiency, sustainability, and customer success through digital transformation. Their achievements exemplify what it means to be truly ICONic. FAQs When will winners be notified? Winners will be notified by April 2, 2026. We ask that you refrain from sharing publicly until Blue Yonder announces all the award winners at ICON 2026. When do nominations close? Nominations closed on March 20, 2026. Can I submit the same company to more than one award category? We ask that you submit each company to the award category you feel best represents your success. If my company wins, how will we be spotlighted? Winners will be recognized during our ICON event and post-ICON materials, as well as in a press release, and on Blue Yonder website and social media channels. Winners will also be invited to sit down on video to share their amazing story. We will provide you with social graphics so that you can use to promote your recognition in your personal and company social media channels. What are the benefits of being an ICONic Award winner? Gain recognition within your own organization for supply chain transformation excellence. Opportunity to network with other supply chain transformation leaders. Celebrated in external Blue Yonder announcements and press activities. Receive an ICONic Customer Award winner logo for use on your organization’s website, social media, and in external communications. ### [Simona Darjan | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/simona-darjan) > Simona Darjan is the Chief Transformation Officer at Blue Yonder, driving global transformation efforts aimed at optimizing operations, processes, and systems across the organization. Simona Darjan Chief Transformation Officer Simona Darjan is the Chief Transformation Officer at Blue Yonder, driving global transformation efforts aimed at optimizing operations, processes, and systems across the organization. Simona oversees Blue Yonder’s associate success, information technology, cybersecurity, business intelligence, and integration management teams. She and her team bring together people, process, and technology to better serve Blue Yonder’s associates and customers. Her strategic leadership is focused on enhancing operational efficiency, enabling scalability, and aligning all business functions with Blue Yonder’s corporate strategy. Simona's extensive background includes leadership positions at Genpact, Walmart Inc., and Siemens Corporation, where she excelled in managing global operations and driving continuous improvement initiatives. At Genpact, she led global operations across the Americas region, with a focus on optimizing processes and creating value to clients in various industries. At Walmart, she centralized disparate processes, aligning them with global standards and implementing robust governance structures. Notably, she spearheaded a major initiative in Brazil that standardized logistics and inventory functions across 500 stores, resulting in significant annual savings for operations. During her tenure at Siemens, Simona designed and optimized back-office processes and financial reporting systems. She integrated newly acquired companies into Siemens' management operating systems and developed closed-loop reporting mechanisms to identify and rectify performance deviations, promoting continuous improvement and best-in-class operations across various units. Simona brings over 24 years of experience in establishing and delivering large-scale operations across diverse international landscapes. Her career has spanned multiple countries, including Romania, the U.S., Germany, India, Brazil, and Costa Rica, enriching her with a broad global perspective. Simona holds a master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Rollins College, Florida, and bachelor’s in Economics from BBU Cluj Napoca, Romania. She is Six Sigma Green Belt certified and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. Simona enjoys exploring new cultures and places. In her downtime, she loves unwinding with classical literature, especially the works of Tolstoy, or practicing yoga. LinkedIn ### [Our Culture | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/our-culture) > Our culture is built on collaboration, respect and having fun whenever possible. This along with ensuring we live our Core Values, enables us to learn, grow, create customer value, and manage the well-being of our collective ecosystem of partners, customers and associates alike. We rise each day with an unwavering commitment to lifelong learning, collaborating with respect, and operating with integrity. A Culture, Not a Company Our culture is built on collaboration, respect and having fun whenever possible. This along with ensuring we live our Core Values, enables us to learn, grow, create customer value, and manage the well-being of our collective ecosystem of partners, customers and associates alike. We rise each day with an unwavering commitment to lifelong learning, collaborating with respect, and operating with integrity. Our Culture Core Values If you want to know the heart of a company, look at their values. Ours unite and inspire us. They are ingrained in every interaction we have with a customer, partner and each other. We hold each other accountable for living these values and invite everyone to learn more about our emphasis on respect, inclusion, integrity and empathy. Respect Demonstrate dignity, embrace diverse perspectives, and ensure everyone feels valued and heard. Inclusion Embrace diversity, nurture belonging, and seek different perspectives to foster global collaboration. Integrity Uphold honesty and accountability, and commit to doing what’s right, even when challenging. Empathy Act with compassion and offer genuine care for others by ensuring constant connection to our own self-awareness and behaviors. Community Impact and Volunteer Program Giving back is a core tenet of our culture at Blue Yonder, and our associates have a long history of being helpful partners in the communities in which we operate. By utilizing the benefit of two volunteer days a year, associates have a chance to make an impact supporting meaningful causes of their choice. Last year, during Blue Yonder's Global Week of Giving, our team members united in their efforts to volunteer, successfully packing over 35,000 meals for local communities. Collectively, our global team contributed an impressive 7,216 hours of volunteer work in 2024, showcasing their dedication to making a difference. Diversity and Inclusion We aim for a culture that is diverse as the world around us. And that is inviting and inclusive. We recognize that great solutions and experiences are spawned from people from divergent backgrounds and the fruit of great debates. Our culture is built on collaboration, respect and having fun whenever possible. Learn More Join Our Team Blue Yonder continually seeks to hire talented individuals to join our growing company. We are a proven, passionate bunch of game-changers. You can have it all while working with the brightest minds and businesses in industry. Join us and let us show you how we can help you to reach your potential! Learn More ### [User Groups | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/user-groups) > Blue Yonder has created more than 25 User Groups that regularly bring Blue Yonder users together to network, share best practices and benefit from lessons learned. Have your voice heard User Groups Blue Yonder has created more than 28 User Groups that regularly bring Blue Yonder users together to network, share best practices and benefit from lessons learned. User Groups Our mission is to foster an environment where active participation maximizes your company's investment in Blue Yonder solutions and enables you to grow both personally and professionally through collaboration with other retail and supply chain professionals. By joining a Blue Yonder User Group, you can maximize your company's investment in Blue Yonder solutions, collaborate with other supply chain professionals, contribute feedback directly to the product team, and gain first-look insight into Blue Yonder product enhancement plans. Join Today Be part of the in-crowd User Group members are a community. User Groups create a global platform for knowledge-sharing, peer networking, and collaboration among Blue Yonder solution users, and enable members to stay informed on solution developments and share feedback that supports continuous improvement in how their Blue Yonder solutions are used. Through User Groups, we foster an environment where active participation maximizes your company’s investment in Blue Yonder solutions and enables you to grow both personally and professionally through collaboration with other supply chain professionals. Have your voice heard Do you wish Blue Yonder would add a new feature or additional functionality to the software you’re using? User Groups provide a direct line of communication to Blue Yonder’s product team. Not only can you contribute important feedback that influences the future direction of Blue Yonder solutions, but you’ll also gain an insider’s perspective on Blue Yonder’s software development plans. User Group members are often the first to learn of planned solution upgrades and enhancements. Jon Mayes User Group President Eric Liberatore User Group Vice President Heather Clifford User Group Vice President Jamie Routman Administrative Director Is there a User Group for you? The answer is probably yes! To meet a diverse range of user needs, Blue Yonder has created more than 28 User Groups. Join Today ### [Customer Appreciation Program | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/customer-appreciation-program) > Share your story, network and earn rewards Share your story, network and earn rewards Customer Appreciation Program Customer Appreciation Program To show how much we appreciate our customers, we’ve created the Blue Yonder Customer Appreciation Program (CAP). The CAP provides opportunities for you to share your business expertise, promote your accomplishments, network with other professionals, gain important industry knowledge and visibility as well as highlight your company as an innovator. To thank you for your participation, we reward you with valuable points that can be redeemed for event passes, discounts, and more! Learn more about the advantages of the Blue Yonder CAP and join today to reap the many benefits. Hear more from L.L. Bean Join Today ### [Diversity | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/diversity) > Diversity, Inclusion, Value and Equity (DIVE) is Blue Yonder’s commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse environment where associates can grow and thrive with the freedom to be unique and authentic. Our goal is for each and every one of us to fulfill our highest potentials, be challenged in the work that we do, and embrace our uniqueness. Diversity, Inclusion, Value & Equity Diversity, Inclusion, Value and Equity (DIVE) is Blue Yonder’s commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse environment where associates can grow and thrive with the freedom to be unique and authentic. Our goal is for each and every one of us to fulfill our highest potentials, be challenged in the work that we do, and embrace our uniqueness. Diversity What do we stand for? Diversity Diversity is about who works at Blue Yonder. Inclusion Inclusion is about a work environment of trust and engagement for all. Value Value is about all associates genuinely being an essential part of the organization. Equity Equity is about fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all. Focused on an inclusive culture We aim for a culture that is diverse as the world around us, and one that is inviting and inclusive. When minds from various backgrounds, cultures, places and experiences come together, great solutions and workplaces are made. Diversity and inclusion are core to our culture. DIVE In Blog Business Impact Groups Blue Yonder has established several Business Impact Groups to serve and support underrepresented groups. We encourage all associates to participate in these groups as allies and aim to promote diversity, openness, inclusiveness, and belonging. Strategic Pillars Awareness & Education Engagement & Empowerment Outreach & Recruitment Awareness & Education We drive awareness campaigns and learning on important topics such as unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. Join our Team Blue Yonder continually seeks to hire talented individuals to join our growing company. We are a proven, passionate bunch of game-changers. You can have it all while working with the brightest minds and businesses in industry. Join us and let us show you how we can help you to reach your potential! Learn More ### [Saskia van Gendt | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/saskia-van-gendt) > Saskia van Gendt serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer in Blue Yonder. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing Blue Yonder’s sustainability strategy and driving sustainability initiatives in product roadmaps and across the company. Saskia van Gendt Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer in Blue Yonder. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing Blue Yonder’s sustainability strategy and driving sustainability initiatives in product roadmaps and across the company. Saskia is an environmental scientist with 17 years of experience in sustainability working across consumer products, retail, government, and manufacturing. Most recently Saskia was Head of Sustainability for Rothy’s, a vertically integrated retailer best known for creating stylish, comfortable shoes from recycled plastic. At Rothy's, Saskia pioneered the brand's commitment to circular production and net zero carbon, implementing programs for footwear recycling, zero waste manufacturing, and decarbonizing shipping. Prior to Rothy’s, Saskia worked as Senior Director of Sustainability at Method, a brand renowned for its plant-based and design-led cleaning products. At Method, Saskia implemented sustainability initiatives across the European business and at Method’s soap factory in Chicago. Saskia started her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office in San Francisco focused on innovative waste reduction and green building practices. Saskia has an Environmental Science degree from Northwestern University. In her free time, she enjoys biking, skiing and trail running. LinkedIn ### [Wayne Usie | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/wayne-usie) > Wayne Usie leads Blue Yonder's go-to-market strategy, driving growth objectives focused on industry and solution strategy, business development, global alliances and channels, value delivery and the technology platform ecosystem. Wayne Usie Chief Strategy Officer Collaborative, Respectful, Definitive. These words describe Wayne Usie whose personal mantra is “say less, do more” – where results trump words, showcasing customer value at every step in the journey. As Chief Strategy Officer, Wayne leads Blue Yonder’s Product Management, Sustainability, and Corporate Development, which includes M&A, Blue Yonder Defense Solutions, and the Commercial Excellence teams. Wayne and his team lead Blue Yonder’s product and go-to-market strategy, driving growth objectives with a goal to power a cohesive and consistent strategy across company/industry/product/geography to build tighter alignment and enablement across the different functions. Over the past three years, he has overseen the company’s $1 billion product innovation strategy. In addition, over the past two years, he has led four acquisitions, totaling more than $1 billion. As part of these acquisitions, he currently oversees the day-to-day operations and transition of Doddle and flexis. A trusted advisor to customers worldwide, Wayne has held multiple leadership positions during his more than two decades with Blue Yonder, including Senior Vice President of Americas Sales and Senior Vice President of Product Development. Wayne holds a B.S. in Accounting from Louisiana State University. In his spare time, Wayne enjoys the Arizona outdoors by golfing and fishing in the Grand Canyon state. His dream job – outside of Blue Yonder, that is! – would be a chef cooking for charitable events. His signature dish? Jambalaya. ### [Corey Tollefson | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/corey-tollefson) > Corey Tollefson is Chief Revenue Officer of Blue Yonder. Corey is a senior technology industry leader with global operating experience in software and digital transformation and supply chain. He has a deep understanding of the trends across enterprise software, cloud, AI, and supply chain. Corey Tollefson Chief Revenue Officer Corey Tollefson is Chief Revenue Officer of Blue Yonder. Corey is a senior technology industry leader with global operating experience in software and digital transformation and supply chain. He has a deep understanding of the trends across enterprise software, cloud, AI, and supply chain. A technologist and entrepreneur, Corey began his career at Accenture and previously spent time at Infor, Oracle and Retek. While serving as General Manager at Infor he led global brand, strategy, pre-sales, sales, M&A, and implementation services for wholesale, apparel and retail. His team focused on selling and deploying end-to end-supply chain systems including machine learning-based forecasting and replenishment across the globe. Over a five-year period, SAAS revenue grew from $0 to nearly $1 billion in annual recurring SAAS spend including 60 million subscribers in the cloud. Most recently, Corey served as a partner at Arcspring, accountable for both engaged investor network and sourcing portfolio acquisitions. While at Oracle, he served in a variety of roles over an 11-year period of exponential growth and industry consolidation including license sales, value engineering, alliances, M&A, product strategy, product management, and product marketing. His last role was as Group Vice President where he was focused primarily on growing Oracle’s market share in the global 500 retailers for commerce, data science and supply chain applications. Corey has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management Information Systems from St. Cloud State University - G.R. Herberger College of Business in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Ever passionate about technology he recently served as a strategic advisor to the CEO of Sezzle, a next-generation payment provider in the Fintech space and helped them go public in 2019 on the ASX. Corey describes himself as a Prince fanatic. In his spare time, he enjoys reading about the 15th century bankers and the Medici family, as well as digesting the latest Web3 technology standards. LinkedIn ### [Gurdip Singh | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/gurdip-singh) > Gurdip Singh serves as the Chief Product Officer at Blue Yonder. In this role, he has responsibility for Blue Yonder’s Product and Platform Strategy, Product Roadmap, and Product Marketing functions. He and his team are defining a strategy that will help Blue Yonder create the Supply Chain Operating System for the world. Gurdip Singh Chief Product Officer Gurdip Singh serves as the Chief Product Officer at Blue Yonder. In this role, he has responsibility for Blue Yonder’s Product and Platform Strategy, Product Roadmap, and Analyst Relations functions. He and his team are defining Blue Yonder's AI-powered platform and cognitive solutions strategy. Gurdip joined Blue Yonder in 2019 as Senior Vice President, Customer Success followed by Senior Vice President, Product Management in 2021 before being promoted to his current role in 2023. He got his start in enterprise supply chain software with i2 Technologies – which was acquired by JDA Software, now Blue Yonder – where he served in increasing positions of responsibility from 1997 to 2010. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, he co-founded Dallas-based SaaS solution and services provider, DecisionGPS. His focus was on delivering incremental business value through machine learning-driven supply chain planning, marketing, and sourcing solutions in the Consumer Goods and Retail industry segments. Prior to that, he served as the Managing Partner at o9 Solutions with responsibility for global go-to-market, customer success, and company operations. Gurdip has a master’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and he completed his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India. In his spare time, he enjoys reading books on current affairs and classic works of non-fiction, doing technology projects at home, and watching re-runs of “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Mentalist.” LinkedIn ### [Andrea Morgan-Vandome | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/andrea-morgan-vandome) > Andrea Morgan-Vandome is Chief Innovation Officer of Blue Yonder. In this role she is responsible for industry strategy, product strategy, roadmap direction and acquisition strategy, go-to-market packaging and messaging, and new product introduction. Andrea Morgan-Vandome Chief Innovation Officer Andrea Morgan-Vandome is Chief Innovation Officer of Blue Yonder. In this role, she leads product strategy, roadmap direction and acquisition strategy, go-to-market packaging and messaging, and new product introduction. Andrea also partners with Blue Yonder’s product management team on innovation development and adoption in market. In addition, she oversees Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Advisory team, which is focused on driving growth, speed, and value for customers. Andrea has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain and the retail industry. She previously held executive roles at Nike, IBM Watson, Celect, Oracle, and Retek. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, Andrea was the Vice President of Product Management, Portfolio and Program at Nike, where she was responsible for the digital transformation across all technical products including planning, manufacturing, supply chain, and AI. Prior to Nike, Andrea served Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Celect (an AI/ML supply chain software company), which was acquired by Nike. She also served as Vice President of Product and Design for IBM Watson where was responsible for product strategy, product management, user experience/ visual design, and go to market approach for all Watson solutions. She has also held strategy, product management, consulting, and engineering positions at Oracle and Retek. Andrea was named a 2024 Top AI Leader in Growth Tech in RETHINK Retail’s inaugural list, which celebrates the individuals and companies pioneering the integration of AI within the retail sector. Andrea holds a degree in Astrophysics from the University of Cape Town. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling and spending time with family and friends. LinkedIn ### [Salil Joshi | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/salil-joshi) > As Chief Technology Officer, Salil Joshi steers Blue Yonder’s technology vision and ensures the alignment of technology-related decisions with the company's goals. In this role, he leads Blue Yonder’s product development and guides future growth strategy in the digital supply chain. Salil Joshi Chief Technology Officer As Chief Technology Officer, Salil Joshi steers Blue Yonder’s technology vision and ensures the alignment of technology-related decisions with the company's goals. In this role, he leads Blue Yonder’s product development and guides future growth strategy in the digital supply chain. Prior to this role, Salil was Executive Vice President, Customer Success where he delivered world-class customer experiences through a holistic journey focused on customer care and value realization. He began his career at Blue Yonder in 1997, moving through various leadership roles including Senior Vice President, Center of Excellence (CoE) for India, Poland and Mexico, where he delivered profitable revenue growth to external and internal customers and Group Vice President, Product Development, where he led the development of the company’s replenishment and transportation solutions. Salil has a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mumbai. If not driving Blue Yonder’s technology roadmap, Salil would be a historian. On the weekends, he can often be found cycling. LinkedIn ### [Mark Henry | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/mark-henry) > Mark Henry is Chief Financial Officer of Blue Yonder. He is responsible for the company’s finance operations, planning and analysis, accounting, tax, and treasury, helping Blue Yonder operate more efficiently and scale effectively. Mark Henry Chief Financial Officer Mark Henry is Chief Financial Officer of Blue Yonder. He is responsible for the company’s finance operations, planning and analysis, accounting, tax, and treasury, helping Blue Yonder operate more efficiently and scale effectively. Mark has more than 26 years of business and financial leadership experience in the enterprise software and technology services industry. Prior to Blue Yonder, he held senior executive roles at Infor and PRG. While serving as Treasurer and SVP of Finance for Infor, Mark and the leadership team grew the company’s finance infrastructure to support Infor’s growth from $50 million in revenue with 300 employees to $3.2 billion in revenue and 17,000 employees over 17 years. During this period, his team completed and integrated 60+ international public and private acquisitions exceeding $7 billion while raising multiple rounds of debt and equity financing in the public and private markets, including the eventual $13 billion sale to Koch Industries. Mark has a master’s degree in Accounting and a bachelor’s degree with a double major in Finance and Accounting from Auburn University. Mark is a Certified Public Accountant. In his free time, he serves on the boards of various charities and advises nonprofits. Mark enjoys hiking, travel, baseball, biking, working out, and spending time with family and friends. LinkedIn ### [Patricia Harris | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/patricia-harris) > Patricia Harris is the Chief Marketing Officer for Blue Yonder. In this role, she leads Blue Yonder’s global marketing team to strategically position the company as the leading supply chain solutions provider and drive revenue growth by increasing sales through successful marketing strategies. Patricia Harris Chief Marketing Officer Patricia Harris is the Chief Marketing Officer for Blue Yonder. In this role, she leads Blue Yonder’s global marketing team to strategically position the company as the leading supply chain solutions provider and drive revenue growth by increasing sales through successful marketing strategies. Patricia has more than 25 years of experience in corporate go-to-market strategy and marketing for the telecommunications, information technology, and enterprise software industries. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, Patricia held marketing and strategy leadership positions within Workday, Hitachi Vantara, and IHS Markit. She also served as Vice President of worldwide marketing programs for SAP, where she worked for seven years, as well as various marketing and IT positions earlier in her career. Patricia is a frequent public speaker on technology, marketing best practices, and sales alignment. She holds a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Truman State University in Missouri. With a deep background in cloud-based technologies, Patricia is passionate about creating strong go-to-market strategies with a laser focus on measurable business impact. LinkedIn ### [Nunzio Esposito | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/nunzio-esposito) > Nunzio Esposito serves as Blue Yonder’s Chief Design Officer, where he leads the company’s User Experience (UX) Design and Research teams. He and his team are instrumental in shaping the design strategy that drives innovative, user-centered solutions across Blue Yonder’s product solutions, creating intuitive, scalable, and user-focused designs. Nunzio Esposito Chief Design Officer Nunzio Esposito serves as Blue Yonder’s Chief Design Officer, where he leads the company’s User Experience (UX) Design and Research teams. He and his team are instrumental in shaping the design strategy that drives innovative, user-centered solutions across Blue Yonder’s product solutions, creating intuitive, scalable, and user-focused designs. With a passion for technology, branding, and consumer behaviors, Nunzio has more than 20 years of experience as a designer. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, Nunzio was at Infor for 10 years most recently serving as the Senior Vice President, Head of Design, for the Industry Cloud. There, he led a cross-functional team of 150 people across the globe, servicing a decentralized team of 400 UX engineers in R&D to scale better design decisions through user research and insights, product design, content design, and design system engineering. He was able to amplify and extend the enterprise cloud platform for ongoing value, transforming a $13B cloud ERP company into a modularized enterprise for role-based UX. Nunzio’s passion is bridging the gaps between product management, engineering, and design to better meet business needs. His passion extends into teaching having served as an adjunct professor in undergraduate and graduate programs at New York University (NYU), Fashion Institute of Technology, and Seton Hall University. Nunzio has a bachelor’s in graphic design from Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. In his spare time, he enjoys restoring British chariots (MGs), modernizing that user experience on wheels. LinkedIn ### [Rebecca Collins | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/rebecca-collins) > Rebecca Collins is General Counsel at Blue Yonder where she is responsible for providing leadership on all legal and compliance matters. Rebecca Collins General Counsel Rebecca Collins is General Counsel at Blue Yonder where she is responsible for providing leadership on all legal and compliance matters. Rebecca comes to Blue Yonder after serving more than six years as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Verra Mobility, a global smart mobility company. There she was responsible for directing and managing all company legal matters on a global basis, including board governance, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other public company regulatory requirements, M&A, commercial and government transactions, government relations, compliance, litigation, employment & labor law, risk management, and intellectual property management. In 2018, Rebecca led the legal aspects of taking Verra Mobility public. Prior to that, Rebecca held in-house counsel positions at various companies (both public and private) including General Dynamics, Motorola, NJOY, and Contractor Management Services. Previous to these positions, Rebecca was an employment law litigator at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, which she joined in 1996 following a clerkship with the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. In 2013, she received the In-House Counsel of the Year Award in the Large Public Company category from the Arizona chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona College of Law. Rebecca spends her free time playing pickleball and enjoys Pilates, downhill skiing, international Netflix series, and Wordle. LinkedIn ### [Brittany Easley | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/brittany-easley) Brittany Easley Chief Customer Officer Brittany Easley serves as the Chief Customer Officer for Blue Yonder. In this role, she works across Blue Yonder driving the company toward exceptional customer experiences and unmatched customer value realization. She is the ultimate voice of the customer, driving alignment between customer needs and Blue Yonder’s products and services innovation, execution, and evolution. Brittany has more than 20 years of experience in the supply chain industry on the customer side, supporting the development of complex business solutions with a financial focus. Before joining Blue Yonder, she worked at Advance Auto Parts, first in pricing and then moving up to become the Senior Vice President of Product Transformation. In this role, she was responsible for implementing complex, cross-functional programs – capturing the needs of the business to translate into technology enablement and development. Prior to that, she worked at JCPenney for more than 18 years in various roles from strategic pricing, international sourcing, supply chain operations, and procurement. Brittany has a master’s in Business Administration from SMU Cox School of Business and a bachelor’s in Business Administration and Management from Georgia Institute of Technology. She also holds minor certification in Supply Chain and Finance. She recently completed a Transformational Leadership program at the University of Oxford Said School of Business and was on the Board for the Advance Auto Parts Foundation. LinkedIn ### [Dr. Erika Voss | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/erika-voss) Dr. Erika Voss Chief Security Officer Dr. Erika Voss serves as Blue Yonder’s Chief Security Officer. In this role, she is spearheading the vision, strategy and execution of comprehensive and industry-leading security measures. She is focused on application security, access control, authentication, third-party risk management, and intrusion detection, ensuring robust security frameworks and compliance with industry standards and regulations. Erika boasts a distinguished cybersecurity career spanning over two decades. She has held high-level positions at renowned companies such as Capital One, Salesforce, Oracle Public Cloud, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services. Recognized for her exceptional leadership and contributions to the industry, Erika was awarded the CISOs Connect’s Top 100 Accelerated CISOs Award (A100), which honors emerging security leaders, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Women in Supply Chain Award in the DEI Pioneer category. Erika holds a Ph.D. in Cybersecurity from Northcentral University, along with a master’s in Security Administration and a bachelor’s in Computer Operations Technology from Southwestern College. LinkedIn ### [Monique Rupert | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/monique-rupert) > Monique Rupert serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Blue Yonder Professional Services. In this role, she partners with global customers to provide transformational consulting and delivery services. This enables customers to successfully deploy and gain value from their Blue Yonder technology. Monique Rupert Senior Vice President and General Manager, Professional Services Monique Rupert serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Blue Yonder Professional Services. In this role, she partners with global customers to provide transformational consulting and delivery services. This enables customers to successfully deploy and gain value from their Blue Yonder technology. Monique is a seasoned SaaS and professional services executive with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Monique’s experience includes roles in strategy, implementation consulting, transformation consulting, business process outsourcing, and partner management. Before joining Blue Yonder, Monique served as global Senior Vice President at Genpact. During her tenure, she served in a variety of leadership roles including supply chain services, managing partner relationships, and supply chain strategy. Prior to this, Monique held various consulting leadership roles in both large management consulting firms, as well as other leading supply chain software companies. Monique has a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Michigan. LinkedIn ### [Duncan Angove | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership/duncan-angove) > Duncan Angove is Chief Executive Officer of Blue Yonder. He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain and retail industry. Duncan Angove CEO, Blue Yonder Duncan Angove is Chief Executive Officer of Blue Yonder. He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain and retail industry. Duncan previously held senior executive roles at Infor, Oracle and Retek. While serving as President of Infor, an industry cloud applications company with more than 70,000 customers, he helped lead the transformation of the company into the first industry cloud company with over 60 million subscribers. This ultimately led to Infor’s successful sale to Koch Industries. Most recently, Angove served as managing partner of Arcspring, a technology-focused private equity firm built by technology operators, which he co-founded. He also serves on the board of Honeywell. Duncan served as Chief Strategy Officer and President Retail.com at Retek. During his tenure with Retek, he was instrumental in growing the company from $13 million to nearly $175 million in revenue, which helped lead to a successful IPO and, ultimately, its sale to Oracle Corporation. Duncan holds a bachelor’s in Economics from University College London (UCL), University of London. He always strives to introduce diversity into business and is passionate about building organizations centered around comradery, passion, and purpose. An early crypto geek, he enjoys exploring how blockchain and web3 technologies like tokens, DeFi, DAOs, NFTs, AR/VR and the metaverse will change the world. Originally from the UK, Duncan has lived in different countries across the globe and now resides in the U.S. He is passionate about water sports, especially wakeboarding and wakesurfing. LinkedIn ### [Awards & Recognition | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/awards-and-recognition) > Blue Yonder's associates, our industry expertise and philanthropy have been recognized by key organizations around the globe. We proudly share this success with all Blue Yonder associates as a testament to their relentless commitment, their teamwork and tireless collaboration to put our customers at the forefront of everything we do. Awards & Recognition At Blue Yonder, our work starts with the core belief that we can help every organization on earth fulfill their potential. We set out each day to create an environment for our associates, customers and partners that enables effective collaboration, creativity and innovation. For this reason, Blue Yonder’s associates, our industry expertise and philanthropy have been recognized by key organizations around the globe. We proudly share this success with all Blue Yonder associates as a testament to their relentless commitment, their teamwork and tireless collaboration to put our customers at the forefront of everything we do. Awards & Recognition Workplace & Culture Awards Blue Yonder Named a Great Place to Work® in India for 2024-2025 Company Great Place to Work ® certified in India for the fifth year in a row Find Out More Blue Yonder Ranked in the Newsweek Excellence 1000 Index 2025 This annual ranking honors organizations across more than 25 industries that are proving that thriving requires not just strategic acumen but an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing for their stakeholders Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Best Company To Work® For in India - 2024 Company comes in at #61 as ranked by Great Placed To Work™ India Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Best Company To Work® for Women in Mexico - 2024 Company ranked #16 in the “500-5,000 employees” category by Great Placed To Work™ Mexico Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Best Company To Work® Mexico - 2024 Company ranked #29 in the “500-5,000 employees” category by Great Placed To Work™ Mexico Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Best Place to Work in Texas 2024 Company ranked in the Large Employer category (100+ Texas employees) by Best Companies Group Find Out More Blue Yonder Recognized as Committed by EcoVadis EcoVadis reviews a company's sustainability management system Blue Yonder Recognized as a Best Workplaces For Millennials 2024 in India Company ranked in the Top 50 by Great Place to Work ® India for Large Organizations (1,000+ employees) Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Great Place to Work® in Mexico for 2023-2024 Company Great Place to Work® certified in Mexico for second time Find Out More Blue Yonder Recognized as a Best Workplaces™ in the IT & IT-BPM in India Company ranked in the Top 25 by Great Place to Work® India Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Best Places to Work IT sector in Mexico Company ranked #1 in the 50-500 employee category by Great Places To Work® Mexico Find Out More Blue Yonder Ranked in Top 20 by HerKey India (formerly JobsForHer) Company ranks in the Top 20 Most Innovative Practices at the DivHERsity Awards 2023 in two categories: “Women Returnee Programs” and “Women Leadership Development” Find Out More People & Talent Awards Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt Named a 2026 Top Woman in Sustainability Sustainability Magazine unveils its list of Top 250 Women in Sustainability 2026 Find Out More Blue Yonder's Ann Marie Jonkman Named a 2026 Rainmaker Award presented by DC Velocity magazine Find Out More Blue Yonder's Patricia Harris Named a 2025 Top 100 Global B2B CMO HotTopics announces its 2025 Global B2B CMO 100 award winners Find Out More Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt Named a 2025 Top 100 Corporate Impact Leader ChangeLeaders announces its 2025 Top 100 Corporate Impact Leaders Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt Named a Top 100 Chief Sustainability Officer of North America 2025 Futur/io announces its Top 100 Chief Sustainability Officers of North America Find Out More Blue Yonder's Andrea Morgan-Vandome Named a 2025 Woman in Supply Chain Supply and Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics announce Women in the Supply Chain Winners Find Out More Blue Yonder's Tiffany Brewer Named a 2025 Pro to Know Award presented by Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine Find Out More Blue Yonder’s Saskia van Gendt Named a 2024 Woman in Supply Chain Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics announce Women in the Supply Chain Winners Find Out More Blue Yonder’s Ann Marie Jonkman Named a 2024 Pro to Know Award presented by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine Find Out More Blue Yonder's Andrea Morgan-Vandome Named a 2024 Top AI Leader in Growth Tech RETHINK Retail’s inaugural list celebrates the individuals and companies pioneering the integration of AI within the retail sector Find Out More Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Logistics Awards Blue Yonder Honored as a 2026 FreightTech 100 Winner The annual FreightWaves award honors the most innovative companies in the freight technology space Find Out More Blue Yonder Honored as Top 100 Logistics IT Provider for 2026 Inbound Logistics selects Blue Yonder as a Top Logistics IT Provider for 2026, selecting only 100 technology solutions leaders Find Out More Blue Yonder Honored By 2025 The SaaS Awards Blue Yonder Yard Management named a finalist in the "Best SaaS Solution for Logistics and Transportation" category Find Out More Blue Yonder Customer Named a 2025 Rock Star of the Supply Chain Baron Jordan with CONA Services LLC wins Food Logistics' 2025 Rock Stars of the Supply Chain award Find Out More Blue Yonder Wins the 2025 Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award Blue Yonder honored by Snowflake in its annual Partner of the Year Awards Find Out More Blue Yonder Named 2025 “AI Visionary” winner by Hakkoda Hakkoda’s Data Innovation Awards recognize companies for groundbreaking use of data to fuel compelling applications and exceptional creativity with Snowflake technology Find Out More Stanley 1913, a Blue Yonder customer, wins a 2025 Top Supply Chain Projects Award Award presented by Supply and Demand Chain Executive Find Out More Blue Yonder Named 2024 “Master of App Dev” Winner by Hakkoda Hakkoda’s Data Innovation Awards recognize companies for groundbreaking use of data to fuel compelling applications, and exceptional creativity with Snowflake technology Find Out More Blue Yonder Honored in India Logistics & Warehousing Excellence Awards 2024 Company named "Best Technology Solution Provider" by Institute of Supply Chain Management (ISCM) Blue Yonder Named a 2024 Great Supply Chain Partners Blue Yonder among 100 companies named to this annual list by SupplyChainBrain Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist Blue Yonder was named a finalist for the Global Mobility 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award. Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a 2024 Top Food Chain Technology Award presented by the Food Shippers of America (FSA) and recognizes standout technologies in food transportation, logistics, distribution and supply chain management Find Out More Blue Yonder Wins the 2024 Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award Blue Yonder honored by Snowflake in its annual Partner of the Year Awards Find Out More Blue Yonder Named the 2024 EMEA Data Cloud Product Industry Partner by Snowflake Blue Yonder honored by Snowflake in its annual EMEA partner awards Food Logistics Names Blue Yonder a 2024 Top Software & Technology Provider Blue Yonder’s Yard Management Solution solution honored in the WMS/TMS category; award spotlights the top software and technology solutions in the supply chain space Find Out More Armada, a Blue Yonder customer, Wins a 2023 Top Supply Chain Projects Award Award presented by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Blue Yonder Finalist for 2023 Supply Chain Technology Partner of the Year Supply Chain Asia recognizes Blue Yonder for its software solutions Retail Awards Blue Yonder Named a 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Winner Blue Yonder was named a winner of the Global Retail & Consumer Goods 2024 Partner of the Year Award Find Out More Blue Yonder Recognized by Albert Heijn Technology With the 2024 Product Award Blue Yonder recognized by customer Albert Heijn for helping to implement store-specific planograms across 1,000 stores Blue Yonder Named a 2024 Sainsbury’s TECH Supplier Award Winner Sainsbury’s awarded Blue Yonder with the TECH Supplier Award in the “Delivering Value” category for our work together to digitally transform their end-to end supply chain through the Supply Chain Transformation Programme** Blue Yonder Customer Named a 2023 Progressive Grocer GenNext Winner Blue Yonder customer with Walgreens wins for building out training and development programs for the usage of Blue Yonder solutions across the organization Find Out More Marketing Awards Blue Yonder Named a Gold Winner of the 2025 dotCOMM Awards Blue Yonder recognized for its website redesign Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Winner in the 2024 B2B Innovator Awards Blue Yonder’s Ali Magas was honored in the “Buyer-Focused Marketers” category Find Out More Blue Yonder Named a Finalist for the 2024 6sense Breakthrough Award Company honored in the Ecosystem Fusion category, which recognizes customers who are getting the most impact from 6sense data through integrations Find Out More Blue Yonder honored with 2023 APEX Award Company's DIVE In blog series wins in the Social Media - Best Series of Blog Posts Find Out More Blue Yonder wins ABM Program of the Year at 6sense Breakthrough 2023 Blue Yonder takes home the top award from market-leading ABM platform 6sense Find Out More Blue Yonder Wins Killer Content Award Blue Yonder recognized as a winner in the Multi-Touch Campaign category of the 2023 Killer Content Awards Find Out More Blue Yonder’s TMS Animation Explainer Video Wins Gold The annual Communicate Magazine's Lens Awards was presented to Blue Yonder in the "Best use of video from the technology, media, and telecommunications sector" category Find Out More ### [Leadership | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/leadership) > Blue Yonder Executives & Board of Directors Leadership Leadership Blue Yonder Executive Leadership Team Duncan Angove Chief Executive Officer Find Out More Rebecca Collins General Counsel Find Out More Simona Darjan Chief Transformation Officer Find Out More Patricia Harris Chief Marketing Officer Find Out More Mark Henry Chief Financial Officer Find Out More Salil Joshi Chief Technology Officer Find Out More Andrea Morgan-Vandome Chief Innovation Officer Find Out More Darren Saumur President, Customer Experience and Cloud Find Out More Gurdip Singh Chief Product Officer Find Out More Corey Tollefson Chief Revenue Officer Find Out More Wayne Usie Chief Strategy Officer Find Out More Blue Yonder Senior Leaders Brittany Easley Chief Customer Officer Find Out More Nunzio Esposito Chief Design Officer Find Out More Monique Rupert Senior Vice President and General Manager, Professional Services Find Out More Saskia van Gendt Chief Sustainability Officer Find Out More Dr. Erika Voss Chief Security Officer Find Out More Blue Yonder Board of Directors Ken Sain Chairperson of the Board Panasonic Connect Group / Panasonic Avionics Corporation Ken Sain is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Panasonic Connect Group and concurrently holds the role of CEO of Panasonic Avionics Corporation. He has more than 30 years of global leadership experience. Before joining Panasonic in 2019, Ken held senior executive roles at Boeing, including Vice President of Digital Solutions and Analytics for Boeing Global Services and CEO of Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen. Duncan Angove Blue Yonder Duncan Angove is Chief Executive Officer of Blue Yonder. He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain, and retail industry. Duncan previously held senior executive roles at Infor, Oracle, and Retek. He holds a bachelor’s in Economics from University College London (UCL), University of London. Takeshi Nishikawa Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd. Takeshi Nishikawa is the Representative Director, Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Panasonic Connect. He joined Panasonic in 1994 and has experience working in the company’s U.S. and European system solutions sales companies. Yuri Kato Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd. Yuri Kato is a Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Panasonic Connect. She has extensive experience working globally in various industries, including IT and consulting. Prior to joining Panasonic Connect in 2025, she held the positions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President of Finance at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Asia Pacific. Akira Sakakibara Panasonic Holdings Corporation / Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd. Akira Sakakibara is the Group Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of Panasonic Holdings Corporation and a Senior Vice President and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Panasonic Connect. Prior to joining Panasonic in 2021, he held the positions of CTO of Microsoft Japan and President and Representative Director of Microsoft Development Co., Ltd. Megan Myungwon Lee Panasonic Corporation of North America Megan Myungwon Lee is Executive Officer and Group Regional Head for Panasonic in North America, serving as Chairperson and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America. With more than 30 years of experience, she leads the company’s growth strategy and business evolution, having held senior roles across human resources, strategic and corporate planning, digitization, and corporate social responsibility. Hirofumi Suzuki Panasonic Holdings Corporation Hirofumi Suzuki has been an Executive Officer and the Solution Revenue Officer (SRO) of Panasonic Holdings Corporation since April 2026. Prior to joining Panasonic, he served as President and Representative Director of SAP Japan, where he led the company’s business strategy and operations in the Japanese market. He has extensive experience in the supply chain software industry, having previously held the position of President and Representative Director of JDA Software Japan (now part of Blue Yonder). ### [Locations | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about/locations) > With more than 8,000 associates who are part of a diverse global community, Blue Yonder has offices in major cities around the world. Blue Yonder's combination of industry expertise and local knowledge has enabled more than 3,000 of our customers to fulfill their potential. Blue Yonder Office Locations With more than 8,000 associates who are part of a diverse global community, Blue Yonder has offices in major cities around the world. Blue Yonder's combination of industry expertise and local knowledge has enabled more than 3,000 of our customers to fulfill their potential. Locations North America Dallas, TX Blue Yonder, Inc. - Global Innovation Center 9001 Cypress Waters Blvd 4th Floor Coppell, TX 75019 Directions Scottsdale, AZ Blue Yonder, Inc. - Administrative Office 15059 N Scottsdale Rd Suite 400 Scottsdale, AZ 85254-2666 Directions Dallas, TX One Network Enterprises, a Blue Yonder Company 4055 Valley View Lane Suite 1000 Dallas TX 75244 Directions Arlington, VA One Network Enterprises, a Blue Yonder Company 2345 Crystal Drive Suite 110 Arlington, Virginia 22202 Directions Dublin, OH Flexis North America Inc., a part of Blue Yonder 6065 Frantz Road Suite 206 Dublin, OH 43017 Directions Richmond Hill, ON Blue Yonder Technology Solutions Canada 9225 Leslie St Suite 234 Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3H6 Directions Asia Bangalore Blue Yonder India Private Limited Tower A, Mantri Commercio, Nr Sakra World Hospital, Outer Ring Road, Bellandur, Bangalore, 560 103 Directions Beijing Blue Yonder Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Zhongguancun Metropolis Tower, 7/F Metropolis Tower, No. 2 Dongsan Street, Zhongguancun Xi Zone, Haidian District, Beijing 100080 Directions Coimbatore Blue Yonder India Private Limited IndiQube Emerald, Adithya Techno Park 3rd Floor, SF No. 368/1B, Thudiyalur Road Saravanampatti, Coimbatore – 641035 Directions Hyderabad Blue Yonder India Private Limited 14th Floor Unit 3, Parcel 4, Octave Block Salarpuria Sattva Knowledge City Hyderabad – 500081 Directions Pune One Network Enterprises India Pvt Ltd, a Blue Yonder Company Westend Centre III, Second Floor Aundh, Pune 411007, Maharashtra Directions Seoul Blue Yonder Korea, Inc . 4th Floor, LS Yongsan Tower Hangangdaero 92, Yongsan-gu Seoul, Korea 04386 Directions Shanghai Blue Yonder Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The Executive Centre ITC 2970# No. 183 Hongqiao Road Xuhui District, 200030, Shanghai Directions Singapore Blue Yonder Asia Pte. Ltd. 7 Straits View #05-01 Marina One East Tower Singapore 018936 Directions Taipei Blue Yonder (Taiwan), Inc. Room 36, Level 37, Taipei 101 No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Rd Xinyi District Taipei City 110615 Directions Tokyo Blue Yonder Japan Co., Ltd. Shiodome Hamarikyu Bldg. 12F 8-21-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0061 Directions Africa Cape Town Blue Yonder Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd 146 Campground Road 3rd floor, Snakepit Building Newlands, Cape Town, 7780 Directions Australia Melbourne Blue Yonder Australia Pty Ltd Level 7 180 Flinders St Melbourne VIC 3000 Directions Europe Amsterdam JDA Software Netherlands B.V. Spaces, Vijzelstraat 68 1017 HL Amsterdam, 1017 HL Directions Barcelona Blue Yonder Spain SL Passeig de Gracia c/Gran Viade les Corts Catalanes 613 08007 Barcelona Directions Chemnitz flexis AG, a part of Blue Yonder Am Rathaus 4 09111 Chemnitz Directions Copenhagen Blue Yonder Denmark A/S c/o TMF Denmark, H. C. Andersens Boulevard 38 3. th. 1553 Copenhagen V Denmark Directions Hamburg Blue Yonder GmbH c/o Mindspace GmbH Rödingsmarkt 9 20457 Hamburg Directions Helsinki Blue Yonder Finland Oy c/o TMF Finland Oy Kansakoulukuja 1 00100 Helsinki Directions Karlsruhe Blue Yonder GmbH Ohiostraße 8 76149 Karlsruhe Directions London Blue Yonder Technology Solutions (UK) Limited 3rd Floor 10 Throgmorton Avenue London, EC2N 2DL Directions Milan Blue Yonder Italy S.R.L. 1st Floor Energy Park Building 4, Via Energy Park 22 20871 Vimercate (MB) Directions Paris Blue Yonder France SAS 5th Floor, 83-85 Avenue de la Grande, Armee, 75016, Paris Directions Prague JDA Software Netherlands BV (Czech Branch) C/O EDM Utilitas Accounting, s.r.o. Prague 1, Staré Město, Konviktská 291/24, 110 00 Directions Stockholm Blue Yonder Nordic AB Cecil Coworking, Office 2123, Norrlandsgatan 10, 11143 Stockholm Directions Stuttgart flexis AG, a part of Blue Yonder Industriestraße 6 70565 Stuttgart Directions Warsaw Blue Yonder Poland Sp z.o.o. Office Adgar Plaza B, , 4th Floor Postepu 17b, 02-676 Warsaw Directions Wenden flexis AG, a part of Blue Yonder Kölner Str. 7 57482 Wenden Directions Latin America Monterrey Technology Solutions de México Blue Yonder, S. de R.L. de C.V. Av. David Alfaro Siqueiros No. 106 17th Floor, Colonia Valle Oriente, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon, Mexico 66269 Directions Middle East Dubai Blue Yonder Middle East FZ-LLC 12th Floor, Office 1202, Arjaan Office Tower, Al Bourooj Street Dubai Media City Dubai Directions ### [About | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/about) > The essentials to continued business success — transformative growth, profitability and a reimagined customer experience — are only possible with an intelligent and cognitive supply chain. At Blue Yonder, we have built the one and only intelligent, real-time platform that provides a single, trusted view of supply and demand and a competitive advantage to your business. Whether you’re looking to transform manual processes, begin a full digital transformation journey, or something in between, we’re ready to help. Let's achieve your supply chain management goals, together. Innovative supply chain solutions. Real business results. The essentials to continued business success — transformative growth, profitability and a reimagined customer experience — are only possible with an intelligent and cognitive supply chain. At Blue Yonder, we have built the one and only intelligent, real-time platform that provides a single, trusted view of supply and demand and a competitive advantage to your business. Whether you’re looking to transform manual processes, begin a full digital transformation journey, or something in between, we’re ready to help. Let's achieve your supply chain management goals, together. About Our Mission To empower every person and organization to fulfill their potential Blue Yonder is the world leader in digital supply chain transformation. Retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers worldwide rely on Blue Yonder to optimize and accelerate their supply chain from planning through fulfillment, delivery, and returns. Blue Yonder’s AI-driven supply chain platform and multi-enterprise, multi-tier network enable more accurate forecasting and dynamic management of capacity, inventory and transport. Blue Yonder helps businesses navigate modern supply chain complexity and volatility with more resilient, sustainable supply chains to delight customers, scale profitably, and run flawlessly. Delivering on absolute certainty Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove explains how we are empowering customers around the world to overcome critical supply chain challenges with unparalleled speed and certainty, so they can grow profitably, reduce waste, and drive sustainable growth. Comprehensive Supply Orchestration Our synchronized end-to-end supply chain management solutions give companies the knowledge and tools they need to optimize business decisions, create a more profitable supply chain and deliver superior customer experiences. Unparalleled Experience Simply put, we’re passionate about what we do. Our supply chain transformation experience, expertise and scale have allowed us to deliver close to 40 years of successful customer engagements. We’re proud of our commitment to achieving business outcomes, time-to-value and return-on-investment. Why Blue Yonder? 0 Customers included in the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 ~ 0 Patents granted and pending 0 ,000+ Customers across 81 countries and territories Learn More About Blue Yonder Locations Blue Yonder is a global company and has offices in major cities around the world. Blue Yonder's combination of industry expertise and local knowledge has enabled more than 3,000 of our customers to fulfill their potential. Learn More Our Leadership Meet our forward-thinking executive team, whose deep industry knowledge, SaaS experience and ability to lead highly collaborative teams make all the work we do possible. Learn More Our Culture At Blue Yonder, we’re committed to creating a work environment that empowers associates to bring their best ideas – and their full selves – to work every day. Learn More Diversity at Blue Yonder Diversity, Inclusion, Value and Equity (DIVE) is Blue Yonder’s commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment where associates can grow and thrive with the freedom to be unique and authentic. Learn More Our Commitment to Sustainability We’re dedicated to conducting business responsibly to reduce our environmental impact - and helping our customers achieve their own sustainability goals. Learn about our sustainability initiatives, ESG program, partnerships and more. Learn More Awards & Recognition We don’t mean to brag (okay, maybe we do!), but Blue Yonder is proud to be recognized around the world for our innovation, culture, and most of all, our game-changing customer success. Learn More ICONic Awards Our customer awards honor those who make an impact in their organization using our solutions. Learn More User Groups Blue Yonder has more than 25 User Groups. Learn More Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ## Why Blue Yonder: Competitive Differentiation ### [AI Agents for Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/ai-and-machine-learning/ai-agents) > Blue Yonder’s AI agents for supply chain can see, analyze, decide and act, closing the loop between insights and execution across your end-to-end network. Enterprise Agentic AI for Supply Chain Agentic AI that works, not chats. Digital workers. Named. Governed. Shipping today. Blue Yonder's agentic AI platform deploys enterprise-grade supply chain AI agents — not stateless assistants that answer questions and forget context. These are named, governed digital workers with persistent memory — the autonomous execution layer built natively into the Blue Yonder Platform and powered by the Snowflake Data Cloud. 5 Domain Agents. One Orchestrator. Because they share a single unified data foundation, every agent has seamless interoperability — the Network Agent talks to the Warehouse Agent instantly, not through brittle APIs. All running the SADA loop, continuously. AI agents for supply chain Overview The new standard for unified supply chain decisioning. Identify Uncover hidden risk Automatically uncovers hidden pipeline risks within existing data. Persistent memory means agents remember every decision, outcome, and constraint across continuous operating cycles — context compounds, it doesn't reset. Act Resolve via SADA Resolves disruptions via SADA without human-in-the-loop latency. Agents trigger governed actions against systems of record (WMS, TMS, OMS) — not recommendations. Governed actions, logged and reversible. Scale Deploy in weeks Deploys within 6–12 weeks; no rip-and-replace required. Because every agent shares a single Snowflake Data Cloud foundation, an inventory agent negotiates with a logistics agent instantly — no middleware, no brittle APIs — all concurrently, across functional boundaries. Agentic AI Use Cases in Supply Chain 5 agentic AI applications — the autonomous execution layer of the Blue Yonder Platform Each supply chain AI agent is purpose-built for a specific operational domain. These are not standalone, bolt-on tools — they are production-grade agentic AI applications built natively into the Blue Yonder Platform and powered by the Snowflake Data Cloud. Because they share a unified data foundation, they interoperate seamlessly: the Network Agent feeds signals directly to the Warehouse Agent without integration middleware. Each runs the SADA loop — seeing signals, analyzing impact, deciding on trade-offs, and acting against WMS, TMS, OMS, and planning systems with governed autonomy. The enterprise AI landscape categorizes agents into three functional tiers. Task Agents handle routine, rule-based operations — data entry validation, status polling, and threshold alerts. RAG Agents (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) synthesize unstructured data from documents, contracts, and knowledge bases to surface contextual answers. Autonomous Agents operate at the highest tier: ingesting real-time signals, modeling multi-variable trade-offs, and executing governed decisions against systems of record without human-in-the-loop latency. While the industry broadly classifies agents across all three tiers, Blue Yonder bypasses basic task execution and retrieval functions entirely. Every agent in the Blue Yonder ecosystem is a proprietary, fully Autonomous Domain Agent — engineered specifically for global supply chain resilience. Agents like the Network Ops Agent and Shelf Ops Agent don't summarize disruptions or retrieve documents; they trace multi-tier impact through BOMs, simulate recovery paths, and trigger governed actions against WMS, TMS, and OMS in real time. Warehouse Decisioning Blue Yonder’s AI agents revolutionize warehouse efficiency. From perfect product placement to staffing solutions that work, agents deliver guidance that turns operational headaches into competitive advantages. Actionable alerts and smart recommendations make the day run more smoothly than ever. Collaborate and Respond (Multi-Enterprise Demand and Supply Planning) Achieve seamless collaboration and decision-making with our AI agents. Agents deliver optimal solutions straight to your planners—even on a mobile device. Working alongside your team, agents transform weeks of back-and-forth into accelerated action. Watch your fill rates climb, your resilience strengthen, and your profits grow. Transportation Precision Our AI agents predict problems before they derail shipments, solve rerouting puzzles instantly, and track every delivery with precision. With agents supporting your team, your customers get what they ordered, when they ordered it—every single time. Space Planning At Scale Maximize retail efficiency and engagement with Blue Yonder’s AI agents. Reimagine planograms as dynamic profit drivers—optimizing layouts in real-time while your team collaborates to maximize the value of every display. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Cognitive Solutions | The shift to global intelligence](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/cognitive-solutions) > Anticipate, adapt, and act with AI-driven cognitive solutions to build resilient, agile, intelligent supply chains. WHY BLUE YONDER Cognitive Solutions that turn insight into action Anticipate change, adapt faster, and act with confidence across your supply chain. Cognitive Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Overview Meet the challenges of today with the solutions of tomorrow. Supply chains are shifting fast, and the increasing complexity demands speed, accuracy, and most importantly, confident decision-making. Agentic, AI-driven cognitive systems give organizations the ability to see, analyze, decide, and act in real time to stay ahead of disruptions, and unlock a clear competitive advantage. 0 billion AI and ML predictions every day $ 0 billion invested in supply chain AI innovation 0 years of delivering AI solutions Features & Capabilities Power the next generation of supply chains through the seven pillars of cognitive supply chain management. AI data cloud and Blue Yonder Platform Cloud native Interoperable solutions Multi-enterprise network Unified decisioning Intelligent and agentic Reimagined experiences Breaking down the walls between systems Build a unified foundation that brings all your supply chain information together and gives you real-time understanding of what it means. Learn more The foundation of modern supply chains Rebuild your supply chain with cloud-native architecture so you can create applications that are infinitely scalable, highly secure and always current with the latest capabilities. Learn more Orchestrating your internal operations Connect your planning and execution systems so data, logic, and workflows work together in real time, eliminating handoffs and enabling true internal orchestration. Learn more Connecting across organizational boundaries Extend supply chain coordination beyond your organization by connecting all trading partners on a shared platform for real-time visibility and collaboration. Learn more From local optimization to global intelligence Replace decision silos with concurrent optimization that aligns every function around the best end-to-end outcome. Learn more Beyond automation: Cognitive capabilities Unlock new possibilities with a modern AI system that reasons, learns, and adapts, bringing cognitive intelligence and autonomous agents to every part of your operations. Learn more Liberating users from interface complexity Deliver intuitive, intelligent experiences that replace complex interfaces with adaptive, natural interactions, so users can focus on the outcomes, not the systems. Learn more Key Benefits Boost resilience, efficiency, and agility with cognitive intelligence, no matter what industry you’re in. Resiliency Improve your supply chain’s stability with AI-driven decisioning that predicts risk, simplifies complexity, and enables proactive action, helping retailers stay ahead of demand and inventory disruptions, manufacturers protect production continuity and material flow, and logistics service providers (LSP) maintain reliable capacity and network performance. Efficiency Use AI and ML to eliminate waste, uncover hidden efficiencies, and optimize cost-to-serve, empowering retailers to improve margins through smarter inventory and fulfillment decisions, manufacturers to reduce material, labor, and capacity inefficiencies, and LSPs to lower operating costs through optimized routing and utilization. Agility Adapt faster to changing market conditions with an end-to-end cognitive platform built for real-time responsiveness, enabling retailers to quickly rebalance demand and fulfillment, manufacturers to synchronize supply and production in real time, and LSPs to respond instantly to exceptions across shipments, assets, and partners. Related Resources Cognitive Solutions: The shift to global intelligence Solution Overview Cognitive Solutions: The shift to global intelligence Transform operations with faster decisions, smarter insights, and a more resilient supply chain in a continuously improving, intelligent ecosystem. Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on artificial intelligence and technology Analyst Report Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on artificial intelligence and technology Dive deeper into the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report with a spotlight on the impact of AI and technology. Read what executives are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions. AI optimized inventory: Maximize availability, minimize waste Solution Overview AI optimized inventory: Maximize availability, minimize waste Balance service, cost and risk with AI-powered inventory optimization. Reduce costs, free up working capital, and ensure products are in the right place at the right time, turning inventory into a driver of growth and customer satisfaction. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Trading Partner Network Services | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/blue-yonder-network/network-trading-partner-services) > Trading partner network services from Blue Yonder onboard and manage suppliers, carriers and 3PLs to coordinate planning, fulfillment and logistics. Solutions Network Trading Partner Services Drive profitable growth, efficiencies and resilience by engaging your partners on the world’s largest intelligent supply chain network. Trading partner network services Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Overview Onboard partners faster with secure data sharing and integrations Tap into the largest community of supply chain participants. Securely connect to your suppliers, customers, contract manufacturers, logistics service providers and carriers. Fast track growth while improving resilience. 0 % COOs expect significant increase in supplier costs 0 % leaders feel underprepared for current uncertainties 0 % CROs say risks harder to detect and manage Features & Capabilities A fresh approach to interacting with your dynamic network Blue Yonder Network Partner Services for Suppliers Partner Services for Customers Partner Services for Carriers Coordinate on a multienterprise framework A powerful combination of trading partners and AI-enabled software that provides insights and opportunities to work together for increased profitability, efficiency, resiliency and compliance. Learn More Chat Now Optimize production and fulfillment across buyers Improve downstream visibility to increase assurance of supply. Automate scheduling with customers and carriers, whether prepaid or collect freight. Drive insights into forecasts, capacities and order collaboration. Learn More Chat Now Reduce reliance on excess safety stock with streamlined flows Improve upstream visibility in a secure, permissioned manner to improve efficiencies, automate processes and drive earlier insights into emerging changes in demand patterns. Chat Now Improve asset utilization, margins and performance for spot or contract deliveries Automate appointment scheduling from origin to destination. A single interface streamlining, tending, booking collaboration, tracking, documentation, proof of delivery, freight invoice and claims management. Learn More Chat Now Key Benefits Experience the network effect Expand your dynamic network Enable a growing community of trading partners through a single network connection. Synchronize activities on a secure, permissioned basis against a live version of operational flows. Dramatically increases reliability and responsiveness. Automate to improve productivity and asset utilization Leverage real-time visibility and meaningful insights to enhance task efficiency, curb costs and expedite issue resolution. Reduce cycle, lead and dwell times. Blue Yonder supports enablement, freeing up valuable IT and business resources. Connect once simplicity Blue Yonder streamlines configuring connections, leveraging unique AI agent capabilities to automate mapping for new partners. Network services also let you tap existing network participants on a permissioned basis. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder Network | Supplier Network](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/blue-yonder-network/supplier-network) > The Blue Yonder Network for suppliers provides real-time collaboration, enhances visibility, and optimizes supply chain operations. BLUE YONDER NETWORK Blue Yonder Supplier / Shipper Network Plan, execute, and adapt in real time with one source of truth—boosting efficiency, profits, and OTIF to meet customers’ compliance mandates. Supplier Network Overview Join a Network Capabilities Key Benefits Overview Plan, collaborate and execute with confidence The Blue Yonder Network connects suppliers, customers, and carriers in real time, providing a single, trusted source of truth. By unifying all trading partners on one network, suppliers gain end-to-end visibility, streamlined order management, and seamless collaboration across demand, supply, and execution. Shared data, automation, and real-time insights help suppliers anticipate disruptions, optimize production and inventory, and improve OTIF—reducing costs, strengthening partnerships, and driving sustainable growth. 0 % improvement in problem identification 0 % reduction in resolution cycles 0 % reduction in time spent on manual status updates and reporting Supplier / Shipper Networks Streamline your supply chain with smarter supplier networks Retail Network US Healthcare/Pharmaceutical Network Automotive Network Hi-Tech Network The Retail Network US enables suppliers to connect with their US based retailer to centrally manage supply, demand and logistics. These services included allow the supplier to collaborate on end-to-end supply chain management including forecasting, inventory planning, replenishment, order management, ASN, inventory management, warehouse management, transportation management, and freight financials. Register Now Capabilities Intelligent tools for modern supplier operations Supply Chain Command Center Intelligent Scheduling Enhanced visibility Role-based analytics Manage orders, deliveries and performance in one place Supply Chain Command Center dashboards give suppliers a single, configurable view to manage trading partner operations. From one platform, suppliers can manage purchase orders, schedule deliveries, and track carrier and on-time performance. Real-time dashboards highlight critical data, alerts, and reports, while live asset tracking keeps operations connected, visible, and efficient. Chat Now Proactive shipment scheduling and exception management Simplify shipment scheduling with clear visibility into every issue to enable exception-based management. Auto-scheduling and rescheduling Pending and late appointment notifications Missing confirmations* *Subscribed users will have access to the Blue Yonder Network UI Portal connecting you to your customers and configured services for their partner communities. Chat Now Predict delays and monitor assets in real time Achieve greater visibility with telematics and predictive insights, spanning cold-chain logistics to IoT-enabled asset monitoring. Real-time data tracking with appointment milestones Collect and prepaid appointments with the ability to monitor infeasible ETAs Late origin gate-in and out tracking Chat Now Track performance across sites, lanes and carriers Track key supplier performance metrics in real time across sites, lanes, carriers, and distribution centers—all from a single, unified dashboard that drives continuous improvement and operational excellence: On time in full (OTIF) current month Order expedites current month On-time, In-full trends Expedite order trends Bottom 10 Items OTIF Chat Now Key Benefits Connected, Real-time Supply Chain Control Real-time Intelligence Suppliers receive live inventory projections to optimize supply adjustments, accurate demand forecasting to improve production planning, and real-time insights to fine-tune production capacity. Continuous On Time and In Full (OTIF) and temperature tracking helps ensure timely, complete deliveries, while automated alerts enable proactive management of disruptions before they impact performance. Unified Order Management Delivers end-to-end visibility and reconciliation to reduce order lead times, while enabling active collaboration to quickly resolve upstream supply chain disruptions and keep orders on track. Optimized resources Retail suppliers achieve demand-driven production scheduling, dynamic lead time management, and predictive maintenance integration to improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and better align supply with demand. Financial impact Improvements to the bottom line include fewer stockouts and chargebacks, reduced manual processing costs, and shorter lead times—driving lower operating costs, improved cash flow, and stronger profitability. Related resources Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Thought Leadership Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Is your supply chain truly a network, or just a series of connections? This e-book shows how to break free from outdated, siloed systems and embrace a hub-to-hub network model. Learn how the connected, collaborative Blue Yonder Network can boost ... Blue Yonder Network: Revolutionizing multiparty operations Solution Overview Blue Yonder Network: Revolutionizing multiparty operations Dynamically adapt under pressure, seamlessly coordinating plans and execution with your trading partners to optimize the flow of goods and time to market. Blue Yonder Network for Grocery Retail: Connect Your Entire Supply Chain Thought Leadership Blue Yonder Network for Grocery Retail: Connect Your Entire Supply Chain Blue Yonder Network connects your entire grocery supply chain — from suppliers to shelf— with a single source of truth into one intelligent network. You and your network work in concert to deliver fresher products and a better experience to shoppers, ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Global Logistics Gateway | Carrier/LSP Network](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/blue-yonder-network/carrier-lsp-network) > Connect with customers in real time. Streamline logistics, boost collaboration, and optimize supply chain performance. Blue Yonder Carrier/LSP Network Global Logistics Gateway Carrier/LSP Network Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Overview Plan, collaborate and execute with confidence The Blue Yonder Network Global Logistics Gateway provides carriers and LSPs with a single, convenient interface to their customers across all industry networks. It connects to TMS applications and all modes of domestic and global transportation. With shared data and automated processes, you can adapt quickly to shifts in demand or supply—meeting customer needs at the lowest cost while improving overall performance. Register Now 0 % improvement in problem identification 0 % reduction in resolution cycles 0 % reduction in time spent on manual status updates and reporting Capabilities See Problems Early. Respond Faster. Keep Freight Moving. Supply Chain Command Center Real-time exception visibility Alerts and notifications Chat collaboration Appointment scheduling Real-time dashboards that keep freight moving Supply Chain Command Center Carrier Dashboards give carriers a centralized, configurable view to manage operations across the trading partner network. From one platform, users can manage transactions, purchase orders, delivery appointments, and performance tracking. Real-time, customizable dashboards consolidate critical data, alerts, and reports, while asset monitoring and driver mobile apps keep operations connected and efficient. Chat Now Catch disruptions before they impact delivery Receive instant insight into shipment scheduling and delivery execution issues. Users can quickly identify exceptions as they occur and take immediate action, ensuring that disruptions are addressed promptly and operations continue smoothly. Chat Now Get the right alerts and act immediately Role-based alerts ensure users receive the information most relevant to their responsibilities, while customizable alerts allow tracking of specific conditions and filters. Alerts are delivered via email and mobile with click-through access to underlying transactions for fast review and action. Chat Now Keep partners and teams aligned in real time Chat Collaboration enables seamless communication within your organization and with partners through private or public conversations tied to specific transactions. Real-time updates and announcements keep all stakeholders informed. Chat Now Dock scheduling powered by the Blue Yonder Network The Blue Yonder Network Global Logistics Gateway enables flexible dock operations with manual and automated scheduling for live and drop appointments. Configurable policies at the site, door group, and door levels reflect real-world capacity and constraints. Delivered through the Blue Yonder Network, it connects large retailers with over 12,000 suppliers and carriers already on the platform. Key Benefits Connected, Real-time Supply Chain Control Standardize operations Standardize rating, tendering, and booking to simplify carrier workflows, reduce errors, and speed processing. The Blue Yonder Network reduces repetitive administrative tasks, enabling carriers to focus on core operations instead of paperwork. Register Now More effective communication and collaboration Features like booking collaboration, appointment scheduling and quote collaboration foster a cooperative environment where carriers can work more closely with shippers to meet mutual objectives. Register Now Better tracking and compliance Integrated tracking, document management, and proof-of-delivery tools help carriers improve service reliability and meet contractual obligations—boosting service levels and customer satisfaction. Streamline freight invoicing and claims management to ensure faster, more accurate payments and more efficient claims resolution. Register Now Increase market share The Global Logistics Gateway Carrier Network aggregates demand from various industries and provides carriers with access to a broader range of potential customers. Register Now Related resources Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Thought Leadership Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Is your supply chain truly a network, or just a series of connections? This e-book shows how to break free from outdated, siloed systems and embrace a hub-to-hub network model. Learn how the connected, collaborative Blue Yonder Network can boost ... Blue Yonder Network: Revolutionizing multiparty operations Solution Overview Blue Yonder Network: Revolutionizing multiparty operations Dynamically adapt under pressure, seamlessly coordinating plans and execution with your trading partners to optimize the flow of goods and time to market. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [AI Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/ai-and-machine-learning) > Blue Yonder’s AI for supply chain combines machine learning and generative AI to improve forecasts, decisions and automation across planning and execution. Why Blue Yonder Industry-leading AI innovation that drives supply chain excellence Empowering supply chain teams to act with machine speed and precision AI & Machine Learning For Supply Chain Challenges Technology Benefits Trust Start Now Challenges AI for supply chain: predictive, generative and agentic AI embedded in workflows Today’s supply chains move too fast and generate more data than humans can handle alone. Blue Yonder AI cuts through the complexity and transforms data into fast, informed action. 0 B AI/machine learning predictions per day 0 years of creating leading-edge supply chain technology $ 0 B invested in supply chain AI and innovation AI that can see, analyze, decide and act AI agents and generative AI AI agents continuously monitor your supply chain, spotting potential disruptions before they affect operations. Agents generate actionable alerts, recommend solutions and help teams execute decisions to resolve critical issues quickly. Learn more Pioneering machine learning and optimization methods Predictive AI Trust our explainable machine learning (ML) to deliver accurate forecasts and predictions. Whether you're planning next week or next year, you can move forward with clarity and confidence. We've also infused ML into our powerful optimization tools for precise predictions based on your real data. Reinforce resilience with a knowledge layer The supply chain knowledge graph Built in partnership with RelationalAI, Blue Yonder’s supply chain knowledge graph adds a semantic layer to your supply chain data, all within the Snowflake AI Data Cloud. Maximize the value of your data in AI-driven decision-making, optimize decisions, and quickly adapt to supply chain changes. Collaborate with our experts on the right AI supply chain strategy Our AI and data teams partner with you to identify the right predictive, generative and agentic AI use cases, then build and deploy them quickly and successfully. Benefit from our deep experience in implementing supply chain AI that generates real business value. AI Advisory Applied Data Science as a Service Advisory & Transformation Services Benefits Grow, adapt and innovate without limits Accelerated machine learning Extensibility and customization Scalable with ease Cutting-edge partnerships Accelerated machine learning The engine powering predictive AI and supply chain innovation  Blue Yonder machine learning (ML) transforms data into foresight, eliminating risk, inefficiency, and delays across your entire supply chain. Extensibility and customization Easily access and add additional data to ML models through Snowflake Marketplace. Improve model performance by including more relevant data. Use our supply chain knowledge graph to build custom resources. Chat Now Scalable with ease More data, more AI, additional solutions – no problem. With the Blue Yonder Platform and Platform Data Cloud, move forward quickly and seamlessly with new AI agents, added data sources and integrations across systems. Chat Now Cutting-edge partnerships We’ve partnered with technology leaders to ensure our customers are always on the leading edge of AI. Microsoft Azure and Azure AI Foundry are key parts of our AI development, and the Snowflake AI Data Cloud is optimized for handling AI workloads. Our supply chain knowledge graph is powered by RelationalAI, pioneers of Snowflake-native graph technology that unlocks even more AI possibilities. Microsoft Snowflake Trust Blue Yonder AI Secure AI Your data is protected with industry-leading security from Blue Yonder and our partners Microsoft and Snowflake. Trustworthy AI We use AI methods that clearly explain their decisions and recommendations so your team can validate them—building confidence in collaboration with AI. Responsible AI We uphold the highest standards of responsible AI, guided by our core values of empathy, integrity, and teamwork. Read our Responsible AI principles Case Studies Success stories in AI and Machine Learning With €32.9 billion in annual sales, Sainsbury’s is a trusted brand, loved by millions of UK consumers. The retailer operates over 600 supermarkets and more than 800 convenience stores. Karen Brown, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, discusses how Blue Yonder is helping the retailer leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve forecasting, optimize store orders, and increase sustainability. Learn More We get you to the cloud. Fast. Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Modernization & Consulting Services | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/professional-services) > Accelerate your modernization with our digital supply chain consulting. We provide the strategic roadmap to migrate legacy systems to the cloud and deploy AI agents. Why Blue Yonder Professional Services Accelerate your supply chain modernization at every step of the journey. Supply Chain Modernization & Consulting Services Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Supply Chain Expertise Accelerate time-to-value with proven experts and playbooks Regardless of where you are on your journey, Professional Services help your business get the most value at every step as you move to a modern and resilient supply chain, enabling faster time to value and enhancing operational efficiency. Our clients realize results Up to 0 % increase in ROI in the first year Up to 0 % reduction in deployment costs 0 + successful implementations Capabilities Gain expert guidance and education in every stage of your lifecycle Assessment and design Establish a path for defining a strategic roadmap to modernize your supply chain for present and future success. Collaborate with our industry and domain experts to design a blueprint for how your process, architecture and organization will operate together in your new world. Leverage our unparalleled understanding of Blue Yonder solutions and implementation experience to secure the business outcomes and value you seek. Implementation and optimization Partnering with our experts will save time and reduce risk ensuring optimal configuration, seamless data integration, effective project governance, thorough testing and smooth deployment. We leverage Generative AI accelerators during the implementation process to deliver top-tier design recommendations tailored to your specific industry. Moreover, our continuous support ensures ongoing optimization of your supply chain activities for both present and future needs. Education and change management Explore our comprehensive education portfolio designed to enable your organization and employees with essential leadership, management, and certification skills to fully leverage Blue Yonder solutions. Tailored to tackle specific industry challenges and individual roles, our change management solutions offer a clear pathway for organizational transformation, ensuring maximum adoption and effective use of our solutions. Benefits Achieve more with Blue Yonder Professional Services Faster time to value Fast-track your success and minimize risk with expert solutions tailored to design, implement and optimize a supply chain that meets your current and future needs. Experience 30% faster deployment with implementation support. Improve Performance Over 1500 supply chain experts across industries and verticals to optimize the performance of your solution.  Our customers experience a 70% higher success rate and 25% improvement in system performance for projects run by our Professional Services Teams. Quicker adoption Education and change management equip your team with the skills and process to ensure faster adoption and full utilization of your software solutions to maximize your investment. Our tailored courses and education methods boost user adoption rates by 22%. Case studies Explore our customer success stories Core-Mark sees faster, smarter store shelving execution with Blue Yonder space planning. Learn More Related resources Learn more about our services Better, Faster Floor Planning Driven by Data Science Solution Overview Better, Faster Floor Planning Driven by Data Science Revolutionize your macro space planning with the power of AI and data science to seamlessly and automatically generate ready to implement floor plans with unprecedented speed and precision, allow your space teams to achieve more. Microservices Your Next Big Move Just Got Smaller Thought Leadership Microservices Your Next Big Move Just Got Smaller Modern commerce is more complex and less predictable than ever, making your existing technology a liability. Businesses need the ability to respond more quickly, deploy new services easily and innovate faster than ever to deliver experiences that put the ... Cloud Migration Guide Key to Category Management Modernization Thought Leadership Cloud Migration Guide Key to Category Management Modernization This quick guide explains how cloud migration helps make category management more accurate, more nimble, and able to stay up with the fast-evolving environment of retail. Blue Yonder's SaaS category management provides connected processes and insights to ... White Glove Support: The New Standard of Enterprise Care Solution Overview White Glove Support: The New Standard of Enterprise Care Blue Yonder’s White Glove Support provides hands-on, proactive monitoring and expertise unique to you and your needs, with deeper insights, more agile working processes, faster response times, and a dedicated team of resources available anytime to help ... Blue Yonder Marketplace Solution Overview Blue Yonder Marketplace A user-friendly digital site for extending and optimizing your Blue Yonder solutions. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder Network | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/blue-yonder-network) > The Blue Yonder network is a multi-enterprise, hub-to-hub network connecting shippers, carriers and suppliers for collaboration and orchestration. Why Blue Yonder Blue Yonder Network The Blue Yonder Network connects inventory, orders, shipments, and product data across trading partners into a single, real‑time orchestration layer. By enabling shared visibility and coordinated execution across industries, it helps organizations move faster, operate smarter, and adapt continuously as conditions change Blue Yonder network Challenges Solution Benefits Related Resources Get Started Thriving in the age of uncertainty Unify Inventory, Partners and Decisions to drive Orchestrated Execution Traditional supply chains often become trapped in outdated, siloed models. Discover how the Blue Yonder Network offers real-time visibility, transforming disruptions into opportunities and turning every partner into a hub of collaboration and agility. Establish multi-enterprise thinking Leverage early awareness across your supply chain ecosystem, capturing changing market, supplier, carrier and customer information Create multi-tier visibility Continuously refine plans with a system that translates permissioned network data in role-specific context to sales, purchase, production, and shipment orders Anticipate and act on signals of change Simulate events beyond your enterprise walls to make decisions that reflect critical interdependencies on shifting demand, capacity, and lead times. “ The control tower doesn't just show us what's happening-it helps us act on it. And it integrates with our existing systems without adding complexity.. ” — Life Sciences / Pharma Leader Capabilities Revolutionize multi-party operations with unmatched visibility, collaboration, and orchestration Multi-enterprise Connectivity Next-generation Control Towers Embedded Digital Twin Network Trading Partner Services Navigate complexity, volatility, and variability with ease Capture insight on the flow of your inventory, orders and shipments across tiers. Connect systems and data to uncover efficiencies. Chat Now Go beyond visibility to coordinate response across functions and partners Anticipate anomalies throughout your extended supply chain, and dynamically adjust for business impact Learn More Provide a living view of network ecosystems to each participant Permissioned access to multi-party operational flows with relevant transactional, inventory and capacity data for role-specific decisions Chat Now Go beyond data portals to tailored content for each party’s needs Patented architecture delivers in-context value to every trading partner. AI-driven onboarding reduces the integration lift of legacy approaches Learn More Streamline every step of your supply chain Master your supply chain with an AI-powered digital supply chain network Access a single data cloud and end-to-end platform Gain visibility into all your inventory, movements, and purchase orders across all trading partners in our multi-tier network — from raw materials to customer delivery to shelf. Gain AI-powered insights, decisions and actions Quickly understand info, assess scenarios, and make informed trade-offs leveraging AI from a single data set that can enhance your skills and optimize your outcomes. From planning to execution across all tiers Blue Yonder seamlessly integrates your planning, execution and collaboration, enabling improved productivity and more effective real-time coordination. Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Leader for Ten Consecutive Years Leader for Ten Consecutive Years “The platform's many-to-many (or hub-to-hub) network core, which enables collaboration, orchestration, and adaptive execution across thousands of suppliers, carriers, distributors, and customers , sets it apart.” Learn More 0 K Organizations on Blue Yonder Network 0 % Supply chain leaders have a highly resilient network (Gartner, 2025) 0 M Transactions processed daily “ When demand changes overnight, the supply chain teams that respond fastest are typically the ones who already had a single view of their inventory, capacity, and supplier network. ” Related Resources Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Thought Leadership Reimagine Your Supply Chain Network Is your supply chain truly a network, or just a series of connections? This e-book shows how to break free from outdated, siloed systems and embrace a hub-to-hub network model. Learn how the connected, collaborative Blue Yonder Network can boost ... Embrace the Evolution: From a Linear Supply Chain to a Dynamic Network Infographic Embrace the Evolution: From a Linear Supply Chain to a Dynamic Network Discover why traditional linear supply chains no longer suffice in today’s fast-paced economy and how interconnected networks enable visibility, agility, and proactive decision-making for sustained success. Driving profitability and resilience in automotive aftermarket Industry Overview Driving profitability and resilience in automotive aftermarket Automotive aftermarket manufacturers face challenges like supply chain disruptions, rising costs, and the complexities of the EV transition. AI-powered solutions provide smarter planning, seamless logistics, and operational resilience to navigate these ... Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [End-to-end Supply Chain Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/end-to-end-planning-and-execution) > Build resilient, end-to-end supply chains with Blue Yonder’s AI-powered platform. Orchestrate planning, execution, commerce, and returns in real time. WHY BLUE YONDER Aligning plans and actions in real-time across all tiers and trading partners Connect data, processes, and systems from planning to execution across the network, accelerating real-time decision-making with AI-driven predictions based on your actual operations so you can stay in front of issues and swiftly adapt. End-to-End Supply Chain Management Solutions Connect planning and execution with closed-loop optimization Eliminate silos, improve integration and collaboration Blue Yonder drives alignment and collaboration across your workforce by enabling people to exchange, interpret, and present data in easy-to-understand formats. Every process, from planning to execution, uses the same data and purpose-built workflows, so data is interpreted consistently uses shared definitions among solutions. Achieve greater speed and scalability Blue Yonder offers a comprehensive view across your supply chain. Quickly collaborate and make decisions to increase supply chain resilience within your enterprise and extending to your trading partners to deliver a true enterprise supply chain. Rely on Blue Yonder as your trusted advisor End-to-end capabilities enable us to provide holistic guidance and technical support to cater to your business requirements. Blue Yonder experts collaborate with you to develop deployment concepts and scaling processes in which the entire supply chain is considered and tuned to be a growth engine. Enterprise planning and execution across the network Supply Chain Planning Blue Yonder's supply chain planning solutions help you proactively manage risks and opportunities, enhance decision-making, and build resilience. Learn More Retail Planning & Category Management Blue Yonder's retail planning and category management solutions help you ace clustering, ranging, pricing and promotions so you are always ready to delight your customers. Learn More Order Management & Commerce Blue Yonder's order management and commerce solutions elevate customer satisfaction, increase efficiency, and improve profitability with real-time availability and seamless order services. Learn More Returns Management Blue Yonder's returns management solutions transform your returns journey, enhancing profitability, sustainability, and customer experience. Learn More Warehouse Management Blue Yonder's warehouse management solutions optimize your fulfillment and extended warehouse operations to maximize performance and minimize cost. Learn More Transportation Management Blue Yonder's transportation management solutions help you increase customer-centricity, sustainability, and efficiency of your logistics operations. Learn More Workforce & Labor Management Blue Yonder’s workforce management solutions address today’s labor challenges with flexible scheduling, reliable time tracking, and long-range planning. Learn More Network & Control Tower Blue Yonder's network and control tower solutions give you a holistic view of your supply chain so you can see, understand, and act in real-time to business challenges. Learn More Edge Technologies Blue Yonder's edge solutions connect your supply chain platform with industry-leading automation to solve your biggest technology integration, productivity, and labor challenges. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Reports Learn More Tap the full potential of our cloud-based and AI-enhanced platform without adding complexity Synchronize, inform, and enhance your supply chain end-to-end Blue Yonder is the only supply chain management provider that can meet the full breadth of your needs. With near real-time, bi-directional data sharing between teams, Blue Yonder helps you break down silos and create interoperable workflows across your enterprise and trading partners. Learn About What’s New A common data cloud opens up new opportunities Blue Yonder solutions draw data from a common data cloud that delivers seamless sharing between applications to solve complex planning and execution challenges, cut costs, improve operational and labor efficiency, and increase overall profit margins. Built-in AI and ML for end-to-end automation With Blue Yonder’s embedded AI and ML, learning happens among systems from the first mile to the last, including each trading partner in between. It's more than individual systems getting smarter; they're also improving how they work together to achieve a fully autonomous end-to-end supply chain. True interoperability for collaboration and data-driven decisions True interoperability is achieved only when all planning and execution applications work together from supply chain planning, retail planning and merchandising, to warehouse management, transportation management, and labor management. Blue Yonder’s end-to-end interoperability enables supply chain teams to collaborate seamlessly, instantaneously, and intelligently. The solutions you want. The interoperability you need. Chat Now Contact Us ### [Journey to Cognitive | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/journey-to-cognitive) > Blue Yonder’s Composable Supply Chain solutions let you roll out OMS, WMS, or TMS microservices step-by-step, extending stacks instead of rip-and-replace. WHY BLUE YONDER Transform at your pace with Journey to Cognitive Chart your unique path to overcome transformation challenges and deliver maximum results with an autonomous supply chain that's always equipped with the latest innovations. Journey to Cognitive Turn supply chain challenges into growth opportunities Build with modular microservices—without replacing your stack Supply chain transformation can be difficult when faced with the burden of outdated technology, disparate systems, and high costs. Heavy customizations and complex integrations Legacy supply chain systems are monolithic and often highly customized. As a result, organizations fear adopting emerging technologies because of the time and expense involved in maintaining old customizations and adding new integrations — even when they need to move ahead with digital transformation projects. High total cost of ownership and fragmented workflows Outdated technology results in unreliable information, high support costs, and unnecessary spending on manual processes to compensate for fragmented workflows. IT landscape cluttered with disparate and disconnected systems Diverse applications don’t provide a unified view of the supply chain and maintain functional silos instead of dissolving them. The inability to upgrade technology due to existing complexity or easily add new functional microservices inhibits business growth. The Value of Composable Journeys Faster deployment and ROI Reduce implementation time from months to weeks with Blue Yonder’s microservices. The rapid and customizable implementations increase return on investment, enabling you to scale technology and evolve your business according to your needs. Lower total cost of ownership Free your IT department from grueling integration sprints and debugging APIs from multiple vendors by using out-of-the-box integrations that take a few hours to provision. With composable microservices, you can reduce the number of developers needed to deploy, manage, and support new capabilities. Smoother upgrades and flexible scaling Disruption-free upgrades empower you to innovate at your pace instead of worrying about monolithic cliff events. 0 X IT simplification 0 X interoperability 0 X existing & new platform functionality Your roadmap for the composable journey Blue Yonder works with you to identify your most pressing business challenges and develop a custom roadmap. And we’ll guide you on a composable journey at a speed and scale that’s right for your business and teams. We get you to the cloud. Fast. Chat Now Contact Us ### [Data Cloud & SCM Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/data-cloud-and-platform) > Blue Yonder’s data cloud and supply chain platform uses Snowflake to unify data, share securely and spin zero-copy scenario clones for AI-driven decisions. WHY BLUE YONDER Maximize supply chain resilience and agility with a purpose-built data cloud Create integrated, efficient, and responsive supply chains by seamlessly connecting data and processes across a shared data architecture to reduce data latency and deliver faster results. Data cloud and supply chain platform Challenges Solution Benefits Technology Get Started Resiliency in Uncertain Times Supply chain data cloud & platform on Snowflake for real-time decisions Without the proper cloud infrastructure to effectively manage supply chain data, it remains scattered across the extended supply chain - not centralized, accessible or actionable. Lack of connectivity, integration, and automation Conventional software solutions lack native integration capabilities with ERP, CRM, WMS, SCM, and e-commerce, inhibiting sharing data and process automations. Fragmented data obscures a broader perspective Even when accurate data sources are available, manual analysis requires a tremendous amount of time and is prone to errors. Cumbersome manual upgrading processes Complicated solution upgrades and enhancements slow the implementation of new innovative functionality, services, and security measures. Features & Capabilities One source of truth delivering a cognitive upgrade for your organization Platform Data Cloud Reduced Latency Expansive Data Marketplace Simplified IT Infrastructure Align everyone to a shared perspective and outcome Eliminate data movements and unify data from across your supply chain in the data cloud. Get everyone aligned with a single source of truth for consistent, collaborative decision-making. Chat Now Make data-driven decisions faster Eliminate outdated data and unlock faster decisions with real-time insights, unified reporting, and end-to-end analytics across your supply chain so decisions happen with the speed to keep your business moving. Chat Now Holistic insights at your fingertips Enhance your models with data from Snowflake Marketplace to ensure your forecasts, plans, and AI and ML models accurately reflect your real-world business. Chat Now Accelerate time to value and lower total cost of ownership Benefit from simplified integrations that remove complexity from your IT infrastructure and streamline data management processes so you can focus on growing your business. Chat Now The Value of the Data Cloud How the Platform Data Cloud addresses the complexity of today's supply chain Single source of truth across planning and execution The data cloud eliminates integration complexities and streamlines data management and visualization for faster innovation, improved collaboration, and lower latency among applications. Faster data-driven decisions enhance productivity Combine internal and real-world data via Snowflake Marketplace to enrich your models with external information, such as weather and macroeconomic data, so you can make decisions based on current business conditions, not old news. Faster time to value and lower total cost of ownership Get results faster and with fewer time-consuming third-party integrations using an easy-to-scale, cost-effective microservice architecture — all geared toward smoother implementation and accelerated innovation. 0 X faster data ingestion 0 ,000+ APIs for faster integrations The Blue Yonder Platform makes it possible Blue Yonder's leading supply chain platform and data cloud transforms your supply chain, reducing cost, complexity and time required to bring data together, work across applications, and collaborate with trading partners. Access more real-time, real-world, ready-to-query data to enhance and inform supply chain decisions so you can make better business decisions based on relevant market realities. Share data, act on insights, and collaborate across organizations with on-demand scale so you can run concurrent jobs to make faster, higher quality decisions. Break down functional barriers with a common interface, workflows, in-memory cube, and database that eliminates unnecessary integration, extraction, or data management. Get more from your data with statistical forecasting, AI and ML, and your own applications to enhance accuracy and improve quality. Unlocking the value of data Snowflake cloud architecture powers Blue Yonder and you Blue Yonder's supply chain services run natively on the Snowflake cloud. This enables you to run hundreds of different scenarios for a distinct business problem in minutes instead of days or even weeks, resulting in a 10x improvement in processing speed and a corresponding 20x reduction in cost. Data sharing without the hassles The Blue Yonder Data Share App simplifies data integration for Blue Yonder customers using Snowflake, regardless of their cloud provider or region. Cutting down on the complexity of data pipelines also accelerates time to value and minimizes operational overhead, so teams can concentrate on strategic initiatives. Available through a private listing in the Snowflake Marketplace, the Data Share App makes data-driven decisions even more efficient and scalable. We get you to the cloud. Fast. Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain User Experience (UX) Design | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/user-experience) > Blue Yonder’s Supply chain user experience deliver intuitive, persona-driven experiences on a cloud-native, multi-enterprise network. Why Blue Yonder | User Experience Rise above the routine From commands to collaboration, we design systems that act on intent—so work moves faster, with clarity and control. User Experience Strategy Unlocking new possibilities Agents execute. People direct. Value scales. An end-to-end AI platform for supply chains—where people and agents collaborate, combining human judgment with automated execution to deliver speed, control, and confidence. We don't optimize for clicks. We optimize for outcomes. Efficiency is table stakes. Success is adoption, clarity, and outcomes. Human-first design Going beyond user-friendly to design workflows that are accessible, responsible, and built for real people. Transparent intelligence Every insight is explained, so decisions feel transparent, understandable, and actionable. Relentless learning The system improves with every interaction, multiplying value for you, your business, and your customers over time. Trust and confidence Agents, engineered for collaboration Confidence comes from how agents work with you. When they make decisions, act, and keep you in control of the outcome, every interaction has to feel transparent and trustworthy. That’s the standard our design is held to every time. Built on Blue Yonder Platform Connected experiences designed to work as one intelligent system Mobile Agentic Experience Command Bar Intelligence. Wherever work happens. Good design meets people where they work. The Blue Yonder Orchestrator mobile app brings the intelligence of the supply chain network directly to the people running it—wherever decisions happen. Download on Apple Store Download on Google Play Your AI Briefing, the moment you open the platform. We bring Agentic Insights to Blue Yonder so you can log in and instantly see a single, tailored snapshot of what happened, why it matters, and what needs your attention. Actionable recommendations, not noise Risks and opportunities surfaced at the right moment KPIs that truly matter, without searching for them Chat Now Commands > Clicks One bar. Type what you need, ask an agent, jump to any screen. Built for the moment users stop navigating the platform and start just using it. Navigation, agents, and actions from a single access point Embedded across the SaaS portfolio—no context switching Made for human interaction and intent-driven work Chat Now INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN Accessibility Accessibility is built into the experience from the start. Blue Yonder products are designed so every user—including those using assistive technologies—can navigate, understand, and engage with confidence. Data-driven experience decisions Usage Analytics Every interaction creates insight. Telemetry and behavioral analytics reveal how work actually happens, enabling continuous improvement, faster adoption, and measurable business outcomes. Continuous Improvement Design and product teams use behavioral insights to validate design decisions, uncover friction, prioritize improvements, and measure impact based on real customer behavior—not assumptions—creating better experiences with every release. Customer Value Optimization Customers gain visibility into adoption, engagement, and workflow performance so they can identify coaching opportunities, optimize usage, and maximize the value of their Blue Yonder investment. Designing the next era of work Rise above the routine We’re rethinking the relationship between people, systems, and decisions. Blue Yonder’s experience evolution goes beyond interface improvements to create more adaptive ways of working—where AI helps teams anticipate disruption, reduce friction, and move faster with greater clarity. With every release, we’re designing experiences that amplify human judgment and help organizations operate at the speed of change. Check back often to see what's new and what's next. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder) > Blue Yonder’s supply chain management solutions unify planning, execution and commerce to break silos and improve service, cost and collaboration. Effective, efficient, end-to-end supply chains Predict disruptions and course correct in real-time with end-to-end visibility and AI-enhanced planning and execution that turns your supply chain into a growth driver. Why Blue Yonder The age of uncertainty It's time to evolve Why with Blue Yonder? Thrive in an age of supply chain uncertainty End-to-end planning, execution and collaboration on one data cloud Dynamic customers have high expectations Today’s customers expect to buy what they want, when they want, through the channel they prefer, and at the best price. Your supply chain platform needs to adapt along with your business without requiring extensive upgrades. Disconnected stakeholders operate inefficiently Supply chain decision makers often operate in silos, hindered by complex manual processes. You need to synchronize planning and execution across your organization and trading partners. Disparate systems hinder instead of help Legacy systems are isolated, cumbersome to use, and inflexible. In a world where real-time insights and actions determine success or failure, you can’t afford to have siloed software and delayed data. $ 0 billion worth of inventory wasted each year across industries 0 % of digital transformation projects fail The new era of supply chain management Modernize your supply chain from end to end Attain complete end-to-end supply chain visibility Integrate your data, plans, and insights to make accurate, cross-functional decisions, increase resilience and agility, and minimize waste throughout your supply chain. Provide insightful predictions to cope with rapid changes Leverage the best insights, anticipate risks, and act in real time. With what-if scenarios based on deep data and AI, decision-makers can look ahead and plan corrective actions. Rely on a single source of truth to support complex operations Optimize complex supply chains with unified workflows that connect data and processes across your organization through a common data cloud and platform that enables real-time collaboration among your cross-functional teams. Supply chain reinvention starts with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder provides a proven path to digital transformation Adopt new business processes on your path, at your pace Blue Yonder Composable Journeys provide a personalized implementation and upgrade path so you can transform your business at your own pace. We collaboratively identify your most urgent business needs and develop a roadmap for fast deployment while avoiding disruptions. And Blue Yonder’s expanding AI and sustainability services will help you stay on top of new regulatory and ESG requirements. See How It Works Connect every action across your supply chain to a single source of truth All the information you need at your fingertips. No more chasing down information, manually connecting dots, or hunting through spreadsheets. With end-to-end organizational transparency, you can understand how your teams are working together and implement changes quickly to improve performance. See What's Possible Drive better decisions from AI and ML powered insights With AI and ML built into your supply chain, you can significantly reduce the time between planning and execution. AI assistants help you forecast future demand, identify supply chain disruptions, and prepare for adverse events and changes. The system constantly learns from new data, adjusts, and enhances predictions to reflect real-world conditions. See The Intelligence Unlock productivity with a true end-to-end supply chain Solutions for every step in your supply chain — from planning to execution to commerce across the entire network with easy-to-add and customizable microservices. All connected to a common data cloud for end-to-end interoperability that improves operational and labor efficiencies. Discover True Interoperability Customers The world’s most trusted partner. Join 3,000+ customers already benefiting. Learn More Learn More Learn More All Case Studies Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Reports Learn More It's time to evolve. For the better. Chat Now Contact Us ## Blue Yonder Products & Solutions ### [Retail Returns Software & Returns Kiosks | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/store-returns) > Improve the customer experience with Blue Yonder's retail returns management software. Optimize parcel drop-offs and implement efficient returns kiosks. Solutions Store Returns Empower your stores to handle returns efficiently while maximizing value recovery and enhancing customer satisfaction. Store Returns Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Seamless store returns with intelligent decisioning Blue Yonder Store Returns streamlines in-store returns, ensuring efficient handling and smarter routing to recover value, reduce costs and enhance customer satisfaction. 0 % Average ecommerce return rate 0 billion Returned goods sent to landfills annually $ 0 Average cost of processing a return Features & Capabilities Powerful tools to transform your store returns process Store returns application Intelligent decisioning Flexible tools for seamless returns processing Equip your store associates with tools that simplify returns processing, whether on a handheld device or integrated into your point of sale system. This flexibility ensures seamless operations and reduces strain on staff. Chat Now Smarter decisions for every return Leverage AI-powered decisioning to determine the best course of action for every return. Whether it’s retaining items in store, sending them to a distribution center, or identifying and routing them to third-party vendors, this capability ensures maximum value recovery and operational efficiency. Chat Now Key Benefits What's possible with Blue Yonder Store Returns Improve the margin recovery of returns The Store Returns application identifies the best destination for each returned item by evaluating which location will deliver the highest margin recovery, balancing inventory across nodes and channels. Streamline store operations Eliminate unnecessary handling and re‑work by enabling associates to make the right disposition decision immediately at the point of return. Increase associate productivity Clear, guided instructions—accessible through integration with the Point of Sale or via a mobile application—simplify and speed up the return process. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Store operations CFO Streamline in-store returns Provide store associates with intuitive tools, integrated into your existing POS system, to handle returns efficiently and reduce operational strain. Maximize inventory value Ensure returned items are handled strategically, whether retained in-store or sent elsewhere, to maximize resale opportunities and reduce unnecessary markdowns. Case Studies Success stories in Returns Management Related Resources ### [Supply Chain Management Solutions | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions) > End-to-end supply chain management solutions for retailers, manufacturers, and LSPs leveraging a common data cloud with integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. Solutions Empower your organization and cut through complexity End-to-end cognitive supply chain management solutions leveraging a common data cloud with integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. Learn More Solutions Supply Chain Planning Boost agility and resilience with a unified supply chain planning suite that connects your value chain for real-time decision-making. Learn More Retail Planning & Category Management Deliver smart category management and omni-channel shopping experiences backed by in-the-moment data to delight customers at every touchpoint. Learn More Merchandise Operations Increase profitability and support corporate initiatives with a market-leading merchandise operations system that acts as the center of your retail universe. Learn More Order Management & Commerce Elevate omni-channel commerce with real-time inventory availability and seamless order services that drive operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Learn More Returns Management Maximize revenue with an end-to-end returns solution that optimizes every return decision to improve efficiency, inventory control, and satisfaction. Learn More Warehouse Management Future-proof your operations with a warehouse management system built to manage complex fulfillment and optimize labor performance. Learn More Transportation Management Modernize transportation management to seamlessly respond to change, recover from the unexpected, and optimize your entire supply chain network. Learn More Workforce & Labor Management Achieve operational excellence with workforce management solutions that drive engagement, enhance profitability, and secure a competitive market advantage. Learn More Sustainable Supply Chain Management Measure and optimize carbon emissions and waste across your supply chain to meet sustainability goals and reduce environmental impact. Learn More Supply Chain Command Center Navigate multi-enterprise processes with a next-generation Control Tower that engages the Blue Yonder Network to coordinate real-time trading partner responses. Learn More Mobility & Automation Deploy industry-leading software and robotics technologies through a guided automation journey that accelerates value and operational efficiency. Learn More Go Beyond Expectations Blue Yonder Platform Tackle all of your supply chain challenges with the only scalable, end-to-end platform that leverages a common data cloud, integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. Learn More Blue Yonder Network Designed for real-world operations, Blue Yonder Network connects partners across planning and execution, delivering shared visibility and coordinated decision-making to help teams respond faster, reduce friction, and keep supply chains running smoothly. Learn More Services Enhance performance and growth through comprehensive lifecycle support services. Learn More Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Merchandise](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/merchandise) > Turn market data into intelligent, connected merchandise strategies that align business goals, enhance agility, and drive lasting profitability. Retail Planning Merchandise Build your product lifecycle strategy Merchandise Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Optimize every stage of the product journey Turn market data into intelligent, connected merchandise strategies that align business goals, enhance agility and drive lasting profitability. Capabilities Break down merchandising silos Connect top-down goals with in-store execution to ensure every product, category, and location supports your overall merchandise strategy, maximizing profitability while maintaining relevancy. Drive speed through artificial intelligence AI-powered scenario planning and what-if analysis allows you to align to customer expectations and rapidly-changing market trends. Leverage data-driven decision-making at every level Balance both short and long-term location and spacing decisions to drive higher traffic and efficiency without weakening margins. Solutions Connecting financial strategy to spacing decisions for better results Merchandise Financial Planning Strategic Space Blue Yonder Platform AI Services The foundation for profitable merchandising Eliminate the manual reconciliation between finance and merchandising teams, ensuring every buying decision directly supports your margin and revenue targets. Plan sales, inventory, and Open-to-Buy budgets with AI-driven forecasts that automatically flow into assortment and allocation decisions. Buyer’s guide Solution sheet Video Create tailored floor plans to meet local market needs Support your store-specific merchandise plans with AI-enhanced floor planning. Generate ready-to-implement floor plans within moments, all built to meet each store’s unique requirements, empowering your space teams to focus their energies where it matters most. Solution sheet Video One platform, full control Synchronize your entire retail ecosystem within a single technology platform that brings together suppliers, logistics companies, warehouse managers, transportation, and customer service to enable extended collaboration and process orchestration. Learn More Act with Machine Speed and Precision Today’s supply chains move too fast and generate more data than humans can handle alone. Built directly into our Retail Planning solutions, Blue Yonder AI cuts through complexity and transforms data into fast, informed action. Learn More Support your supply chain modernization Modernizing retail planning demands agility and adaptability to meet evolving industry demands and market disruptions. Our Blue Yonder services bridge gaps in expertise and reduce costs, ensuring your  transformation achieves optimal efficiency every step of the way. Learn More Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? To strategically maximize store space based on distinct characteristics of each store format and region, Promart leveraged Blue Yonder's customized optimization capabilities to meet diverse requirements. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Related Resources Reimagine Your Grocery Retail Supply Chain Thought Leadership Reimagine Your Grocery Retail Supply Chain Shoppers demand fresh, sustainable, and convenient options. Stay ahead with a modern supply chain—unite teams, streamline workflows to make smarter, faster decisions. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Inventory](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/inventory) Retail Planning Inventory Maximize profitability while accounting for uncertainty Inventory Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Deliver inventory that drives efficiency and mitigates risk Keep shelves stocked and costs low.  With Blue Yonder’s multi-echelon inventory planning, your planners can make smart, big-picture decisions that transform your supply chain into a competitive edge, boosting business performance and delighting customers. Capabilities Manage the product lifecycle seamlessly Launch new items, run promotions or phase out products with ease thanks to connected workflows and AI agents. From tricky short lifecycle items to rapidly trending items, react quickly with demand-driven replenishment while maintaining the integrity of your assortment and network capacity. Optimize capacity across your network Harness real-time insights from forecasts, returns, and supplier data to effortlessly align orders with current and future capacities, ensuring maximum efficiency, and smooth operations. In times of capacity shortfall, utilize the Blue Yonder Network to maintain service levels and avoid disruptions, keeping your supply chain resilient and responsive. Seize opportunities in every scenario…and return Plan across interconnected scenarios, ensuring swift and informed decision-making. From identifying the inventory impact of a planogram change or a last-minute promotion to determining the most profitable destination for a restocked returns item, Blue Yonder empowers planners to make faster, better decisions when disruptions or opportunities arise. Solutions Blue Yonder solutions that transform and elevate your inventory planning Allocation and Replenishment Blue Yonder Platform Blue Yonder Network Returns Management Empower your teams to deliver their best work faster Allocation and Replenishment, powered by the Blue Yonder Platform, is a multi-chelon inventory planning solution that allows retailers to manage inventory with visibility to constraints throughout the supply chain. Planners can automate the flow of a product throughout its life cycle in a way that optimizes full-price sales by leveraging the forecast based on actual sales. Learn More One platform, full control Synchronize your entire retail ecosystem within a single technology platform that brings together suppliers, logistics companies, warehouse managers, transportation, and customer service to enable extended collaboration and process orchestration. Learn More Seamlessly coordinate with trading partners to meet demand Blue Yonder Network is uniquely built for the modern, disrupted business world. With a patented multiparty collaboration underpinning, it enables efficient, continuous planning and execution—rebalancing supply and demand, capacities, and inventory in response to market dynamics. Learn More Customer loyalty is won or lost through returns AI-driven returns decisioning uses data to handle returns in the best way for each item so you can factor these returns into your inventory plans. Learn More Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? From understanding demand and forecast, to partnering with suppliers to better understand capacity allows PVH to enable end-to-end global planning across brands. Learn More For Maine-based apparel and outdoor retailer L.L.Bean, getting their products into the hands of their customers in a timely manner is a top priority. But to do that, they needed to gain a more accurate read on the market. Learn how L.L. Bean achieved their business goals harnessing Blue Yonder’s merchandise financial planning, forecasting, and replenishment capabilities. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Related Resources Buyer's Guide to Allocation and Replenishment Thought Leadership Buyer's Guide to Allocation and Replenishment The time to modernize your inventory planning is now. In today's fast-paced retail environment, having the right product at the right time is non-negotiable. Inventory planning impacts every part of the customer journey, from meeting demand to ensuring ... Win customer loyalty while efficiently moving your inventory Solution Overview Win customer loyalty while efficiently moving your inventory Customers aren’t happy if they can’t get their hands on the product they want, when and where they want it. Planners need to be able to capitalize on the demand uncertainty and pivot when necessary to get the right product in the hands of the customers. ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Financial](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/financial) Retail Planning Financial Set reliable, measurable goals. Financial Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview From silos to synchronized decisions Retail success depends on plans that connect across functions. Intelligent financial planning replaces sequential handoffs with unified decisioning. Pre-season budgets inform assortment choices. Pricing strategies protect margin targets. Open-to-Buy decisions align with inventory flow. Built on interoperable solutions and agentic intelligence, retailers forecast with precision, model scenarios in real time, and synchronize finance and merchandising on a single platform. Decisions optimize for business outcomes, not functional silos. Capabilities Predictive precision AI analyzes 100+ demand signals (market trends, shopper behavior, weather patterns, competitive pricing) to deliver continuously refined forecasts. Models adapt as conditions change, giving retailers the insight needed to set realistic preseason budgets, adjust in-season plans, and allocate inventory intelligently across channels and categories. Agentic intelligence AI agents identify variances before they impact performance by flagging categories trending off-plan, margin pressures emerging or inventory imbalances developing. The system surfaces top and bottom performers with contextual insights, freeing planning teams to focus on strategic responses rather than hunting through data for problems. Agents handle the analysis, planners make the calls. Scenario agility Lever-based scenario planning lets retailers model what-if strategies rapidly. Adjust sales assumptions, pricing, promotions, or inventory levels to see the impact on margin and cash flow before committing capital. Compare scenarios side-by-side. Stress-test preseason budgets. Evaluate markdown timing and promotional effectiveness. Make confident decisions with full visibility into profitability impact. Unified planning Financial plans interoperate with downstream merchandising systems. Sales targets, inventory budgets, Open-to-Buy, and margin goals flow to assortment, allocation, and replenishment teams in real time. Finance and merchandising work from synchronized data on a unified platform, eliminating manual reconciliation. Functions optimize for business outcomes, not in isolation. Solutions Solutions for successful retail financial planning Merchandise Financial Planning Pricing and Promotion AI Blue Yonder Platform Services Turn financial targets into buying decisions Translate revenue and margin targets into actionable merchandise plans with real-time Open-to-Buy tracking and scenario modeling. MFP connects financial planning with inventory decisions, eliminating reconciliation lag between finance expectations and merchandising execution through unified decisioning across teams. Buyer's guide Solution sheet Deliver the right value to customers while protecting margins Support your financial plans with optimized price and promotions. Leverage AI, machine learning (ML), and advanced analytics to create data-driven price plans that continuously balance inventory and demand to increase sell-through, reduce waste and protect margins. Intelligence that guides every decision AI analyzes demand signals, detects performance variances and recommends actions across the planning cycle. ML continuously refines forecasts, identifies margin risks, suggests scenario adjustments, and surfaces exceptions requiring attention. Teams get intelligence that supports better decisions, not just more data to analyze. Learn More Unified data foundation Financial planning solutions run on a unified data cloud that connects planning, execution and operational systems without custom integrations. Embedded AI and a shared data model provide real-time synchronization across merchandise planning, pricing strategies and supply chain decisions through interoperable workflows. Learn More Implementation and optimization expertise Advisory and implementation services accelerate financial planning and pricing transformation, from initial configuration through ongoing optimization. Retail experts guide teams through process redesign, change management, and continuous performance improvement to maximize ROI and drive adoption across finance, merchandising, and pricing teams. Learn More Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Frequently Asked Questions How does intelligent financial planning improve on spreadsheet methods? Cogntive financial planning automates the analysis of financial targets, demand forecasts, and Open-to-Buy budgets across categories and channels. Work that takes weeks in spreadsheets. AI continuously monitors performance against plan, surfaces variances before they impact results and recommends adjustments based on real-time data. Teams spend less time reconciling versions and hunting for errors, more time making strategic decisions about where to invest capital and how to protect margins. What capabilities should I look for in financial planning software? Modern financial planning solutions should offer AI-driven forecasting that analyzes multiple demand signals, scenario modeling that shows financial impacts before you commit capital and exception management that alerts teams to variances early. Look for interoperable workflows that connect financial plans with assortment, allocation and pricing decisions—eliminating manual data transfers between systems. The platform should provide unified decisioning across finance and merchandising, not just financial reporting in isolation. How does Merchandise Financial Planning adapt to in-season changes? Financial planning supports mid-season adjustments without rebuilding entire plans. When market conditions shift or performance trends off-target, teams can model new scenarios, evaluate margin impacts, and adjust Open-to-Buy allocations in real time. AI continuously refines forecasts based on actual sales, flagging categories that need attention and recommending reallocation strategies. This transforms financial planning from a periodic exercise into an ongoing capability that responds to business reality. How do financial planning solutions integrate with assortment planning and allocation and replenishment? Because they are built on a unified platform that shares data foundations with assortment planning, and allocation and replenishment. Financial targets flow directly to downstream systems. When you update revenue goals or adjust Open-to-Buy budgets, assortment planners see changes immediately. This interoperability eliminates reconciliation gaps between what finance expects and what merchandising executes, ensuring teams work from synchronized data and optimize for business outcomes, not functional silos. What ROI can retailers expect from financial planning software? Most retailers see results within the first planning cycle. Common early wins include 20%-50% improved forecast accuracy, reduced planning cycle time from weeks to days and lower labor costs through automated exception management. Retailers report better inventory control that reduces markdowns, improved margin performance through scenario planning, and stronger alignment between finance and merchandising teams that eliminates reconciliation delays and accelerates decision-making. Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Assortment Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/assortment) > Defining which products each store carries connects merchan-dise strategy, space allocation, inventory flow, and financial tar-gets with local shopper demand. Retail Planning Assortment Planning Design store-specific product mixes Assortment Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Assortments aligned to strategy, tuned to customer needs Effective assortment planning starts with merchandising expertise and customer knowledge. Technology enhances that expertise with data-driven insights that validate instincts and surface patterns humans might miss. By connecting category strategy, space planning, and store-level performance into one view, planners spend less time reconciling data and more time applying their judgment to build assortments that resonate with local shoppers. Capabilities Customer-centric assortments Build targeted assortments backed by shopper data and market intelligence. Capture customer preferences and purchase patterns to recommend product mixes tailored to each store's customer base. By rationalizing SKUs into strategic clusters, retailers eliminate low-performing substitutes while ensuring high-value products stay in stock, maximizing sales per square foot. Space-aware planning Optimize assortments with built-in space awareness that aligns product selections to available shelf capacity. Unlike traditional tools that plan in isolation, recommended assortments fit within each store's shelf space and fixture capacity. This eliminates costly rework cycles and ensures planners can build executable assortments the first time. Rules-based automation Scale store-specific assortments without manual effort. Rules-based automation applies store clustering and performance data to generate tailored recommendations across your entire network. Planners define strategic parameters and business rules, then the system automatically calculates assortments for each location. This frees merchandising teams to focus on strategic decisions and product selection rather than spreadsheet management. Continuous optimization Adapt assortments proactively as demand shifts and performance data updates. Closed-loop planning connects assortment decisions back to sales results, space planning and inventory performance. When market conditions change or new products launch, planners can model scenarios, evaluate impacts across stores, and adjust assortments quickly rather than waiting for the next planning cycle. Solutions Assortment Planning Strategic Assortment AI Blue Yonder Platform Services Customer-first assortments with AI precision Build data-driven assortments that reflect customer demand across store formats and channels. AI-powered recommendations analyze purchase patterns, market trends, and performance metrics to optimize product selection and depth. Scenario modeling enables merchandisers to test alternatives and maximize category performance faster. Learn More Build strategic, space-aware assortments that fit every store Plan executable assortments that fit store formats from the start. Rules-based automation generates store-specific product mixes aligned with available shelf space and fixture capacity. Integration with space planning eliminates rework cycles and accelerates time from planning to execution. Learn More Make smarter decisions with AI-powered intelligence AI built specifically for retail planning analyzes millions of data points to surface actionable recommendations. Predict which products will resonate before committing inventory, identify underperformers before they impact margins, and adapt assortments with machine speed and precision. Maintain full control while AI handles complex analysis at scale. Learn More Scale capabilities on a unified platform One platform supports your entire planning and execution journey. Assortment strategies flow directly to store operations while execution results feed back into planning. This connected system eliminates gaps between decisions and actions, enabling retailers to plan, execute, and adapt as one coordinated operation. Learn More Accelerate value with expert implementation and support Professional services support successful deployment through proven implementation methodology, change management and hands-on training. From initial configuration to optimization, retail planning experts help merchandising teams become productive quickly and realize value throughout the solution lifecycle. Learn More Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Frequently Asked Questions What capabilities should I look for in an assortment planning solution? Modern assortment planning solutions should offer space-aware recommendations that account for shelf capacity constraints, automation that scales planning across your store network, and integration with space and inventory planning to eliminate manual data transfers. Blue Yonder provides these capabilities through a unified Platform that analyzes customer demand and sales performance while respecting physical store constraints. This approach reduces rework cycles, accelerates planning timelines and ensures assortment decisions can be executed immediately without requiring space planners to redesign layouts. What are the benefits of automated assortment planning versus manual spreadsheet-based planning? Automated assortment planning streamlines the analysis of thousands of SKUs across hundreds of stores—a task that would take weeks manually. Blue Yonder's solution reduces the time planners spend on manual calculations and data manipulation, allowing them to focus on strategic decisions like product selection and category strategy. The system analyzes sales performance and identifies underperforming products faster than manual processes, enabling quicker responses to market changes and helping retailers maintain more relevant assortments. Can assortment planning adapt to changes in customer demand? Blue Yonder Assortment Planning enables retailers to respond to demand shifts without waiting for the next planning cycle. The platform analyzes sales performance continuously and allows planners to model scenarios, evaluate impacts across stores, and adjust assortments quickly when market conditions change or new products launch. This agility transforms assortment planning from a periodic exercise into an ongoing capability, helping retailers maintain relevance as customer preferences evolve. Where does ROI come from in assortment planning? ROI comes from three sources: Sales growth from better product-market fit, margin improvement from eliminating underperforming SKUs and efficiency gains from faster planning cycles. When assortments align with local customer demand and available shelf space, retailers reduce stockouts on high-performing products while avoiding overstock on low-performers. The automation reduces planning time from weeks to days, allowing merchandising teams to focus on strategic decisions rather than manual calculations and spreadsheet management. When do retailers need assortment planning solutions? Retailers need assortment planning solutions when manual processes can't keep pace with business complexity—typically when expanding to new store formats or geographies, managing thousands of SKUs across diverse customer segments, or struggling with stockouts despite high inventory. The solution addresses the core challenge of scaling localized product selections while maintaining consistency with brand standards and financial targets. If your planning cycles take weeks and still result in one-size-fits-all assortments, automated planning delivers immediate value. Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Space Planning](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/space-planning) > Optimized planograms and ideal in-store floor plans designed to meet customer expectations Retail Planning Space Planning Deliver the ideal in-store customer experience. Space Planning Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Craft optimized planograms and floor plans designed to meet customer expectations Create, refine, and deliver up-to-date, store-specific space plans that ensure you always deliver localized, customer-first shopping experiences. Capabilities Integrated, assortment-driven planning Maximize the impact of every product across every store to drive sales and boost inventory turn. Built-in automation and AI Generate faster, more effective plans at-scale, with an easy-to-use UI for on-the-spot adjustments and updates. Centralized, fully connected data sharing Natively integrates into your entire category management and retail planning solutions, eliminating data silos and reducing complexity. 0 % Increased Efficiency 0 % Increased Profits 0 % Inventory Optimization Solutions Solutions for successful space planning Micro-Space Planning Macro-Space Planning Shelf Ops Agent Space Mobile App Accelerate performance with AI-driven spacing and planograms Utilize AI to create and optimize planograms while also ensuring planogram compliance with mobile tools for effective in-store execution. Video Solution Sheet Video Leverage AI to deliver merchandise ready floor plans that delight shoppers Optimizes to store-specific rules, fixtures and planogram performance, eliminating manual recommendation review for faster updates, all within a streamlined and intuitive user interface. Solution Sheet Video Platform-based AI assistant that quickly updates and improves planograms at-scale Rapidly perform planogram edits with simple, natural-language interactions. Automatically swap products, update projects, analyze performance, and create custom reports across multiple planograms with one-click prompts, boosting user productivity. Learn More Planogram Execution and Compliance Empower both in-store and external teams with visual, mobile app-based tools that help ensure planograms are effectively set on-site with step-by-step implementation instructions and animated product moves, then users easily verify compliance by comparing a photo to the planogram. Learn More Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Related Resources Deliver Optimal In-Store Experiences, Backed by Customer Data Solution Overview Deliver Optimal In-Store Experiences, Backed by Customer Data Category management has always driven the supply chain, but retail is too complex for traditional merchandising strategies to work anymore. Shifting buyer trends require agile solutions, whether it’s managing an ever-widening product portfolio or just ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Demand & Data Services | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/demand-and-data-services) > Leverage centralized data to supercharge planning and elevate business outcomes. Retail Planning Demand and Data Services Leverage centralized data to supercharge planning and elevate business outcomes. Demand & Data Services Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Perfect your retail strategy with real-time data insights Explore our cloud-native planning services offering precise demand forecasting and insightful data clustering--all available in real time. These services ensure seamless connectivity, empowering faster decisions, streamlined operations, and delivering a superior shopping experience. Capabilities Accelerate results with a unified planning platform Send data once to the Blue Yonder AI data cloud to support all your retail planning processes. Streamline integration, boost data reliability and ensure every decision is backed by the most up-to-date information. Boost accuracy with holistic approach to forecasting At Blue Yonder we take an outside-in approach to forecasting. We transform retail planning by tapping into a wide array of internal and external data. Move beyond a one model mentality—mix and match from our library of statistical and proprietary machine learning algorithms to accurately predict short- and long-term shopper demand. Drive predictable operational success with risk-aware forecasts Our intuitive AI highlights demand drivers and self-corrects, adapting seamlessly to changes and surprises. This approach focuses not on arriving at one number, but also on the likelihood and impact of different demand outcomes for each day, equipping planners with the insight needed for informed, risk-aware decisions. With the forecast available in real time across various planning processes, Blue Yonder delivers efficient operation and drives exceptional business results. Achieve strategic clarity by clustering Advanced behavioral clustering unveils hidden buying patterns and customer insights, enhancing the shopping experience. With size profiling and store grading now readily available for use in replenishment, allocation, space, and assortment, clustering helps you adapt swiftly to emerging trends and shifts in customer preferences, keeping you ahead of the competition. Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Blue Yonder? Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Retail Planning](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning) > Smart category management and omni-channel shopping experiences backed by in-the-moment data. Solutions Retail Planning Smart category management and omni-channel shopping experiences backed by in-the-moment data. Retail Planning Retail Planning Merchandise Financial Assortment Space Inventory Demand & Data Services Overview Your customers expect more Localized assortments. Higher convenience. Tailored buyer journeys that stay consistent across channels. And if you don’t deliver to expectations, someone else will. Empower your retail teams to make better planning decisions, faster: A fully-integrated planning suite that keeps retail strategies aligned and mapped to corporate goals Centralized, real-time market and customer data so you can adapt quickly to demand shifts and disruptions Built-in AI automation that eliminates manual processes and scales to meet store and channel-specific requirements Up to 0 % revenue lift Up to 0 % improvement in planner productivity Up to 0 % reduction in inventory Demand & Data Services Know your customers and the market Merchandise Build your product lifecycle strategy Finance Set reliable, measurable goals Assortment Design store-specific product mixes Space Deliver the ideal in-store customer experience Inventory Maximize profitability while accounting for uncertainty Customers /customers/alnatura /customers/discount-tire /customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group /customers/core-mark /customers/llbean /customers/mitchells-and-butlers /customers/morrisons /customers/pvh /customers/racetrac Why Cognitive? Centralized data AI-driven automation Real-time adaptability Interoperable planning Built-in scalability A single source-of-truth Align all of your planning teams around the same interconnected data repository, enabling concurrent planning and end-to-end visibility. Learn More Eliminate low-value manual processes Leverage native-built agentic capabilities to fuel true efficiency, shortening planning cycles while delivering more accurate results. Learn More Respond quickly to uncertainty Bring real-time market insights and visibility into every aspect of planning, enmpowering quick, decisive decision-making. Learn More Do more with less Eliminate silos and standalone processes, bringing every planning team under the same view so you can focus their limited time and attention where it matters most. You don’t have to change everything…to change everything Go big or start small—Blue Yonder’s flexible, platform-based architecture means that every retail planning “transformation” is at your pace, focused on your priorities. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Retail Planning Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Logistics Emissions Calculator Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/sustainable-supply-chain-management/logistics-emissions-calculator) > Blue Yonder’s Logistics Emissions Calculator embeds carbon factors into transportation planning so that you can compare cost, service, and CO2 on every route. Solutions Logistics Emissions Calculator Elevate your logistics with easy-to-use carbon measurement and reporting. Demo Sign Up Login Logistics Emissions Calculator Overview Capabilities Benefits Related resources Let's Talk Overview Measure and reduce logistics emissions with scenario modeling Retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers need easy solutions for automated carbon emissions calculations from multimodal transport activities. Our GLEC-accredited and ISO 14083 aligned methodology guarantees accuracy and transparency, while enabling automated data collection from carriers. Simplify your emissions tracking and ensure reliable reporting with Logistics Emission Calculator. Capabilities Select a Logistics Emissions Calculator plan Self-service for small and medium enterprises Advanced solutions for large enterprises Self-service for small and medium enterprises Are you a small or medium enterprise (SME), freight forwarder, logistics service provider (LSP), or shipper with ad hoc emissions and reporting needs? Our self-service plan offers accurate and compliant emissions measurement for multimodal global coverage, integrating with your TMS and providing GLEC-certified and ISO 14083 aligned standards. Subscribe Today Already have an account? Sign In Starting at just USD $150/month, you can gain access to: Accuracy™ Data Quality indicator (DQI) Clarity™ comprehensive audit preparation and traceability Seamless data collection from third parties Centralized directory for managing supplier and client relationships Interactive calculator for manual data entry and unplanned analysis Customizable and shareable emissions reports Sign up today and take the first step towards sustainable logistics management! Benefits Drive efficiency with seamless emissions logistics management Save time on data collection and calculations Automate logistics carbon emissions data collection directly within your workflow to streamline emissions calculations. Reduce manual efforts from aggregating data and quantifying emissions from internal and external sources. Improve logistics emissions accuracy with accredited reporting Create audit-ready reporting that is GLEC-accredited and aligned with ISO 14083 greenhouse gas emissions standards. Improve emissions accuracy to reduce time and costs spent on reporting and verification. Reduce logistics carbon emissions through data insights Analyze and generate insights from emissions data to identify emissions hotspots, compare carrier emissions, and inform logistics carbon reduction strategies. Case Studies Success stories London-based digital freight forwarder deploys Blue Yonder's Emissions Calculator to have access to accurate, instant and accredited carbon emissions measurement and reporting. This provides detailed emissions breakdowns by mode of transport, supplier and region in its quest to become an environmentally responsible freight forwarder. Learn More GL events chose Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager. This has helped GL events’ supply chain team save time, ensure consistent data calculations, and meet climate disclosure regulations. Learn More Unsworth, one of the UK’s leading freight forwarders handling more than 1 million shipments, has deployed Blue Yonder Logistics Emissions Calculator to help more than 900 customers access emissions data on their shipments. Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Load Building Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/warehouse-load-building) > Blue Yonder’s Warehouse load building solutions optimize pallet loads and streamline operations on networked TMS connected to planning. Solutions Warehouse Load Building Continuously improve warehouse and transportation efficiency by building full outbound trailers that provide for maximum trailer utilization. Warehouse Load Building Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Optimize pallet loads with constraint-based cube optimization Load Building continuously builds trailer loads that are optimized for maximum trailer efficiency and efficient unloading on delivery.  And since it is built into our Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS), resources can be seamlessly orchestrated to ensure that outbound  loads are shipped on time. 0 % reduction in transportation administrative costs 0 % reduction in inbound freight expense 0 % reduction in outbound freight expense Features and Capabilities Load Building that bridges the gap between the warehouse and transportation Order consolidation and splitting Constraint aware dispatching Equipment dimensions Multi-level containerization Provide planners with full control over how orders are allocated Consolidates multiple orders together or splits them across multiple trucks to achieve maximum load efficiency. Chat Now Autonomously understands resource and travel time constraints Dock door and travel time constraints are taken into account to assign optimal trailer dispatch times while resources are orchestrated to ensure that loads are shipped on time. Chat Now Understands and respects trailer dimensions Respects equipment dimensions, including usable dimensions and axle weight constraints to achieve the best fit for the load while honoring the number of available vehicles. Chat Now Build optimal loads with 3D containerization Three dimensional containerization planning that both maximizes and optimizes shipping space utilization. Chat Now Key Benefits What can you achieve with Warehouse Load Building Improved transportation and trailer efficiency Load Building bridges the gap between the warehouse and transportation by building optimal outbound trailer loads based on current fulfillment orders and planned trailer dispatch times for on time delivery. Improved service levels and reduced costs Outbound shipments are optimized based on planned delivery sequence and to reduce unload times meaning more on time deliveries and less idle time at the receiving dock. Reduced exception handling and rework Since execution constraints like planned dispatch times, travel times, orders in process, and available warehouse resources are continuously taken into account, 3D Load Building makes sure that every trailer is optimally loaded the first time. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Warehouse Director Shipping Supervisor Warehouse Director Focused on coordinating activity and resources across the building from the yard to shipping to achieve the days planned output on time and on budget. Chat Now Four wall awareness Load Building sees order status across the warehouse to build optimal trailer loads seamlessly and continuously throughout the day. Improved trailer usage 3D Load Building, order consolidation and splitting works to maximize trailer efficiency and optimize outbound shipments to maximize load efficiency. Reduced costs WMS coordinates and prioritizes shipping activity alongside the rest of the activity in the building to maintain efficiency and reduce costs. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Warehouse Load Building Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Warehouse Load Building That Simplifies Outbound Shipping Solution Overview Warehouse Load Building That Simplifies Outbound Shipping Load Building continuously builds trailer loads that are optimized for maximum trailer efficiency and efficient unloading on delivery. And since it is built into our Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS), resources can be seamlessly orchestrated to ... ### [Resource Orchestration Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/resource-orchestration) > Blue Yonder’s Resource Orchestration solutions orchestrate people, robots, and inventory on an end-to-end, interoperable platform. Solutions Resource Orchestration Improve warehouse productivity and efficiency with AI powered resource orchestration that continuously assigns your most productive resources to your most important tasks Resource Orchestration Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Orchestrate people and robots with real-time optimization Powered by AI and machine learning, Resource Orchestration sensing capability can see the warehouse task queue, available resources and swap in the best resource to each and every task seamlessly throughout the day. 0 % of a warehouse costs is labor 0 % of warehouse cost is just travel time Features & Capabilities Dynamic allocation of resources to tasks in real time that ensures operational efficiency Agentic AI for resource swapping Continuous health monitoring Proactive swap recommendations Global resource optimization "What-If" scenario capability An AI partner that turns data into actionable decisions Real time resource swap recommendations with clear explanations that you can approve and implement with confidence with configurable levels of autonomy to match your AI comfort level. Chat Now Ensures tasking assignment stay optimal even as warehouse conditions change Sensing capability continuously monitors throughput rates and progress versus the plan throughout the shift in real times to keep the four walls healthy and work on track. Chat Now Identifies potential resources gaps weeks in advance Knowing the skill and permissions level of available resources, the priority of every task and their status versus plan, all in real time. Orchestration seamlessly swaps in or out resources during the shift to make sure each task has the optimal resource assigned to complete the task. Chat Now Eliminate resource silos by optimizing all the warehouse resources together. Labor and equipment are managed together so that if a robot picker goes down, additional human resoures can be swapped in in real time to take up the slack and maintain the shift's productivity and throughput goals. Chat Now Objective driven logic where users can choose optimization goals Users can seamlessly priority their objectives: minimizing task completion time to focus on speed, reducing lateness to prioritize critical deadlines or minimizing travel time to reduce wear and tear on equipment. Options can be easily changed with clear explanations of the impacts. Chat Now Key Benefits This is what you could achieve with Resource Orchestration Improved intra-day and intra- shift operational efficiency Reduced resource idle time. optimized task sequencing and workflow continuity even during peak periods with built it in capability to orchestrate thousands of tasks simultaneously across both large or small scale warehouses all in real time AI enhanced decision making Configurability that allows you to decide in advance the level of Agentic decision with manual triggers that empowers the warehouse team to stay in control while being supported by Agentic recommendations. Better operational cost control Reduced overtime costs with orchestration that ensures that the most important tasks are completed as sheduled. Reduced equipment wear and tear along with maintenance costs by optimizing equipment usage and minimizing travel times. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Warehouse Director Warehouse Supervisor Warehouse Director Focused on coordinating activity and resources across the building from the yard to shipping  to achieve the days planned output on time and on budget. Chat Now Real time adaptability Resource swaps can be easily made during the shift, ensuring that priorities are met even when things change or when emergencies intervene. Continuous Improvement Real time orchestration of thousands of coordinated tasks  across the warehouse using the latest data and machine learnings that drives measurable continuous improvement. Configurable Objectives Ability to change Resource Orchestration's objectives to choose among minimizing lateness, task completion time or travel during the shift as needed. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Resource Orchestration Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Improve warehouse productivity and efficiency with AI powered resource orchestration Solution Overview Improve warehouse productivity and efficiency with AI powered resource orchestration Powered by AI and machine learning, Resource Orchestration sensing capability can see the warehouse task queue, available resources and swap in the best resource to each and every task seamlessly throughout the day. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Advanced Slotting Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/advanced-slotting) > Blue Yonder’s Advanced Slotting solutions optimize slotting and improve warehouse efficiency across warehouse, labor, and logistics. Solutions Advanced Slotting Warehouse Slotting Reinvented Advanced Slotting Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Optimize slotting with demand signals and travel paths A dynamic, data driven approach to warehouse slotting that enables placement of the right product in the right slot, everytime with continuous real time optimization. 0 % reduction in pick travel time Up to 0 % reduction in warehouse costs 0 Billion combinations analyzed to select the right slotting location Features & Capabilities A reinvented process that transforms slotting with continuous, proactive, data driven decision making Agentic AI for slotting Continuous slotting Autonomous reslotting Continuous Improvement An AI co-pilot that turns data into actionable decisions AI that provides a real time pulse on slotting efficiency alongside recommendations with clear explanations so you can execute with confidence. Chat Now Continuously adapts to forecast the optimal slot plan Always future focused using machine learning other signals to forecast optimal slots locations to reduce pick travel time and  maximize fill rates. Chat Now Virtually eliminate the need for seasonal re-slotting Transform  warehouse slotting into a continuous and automated process that eliminate the need for manual re-slotting events. Chat Now Improve effiency by continuously identifying the highest value slotting moves Recommends high impact chained moves based on available labor improving labor effectiveness with minimal impact on operations. Chat Now Key Benefits This is what you could achieve with Advanced Slotting AI Powered forecasting and analysis AI and machine learning that forecasts demand, identifies opportunities, and optimizes decisions based on data-driven insights.  Analysis that adapts to real time changes in demand, inventory, and operations to optimize every slotting decision. Break down operational silos Integrate slotting decisions across inventory management, replenishment, and labor planning to break down operational silos while maximizing efficiency. Reduce the need for seasonal re-slotting and de-slotting events. Balance optimization and operations Align dynamic slotting optimization with your long-term warehouse operational strategy. Anticipate  operational needs and proactively aligns slotting to avoid disruptions, ensure seamless and efficient operations. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Operations Officer VP of Technology Warehouse Director Chief Operations Officer Always looking to leapfrog the competition by working with precision and machine speed  while controlling operational costs Chat Now Increase operational efficiency Eliminate seasonal slotting events and keep slot lines consistently up and running. Reduce cost structure Integrate Agentic AI into daily operations to optimize ROI on labor investments. Improve customer satisfaction Know that Advanced Slotting is seamlessly prioritizing to make that client service levels are met or exceeded. Case Studies Success stories in Advanced Slotting Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related Resources Warehouse slotting reinvented Solution Overview Warehouse slotting reinvented Warehouse slotting powered by agentic AI and machine learning that empowers a dynamic, data driven approach to warehouse slotting that enables placement of the right product in the right slot, everytime with continuous real time optimization. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Analyst Workbench Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/analyst-workbench) > Blue Yonder’s Analyst workbench for warehouse operations enable warehouse analysts with unified data across warehouse, labor and logistics. Solutions Analyst Workbench Improve collaboration and virtually eliminate latency through the combined power of Warehouse Management, the Blue Yonder Platform and Snowflake in a single analytic tool Analyst workbench for warehouse operations Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Unify ops data and insights for faster warehouse decisions Analyst Workbench lets companies mix and match data from any digital touchpoint in their ecosystem, apply advanced analytics and then deliver it in an actionable format. Features & Capabilities Access, share and consume data at scale without the latency, cost and effort required with stand alone marketplaces Unified approach to data Advanced data visualization A personalized, role based perspective Seamless integration with other solutions Achieve a 360-degree view of supply chain data. A unified analytics landscape, where data from multiple sources is combined seamlessly to create a robust data landscape with enhanced usability. Chat Now Custom dashboards focused on your priorities and objectives. As reporting requirements change, users can generate new reports or edit existing reports to unique personalized view of the data. Chat Now Different stakeholders have different needs, Analyst Workbench fulfills them all. "Slice and dice" one unified data set across different dimension regardless of their role  to study problems in depth and configure alerts based on personalized thresholds. Chat Now Pre-integrated with other Blue Yonder solutions to grow with you. Bring near real-time data from across solutions together in a unified data repository in real-time for all your users. Chat Now Key Benefits What you could achieve with Analyst Workbench Enhanced agility to changing conditions Since Analyst Workbench can ingest data from almost any source, applys advanced analytics and delivers those insights in near real time. The warehouse team quickly make and execute decisions across the supply chain with little of the latency that they typically experience today. Reduced costs and improved service levels By creating a digital twin of the physical supply chain, Analyst Workbench enables companies to monitor the health of warehouse operations and apply near real-time data to improve key performance indicators that directly impact cost and service outcomes. Greater visibility and collaboration Users across the supply chain regardless of function can all work from the same dashboards and data sets in real time to make  collaborative decisions that optimize the entire supply chain not just their part of it. Optimized warehouse efficiency and resource utilization A unified analytics landscape that can see order status, warehouse performance, inventory risks and labor use which  results in a 360 view for of warehouse performance and identifies potential problems. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Warehouse Manager Warehouse Supervisors Warehouse Manager Easily understand end- to- end in warehouse health with advanced analytics delivered in an actionable format that that can directly impact cost and customer service outcomes. Chat Now Exception flagging Instead of wading through unusable data, Analyst Workbench automatically flags areas that need your attention. Pre-configured dashboards Easy configure dashboards with what's important to your team. Ex: trailer dwell time, daily throughput, at risk orders, process efficiency and dock to stock time. Team performance visibility See how team members are performing and who may need additional support so resources can be achieve their goals. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Warehouse Management Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Analyst Workbench for warehouse management Solution Overview Analyst Workbench for warehouse management Analyst Workbench lets companies mix and match data from any digital touchpoint in their ecosystem, apply advanced analytics and then deliver it in an actionable format. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Sustainable Supply Chain Management Solutions | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/sustainable-supply-chain-management) > GLEC-accredited sustainable supply chain management software. Track Scope 1 - 3 emissions, reduce waste and optimize ROI. Get your Blue Yonder Demo Today. Solutions Sustainable Supply Chain Management Measure and optimize carbon emissions, waste, and ESG risk in your supply chain. Sustainable Supply Chain Management Software Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Contact Us Overview Balance cost, efficiency, and emissions with carbon-aware optimization Companies face increased regulatory pressures, waste time on data collection and analysis and struggle to make progress towards sustainability goals. Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Management provides powerful optimization engines, real-time insights and accredited reporting to reduce waste, carbon emissions, and ESG risk throughout the supply chain. Why you need to integrate sustainability measurement and optimization into your supply chain now. 0 % of global carbon emissions come from supply chains. 0 % of companies are off-track to meet net-zero targets. 0 % of global carbon emissions are addressable using readily available and cost-effective strategies. Capabilities Reduce carbon emissions, waste, and ESG risk across your supply chain. Logistics Emissions Calculator Transportation Carbon Emissions Optimization Manufacturing Planning End-to-End Sustainability Retail Planning End-to-End Sustainability Traceability, Collaboration, and Risk Management Decarbonize logistics with accredited emissions data Automate data collection to precisely measure transportation of carbon emissions. Generate GLEC-accredited reports and calculate emissions from owned global freight and third-party logistics partners. Get Started Try It Out Proactively reduce transportation carbon emissions Optimize across transportation cost, lead time, and carbon emissions with our Sustainable Supply Chain Manager. Automate carbon emissions measurement within transportation solvers and execution, and improve mode mix, load building, and equipment selection. Comprehensive emissions tracking within existing transportation management workflows ensures aligned sustainable and operational goals. Chat Now Minimize waste and emissions in end-to-end manufacturing planning Unify manufacturing planning and sustainability within your existing supply chain management workflows. Our AI-powered platform optimizes emissions in your end-to-end supply planning process alongside traditional business objectives like cost and demand fulfillment. Enhance forecasting visibility, reduce emissions and waste to achieve holistic outcomes and sustainable supply chain transformation. Chat Now Minimize waste and emissions in end-to-end retail planning. Unify retail planning and sustainability within your replenishment and fulfillment planning workflows. Automate measurement of carbon emissions and waste from procurement, transportation, and inventory management processes. Empower your supply chain decision-makers to evaluates holistic plan trade-offs across cost, efficiency, and sustainability KPI’s, to reduce emissions and waste. Our AI-driven platform helps enhance forecasting visibility, reduce emissions and waste, and achieve sustainable supply chain transformation. Chat Now Track N-Tier material sourcing, engage suppliers, and evaluate risk across your supply chain network. Facilitate supplier engagement and direct data collection from supply chain partners. Gain visibility into N-tier material traceability,  manage value chain risk, and assess ESG scores of suppliers with Blue Yonder Network. Chat Now Benefits Integrate sustainability objectives into supply chain management Save time on data collection and insights Automated emissions calculations and streamlined reporting reduce the time and effort needed to gather and analyze sustainability data, enabling you to quickly understand the environmental impacts of your supply chain decisions and improve progress towards sustainability goals. Empowered teams Integrating sustainability data and decisioning empowers supply chain teams to understand environmental impact, make informed decisions and proactively drive progress toward emissions and waste reduction across the supply chain. Accredited reporting Be confident in your data and reporting by accessing verified emissions factors and generating Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) and ISO 14083-accredited greenhouse gas reports. Make progress towards sustainability goals Proactively develop transportation and inventory plans that reduce future carbon emissions and waste, enabling progress towards sustainability goals. Minimize supply chain risks Understand ESG risks and more across your direct suppliers and n-tier network through scorecards and real-time risk management. Integrated decision making Harmonizing data and decision making across sustainability and supply chain enables evaluation of tradeoffs and scenario planning towards sustainability goals. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Success stories in Sustainable Supply Chain Management With Blue Yonder's AI-driven demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions, Martin Brower has improved efficiency, strengthened market responsiveness, and advanced sustainability efforts. Learn More London-based digital freight forwarder deploys Blue Yonder's Emissions Calculator to have access to accurate, instant and accredited carbon emissions measurement and reporting. This provides detailed emissions breakdowns by mode of transport, supplier and region in its quest to become an environmentally responsible freight forwarder. Learn More GL events chose Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager. This has helped GL events’ supply chain team save time, ensure consistent data calculations, and meet climate disclosure regulations. Learn More Unsworth, one of the UK’s leading freight forwarders handling more than 1 million shipments, has deployed Blue Yonder Logistics Emissions Calculator to help more than 900 customers access emissions data on their shipments. Learn More Related Resources What is Sustainable Abundance? Thought Leadership What is Sustainable Abundance? Learn how Blue Yonder’s technology can help you gain sustainable abundance by unlocking global supply chains. Blue Yonder’s AI-powered, end-to-end platform can help you reduce carbon emissions and waste for a more sustainable world. Consumer Sustainability Survey Infographic Consumer Sustainability Survey To better understand the consumer perspective, Blue Yonder’s fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey asked consumers about their sustainable shopping opinions and behaviors – everything from trust in brands’/retailers’ sustainability messaging to ... Meet Our Chief Sustainability Officer Thought Leadership Meet Our Chief Sustainability Officer Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt shares her story and why she is so passionate about sustainability. She also shares what drew her to Blue Yonder and the role supply chains play in sustainability. Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on sustainability 2026 Analyst Report Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on sustainability 2026 A survey of nearly 700 supply chain executives reveals the state of sustainability strategies in 2026. Sustainable Supply Chain Manager Solution Overview Sustainable Supply Chain Manager The Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager integrates carbon emissions modeling and optimization into supply chain applications, enabling companies to proactively measure, visualize, and reduce their environmental impact while enhancing operational ... Carbon reporting for freight forwarders—a beginner's playbook Thought Leadership Carbon reporting for freight forwarders—a beginner's playbook Unlock the full potential of your freight business. This comprehensive guide empowers you with actionable insights and practical steps to seamlessly integrate carbon emissions measurement into your services. Download now to lead the way in sustainable ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Resource Forecasting Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/resource-forecasting) > Blue Yonder’s Resource Forecasting solutions predict labor needs for efficient scheduling on a cloud-native planning platform. Resource Forecasting Improve resource forecasting accuracy with the power of AI and machine learning while reducing over-staffing and boosting warehouse productivity. Resource Forecasting Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Predict labor needs with real-time operational signals Resource Forecasting delivers an accurate, granular resource forecast that is continuously and seamlessly updated with the latest real-time information and predictive learning. 0 % of warehouse labor hours are due to overstaffing 0 % reduction in warehouse over-staffing Features & Capabilities Integrated Resource Forecasting that covers the entire warehouse with a single resource plan Agentic AI for resource planning Predictive intelligence Future looking One warehouse forecast An AI partner that transforms data into actionable decisions Real time resource recommendations with clear explanations that you empower you to forecast with confidence. Chat Now Continuous feedback that improves future forecasts Resource needs are updated based on the latest machine learning and signal inputs producing a continuous forecast plans that are autonomously updated and available anytime. Chat Now Identifies potential resources gaps weeks in advance Predicts future resource needs by role, task, work area and work zone days to weeks in advance down to a 15 minute time interval producing forecast granularity that was never previously achievable. Chat Now One resource forecast that powers the entire warehouse Resource Forecasting can power resource needs across the warehouse from the yard, to slotting, and outbound shipping.  Eliminating resource forecasting siloes across the warehouse. Chat Now Key Benefits This is what you could achieve with Resource Forecasting Significantly reduce warehouse overstaffing By accurately forecasting resource needs at a granular level, Resource Forecasting makes sure that resources are available when they actually needed reducing warehouse overstaffing by up to 80% . Reduce costs by aligning resources to match planned warehouse demand Resource Forecasting's ability to use data from Warehouse Management but also other signals such as plan and order data updates, marketing & promotional details, weather or planned events like festivals, or concerts all means that resource plan can now closely match the latest demand forecasts.  And when change happens, that the resource plan will reforecast automatically. Eliminate outdated spreadsheets and manual plan rework Resource forecasting can deliver an updated, granular forecast to the  warehouse team in seconds based on the latest data.  Completely eliminating the need for the warehouse to do manual rework and making spreadsheets a thing of the past. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Operations Officer Vice President - Logistics Warehouse Supervisor Chief Operations Officer Always looking to leapfrog the competition by working with precision and machine speed  while controlling operational costs Chat Now Improved efficiency Reduced overstaffing in the warehouse means less warehouse idle time keeping costly resources busy throughout the day. Reduced costs Smoothing warehouse resources to more closely match forecasted demand means that resources are only scheduled when they are needed and in the amount required to complete the required work. Improved customer satisfaction Better resource forecasting means that orders go out on time and within contracted service levels making customer happy. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Resource Forecasting Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Forecast all the warehouse resources with the precision of AI and machine learning Solution Overview Forecast all the warehouse resources with the precision of AI and machine learning Resource Forecasting delivers an accurate, granular resource forecast that is continuously and seamlessly updated with the latest real-time information and predictive learning. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Demand & Supply Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/demand-and-supply-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Demand and Supply Planning solutions sync demand & supply with connected planning on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Demand and Supply Planning Solutions Plan without the overhead. Ensure no downtime in decision-making—with the market-leading, all-in-one solution for supply chain planning. Demand & Supply Planning Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Meet demand with machine-speed decisioning Insight-infused planning allows you to meet demand, minimize excess and maximize turnover while cognitively adapting to changing market conditions. 0 % forecast accuracy levels 0 % reduced inventory levels 0 % return on investment Features & Capabilities Plan demand, supply and inventory with one, cognitive planning solution Inventory Ops Agent Demand forecasting and planning Supply planning and optimization Inventory management and optimization Decision-centric process orchestration Insight-driven planning Scenario planning Execution-aware planning Conversational AI that spots and fixes issues faster Scan for broken bills of materials, sourcing issues, unmet demand, and fill-rate risks with Inventory Ops Agent, which combines conversational AI with powerful data quality and plan analysis—so planners can trust their data, resolve issues faster, and focus on the SKUs and orders that matter most. Learn More Achieve precise ML-driven forecasts that delivers on customer service and inventory turns Increase forecasting confidence with explainability, understand the underlying causal factors of demand, and leverage the combined power of statistical methods, ML and AI for precise and transparent demand sensing and planning. Learn More Boost productivity, optimize outcomes and planner efficiency across supply planning Create shared plans to optimize utilization rates from sourcing through distribution that maximizes inventory turnover and exceeds customer service levels. Supply accurately against demand and optimally plan for inventory at every level. Learn More Not too much or too little, inventory that’s just right Ensure product availability, reduce excess stock, and set optimal inventory across every node by dynamically segmenting and strategically staging inventory to balance service levels, demand variability, and supply constraints. Learn More Streamline and automate supply chain planning workflows Reduce errors and cycle times, improve reliability, and enable faster execution at scale. We help you streamline and automate complex supply chain workflows across demand, supply, and inventory so that you can guide planners through consistent, best-practice processes. Watch Full Demo Solve exceptions with holistic insights and actions Move faster with a complete view of your operations, powered by best-in-class predictive insights and connected collaboration. Intelligent planner workflows provide consolidated actions to recommend resolutions, resolve issues and achieve critical KPIs, at a global scale. Watch Full Demo Simulate the supply chain for the most adaptable, anti-fragile plans for profitable outcomes Navigate global volatility by assessing your options in real time with omnipresent, boundaryless scenario analysis and planning insights. We enable you to mix and match factors and answer every what-if questions Watch Full Demo Extend planning and analysis to drive higher quality plans across the network and the globe Connect transportation and warehouse systems, sustainability and your multi-tier, multi-enterprise supply chain network for no downtime decision making. Anticipate and respond like never before with seamless data and workflows between planning and execution. Learn More Benefits Deliver best in class autonomous planning with Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning Superior decision-making speed and quality Get faster planning cycles, higher plan accuracy and improved service levels—all while reducing bias and enabling confident, data-backed decisions. Empower planners to respond rapidly to market changes with AI-driven insights, automated workflows and automations that eliminate manual bottlenecks. Extend visibility and collaboration to align plans Achieve seamless alignment across demand, supply and inventory planning by breaking down the silos and enabling real-time collaboration across the enterprise and network. Align supply chain plans with corporate objectives, reduce inefficiencies and accelerate disruption response agility. Reduce costs, waste and missed opportunities Reduces excess stock, prevents stockouts and lowers logistics and execution expenses—empowering you to capture revenue and sustain profitability, even in volatile market conditions. Unify demand forecasts, supply constraints and inventory strategies to optimize resources and eliminate waste. Be bold. Be brave. Unlock your full potential with Blue Yonder Supply Chain Executive Operations Executive Finance Executive Information Technology Executive Supply Chain Executive Gain clarity without the load screen, you’ll have instant visibility over the supply chain to empower planner to make smarter decisions. Chat Now Identify and act of issues earlier Diagnose critical issues before they affect customers, with scenario planning you’ll be able to predict what comes next. Leverage a real-time view of inbound and outbound flows Improve adaptability and resiliency for anti-fragility Empower planners and operators to use agentic root-cause analysis to dynamically recommend and adjust supply, demand and inventory across the network P roductivity and agility like never before Adapt and thrive by developing range-based probabilistic plans to handle any supply chain disruption— across demand, supply and inventory Success stories in Demand and Supply Planning Lenovo operates 30 manufacturing facilities, serves customers in 180 markets, and makes an astounding three devices every second. Not only is Lenovo’s product line broad and complex, but its production model is equally complex, based on both build-to-plan and configure-to-order. Jack Fiedler, VP of Digital Transformation for the Global Supply Chain at Lenovo, discusses how Blue Yonder solutions help ensure the right products are in the right place, leading to faster turns, higher service levels and reduced costs. Learn More After experiencing a rapid growth in e-commerce, requiring delivery to customer homes and retail locations, City Plumbing needed to find a way to optimize their legacy warehouse systems. Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management System enabled them to enhance their visibility and responsiveness, resulting in a 20% reduction in inbound receiving time, improved process accuracy and efficiency, and higher levels of service and profitability. Learn More For UK-based grocery retailer Morrisons, serving its more than 11 million customers starts with making sure the right products are in the right place. Discover how Blue Yonder helped the organization increase shelf availability of over 29,000 SKUs in 130 categories across its 500 stores. Learn More Asda is one of Britain’s leading retailers with a unique position in the market. In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, Asda’s CIO, Carl Dawson speaks with Blue Yonder’s CRO Corey Tollefson to discuss how Asda is transforming its supply chain with the help of Blue Yonder Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Unlock insightful Demand and Supply Planning decision Solution Overview Unlock insightful Demand and Supply Planning decision Planning can’t operate in silos and neither can your planning solution. With Demand and Supply Planning from Blue Yonder, customers benefit from a single, integrated approach that is focused on optimizing inventory and creating AI-backed, insight driven ... Driving Success With Demand and Supply Planning Solution Overview Driving Success With Demand and Supply Planning Demand and Supply Planning enables customers to stay ahead of increasing planning complexity with AI backed and extensive scenario testing options and insight driven decision making that let customers quickly model demand changes, inventory and ... Transform Fresh Inventory Challenges into Profit-Driving Solutions Thought Leadership Transform Fresh Inventory Challenges into Profit-Driving Solutions With fresh foods driving significant sales growth, managing these inventories effectively is paramount. In this eBook, learn how advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics can streamline inventory processes, reduce ... Learn How Optimized Plans Help You Work Smarter Not Harder Thought Leadership Learn How Optimized Plans Help You Work Smarter Not Harder By allowing your supply planners to manage less exceptions and create fewer scenarios, optimized supply plans can deliver a high ROI for organizations like yours. Discover how Blue Yonder uses AI/ML-driven recommendations to help planners achieve greater ... How AI-Enabled Demand Planning is Changing the Way We Work Thought Leadership How AI-Enabled Demand Planning is Changing the Way We Work 60% of planners report feeling stressed and overworked. Overstretched and undertooled, demand planners are suffering from record burnout levels. AI-Enabled Demand Planning is the answer. Fit for purpose, our Cognitive Demand Planning solution delivers ... How AI-Enabled Planning Will Improve Your Supply Chain Performance Thought Leadership How AI-Enabled Planning Will Improve Your Supply Chain Performance Extreme volatility, inventory shortages and data overload are all challenges businesses are facing when it comes to supply chain planning. AI-enabled planning capabilities can address these challenges by improving decision-making, agility, and ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Industrial Production Planning & Scheduling Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/advanced-planning-and-scheduling/industry/industrial-manufacturing) > Blue Yonder’s Industrial Production Planning and Scheduling solutions optimize sequences across assets and shifts to raise utilization and meet due dates. Production planning & scheduling solutions for industrial Manufacturing Advanced planning and scheduling for Industrial Manufacturing Integrate and accelerate industrial parts and machinery production planning for a leaner, more predictable plan that drives on time delivery and improves customer satisfaction. Production planning & scheduling solutions for industrial Manufacturing Industry Challenges Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Stay agile with constraint-based scheduling and scenarios Increased Demand for Flexibility and Agility Leverage real-time sales and operations planning (S&OP) and advanced manufacturing execution system (MES) capabilities to dynamically replan production lines, swiftly adapt to evolving customer demands, and ensure optimal throughput across global markets. Integration of Legacy Systems with Modern Processes Unify legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) infrastructures with modern platforms and processes to create seamless data flows that streamline manufacturing operations and accelerate digital transformation. Build Resilience with Digital Supply Chain Networks Implement broad inventory strategies and real-time command center monitoring and stay ahead of disruption with advanced alerting, proactive resource reallocation and rapid routing. 0 % Increase in adherence to delivery dates 0 % Increase in machine utilization 0 % Increase in throughput Case Studies Success stories in Industrial Manufacturing Outokumpu is the sustainability leader in stainless steel, driven by their heritage, people and operations. In this Blue Yonder Live session, Outokumpu’s Ronald van Dodewaard, VP Logistics, shares how Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System enables the company to drive an environmentally friendly transportation program. Learn More How Blue Yonder helps What’s possible with advanced planning and scheduling Maximize efficiency and return on assets Use Blue Yonder Production Scheduling Software to refine and rebalance production to improve inventory utilization, increase output and decrease rework while minimizing logistics and warehousing costs with the ability to perform continuous analysis and adjustment of production processes based on supply and demand changes. Increase delivery stability and higher throughput Use intelligent scenario planning to analyze supply and production constraints as well as order changes to generate a resource-optimized schedule and sequence that can be locked in, smoothing assembly times of a facility, even down to sections of a conveyor belt, all while balancing labor cost, machine utilization and assembly time. Ensure reliable delivery commitments to customers and partner Use digital twin modeling and Blue Yonder Production Planning Software to enable planners to continually improve production slotting, scheduling, and sequencing to support the most demanding and variant-rich production processes while improving forecast accuracy to ensure partners and customers know when to expect orders. Features & capabilities Orchestrate production excellence: From planning to execution Order slotting and scheduling Detailed scheduling Order sequencing Optimize Production for Speed and Profitability Build resilience, strengthen alignment with sales and keep lines moving with advanced scenario planning. Real-time details on supply availability, capacity, orders, and delivery dates help create schedules that streamline production and balance order distribution for improved resource utilization and faster delivery, across Industrial Manufacturing such as metal, lumber, heavy machinery, engines and parts. Chat Now Stay ahead of disruption Quickly create and validate plans to support new orders while avoiding costly production delays or downtime. Advanced, what-if scenario planning uses digital twins built from component and part availability, production capacities and existing orders to weigh trade-offs and recommend an optimal production plan along with predictable delivery details for increased customer satisfaction. Chat Now Boost production efficiency and stability Create optimized order sequences that uniformly distribute work, smooth production times and minimize supply chain bottlenecks. Sequencing analyzes potential supply, production and transportation constraints to expand asset utilization, increases planning efficiency by up to 60%, increase throughput up to 20% and increase sequence stability up to 100%. Chat Now Related resources ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges Event Replay ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges In February 2024, Blue Yonder acquired flexis, a technology provider specializing in production optimization and transportation planning and execution. In this interview, we uncover what this new acquisition means for Automotive and Industrial ... A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes Solution Overview A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes Manufacturers of cars and trucks — as well as other large-scale manufacturing enterprises — are facing constant disruptions which can interfere with carefully considered production and logistics plans. This guide addresses the challenges and ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [B2B Omnichannel Order Management | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce/intelligent-rebalancer) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solutions rebalances and reroutes order fulfillment across the inventory network in real-time. Solutions Intelligent Rebalancer Rapid order execution response to react quickly to any unexpected supply and demand disruptions B2B Omnichannel Order Management Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Related Resources Overview React and recover quickly from disruptions with dynamic re-allocation of inventory in real time Intelligent Rebalancer optimizes inventory allocation in near real time, ensuring higher fill rates, reduced stockouts, and maximized profitability. Features & Capabilities Dynamically re-allocate inventory in response to real-time supply chain disruptions with Intelligent Rebalancer microservice. Rapid response to disruptions Real-time optimization decisions Proactive Inventory Management Seamless Integration to Existing Systems Rapid response to disruptions with adaptive inventory optimization Disruptions happen—whether from weather events, supply shortages, or transportation delays. Intelligent Rebalancer reacts instantly, using real-time data and advanced algorithms to make the best inventory allocation decisions. No more manual spreadsheets or best guesses—just smart, strategic responses that keep your business moving forward. Chat Now Smarter decision-making with real-time optimization at scale Traditional allocation methods struggle with today’s complexity. Intelligent Rebalancer evaluates millions of variables—including cost, service levels, sustainability, and business priorities—to make instant, optimal allocation decisions. Every disruption is an opportunity to improve outcomes through continuous learning and automation. Chat Now End-to-end visibility & control strategic, proactive inventory management Gain complete visibility into your inventory rebalancing decisions with an intuitive dashboard. Intelligent Rebalancer not only automates inventory allocation but also provides insights into why each decision was made, allowing for strategic oversight and continuous process improvements. Chat Now Seamless integration with existing systems through our composable, cloud-native architecture Built on a microservices-based framework, Intelligent Rebalancer seamlessly integrates with your existing ERP, OMS, and planning solutions. There’s no need for expensive system overhauls—simply augment your current operations with the power of AI-driven rebalancing, enabling faster, more profitable decision-making. Chat Now Key Benefits Transform supply chain disruptions into opportunities Faster, more strategic responses Reduce reaction times and minimize revenue loss by automating real-time inventory rebalancing. Higher fill rates & customer satisfaction Ensure critical customer orders are fulfilled first, prioritizing high-value customers and maintaining service levels. Maximized profitability Optimize inventory allocation based on cost, margins, and operational constraints to drive greater ROI. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Enhance efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction levels. Chat Now Enhanced Customer Experience and Satisfaction Provide personalized shopping experiences, real-time availability and expose information that is refreshed in milliseconds to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Optimized Inventory Management and Reduced Costs Maintain optimal stock levels across multiple locations to reduce the need for emergency restocking and minimize holding costs. Improved Decision-Making and Strategic Planning Make informed decisions based on comprehensive data on inventory levels and locations. Analyze trends and predict future inventory needs with greater accuracy and deliver with reliability and speed. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts A Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Learn More IDC Names Blue Yonder a Leader in the MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment Learn More Related Resources React and recover with confidence Solution Overview React and recover with confidence React & recover from supply/demand disruptions with Intelligent Rebalancer. With dynamic and configurable rules, easily manage trade-offs across all order types and balance customer satisfaction and profitability. Set the right re-allocation strategy for ... Intelligent Rebalancer Thought Leadership Intelligent Rebalancer Disruptions are becoming more and more frequent, and they can come from supply or demand. With Intelligent Rebalancer, businesses can quickly react and recover from impacts to their supply chain. With dynamic and configurable rules Rebalancer will ... Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Thought Leadership Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Blue Yonder's purpose-built order management system offers a composable microservices architecture, real-time inventory and order data, and an intelligent rebalancer, providing a solution to the limitations of relying on ERP systems for order management. ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Transformation Solutions & Services | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/services) > Implement your supply chain transformation solution with our expert services. From seamless system integration to continuous optimization and rapid ROI. Services Accelerate time-to-value with proven experts and playbooks Enhance performance and growth through comprehensive lifecycle support services. Supply Chain Transformation Solutions & Services Overview Capabilities How We Work Benefits Overview Blue Yonder Services support your supply chain modernization Modernizing your supply chain demands agility and adaptability to meet evolving industry demands and market disruptions. Our Blue Yonder Professional Services bridge gaps in expertise and reduce costs, ensuring your supply chain transformation achieves optimal efficiency every step of the way. Cost Effective Expertise Many companies lack specialized knowledge and skills. Maintaining an in-house team of experts to drive transformation and optimization can be expensive. Supplement your team efficiently with scalable access to specialized external expertise and leading accelerators. Support and Maintenance It's not easy to ensure your solutions stay functional and adhere to the ongoing changes in your business. Access to external dedicated support with alert mechanisms and proactive health checks improves operational performance and maximizes the value of your investment. Trusted Advisor Navigating complex supply chain transformations requires informed decision-making, avoiding common pitfalls and uncovering new opportunities. With our global scale and experience, we offer ongoing guidance to help mature solutions and maximize impact throughout your journey. capabilities Blue Yonder Services partners with you at every stage of the journey to maximize value realization. Supply Chain Advisory Solution Implementation Continuous Optimization Education & Change Management Your Trusted Advisor Supply Chain Advisory Services are designed to be your trusted guide through the digital transformation journey. Our team of domain experts and data scientists work with you from the early stages of design and implementation and continue as advisors throughout the lifecycle ensuring your business continually adapts and thrives in a dynamic environment. Composable Journey AI Advisory Faster Time to Value Blue Yonder Solution Implementation Services configure, test and deploy solutions with 30% proven faster time to value. Partnering from inception to deployment ensures alignment, best practices, and 5x fewer post-go-live issues. Chat Now Learn More On-Going Improved Performance Blue Yonder Continuous Improvement services partner with you to improve your solution performance and enhance operational efficiency throughout your journey. With a team of over 1500 industry experts, our customers experienced 25% improvement in system performance. White Glove Support Applied Data Science Increase end-user adoption and maximize ROI Blue Yonder’s comprehensive training portfolio is designed to enable your organization and employees to fully leverage your Blue Yonder solution ensuring user proficiency and operational excellence.  Our courses and training methods boost user adoption by 22%. Learn More Chat Now How we work Partner for expert-driven growth, efficiency and future resilience Supply Chain Advisor y evaluates your processes and pain points to design a plan to meet your business goals and future vision. Solution Implementation Services configure, test and deploy solutions with proven faster time to value. Continuous Optimization provides on-going premium support to improve your performance and enhance operational efficiency. Education & Change Management equips your team to fully utilize all the features of your software ensuring maximum value and adoption. Benefits Streamlining Processes to Drive Value Holistic Customer-Centric Approach Our professional services go beyond standard implementations, offering end-to-end solutions specifically tailored to your industry for long-term value realization. Gain a competitive edge in today's intricate supply chain landscape with Blue Yonder Services, empowering your business for sustained success. Unlock Full Potential Blue Yonder bridges resource gaps with personalized solutions and continuous training, empowering your organization to maximize technology investments and align business objectives. Transform Supply Chain into a growth driver We redefine supply chains from cost centers into strategic growth engines. Our innovative technology and industry-best practices are designed to build modern supply chains that cater to the unique needs of your business, driving efficiency and delivering measurable outcomes. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Automotive Production Planning & Scheduling Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/advanced-planning-and-scheduling/industry/automotive) > Blue Yonder’s Automotive Production Planning and Scheduling solutions sequence builds across lines and plants, respecting options, constraints, and supply. Automotive Sharpen EV/ICE plans with constraint-based scheduling Integrate and accelerate automotive production planning for leaner, more predictable order processes that improve customer satisfaction Automotive Production Planning & Scheduling Solutions Industry Challenges Case Studies Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Navigate the roughest terrain with ease Highly fluctuating demand on ever more globalized markets Leverage real-time planning and scheduling capabilities to dynamically adjust production and distribution, ensuring optimized resource usage and on-time deliveries—even as global demand shifts unpredictably. Interruptions in the transport chains Maintain complete visibility into your logistics networks and proactively respond to disruptions with alternative routes or schedules, keeping deliveries on track and minimizing cascading delays. Quality problems in parts production Integrate advanced analytics and quality-control measures into every stage of your manufacturing processes to detect defects early, reduce waste, and consistently deliver dependable automotive components. Blue Yonder delivers results 0 % increase in adherence to delivery dates 0 % increase in machine utilization 0 % reduction of set-up times Case Studies Success Stories in Automotive PACCAR manufacturers Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brand trucks in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the UK. It needed an Advanced Planning & Scheduling system to match its complex operations with shifting global dema Learn More How Blue Yonder helps What’s possible with advanced planning and scheduling Maximize efficiency and return on assets With the ability to perform continuous analysis and adjustment of production processes based on supply and demand changes, planners can refine and rebalance production to improve inventory utilization, increase output and decrease rework while minimizing logistics and warehousing costs. Deliver increased stability and higher throughput Intelligent scenario planning analyzes supply and production constraints like semiconductor shortages and other supply/demand imbalances as well as order changes to generate a resource-optimized schedule and sequence that can be locked in, smoothing assembly times of a facility, even down to sections of a conveyor belt, all while balancing labor cost, machine utilization and assembly time. Ensure reliable delivery commitments to customers and partners Digital twin modeling enables planners to continually optimize production slotting, scheduling, and sequencing to support the most demanding and variant-rich production processes while improving forecast accuracy to ensure partners and customers know when to expect orders. Capabilities Orchestrate production excellence: From planning to execution Advanced Planning and Scheduling Order Slotting and Scheduling Detailed Scheduling Order Sequencing Counteract and avoid volatile demand, transport chain disruptions, and waste of resources Use Blue Yonder Advanced Planning & Scheduling solutions to accelerate production, reduce costs, and dramatically improve on-time delivery—even in the most unpredictable markets. Discover Blue Yonder solutions leverage real-time data on orders, inventory, capacity, and more to maximize production efficiency, improve machine utilization, and ensure dependable delivery commitments for happier customers and stronger bottom-line results. Learn More Streamline production for speed and profitability for the mid-term horizon Optimize schedules and improve order distribution with Blue Yonder’s automotive scheduling software to more efficiently support sales and production priorities, including rush orders. Real-time visibility into component availability, assembly capacity, new order details, and scheduling dates, enables planners to balance order distribution and increase line efficiency, minimizing inefficiencies that could delay delivery or increase costs. Chat Now Increase delivery transparency and control costs Quickly create and communicate plans for new orders that optimize delivery while reducing idle time and production setup. Advanced scenario planning uses digital twins to analyze resource availability, production capacity, and existing order details to identify an efficient production plan that can be executed and communicated to customers for improved relationships. Chat Now Boost production efficiency and stability Create refined order sequences that uniformly distribute work, smooth assembly times, and mitigate supply chain bottlenecks. Blue Yonder’s automotive sequencing software analyzes potential supply, production, and transportation constraints to reduce rework by up to 50%, enhance throughput by up to 20% and increase sequence stability by up to 100%. Chat Now Industry insights ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges Event Replay ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges In February 2024, Blue Yonder acquired flexis, a technology provider specializing in production optimization and transportation planning and execution. In this interview, we uncover what this new acquisition means for Automotive and Industrial ... A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes Solution Overview A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes Manufacturers of cars and trucks — as well as other large-scale manufacturing enterprises — are facing constant disruptions which can interfere with carefully considered production and logistics plans. This guide addresses the challenges and ... Order slotting & scheduling Solution Overview Order slotting & scheduling Allocating orders to production sites in daily and weekly lots—is crucial in today's volatile world. Material shortages, capacity issues or sudden demand shifts can disrupt plans. Sales often influence slotting but lack a strategic view, leading to ... Detailed Scheduling Solution Overview Detailed Scheduling A key function of production planning is to quickly and accurately respond to sales inquiries about new customer orders. However, assessing material, labor and assembly line availability can be challenging. Discover how Blue Yonder Detailed Scheduling ... Order sequencing Solution Overview Order sequencing To maximize the reliability and efficiency of production cycles, planning teams must be able to define and implement a consistent production sequence for orders. Discover how Blue Yonder Order Sequencing drives both production stability and flexibility. Blue Yonder Automotive Connect: A Conversation With Subaru Canada and flexis Event Replay Blue Yonder Automotive Connect: A Conversation With Subaru Canada and flexis Maximizing Profitable Growth in Automotive Through a Resilient Supply Chain. In this panel discussion, you will hear from industry leaders on how automotive manufacturers need to adjust with the connected vehicle, which brings a new set of customer ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Production Planning & Scheduling Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/advanced-planning-and-scheduling) > Blue Yonder’s Production Planning & Scheduling solutions optimize manufacturing schedules and efficiency on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Advanced Planning & Scheduling Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions, acquired from flexis, digitalizes production planning and scheduling to make manufacturing operations as well as sales & operations execution processes more dynamic and transparent and successfully counteract​​ supply chain bottlenecks. Advanced Planning & Scheduling Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Plan with real-time data Production planning and scheduling (APS) with constraint-based optimization Find out how intelligent advanced planning and scheduling can transform the production efficiency for manufacturers. 0 % increase in adherence to delivery dates 0 % increase in machine utilization 0 % reduction of set-up times Features & Capabilities Automated planning, sequencing and scheduling with end-to-end visibility in real time Order Slotting and Scheduling Detailed Scheduling Order Sequencing Flexibly optimize and manage order schedules Use sales and production views of your workflow to equally distribute orders and optimize schedules based on configurable constraints with early fault detection. If needed, you can manually reschedule with ease. Chat Now Plan with a real-time view of resources Plan production based on the plants, personnel, materials and tools available with an overview of all resources. Compare plans with actual feedback, create what-if scenarios and schedule modifications easily. All online, validated by digital twin models. Chat Now Plan and optimize order sequences Create optimal sequences (pearl chains) across production processes to uniformly distribute work, smooth assembly times, prevent bottlenecks and visualize rule violations when unexpected events occur. Select standard rules from a proven library and configure restrictions according to individual processes. Chat Now Real-time visibility for optimal resource utilization With accurate software that delivers end-to-end visibility in real time, even the most demanding and variant-rich production processes can balance optimal resource utilization to reliably meet customer requirements every time. Stable, efficient, optimized production flows Make production processes leaner and increase productivity with real-time monitoring of daily, weekly and monthly schedules that enable continuous adjustments to improve production efficiency, stabilize processes and optimize costs by increasing output and decreasing rework. Happier customers and bigger margins Increase throughput by up to 20%, achieve up to 100% sequence stability and reduce rework by up to 50% to make production processes more profitable, improve margins and increase customer satisfaction. Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Work smarter with Blue Yonder Production planner Chief Operating Officer Production planner With Blue Yonder, you can detect faults, issues and rule violations before they occur so you can spot bottlenecks early and respond flexibly no matter how complex your processes are. Chat Now Ensure high utilization and optimal production flow Improve utilization with a real-time view of resources, stabilize production flow and reduce rework with optimized production and distribution workflows. Improve customer fill rates profitably Increase productivity by equally distributing work content to reliably improve delivery dates while delivering sustainable statements to customers. Deliver better information within the organization Gain a real-time view of all production activities to give sales and production teams accurate information about orders in the short, medium and long term for smooth S&OE processes. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Advanced Planning & Scheduling PACCAR manufacturers Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brand trucks in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the UK. It needed an Advanced Planning & Scheduling system to match its complex operations with shifting global dema Learn More Related Resources ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges Event Replay ICON 2024 Blue Yonder Live: How Blue Yonder & Flexis Are Joining Forces to Combat Today’s Automotive & Industrial Challenges In February 2024, Blue Yonder acquired flexis, a technology provider specializing in production optimization and transportation planning and execution. In this interview, we uncover what this new acquisition means for Automotive and Industrial ... Blue Yonder Automotive Connect: A Conversation With Subaru Canada and flexis Event Replay Blue Yonder Automotive Connect: A Conversation With Subaru Canada and flexis Maximizing Profitable Growth in Automotive Through a Resilient Supply Chain. In this panel discussion, you will hear from industry leaders on how automotive manufacturers need to adjust with the connected vehicle, which brings a new set of customer ... A Guide to Production Planning in Manufacturing Thought Leadership A Guide to Production Planning in Manufacturing Manufacturers are on a mission to boost efficiency, maximize ROI and optimize resource planning while managing precise order timing and logistics. However, they face mounting challenges like increased product variety, complex supply chains and the need ... Order slotting & scheduling Solution Overview Order slotting & scheduling Allocating orders to production sites in daily and weekly lots—is crucial in today's volatile world. Material shortages, capacity issues or sudden demand shifts can disrupt plans. Sales often influence slotting but lack a strategic view, leading to ... Detailed Scheduling Solution Overview Detailed Scheduling A key function of production planning is to quickly and accurately respond to sales inquiries about new customer orders. However, assessing material, labor and assembly line availability can be challenging. Discover how Blue Yonder Detailed Scheduling ... Order sequencing Solution Overview Order sequencing To maximize the reliability and efficiency of production cycles, planning teams must be able to define and implement a consistent production sequence for orders. Discover how Blue Yonder Order Sequencing drives both production stability and flexibility. ### [Returns Management for Logistics Service Providers](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/industry/logistics-service-providers) > See how logistics service providers can use digitized returns management to lower costs and drive new revenues. Logistics Service Providers Returns management that builds retail partnerships Intelligently manage and process returns to lower costs, eliminate inconsistencies and improve visibility. Win and retain retail contracts with an efficient and reliable way to handle returns. Logistics Service Providers Industry Challenges Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Manage returns as optimally as outbound Eliminate waste and inconsistency When returns are manually assessed and warehouse operatives use their own discretion on how to disposition items it leads to wasted resources, inconsistency and a lack of predictability. Improve speed by improving visibility Without visibility into incoming returns and integration with order management systems, turning around stock for resale is slower, risking missed resale opportunities and lost revenue. Give retailers the support they need As the volume of returns grows, retailers need to be able to handle the reverse logistics as efficiently and sustainably as they manage fulfillment and outbound delivery. To get there, they need their logistics partners’ support. Proven results in returns management + 0 NPS across millions of returns 0 /3 CSAT scores across millions of shoppers + 0 million returns handled How Blue Yonder Helps Why logistics providers trust Blue Yonder Efficient, consistent returns handling Blue Yonder Returns Management solution reduces the time and resources required to manage returns so you can efficiently and consistently process a greater volume of returns with fewer resources. A single view of inventory With Blue Yonder’s digitized approach to handling returns you can rely on a single view of inventory for better stock management, intelligent fulfillment decisions and coordinated warehouse operations. Improved commercial performance Blue Yonder’s solutions optimize reverse logistics so you can reduce the cost of managing returns to improve your margins and strengthen relations with retailers. Capabilities Returns management solutions for logistics Returns Processing Returns Management Returns Orchestration Streamlined returns processing Manage returns quickly and efficiently with an intuitive returns processing system that gives warehouse operatives the clear, step-by-step instructions they need to disposition each return optimally. Learn More Calculate your ROI Seamlessly integrate returns Blue Yonder’s digitized returns management solutions create inventory in your Warehouse Management System and work alongside your existing Order Management System so you can factor in returning stock in fulfillment decisions. Learn More Calculate your ROI Optimize returns at scale Automate intelligent decision- making to ensure your operation can scale effectively at times of peak demand. Learn More Calculate your ROI Industry insights Optimize Warehouse & Transport Efficiency with Returns Management Solution Overview Optimize Warehouse & Transport Efficiency with Returns Management Improve the performance of your reverse supply chain by optimizing returns journeys and processing returns consistently and most efficiently E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Returns Management for Specialty Retail](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/industry/specialty-retail) > Discover how digitized returns management helps specialty retailers increase loyalty and improve inventory availability. Specialty Retail Intelligent rules for complex returns processes Simplify even the most complex returns process with data-driven Returns Orchestration. Your customers enjoy an easy returns experience while you gain greater efficiency and better visibility of inventory. Specialty Retail Industry Challenges Case Studies Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry challenges Key Challenges in Specialty Retail Manage complexities Whether you're a marketplace looking to manage returns through third-party vendors, a social seller or a retailer of irregular items, our sophisticated decisioning engine allows you to route, process and manage returns quickly and easily, according to your custom rules. Process returns quickly Enable store and warehouse staff to move returned items quickly back into inventory, maximizing revenue, minimizing waste and increasing efficiency. Delight customers Give customers a consistent digital experience for every return with convenient drop-off, collection and courier choices, automated communications, and fast refunds. Proven results in returns management + 0 NPS across millions of returns 0 /3 CSAT scores across millions of shoppers + 0 million returns handled Case Studies Success stories in returns management How Blue Yonder Helps Why specialty retailers trust Blue Yonder Improve customer lifetime value A convenient and simple returns experience ensures customers come back after a return. Lower cost-to-serve Optimized returns journeys reduce transportation and processing costs, making it both easier and more cost-effective to handle large volumes of returns. Resell more stock at full price Faster returns processing means that items can be made available for resale more rapidly while their resale value is still high. Our Capabilities Returns management solutions for specialty retail Online Returns Returns Orchestration Returns Management Returns Processing Drop-Off Kiosks Adaptable to your needs Specialty retailers often have unique returns needs such as specialized carrier services or customized returns policies. Digitized returns ensure each customer sees tailored options when initiating their return. Learn More Calculate your ROI Lower the cost of returns By implementing a fully digitized process for returns, you can ensure that each returned item is routed to the best location and on the best carrier service based on the weight, size, reason code, SKU, customer, item value and inventory. Learn More Calculate your ROI Use returns data to inform decision making Without visibility into returns, you can’t know which resources will be needed to handle them, what stock will come back and which SKUs have the highest return rates. Digitized returns generate data that can provide invaluable insights that inform decisions around future stock, returns policies and analytics. Learn More Calculate your ROI Give staff clarity Blue Yonder Returns Processing gives your store staff and warehouse operatives precise, step-by-step instructions on how to handle returns and disposition them based on item data and custom rules. Learn More Calculate your ROI Delight your customers Give your customers a simple and convenient way to return items without queueing. When you use your stores as drop-off points, you’ll even increase footfall and the likelihood of new purchases. Learn More Calculate your ROI Industry Insights Returns Management: transforming returns into a strategic advantage Solution Overview Returns Management: transforming returns into a strategic advantage Blue Yonder Returns Management helps you recover revenue, reduce costs, and turn returned items into valuable inventory. Streamline every step of the process with AI-powered tools, while delivering seamless customer experiences. E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Returns Management for General Merchandise](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/industry/general-merchandise) > See how general merchandisers make returns more efficient and sustainable with Blue Yonder’s digitized returns management solutions. General Merchandise Efficient returns, exceptional customer experience Deliver a returns experience that wins customer loyalty while managing returns more efficiently, rapidly and sustainably. General Merchandise Industry Challenges Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Consistent, sustainable and digitized returns Lower the cost of managing returns Consistently manage returns in a way that reduces the costs of labels, shipping and staff processing while improving the speed of your returns management processes. Simplify in-store returns Increase the speed with which returns are processed, using data to guide staff on how to assess and disposition the item. Delight customers with a convenient experience Self-service returns give customers a delightful experience that breeds greater loyalty while also driving store footfall and revenue. Proven results in returns management + 0 NPS across millions of returns 0 /3 CSAT scores across millions of shoppers + 0 million returns handled How Blue Yonder Helps Why general merchandisers trust Blue Yonder Reduce the costs of returns With Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions you can lower the costs and resources needed to handle returns in warehouses, reducing losses and ensuring items are routed to the right location with the right services so you can resell more stock. Manage returns online and in store Blue Yonder Returns Processing gives store and warehouse staff the guided steps they need (without training or subjectivity) to handle returns based on rules about whether items should be restocked, sent back to distribution centers, liquidated via marketplace vendors or disposed of. A simple, flexible journey Give customers a simple online journey with a selection of return options based on their data, with drop-off locations, carrier services and in-store options that are tailored to their item and location. Our Capabilities Returns management solutions for general merchandisers Online Returns Returns Data and Insights Returns Orchestration Returns Processing Drop-off Kiosks A convenient and intuitive returns journey Give customers a simple self-service returns interface where they can raise their return, see customized drop-off and collection options, and get a label or QR code. Learn More Calculate your ROI Gain insights with returns data Get the visibility you need to identify fraud, optimize returns processes and future stock in-store, online and across warehouses by understanding the resources needed to handle returns, the SKUs with high return rates and which stock is expected to come back. Learn More Calculate your ROI Eliminate losses, waste and costs Use a digitized approach to returns management so that every returned item is routed to the right place using the ideal carrier service based on its weight, size, reason code, SKU, customer, item value and your inventory strategy. Learn More Calculate your ROI Give staff the guidance they need Give store staff and warehouse operatives, data-driven, step-by-step instructions to efficiently and consistently disposition returns, to reduce processing time and recoup revenue. Learn More Calculate your ROI A convenient returns experience Give customers a self-service journey where they can scan, bag and drop their returns in under 60 seconds without having to interact with a member of staff. Learn More Calculate your ROI Industry Insights E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Returns Management for Apparel & Footwear](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/industry/apparel-and-footwear) > See how apparel retailers use digitized returns management to deliver a delightful returns experience that also lowers their costs. Apparel & Footwear Retailers Efficient returns management that enhances customer loyalty Give your customers the easy and convenient returns experience they want in a way that makes it more efficient for you to restock items within season. Apparel & Footwear Industry Challenges Case Studies Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Take the waste and hassle out of returns Lower the cost of managing returns Apparel retailers face some of the highest returns rates in the industry, so it’s critical you manage returns in a way that lowers the costs of labels, shipping and staff processing. Restock more rapidly It can be complex, time-consuming and expensive to determine the appropriate treatment for each returned item. Decrease the time taken to restock items so their resale value remains high. Deliver a better customer experience Customers expect to be able to return apparel items at no cost, but you need to be able to deliver an experience that offers convenience and faster refunds to promote loyalty and good reviews. Proven results in returns management + 0 NPS across millions of returns 0 /3 CSAT scores across millions of shoppers + 0 million returns handled Case Studies Success stories in returns management How Blue Yonder Helps Why Apparel and Footwear retailers trust Blue Yonder Resell more stock Blue Yonder Returns Management enables you to route returned items to the best possible locations faster so you can restock items while their resale value is high, reducing losses, costs and waste. A great customer experience Give customers a simple, self-service journey with more carrier and drop-off options, and faster refunds thanks to quicker returns handling. Drive sustainability With Blue Yonder Returns Orchestration rules you can consolidate returns transportation to minimize shipping miles and carbon emissions. Our Capabilities Scalable returns processes Online Returns Returns Orchestration Returns Management Returns Processing Drop-off Kiosk Customizable rules that block out-of-policy returns Give customers a simple self-service returns interface where they can raise their return, see customized drop-off and collection options and get a label or QR code. Learn More Calculate your ROI Optimize decisions with returns data Blue Yonder’s solutions give you the visibility you need to understand which resources are needed to handle returns, what stock will come back and which SKUs have the highest return rates. This data gives critical insight for fraud prevention, future stock decisions and returns policies. Learn More Calculate your ROI Reduce losses, waste and costs from returns Apparel returns require precision at scale. Ensure every returned item is routed to the right location via the right carrier service based on its weight, size, reason code, SKU, customer and item value so every returns journey matches your inventory strategy. Learn More Calculate your ROI Help staff process returns With Blue Yonder Returns Processing, you can give your store staff and warehouse operatives the precise, step-by-step instructions they need to efficiently disposition returns based on item data and custom rules. Learn More Calculate your ROI Give customers the returns experience they want Digitized, self-service returns ensure your customers have a convenient way to return items without queuing. And when you place drop-off kiosks in your stores, you can increase footfall and the potential for further purchases. Learn More Calculate your ROI Industry Insights Returns Management: transforming returns into a strategic advantage Solution Overview Returns Management: transforming returns into a strategic advantage Blue Yonder Returns Management helps you recover revenue, reduce costs, and turn returned items into valuable inventory. Streamline every step of the process with AI-powered tools, while delivering seamless customer experiences. E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Online Returns Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/online-returns) > Find out how Blue Yonder’s self-service paperless returns process makes it easier to automate and inititate retail returns and manage lower costs. Solutions Online Returns Optimize online returns with intelligent decisioning and seamless integration for a smooth, efficient, and tailored customer experience​. Online Returns Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview How to Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization A digitized approach to online returns lowers costs, improves customer experiences and optimizes the entire returns process. See how that’s possible.​ Why smooth online returns matters 0 % Average e-commerce return rate 0 % of consumers consider the quality of a retailer’s return policy when making purchase decisions Features & Capabilities A Customer-Driven Returns Journey Customer portal Data-driven decisioning Custom policies and reason codes Paperless end-to-end process Consumer tracking and communications Customer portal Give customers a simple returns interface - fully customizable, brandable and embedded into your site. Chat Now Data-driven decisioning Use Smart Disposition to optimize every return, reducing costs, recovering revenue, and enhancing sustainability.​ Chat Now Custom policies and reason codes Enforce returns policies with dynamic decisioning. Use order, customer, and SKU data to tailor returns options and reduce costs.​ Chat Now Paperless end-to-end process Reduce spend and waste on returns labels and forms with a digital return journey. Chat Now Consumer tracking and communications Keep customers informed with automated, branded updates while reducing customer service interactions. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with self-service returns Why smooth online returns matter Blue Yonder Online Returns eliminates the need for printers or customer service calls. Customers enjoy a smooth, simple process with full visibility, building trust in your brand.​ Returns visibility With Blue Yonder Online Returns, you gain a clear view of inbound returns before they arrive at the warehouse, helping you manage resources efficiently, restock quickly and reduce markdowns.​ A fully digital experience Empower customers with a branded, tailored returns experience while improving your ability to track parcels, optimize inventory, and act on insights.​ Work smarter with Blue Yonder e-Commerce Director IT Director Customer Experience Director eCommerce Director Chat Now Simplify the returns process Streamline returns for customers and teams with a fully digitized, efficient process, powered by Smart Disposition to optimize every step. Improve resale rates Improve Resale Rates: Restock returns faster to maximize resale value and reduce churn with a seamless, efficient process. Compete with innovators Deliver a returns experience that rivals market leaders, combining ease, efficiency and innovation. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Online Returns Related Resources E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... ### [Returns Management | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/smart-disposition) > Reduce complexity and costs for your reverse logistics with the data and tools you need to automate and orchestrate intelligent returns decisions. Solutions Smart Disposition Leverage intelligent decisioning to transform returns from a cost into a competitive advantage. Smart Disposition Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Create the ideal journey for every return Every return is different. Smart Disposition, our advanced decisioning engine, analyzes data, such as SKU, condition, customer, and location to determine the most efficient and profitable outcome for each return.​ Learn More Calculate your ROI Reduce Complexity and Costs for Your Reverse Logistics $ 0 Billion approximate processing costs of apparel and footwear returns in the U.S. Less than 1/ 0 of returned goods are sold at full price 0 % of shoppers have ordered more than one item with the intention of returning Features & Capabilities AI-powered decisioning to orchestrate returns Intelligent routing Configure and enforce policy Customizable reason codes and rules Intelligent routing With Smart Disposition, AI determines the best destination for each return—whether a cost-efficient warehouse or a store with the highest chance of resale—analyzing factors like weight, size, reason code, SKU, and inventory strategy.​ Chat Now Configure and enforce policy With Smart Disposition, enforce custom policies to block ineligible returns, offer discounts as return alternatives, and tailor refund triggers based on specific customer segments and product types.​ Chat Now Customizable reason codes and rules Set unique reason codes and rules, allowing Smart Disposition to identify the optimal channel for each return.​ Chat Now Key Benefits Orchestrating the End-to-End Returns Journey Recover more revenue from returns Smart Disposition optimizes return routing and processing, ensuring items are resold quickly at full price while minimizing markdowns. Maximum routing efficiency Achieve maximum routing efficiency, reducing transportation costs and emissions by directing each item to the optimal location with the ideal logistics method. Cut down waste Minimize waste by preventing out-of-policy returns, maximizing the resale potential of returned items, and using returns as a strategic inventory source to reduce overstock, over-ordering, and environmental impact. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Supply Chain Director eCommerce Director Finance Director Supply Chain Director Chat Now Reduce supply chain costs Lower supply chain and transportation costs by leveraging automated, intelligent routing and shipping decisions for returns. Rapid, efficient returns Optimize stock levels across stores and distribution centers by processing returned stock more efficiently and ensuring it is dispositioned quickly. Integrate rapidly and build iteratively Integrate seamlessly with your existing order and warehouse management systems, and scale effortlessly with Blue Yonder’s flexible solutions. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Returns Management Australia Post handled 85% of Australian E-commerce parcels, but returns were a common challenge for its many retail clients. To retain existing retailers and win even more market share, Australia Post needed a market-leading returns solution to offer all types of retailers. Blue Yonder built a customized returns platform solution powering a suite of modular products thus giving a world-leading returns experience to Australian retailers, consumers, and carriers. Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Returns Processing Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/warehouse-returns) > Blue Yonder’s Returns Processing Solutions streamline warehouse returns processing across OMS, WMS, and partner networks. Solutions Warehouse Returns Give your staff the solution they need to efficiently process returns in warehouses. Warehouse Returns Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Warehouse returns with Smart Disposition and fast processing Streamline warehouse returns with purpose-built tools, reducing processing time by up to 40% while maximizing value recovery through better inventory control and efficient restocking. Learn More Calculate your ROI 0 % average estimated return rate 0 % of returns were fraudulent in 2023 $ 0 ~ $20-$30 average retailer costs for each return Features & Capabilities Returns Processing Applications Returns processing application Data-driven instructions Optimized inventory management​ Returns processing application Equip your warehouse staff with intuitive tools designed for speed and efficiency, making it easier to process returns quickly and reduce operational strain. Chat Now Data-driven instructions Step-by-step instructions, powered by data and intelligent decisioning, guide operatives in assessing, grading, and reprocessing returns to ensure consistent handling and optimal outcomes.​ Chat Now Optimized inventory management​ Integrate returns seamlessly into your inventory for full visibility and control. Efficiently manage returns to restock faster, resell more and reduce waste—transforming returns into a strategic asset.​ Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Returns Processing Efficient returns management Streamline returns processing and enable staff to handle returns quickly and consistently, reducing backlogs and maximizing value recovery.​ Sustainability and waste reduction Minimize waste and environmental impact by determining the best outcome for each return—resale, repair, recommerce, or recycling—while maximizing revenue recovery. Unified Returns System Manage returns seamlessly across all channels with a single, consistent system that integrates with existing order and warehouse management systems for scalable, efficient processing.​ Work smarter with Blue Yonder Supply Chain Director Operations Director Sustainability Director Supply Chain Director Chat Now Reduce manual returns processes Replace inefficient manual processes with automated, data-driven returns management. Gain end-to-end visibility into returns, reduce operational costs and streamline workflows with intuitive tools that keep returns moving seamlessly through warehouses. Improved inventory control Accelerate returns processing to efficiently reintegrate stock into your supply chain, enabling faster restocking and maximizing resale opportunities while reducing bottlenecks. Easy integrations Quickly and easily connect with your existing order and warehouse management systems to gain a unified view of inventory, improving control, visibility, and decision-making across your supply chain operations. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Drop-Off Kiosk Returns Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management/drop-off-kiosk) > Blue Yonder’s Drop-off kiosk returns management enable convenient self-service returns across OMS, WMS and partner networks. Solution Drop-Off Kiosk Delight customers and save staff time with easy self-service returns in just 60 seconds. Drop-off kiosk returns management Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Frictionless self-service returns with drop-off kiosk Self-service kiosks streamline returns, cut costs and boost customer satisfaction—freeing store staff for higher-value work. Watch Now > 0 million transactions through Drop-Off Kiosks 0 % customer satisfaction 0 % of shoppers says returns are significant to their shopping experience Features & Capabilities Drop-off kiosks for self-service returns Customizable returns journey Accessibility features Monitoring and analytics Customizable returns journey Customize the drop-off experience to your brand and requirements. Add tailored offers and gather customer insights as part of the journey. Chat Now Accessibility features Give your customers an intuitive and fully accessible (ADA-compliant) experience by offering multiple languages, talk-back capabilities, navigation pads and adjustable text. Chat Now Monitoring and analytics Monitor in-store performance and analytics to optimize the experience and rapidly troubleshoot issues with remote diagnostics. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with drop-off kiosks Create a delightful drop-off experience Customers can return or send parcels in 60 seconds or less: label-free, package-free and without needing a staff member to help. Maximum efficiency for customers and staff Save hours of staff time daily by giving customers self-service drop-off. Reduce the costs of transporting returns by consolidating more returns and utilizing existing logistics arrangements from stores. Generate value from drop-offs Increase store footfall and network utilization by offering an amazing drop-off experience, turning returns into revenue. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Retail and Store Director Operations Director Head of Out of Home Retail and Store Director Chat Now Transform the Returns Experience Give customers an easy and quick way to return items in less than 60 seconds while simultaneously reducing the burden on staff so they can better serve customers. Lower the cost and staffing for returns Replace the inconsistency, high costs and inefficiencies of manually processing returns with a simple, automated process for both store and online returns and benefit from staff time savings. Increase store visits with convenient returns Bring more customers to your stores with a convenient drop-off experience, and benefit from additional purchases once in-store. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories with Drop-Off Kiosk Related Resources E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Management Operations Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/warehouse-management-operations) > Blue Yonder’s Warehouse management operations orchestrate tasks, people and inventory across warehouse, labor and logistics. Solutions Warehouse Management Operations Warehouse Management Operations optimizes end-to-end warehouse processes through system-directed activities and embedded intelligence established over decades of customer-centric development. Warehouse Management Operations Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Orchestrate tasks and inventory with real-time visibility Optimize service levels, throughput, and efficiency in real-time. 0 % Increase in throughput 0 % Reduction in fulfillment, storage and handling costs 0 % inventory visibility and accuracy Features & Capabilities Digitalize End-to-end Processes with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management System Intelligent inbound processing Optimized inventory management Enhanced resource management Optimized outbound processing Intelligent inbound processing Configure workflows, direct put-away, conduct in-line quality assessments, and identify opportunities for cross-docking. Chat Now Optimized inventory management Develop robust lot/date control systems, configure tailored replenishment rules, efficiently manage multi-level work orders with value-added services, and simplify recall processing. Chat Now Enhanced resource management Efficiently direct tasks based on permissions, priority, and proximity, while Integrated Labor Management ensures comprehensive task-level measurement for all operational tasks. Chat Now Optimized outbound processing Implement intelligent systems for multi-method order picking, packaging, and sequenced loading that maintain document compliance throughout the process. Chat Now Key Benefits Optimal Warehouse Management with Blue Yonder End-to-end Optimization Enable a digital environment and optimize every operation step to ensure accuracy, efficiency, compliance, and desired customer service levels. Effective Inventory Management Get the control, visibility, and accuracy you need all the way from suppliers’ production through to the end user. Systemized Cycle Counting Use system-directed work for cycle counting to get more than 99 percent accuracy and virtually eliminate the need for traditional cycle counting. Better Customer Experience Ensure the rapid response from distribution centers and hubs necessary to offer customer in-store fulfillment services such as click and collect. Faster Time-to-value Use implementation templates, simplified process changes, better onboarding, and quick implementations to meet business needs without painful and costly customizations every time you need to make an upgrade. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Warehouse Manager Warehouse Supervisor Chief Information Officer Implement cutting-edge technologies like machine learning using a reliable and extensible SaaS platform that updates seamlessly. Chat Now Prepare for Automation Expansion Accelerate the onboarding process of robotics and advanced automation solutions through extensible APIs to a vendor-agnostic Robotics Hub as-a-service. Lay Scalable Foundations Improve time-to-value with extensible APIs for integrations with existing systems and a future-proof microservices approach. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories with Warehouse Management System Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Warehouse Management Operations Solution Overview Warehouse Management Operations Warehouse Management Operations optimizes end-to-end warehouse processes through system-directed activities and embedded intelligence established over decades of customer-centric development. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Labor Management System (LMS)| Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/workforce-and-labor-management/warehouse-labor) > Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Labor Management System optimizes warehouse labor planning and performance across warehouse, labor, and logistics. Solutions Warehouse Labor Management Blue Yonder Labor Management System provides the detailed insights needed to strengthen employee engagement and improve performance. Warehouse Labor Management Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Optimize labor performance with engineered standards and insights Maximize your operations by optimizing the performance of your most valuable assets – your workforce. 0 % Increase in warehouse productivity 0 % Reduction in warehouse turnover 0 % Increase in employee engagement Features & Capabilities Manage Labor with Confidence and Clarity Labor planning Flexible labor standards Continuous Improvement Granular visibility Incentive management Adapt your workforce to real-time operational demands Adjust and align your workforce with operational needs as conditions progress through the day. Chat Now Optimize operations with customizable labor standards Leverage your existing labor standards, configure new ones, or choose from a library full of predefined standards to simulate operational changes and model future processes. Chat Now Boost safety and efficiency with comprehensive labor insights Evaluate and improve quality, safety, and productivity with robust labor observation capabilities. Monitor performance trends over time and utilize employee report cards to align people to corporate goals and systematically coach preferred methods. Chat Now Gain real-time insights with intuitive labor dashboards Use intuitive dashboards for real-time visibility and managing exceptions with thousands of labor performance reports available from the software’s native reporting tool. Chat Now Drive employee engagement with flexible incentive programs Flexibly define incentive pay programs for employees, teams, and facilities so you can better engage high performers and properly motivate the workforce. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Performance-based Transformation Systematically define and implement best practices, establish performance expectations, and uncover opportunities for performance improvement. Proactive Labor Planning Balance your workforce with changing labor requirements as facility conditions evolve throughout the workday. Review performance deviations and simulate results from reassigning associates. Proven Process Create a standard methodology that streamlines onboarding for associates, allows them to perform their jobs, and enables the organization to measure true productivity. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Warehouse Manager Supply Chain Executive Warehouse Manager Understand “above-and-beyond” performances and reward and motivate employees accordingly. Chat Now Improve Planner Productivity Gain real-time visibility into current workloads, tasks completed, and employee downtime. Automated Labor Management Administer continuous improvement with trend analysis, real-time monitoring, and report cards. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Warehouse Labor DSC Logistics views labor management as mission-critical and as at the same level of importance as its ability to receive and ship cases for customers. The company implemented labor management to achieve a 20-plus percent reduction in its variable labor spend across its logistics network. Learn More Global third-party logistics provider, GEODIS, utilizes warehouse labor management from Blue Yonder to help drive their business forward and stay efficient. This is a mission-critical system for GEODIS, as almost 80 percent of their hours are being tracked. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder a leader in Nucleus Research's Workforce Management Value Matrix 2025 Learn More Related Resources Advanced Warehouse Labor Management System Solution Overview Advanced Warehouse Labor Management System Maximize your operations by optimizing the performance of your most valuable assets – your workforce. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Workforce Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/workforce-and-labor-management/workforce-management) > Blue Yonder’s Workforce Management solutions manage scheduling, forecasting, and engagement across warehouse, labor and logistics. Solutions Workforce Management Solutions Keep customers satisfied and your business on track: Optimize store staffing by aligning labor with your supply chain to harmonize customer needs and employee preferences, all while maintaining cost efficiency. Workforce Management Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Manage scheduling and engagement with predictive forecasting Forecast shopper demand accurately, retain your employees and auto-generate schedules that improve manager efficiency. 0 % Increase in Employee Engagement 0 % Reduction in Labor Violations 0 % Reduction in Administration Costs Features & Capabilities Labor Management for the Modern Store Workforce Strategic workforce planning Accurate forecasting Advanced Scheduling Empower employees with self-service Simplified labor compliance Reliable time and attendance tracking Strategic workforce planning Align 12-month labor forecasts and external factors with budgets to identify site staffing needs using what-if analysis and AI-driven scheduling to optimize resources, reduce turnover, and maintain minimum staffing levels. Chat now Accurate forecasting Improve labor scheduling with accurate demand forecasting, aligning labor availability with demand and assessing the impact of unforeseen events on profitability. Chat Now Advanced Scheduling Assign shifts based on skills, availability and ranked preferences while ensuring service levels are met and provide flexibility for workers to choose and adjust shifts as necessary. Chat Now Empower employees with self-service Enable employees to manage their schedules and time off via mobile devices, facilitating real-time shift posting, swapping, and picking up, with automatic alerting to management for timely coverage optimization. Chat Now Simplified labor compliance Automate compliance with complex local labor laws and global regulations, ensuring managers adhere to policies to efficiently reduce friction in the workforce. Chat Now Reliable time and attendance tracking Enable employees to clock in via various devices, automate approvals to streamline manager reviews, and track time-off, attendance, and pay adjustments efficiently. Chat Now Key Benefits Smarter Scheduling for Modern Workforce Management Empowering the workforce Increase employee engagement with self-service tools and more scheduling flexibility. Optimize workforce productivity and reduce costs with closer alignment between labor availability and demand. Serve All Customers Equally Meet customers however they shop with more efficient AI-driven forecasting, incorporating in-store and digital traffic. Align Labor with your Supply Chain Make smarter labor decisions using all of the information at your disposal by injecting optimized data from throughout the supply chain to improve labor allocation. Manage more efficiently Get your motivator-in-chief out from behind their desk and back helping employees and customers with intelligent scheduling, easier approvals, and attendance tracking. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Operating Officer Store Manager Chief Operating Officer Chat Now Satisfied Employees and Managers Respect employee preferences and give them self-service tools while easing the burden on managers so they can work where they’re needed. Elevated Customer Experience Improve both digital and in-store experiences with more accurate forecasting and more engaged employees. Create End-to-End Synergy Use the full power of end-to-end supply chain visibility to make better plans that are executed right the first time, every time. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Workforce Management From their first grocery store in 1960 through to today and beyond, Harris Teeter’s secret sauce is innovation. Whether it’s opening the first fully air-conditioned grocery store in North Carolina, providing innovative wine & beer bars or pursuing Uber-like mobile shift postings, innovation is a core culture at Harris Teeter. They wanted the same level of innovation from their workforce management solution. Learn how they achieved it with Blue Yonder. Learn More Mitchells & Butlers plc is one of the largest operators of restaurants, pubs and bars throughout the United Kingdom, including much loved names like Miller & Carter, Harvester, Toby Carvery and more. In this case study, learn how they used Blue Yonder's Workforce Management and Store Execution solutions to: Improve labor forecast, delivering a significant positive financial impact, avoid lost revenue opportunities from understaffing, and avoid unnecessary expense from overcommitting. Learn More Learn how Paradies Lagardere reduced administrative burdens of associate scheduling and enhanced customer service with Blue Yonder workforce management. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder a leader in Nucleus Research's Workforce Management Value Matrix 2025 Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Yard Management System (YMS) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/yard-management) > Blue Yonder’s Yard Management System delivers real-time visibility for trailers, gates, and yard moves, cutting dwell time and congestion. Solutions Yard Management Increase throughput, utilization and visibility throughout the yard with advanced camera-vision and machine learning technologies. Warehouse Yard Management Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Yard management system (YMS) with dock scheduling and real-time visibility With seamless software and hardware integrations, develop a holistic understanding of your yard—in real time. 0 % automatic trailer identification 0 % reduction in gate and yard labor Features & Capabilities High-Visibility, Automated Yard Management Gate automation Real-time yard mapping Improved customer service Gate automation Reduce manual processes and detention fees by automating gate checks through camera vision technology. Capture time-stamped images of trailers entering and exiting the yard and accelerate throughput. Chat Now Real-time yard mapping Generate 3D maps of your yard by equipping mobile units, such as yard jockeys, with camera vision technologies that continuously captures trailer locations throughout the yard and docks. Chat Now Improved customer service Prioritize service levels and provide a yard management portal for your drivers and carriers through the Blue Yonder Network. Reduce hot orders missed, eliminate manual errors and decrease penalties for delayed shipments. Chat Now Key Benefits What's possible with Warehouse Management's Yard Management capability Faster gate management and reduced fees Increase efficiency and velocity throughout the yard with active equipment alerting that helps reduce failure points and costs related to trailer location, detention and unknown trailer and load statuses. Better labor utilization Camera-based computer vision and automation connects the gate, yard and dock to keep equipment and inventory moving. All without the hassle of RFID tags or the inaccuracy of GPS. Work smarter with Blue Yonder VP Supply Chain Chief Innovation Officer VP Logistics Chief Financial Officer VP Supply Chain Reducing congestion, minimizing idle time, and optimizing resource allocation for improved efficiency and cost savings. Chat Now Reduce Losses and Fees Reduce lost trailers, missing shipments and expensive delays with accurate statuses of assets throughout the yard. Increase Warehouse Throughput Improve the speed with which equipment and shipments move across the yard while reducing errors to serve more customers. Automate to Improve Labor Use Implement ready-to-use automation that improves throughput and visibility while reducing labor wait times and manual tasks. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Yard Management Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Intelligent automation for the yard Solution Overview Intelligent automation for the yard Increase throughput, utilization and visibility throughout the yard with advanced camera-vision and machine learning technologies. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Robotics Hub | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/robotics-hub) > Blue Yonder’s warehouse robotics hub is vendor-agnostic, coordinating robots and people in one layer so you can mix, match and scale automation. Solutions Robotics Hub Onboard all your warehouse robotics and automation vendors to a single platform that connects to your WMS. Warehouse robotics hub Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Connect any robot with a vendor-neutral robotics hub Rapidly onboard robotics vendors and improve visibility across warehouse automation solutions – without vendor lock-in. 0 % Reduction in vendor onboarding time 0 % Reduced cost of implementing existing vendors into new sites Features & Capabilities Centralized Visibility, Accelerated Onboarding Standard APIs Real-time dashboard Dynamic workflows Alerts and exceptions Standard APIs Accelerate onboarding of multiple robotic vendors into a single vendor-agnostic solution with extensible APIs. Chat Now Real-time Dashboard Use a centralized, intuitive, real-time operational dashboard with standard KPIs for visibility across robotics vendor solutions. Give operations, warehouse managers and supervisors a single view and complete control. Chat Now Dynamic Workflows Outbound order fulfillment and replenishment workflows leverage the strengths of the integrated warehouse management solution. Chat Now Alerts and Exceptions Increase visibility and flexibility to enable proactive responses to exceptions with alerts and error handling. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Warehouse Robotics Hub Improved Robotics Utilization Accelerate time-to-value and increase ROI by simplifying the on boarding process. Improve automation utilization with integrated warehouse tasking. Centralized Visibility Obtain actionable insights about your operations by tracking key metrics across multiple robotics vendors from a single dashboard. Increased Operational Flexibility Robotics vendors offer different capabilities at different prices. Instead of getting tied down to one vendor, you can pick and choose what’s best for your operation as a whole. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Warehouse Manager Supply Chain Executive Warehouse Manager Optimizing efficiency, reducing labor costs, and streamlining operations through the integration of automated systems. Chat Now Centralized Intelligence Gain valuable insights through a centralized, intuitive dashboard that tracks key metrics across multiple robotics vendors. Enhanced Visibility Analyze operational views of activity by robot over a range of time horizons to determine utilization and productivity patterns. Dynamic Workflows Use a single, integrated solution for outbound order fulfillment and replenishment workflows. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories with Robotics Hub Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Reduce new vendor onboarding time by 50% with Blue Yonder Robotics Hub Solution Overview Reduce new vendor onboarding time by 50% with Blue Yonder Robotics Hub When it comes to onboarding robotics in your warehouse, rapid onboarding and flexibility are key. Explore how Blue Yonder Robotics Hub, a SaaS-native application built on Microsoft Azure, can help your organization increase time to value by onboarding ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Execution Software (WES) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management/warehouse-execution) > Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Execution solutions orchestrate tasks, labor, and automation with warehouse execution system across warehouse, labor, and logistics. Solutions Warehouse Execution Blue Yonder Warehouse Execution System uses AI to dynamically determine the highest priority tasks while maximizing overall warehouse productivity. Warehouse Execution Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Warehouse execution system (WES) to orchestrate tasks, labor, and automation in real time Intelligently meet deadlines while improving labor productivity and increasing the impact of automation. 0 % Reduction in administrative costs 0 % Increase in units-per-hour 0 % Improvement in SLA performance Features & Capabilities Orchestrate human and machine workflows across warehouse resources Dynamic task prioritization Adaptive task assignment Prioritize and group tasks Optimized picking routes Connect replenishments to orders Dynamic Task Prioritization Automatically escalate or deescalate tasks based on your configured priorities, ML-based task duration estimates, and due date/time. Chat Now Optimal Work Assignment Based on Proximity and Priority Optimally assign system-directed work in real-time based on a combination of operator proximity, task priority, and equipment/worker permissions. Chat Now Group Tasks by Outbound Requirements Group tasks by outbound load or shipment and prioritize all tasks in the group to assure timely completion of interdependencies. Chat Now Build Efficient Picking Tours in Real-time Build and assign system-directed picking tours in real-time by combining two or more picking lists based on worker location, source locations, and priorities. Chat Now Link Task Assignments based on Orders and Dependencies Link replenishments to orders that depend upon item availability for task completion. Chat Now Key Benefits Run a Dynamic, Responsive Warehouse Enhance On-time Delivery Assure on-time shipments by grouping and prioritizing all dependent tasks by outbound load or shipment. Adapt to Shifting Priorities Throughout the Day Assure that the highest priority tasks are addressed while also increasing efficiencies by leveraging intelligent insight into all the relevant factors. Increase Productivity by Combining Proximity and Priority Efficiently perform high priority tasks by simultaneously considering priority and operator proximity when assigning system-directed work. Increase Efficiency by Improving Utilization Intelligently combine pick lists into a single piece of work based on real-time location, work priority, and operator/equipment permissions. Improve Completed Order Metrics Automatically replenish items prior to forthcoming pick requirements by linking and directing precedent tasks. Work smarter with Blue Yonder VP of Distribution or Logistics Chief Information Officer Warehouse Supervisor Warehouse Manager VP of Distribution or Logistics Improve on-time delivery and efficiently complete priority tasks by simultaneously considering location, priority, and worker permissions. Chat Now Improve Agility in Response to Disruptions Automatically adjust priorities and reassign tasks for workforce and robotics in the face of major and minor disruptions. Increase Throughput and Avert Delays Reduce backlogs at outbound loading and inbound staging by prioritizing tasks to clear the dock or staging area. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Warehouse Execution Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related Resources Warehouse Execution System elevates your warehouse performance to the next level Solution Overview Warehouse Execution System elevates your warehouse performance to the next level The changing technology landscape is driving higher adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and other new automation. Warehouse operations need technologies to manage the variety of tasks, and orchestrate the combination of humans and robots more ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Load Building Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/transportation-management/load-building) > Blue Yonder’s Load Building solutions honor loading rules, cube, and weight to build optimal loads that cut miles, empty space, and freight cost. Solutions Load Building Blue Yonder’s load building software builds 3-D, inventory-aware truckloads for maximized trailer utilization. Load Building Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Optimize loads with cube and constraint-based planning Load building aggregates and splits the right mix of freight and quantities across multiple trucks to achieve maximum load efficiency. 0 % less transportation administrative expenses 0 % less inbound freight expenses 0 % reduced outbound freight expenses Features & Capabilities The intelligence in Blue Yonder Load Building Order Consolidation and Splitting Multi-Tiered Load Building Equipment Dimensions Multi-Level Containerization Order Consolidation and Splitting Consolidate multiple orders together to give planners full control over the way orders are aggregated. Split order quantities across multiple trucks to achieve maximum load efficiency and enable both push and pull of orders based on priority while respecting inventory policies for optimal truckloads. Chat Now Multi-tiered Load Building Use multi-tiered load building to incorporate user-defined nested configurations while supporting a variety of pallet types including double, mixed layer, mixed Item, and sandwich pallets. Chat Now Equipment Dimensions Include usable dimensions and axle weight constraints to achieve the best fit for the load while honoring the number of available vehicles. Chat Now Multi-level Containerization Create a three-dimensional containerization plan that both maximizes and optimizes shipping space utilization. Granular item stacking and orientation rules can be configured during optimization to reduce in-transit damages and improve load handling time. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with Blue Yonder Improved transportation efficiency and trailer utilization Build truckloads from fulfillment orders by aggregating and splitting quantities across multiple trucks to achieve optimal load distribution. Reduced execution exceptions Factor in inventory availability and constraints to reduce inventory shuttling and avoid surprises. Enhance customer service and loyalty Eliminate logistics mishaps due to unclear shipping priorities with a robust set of user-definable item-loading properties for fulfilling orders on time and in full. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Logistics Coordinator Transportation Manager Load Planner Logistics Coordinator Optimizing trailer utilization, minimizing loading time, and improving overall shipment efficiency for streamlined operations. Chat Now Improved Efficiency Streamline workflows, oversee the entire supply chain and ensure the efficient movement of goods from end to end. Enhanced Customer Service Ensure on-time performance and accurate deliveries for improved customer satisfaction and lasting customer relationships. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Load Building Wegmans is a family-owned supermarket chain headquartered in Rochester, NY. With over 100 stores and almost $10 billion in revenue, Wegmans is one of the largest private companies in the U.S. With a large and complex transportation network, Wegmans wondered if they were getting the most utility possible from their fleet investments. To find out, and help them model other potential transportation strategies, Wegmans turned to logistics consulting firm, enVista, and Blue Yonder’s transportation modeling capabilities. The result was double-digit cost reductions. Learn More Kimberly-Clark, a leading CPG manufacturer, saved $14m with Blue Yonder Transport Management and visibility across its North American CPG business. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Related resources Reduce Transportation Administrative Expenses by Up to 5 per cent with Blue Yonder Load Building Solution Overview Reduce Transportation Administrative Expenses by Up to 5 per cent with Blue Yonder Load Building For many organizations, successful transportation and fulfillment planning go hand-in-hand; without connected systems, you run the risk of under-utilized trailer capacity, missed order shipments, and more. Discover how Blue Yonder’s load building as a ... Selecting the right TMS for your needs Thought Leadership Selecting the right TMS for your needs Transportation is critical to today’s supply chain. Without it, getting goods to your customers simply doesn’t happen. Whether you are moving goods yourself, or paying someone to do it, transportation management is critical to your success. Learn what to ... Moving On: Transportation Management for a Transformed World Thought Leadership Moving On: Transportation Management for a Transformed World Forget everything you knew about transportation management. In this eBook, we will discuss the five new customer realities: they are not challenges but opportunities for shippers and logistic service providers. We will explore how Blue Yonder accelerates ... Unified Logistics and Omni-Channel Execution eBook Thought Leadership Unified Logistics and Omni-Channel Execution eBook Learn how to leverage Blue Yonder's seamless capabilities to optimize and orchestrate across orders, inventory, space, delivery, and resources across first, middle and last mile. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transportation Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/transportation-management/transportation-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Transportation Planning solutions optimize routes, rates and resources on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Transportation Optimization and Load Planning Unlock efficiency and attain better outcomes with Blue Yonder transportation optimization and load planning capabilities. Transportation Planning Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Proven transportation optimization and load planning that’s built for real results At Blue Yonder, optimization is more than simply the shortest route or lowest cost. Instead, industry proven and AI backed optimization and load planning are at the heart of the Blue Yonder TMS. It enables transportation teams to achieve measurable savings with optimization and load planning that not only incorporates your business needs through hundreds of variables, but also adapts in real time to changing requirements and disruptions, and creates optimized plans that truly run. 0 % Reduction of Transportation Cost 0 % Decrease in Empty Miles Features & Capabilities Integrated and Granular Transportation Planning - Transportation optimization and load planning at the heart of your TMS Automated planning & cost reduction Transportation Optimization Connecting Load Planning and Carrier Networks Automated planning & cost reduction Maximize efficiency and service with proven fleet and common carrier optimization that connects multi mode, global, and first through last mile planning into a single view. By intelligently aligning loads, hubs, and routes, Blue Yonder helps ensure products take the most efficient path to market—reducing cost, improving utilization, and increasing delivery reliability. Chat Now Transportation optimization that fits your needs Transportation optimization isn’t one‑size‑fits‑all—and neither is Blue Yonder. Our transportation planning and optimization adapt to your business with hundreds of configurable strategies designed to mirror real‑world complexity. Whether deployed with the Blue Yonder TMS or with other Blue Yonder Solutions such as our WMS or Blue Yonder Network, or used as a standalone solution that can be integrated with an external TMS, our optimization consistently delivers measurable outcomes—lower transportation costs, improved sustainability, higher service levels, and better asset utilization. Chat Now Connecting Load Planning and Carrier Networks Visibility and collaboration deliver greater impact when directly connected to planning and optimization within the TMS. By embedding the Blue Yonder Network into our TMS, planning and optimization engines can respond to network changes in near real-time—enabling more accurate plans and faster, more effective replanning. Built in collaboration also ensures plans reflect actual trading partner capacity and availability, so decisions are grounded in real world constraints and execution is more reliable. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with Blue Yonder Accelerate efficient, executable transportation by embedding planning and optimization directly into execution, ensuring every shipment is fully aligned to real-world constraints. The result is continuous network-wide optimization that reduces costs, improves service, and delivers more agile, reliable performance. It’s more than bolted on – it’s built in With Blue Yonder, optimization and planning are embedded directly into execution—not treated as an afterthought. By continuously working together, planning, optimization, and execution create freight movements that are both highly efficient and fully executable, ensuring plans translate into real-world results that meet business and service goals. Continual optimization Blue Yonder continually optimizes modes, routes, carriers, hubs, rates, and capacity to reduce empty miles, control spend, and elevate service levels. By aligning every shipment to your unique business requirements, our optimization helps you respond faster to change, improve reliability, and deliver stronger performance across your entire transportation network. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Transportation Planner Transportation Manager VP of Distribution Transportation Planner Optimizing route efficiency, reducing transportation costs, and improving delivery reliability through advanced optimization, decision-support, and real-time data integration. Chat Now Cost Efficiency Enable seamless mode shifting to rapidly adapt to dynamic business requirements and optimize your transportation costs effectively. Reliability and Timeliness Ensure consistent and punctual delivery of goods by minimizing disruptions and enhancing reliability in operations through meticulous route planning and real-time tracking features. Inventory Management Optimize inventory turnover by ensuring the right quantity of goods is transported at the precise moment to meet demand, thereby minimizing the costs of excess inventory. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Transportation Planning BevChain, a leading beverage logistics provider, partnered with Blue Yonder to optimize transportation and warehouse operations, boosting visibility, efficiency, and reliable delivery across complex distribution networks. Learn More Mitr Phol Sugar is Thailand’s and Asia’s biggest sugar producer, and is in the Top 5 for largest sugar production capacity worldwide. Mitr Phol’s fully-owned logistics company, Fast and Fair, was challenged to deliver Mitr Phol’s products on time due to a lack of visibility and a lengthy, manual process for managing disruptions. Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution supports an on-time delivery rate of up to 90%, while also reducing the annual logistics spend by 5%. Learn More Kimberly-Clark, a leading CPG manufacturer, saved $14m with Blue Yonder Transport Management and visibility across its North American CPG business. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder named as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner ® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Learn More Related Resources The future of freight is connected: AI, optimization and the power of networked logistics Thought Leadership The future of freight is connected: AI, optimization and the power of networked logistics The transportation management landscape is evolving with tech advances and complex supply chains. FreightWaves surveyed industry players on data management, software pain points and inefficiencies. Insights highlight AI-powered solutions driving ... 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix Analyst Report 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix This report assesses the market based on how vendors generate significant ROI through automation, visibility and optimized delivery performance. Read the report to learn why we were named a Leader due to the usability, functionality and value delivered ... Moving On: Transportation Management for a Transformed World Thought Leadership Moving On: Transportation Management for a Transformed World Forget everything you knew about transportation management. In this eBook, we will discuss the five new customer realities: they are not challenges but opportunities for shippers and logistic service providers. We will explore how Blue Yonder accelerates ... Transportation Management for a Transformed World Video Thought Leadership Transportation Management for a Transformed World Video The logistics landscape has been completely transformed. The customer is king. During this complete transportation revolution, strategic transportation management has been brought to the forefront, making it a critical competency for retailers and ... Selecting the right TMS for your needs Thought Leadership Selecting the right TMS for your needs Transportation is critical to today’s supply chain. Without it, getting goods to your customers simply doesn’t happen. Whether you are moving goods yourself, or paying someone to do it, transportation management is critical to your success. Learn what to ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transportation Execution & Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/transportation-management/transportation-execution) > Blue Yonder’s Transportation Execution & Management solutions execute shipments with visibility & collaboration on networked TMS connected to planning. Solutions Transportation Execution Seamlessly execute transportation processes and manage by exception through artificial intelligence and machine learning, backed by event based alerts and notifications – both for your own fleet and when working with external carriers. Transportation Execution and Management Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Execute shipments with real-time collaboration and tracking Add resiliency and enable market driven optimization with dynamic, real-time price discovery and asset tracking including external events and partners. Savings across the entire Blue Yonder Transportation Management System. 0 % Reduction of Transportation Cost 0 % Improved Service Levels Features & Capabilities Blue Yonder Transportation Execution Streamline transportation management Fleet Dispatching Mobile Transportation Communications Seamlessly Execute Transportation and Manage by Exception Efficiently oversee global transportation from carriers to warehouse with Blue Yonder's unified solution. Streamline rating, capacity, scheduling, visibility and financials, supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning, to enable a fully orchestrated warehouse management. Chat Now Fleet Dispatching Simplify your dispatcher's day-to-day with an intuitive dashboard, clear workload views, straightforward fleet management and proactive map views of both pre-planned and ad-hoc scheduling backed by optional Blue Yonder Order Management interoperability for simplified final-mile deliveries. Chat Now Mobile Transportation Communications Empower drivers with mobile communications such as tender acceptance, pickup and delivery management, digital signatures for proof of delivery (POD), and remote document uploads. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Synchronizing Execution Unify your Blue Yonder Transportation, Warehouse and Order Management Systems for an end-to-end view of your global supply chain. With real-time decisions through artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can anticipate, adapt and overcome disruptions. Multi-Modal Networks Seamlessly manage global, end-to-end transportation processes from modeling to planning to last mile delivery, across every mode, around the world. Gain real-time visibility into inbound and outbound transportation needs and use AI/ML-based decision-making to resolve executional problems and take advantage of opportunities such as price changes and lane analysis. Network Performance Transparency Evaluate execution-level network performance to drive reliability and savings. Through data-rich what-if scenarios, Blue Yonder simulates the changing needs and facilitates planning of capacity with rapid modeling of requirements and on-going transportation analysis. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Transportation and Logistics Director Transportation Planner VP of Distribution Transportation and Logistics Director Enhancing visibility, optimizing route planning, and improving delivery accuracy Chat Now Reduced Transportation Costs Optimize the overall transportation budget and network to ensure cost-effectiveness in the supply chain. Enhanced Customer Service Improve customer service through accurate and timely information including shipment visibility across modes and regions. Data Analytics and Reporting Use data-driven insights for strategic decision-making including advanced analytics and reporting capabilities to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement. Integration with Internal Solutions and External Partners Leverage broad strategic partnerships and collaborations as well as native integrations to key Blue Yonder tools such as Order Management, Warehouse Management and an extensive lineup of APIs for coordinating and managing relationships with carriers, suppliers and other internal logistics operations teams. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Transportation Execution Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder named as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner ® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Learn More Related Resources Delivering On Time and In Full With Automated Transportation Thought Leadership Delivering On Time and In Full With Automated Transportation Automating transportation means more than digitizing transportation data. It’s about optimizing routes for better costs, service and sustainability, while automating processes and tracking to improve accuracy and remove the mundane. Watch now to learn ... Selecting the right TMS for your needs Thought Leadership Selecting the right TMS for your needs Transportation is critical to today’s supply chain. Without it, getting goods to your customers simply doesn’t happen. Whether you are moving goods yourself, or paying someone to do it, transportation management is critical to your success. Learn what to ... Transportation Management Success for Companies of All Sizes Solution Overview Transportation Management Success for Companies of All Sizes Bringing a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in TMS to retailers and manufacturers, Blue Yonder’s new deployment options are designed to accelerate global transportation programs at a cost and implementation processes right sized for success for companies of ... The Value of Synchronizing Supply Chain Execution Thought Leadership The Value of Synchronizing Supply Chain Execution While supply chains have embraced technology solutions, they are too often implemented in silos. By synchronizing supply chain execution, unlock the collective potential across your warehouse, transportation and order management systems with artificial ... Carrier Collaboration Executive Brief Thought Leadership Carrier Collaboration Executive Brief The Blue Yonder Carrier Collaboration service is designed to solve the problems on carrier connectivity and make the integration to Carriers fast and seamless. Shippers can now take advantage of the growing list of carriers available in the Blue Yonder ... Weather the Storm — Synchronizing Supply Chain Execution Thought Leadership Weather the Storm — Synchronizing Supply Chain Execution When weather hits, synchronizing execution unifies your warehouse, transportation, and order management systems to provide an end-to-end view of your supply chain. With real-time decisions through artificial intelligence and machine learning, retailers ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transportation Modeling Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/transportation-management/transportation-modeling) > Blue Yonder’s Transportation Modeling solutions run standalone what-if simulations to design networks and quantify cost, service, and CO2 trade-offs. Solutions Transportation Modeling Lower the cost of network utilization, run more efficient operations, and reduce your carbon footprint with forecasts and network plans based on intelligent modeling. Transportation Modeling Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Drive transportation success with optimized, insight driven network modeling Blue Yonder Transportation Modeling optimizes network design by testing scenarios that strategically improve operations, balance service and cost trade-offs, and prioritize actions to help organizations plan, execute, and adapt the industry’s most complex freight networks with proven confidence. 0 % reduction in overall travel distances 0 % less emissions Features & Capabilities Experience precise transportation modeling driven by real-time operational data Business case analysis Advanced what-if simulations AI Agent driven outcomes Unified transportation planning and execution Flexible deployment of results Centralized Modeling Dashboard Business case analysis Combine real-world data and analysis for confident planning, via modern, intuitive interfaces that validate potential business profitability, identify cost-efficient networks, and balance inbound / outbound needs with precise financial insights. Chat Now Advanced what-if simulations Manage complex, multi-modal network analysis through powerful what-if simulation tools that are rooted in real-time data, for increased plan accuracy and dynamic decision-making that encompasses disruptions (port strikes, disasters, carrier loss), network changes, investments, sustainability, asset availability, and strategy adjustments. Chat Now AI Agent driven outcomes Natural language AI agent briefs assist in recommending, creating and launching model simulations that automatically test scenarios, identify critical configurations, and establish requirements necessary to achieve financial and service goals. Chat Now Unified transportation planning and execution One unified engine connects transportation modeling, logistics procurement, planning, and execution, ensuring alignment and consistency across the transportation lifecycle. Chat Now Flexible deployment of results Configurable business rules for optimized transportation plans can be displayed on interactive maps, and in streamlined and intuitive charts for easy understanding and faster deployment. Chat Now Centralized Modeling Dashboard A central modeling dashboard allows for improved test management and enables users across the transportation team to simultaneously stress-test, collaborate and share network scenarios safely and in advance for better and more wholistic network planning and optimization that unlocks greater adaptability, outcomes, and responsiveness to change. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with Blue Yonder Optimize transportation strategy with powerful modeling that right-sizes fleet utilization, aligns inbound and outbound planning, and uncovers dynamic hub opportunities through advanced simulations and what-if testing. The result is more informed decisions that reduce costs, maximize asset efficiency, and improve overall network performance. Right-sized fleet asset utilization strategies Achieve operational efficiency by implementing utilization strategies tailored to your specific needs. Make optimal use of resources and minimize costs while maximizing the effectiveness of fleet assets. Quantify savings by planning inbound and outbound together Attain precision in financial planning through real-world execution-level data analysis. Quantify savings by intricately considering both inbound and outbound factors, leading to informed decision-making. Analyze dynamic hub selection opportunities Optimize hub operations through powerful simulations and analysis of dynamic hub selection opportunities. Make informed decisions about dynamic factors such as freight pooling, asset volume and hub configurations. Optimize spend and service with agent-based modeling Optimize freight spend and service with agent-based, AI-driven modeling that continuously adapts strategies and parameters. Enable faster decisions and more accurate outcomes through natural language insights and intuitive optimization. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Transportation Planner Transportation Executive Transportation Planner Optimize fleet efficiency with Blue Yonder's Transportation Modeling for improved lane and hub development and right-sized logistics operations. Chat Now Reduced Costs Model even the most complex plans with speed and efficiency. For instance, you can use mode shifting to enable rapid business change and improve dynamic mode decisions. Maximized Asset Utilization Leverage 3D load building to maximize asset utilization so you can reduce miles and the volume of equipment used in moving goods. Optimized Network Rapidly determine the most efficient and lowest-cost network to satisfy all user-defined requirements and customer-focused objectives. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Transportation Modeling Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder named as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner ® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Learn More Related Resources Selecting the right TMS for your needs Thought Leadership Selecting the right TMS for your needs Transportation is critical to today’s supply chain. Without it, getting goods to your customers simply doesn’t happen. Whether you are moving goods yourself, or paying someone to do it, transportation management is critical to your success. Learn what to ... The new era of AI-driven transportation Infographic The new era of AI-driven transportation Transportation teams are moving from static TMSs to intelligent systems that turn data into decisions—seeing risk, weighing tradeoffs, and acting in real time. Discover how embedded and agentic AI improves execution, lowers costs, and boosts service, ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Inventory Optimization Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/inventory-optimization) > Blue Yonder’s Inventory Optimization solutions use multi-echelon models and analytics to lower stock while protecting service across the network. Solutions Inventory Optimization Allocate inventory by creating granular service level segmentations of products and channels using Blue Yonder’s inventory optimization software. Inventory Optimization Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Inventory optimization service with MEIO and LP optimization By leveraging Blue Yonder’s extensive industry experience and patented AI and ML, businesses can quickly optimize inventory for financial performance and a rapid ROI. 0 % Return on Investment 0 % Faster Approval Times 0 % Reduced Inventory Levels Features & Capabilities Accelerate ROI with optimized inventory and stocking strategies across all channels Dynamic Segmentation Multi-echelon Optimization Effective Inventory Management Demand and Supply Planning Enhance outcomes with dynamic inventory allocation Create granular service level segmentations of products, channels and markets. Dynamically allocate inventory to optimize outcomes. Chat Now Unlock efficiency with a holistic supply chain ecosystem Consider the individual stages (echelons) of your supply chain not just one after the other, but as a holistic ecosystem and determine the optimum configuration in each case with a significant reduction in total inventory compared to a traditional, sequential approach. Chat Now Streamline inventory with comprehensive solutions Create end-to-end capabilities that span inventory strategy, tactical inventory planning and management of inventory execution. Chat Now Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one. Increase profitability, productivity and inventory turnover in the face of volatility with the pairing of inventory optimization with predictive forecasts, advanced scenario planning and insight-driven planning. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Key Benefits Triple Play: Maximize Efficiency, Flexibility and Savings Elevate Your Supply Chain Strategy Optimize your supply chain with Blue Yonder's Dynamic Segmentation solution. By leveraging advanced machine learning, it strategically groups customers based on real-time data, allowing you to tailor operations to specific needs. This ensures efficient inventory allocation and enhanced service levels, balancing cost and value seamlessly. Reduce Excess Inventory and Obsolescence Costs Blue Yonder's Inventory Optimization solution eliminates excess inventory and reduces obsolescence costs while maintaining high customer service levels. This strategic approach ensures efficient use of resources and minimizes waste, leading to significant cost savings. Enhance Flexibility and Decision-Making Leverage advanced micro-segmentation and cross-industry adaptability to improve decision-making and inventory management accuracy. Blue Yonder’s solution quickly adapts to changing market conditions, ensuring a flexible and responsive supply chain strategy. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Operating Officer Inventory Manager Chief Operating Officer Maximize inventory efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance overall operational performance. Chat Now Improved customer service Service-level aware inventory positioning combined with predict and pivot capabilities ensures higher fill rates and better OTIF. Improved flexibility and accuracy Quickly adapt inventory policies and stocking strategies to address changing market conditions. Optimized inventory investment Reduce inventory investment through multi-echelon inventory optimization and dynamic segmentation. Case Studies Success stories in Inventory Optimization Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Production Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/production-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Production Planning solutions align schedules with demand and capacity on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Production Planning Blue Yonder’s agile production planning software helps you balance production planning with volatility in demand. Production Planning Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Production Planning Align schedules with LP optimization and capacity constraints Balance demand with material, capacity and due date constraints to develop optimized and agile production plans. 0 % Improvement in order fill rate Up to 0 % Reduction in production scheduling and inventory Features & Capabilities Respond Rapidly with Blue Yonder Production Planning Adapt and optimize production Optimize production mix Execute one feasible plan Balance fill rates against changeovers Rapidly re-sequence customer orders and seamlessly adapt production plans to changes in the supply chain. Minimize downtime and maximize efficiency by balancing fill rates with production changeovers. Stay ahead of disruptions and ensure timely delivery with our dynamic scheduling capabilities. Chat Now Optimize production mix Coordinate schedules across facilities, reduce inventory and work-in-process, and minimize equipment changeovers. Achieve a balanced production workflow that maximizes resource utilization and minimizes costs. Enhance your operational efficiency with intelligent scheduling that aligns production capabilities with demand. Chat Now Execute one feasible plan Meet customer commitments while balancing schedules that respect different capacities, material constraints, and workload distributions. Ensure a realistic and achievable production plan that aligns with your operational constraints. Streamline your production process, reducing bottlenecks and improving on-time delivery performance. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Create one feasible factory plan Blue Yonder’s Production Planning software simultaneously balances factory throughput with order fulfillment performance, inventory & cycle times to create a single, coherent masterplan. See What You’ve Been Missing Blue Yonder’s Production Planning software provides better visibility into material and capacity issues at speed with in-memory planning. Better integration The Blue Yonder Platform provides better integration with existing factory systems so you can use a common data model and interfaces to integrate manufacturing planning in the cloud. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Factory Planner Chief Operating Officer Factory Planner Chat Now Improved customer fill rates Gain visibility into material and capacity issues sooner and easily integrate with MES systems to improve order fulfillment. Optimized upstream and downstream productivity Coordinate schedules among various facilities, reduce inventory and work-in-process while minimizing equipment changeovers. Faster response time Modify rules, assess different scenarios and respond in real-time to any changes on the shop floor. Case Studies Success stories in Production Planning Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Network Design Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/network-design-and-utilization) > Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Network Design & Utilization solutions design agile networks and balance cost, service on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Network Design & Utilization Intelligent, end-to-end network design, modeling, redesign and optimization can help you optimize for new channels while using what-if analysis to reduce risk and identify best-case scenarios. Supply Chain Network Design & Utilization Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Design agile networks with digital twin scenario modeling Blue Yonder's supply chain network design solutions help you rapidly make significant changes to fulfill new customer demands and navigate new risks, while lowering costs. 0 % Supply Chain Network Cost Reduction 0 % Increased Gross Profit from Operations 0 % Network Inventory Reduction Features & Capabilities Faster Network Design with Blue Yonder End-to-end network design Network Modelling Dynamic Network Design What-if Scenario Analysis End-to-end network design Expand, mitigate disruption, or simply optimize your current network resources with Blue Yonder’s network design capability. Get the strategic, end-to-end functionality you need to evaluate, design, optimize and ultimately transform your supply chain network. Chat Now Network Modelling Model network performance based on business scenarios over multiple time horizons to optimize both strategic and tactical designs. Integrate with planning solutions for speed and convenience. Chat Now Dynamic Network Design Predict common supply chain configurations by SKU, product sector or segment with dynamic segmentation. Chat Now What-if Scenario Analysis Run what-if scenarios of the full network or parts of it to compare performance to cost, profit and business outcomes over different time horizons. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Better Decisions Align your planning and execution systems based on detailed analyses of network design changes so you can quickly deploy financial and service improvements while mitigating risk and business disruption. In-depth Analysis Blue Yonder’s network design makes both continuous decisions (e.g., “How much of a specific product should be made in Chicago?”) and discrete decisions (e.g., “Should we choose Philadelphia or Newark for a new distribution center location?”) in the same optimization. Flexible Scenario Planning Investigate a wide range of what-if scenarios with flexible modeling to make optimizations, prioritize critical customer situations and reduce risk across all industry sectors from high-tech, food, beverage, consumer durables and apparel to life sciences, aerospace, automotive and OEMs and more. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Network Planner Chief Operating Officer Network Planner Chat Now Improved network resilience Create a robust network design tailored to meet your organization’s strategic goals. Balance supply resilience with the flexibility to adjust to changing market dynamics. Enhanced KPI reporting Monitor network performance and respond to changing network conditions through dynamic KPI reporting. Optimized outcomes Align planning and execution systems to the optimized decision, enabling your business to achieve financial and service improvements while mitigating risk and disruption. Case Studies Success stories in Network Design & Utilization Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Integrated Business Planning Software (IBP) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/integrated-business-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Integrated Business Planning software links demand, supply, and finance on a Snowflake planning platform with scenarios for faster decisions. Solutions Integrated Business Planning Transform your strategic planning and bring together all the moving parts of your supply chain to achieve cross-functional goals that consider key stakeholder business demands. Integrated Business Planning Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Integrated business planning (IBP) with scenario-based alignment across demand, supply and finance Drive performance through a focus on decisions that aligns organization strategy, financial KPIs, operational excellence and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. 0 % Improvement in Revenue 0 % Reduction of Inventory Write Off 0 % Improved Planner Efficiency Features & Capabilities The Power of Integrated Business Planning Consensus-driven planning Adaptive Plan Management Process Orchestration Automated Scenario Planning Impactful Planning that Considers All Stakeholders Build a collaborative and executive-approved operating plan with buy-in from every department by implementing a S&OP process that engages different teams and creates synergies by reconciling different perspectives. Chat Now Adaptive Plan Management Drastically reduce workload with built in monitoring of KPI data and how it is tracking to business plans. Blue Yonder will identify deviations and key exceptions, adjust configurations and trigger corrective steps using standard process playbooks in real time to best meet goals. The solution can be configured to initiate predefined processes in response to user-defined triggers so you can respond to unanticipated events quickly and strategically. Chat Now Process Orchestration Maintain global process compliance and repeatability even when stakeholders and participants are spread out across different geographies and time zones. Deliver dependability in even the most volatile and competitive business environments. Chat Now Automated Scenario Planning Quickly adapt forecasts with actionable insights but on rapid examination of external data feeds and influencing factors. For instance, if the sales and marketing teams are planning a new promotion to stimulate demand, S&OP can create a demand scenario to quickly analyze the supply chain constraints and contending demands. Based on this guided analysis, better decisions can be made to optimize the product mix and timing of the promotion. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s Possible with Blue Yonder Cut planning and decision cycles from weeks to days Integrated business planning aligns supply chain processes, expediting planning cycles and empowering real-time decision-making to swiftly adapt to market demands. React to market conditions in real time Leverage end-to-end exception visualization, prioritization and machine-learning-based resolutions enable you to better understand and respond to changes in your business. Benefit from real-time order, shipment and inventory status enabling you to react to unforeseen changes in real time by intelligently adapting material procurement, transportation routes and means or order processing in accordance with the best possible conditions. Enable seamless stakeholder engagement and consensus Leverage a consensus-driven S&OP process to reconcile different perspectives from across departments, resulting in an operating plan that is approved by executives and has buy-in from all key stakeholders Work smarter with Blue Yonder Head of S&OP Chief Operating Officer Head of S&OP Improve forecast accuracy and streamline demand-supply alignment. Chat Now Mature S&OP process Continuously improve S&OP processes by moving toward an advanced Integrated Business Planning (IBP) paradigm. Optimized decision making Develop a digital twin capable of taking real-time inputs to run scenarios that accurately mirror the performance of the network, enabling more accurate decision making. Improved business alignment Cascade S&OP and integrated business planning outputs across the supply chain to ensure strategic alignment and outcome-oriented decision making that meets the needs of all key stakeholders. Case Studies Success stories in Integrated Business Planning Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources BY Live Integrated Business Planning IBP SandOP SandOE Whats the difference Event Replay BY Live Integrated Business Planning IBP SandOP SandOE Whats the difference Salim Shaikh discusses the difference between integrated business planning (IBP), S&OP, S&OE, and how these definitions often differ depending on a company’s level of maturity. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/supply-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Supply Planning solutions synchronize materials, capacity, and demand with demand and supply planning on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Supply Planning Stage the right inventory in the right place no matter how much volatility you face with faster, agile supply planning. Supply Planning Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Synchronize materials and capacity with constraint-based supply planning Create highly optimized plans for optimal inventory placement throughout your supply chain to minimize stockouts and maximize inventory turnover while intelligently adapting to changing market conditions. 0 % Increase in productivity 0 % Less expenses Features & Capabilities Smart and agile supply planning with Blue Yonder Real-time Intelligence Autonomous Scenario Planning One Intelligent Platform Dynamic Decision-Making and Orchestration Control and Cost-Effectiveness Demand and Supply Planning Real-time Intelligence Update your master plan dynamically with real time visibility across your supply and delivery networks. Chat Now Autonomous Scenario Planning Smarter and faster changes with automated scenario planning and embedded insights. Assess your options in real-time as you navigate volatility. Chat Now One Intelligent Platform Simplify the way you work with one fully end-to-end planning system that’s cloud-native for speed, performance, scalability and flexibility. Chat Now Dynamic Decision-Making and Orchestration Predictive insights, guided recommendations and orchestrated collaboration: Move faster and leverage a holistic view of your operations. Chat Now Control and Cost-Effectiveness Accelerate time to value and reduce your total cost of ownership. Use our flexible capabilities and extend with microservices suited to your needs. Chat Now Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one. Increase profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction in the face of volatility with the pairing of supply planning with predictive forecasts, insight-driven planning, and inventory optimization. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Key Benefits Explore What’s Possible with Robust Supply Planning Resilient Supply Networks Stage the right inventory throughout your network so you can minimize stockouts and get a higher return on invested capital. Better Profitability and Customer Satisfaction Proactively adapt to markets to ensure robust supply while reducing escalations and cost to maximize delivery performance. Increase Productivity from Planning to Manufacturing Enable real-time, collaborative planning and communication among all business units for more flexible and efficient operations across the network. Work smarter with Blue Yonder CSCO/COO CTO/CIO Supply Planner VP of Supply Chain Planning Chief Supply Chain Officer/Chief Operating Officer Gain a real-time view of how the supply chain is really operating and empower teams to make smarter changes. Chat Now Prevent common inefficiencies Decrease the warehousing, logistics and transportation costs that arise too frequently today and empower planners to identify potential issues moving forward with automated scenario planning. Improve network resiliency Empower planners and operators to use ML-assisted root-cause analysis so you can dynamically adjust the supply network in a way that fosters continuous improvement. Maximize ROI and lower TCO Factor in a more accurate view of constraints like material and capacity to better utilize critical resources and assets while lowering the cost of maintaining them, all across the supply chain network. Case Studies Success stories in Supply Planning Lenovo operates 30 manufacturing facilities, serves customers in 180 markets, and makes an astounding three devices every second. Not only is Lenovo’s product line broad and complex, but its production model is equally complex, based on both build-to-plan and configure-to-order. Jack Fiedler, VP of Digital Transformation for the Global Supply Chain at Lenovo, discusses how Blue Yonder solutions help ensure the right products are in the right place, leading to faster turns, higher service levels and reduced costs. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Learn How Optimized Plans Help You Work Smarter Not Harder Thought Leadership Learn How Optimized Plans Help You Work Smarter Not Harder By allowing your supply planners to manage less exceptions and create fewer scenarios, optimized supply plans can deliver a high ROI for organizations like yours. Discover how Blue Yonder uses AI/ML-driven recommendations to help planners achieve greater ... End to End Supply Chain Digital Transformation for Manufacturing Industries Thought Leadership End to End Supply Chain Digital Transformation for Manufacturing Industries For manufacturers, managing supply chain challenges has become a game of whack-a-mole. To rise above daily struggle, companies need a strategic look at end-to-end digital transformation. In this brochure, learn how Blue Yonder with proven expertise in ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Demand Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning/demand-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Demand Planning solutions automate item-level plans with probabilistic forecasts so planners focus on exceptions, not spreadsheet firefights. Solutions Demand Planning Boost customer service while reducing inventory with demand planning tools using artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Demand Planning Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Demand forecasting software for connected demand planning and AI signals Blue Yonder significantly contributes to improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behavior leading to higher planner productivity and better inventory management. 0 % reduced out-of-stock rate 0 % forecast accuracy levels 0 % reduced waste Features & Capabilities A new, microservices-based approach to demand planning Demand forecasting Consensus demand planning Greater demand transparency Automate predictions and decisions Demand and Supply Planning Achieve precise forecasts with advanced analytics Leverage the combined power of statistical methods, machine learning and AI for accurate demand sensing and forecasts. Chat Now Boost forecast accuracy with collaborative planning Leverage multi-dimensional analysis and planning to close the gap and enable the communication and collaboration necessary to improve forecast accuracy and optimize inventory. Chat Now Strengthen predictions with clear demand drivers Increase confidence in forecasts using our glass box approach to understand underlying causal factors of demand. Chat Now Outside-in forecasting and powerful automation Experience the highest degree of automation by processing hundreds of internal and external signals to arrive at unbiased predictions and deliver profitable business decisions. Chat Now Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one. Increase profitability, productivity and forecast accuracy in the face of volatility with the pairing of demand planning with advanced scenario planning, insight-driven planning and inventory optimization. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Key Benefits This is what you could achieve with Blue Yonder Enhanced Forecast Accuracy with Advanced AI and ML With Blue Yonder's Demand Planning, businesses can achieve a 12% improvement in forecast accuracy. By integrating patented algorithms and advanced machine learning models, this solution ensures that demand forecasting is not only highly accurate but also reliable. The AI-driven feature engineering accelerates decision-making and optimizes forecast precision. Increased Efficiency and Cost Savings Demand Planning leads to a 75% improvement in planner efficiency and a 50% reduction in costs and expenses. This is achieved through the automation of routine tasks and the real-time simulation of demand drivers, which empower planners to respond swiftly and strategically. Additionally, the solution offers significant savings, such as a 30% increase through one-time inventory reduction. Collaborative and Unified Planning and Strategic Decision-Making Blue Yonder's solution enhances collaborative consensus planning by integrating inputs from sales, marketing, and operations into a unified process. This multi-dimensional analysis improves visibility and enables faster, more informed decision-making, leading to a 2% increase in revenue and a 1.5% rise in gross margin. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Demand Planner CMO/COO Demand Planner Gain accurate forecasts to ensure the right products are available at the right time, minimizing stockouts and overstock situations. Chat Now Increased profitability Achieve higher availability and lower costs through micro-segmented demand and AI powered forecasting. Optimized inventory and minimized waste Align inventory deployment to market to reduce overstocking and stockouts and reduce the waste in your supply chain. Increased revenue Topline growth through a more accurate view of the market and higher customer satisfaction. Case Studies Success stories in Demand Planning After experiencing a rapid growth in e-commerce, requiring delivery to customer homes and retail locations, City Plumbing needed to find a way to optimize their legacy warehouse systems. Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management System enabled them to enhance their visibility and responsiveness, resulting in a 20% reduction in inbound receiving time, improved process accuracy and efficiency, and higher levels of service and profitability. Learn More For UK-based grocery retailer Morrisons, serving its more than 11 million customers starts with making sure the right products are in the right place. Discover how Blue Yonder helped the organization increase shelf availability of over 29,000 SKUs in 130 categories across its 500 stores. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Merchandising Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/merchandise-operations) > Blue Yonder’s Merchandising solutions plan, price, and execute merchandising with merchandising software on an end-to-end, interoperable platform. Solutions Merchandise Operations Retail plans are only as good as the systems beneath them. Blue Yonder Merchandise Operations gives modern retailers the operational foundation to keep up. Merchandise Operations Overview Features & Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Overview Clarity at the core of merchandising decisions Item data, vendor terms, pricing, costs, and inventory are managed from a single authoritative foundation that feeds downstream systems, so teams spend less time reconciling data and more time acting on it. Workflows reduce manual coordination, and real-time cost visibility helps protect margin before problems compound. Up to 0 bps margin improvement through cleaner cost and pricing control revenue lift Up to 0 % inventory reduction via real-time visibility and connected workflows Up to 0 % shrink reduction through tighter inventory tracking and alignment Features & Capabilities Managing the details and data retail merchandising runs on, efficiently and at scale. Master data & hierarchy management Purchase order management Pricing execution Centralized cost management Real-time margin visibility Mobile operations Agentic intelligence Master data & hierarchy management A single authoritative source for products, vendors, calendars, and organizational structures. Retail-native data models handle style-color-size hierarchies and promotional calendars that generic ERP systems cannot. When item and vendor data flow from a single authoritative source, downstream systems stop fighting over conflicting records. Onboarding a new product or supplier takes days instead of weeks, with fewer coordination delays and errors along the way. Chat Now Purchase order management End-to-end purchase order control from creation through receipt and reconciliation. Generate orders based on demand signals, manage supplier acknowledgments, and track shipments across distribution centers and stores. Exception alerts surface delivery delays, quantity variances, and quality issues before they impact inventory availability. That visibility means teams stay ahead of delivery shortfalls and quantity variances instead of reacting to stockouts. Automation takes on the routine work so buyers can focus on the exceptions that actually require judgment. Chat Now Pricing execution Deploy pricing strategies by margin, hierarchy, or zone with automated execution across banners and formats. Manage regular pricing, promotional campaigns, markdowns, and clearance events from a single system. The system surfaces pricing inconsistencies before they reach the shelf, and promotional campaigns roll out consistently across every location without manual coordination. Chat Now Centralized cost management Capture true landed cost including base price, freight, vendor allowances, duties, and rebates in a single system. Automated calculations apply freight and duty logic when purchase orders generate. That clarity shows up directly in buying decisions and margin outcomes. When teams see true landed cost before committing to a price, they protect profitability from the start rather than discovering gaps after the fact. Chat Now Real-time margin visibility Live stock ledger tracks inventory valuation, rebate impact, and pricing actions continuously. Financial intelligence surfaces actual item-level margins before pricing decisions, not quarters later. Merchants identify promotional pricing that would sell below true cost before merchandise reaches stores. That shift from retrospective to proactive changes how merchants work. Margin becomes a live input to every pricing and promotional decision, not a quarterly report that arrives too late to change course. Chat Now Mobile operations Equip store and warehouse teams with mobile tools for receiving, shipping, inventory counts, price verification, and audits. Real-time data synchronization ensures associates work with current information while updates flow immediately to central systems. Streamlined workflows reduce task time and improve accuracy in high-volume environments. Teams work faster and more accurately when they have current data in hand, not whatever was in the system yesterday. Intuitive interfaces reduce training time from the start. Chat Now Agentic intelligence AI agents monitor operations, detect anomalies, and recommend actions before problems cascade. Automated invoice matching reconciles purchase orders, receipts, and invoices in hours while applying complex vendor terms, rebates, and allowances. Conversational intelligence answers natural language queries about SKU performance, margin analysis, and supplier compliance. The impact compounds across functions. Finance teams reclaim hours lost to manual reconciliation, operations teams get ahead of anomalies before they cascade, and every recommendation arrives with enough context to act on immediately. Chat Now Benefits What you can achieve with Blue Yonder System of Record When every system works from the same data, decisions get faster and plans perform better. A reliable system of record means teams spend less time questioning whether the numbers are right and start focusing on what to do with them, reducing reconciliation waste, accelerating vendor onboarding, and giving planning, finance, and supply chain a foundation they can all trust. Process Quality Structured workflows eliminate the manual coordination and ambiguity that slow retail operations down. From vendor onboarding to purchase order lifecycle to invoice reconciliation, Blue Yonder Merchandise Operations creates clean, predictable handoffs across every function. Teams spend less time chasing data or fixing errors—and more time on the decisions that actually move the business forward. Analytics & Intelligence Intelligence built in means issues get caught early and decisions get made with confidence. Real-time margin tracking, operational dashboards, and AI-powered recommendations give teams the visibility to act before problems compound, turning data into a competitive advantage rather than a reporting exercise. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Operating Officer VP Operations Chief Operating Officer Achieve strategic alignment and scalable growth through integrated merchandise operations that support corporate objectives and drive profitability. Chat Now Rapid ROI Use a proven, speed-to-value implementation approach to satisfy your corporate objectives with measurable goals and timeframes. Increase profits through greater visibility and control Monitor and execute upon key performance indicators with actionable, enterprise-wide intelligence and analysis capabilities. Cost savings with improved processes Reduce cost of ownership by focusing on business execution instead of expensive interfaces between applications. Case Studies Success stories in Merchandising Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related Resources Merchandise operations: The core of modern retail Solution Overview Merchandise operations: The core of modern retail Connect the dots from setup to shelf. Blue Yonder unifies item, cost, vendor, and pricing data into one auditable system, giving retailers clarity on margin and inventory, and the agility to execute with precision. Merchandise operations buyer’s guide Solution Overview Merchandise operations buyer’s guide See how modern merchandise operations create a single source of truth for item, vendor, cost, and pricing data to drive accuracy, efficiency and profitability from setup to shelf. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Omnichannel Order Promising & Optimization | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce/order-promising-and-optimization) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solutions evaluates configurable parameters to provide accurate order delivery dates, avoid markdowns, stockouts, and effeciently fulfill orders across omnichannel platforms. Solutions Order Promising & Optimization Process all orders fast and efficiently at optimal cost. You know you will keep every promise you make to satisfy your customers. Omnichannel order promising and optimization Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Promise and allocate orders with constraint-based optimization Give your customers the experience they want - accurate, real-time availability with personalized, market-based options for order fulfillment. 0 % less overtime 0 % accurate daily forecast 0 % increase in customer satisfaction Features & Capabilities Accuracy and Transparency across the Journey – for You and Your Customers Accuracy in delivery dates Lower cost to serve Better customer experience Prevent stockouts and delays Smart resource allocation Fulfillment optimization resources Accuracy in delivery dates by fulfillment channel Show accurate delivery dates for each channel based on intelligent sourcing of ideal fulfillment locations. Chat Now Lower Cost to Serve Benefit from ML-powered intelligent sourcing to optimize fulfillment by simulation and prediction of cost, location, speed, margins and other business critical KPIs for an ideal ROI. Chat Now Better customer experience Process all orders in the best and fastest possible way through optimal decision-making which inventory to use for which order: Satisfy your customers and provide an easy and fast order process and accurate delivery dates. Chat Now Make promises you can keep Avoid stockouts or processing delays: Optimally choose which inventory to source for made orders and forecast process time and delivery accurately to build customer trust and satisfaction. Chat Now Smart resource allocation Increase efficiency by thoughtful allocation of available labor and delivery resources to optimize order promising and fulfillment decisions. Chat Now Fulfillment Optimization Resources Gain insights and plan ahead in your order sourcing strategies via advanced ML algorithms and AI capabilities embedded in our fulfillment sourcing simulators, sourcing dashboards that optimize your order promising routes. Chat Now Key Benefits Leverage artificial intelligence to commit and process orders in the most optimized manner Build Customer Trust Benefit from AI-tools and provide greatest possible availability and optimized delivery speed, fulfillment and order-forecast accuracy to enhance customer satisfaction, trust and conversions. Optimized Order Fulfillment Blue Yonder's Order Promising & Optimization solution allows efficient inventory management, order routing and data integration to ensure accurate, cost-effective, and best possible inventory utilization to ensure delivery across all sales channels. Optimal Decisions and Business Planning Robust data interfaces and reporting tools streamline order processing, support issue resolution, and facilitate accurate forecasts and proactive business planning. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Head of Commerce/DigitalCommerce Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Head of Commerce/ Digital Commerce Enhance efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction levels Chat Now Enhanced Customer Experience and Satisfaction Provide personalized shopping experiences, real-time availability and expose information that is refreshed in milliseconds to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Optimized Inventory Management and Reduced Costs Maintain optimal stock levels across multiple locations, preventing both stockouts and overstock situations. Thus, reduce the need for emergency restocking and minimize holding costs. Improved Decision-Making and Strategic Planning Make informed decisions regarding procurement, distribution, and sales strategies based on comprehensive data on inventory levels and locations. Analyze trends and predict future inventory needs with greater accuracy and deliver with reliability and speed. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Order Promising & Optimization Adored by brands, recognized by analysts A Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Learn More IDC Names Blue Yonder a Leader in the MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment Learn More Related Resources 5 Reasons You Need Intelligent Order Decisioning Thought Leadership 5 Reasons You Need Intelligent Order Decisioning This e-book defines the path to improved margins, conversion rates and other omni-channel success factors: Intelligent Order Decisioning. Gain an Accurate View of Inventory Availability and Omni-Channel Fulfillment Options Thought Leadership Gain an Accurate View of Inventory Availability and Omni-Channel Fulfillment Options Is your organization built to deliver the new retail experience your customers expect? Learn how businesses like yours can harness Blue Yonder commerce solutions to gain the actionable insights and real-time inventory visibility and availability they ... Inventory Availability and Order Optimization Solution Overview Inventory Availability and Order Optimization Discover how Blue Yonder can help you deliver customer centric while managing the challenges of channel proliferation and the continued expansion of customer fulfillment options. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Omnichannel Inventory Management | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce/inventory-availability) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solutions power real-time inventory visibility and available-to-promise ATP at scale across omnichannel platforms. Solutions Inventory Availability Enhance speed and convenience with accurate real-time inventory, ensuring promises you can keep and boosting conversions. Omnichannel inventory management Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Related Resources Overview Real-time inventory visibility with a unified availability view Expose inventory at both the network and location level, including future and returned stock. 0 % Reduced Inventory Levels 0 % Faster Approval Times 0 % Return on Investment Features & Capabilities Discover accurate, intelligent capabilities that your inventory can now do for you with Blue Yonder’s Inventory Availability service. Visibility into inventory Product fulfillment across networks Flexible reservations and inventory Intelligent inventory Real-time visibility and inventory confidence Gain an enterprise view of all inventory and warehouse sources - With autonomous machine learning generated safety stock to protect from inventory inaccuracies. Provide availability information accurately and quickly to strike a balance between pick decline prevention and maximum inventory exposure. Chat Now Showcase accurate product offerings across complex fulfillment networks Only show what is really available for sale to deliver the most reliable and accurate customer experience – From the beginning to the end to improve your omnichannel customer journey. Chat Now The ability to make reservations and inventory protection, based on what you need. Provide precise in-stock/out-of-stock status and local or online availability, ensuring inventory reservation of cart items until checkout to prevent customer frustration and cart abandonment. Chat Now An intelligent inventory backed with advanced technology. AI-based algorithms and data analysis allow for precise prediction of customer preferences, demand, order channel and upcoming order volume. Benefit from maximum flexibility and safety stock replenishment well in advance. Chat Now Key Benefits Your Advantages with Blue Yonder Inventory Availability Service Deliver A Superior Customer Experience Provide your customers with an engaging and reliable shopping experience across the omnichannel journey: Offering the right products through the right channels, and fulfilling your promise with speed, convenience, and fast delivery. Overcome and Simplify Complex Network Orders and Structures Intelligent AI- and ML-driven technology integrate and manage your entire network – regardless of size, location, involved vendors or market fluctuation. Complexity issues will never be an obstacle again. Profitable Order Optimization Optimize your cost-to-serve across order fulfillment, transportation, and delivery costs by selecting the optimal inventory to fulfill the order regardless of its channel. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Enhance efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction levels. Chat Now Enhanced Customer Experience and Satisfaction Provide personalized shopping experiences, real-time availability and expose information that is refreshed in milliseconds to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Optimized Inventory Management and Reduced Costs Maintain optimal stock levels across multiple locations to reduce the need for emergency restocking and minimize holding costs. Improved Decision-Making and Strategic Planning Make informed decisions based on comprehensive data on inventory levels and locations. Analyze trends and predict future inventory needs with greater accuracy and deliver with reliability and speed. Adored by brands, recognized by analysts A Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Learn More IDC Names Blue Yonder a Leader in the MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related Resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Store Fulfillment Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce/store-fulfillment) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solution powers fulfillment across inbound and outbound orders, and manages returns in-store. Solutions Store Fulfillment Efficiently streamline order processes to execute every kind of fulfillment from your stores or online. Store Fulfillment Solutions Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Overview Store fulfillment software with real-time inventory and labor optimization With Blue Yonder's Store Order Fulfillment microservice, you can enable every omni-channel fulfillment option seamlessly, in a way your customers will love. 0 % out-of-stock reduction during promotion 0 % promotion leftovers reduction Features & Capabilities Maximize The Way You Deliver Order Fulfillment Speed & convenience Optimize workflows Insights and Flexibility Order Fulfillment Made Easy & Intuitive Implement self-paced workflows and receive fulfillment updates across the order process to manage execution to pick, pack and ship Chat Now Boost Speed & Convenience to Stores Strategically optimize your store micro-fulfillment operations to enable a variety of options for your customers ranging from Reservations, Curbside pick-up, Same-day deliveries and more. Chat Now Execution Build for Customers & Associates Optimize all executional workflows from labor, order validation, picking, shipping and last mile integration to allow for multiple store fulfillment options efficiently for both customers and shoppers. Chat Now Insights and Flexibility Detect patterns and anomalies with real-time insights and flexible actions counteracting market movements based on unsupervised machine learning algorithms with our Fulfillment dashboards. Chat Now Key Benefits Elevate the Customer Experience Provide fast customer validation and check-in along with order accuracy to meet every kind of customer demand with multiple store fulfillment options. Expand your retail store power to meet evolving customer expectations Reduce the time to serve and cost to serve all customer expectations ranging from curbside pick-up, BOPIS, ship to/from store, same day and last mile delivery. Increase Productivity and Revenue Engage store associates with a mobile app showing real-time pick, pack, ship, deposit, and hand-off tasks to ensure order accuracy and fast delivery. This boosts revenue by using store inventory to fulfill online orders and avoid markdowns. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Head of Commerce/ Digital Commerce Chief Information Officer Intelligent data analysis for optimal decisions and fulfillment Chat Now 360° Insights for Everyone View insights across the entire order lifecycle for you and your team: Utilize data and accurate information about inventory status, levels and upcoming demand accessible by everyone to align information flow and subsequent operations. Intelligent Use of Data AI-based algorithms and data analysis allows for precise prediction of customer preferences, changes in demand, active ordering processes and upcoming order volume. Benefit from maximum flexibility well in advance and align your business strategies accordingly. Operational Excellence Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning driven technology integrate and manage your entire network – regardless of size, location, involved vendors or market fluctuation. Prevent misleading actions and gain speed and optimal operation cost. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Store Fulfillment Adored by brands, recognized by analysts A Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Learn More IDC Names Blue Yonder a Leader in the MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment Learn More Related Resources Adaptive Fulfillment and Warehousing Solution Overview Adaptive Fulfillment and Warehousing Blue Yonder's Adaptive Fulfillment and Warehousing is designed to meet the needs of micro-fulfillment and store fulfillment. Built on a microservices architecture that supports foundational warehouse management capabilities and store fulfillment, ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Omnichannel Order Orchestration | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce/order-orchestration) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solutions orchestrate and tracks orders throughout the order lifecycle across omnichannel platforms. Solutions Order Orchestration Experience Blue Yonder Order Orchestration and transform your business with agile, customer-centric solutions. Omnichannel order orchestration Overview Features & Capabilities Key Benefits Related Resources Overview Orchestrate orders with real-time visibility across channels with real-time signals Flexibility, accuracy and a consistent customer experience: Orchestrate your orders across internal and external systems throughout the entire order lifecycle. < 0 % gains in e-commerce revenues 0 days from inception to full deployment 0 ms response times for all inventory and fulfillment queries Features & Capabilities Scale up Your Entire Order Management Steady process optimization Full customer engagement Track orders Data Integration Optimized resource planning Steady process optimization Faster, intelligent, more efficient, less costs: Blue Yonder Order Orchestration enables you to optimize your order processing continuously by automatically selecting the best fulfillment options. Chat Now Full customer engagement Utilize customer profiles, order history, search interests, and fulfillment data to provide appropriate product suggestions. Offer personalized and persuasive customer service both before and after the sale, thereby enhancing loyalty and boosting sales. Chat Now Track orders across transition states Keep the customer informed by notifying them about all milestones during the order and delivery process: Forecast fulfillment accurately, consider possible delays in advance and communicate each operation step transparently and reliably. Chat Now Perfect execution despite any complexities A solution that seamlessly integrates your entire dataset—regardless of complexity. It harmonizes order tracking, inventory availability, supply, logistics, and potential impacts, ensuring efficient and cost-effective order operations. Chat Now Optimized resource planning Ensure warehouse and shop capacity is aligned with anticipated demand for more efficient resource utilization, better use of available space, optimal replenishment and efficient deployment of labor. Chat Now Key Benefits What you can achieve with Blue Yonder Seamless Order Management From First Click to Delivery Seamlessly aggregate, manage, orchestrate, and process orders across all channels and sources, including digital, B2B, stores, call centers, and online marketplaces. Schedule, modify, and support the complete order lifecycle with a single source of truth, ensuring the best assortment, reliable availability, and fast delivery. Build Trust with Real-Time Customer Updates Provide real-time insight and transparency with accurate tracking information from first click to delivery. Leverage advanced ML algorithms and AI capabilities to generate actionable insights and predict potential issues that might impact or delay delivery - and inform your customers immediately. Outstanding Speed and Scalability By processing thousands of transactions per second, Blue Yonder delivers the speed and response time customers expect. Utilize cloud-native microservices designed for scalability, continuous updates, and seamless integration with external systems. Work smarter with Blue Yonder Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Head of Commerce/Digital Commerce Enhance efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction levels Chat Now Enhanced Customer Experience and Satisfaction Provide personalized shopping experiences, real-time availability and expose information that is refreshed in milliseconds to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Optimized Inventory Management and Reduced Costs Maintain optimal stock levels across multiple locations, preventing both stockouts and overstock situations. Thus, reduce the need for emergency restocking and minimize holding costs. Improved Decision-Making and Strategic Planning Make informed decisions regarding procurement, distribution, and sales strategies based on comprehensive data on inventory levels and locations. Analyze trends and predict future inventory needs with greater accuracy and deliver with reliability and speed. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Adored by brands, recognized by analysts A Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Learn More IDC Names Blue Yonder a Leader in the MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment Learn More Related Resources Increase Conversion Rates and Drive Intelligent Fulfillment with Order Management Microservices Solution Overview Increase Conversion Rates and Drive Intelligent Fulfillment with Order Management Microservices With the rapid growth in online retail, it’s more essential than ever to offer a stellar online shopping experience to your customers. Learn how Blue Yonder’s flexible order management microservices help retailers like yours optimize the entire ... Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Thought Leadership Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Blue Yonder's purpose-built order management system offers a composable microservices architecture, real-time inventory and order data, and an intelligent rebalancer, providing a solution to the limitations of relying on ERP systems for order management. ... Built for B2B - Staying Relevant With Order Management Thought Leadership Built for B2B - Staying Relevant With Order Management Wholesale Distributors today are contending with inflationary cost pressures, supply chain disruptions, and competition from the direct-to-consumer model. Customers are seeking resiliency in their supply chains - and distributors who offer value-added ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Devices & Automation Solutions | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/mobility-and-automation) > Blue Yonder’s Mobility & Automation connects warehouse devices and warehouse robotics and automation to orchestrate operations on a cloud-native network. Solutions Mobility & Automation Deploy industry-leading software and hardware technologies through a guided automation journey. Mobility & Automation Overview Capabilities Benefits Related Resources Let's Talk Meet the Future of Supply Chain Needs End-to-end mobility and automation Unlock the full potential of your Blue Yonder Warehouse Management System (WMS) investment with a portfolio of capabilities (robotics, camera vision, voice picking and more) to accelerate your supply chain operations. Speed, accuracy and efficiency throughout the warehouse 0 % less training hours with voice & robotics 0 % more productivity with RFID, vision & voice 0 % decrease in operational costs with camera vision Capabilities Transforming efficiency through cutting-edge technologies Robotics Camera Vision & RFID Mobility & Worker Enablement AI & 3D-Enabled Solutions Augment and empower your workforce Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) can help warehouses overcome labor shortages and productivity challenges by increasing safety and speed. Blue Yonder partners with leading robotics vendors that directly link with your WMS to move pallets, pick inventory and more alongside your teams. Chat Now Automate facility monitoring and tracking with real-time insights Monitor and control your warehouse or yard space any time and utilize immersive technologies to better visualize your inventory, add accountability and manage your day-to-day operations and decisions. RFID automatically senses and tracks your inventory from the dock door to the warehouse shelf, thus increasing accuracy throughout its entire supply chain journey. Chat Now Increase efficiency with the latest mobility solutions Operate a variety of mobility solutions that empower your teams to locate inventory, fulfill priority orders and conduct accurate cycle counts. Ruggedized scanner options work across multiple environments, while voice solutions enable hands-free picking. In addition, time clocks and portable label printers keeps workflows running smoothly. Chat Now Reimagine facility visibility and control with AI- and 3D-technologies Gain greater visibility into your facility and immerse yourself into an AI-generated, three-dimensional digital twin of your business to enhance your operational flow and efficiency. Keep track of your logistics, minimize errors by predictive modeling and provide your employees a comprehensive overview without the need of being on site. Chat Now Benefits Rapid ROI through our optimized automation journey Strategic partnerships with leading hardware providers Blue Yonder leverages partner alliances to deliver the most advanced technologies at discounted prices. Comprehensive hardware management Mobility and Automation executes your hardware deployment and offers device management so you can focus on core operations. Seamless software and hardware integration Our portfolio is tested and validated to work with Blue Yonder WMS, reducing solution evaluation times and integration costs. Expert consulting and project management Optimize ROI with strategic project planning, leveraging Blue Yonder's consulting services and our trusted partners to ensure the most efficient investments. Efficient software and license management Ensure complete software coverage with managed licenses, access to updates and patches, and simplified contract renewals for continuous business operations. Streamlined always-on support Enjoy stress-free operations with our managed services, a single point of contact, and our expert service to protect and maximize your investment. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Related resources Transforming LSP supply chain operations through automation Thought Leadership Transforming LSP supply chain operations through automation Learn how LSPs use multi-dimensional automation to modernize operations, improve efficiency and resilience to deliver better customer outcomes. The Distribution Leader of the Future Five Key Capabilities for Success Thought Leadership The Distribution Leader of the Future Five Key Capabilities for Success As we enter the 2020s, forget what you know about being a distribution leader. The coming decade will usher in a new era of strategic agility, customer focus, delivery flexibility, supply chain collaboration and extreme speed. Retailers, manufacturers ... Edge Technology Starts Where Software Stops and Automation Begins Solution Overview Edge Technology Starts Where Software Stops and Automation Begins Learn how you can implement edge technology solutions to improve your labor and operational efficiencies. These solutions cover everything from wearables to robotics and automation solutions. Implement edge solutions today to transform your business. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [SCM Software & Supply Chain Platform | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/blue-yonder-platform) > Blue Yonder’s supply chain management platform unifies planning, execution and commerce on a microservices, Snowflake-powered, multi-enterprise network. Solutions Blue Yonder Platform Tackle all of your supply chain challenges with the only scalable, end-to-end platform that leverages a common data cloud, integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. Blue Yonder Platform Overview Capabilities Key Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Your intelligence-enriched foundation for success Enjoy your platform-based benefits The Blue Yonder Platform synchronizes forecasting, fulfillment, warehousing, transportation, labor and delivery across multiple channels, reducing the latency and inefficiencies created by disjointed systems. It delivers seamless integration with third-party applications, extending and scaling supply chain management capabilities for your business growth. An 12x Leader in Supply Chain Planning Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Learn More Capabilities Your whole supply chain on one intelligent platform Agile Extensibility Digital Supply Chain Network Intelligence User Experience Accelerate innovation with customizable solutions Accelerate business innovation through a robust extension framework that enables you to extend and customize across hybrid and SaaS environments. Chat Now Overcome disruptions with integrated supply chain visibility Resolve supply chain disruptions utilizing network-wide visibility, collaboration and orchestration. Learn More Unlock powerful insights with advanced AI and ML Leverage industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to make decisions with powerful insights from deep volumes of data. Learn More Empower your team and streamline how work gets done Deliver a consistent and personalized experience to engage your workforce and optimize workflows within your supply chain. Chat Now Key Benefits What’s possible with the Blue Yonder Platform Full supply chain coverage Industry-centric planning and execution functions are integrated into the platform and can be enabled as your needs change. Powerful AI insights AI analyzes all supply chain information on the data cloud to generate more accurate predictions and recommendations. Unified security posture Single authentication and authorization model simplifies threat testing and adherence to compliance standards. Broad ecosystem integration Common API set and out-of-box data egress enable Blue Yonder to quickly link into and enhance existing solutions. Resilient, global delivery Highly available, cloud-native platform can be deployed across the globe based on business and country demands. Continuously improving functionality Transparent, ongoing CI/CD updates to AI models and ML algorithms ensure the most accurate insights. Case Studies Success stories with the Blue Yonder Platform Related resources Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Control Tower Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-command-center) > Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Control Tower connects execution data with plans, using AI insights to flag risks and trigger prescriptive actions. Solutions Supply Chain Command Center Solutions Experience the power of a modern approach for navigating multi-enterprise supply chain processes. Creating a next generation of Control Towers, solutions engage the Blue Yonder Network to coordinate with trading partners and meet change as it occurs. Supply Chain Command Center Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Supply Chain Command Center Real-time visibility plus prescriptive actions with AI agents Demand, yields, and lead times are unpredictable. In a world of change, siloed decisions leave bottlenecks unseen. The result - stock imbalances, time-to-market delays, and reduced utilization of key assets. Imagine holistically leveraging intelligence to optimize dynamic network operations. Why you need a network approach now 0 % of supply chain leaders need to act on change faster, but only 7% have real-time decision execution 0 % of companies take over 120 days to recover from disruption 0 T annual revenue growth missed due to vulnerability to disruption Recognized as a Leader for 10 Consecutive Years* Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research Control Tower Value Matrix “The Blue Yonder Network enables collaboration, orchestration, and adaptive execution across suppliers, carriers, distributors, and customers. The foundation includes the Command Center itself, the Multi-Party Ecosystem, and the Network Ops Agent, helping organizations see, analyze, decide, and act on disruptions.” – Charles Brennan, Lead Analyst, Nucleus Research *Formerly recognized as One Network Enterprises, a Leader in the Nucleus Research Control Tower Value Matrix from 2015 to 2024. Learn More Capabilities Combine agility, impact analysis, and ability to act to eliminate fragility Next-generation Control Towers Network Risk Management Multi-tier Collaboration Chain of Custody AI Recommendation Engine Blue Yonder Network From visibility to value Shine a light on dark spots in your extended supply chain to know when, where, and how to intervene.  Evaluate and activate resolution, cascading actions across tightly coupled processes, functions, and partners. Chat Now Dynamically navigate uncertainty Supply chains perform amid uncertainty. Traditional efforts focused on agility and responsiveness. Move beyond fragile operations by capturing the impact of risk with predictive analytics and smart prescriptions. Chat Now Synchronize decision making Automate alignment across functions and with key partners from customers to suppliers, carriers to co-packers. Then push decisions back to planning and execution systems to capture the ripples of change. Chat Now Trace inventory lineage across handoffs and product transformations Mitigate threats from diversion, counterfeiting, spoilage, and unauthorized distribution. Support regulatory review and recalls with serialization and lot tracking. Chat Now Move from seeing issues to resolving them Systematically assess where and how to intervene in a more holistic manner. Compare scenarios, amend plans, and automate the push of change to related activities. Chat Now Global community linked through embedded intelligence solutions Multi-party software fabric continuously analyzes the health of the supply chain and advises where to intervene. This not only facilitates efficient creation and delivery of goods; it provides insights to align for better efficiency and resiliency. Learn More Benefits Begin your journey to autonomous supply chain management Break enterprise boundaries Leverage early awareness to changing supplier, carrier, and customer data. Capture dependencies from tightly coupled networks Maximize network awareness Automate identification of anomalies with material impact from your suppliers’ suppliers to your customers’ customers Anticipate and mitigate disruptions Visualize bottlenecks in the flow of goods, orders, and demand across suppliers, factories, distribution centers, channels, and customers Optimize multi-party processes Orchestrate every node reflecting real-time inventory and capacities to support profitable growth Enable distributed Master Data Management Facilitate supplier collaboration and track-and-trace needs in multi-tier supply networks Infuse agility to drive profitable growth Continuously identify change and gauge risks, whether economic, geo-political, or capacity driven Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Blue Yonder Network Related Resources A Leader in Nucleus Research's Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2025 Analyst Report A Leader in Nucleus Research's Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2025 Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center* is named a Leader in the 2025 Control Tower Value Matrix among 14 vendors due to the better functionality and greater usability of our solution. Read the report for more insights. *Formerly recognized as One ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Workforce & Labor Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/workforce-and-labor-management) > Blue Yonder’s Workforce & labor management solutions forecast, schedule and manage labor efficiently across warehouse, labor, and logistics. Solutions Workforce and Labor Management Achieve operational excellence, drive greater market share and enhance profitability while staying competitive in a fast-evolving market. Workforce & Labor Management Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Intelligent workforce management solutions for the warehouse to the retail store Forecast and schedule labor with real-time operational signals Align your staffing needs with workforce skills and availability. Evaluate and successfully improve quality, safety and productivity. Elevate performance through employee engagement programs. Proven results for our clients 0 % reduction in labor expenses 0 % reduction in turnover rate 0 % increased employee engagement Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder a Leader in Nucleus Research's Workforce Management Value Matrix 2025 Learn more Capabilities Transform the way you manage your workforce Workforce Management Warehouse Labor Align labor to shopper demand, enhancing employee engagement Advanced forecasting, auto-scheduling, and real-time rebalancing ensure the right staff is in place—maximizing efficiency and service quality. Learn More Gain insights to boost employee engagement and performance Blue Yonder's Labor Management System provides the detailed insights you need to strengthen employee engagement and improve performance. Learn More Benefits Engage, enable and align the workforce Optimized Labor Spend Control and reduce labor costs without sacrificing service quality Improved Employee Experience Self-service tools, mobile access, and fair scheduling increase engagement and loyalty. Reduced Turnover & Absenteeism Better work-life balance and consistent communication improve retention and reliability. Compliance & Risk Management Automated compliance with labor laws, union rules, and internal policies. Labor & Supply Chain Alignment Sync labor with inventory flow, replenishment cycles, and store/service activity to maximize productivity and avoid bottlenecks. Enhanced Business Performance Right people, right place, right time—driving sales, service levels, and customer satisfaction. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Workforce and Labor Management DSC Logistics views labor management as mission-critical and as at the same level of importance as its ability to receive and ship cases for customers. The company implemented labor management to achieve a 20-plus percent reduction in its variable labor spend across its logistics network. Learn More Related Resources Improve Warehouse Employee Engagement and Retention with Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management Thought Leadership Improve Warehouse Employee Engagement and Retention with Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management Struggling with high turnover and a competitive labor market? Discover how Blue Yonder's Warehouse Labor Management can help you find – and keep – the talented people your business needs, including how to drive deeper employee engagement, improve ... Continuously Improve Warehouse Labor Performance Solution Overview Continuously Improve Warehouse Labor Performance Warehouse operators know that the workforce is their most valuable asset and the largest operational cost — but understanding where, when and how to optimize it can be difficult. Visibility into the fundamental elements of labor performance uncovers ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Returns Management Software (RMS) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/returns-management) > Blue Yonder’s Returns Management solutions streamline returns and maximize recovery with returns management across OMS, WMS, and partner networks. Solutions Returns Management Maximize revenue with an end-to-end returns solution that ensures the right decision for every return, improving efficiency, inventory control, and customer satisfaction​. Calculate Your ROI Explore Our Expanding Capabilities Returns Management Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Easy and seamless returns Returns management for revenue recovery and recommerce For retailers grappling with the financial and operational strain of returns, we streamline operations, cut processing costs, and recover value– directly enhancing both your bottom line and customer satisfaction. Proven results for our customers > 0 million returns handled each year + 0 NPS across millions of returns 0 out of 3 CSAT scores across millions of consumers Capabilities Transform Returns Management with Blue Yonder Smart Disposition Drop-off Kiosks Online Returns Warehouse Returns Store Returns End-to-end intelligence to optimize returns Blue Yonder Smart Disposition engine leverages data-driven decisioning to power workflows, optimize returns journeys and ensure every return is routed for maximum value. Learn More Calculate your ROI Create a delightful self-service returns experience Blue Yonder’s Drop-Off Kiosks enable self-service drop-offs for returns and shipments. Learn More Calculate your ROI A smarter way to manage online returns​ Blue Yonder Online Returns makes starting a return easy for customers, while intelligently blocking out-of-policy requests and providing tailored, dynamic options to improve the returns experience. Learn More Calculate your ROI Optimize returns in your warehouse Blue Yonder Warehouse Returns streamlines processing with automated workflows and data-driven instructions, helping you restock and resell inventory faster while reducing costs and maximizing value recovery.​ Learn More Calculate your ROI Smarter Store Returns, Seamlessly Managed Seamlessly manage your in-store returns process with intelligent, connected workflows at the store level to enhance customer experience, improve associate efficiency, and maximize inventory recovery by instantly routing returned items for maximum value; whether back to shelf, warehouse, or resale. Learn More Benefits A Modern Returns Journey Lower costs and recover more value​ AI-driven decisioning optimizes every stage of the returns process, reducing costs, blocking out-of-policy returns, and recovering revenue by reselling more inventory​ Create effortless and flexible customer returns​ Make returns easy to start online, offer great in-store experiences and provide convenient options tailored to customer needs.​ Improve inventory control and sustainability​ Streamline warehouse processing, restock faster, and prioritize recommerce, repair, and recycling to reduce waste, lower emissions, and optimize inventory management.​ Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Returns Management Related Resources E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization Event Replay Returns Management: How Balance Customer Experience with Cost Optimization In today's retail landscape, rising return rates and high consumer expectations make managing returns costly and challenging. Integrating a returns portal with order data can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability without ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Warehouse Management System (WMS) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/warehouse-management) > Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System runs complex, automated facilities, orchestrating tasks, labor, and inventory across global warehouse networks. Solutions Warehouse Management Bring on tomorrow with warehouse management built for the future. Warehouse Management Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Maximize the potential of your warehouse, yard, and resources Warehouse management solution (WMS) with real-time orchestration across people and automation Your warehouse, powered by AI, to deliver endless adaptability, continuous improvement and transformation that impacts the top and bottom line. Proven results for our clients 0 % throughput increase 0 % reduction in fulfillment, storage and handling costs 0 % inventory visibility and accuracy Adored by brands, recognized by analysts For 18 consecutive times, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Learn More Blue Yonder named a leader in the Inaugural Nucleus Research WMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Capabilities Maximize every aspect of warehouse performance Warehouse Management Operations Warehouse AI Agents Resource Forecasting Resource Orchestration Robotics Hub Warehouse Labor Advanced Slotting Warehouse Load Building Yard Management Warehouse Execution Returns Processing Analyst Workbench Enhance warehouse efficiency Warehouse Management Operations optimizes end-to-end process through system-directed activities and embedded intelligence established over decade of customer-centric development. Learn More AI partners that turn data into decisions Agentic AI that provides clear, real-time and understandable recommendations across the warehouse that you can execute with confidence. Learn More Forecast all the warehouse resources with the precision of AI and machine learning Eliminate manual resource planning and re-planning with AI powered resource forecasting  that is continuously improved with the latest real time data and always available. Learn More Dynamically allocate resources in real time AI powered capability that continuously assigns the best available resource to every task during the day while also keeping operations on track. Learn More Streamline vendors and warehouse solutions in a unified platform Blue Yonder's Robotics Hub makes it easy to onboard all your robotics vendors and warehouse automation solutions to a single platform. Learn More Gain insights to boost employee engagement and performance Warehouse Labor provides the detailed insights you need to strengthen employee engagement and improve performance. Learn More A dynamic, data-driven approach to slotting Advanced Slotting transforms slotting into a continuous proactive process powered by advanced AI and machine learning. Learn More Bridges the gap from the warehouse to transportation Continuously improving warehouse and transportation efficiency by building trailer loads optimized for maximum trailer use. Learn More Optimize yard operations and reduce waste Yard Management uses advanced computer-vision and machine learning to virtually eliminate waste, improve throughput and reduce cargo loss in the yard. Learn More Boost productivity with AI-driven task management Warehouse Execution uses AI to dynamically execute the highest priority tasks while maximizing overall warehouse productivity. Learn More Simplify warehouse returns handling while improving returns visibility Returns Processing provides comprehensive workflows and decisioning that ensures the optimal disposition for each return. Learn More Mix, match and analyze data from any digital touchpoint Take in near real time data from any source, apply advanced analytics and deliver it in an actionable format. Learn More Benefits The benefits of cognitive solutions for warehouse management Transformative warehouse performance Achieve a step-change in warehouse productivity through endless adaptability, continuous improvement and transformation that impacts the top and bottom line. Predictive planning for optimal preparation Conduct and apply continuous proactive decision-making with a machine-learning powered, data-driven approach to planning and orchestration. Learn More Adaptable intraday execution Dynamically perform daily warehouse activities with machine speed, increased agility, and greater efficiency for better outcomes. Learn More Cloud-native system performance Obtain cloud-native uptime, reliability and scalability, along with 25 years of functionality, all in one package Learn More Unified labor and automation Breakdown operational silos by planning and orchestrating human, equipment and robotics resources together to improve operational efficiency and control costs. Learn More Agentic collaboration AI powered notifications, dashboards and recommendations that identify and resolve warehouse issues in real time while keeping your team in control. Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Warehouse Management Related resources Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution Solution Overview Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution Blue Yonders Warehouse Management Solution provides a step-change in capabilities that rest upon the comprehensive features and functionality established over 25 years of customer-centric development, enhanced with ongoing innovation, unleashed by the ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transportation Management Software (TMS) | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/transportation-management) > Balance efficiency with flexibility, agility, resilience, and sustainability in your transportation operations systems across fleets, suppliers and carriers. Solutions Transportation Management Pave the way for modern transportation that seamlessly responds to change, quickly recovers from the unexpected and makes the most of your supply chain network. Transportation Management Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Optimize and manage transportation with precision Move smarter. Operate faster. Deliver better. To achieve peak performance, supply chains need transportation operations that seamlessly balance strategic vision with tactical execution. At Blue Yonder, our Transportation Management Solution (TMS), a Cognitive Solution, leads the way—combining intelligent modeling, advanced optimization and global multimodal planning with execution backed by our Logistics Ops Agent, delivered through a modern, intuitive user experience, and amplified by native interoperability with the Blue Yonder Network to seamlessly connect and manage trading partners at scale. What Blue Yonder Transportation Management can do for you 0 % increase in on-time delivery 0 % reduction in transportation costs 0 M+ in initial cost savings Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder named as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research TMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner ® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Learn More Capabilities Efficient control and agile intelligence Transportation Modeling Transportation Procurement Optimization and Planning Load Building Transportation Manager Blue Yonder Network Drive confidence with smarter transportation networks Model transportation networks that drive confidence and unlock lower costs, stronger service, and smarter network decisions—powered by advanced scenario modeling, agentic AI, and what-if analysis. Learn More Accelerate value with smarter carrier sourcing Simplify carrier procurement to uncover smarter savings and superior performance with bid management, optimization and rapid bid awards across every mode. Learn More Deliver better service at a lower cost with intelligent optimization and load planning Drive measurably lower costs, better efficiency and better service with deeply embedded and highly customizable transportation optimization and load planning designed for complex and ever-changing global networks. Learn More Improve asset utilization and empty miles with 3D load building Model and build optimized 3D, inventory-aware truckloads for maximized capacity utilization and lower freight costs with intelligent load building that balances space, weight, service goals, and real world constraints for faster, more profitable shipping decisions. Learn More Deliver measurable fleet performance with intelligent execution Manage transportation with confidence at any scale—driving lower costs, faster execution, and stronger service through advanced AI, intelligent planning, and network connectivity that deliver real‑time visibility and collaboration. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Benefits The benefits of cognitive solutions for transportation management Agility redefined with dynamic and versatile optimization Masterfully balance service levels, cut costs and achieve sustainability emission goals with ease. Respond to disruptions swiftly powered by dynamic optimization algorithms. Visibility and control with multi-enterprise network Break barriers, unify parties and create a thriving and collaborative ecosystem where every decision is powered by deep connection to your TMS unlocking network-wide clarity and real-time precision End-to-end excellence Drive end-to-end efficiency and agility with interoperable transportation, execution, planning and network solutions from Blue Yonder for a truly connected supply chain. Stay ahead with intelligent and agentic operations Harness Agentic AI with the Logistics Ops Agent to drive precise, fast and intelligent decisions across complex transportation operations. Engineered for scale and adaptability Enable near limitless scale, secure operations, seamless updates, and instant innovation for faster multimodal execution, that create lower costs and smarter decisions. Accelerate sustainability Unify transportation and sustainability management - reduce carbon emissions, automate GLEC-accredited reporting, and seamlessly integrate sustainability and TMS decision-making workflows and data. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in transportation management Wegmans is a family-owned supermarket chain headquartered in Rochester, NY. With over 100 stores and almost $10 billion in revenue, Wegmans is one of the largest private companies in the U.S. With a large and complex transportation network, Wegmans wondered if they were getting the most utility possible from their fleet investments. To find out, and help them model other potential transportation strategies, Wegmans turned to logistics consulting firm, enVista, and Blue Yonder’s transportation modeling capabilities. The result was double-digit cost reductions. Learn More Bayer's Crop Science division is a leader in agricultural innovation, ensuring sustainable farming through advanced logistics and supply chain solutions. With Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions, Bayer has ensured its employees across 50 facilities in over 70 countries share consistent transportation practices and business rules. With the addition of Blue Yonder Network, Bayer has gained end-to-end visibility for improved data-driven decision making across its network, leading to reductions in both transportation costs and environmental impacts. Learn More DHL, the world’s largest express logistics provider, depends on Blue Yonder to help solve some of its most pressing business challenges. Discover how our solutions help DHL to solve problems Learn More Kimberly-Clark, a leading CPG manufacturer, saved $14m with Blue Yonder Transport Management and visibility across its North American CPG business. Learn More Related resources Improve Service Levels by 40 percent with Blue Yonder Transportation Management Solution Overview Improve Service Levels by 40 percent with Blue Yonder Transportation Management To meet the evolving needs of their customers and sustainability concerns, businesses around the world are investing in their global transportation processes and systems. At Blue Yonder, we’re proud to offer innovative, scalable and optimized end-to-end ... Connected transportation, powered by AI Solution Overview Connected transportation, powered by AI Move beyond disconnected transportation processes with Blue Yonder TMS, which combines AI-driven decisioning, the Blue Yonder Network and an end-to-end supply chain ecosystem to optimize freight, improve collaboration and adapt to disruption in real time. The future of freight is connected: AI, optimization and the power of networked logistics Thought Leadership The future of freight is connected: AI, optimization and the power of networked logistics The transportation management landscape is evolving with tech advances and complex supply chains. FreightWaves surveyed industry players on data management, software pain points and inefficiencies. Insights highlight AI-powered solutions driving ... The new era of AI-driven transportation Infographic The new era of AI-driven transportation Transportation teams are moving from static TMSs to intelligent systems that turn data into decisions—seeing risk, weighing tradeoffs, and acting in real time. Discover how embedded and agentic AI improves execution, lowers costs, and boosts service, ... The network advantage in transportation management Infographic The network advantage in transportation management Learn how a single intelligent network can turn complex supply chains into actionable insights and become a competitive advantage. Selecting the right TMS for your needs Thought Leadership Selecting the right TMS for your needs Transportation is critical to today’s supply chain. Without it, getting goods to your customers simply doesn’t happen. Whether you are moving goods yourself, or paying someone to do it, transportation management is critical to your success. Learn what to ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Planning Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning) > Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Planning solutions synchronize demand, supply, and inventory on a cloud-native planning platform. Solutions Supply Chain Planning Boost performance, agility and resilience with a unified supply chain planning ​​suite that connects your entire value chain and empowers real time decision making. Supply Chain Planning Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Supply Chain Planning Supply chain planning software with LP optimization and real-time scenario modeling Collaborate across teams, analyze what-if scenarios and adjust plans based on AI and ML powered intelligence about supply and demand. What Supply Chain Planning makes possible 0 % improved forecast accuracy 0 % increased planning efficiency Up to 0 % less inventory expenses Capabilities Intelligent Supply Chain Planning with Blue Yonder AI Driven and Machine Learning-Based Planning Dynamic Network Modeling and Optimization Integrated Business Planning and S&OP Forecasting & Demand Planning Supply Planning and Optimization Inventory Management and Optimization Production Planning and Scheduling Order Promising and Optimization Multi-Enterprise Collaborative Planning Sustainable Supply Chain Planning Unlock the Future of Manufacturing with AI-Driven Excellence Drive manufacturing speed, agility and efficiency with industry-leading AI capabilities based on a long history and deep experience in implementing supply chain AI that generates real business value. Learn More Optimize supply chains for strategic objectives, profitability and resilience Intelligent, end-to-end network design with scenario-based models to uncover smarter tradeoffs, lowering costs without compromising service. Learn More Streamline your supply chain with comprehensive business planning Revolutionize your strategic planning by unifying all facets of your supply chain. Achieve cross-functional objectives that are aligned with the demands of key stakeholders, ensuring agility and responsiveness in a dynamic market environment. Learn More Achieve precise machine learning(ML)-driven forecasts that delivers on customer service and inventory turns Increase forecasting confidence with explainability, understand the underlying causal factors of demand, and leverage the combined power of statistical methods, machine learning (ML) and AI for precise and transparent demand sensing and planning. Learn More Boost productivity, optimize outcomes and planner efficiency across supply planning Supply accurately against demand and optimally plan for inventory at every level. Create shared plans to optimize utilization rates from sourcing through distribution that maximizes inventory turnover and exceeds customer service levels. Learn More Not too much or too little, inventory that’s just right Dynamically segmented and strategically staged inventory to balance service levels, demand variability, and supply constraints to determine the optimal inventory across every node in the network, reducing excess stock while ensuring product availability. Learn More Plan with Confidence. Execute with Precision Create feasible, executable production plans that respect real manufacturing constraints, adapt to change, and keep operations running on time. Learn More Keep order promises with confidence and precision every time. Improve supply chain performance and profitability with automated order promising. Leverage actionable insights across interoperable planning solutions to proactively identify fulfillment risks, maximize supply utilization, and tailor service levels—ensuring reliable order commitments, higher customer satisfaction, and a stronger competitive advantage Learn More Revolutionize multi-party manufacturing with intelligent network solutions Transform your manufacturing capabilities with network enabled manufacturing. Navigate the complexities of global supply chains with AI backed, real-time visibility and collaboration, connecting with trading partners from across the globe and across all tiers to build a resilient and responsive network. Learn More Empower Your Supply Chain with Sustainable Planning Solutions Embrace a new era of sustainability in your supply chain. Leverage advanced technologies to minimize waste, ensure ethical sourcing, and enhance transparency. Achieve your sustainability goals while driving operational efficiency and delivering value to your stakeholders. Learn More Benefits This is how you revolutionize your supply chain Accelerated decision-making Unlock your productivity and gain agility by planning and acting as rapidly as the market evolves. Digital transformation at your speed Add new planning capabilities at the speed and scale that’s right for your company and business outcomes. End-to-end visibility and orchestration Break down silos and connect all processes to enable better decision-making based on unified business goals. Increased supply chain resilience Improve resilience by leveraging advanced technology to identify the hidden opportunities that come with every disruptive event. Smart resource allocation, low operation costs Powerful AI and ML analysis for accurate and efficient business planning and resource allocation causing profitable operations and cost reduction. Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Read the Nucleus 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix report to learn why Blue Yonder was named a Leader among 21 supply chain planning vendors Learn More Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Learn More Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Supply Chain Planning Related Resources Revolutionize Your Supply Chain Planning Thought Leadership Revolutionize Your Supply Chain Planning Managing complex and volatile networks of global supply chains is a challenge at the best of times and the last 5 years have made it very evident that disruptions are now a part of the supply chain norm. The last thing supply chain leaders need is to ... The New Must Haves for Supply Chain Resilience Thought Leadership The New Must Haves for Supply Chain Resilience Today’s business environment can be best described as perpetual chaos – leading to both risks and opportunities. Having a resilient supply chain gives organizations the best chance to minimize the downside of risks and more importantly maximize the ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Enterprise Order Management Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/order-management-and-commerce) > Blue Yonder’s Order Management solutions provide inventory visibility, fulfillment optimization, store fulfillment, order orchestration, and returns management with advanced decisioning using data across orders, returns, warehouse, planning, and more. Solutions Order Management & Commerce Take your omni-channel commerce to the next level by gaining real-time inventory availability, seamless order services, and operational efficiency to enhance customer satisfaction and profitability. Order Management & Commerce Overview Capabilities Benefits Case Studies Related Resources Let's Talk Redefine Your Existing Omnichannel Operations Order Management System (OMS) with intelligent promising and fulfillment orchestration Blue Yonder’s flexible order management microservices enable retailers to optimize the entire click-to-deliver journey — from offering an engaging customer experience through to efficient and profitable order fulfillment. Improve customer on-site conversion rates, optimize omnichannel fulfillment sourcing and maximize margins 0 % less inventory > 0 % gains in e-commerce revenues Up to 0 % enhanced productivity Adored by brands, recognized by analysts Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Nucleus Research OMS Technology Value Matrix Learn More Capabilities Accelerate your omnichannel capabilities with augmentative order management microservices that respond dynamically, intelligently, and immediately Inventory Availability Order Promising & Optimization Order Orchestration Store Fulfillment Intelligent Rebalancer Manage your dynamic inventory in real-time with speed and scale Get full visibility of your inventory picture across complex networks in real-time to ensure promises you can keep and boost on-site customer conversion rates. Learn More Improve delivery accuracy, cut costs, and boost satisfaction Benefit from pre-and post-order optimization for precise delivery dates, reduced costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Learn More Elevate your business with flexible, customer-focused order solutions Blue Yonder Order Orchestration transforms your business with agile, customer-centric solutions. Perfect orders every time, all the time. Learn More Streamline order processes for in-store and online fulfillment See how to efficiently and delightfully streamline order processes to execute every kind of fulfillment from your stores or online. Learn More Rapid order execution response for supply and demand disruptions Enables real-time inventory reallocation in response to disruptions. Unlike traditional systems that rely solely on planned data, it dynamically adjusts order execution based on actual conditions. Learn More Benefits Seamless, personalized and advanced order management Personalized customer experiences Make recommendations and provide accurate availability and fulfillment options to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. Operational efficiency Get continuous optimization across your fulfillment sourcing options to ensure accurate order promising and improve fill rates. Customer engagement Deliver transparency and inform your customer from browse to order to fulfillment by consistent and accurate order status updates. Increased conversion rates Improve customer trust and e-commerce conversion rates with seamless and reliable order processes and fulfillment. Profitable operations Fulfill orders profitably and efficiently across your network based on cost, product selection, distance and delivery options. Continuous process optimization Leverage scalable and intelligent microservices to analyze and improve your commerce operations and performance. Enhance performance and growth with Professional Services Partner with Blue Yonder Professional Services to get the most value from your Blue Yonder solution—faster time to value, solution expertise and a proven track record of success. Our Services Team is with you every step of the way to create a modern and resilient supply chain. Learn More Case Studies Success stories in Order Management & Commerce Learn how Stanley 1913 processes major product launches and bulk orders in minutes with Blue Yonder. Learn More REI is a specialty outdoor retailer and the nation’s largest consumer co-operative with a growing community of over 23 million lifetime members and more than 182 stores. REI is on a mission to put the customer at the center of everything they do from improving the customer journey to meeting their values with sustainable options. Amit Kulkarni, Technology DVP at REI describes how they are taking friction out of the omni-channel experience, bringing visibility to a wide array of fulfillment options, and optimizing accurate delivery dates that customers can confidently trust, all while empowering their customers with choice. Learn More Asda is one of Britain’s leading retailers with a unique position in the market. In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, Asda’s CIO, Carl Dawson speaks with Blue Yonder’s CRO Corey Tollefson to discuss how Asda is transforming its supply chain with the help of Blue Yonder Learn More Related resources Increase Conversion Rates and Drive Intelligent Fulfillment with Order Management Microservices Solution Overview Increase Conversion Rates and Drive Intelligent Fulfillment with Order Management Microservices With the rapid growth in online retail, it’s more essential than ever to offer a stellar online shopping experience to your customers. Learn how Blue Yonder’s flexible order management microservices help retailers like yours optimize the entire ... Achieving Seamless Orchestration by Synchronizing Execution Thought Leadership Achieving Seamless Orchestration by Synchronizing Execution Maximizing your technology investments and your logistics results requires careful orchestration of systems, data, and processes between tools such as your Order, Warehouse, and Transportation Management Systems. Learn how you can achieve supply chain ... 5 Reasons You Need Intelligent Order Decisioning Thought Leadership 5 Reasons You Need Intelligent Order Decisioning This e-book defines the path to improved margins, conversion rates and other omni-channel success factors: Intelligent Order Decisioning. Build vs Buy: A Look Into Blue Yonder's Hybrid Approach Thought Leadership Build vs Buy: A Look Into Blue Yonder's Hybrid Approach Today's omni-channel landscape means you need real-time data and visibility. Should you buy off-the-shelf solutions? Or build your own capabilities? Blue Yonder offers the best of both worlds - cloud-delivered microservices that are easy to launch, and ... Third-Party Logistics Order Management Solution Overview Third-Party Logistics Order Management Provide your customers an end-to-end solution from “click to deliver." Blue Yonder’s Commerce and Order Management solutions are comprised of cloud-native, augmentative microservices that 3PL providers can offer to their customers as value-added services. Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Thought Leadership Buyers Guide Order Management Built for B2B Blue Yonder's purpose-built order management system offers a composable microservices architecture, real-time inventory and order data, and an intelligent rebalancer, providing a solution to the limitations of relying on ERP systems for order management. ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chain Management Solution Finder | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/solutions/finder) > End-to-end supply chain management solutions for retailers, manufacturers, and LSPs leveraging a common data cloud with integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. ## Industries Served ### [Defense & Government Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/defense-and-government) > Blue Yonder Defense Solutions provides mission-ready supply chain solutions for defense and government. Defense & Government Mission-ready supply chain solutions for defense and government. Commercial-grade AI and supply chain solutions proven at global scale and ready for the most complex operational environments for Defense, Government, and Humanitarian missions. Blue Yonder Defense Solutions operates as a mitigated entity pursuant to agreements with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Defense & Government Defense & Government Supply Chain Solutions Built from commercial leadership. Tuned for mission reality. Blue Yonder Defense Solutions AI-powered supply chain platform originates in the world's most demanding commercial environments--then adapts to defense, government, and humanitarian missions where resilience, accountability, and continuity matter most. Our solutions unify planning, execution, and network collaboration across enterprises and partners--enhancing existing systems while extending new capabilities without forcing rip-and-replace. Industries The world runs on Blue Yonder Defense Offering the world's leading AI-powered supply chain technology with over 25+ billion predictions a day , we support military logistics, sustainment, and readiness missions across planning, supply, transportation, maintenance, and execution. Federal Civilian & State We apply commercial-grade supply chain capabilities to civilian agencies and state and local governments—supporting emergency response, infrastructure operations, warehouse management, logistics, healthcare delivery, and essential public services. Humanitarian Relief We enable faster, more resilient delivery of humanitarian assistance by improving visibility, coordination, and execution across NGOs, governments, donors, and commercial partners. Defense Industrial Base We support manufacturers, suppliers, and sustainment partners across the defense industrial base with AI-enabled visibility, coordination, and execution across complex, multi-tier supply networks. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) We enhance transparency, coordination, and accountability across international supply chains supporting allied and partner nations. Industry Challenges Built for purpose. Proven at scale. Mission ready. From contested logistics and global disruptions to audit compliance and supplier risks, the complexity of defense supply chains demands awareness and decision-making at machine scale and precision. Blue Yonder Defense Solutions delivers intelligent solutions, enabled by advanced AI, designed for the mission-critical requirements of the U.S. Department of War and federal agencies. Business Impact Built from commercial leadership. Tuned for mission enablement. Our solutions are trusted by some of the world’s most complex commercial supply chains—adapted and built for purpose to enable defense, government, and humanitarian operations where resilience, auditability, security, and continuity matter most. AI that drives action, not just insight We provide a system of record and intelligence to embed AI agents and machine learning which provides unparralled planning, sensing, execution, and collaboration workflows—prioritizing decisions, prescribing responses, and enabling coordinated action across enterprises and partners. Interoperable by design Our platform integrates and extends with legacy ERPs, logistics systems, financial systems, and partner networks—sustaining current investments while extending new capabilities across echelons, organizations, and partners. Resilient across any operating condition Designed to operate in degraded, denied, disconnected, and intermittent (D-DIL) environments, supporting operations from strategic headquarters to the tactical edge. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Wholesale Distribution Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/wholesale-and-distribution) > Blue Yonder’s Wholesale Distribution software unifies forecasting, inventory, transportation, fulfillment, and collaboration on a cloud-native SCM platform. Wholesale and Distribution Wholesale distribution software to optimize inventory Wholesale distribution software to optimize inventory Wholesale and Distribution planning solutions Industry Challenges Case Studies Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Wholesale customers deserve a better order experience too Blue Yonder end to end order execution solutions enable wholesale distributors to provide better order experiences and improved resiliency amid disruptions. You can accelerate digitalization and omnichannel operations with intelligent solutions for inventory, allocation, order orchestration, and fulfillment to overcome multiple challenges. Siloed inventory visibility and availability Using ineffective technology to monitor inventory leads to high carrying costs, slow inventory turns, and unfulfilled orders. Slow response to supply and demand disruptions Manual processes like spreadsheets are unsuitable for making complex trade-off decisions to adhere to SLAs in the event of supply chain disruptions and changes in demand. Barriers to modernization and scalability Slow upgrade implementation and costly functionality development require time from experienced IT staff, impeding digital transformations. Proven results for wholesalers 0 % decrease in inventory levels 0 % increase of annual and/or comp-store sales 0 % reduction of shrinkage Case Studies Success stories in Wholesale & Distribution Business Impact Wholesale enterprises trust Blue Yonder to modernize omni-channel commerce Prioritize customer experience across every channel To make customers feel like priority No. 1, you need total visibility into inventory levels, order statuses, and shipment tracking across the enterprise. Real-time network visibility provides customers with an accurate inventory. It helps you monitor supply chain activities with granularity, quickly identify changes in supply and demand, and optimize operations to enhance customer experience. Unlock revenue growth with real-time network visibility Seamless, automated data visibility enables personalized customer experiences, with offerings and fulfillment tailored to their needs. Imagine the profit potential of having your customers preferred inventory at a distribution center close to where they need it, reducing transportation costs and improving delivery time. Enable supply chain resilience to maintain SLAs By improving supply chain resilience, you can maintain SLAs by reducing risks to disruptions, such as market fluctuations, geopolitical events, or unexpected surges in demand. An interconnected supply chain enables agile adjustments so you can quickly rebalance open demand based on defined allocation rules, ensuring all pending orders are re-sequenced and re-prioritized for optimal results. Capabilities Blue Yonder solutions transform the wholesale distribution supply chain Inventory Optimization Order Management & Commerce Warehouse Management Blue Yonder Network Increase visibility into inventory and availability to improve customer experience Make inventory intuitively visible and searchable to customers across all products and locations. Reservations and segmentation enable businesses to reserve inventory for specific customers while maintaining flexibility in order fulfillment. With real-time visibility, configurable segmentation, and future inventory planning, Blue Yonder ensures efficient inventory management for diverse business needs. Learn More Allocation and rebalancing services optimize inventory and sourcing Blue Yonder's commits and rebalancer services enable efficient inventory transfer and sourcing optimization. The services evaluate transfer options based on defined lanes, processing times, and cost criteria to ensure accurate delivery commitments. With real-time tracking and intelligent allocation, businesses can prioritize orders, define reservation rules, and continuously rebalance. Learn More Streamline operations with automated warehouse and labor solutions Boost efficiency with automation solutions for warehouse, labor, and transportation through reliable inventory handling, demand-driven planning, unified logistics, and smart labor allocation, enabling employees to work smarter, increase productivity, and deliver superior service. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Industry insights Effectively Manage Order Lifecycle and Optimize Process with Blue Yonder Order Services Solution Overview Effectively Manage Order Lifecycle and Optimize Process with Blue Yonder Order Services Delivering effective, customer-centric experiences starts by identifying – and implementing – the right tools. Learn how Blue Yonder’s Order Services offers transparency to businesses and their customers by managing orders across geographies, brands, and ... Digital Commerce 360 Report Fulfillment Trends for Retailers Thought Leadership Digital Commerce 360 Report Fulfillment Trends for Retailers Digital Commerce 360’s 2023 Retail Strategy Insights Report is your guide to the latest fulfillment trends and whether (or not) they’re worth the investment. The report includes articles written by the Digital Commerce editors: Retailers share ways to ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Specialty Retail Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/specialty-retail) > Blue Yonder’s Specialty Retail Planning solutions align product mix, inventory, and store operations on cloud-native SCM. Specialty Retail Align product mix and inventory with omnichannel demand signals Deliver what your customers desire, whether in-store or online, with seamless fulfillment options that ensure the right products are always in the right place at the right time. Supply chain solutions for Specialty Retail Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Align product mix and inventory with omnichannel demand signals Unpredictable shopper behavior strains top and bottom-line Volatile demand, changing tastes and endless aisle expectations make it hard to plan accurately, creating inventory misfires and missed customer moments. Rising costs clash with growing complexity Inflation, last-mile delivery, free shipping commitments and a growing returns problem stretch margins thin—forcing hard trade-offs between cost control and customer satisfaction. Global disruptions shake supply chains Trade volatility, climate events and geopolitical risks expose weak links—driving urgency around reshoring, resilience and supply diversification. Capabilities We enable you in your daily business Demand Planning Merchandising Omni-Channel Commerce Logistics Service Providers Returns Management Grow profitably while adapting to changing market conditions Create adaptable store plans that are optimized by Al with access to unified data on all stores in the enterprise. Leverage a single view of demand, channels, and supply chain constraints to make the best decisions. Incorporate real-time event triggers to adapt to market changes, while shaping demand through assortment and price in individual stores. Learn More Keep customers coming back with targeted goods and a talented staff Provide shoppers with a localized assortment and available inventory supported by knowledgeable staff. Offer knowledgeable employees a say in their work preferences, while using localized edge services — such as automating mundane tasks in inventory management and providing tools for self-service scheduling — to minimize labor shortages. Learn More Serve your customers around the clock, no matter how they shop Connect customers, inventory, and fulfillment across all channels, all the time. Provide a seamless journey from purchase to return, at reduced cost, using composable microservices that add functionality when and where you need it. Learn More Reduce the cost of moving goods and accelerate speed to market Intelligently optimize from the first to the last mile. Improve resilience through visibility and orchestration. Reduce cost-to and cash-to-serve by orchestrating human and robotic resources. Learn More Delight customers and lower the costs of managing returns Give your customers a digital, self-service returns experience they’ll love and optimize every step of the end-to-end returns process with accurate data, clear instructions for staff and intelligent routing. Learn More Proven results for specialty retail 0 % growth in online sales 0 % increase in top SKUs 0 % new trading space unlocked Business Impact Blue Yonder enhances retail efficiency for greater customer satisfaction Grow sales while minimizing dead stock Retailers often plan forecasts based on old sales data augmented by a dash of experience and intuition. But volatile supply and demand make managing inventory difficult. AI-enhanced planning focuses on profitable future outcomes rather than historical performance that can result in dead stock and shelf warmers. Keep your customers coming back for more Shoppers want the right products, in easy to navigate layouts, assisted by knowledgeable staff. But they also desire fresh product ideas while enjoying in-stock favorites. Understanding diverse shoppers is a start but you need to share inventory and demand data across the company augmented with AI-powered decision tools to amplify sales. Serve customers on their schedule Shoppers have wholeheartedly embraced omni-channel shopping for its convenience and ability to compare prices and services. Predicting demand and maintaining optimum inventory keeps them coming back for more. But to ensure profitable omni-channel retailing and mitigate the high cost of personalized fulfillment, you need an end-to-end supply chain that executes orders efficiently. Case Studies Success stories in Specialty Retail Industry insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Postal & Parcel Carrier Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/postal-and-parcel-carriers) > Blue Yonder’s Postal & Parcel Carrier solutions optimize networks for capacity and performance on cloud-native SCM. Postal and Parcel Carriers Optimize networks for capacity with scenario-based modeling Optimize your forward and reverse operations to scale efficiently, operate effectively and exceed customer expectations. Postal and Parcel Carrier solutions Industry Challenges Case Studies Business Impact Capabilities Industry Insights Industry Challenges Optimize networks for capacity with scenario-based modeling With rising e-commerce volumes, postal and parcel carriers are integrating AI-based automated decisioning, digital networks, and advanced logistics capabilities to proactively keep customers informed while addressing growth in parcel volume and evolving consumer behavior. Digitization is now essential for managing increased parcel demand efficiently, providing scalable solutions, and capturing market share. Carriers can leverage end-to-end supply chain solutions and a digitally connected network to optimize timeliness, labor, and reliability for each delivery and offer self-service return solutions to their clients. Timely and reliable service with visibility at an optimal cost of choices is desired. Increasing fleet management complexity Competitors are enhancing their omni-channel and digital capabilities to overcome increasing complexity and adapting to daily volume and density fluctuations. If carriers are to stay competitive and still to offer timely, scalable, and reliable service with improved visibility for the customers, they too must embrace flexibility, boost efficiency, and balance customer satisfaction, sustainability, and costs. Employee shortage, availability and retention The demand for talent and retention are becoming critical challenges. With a dramatic increase in e-commerce volumes, postal and parcel carriers must find ways to achieve cost-effective staffing and reduce uncovered shifts. Simplify the consumer experience and take pressure off staff Rising return volumes strain staff resources, diverting them from other tasks and causing consumer queues, which negatively impacts both the staff and customer experience. Our value as a go-to-market partner for postal and parcel carriers 0 % reduction in overall travel distances 0 % increased employee engagement + 0 million Returns handled Case Studies Success stories with Postal & Parcel Carriers DHL, the world’s largest express logistics provider, depends on Blue Yonder to help solve some of its most pressing business challenges. Discover how our solutions help DHL to solve problems Learn More Business Impact Powering modern, scalable operations for post and parcel carriers Transform your logistics and Returns Operations with AI-powered digital capabilities Enhanced customer experience with real-time personalized updates and accelerate your automation transformation with state-of-the-art, AI-based logistics solutions to optimize labor, routes, shipments and warehouse space for improved speed, efficiency, and resiliency. Boost workforce performance with incentives and best practices Enhance workforce performance potential and cultivate a high-performance culture through standard methodologies and workforce incentives that uncover process improvement opportunities and reward productivity. Help your retail customers offer a better returns experience Provide your customers with an intelligent online returns initiation and orchestration engine, that incentivizes consumers to return items back to their stores or via a convenient drop-off kiosk provided by you. Capabilities Exceed customer expectations and gain market share Workforce and Labor Management Transportation Management Blue Yonder Network Online Returns Drop-off Kiosks Improve availability and engagement of your critical resources As e-commerce volumes grow, empower your business with real-time visibility and demand-based forecasting to optimize workforce needs. Ensure cost-effective staffing, reduce uncovered shifts and enhance schedule accuracy by automating schedules. Boost employee engagement, increase retention and lower training costs, while minimizing overtime with precise forecasting for a multigenerational workforce. Learn More Optimize fleets, routes and schedules Optimize routes, automate scheduling and improve load efficiency to save costs, fuel and time while meeting ESG targets. Use real-time data to minimize idle time and adjust routes, enhancing fuel efficiency. Accelerate fleet electrification, reduce emissions and track environmental progress, all while ensuring regulatory compliance and improving driver well-being through balanced scheduling. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Effortlessly manage retail customers The Blue Yonder Carrier Portal enables you to manage multiple customers from a single, centralized interface. Effortlessly authorize new customer onboarding and access a wealth of data for key performance insights, including metrics on which retailers are driving the highest volumes. Learn More Fully-branded, accessible returns experiences Consumers gain access to a fully digitized journey that allows them to book a return in a matter of seconds. They can print a label at home or have a label printed for them in-store with friendly tracking updates throughout the process. Learn More Industry Insights 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey E-Book Thought Leadership 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey E-Book Blue Yonder's 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey explored how global senior executives across manufacturing, retail, logistics service providers (LSPs), and government plan to use technology, including AI and ML, to tackle supply chain challenges in the ... E-Commerce Returns 2024: Measuring Online Retail’s Returns Reaction Analyst Report E-Commerce Returns 2024: Measuring Online Retail’s Returns Reaction 2023 saw retailers take action to limit the impact of returns on their business, but in this survey of 210 U.S. online retailers, it’s apparent that e-commerce returns are still a pain point for many. Nearly two thirds (63%) of retailers reported that ... E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey Thought Leadership E-Commerce Returns 2024 European Retail Survey The growing challenge of online returns has led European online retailers to make significant changes in the last year, but how effective have they been? Download the report to see why a majority say that returns is a significant issue for their ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Logistics Service Provider Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/logistics-service-providers) > Blue Yonder’s Logistics Service Provider solutions unify warehouse, transport, order, and labor on cloud-native SCM. Logistics Service Providers Win more business while operating smarter logistics networks Blue Yonder helps Logistics Service Providers turn operational complexity into a competitive advantage, delivering smarter execution, scalable value‑added services, and resilient performance across multi‑client networks. Logistics Service Provider solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Built for the realities of modern Logistics Service Providers Logistics Service Providers face growing pressure to win renewals while margins tighten, and customer expectations rise. Escalating labor and transportation costs erode profitability, rigid technology models slow growth, and fragmented systems limit visibility across multi-client networks. With Blue Yonder’s solutions, LSPs can deliver differentiated, resilient services while controlling cost-to-serve and responding faster to disruption. Pressure to differentiate and win renewals To retain contracts and grow revenue, LSPs must continually prove differentiated value and broaden value-added service offerings in a crowded, margin‑constrained market. Protect margins under constant cost pressures Rising labor, fuel, and infrastructure costs erode margins, forcing LSPs to operate with tighter cost control and visibility, especially in long‑term contracts with limited pricing flexibility. Manage complexity across systems and networks Disconnected systems and partners slow decisions, limit resilience, and make it more difficult to deliver consistent service levels across customers. Capabilities Blue Yonder solutions power intelligent execution across the logistics supply chain Warehouse Management Warehouse Execution Transportation Management Supply Chain Command Center Blue Yonder Network Yard Management Unified Data Cloud Returns Management Improve speed, service levels, and throughput with warehouse management Optimize your extended warehouse operations across a full range of industries and fulfillment profiles. The highly extensible Blue Yonder warehouse management system maximizes every aspect of warehouse performance at your central distribution hub or local micro-fulfillment centers, to keep service levels and throughput high, reduce operating costs, and mitigate labor shortages. Learn More Automate in scale with warehouse execution system Orchestrates warehouse processes, material handling equipment, and robotics with warehouse execution system powered by AI and ML, including warehouse tasking and robotics hub, to ensure that all processes across the network are operating as efficiently, accurately, and adaptable to changes and disruptions as possible. Learn More Optimize transportation and procurement decisions Scale your transportation optimization and execution solutions so you can leverage every available asset to drive profitability, improve sustainability, and sharpen your competitive edge. You can transform transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound transport and integrate supplier and carrier collaboration. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Take the guesswork completely out in the yard Increase visibility, velocity, and control in the yard with intelligent, intuitive, and accurate visualizations powered by cutting-edge technologies. Automate in- and out-bound gate checks through integrated, camera-based technology, AI, and ML for higher accuracy, reduced manual processes, and faster throughput. Learn More Deploy a digitally enabled cloud ecosystem Access a reliable, always-on, multi-channel ecosystem with expanded carrier connectivity, dynamic capacity, and pricing through real-time data and analytics. This allows for efficient matching of supply and demand, quick adaptation to market changes, and more competitive rates, leading to improved operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Learn More Enhance customer satisfaction with streamlined returns management Add value to retail customers by digitizing returns management with convenient, customizable, self-service drop-off for customers and an optimized process for returns handling. Help retailers deliver a delightful customer experience and implement a highly-visible process for efficiently collecting, dispositioning and routing returns that takes pressure off your staff. Learn More Our value as a go-to-market partner for logistics Up to 0 % lower warehouse labor costs Up to 0 % reduction in transportation costs 0 % reduction in disruption response times Business Impact Trusted by 175+ logistics service providers to perform when it matters most Advanced digital capabilities Accelerate your automation transformation with state-of-the-art warehouse execution system, yard management, and transportation optimization to increase speed-to-market and resiliency against disruptions. Focus on sustainability Measure and improve sustainability with Blue Yonder transportation, warehouse, supply chain planning, and order management solutions to optimize sustainability in addition to efficiency and profitability. First-to-last mile optimization Seamlessly optimize and orchestrate space, movement, resources, orders, and inventory with a true end-to-end platform of integrated solutions for improved speed, customer-centricity, and profitability. Case Studies Success stories with Logistics Service Providers DHL, the world’s largest express logistics provider, depends on Blue Yonder to help solve some of its most pressing business challenges. Discover how our solutions help DHL to solve problems Learn More Industry Insights Blueprint for the Future: Achieving Vision 2030 for LSPs Thought Leadership Blueprint for the Future: Achieving Vision 2030 for LSPs Learn how Logistics Service Providers are using modern and innovative processes and solutions to digitize their logistics operations with streamlined, efficient and connected solutions, to become Growth Partners, Innovation Leaders and Stability Anchors ... Transforming LSP supply chain operations through automation Thought Leadership Transforming LSP supply chain operations through automation Learn how LSPs use multi-dimensional automation to modernize operations, improve efficiency and resilience to deliver better customer outcomes. LSPs in 2026: Evolving from partner to strategic enabler Thought Leadership LSPs in 2026: Evolving from partner to strategic enabler New research from Blue Yonder gives LSPs insight into what retailers are looking for in 2026. Learn how to best support retailers as a strategic enabler, plus what technologies retailers find most important for your company. An intelligent framework for logistics warehouse operations Thought Leadership An intelligent framework for logistics warehouse operations LSPs are under pressure to optimize warehouse operations as they face volatile order volumes, labor shortages, rising costs, and growing multi-client complexity. Discover how an intelligent, orchestrated warehouse framework helps you move from reactive ... Returns Management for Logistics Service Providers Thought Leadership Returns Management for Logistics Service Providers Discover how logistics service providers can transform returns management into a competitive advantage with purpose-built systems, operational efficiencies, and value creation. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Life Sciences Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/life-sciences) > Blue Yonder’s Life Sciences supply chain solutions manage cold chain, origin, and regulatory rules while protecting service and integrity. Life Sciences Ensure traceability with compliant, end-to-end cold-chain control AI-powered forecast planning, multi-tier network visibility and decision-making, efficient cost containment and regulatory compliance, create strategic supply chain advantages, ensuring timely delivery and exceptional service levels. Life Sciences supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Build high-performance, predictive supply chains to achieve strategic advantage Strike the perfect balance between insight-driven efficiency, compliance and innovation across your supply chain to turn challenges into patient-centric advantages. Lack of visibility and collaboration across multi-enterprise networks Fragmented data across multi-party networks hinders real-time visibility, collaboration, and decision-making, preventing swift mitigation of risks and inefficiencies. Inaccurate Demand Forecasting and inventory misses Demand volatility leads to forecast and inventory misalignment and costly planning inefficiencies that pose risk to patient outcomes. Global regulatory compliance complexity Evolving regulations, regional differences, and manual systems heighten supply chain complexity, risking non-compliance, delays, recalls and patient safety. Capabilities Manage your complete life sciences supply chain with Blue Yonder Integrated Business Planning Inventory Optimization Order Promising & Optimization Transportation Management Warehouse Management Blue Yonder Network Supply Chain Command Center Demand and Supply Planning Returns Management Integrated sales and operations planning Given the variability in demand in life sciences supply chains, key business functions must stay aligned on corporate business objectives. Blue Yonder enables organizations to aggregate demand across all functions and locations, view demand at any level, drill down to underlying details, perform supply and demand balancing, and do plan-to-plan comparisons. Learn More Inventory and order optimization supports new product introductions Determine order lead times with advanced algorithms that assess optimal inventory levels at each node of the supply chain based on customer order history. What-if analysis helps you plan inventory for new product introductions, including lead times for regulatory approvals. Safety stock can be reduced to lower capital requirements and improve cash flow to reallocate for R&D. Inventory and order optimization supports new product introductions. Learn More Distribution planning and order optimization support a wide range of planning activities Blue Yonder supply planning and order optimization generates distribution plans that respect shelf-life constraints and alternate sourcing compliance by market; tracks and manages date-sensitive inventory; understands bulk requirements from bottom-up replenishment; and supports new distribution models such as direct-to-pharmacy and direct-to-hospital. Learn More Transportation management optimizes all modes of transport Consider all transportation options to ensure lowest cost modes, routes, and carriers are evaluated to meet delivery commitments. The system optimizes global multi-leg, multi-modal shipments to local multi-stop fleet routing. Transportation is fully integrated with warehouse and labor management to synchronize operations based on priorities and constraints. Learn More Warehouse management automatically schedules work activities Manage the flow of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory across internal distribution networks. The system automatically assigns each worker to the most productive task based on order priorities, proximity to inventory, and the equipment and certifications of each worker. Efficiency can be enhanced with RFID devices, voice picking, and pick-to-light automation. Learn More Blue Yonder Network Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Streamline decision-making when demand and supply planning are one With superior decision-making speed and precision, life sciences companies can control costs, ensure timely availability and increase inventory turnover in the face of volatility. Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning is the only all-in-one solution for predictive forecasts, autonomous scenario planning, inventory optimization and insight-driven, end-to-end planning. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Optimize your reverse logistics execution Optimize reverse logistics by directing returning items to the right place. Help warehouse operators handle returned inventory faster and more accurately with guided steps to improve efficiency and reduce waste. Learn More Blue Yonder delivers multiple benefits for life science companies 0 % reduction in cost-to-serve 0 % increase in service levels 0 % increase in order fulfillment customer satisfaction Business Impact Blue Yonder enhances supply chain precision, resilience and strategic growth for optimized outcomes Predictive demand and supply planning enhances forecasting precision Insight-driven planning increases the ability for Medtech and Pharmaceutical companies to meet demand, minimize excess inventory and maximize inventory turnover while cognitively adapting to changing market conditions. Optimized planning to improve patient outcomes Optimize production of pharmaceuticals and devices based on patient needs, maintain inventory requirements across the globe, and speed up transportation to service patients at high levels while minimizing costs. Extend seamless collaboration among internal and external teams Enhance collaboration across internal supply chain functions as well as external networks from suppliers through distribution partners. Case studies Success stories in Life Sciences Industry insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Industrial Manufacturing Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/industrial-manufacturing) > Blue Yonder’s Industrial Manufacturing supply chain solutions navigate complexity and uncertainty while advancing sustainability on cloud-native SCM. Industrial Manufacturing Navigate complexity with advanced planning and logistics Tackle market volatility and product shortages head-on by fortifying resilience, optimizing inventory and production plans, and boosting agility throughout your supply chain. Industrial Manufacturing supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Volatility and disruption Rising costs and changing regulations, worsened by increasing global disruption, product and network complexity, shortages, and sustainability demands require real-time supply chain insights and accurate forecasts. Managing global disruption and variability Market disruptions like tariffs, weather and demand shifts create costly volatility across global supply networks. Forecasting and resource allocation gaps Poor cross-functional forecasting leads to inefficient staffing, inventory misallocation and unmet customer demand. Materials lead time, shortages and inventory constraints Long lead times, material shortages and inaccurate ETAs create production delays and inventory buildup or stockouts. Capabilities Transform your business Integrated Business Planning Order Promising and Optimization Warehouse Management Supply Chain Command Center Blue Yonder Network Advanced Planning and Scheduling Demand and Supply Planning Transportation Management Automated forecasting for faster, smarter strategic planning Increase planning speed and productivity for you sales & operations planning with a highly automated forecasting process that supports better collaboration, reduces waste, optimizes allocation management, and improves sustainability. Learn More Optimize costs, deliver on promises Deliver accurate and reliable data and inventory commitments to your customers according to personal preferences, across every channel, in real time. With Blue Yonder, you can optimize the cost to fulfill by considering model and parts selection and location, cost of goods, profitability, and transportation – from production to delivery. Learn More Streamline operations with automated warehouse and labor solutions Boost efficiency with automation solutions for warehouse, labor, and transportation through reliable inventory handling, demand-driven planning, unified logistics, and smart labor and robotics collaboration , enabling teams and resources to work smarter, increase productivity, and deliver superior service. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Blue Yonder Network Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Accelerate Production and Boost Resilience Streamline your industrial manufacturing processes with advanced planning and scheduling solutions that help unify data in real time, maximize machine utilization, and reduce setup times. Faster, more predictable planning keeps you agile and ensures on-time delivery—even as market demands shift. Learn More Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one With superior decision-making speed and precision, manufacturers can increase profitability, customer satisfaction and inventory turnover in the face of volatility. Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning is the only all-in-one solution for predictive forecasts, autonomous scenario planning, inventory optimization and insight-driven, end-to-end planning. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Transportation management optimizes all modes of transport Consider all transportation options to ensure lowest cost modes, routes, and carriers are evaluated to meet delivery commitments. The system optimizes global multi-leg, multi-modal shipments to local multi-stop fleet routing. Transportation is fully integrated with warehouse and labor management to synchronize operations based on priorities and constraints. Learn More Actual results from Industrial Manufacturing customers 0 % fewer changeovers 0 % less planning time 0 fewer days of inventory Business Impact Strengthen your resilience amid disruptions while optimizing efficiency and agility Improve customer service Blue Yonder solutions help companies better manage order expectations, inventories, and lead times, improving customer service with greater efficiency and lower cost. Real-time inventory insights Blue Yonder's solutions help you navigate material shortages, capacity challenges, and supplier issues, so you can minimize production delays and optimize material flows to meet market demands. End-to-end connectivity and control Blue Yonder enables collaboration spanning, demand and supply planning, production planning, and tactical execution, such as order management, multi-enterprise transportation management and load level returns, backed by n-tier, multimode, global network visibility. Case Studies Success stories in Industrial Manufacturing Cemex's Arnulfo Guevara sits down with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, ICON reporter, to speak about the importance of cloud strategy in their processes. Cemex is a global leader in the building materials industry. As Digital Enablement & Technology Supply Chain Leader, Arnulfo explains how real-time visibility has been key for streamlining their internal processes. Learn More Outokumpu is the sustainability leader in stainless steel, driven by their heritage, people and operations. In this Blue Yonder Live session, Outokumpu’s Ronald van Dodewaard, VP Logistics, shares how Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System enables the company to drive an environmentally friendly transportation program. Learn More PACCAR manufacturers Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brand trucks in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the UK. It needed an Advanced Planning & Scheduling system to match its complex operations with shifting global dema Learn More Industry insights Explore the Future of Industrial Manufacturers Thought Leadership Explore the Future of Industrial Manufacturers The global manufacturing industry is rapidly increasing in complexity. Various factors impact this growing complexity, including extended supply network from suppliers to customer, deep bills of material, and global footprint in manufacturing and ... 2026 Supply Chain Compass: How Supply Chain leaders are navigating complexity Thought Leadership 2026 Supply Chain Compass: How Supply Chain leaders are navigating complexity The Supply Chain Compass 2026 report surveys nearly 700 supply chain leaders, exploring how they are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by AI, disruption, and rising expectations. While nearly half express strong optimism about the future, ... Achieving Seamless Orchestration by Synchronizing Execution Thought Leadership Achieving Seamless Orchestration by Synchronizing Execution Maximizing your technology investments and your logistics results requires careful orchestration of systems, data, and processes between tools such as your Order, Warehouse, and Transportation Management Systems. Learn how you can achieve supply chain ... Driving Success With Demand and Supply Planning Solution Overview Driving Success With Demand and Supply Planning Demand and Supply Planning enables customers to stay ahead of increasing planning complexity with AI backed and extensive scenario testing options and insight driven decision making that let customers quickly model demand changes, inventory and ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [High Tech Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/high-tech) > Blue Yonder’s High-Tech supply chain solutions improve forecasts and build agile networks on cloud-native SCM. High-Tech Improve forecasts with real-time signals across partner networks Blue Yonder turns supply chain risks into opportunities with maximum certainty, drive profitability, sustainability and decision agility with cognitive supply chain solutions. High-Tech supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Transform your supply chain for a competitive edge Future-proof supply chain operations against any scenario–—you’ll achieve forecast accuracy, maximize resource utilization, optimize inventory, and deliver on-time with machine-speed decisioning across the network. Inaccurate demand forecasting High-tech manufacturers face demand-supply alignment challenges that lead to excess inventory and lost sales. Accurate, dynamic forecasting is critical. Aligning supply with rapid product innovation Rapid innovation compresses product lifecycles. Planners struggle to synchronize data and timelines across suppliers to balance short order lead times with long component cycles. Uncertain component supply amid volatility Geopolitical events, climate shifts and rising design complexity make it hard to obtain and deliver critical semiconductor solutions consistently. Capabilities Critical capabilities for high-tech supply chains Network Design and Utilization Integrated Business Planning Demand and Supply Planning Inventory Optimization Production Planning and Scheduling Blue Yonder Network and Command Center Transportation Management Warehouse Management Allocations and Replenishment Order Promising and Optimization Order Management and Commerce Returns Management Optimize your supply chain network to control risk and capture opportunities Intelligent, end-to-end network design, modeling, redesign and optimization can help you optimize for new channels while using what-if analysis to reduce risk and identify best-case scenarios. Learn More AI powered, real-time integrated business planning and monitoring Increase planning speed and productivity with a highly automated forecasting process, better collaboration, less waste, optimized allocation management and improved sustainability. Benefit from an exception-based, real-time planning framework, enabled by AI and identify supply-demand imbalances at the earliest possible moment, supported by continuous monitoring, real-time alerting and a continuous feedback loop. Learn More Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one Increase profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction in the face of volatility by pairing planning efforts with advanced scenario planning, insight-driven planning and inventory optimization. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Multi-echelon inventory planning, allocation, and order promising Blue Yonder’s patented capabilities, including dynamic segmentation and inventory optimization, balance optimal network inventory levels with the highest service levels. Drive higher order fill rates, revenue, and customer satisfaction with allocated available to promise (ATP) and capable to promise (CTP) processes. Learn More Increase efficiency, gain agility and adapt to demand volatility with an integrated approach. Blue Yonder’s agile production planning and scheduling digitalizes manufacturing operations as well as S&OE processes to counteract supply chain bottlenecks, resulting in more dynamic, transparent and profitable operations. Learn More Control complexity with multi-tier, multi-enterprise ecosystem visibility and orchestration Leverage network intelligence to derive a coordinated response to the flow of goods, demand, orders and partner capacities – production, logistics, supply, and space. Abate risk and drive profitable growth with unmatched visibility, cross-functional coordination, and orchestrated execution. Learn More Optimize transportation and procurement decisions Scale your transportation management solutions so you can leverage every available asset to reduce delays, navigate disruptions, and drive profitability. You can transform transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound transport and integrate supplier and carrier collaboration. Learn More Streamline operations with automated warehouse and labor solutions. Boost efficiency with automation solutions for warehouse, labor, and transportation through reliable inventory handling, demand-driven planning, unified logistics, and smart labor allocation, enabling employees to work smarter, increase productivity, and deliver superior service. Learn More Boost accuracy, improve margins, and satisfy customers. Optimize your distribution network inventory with Blue Yonder's automated replenishment inventory planning system solution: Better More accurate planning, profitable stock improved margins and satisfied customers. Learn More Improve delivery accuracy, cut costs, and boost satisfaction. Benefit from pre-and post-order optimization for precise delivery dates, reduced costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Learn More Real-time inventory and smart fulfillment at your fingertips Present real-time inventory availability to your customers across their network and determine how and when orders can be effectively fulfilled based on cost, location, and transit times with Blue Yonder’s unified inventory availability and fulfillment intelligence capabilities. Learn More Optimize your reverse logistics execution. Optimize reverse logistics by directing returning items to the right place. Help warehouse operators handle returned inventory faster and more accurately with guided steps to improve efficiency and reduce waste. Learn More Proven results in high tech and electronics 0 % reduction in planning effort Up to 0 basis point increase in profit margins Up to 0 % increase in forecast accuracy Business Impact Enlist Cognitive Solutions for a brighter more sustainably abundant supply chain Resilient machine-speed decisioning Use AI to autonomously coordinate tasks, respond to any disruption with advanced scenario planning, and leverage market leading algorithms to accurately forecast demand, plan for supply, allocate and deliver inventory. Multi-tier, multienterprise orchestration Drive market influence and supply chain coordination with real-time data, communication and workflows you and your trading partners build agility and resiliency to achieve consistent, sustainable material and supply availability. Synchronize planning and execution Control costs, curb emissions and eliminate risks with cognitive logistics collaboration and execution capabilities for synchronizing transportation, warehouse, inventory and orders to service level for on-time delivery. Case Studies Success stories in High Tech Industry Insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Grocery Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/grocery-and-convenience) > Blue Yonder’s Grocery supply chain solutions minimize waste and maximize availability on cloud-native SCM. Grocery & Convenience Minimize grocery waste and maximize availability Master uncertainty by adjusting plans and execution across their networks seamlessly—ensuring availability, cutting costs and earning shopper loyalty. Grocery supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry challenges Gain speed, precision and coordination to stay ahead of change Grocers face relentless uncertainty, from unpredictable shopper behavior and supply disruptions to cost pressures, labor shortages and tightening regulations. Outdated planning tools, siloed teams and disconnected systems make it impossible to respond in real time. Fresh food waste and shelf gaps A lack of high-quality real-time data leads to mismatched fresh food supply and demand, creating waste, quality issues and empty shelves. Rapidly shifting shopper behaviors Shoppers switch channels, change habits and expect personalization, making demand hard to predict. Ranging vs. space constraints Limited shelf space must now serve in-store shoppers and support omni-channel growth, creating tough trade-offs as product ranges are defined. Capabilities Synchronized supply chain capabilities for Grocery & Convenience Order Management & Commerce Inventory Availability Allocation & Replenishment Workforce & Labor Management Retail Planning & Category Management Platform Returns Management Blue Yonder Network Accurate forecasts, happier customers, less waste Elevate customer satisfaction and minimize waste with Blue Yonder’s AI-driven customer insights and accurate forecasting to optimize planning, merchandising, assortment, and space management to meet customer preferences and demand. Learn More Smart inventory and logistics Create a shared single source of truth for inventory and availability across all channels to satisfy both store visitors and digital shoppers. Ensure efficient transportation chains for perishable goods to enable on-time delivery regardless of shopping channel and at the lowest cost to serve Learn More Omni-channel engagement Serve your customers faster and more efficiently by using our AI- and ML-based data analysis tools for precise forecasting, a true one view of inventory and accurate visualization of the flow of goods across the supply chain. Learn More Hedging against labor shortages Optimize your labor resource allocation with integrated automation processes that reduce the risk of labor shortages, integrate digital shopping processes, and upskill your workforce to meet changing business processes. Learn More AI-enhanced category management Boost customer loyalty and sales with Blue Yonder’s AI-based solutions that can identify localized demand patterns, provide customer-driven assortments, and increase profit with optimal use of warehouse and retail space and inventory replenishment. Learn More One platform, full control Synchronize your entire retail ecosystem within a single technology platform that brings together suppliers, logistics companies, warehouse managers, transportation, and customer service to enable extended collaboration and process orchestration. Learn More Streamline returns for increased efficiency and customer satisfaction Digitize the entire process of returns management so your customers have a convenient returns experience that delights them, while ensuring every returned item reaches the right place at the right time. Empower staff with the step-by-step instructions they need to rapidly disposition every returned item on the optimal route so you can maximize resale value. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Proven results in grocery & convenience + 0 % on-shelf availability 0 % fast delivery 0 % ROI* *12 months after solution implementation Business Impact Integrate demand, inventory, labor, and fulfillment for responsive and sustainable processes Optimal quality and logistics Serve customers with fresh and high-quality items with real-time tracking and orchestration of logistics for fast distribution of perishable goods at optimal quality. With Blue Yonder you can plan, orchestrate, and adapt logistics, supply sources and warehouse management for optimal performance. Precise forecasting for improving customer satisfaction Smart data analysis and Blue Yonder's intelligent and AI-driven solutions enable you to achieve the right product mix to meet local preferences, the best quality at optimal cost, and the required logistics to cope with changing customer trends, market fluctuations, or seasonal influences, thus preventing misorders. Guarantee fulfillment and win customer loyalty To strengthen customer loyalty and trust, depend on AI designed for the supply chain for smarter warehousing, logistics, and planning for more accurate forecasting and flexible real-time decisions to guarantee fulfillment with the right products at the right time. Case Studies Success stories in Grocery & Convenience Industry insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [General Merchandise Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/general-merchandise) > Blue Yonder’s General merchandise supply chain solutions fix inventory imbalances with real-time visibility on cloud-native SCM. General Merchandise Align merchandising with real-time inventory visibility Effortlessly manage everything from fresh food to fast-changing fashion to durable home goods with seamless fulfillment options from store pickup to home delivery, doing more with less. Supply chain solutions for General Merchandise Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges How to meet high consumer expectations across the omni-channel experience and still be profitable Inventory imbalance from poor visibility A lack of real-time data across stores, warehouses and suppliers leads to excess stock in some places, shortages in others—hurting sales and disappointing customers. Rising costs clash with growing complexity Inflation, last-mile delivery, free shipping commitments and a growing returns problem stretch margins thin—forcing hard trade-offs between cost control and customer satisfaction. Global disruptions shake supply chains Trade volatility, climate events and geopolitical risks expose weak links—driving urgency around reshoring, resilience and supply diversification. Capabilities Best in class end-to-end from demand forecasting to order fulfillment Demand Planning Space Management Merchandising Inventory Optimization Order Management & Commerce Workforce & Labor Management Returns Management Blue Yonder Network Optimize merchandising and pricing for every store Achieve customer-centric retailing with better space planning, innovative merchandising programs, and targeted price promotions that are customized for each store’s performance and demographics, all from one source of truth running your strategic planning and demand management. Learn More Maximize space, boost sales and profitability Gain a comprehensive and accurate understanding of available space so your in-store teams can maximize shelf and floor space. Considering each store's physical capacity constraints, Blue Yonder’s AI-driven assortment strategies can showcase product mixes tailored to local consumer and location demographics. Learn More Lifecycle pricing from launch to clearance Gain insights necessary to keep prices competitive and help maximize profits with intelligent, fully automated pricing and promotion methodologies that work across the product lifecycle. Learn More Prepare for disruption, deliver with confidence Blue Yonder's inventory planning and management capabilities optimize inventory replenishment for regular and seasonal items, enabling retailers to detect, analyze, plan, and adapt to real-time changes in supply or demand. As changes occur in the production network and consumer marketplace, AI makes distribution decisions autonomously with minimal need for human intervention. Learn More Seamless experiences from warehouse to last mile and back Deliver a flexible, streamlined and consistent shopping and returns experience from first interaction to last mile by unifying data from warehouses, distribution centers, internal and outsourced logistics networks and last-mile partners. Learn More Smarter labor, flexible delivery, real-time results. To attract and retain a quality workforce, understanding your team members’ needs matters—including what scheduling flexibility means to each person. Address your labor challenges with applications that provide flexible scheduling, time and attendance, simplified labor compliance, and employee self-service. Learn More Streamline returns for increased efficiency and customer satisfaction Transform the way you handle returns with convenient self-service for your customers and digitized returns management that’s optimized for speed and efficiency. Consolidate deliveries, block out-of-policy returns, and give store staff and warehouse operatives the guidance they need to ensure every returned item is dispositioned efficiently and always reaches the right place. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Blue Yonder delivers results Up to 0 % decrease inventory levels Up to 0 % increase annual and/or comp-store sales 0 % improvement in forecast accuracy Business Impact Excel in supply chain with end-to-end AI-driven automation Accurately forecast inventory Blue Yonder’s demand planning and inventory forecast solutions improve inventory forecast accuracy, reducing out-of- stocks, and increasing on-shelf availability, providing a better shopping experience for customers. Optimize merchandising space and logistics placement Optimize planning at the individual store level to optimize the location, space, and customer profile of stores for optimal synergies across functions. Unify fulfillment and returns management Give full inventory visibility to your online shoppers, allowing them to pick and choose the best products based on fulfillment times. An accurate and real-time Available-to-Promise microservice connects with in-store fulfillment and last-mile delivery to provide the most cost-efficient fulfillment method to ensure customer satisfaction. Case Studies Success stories in General Merchandise Industry insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Consumer Goods Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/consumer-goods) > Blue Yonder’s Consumer Goods supply chain solutions anticipate demand shifts & drive fulfillment on cloud-native SCM. Consumer Goods supply chain solutions Anticipate demand shifts with closed-loop planning and execution Adapt quickly to changing consumer trends with AI-driven insights that improve forecast accuracy, increase product availability, optimize fulfillment and drive stronger financial performance. Consumer Goods supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Build a smarter, customer-first supply chain to outpace the competition Keep up with changing buying patterns, fickle brand loyalty and rising expectations by synchronizing planning and execution across demand, distribution, production and sourcing. Our integrated suite drives collaboration and alignment across the network to boost speed and agility. Mitigating global supply chain shocks Geopolitical tensions, trade regulations, and labor shortages continue to disrupt sourcing and production, forcing consumer goods brands to build greater agility and resilience into their supply chains. Managing increasing supply chain complexity Growing product lines, multi-tier supplier networks and evolving regulatory requirements make supply chain management more complex, increasing risk and operational costs. Balancing margins amid rising costs Persistent inflation, raw material volatility and increasing operational expenses squeeze margins, requiring consumer goods leaders to rethink pricing strategies, supplier negotiations and cost efficiencies. Capabilities Critical capabilities for consumer goods supply chains Demand and Supply Planning Inventory Optimization Warehouse Management Transportation Planning Supply Chain Command Center Blue Yonder Network Integrated Business Planning Category Management Order Management & Commerce Network Design & Utilization Returns Management Harmonize decision-making when demand and supply planning are one Increase profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction in the face of volatility by pairing planning efforts with advanced scenario planning, insight-driven planning and inventory optimization. Powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, market proven algorithms and intelligent insights. Learn More Gain deeper insights to optimize inventory and deployment Analyze your extensive set of data including consumption patterns, volume, revenue, margin, cost-to serve, product maturity, channels, criticality, velocity, and seasonality. With deeper insight, you can make better, more informed deployment decisions, such as load building and inventory rebalancing. Learn More Streamline operations with automated warehouse and labor solutions Boost efficiency with automation solutions for warehouse, labor and transportation through reliable inventory handling, demand-driven planning, unified logistics and smart labor allocation, enabling employees to work smarter, increase productivity and deliver superior service. Learn More Optimize transportation and procurement decisions Scale your transportation management solutions so you can leverage every available asset to reduce delays, navigate disruptions and drive profitability. You can transform transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound transport and integrate supplier and carrier collaboration. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More AI-powered, real-time integrated business planning and monitoring Increase planning speed and productivity with a highly automated forecasting process, better collaboration, less waste, optimized allocation management and improved sustainability. Benefit from an exception-based, real-time planning framework, enabled by AI, and identify supply-demand imbalances at the earliest possible moment, supported by continuous monitoring, real-time alerting and a continuous feedback loop. Learn More AI-enhanced category management Foster strategic retail alliances, build customer loyalty, and boost sales with Blue Yonder’s AI-based solutions that identify localized demand patterns, deliver customer-driven assortments tailored to each store, increase profit with optimal trade promotions, and maximize retail space with industry-leading planograms. Learn More Real-time inventory, effortless fulfillment Unify inventory availability and omni-channel fulfillment intelligence capabilities, so your reatailers can present real-time inventory views across their network and determine how best to fulfill orders based on cost, location, and transit times. Consumers will enjoy order fulfillment options such as ship to and from store, buy online pick up in-store (BOPUS), and last mile delivery – moving them from click to commit. Learn More Adapt and optimize your network to meet any challenge Model and optimize the full breadth and depth of your supply chain network and scenarios. With powerful, yet flexible, what-if modeling capabilities that include multiple currencies, Blue Yonder can help you evaluate, design, optimize, and ultimately transform your supply chain network. Whether you are looking to expand, mitigate disruption, or optimize your current network resources, our solutions can help you reach your supply chain goals. Learn More Optimize your reverse logistics execution Whether you're accepting returns from consumers or retailers, or sending materials back to suppliers, Blue Yonder’s returns orchestration engine uses data and decisioning to power workflows and improve the entire returns journey–reducing time, costs and goods in transit. Inventory is also handled faster, more accurately and with less waste as warehouse operators are given data-driven, guided steps how to handle returns. Learn More What Blue Yonder delivers for CPG customers 0 % improvement in service levels 0 % increase in forecast accuracy 0 % reduction of transportation cost Business Impact Customer-centric transformation—from linear supply chains to adaptive networks Extend seamless collaboration among internal and external teams Enhance collaboration across internal supply chain functions as well as external networks from suppliers through distribution partners. Hand in glove planning and execution Bring together manufacturing, transportation, and warehouse execution in an end-to-end platform that can consistently meet shelf-life requirements for even highly perishable goods, improving service to intermediates and ensuring availability to consumers. Better on-shelf availability Fend off competitive threats and improve on-shelf availability (OSA) with enhanced demand forecasting, optimized inventory management and improved orchestration across suppliers, carriers and retail partners. Case Studies Success stories in Consumer Goods Industry insights Accelerate informed decisions with AI built for supply chain Solution Overview Accelerate informed decisions with AI built for supply chain Supply chains produce overwhelming data, making quick, informed decision-making challenging. Built on decades of supply chain innovation and AI expertise, our predictive, generative and agentic AI solutions turn raw data into predictions and guidance ... Consumer Packaged Goods: Gain a Competitive Edge With Blue Yonder's Comprehensive Supply Chain Solutions Solution Overview Consumer Packaged Goods: Gain a Competitive Edge With Blue Yonder's Comprehensive Supply Chain Solutions CPG companies face demand volatility, rising costs and higher retailer expectations for on-shelf availability. Discover how Blue Yonder's supply chain solutions help CPG companies adapt to demand shifts and optimize production, inventory and ... The Network Amplification Era: Reinventing Supply Chains for CPG & Grocery Thought Leadership The Network Amplification Era: Reinventing Supply Chains for CPG & Grocery Grocery and CPG leaders must evolve their supply chains from traditional cost-efficiency models to AI-driven, adaptable networks that prioritize precision, sustainability and resilience. By embracing interconnected ecosystems and intelligent ... From Static to Intelligent—5 Imperatives for the Future of CPG Supply Chains Thought Leadership From Static to Intelligent—5 Imperatives for the Future of CPG Supply Chains For decades, CPG supply chains followed a predictable model—long production cycles, rigid planning and bulk replenishment. However, today’s market demands speed, precision and adaptability. Discover how businesses are moving beyond reactive planning and ... Demand & Supply Planning for CPG, F&B and Life Sciences Industries Thought Leadership Demand & Supply Planning for CPG, F&B and Life Sciences Industries As companies adjust to the changing market dynamics, a lack of visibility into demand drivers will result in a disconnect between demand & supply plans, causing misaligned inventory and stock outs. In this e-book, you'll discover how Blue Yonder’s Demand ... Integrated Business Planning Solution Overview Integrated Business Planning Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a next-gen cloud-native SaaS strategic planning solutions that helps companies drive strategy and higher performance through real-time autonomous scenario planning, AI-powered insights and end-to-end process ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Automotive Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/automotive) > Blue Yonder’s Automotive supply chain solutions sharpen forecasts and align EV/ICE production on cloud-native SCM. Automotive supply chain solutions Sharpen EV/ICE plans with constraint-based optimization Accelerate your response to demand swings, material shortages, and transport challenges with a high-performance, agile, and resilient supply chain that adapts to every turn. Automotive supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry challenges You need resilient and sustainable supply chains that work effectively across your multi-tier networks Parts and labor shortages, changing buying patterns, and intense competitive pressures require a new approach to automotive manufacturing, distribution, and sales. Blurry demand, busted forecasts Volatile markets, policy shifts and changing consumer channels blur demand signals, making accurate forecasting of models, trims and options nearly impossible. Compliance headaches and circular pressure Sustainability mandates and circular economy demands require full traceability across n-tier suppliers, especially for battery sourcing and packaging reuse. Disjointed logistics, high total cost of ownership Fragmented execution and planning systems lead to poor slotting, longer lead times and an inflated total cost of ownership across the supply chain. Capabilities Transforming the automotive industry Network Design & Utilization Integrated Business Planning Demand Planning Supply Chain Command Center Order Promising & Optimization Workforce & Labor Management Transportation Management Advanced Planning & Scheduling Blue Yonder Network Adapt and optimize your network to meet any challenge Model and optimize the full breadth and depth of your supply chain network. With powerful modeling capabilities that consider what-if scenarios, varying currencies, and application flexibility, Blue Yonder can help you evaluate, design, optimize, and ultimately transform your supply chain network. Whether you are looking to expand, mitigate disruption, or optimize your current network resources, our solutions can help you reach your supply chain goals. Learn More Automated forecasting for faster, smarter planning Increase planning speed and productivity of your sales & operations planning with a highly automated forecasting process that supports better collaboration, reduces waste, optimizes allocation management, and improves sustainability. Our exception-based, AI-enabled planning framework identifies supply-demand imbalances in real time and offers a variety of resolution options. Your planning and execution will be supported by ongoing monitoring, real-time alerting, and a continuous feedback loop to ensure optimization. Learn More Enhance plans with predictive analytics and scenario analysis Meet and exceed your business goals with Blue Yonder's end-to-end demand and supply plans that consider capacity, materials, costs, campaigns, and logistics. Improve your plan quality significantly with predictive analytics, fast demand-supply scenario analysis, prescriptive guidance, and situation rooms that promote collaboration. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Optimize costs, deliver on promises. Deliver accurate and reliable data and inventory commitments to your customers according to personal preferences, across every channel, in real time. With Blue Yonder, you can optimize the cost to fulfill by considering model and parts selection and location, cost of goods, profitability, and transportation - from production to delivery. Learn More Streamline logistics and labor for smarter, faster operations Boost your efficiency of your warehouse, labor, and transportation with reliable inventory handling, demand-driven planning, unified logistics, and smart labor allocation. The results? Your employees are free to work smartly and accurately, increasing productivity while delivering superior service. Learn More Optimize transportation and procurement decisions Scale your transportation management solutions so you can leverage every available asset to reduce delays, navigate disruptions, and drive profitability. You can transform transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound transport and integrate supplier and carrier collaboration. Learn More Counteract and avoid volatile demand, transport chain disruptions, and waste of resources Use Blue Yonder Advanced Planning & Scheduling solutions to accelerate production, reduce costs, and dramatically improve on-time delivery—even in the most unpredictable markets. Discover Blue Yonder solutions leverage real-time data on orders, inventory, capacity, and more to maximize production efficiency, improve machine utilization, and ensure dependable delivery commitments for happier customers and stronger bottom-line results. Learn More Break enterprise boundaries to increase agility Coordinate efforts across your complex fabric of trading partners for improved return on capital, lower cost to serve, and faster time to market. As variability and volatility increase, digital supply chain networks are critical to adjust to change faster and smarter. Learn More Blue Yonder delivers results 0 % reduction in working capital 0 % improvement in service levels 0 % lower transportation and labor costs Case Studies Success stories in Automotive Industry insights Driving the future: Transforming the automotive customer journey Solution Overview Driving the future: Transforming the automotive customer journey Discover how Blue Yonder helps automotive OEMs transform customer journeys and streamline supply chains. This video highlights challenges like siloed systems and rising costs while showcasing how the AI-driven Blue Yonder Platform integrates planning, ... Synchronizing the automotive supply chain Solution Overview Synchronizing the automotive supply chain Discover how Blue Yonder helps automotive manufacturers build AI-powered, resilient supply chains that adapt to change, optimize operations, and meet evolving demand across ICE, EV and hybrid production. Transforming automotive supply chains with an end-to-end synchronization approach Solution Overview Transforming automotive supply chains with an end-to-end synchronization approach This material outlines how AI-driven planning and execution integration can revolutionize automotive supply chains. It emphasizes synchronized operations across planning, logistics and fulfillment to boost agility, cut costs and enhance customer ... Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Apparel & Footwear Supply Chain Software | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/industries/apparel-and-footwear) > Blue Yonder’s Apparel & Footwear supply chain solutions modernize planning and align inventory on cloud-native SCM. Apparel and Footwear supply chain solutions Modernize fashion planning with real-time inventory insights Don’t rely on guesswork in the unpredictable fashion industry - leverage AI that delivers smarter planning and faster execution to enhance customer experiences and boost revenue. Apparel and Footwear supply chain solutions Industry Challenges Capabilities Business Impact Case Studies Industry Insights Industry Challenges Give your supply chain the power to shake off disruption Can’t keep up with volatile customer demand Demand shifts faster than retailers can respond, whether it’s social media driven trends or weather anomalies, leading to missed sales or markdowns. Inventory blind spots in an omni-channel world Inventory placement decisions are guesswork, leading to overstocks in one location and stockouts in another. Returns add complexity that retailers can’t easily manage. Vulnerable to macro disruption and trade shocks Softlines brands are overly dependent on concentrated sourcing geographies, leaving them exposed to trade tariffs, geopolitical shifts and raw material pricing spikes. Capabilities Solutions for every retail supply chain challenge from raw material to end consumer Retail Planning & Category Management Space Management Merchandising Inventory Optimization Workforce & Labor Management Supply Chain Command Center Platform Returns Management Manage merchandising strategies, boost supply chain performance Manage pre-season, in-season, open-to-buy, and other merchandising strategies, to coordinate inventory plans and end-to-end distributions for a more responsive and profitable supply chain. Learn More Maximize space, boost sales and profitability Gain a comprehensive and accurate understanding of available space and maximize shelf and floor space to drive profitable sales for new fashions as well as continuity items. Learn More Automate pricing, maximize margins, attract shoppers Fully automate pricing decisions across the entire product lifecycle to make smarter decisions that optimize margins while appealing to customers’ fashion sense and value. Learn More Prepare for disruption, deliver with confidence Gain insights and automate processes to prepare for black swan events so that when the unexpected happens you can quickly have the right products at the right locations to cope with market changes, supply disruptions, and fickle consumer trends. Learn More Smarter labor, flexible delivery, real-time results Align labor scheduling with predicted demand for exceptional omnichannel fulfillment, providing better personalized service to last- mile delivery flexibility including dynamic routing, optimized load building, and real-time visibility. Learn More Next-generation Control Towers Network-wide visibility and orchestration for a continuously updated, shared version of end-to-end operations. Visualize the flow of orders, inventory and capacities – across the enterprise and partners - production, logistics, demand, supply, and space. Leverage intelligence to derive a coordinated response. Learn More Orchestrate your supply chain, unlock hidden value Blue Yonder enables end-to-end visibility and synchronization across the supply chain, from the warehouse to the final sale. This enables retailers to adapt to unexpected demand surges, support more-complex buying journeys, adapt to resource volatility, and react to changing shopping preferences with an orchestrated approach that unlocks hidden value. Learn More Streamline returns for increased efficiency and customer satisfaction Give your customers the convenient, self-service drop-off experience they want and gain the speed, efficiency and data you need to resell returned stock in the same season. Block out-of-policy returns, empower your staff with step-by-step instructions and ensure every returned item is routed to the right place, using the most optimal carrier option. Learn More Calculate your ROI Actual Results from Apparel & Fashion Brands Up to 0 % reduction of out-of-stocks $ 0 M profit due to markdown avoidance Business Impact Fashion retailers trust Blue Yonder AI separates profitable trends from transitory blips Blue Yonder melds data science with the art of merchandising by factoring in weather data, seasonality, and local events that drive buying habits so you can shift from siloed working patterns to consolidated strategies across the enterprise. With end-to-end visibility, you can predict and adjust production, allocation, replenishment, space, and product mix, as well as pricing and promotions. Nudge buyer behavior in your favor Influence consumer decisions with targeted pricing and rewards to encourage sales with buy-in-store, click-and-collect, and ship-to-store models that suit your business and customer experience goals. Choose the best fulfillment option considering multiple factors Select the fastest or most efficient shipping mode, especially for long-range fulfillment. Consider factors such as taxes and goods storage from the first mile to the last mile and directly link shipping to order management to provide customers with real-time updates on the status and location of their orders. Case Studies Success stories in Apparel & Footwear Industry insights Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ## Customer Case Studies ### [Near-touchless planning and double-digit inventory cuts with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/conagra) > Conagra Brands modernized with Blue Yonder—achieving 70% touchless planning, 98% service levels and double-digit inventory reduction for a more agile, responsive supply chain. Success Story Conagra Inventory Optimization, Supply Chain Planning and Optimization Conagra transforms to near-touchless production planning and execution, delivering double-digit inventory reduction with Blue Yonder 70% touchless inventory optimization 98% service levels attained Increased operational agility The company Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Conagra Brands is one of North America’s leading branded food companies, with a diverse portfolio of brands spanning frozen, refrigerated and pantry staples. Conagra provides convenient and easy-to-prepare products for consumers who enjoy cooking meals at home and snacking while on the move. The business challenge Conagra faced pressure to deliver high service levels while reducing inventory and improving efficiency amid market volatility and the complexity of a diverse SKU portfolio. Its previous planning processes relied heavily on manual intervention, with reduced confidence in its system outputs, and its planners frequently had to override and use workarounds which diluted system accuracy. Additionally, a long planning time fence limited its responsiveness to demand changes and constrained its production agility. The solution Conagra set out to reimagine its supply chain as a modern, automated, high-trust ecosystem built on Blue Yonder to enable faster customer response and optimized inventory. Conagra activated Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning and Optimization and Inventory Optimization solutions, redesigning its processes to support touchless planning. The effort has delivered near-touchless production planning and double-digit inventory value reduction and attained 98% customer service levels. “Blue Yonder helped Conagra take bold action, transform the way it plans, and unlock breakthrough results. Instead of waiting for the supply chain environment to stabilize or for new technologies to be implemented, Conagra decided that now was the time to modernize planning, elevate our automation, strengthen our agility, and create a future-ready foundation.” –RL Rosqueta, Vice President, Conagra Rebuilding trust through new planning processes Conagra’s prior planning processes required significant manual intervention, creating an opportunity to strengthen consistency, increase confidence in system outputs, and improve planning efficiency. Conagra decided to initiate a structured reset of its planning foundations, and reimagine its supply chain as a modern, automated, high-trust ecosystem built on Blue Yonder solutions. Its teams recalibrated its core planning parameters to focus on lead times, safety stock policies, lot sizes, and production constraints. With Blue Yonder, this effort brought confidence to Conagra’s teams in trusting its new solutions’ recommendations. Planners began to rely on planning output rather than override them, while focusing on decision-making, reducing variability and improving alignment between planning and execution. Maximizing planning value through targeted expertise For Conagra, building trust also meant taking a closer look at how its existing Blue Yonder supply planning models were being used and where additional value could be unlocked. In partnership with Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team, the two organizations collaborated through a workshop to assess solution performance and identify opportunities for improvement. The Blue Yonder team worked with Conagra over several weeks to diagnose challenges in its supply planning environment, document findings, and provide practical recommendations to improve model performance and strengthen the value delivered by its existing Blue Yonder solutions. The engagement helped Conagra move from diagnosis to action. As Conagra began implementing the recommendations, engagement with Blue Yonder increased, and the company expressed interest in evaluating additional functionality to further expand its Blue Yonder solution footprint. Transitioning to touchless planning at scale Conagra’s redesign of its approach to supply chain focused on reducing manual touchpoints. Planning workflows were rebuilt to prioritize automation, with clear rules for when manual intervention was necessary. The results have been significant, with 70% of Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization decisions executed without manual input, and 95% of production planning processes operated without intervention. This shift enables Conagra’s planners to focus on higher-value activities such as scenario evaluation and strategic decision-making, with roles evolving to balance operational excellence, growth enablement, and AI-enabled planning. Increasing agility through time fence reduction With Blue Yonder, Conagra has significantly reduced the planning time fence by 70%, with coordination across planning, manufacturing, and data management teams. Shortening the time fence has provided Conagra with newfound advantages, including faster response to demand changes, improved alignment between production and actual demand, and increased utilization of Conagra’s manufacturing assets. The company has also improved its operational agility, allowing the organization to adapt more quickly to market conditions while maintaining stability. Improving service while reducing inventory Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization capabilities have improved the accuracy of replenishment decisions and reduced excess safety stock for Conagra, while production planning improvements have ensured better alignment between supply and demand. The results demonstrate measurable improvement: 98% service levels attained and double-digit inventory value reduction versus FY23, based on FY26 Q3 year-to-date performance. These outcomes have reflected a more efficient deployment of inventory across Conagra’s supply chain. Products are available where needed without overstocking, and improved service performance has strengthened customer relationships by reducing stockouts and increasing delivery reliability. Building a foundation for future capabilities Conagra’s transformation with Blue Yonder has established a foundation for continued advancement. With improvements in data quality, parameter governance, and process discipline, a stable environment for future capabilities has been created. This includes evaluating future Blue Yonder capabilities, including sequencing and AI-enabled scenario planning, to further enhance decision intelligence. Conagra is positioned to extend its planning capabilities across its supply chain, with its focus remaining on increasing automation, improving decision intelligence, and strengthening integration across planning functions. “Our success is driven by our people. The supply planners, schedulers, material planners and supply chain experts who bring transformation to life. It was our time to be strategic and not transactional, to lead with data over manual adjustments, and we believe Blue Yonder is helping us move faster.” –RL Rosqueta, Vice President, Conagra Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Dicka Logistics accelerates growth with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dicka-logistics) > Dicka Logistics speeds global growth with Blue Yonder WMS & TMS — 75% faster deployments, up to 30% less operational time and real‑time visibility. Success Story Dicka Logistics Warehouse Management, Transportation Management Dicka Logistics accelerates global growth with Blue Yonder, enhancing agility and increasing implementation timelines by 75% Up to 30% reduction in operational time due to automated workflows Administrative management time reduced by up to 50% Increased customer satisfaction through real-time visibility The company Dicka Logistics is a Latin-American third-party logistics company that provides transportation, warehousing, and distribution services across the chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer goods, and automotive sectors. Its operations include 10 distribution centers across Mexico, covering over 300,000 square meters, with coordination across more than 60 transportation lanes and over 50 connection hubs. The company’s service coverage extends beyond Mexico into North America and Europe, supporting customers’ multi-regional supply chain requirements. The business challenge Dicka Logistics’ rapid growth was outpacing the capabilities of its legacy processes and technology. Its siloed warehousing and transportation tools slowed site launches. At the same time, lengthy interface builds impeded the company’s ability to respond quickly to new customers and markets and increased administrative workload due to delayed billing and reporting. The company also lacked end-to-end visibility, had gaps in traceability and data protection, and had rigid contracts that could not flex with changing volumes, creating cost inefficiencies for its customers. The solution Dicka Logistics selected Blue Yonder Warehouse Management (WMS) and Transportation Management (TMS) to create a connected, scalable solution to transform its operations. Together, the solutions support variable capacity and transactional demands. They have also enabled replication across Dicka Logistics’ distribution centers, accelerating the company’s deployment timelines. By connecting warehousing and distribution operations, Dicka Logistics’ Blue Yonder solutions provide end-to-end visibility and precise, centralized data that support the company’s market expansion by tailoring operational models to the industries it serves. “Our main concern was integration. For us, having everything connected is a competitive advantage. We made it a priority to build the most complete model possible in Blue Yonder WMS and TMS. And once we had them, we cloned them and left them ready for future implementations so we could gain speed. And since everything is fully deployed in the cloud, it gives us elasticity.” –Jose Treviño, CIO, Dicka Logistics Connected operations enable scalable growth Dicka Logistics’ rapid expansion created operational friction across its warehousing and transportation processes. Its existing systems lacked the flexibility to scale its operations across regions and industries, and operational timelines were also a significant constraint. Launching new facility operations required up to six months, limiting the company’s responsiveness to customer demand and growth. Its disconnected systems also delayed billing and reporting cycles, increasing administrative workload and extending staffing requirements. To combat these challenges, Dicka Logistics’ leadership team initiated a structural shift in operations to prepare for long-term expansion and to support increasingly dynamic customer requirements. With Blue Yonder WMS and TMS integrating warehousing and transportation functions, Dicka Logistics now has end-to-end visibility across its supply chain operations. Data synchronization provides its teams with real-time tracking of shipments, inventory, and costs, while automated connections between cargo transactions and customer orders streamline execution across more than 60 transportation partners. Its hybrid cloud environment combines a software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment of Blue Yonder TMS on Microsoft Azure public cloud, with Dicka Logistics’ existing system to reduce deployment disruptions. Blue Yonder partner Argano collaborated with Dicka Logistics to design and implement the architecture. The company’s newfound enhanced visibility has improved its coordination with third-party providers, supporting its expansion into new markets. Blue Yonder’s solutions have significantly improved Dicka Logistics’ operational agility, making capacity adjustments—both in storage space and transactional volume—more manageable without extensive support. And accessibility to accurate, centralized data enables precise decision-making. Blue Yonder supports Dicka Logistics’ variable-cost models to align with its customer contracts, improving profitability. Its teams can identify cost-saving opportunities with ease and optimize routing strategies, contributing to measurable reductions in transportation expenses. Faster implementation drives market responsiveness With Blue Yonder, Dicka Logistics’ deployment timelines have decreased by 75%, creating faster onboarding of new customers and quicker entry into new markets. Its pre-configured system models within Blue Yonder WMS and TMS allow rapid replication across its distribution centers. With reduced dependency on custom development, Dicka Logistics has eliminated the four- to six-month integration cycles previously required. Operational efficiencies through automation and improved control Automation from Dicka Logistics’ Blue Yonder solutions has reduced manual workloads across multiple functions. Faster processing of transportation requests has eliminated repetitive data-entry tasks, improving accuracy and speed. Dicka Logistics has strengthened its operational efficiency by improving both warehouse and transportation processes. Through more automated warehouse operations, the company has significantly reduced the time and effort required to manage daily activities. In transportation, improved control through reconciled carrier rate reviews has strengthened the company’s ability to manage margins and optimize shipment decisions. Advanced analytics within Blue Yonder’s solutions have supported more informed decision-making for Dicka Logistics. Personalized insights enable more profitable transportation network models that incorporate specific business and operational constraints, made possible by centralized transportation and cost information within the system. Blue Yonder WMS has streamlined warehouse processes by automating routine tasks and reducing reliance on manual, directed activities. These automated workflows have reduced operational time by up to 30%, improving throughput and allowing teams to focus on higher value work. With standardized, real time data available across warehouse operations, administrative management time for report generation has also been reduced by up to 50%, as accurate insights can be produced instantly without manual consolidation. These improvements have strengthened operational efficiency, accuracy, and control across the warehouse. Enhanced customer experience through data, visibility, and system trust With improved data accuracy and system integration, Dicka Logistics has strengthened its interactions with its customers. Real-time visibility into operational data and reliable reporting has increased transparency across its operations, contributing to faster decision-making and continuous process improvement. In addition, the end-to-end visibility provided by Blue Yonder TMS and WMS enables more accurate, timely communication with customers. Operating on a world-class, regulation-compliant solution landscape has also strengthened customer trust in Dicka Logistics’ service reliability. Built on the unified real-time data foundation enabled by Blue Yonder TMS and WMS, Dicka Logistics’ BI dashboards now deliver deeper analytical insights and comprehensive reporting. The dashboards surface carbon footprint metrics and key service level indicators, including proof of delivery, on-time delivery, and on time pick up, all derived from standardized operational data streaming directly from the TMS and WMS. This real-time visibility has strengthened service quality, improved responsiveness, and enhanced overall operational efficiency, contributing to increased customer satisfaction. Flexible service models allow adjustments to storage capacity and transaction volumes based on customer needs, while pay-as-you-go capabilities have aligned costs with actual usage, creating more competitive offerings. Mobile-friendly interfaces within Blue Yonder TMS have enhanced usability for its operational teams, creating faster response times and improved coordination across locations. Building a foundation for continued innovation “Dicka Logistics set out to build an execution system for the next decade—scalable, flexible, and capable of adapting to any operational scenario. Implementing Blue Yonder TMS has strengthened that effort, creating a strong digital foundation that now positions the company to respond effectively to evolving supply chain demands. With robust integration capabilities, cloud scalability, and advanced analytics, Dicka Logistics is well-equipped to expand capabilities, enhance efficiency, and deliver measurable value across its supply chain operations”, said Treviño. Looking ahead, Dicka Logistics will prioritize investment in AI-driven automation to reduce manual workloads further and speed up decision-making. Expansion into additional markets across North America and Europe remains a strategic priority, supported by scalable system architecture. Together, these initiatives ensure Dicka Logistics is positioned to meet future demands and lead the next phase of innovation across its network. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [BevChain saves over 1,000 work hours in one year using Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bevchain) > Blue Yonder Transportation Management System reduced BevChain's operational costs through real-time data analytics and automated workflows. By grounding its logistics operations in data-driven intelligence, the company has strengthened service reliability while enhancing efficiency and financial reporting. Success Story BevChain Transportation Management BevChain saves over 1,000 work hours in one year using Blue Yonder 1,000+ work hours saved in one year through automation 50% faster report run time 12 hours freed up monthly per employee The company BevChain, a joint venture between Linfox and Boon Rawd Brewery, was established in 2018 and specializes in beverage logistics across Thailand. The company plays a significant role in the supply chain sector by offering tailored and comprehensive warehousing, distribution, and transportation services. Serving as a one-stop shop, it manages national distribution centers and regional-based warehouses, ensuring efficient delivery to over 50,000 locations. The business challenge As the company grew, it encountered operational challenges in optimizing delivery routes and tracking that required an integrated transportation management framework to help ensure high-quality service, reliability, and efficient asset utilization. To address these imperatives and maintain safe and compliant freight delivery, BevChain needed a solution to process higher throughput, streamline workloads, enhance financial accuracy, and increase visibility. The solution BevChain adopted Blue Yonder Transportation Management System (TMS) as its digital logistics platform. This solution, which leverages the Microsoft Azure public cloud platform, reduces operational costs through real-time data analytics and automated workflows. It also boosts service levels by anticipating and mitigating disruptions with predictive analytics. By grounding its logistics operations in data-driven intelligence, BevChain has strengthened service reliability while enhancing operational efficiency and financial reporting accuracy. “BevChain had been actively addressing challenges to optimize delivery routes and provide tracking capabilities, to streamline the transportation process, and lower costs. With Blue Yonder Transportation Management System, BevChain is now better positioned for efficient growth in Southeast Asia and is ready to handle increased demand through greater operational efficiency.” –Drew Franklin, Managing Director, BevChain Streamlining transportation operations for increased productivity BevChain envisioned a system capable of dynamically executing large-scale workloads while serving a diverse customer base. To achieve this, the company implemented Blue Yonder TMS, which leverages predictive analytics through modeling and optimization to simulate scenarios, forecast outcomes, refine strategies, and support resource planning and cost projections. By providing real-time analytics, the solution has enhanced operational decision-making, driving smarter strategies. Blue Yonder TMS delivered key automation features that significantly improved operational efficiency at BevChain. One notable upgrade was the automated tariff step rate calculation, which enables the company to handle large volumes of data more effectively. This automation simplifies compliance with trade regulations and eliminates previously manual processes, saving approximately 12 hours per month per employee, allowing more time to focus on strategic initiatives. Saving time by automating operations and invoicing The TMS solution’s supersede function streamlines transportation operations by removing duplicate charge codes and eliminating the need for manual adjustments related to double pricing. This enhancement alone has resulted in over 1,000 hours of employee time saved. Franklin explains, “By automating invoicing, we have accelerated the order-to-cash timeline and achieved invoicing precision.” Building on this, BevChain has strengthened its closing period processing, enhancing efficiency in customer and carrier reporting. Additionally, standardized workflows and data access restrictions have shortened report generation time by 50%, cutting it from one hour to 30 minutes. This allows the finance team to produce error-free financial statements and ensure more timely billing. An anticipated benefit of BevChain’s ongoing engagement with Blue Yonder is the planned rollout of reverse billing across its subcontractor network. This initiative is expected to reduce head office administrative costs while streamlining invoice processing and reconciliation for customers. In parallel, BevChain plans to leverage predictive scheduling capabilities within Blue Yonder TMS to minimize idle time and improve asset utilization. Innovating for a sustainable future Beyond operational considerations, BevChain remains committed to driving innovative and eco-friendly practices that support logistics safety and minimize environmental impact. The 3PL’s joint efforts with Blue Yonder in AI-driven solutions are helping to accelerate progress toward this goal. Together, BevChain and Blue Yonder are advancing AI development, leveraging predictive routing, dynamic load optimization, and reduced empty miles to enhance load efficiency and reinforce the roadmap for a lower-emissions fleet. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Kimberly-Clark saves $14m with Blue Yonder TMS](https://blueyonder.com/customers/kimberly-clark) > Explore the enduring 17-year partnership between Kimberly-Clark and Blue Yonder, focusing on optimizing their vast and complex global transportation network. Success Story Kimberly-Clark Transportation Management Blue Yonder drives transportation optimization at Kimberly-Clark Over $14 million in initial cost savings Real-time visibility across the network Dynamic responsiveness to changing conditions The company With annual sales of $20.2 billion and a 150-year track record of success, Kimberly-Clark is a global consumer packaged goods (CPG) leader. Its well-known brands — including Cottonelle, Depend, Huggies and Kleenex — are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Kimberly-Clark holds the #1 or #2 share position in 80 countries. The business challenge Kimberly-Clark’s global transportation network is large and complex. In North America (NA), the company operates eight regional distribution centers (DCs) and 22 combined DC/mill locations, while also managing shipping from over 500 vendor locations. Each year, this CPG leader manages over 600,000 shipments in NA, and its material and products travel more than 318 million miles. The average outbound trip length to customers is 399 miles, and the average inbound trip spans 891 miles. Kimberly-Clark utilizes over 90 carriers to manage its domestic and international volume. In Latin America (LAO), Kimberly-Clark plans for 13 countries and more than 30 DC/mill locations, with over 245,000 trips per year executed by more than 160 carriers. The average trip length in LAO is 438 kilometers. The company’s transportation management team is charged with optimizing this network — as well as smaller operations in Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe (EMEA) — to deliver products quickly, reliably and accurately despite ongoing disruptions and volatility. The solution Since 2006, Blue Yonder has been fueling transportation optimization for Kimberly-Clark, beginning in North America and then rolling out to LAO, APAC and EMEA. A suite of transportation management solutions helps the company make and keep its customer promises, balancing costs with service targets. Over time, Kimberly-Clark has added new capabilities, including a freight auction module and carrier sequential tendering. Recently Kimberly-Clark migrated its Blue Yonder solutions to the cloud, supporting a larger digital transformation. “We first implemented Blue Yonder’s transportation management platform in 2006. The logistics landscape has changed significantly since then, but Blue Yonder’s capabilities have evolved along with it. Today we’re undertaking a digital transformation, supported by a move to the cloud, that’s setting the stage for automation and exception-based management across our global transportation network. Working in partnership with Blue Yonder, I’m confident we’ll get there.” –Transporation Manager Significant cost reductions thanks to automated decision making “Blue Yonder transportation management immediately began generating up to $14 million a year in freight cost reductions in North America compared to our previous manual methods. We were able to make better decisions via automation, while also eliminating days of manual effort. Those savings and efficiencies have continued to grow. Based on the success of Blue Yonder transportation management in NA, Kimberly-Clark rolled out the solution to LAO, APAC and EMEA in 2012. With the recent migration to the cloud, we’re implementing Transportation Smartbench to continue to gain efficiencies. Blue Yonder is also helping us improve our export process and reduce costs via a new booking process.” Dynamic optimization reflects changing market conditions “Our freight management and procurement practices are very different in a constrained market versus a soft market. We also need to adapt to cold and flu season, which is a peak demand time. Blue Yonder enables us to dynamically change our approach as conditions change, so we’re always getting an optimal balance of cost and service. We can define constraints, negotiate rates in real time, and choose the right carrier every time, with confidence.” A foundation for “no touch” transportation management “Our migration to the cloud is the first step in a digital transformation that will eventually create a ‘no touch,’ automated decision-making environment. All our systems will be connected, data will flow seamlessly among them, and we’ll manage by exception. It’s an ambitious vision, but Blue Yonder is helping to make it a reality.” Solution benefits Kimberly-Clark relies on Blue Yonder’s transportation management platform to quantify savings and opportunities, balance service-level and cost tradeoffs, and prioritize execution across its worldwide logistics network. With real-time visibility enabled by Blue Yonder, Kimberly-Clark can sense disruptions and changing market conditions — and modify its transportation management practices to respond proactively, not reactively. Blue Yonder recently helped Kimberly-Clark migrate its solutions suite to the cloud for faster processing speeds, seamless upgrades and lower on-premise technology investments. “We initially chose to partner with Blue Yonder because we knew its solutions were best-in-class. We saw the potential for millions of dollars in freight savings, and we quickly captured them. In fact, we earned a full payback on our investment in less than a year. Today Blue Yonder’s solutions remain best-in-class, but we also value our strategic relationship with them. We work together to define solutions in an open, honest way. It’s been great to partner with Blue Yonder. They’re always there when we need them.” –Transporation Manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [DHL Saves 7% on Transportation Costs Through Better Optimization of Vehicles](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dhl) > Learn how Blue Yonder helped DHL, leader in contract logistics, implement their first robotics hub at Tiendanimal, the largest online pet retailer in Spain. DHL DHL DHL Saves 7% on Transportation Costs Through Better Optimization of Vehicles and Stops with Blue Yonder Network Design DHL, the world’s largest express logistics provider, depends on Blue Yonder to help solve some of its most pressing business challenges. Discover how our solutions help DHL to solve problems ranging from evaluating the impact of different ship dates for a manufacturing customer, to determining hauling savings for a retail customer, to identifying consolidation opportunities for an organization in the consumer goods sector. Download Download ### [Electrolux adopts AI agents with Blue Yonder to power-up its appliances supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/customers/electrolux-group) > Swedish home appliances company Electrolux completed the roll out of Blue Yonder’s supplier collaboration solution across all of its OEM finished goods suppliers and business areas. This provides a shared view with its supply chain partners across all its purchase orders, deliveries and shipments. Having a control tower-style view allows the manufacturer to react quicker to supply chain disruptions now that it is fully aligned across all supply chain partners. It has also deployed a range of AI agents to drive more supplier adoption, reduce manual work, improve productivity, and help make faster supply chain decisions. Success Story Electrolux Group Blue Yonder Supplier Collaboration, AI agents Electrolux adopts AI agents with Blue Yonder to power-up its appliances supply chain Blue Yonder supplier collaboration capabilities lead to a reduction in order processing lead times from 2-3 days to 2-3 hours Supplier reliability around 99% 94% unit fill rate—a KPI for product availability—and with less inventory The company Electrolux is a Swedish home appliance manufacturer, producing refrigerators, oven hobs, washing machines, dishwashers, air-conditioners, and small appliances such as vacuum cleaners across its main brands: Electrolux, AEG, and Frigidaire. The business challenge The biggest challenge facing Electrolux was a lack of real-time supply chain visibility. This impacted Electrolux’s view of products in-transit, shipping delays, inventory health, and fulfilment performance. It needed to react quicker to unforeseen disruptions by having an integrated view across suppliers, markets and its logistics partners. This impacted on time deliveries and ETA accuracy for customers. The solution In 2025 Electrolux completed the roll out of Blue Yonder’s supplier collaboration solution across all of its OEM finished goods suppliers and business areas. This provides a shared view with its supply chain partners across all its purchase orders, deliveries and shipments. Having a control tower-style view allows the manufacturer to react quicker to supply chain disruptions now that it is fully aligned across all supply chain partners. Electrolux has also begun exploring the use of AI agents with Blue Yonder to drive more supplier adoption, reduce manual work, improve productivity, and help make faster supply chain decisions. “We started our journey with Blue Yonder as part of a transformation strategy to deliver speed, agility and responsiveness to our supply chain. Since deploying Blue Yonder order processing lead times have reduced from about two to three days to now just a couple of hours. We are also operating at around 94% unit fill rate, which is our main KPI for our product availability and ultimately customer satisfaction. Now the real excitement begins with multiple AI agent projects which we see as truly transformational for our supply chain partners and associates.”— –Christophe Remy, Supply Chain Development and Operations Manager (Supply Chain Transformation Lead), Electrolux Group Major benefits from a control tower view Electrolux has seen four main benefits since implementing the Blue Yonder supplier collaboration solution: 1. Order processing lead times have been reduced from two to three days to just a couple of hours—from order placement in the market solution until the supplier sees it in  Blue Yonder. 2. The ability to react to changes by implementing order change workflows. In the case of supply chain disruptions or changes, Electrolux can process, postpone, advance, cancel, or reroute orders—all these workflows enable Electrolux to interact much quicker with its suppliers. It can track and follow up on requests, all in just a couple of hours, and then feedback to supply chain partners. 3. Improved supplier reliability—operating at around 99% due to the manufacturer’s ability to process, delay and monitor reason codes with the Blue Yonder system—essentially providing a root cause analysis to achieve a much better performance. 4. Product availability has improved. Currently Electrolux is operating around 94% unit fill rate (UFR), whilst also reducing inventory. AI agent projects Electrolux has been working on multiple AI agent projects with Blue Yonder. Invoice extraction agent—an agent that automates the extraction of information from hard copy invoices, PDFs and packing lists to extract key data and transform it. This will greatly ease order entry and manual entry of invoices in Electrolux’s system, decreasing manual workloads, while  also improving data quality. Summarization agent. This is expected to quickly synthesize large datasets and information on orders, deliveries, and shipments to turn them into actionable insights, saving time for planners and managers to get to the essential information without manual intervention or analysis. Supplier and carrier scoring agent. Electrolux intends to provide a dynamic assessment of its suppliers’ and carriers’ performance and risk scores to enhance procurement decisions, collaboration, and ultimately improve customer service. Later, Electrolux plans to adopt an invoice three-way matching agent. This will automate the verification of invoices against purchase orders and deliveries, identifying discrepancies to reduce errors and manual effort. Finally, an order confirmation agent will help identify unconfirmed purchase orders grouped by suppliers and send automatic email reminders to confirm the orders so that timely actions can be taken. “The main impact we see from these AI agents is associate and resource productivity gains. We expect our employees to focus on more value-added tasks so that we can react better and quicker and make more informed decisions. AI agents will help our customer and market facing team respond to inquiries faster and better than before. They will help us respond and make decisions such as order postponement, cancellation, advancement, reacting to market trends or supply chain disruption. Over time, they will help us be more productive and improve our service level towards the customer,” said Christophe Remy. Watch this video to see how Electrolux has been working on multiple AI agent projects with Blue Yonder. Natural language Electrolux is also exploring the potential for Q&A style questions through natural language, where associates can ask questions to receive direct feedback on supply chain disruptions. That capability offers any users to join the solution—not just experts—but managers and executives who can ask questions they want and get the answers they are looking for. Complex questions and answers in seconds In the case of supply chain disruptions, the AI agents provide huge capabilities to process huge volumes of information across orders, deliveries, shipments, and make root cause analysis. Wherein the past, it would have taken hours, now Electrolux can get results in seconds. Overall, the investment in agentic AI is seen as critical to Electrolux to drive more supplier adoption, reduce manual work, improve productivity, and help make faster decisions - overall a huge business incentive. “We see Blue Yonder as a strategic partner and we are excited to continue co-inventing and co-developing with Blue Yonder especially around the capabilities in AI and automation—we want to continue that journey. We can see these will surely make our supply chain faster, more agile and more responsive,” said Remy. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Mizkan America scales exceeds OTIF performance with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mizkan-america) > Learn how Mizkan America scales planning operations with Blue Yonder to achieve record OTIF performance Success Story Mizkan Supply Planning Mizkan America scales planning operations with Blue Yonder to achieve record OTIF performance Improved OTIF performance, exceeding target Unified planning with one solution across supply and demand Optimized deployment capabilities supporting strong service levels The company Mizkan America Inc is a food producer with a legacy spanning more than two centuries. The company began as a vinegar producer in Japan before expanding globally, including in the United States over 40 years ago. A leader in the global vinegar market, the company’s portfolio has expanded to Italian and Asian sauces and cooking wines, wine reductions, seasonings and dressings. Its products are supported by multiple facilities, including numerous bottling locations and business-to-business bulk operations. In 2014, the organization accelerated its presence in North America with its acquisition of the Bertolli ® and Ragu ® pasta-sauce brands The business challenge Mizkan recognized a need to advance its planning capabilities to support rapid growth and expand brand ownership. Its previous planning processes operated with multiple systems that were not designed for modern, forward-looking planning across capacity, demand, supply, and deployment activities. It primarily focused on order fulfillment, creating limited insight into capacity or long-term production implications. Mizkan needed a system capable of understanding implications across its multiple facilities and supporting production planning at significant volume scale. The solution Mizkan uses Blue Yonder supply planning capabilities to support its demand, supply, capacity planning, and deployment to distribution centers. Demand inputs are captured at a detailed level and fed to supply planning for capacity decisions, scheduling, and deployment. Blue Yonder delivers a unified approach across multiple operational areas, including long-range planning, facility capacity modeling, and automated deployment that builds optimal truckloads to serve distribution locations. Mizkan’s new capabilities have resulted in record performance in on-time and in-full (OTIF) service levels, deeper planning insight, and ability to scale growth while advancing process maturity. “Blue Yonder has given Mizkan much more robust planning capabilities. Our increased visibility into our capacity, supply, and demand has allowed us to make the right decisions and support our customers the right way.” –Chris Anderson, Director of Planning, Mizkan America, Inc Scaling planning confidence for a growing portfolio Mizkan’s rapid growth in North America reshaped its operational complexity. Its acquired ownership of nationally recognized pasta sauce brands, Bertolli and Ragu, increased demand volume expectations and established a need to improve Mizkan’s planning capabilities. The company’s approaches primarily addressed immediate order fulfillment instead of future capacity needs, demand segmentation, or inventory optimization at scale. Its use of multiple systems limited planning insight and did not provide unified visibility into supply positions, demand signals, or the implications of volume shifts. These conditions created a strong need to adopt mature planning as a strategic capability—supporting national production, distribution decisions, and facility coordination across the network. Turning demand signals into action Blue Yonder’s supply planning capabilities have helped meet Mizkan’s needs by creating a single planning ecosystem. Product demand is captured, modeled, and translated into capacity views by production line across Mizkan’s business. Supply plans are then connected to deployment decisions, creating a continuous planning environment from long-range forecasting through finished product deployment. Demand planning at Mizkan uses a team configuration anchored in the sales organization. The manager oversees the function, supported by outsourced planning resources that assist with day-to-day forecasting. A major advancement for Mizkan has included a transition toward bottom-up forecasting at the item, customer, and location levels. This methodology supports accurate planning where specific demand patterns drive production decisions. Through these bottom-up signals, Mizkan creates deeply informed views of what products will be needed in specific regions and timelines. This level of detail is fed through Blue Yonder to support supply planning. Demand signals are aggregated into production line level requirements, and capacity planning models are constructed to evaluate how facilities and schedules support projected needs. The Blue Yonder solution supports a philosophy that planning is both operational and strategic—reflecting projected demand, facility capability, available network flexibility, and optimal replenishment patterns. This approach creates a comprehensive view of what is required to support business goals, enabling proactive planning instead of reactive allocation. Connected supply planning and deployment On the supply side of Mizkan’s business, the planning organization consists of managers and analysts supporting capacity planning, deployment, and scheduling. Production scheduling occurs through a separate system, while capacity and deployment decisions flow through Blue Yonder. Detailed demand forecasts are first ingested into Blue Yonder—creating a single, trusted planning baseline for the organization. These forecasts are then transformed through supply planning into production line-level capacity scenarios, carefully balancing operational constraints and trade-offs. Planners collaborate with facility leadership to evaluate these scenarios and select the optimal path forward, ensuring that decisions are both strategic and practical. Once the best scenario is chosen, execution-ready schedules are finalized and released, enabling efficient operations. Finally, intelligent deployment within Blue Yonder optimizes truckload builds and distribution flows across the network, supporting seamless and effective product delivery. Optimized deployment in Blue Yonder has become a major value driver for the business. The system creates complete truckloads based on demand needs, route efficiency, and inventory levels across distribution centers. A dedicated planner manages deployment through Blue Yonder, delivering strong execution results. This capability supports national service levels and ensures retail partners receive requested products consistently and predictably. Proven impact with record OTIF performance Blue Yonder’s impact has been reflected clearly in Mizkan’s performance. The company has achieved a new high-water mark in OTIF performance in 2025—well above target benchmarks. With high OTIF performance established, Mizkan’s planning objectives now include optimizing inventory levels across finished goods and raw materials to support capital efficiency while sustaining strong service levels. Strategic maturity and network excellence Mizkan has a clear focus on advancing planning maturity. A key priority is expanding scenario planning capabilities—evaluating business options at the strategic level. Scenario modeling can create comprehensive comparisons between production strategies, facility configurations, and network usage patterns. Another area of focus for the company is network optimization. Mizkan operates multiple facilities with distinct roles across bottling and bulk vinegar operations as well as sauce production. Planning leaders see significant potential in optimizing where products are made and how loads are shared across lanes. Blue Yonder capabilities present a foundation for modeling network decisions and evaluating the best use of each location. Looking ahead to AI-supported planning Beyond structural planning evolution, Mizkan sees potential in AI-supported planning. AI is expected to drive faster insight into anomalies and emerging demand patterns, creating a powerful advantage in on-shelf availability and trend response. As planning inputs continue to be refined, AI can support large scenario calculations that accelerate strategic decision cycles. Mizkan’s next several years include continued advancement of planning as a competitive capability. Scenario planning, network optimization, and expanded solution adoption are positioned to strengthen insight, enable strategic decisions, and support national growth. With Blue Yonder supporting its operations, Mizkan is positioned to expand production by achieving high service performance levels while scaling toward innovation in scenario planning. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Grupo Comercial DSW achieves 15% sales growth using Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/grupo-comercial-dsw-sa-de-cv) > Category Management, Space Planning, and Floor Planning provide a fully connected planning process. Demand Planning and Fulfillment supports accurate, granular forecasts. Success Story Grupo Comercial DSW Category Management, Assortment Optimization, Space Planning, Floor Planning, Demand Planning and Fulfillment Grupo Comercial DSW achieves 15% sales growth using Blue Yonder 10%–30% category growth 25% boost in forecast accuracy from 65% to nearly 90% with Demand Planning and Fulfillment <2.5% out-of-stocks sustained across the assortment The company Grupo Comercial DSW, S.A., de C.V. is one of Mexico’s largest retailers, overseeing the Del Sol and Woolworth department store chains, offering apparel, footwear, home goods, toys, and general merchandise. Del Sol was established in 1963, and Woolworth has been present in Mexico since 1997; together, they operate more than 130 stores across 55 cities in 26 states. The business challenge The company saw uneven shelf-layout execution across its stores, driven by outdated planograms, limited visibility into planning decisions, and siloed processes that made it hard to apply category and inventory strategies consistently. Without a central system for creating and sharing planograms, store managers and merchandisers often worked from incomplete or inconsistent information, resulting in irregular shelf layouts and frequent stockouts. To improve on-shelf availability and deliver a more consistent shopping experience, Grupo Comercial DSW needed a solution that ensured stores could easily access and apply accurate, up-to-date planograms. The solution Grupo Comercial DSW determined that Blue Yonder’s end-to-end planning solutions—including Category Management , Assortment Optimization , Space Planning , Floor Planning, and Demand Planning and Fulfillment —offered the strongest fit for its commercial structure and operational requirements. These solutions enable accurate forecasting, localized planograms, optimized assortments, and precise inventory placement, creating a connected, scalable supply chain. “Blue Yonder Demand Planning helps us understand what customers will want with remarkable accuracy, and Blue Yonder Fulfillment positions our inventory in the locations where it is most needed. That combination has improved our supply chain efficiency, elevated the shopping experience, and enabled new processes that support better decision-making. It also underscores Grupo Comercial DSW’s commitment to investing in new technologies that strengthen how we operate and further advance our market leadership.” –Esteban Rodriguez, Demand Planning Manager, Grupo Comercial DSW Building smarter categories through data-led decisions Blue Yonder Assortment Optimization strengthens Grupo Comercial DSW’s category analysis by refining criteria for adding or removing items, improving display strategies, and increasing category profitability through a more efficient catalog. As customer expectations shift toward localized, preference-driven assortments, this capability helps Grupo Comercial DSW make more precise, data-driven decisions that keep assortments aligned with evolving demand. Blue Yonder Category Management further advances Grupo Comercial DSW’s assortment strategy by standardizing business rules, aligning product selections with company goals, and incorporating real-time market and performance data. Category Management enables the company to benchmark against market trends, strengthen competitive positioning, and collaborate more effectively with category captains, ensuring that assortment decisions are both strategic and operationally grounded. Strengthening shelf-ready execution Blue Yonder Space Planning and Floor Planning provide the flexibility needed to support diverse merchandise, fixtures, and store formats. These ensure that planning decisions translate effectively into the physical retail environment, enabling more consistent, efficient, and shopper-centric execution across the company’s store locations. To strengthen store execution, Grupo Comercial DSW adopted Blue Yonder’s web-based publishing capabilities, which provide a centralized, browser-based interface for stores to access and deploy the latest planograms and floor plans. This real-time access eliminates version control issues, reduces rollout delays, and streamlines communication between merchandising and store operations, resulting in more consistent shelf execution across all locations. Excellence in space and floor planning Grupo Comercial DSW’s use of Blue Yonder Space Planning and Floor Planning helped to drive consistent double-digit gains in hygiene and beauty. By refining its planning discipline using Blue Yonder solutions, the company now creates planograms for 99% of its restockable items, with nearly 650,000 unique product-placement combinations organized into over 4,500 store-ready planograms. “Blue Yonder Space Planning and Floor Planning have allowed us to substantially improve our display process with accurate, up-to-date floor plans and planograms that improve how we execute. And with Blue Yonder Assortment Optimization, our assortments are now designed around the intended role of each category, helping us make more targeted decisions and deliver stronger performance and profitability for the business." –Marco Martínez, CatMan Manager, Grupo Comercial DSW. A new era of demand intelligence and inventory precision Native, built-in functions within Blue Yonder Demand Planning and Fulfillment delivered immediate benefits, including stronger promotion modeling, more assertive and analytically guided purchase planning, standardized calculation models, and improved forecast measurement. The implementation also enabled Grupo Comercial DSW to establish new processes, including forecasting promotional activities in key categories such as hygiene and beauty. This forecasting step is now essential for understanding promotional impact and determining required inventory levels, making it a critical input for commercial planning. Hygiene and beauty—Grupo Comercial DSW’s first categories to adopt Blue Yonder Demand Planning and Fulfillment—saw a 15% sales increase in 2025. Forecast accuracy improved from 65% to nearly 90%, helping the company control and maintain out-of-stocks below 2.5%. Where demand meets space: a fully connected planning flow With Blue Yonder, Grupo Comercial DSW created a fully connected planning process in which Category Management, Space Planning, and Floor Planning optimize assortments and deliver localized planograms tailored to each store’s needs. Demand Planning and Fulfillment transforms the company’s assortment and space data into accurate, granular forecasts. This end-to-end flow strengthens coordination between category, space, and inventory decisions, eliminating silos and creating a more unified, responsive, and profitable retail operation without duplicating efforts across teams. Blue Yonder’s solutions helped Grupo Comercial DSW surpass sales expectations and deepen its category analysis amid industry pressures and shifting consumer demand. By connecting demand signals with space and category insights, the company can now tailor merchandising strategies to specific customer segments, ensuring decisions reflect real shopper behavior and support more precise execution. Advancing the next phase of modernization Grupo Comercial DSW continues to modernize its supply chain and retail operations, building on momentum from recent upgrades to the Blue Yonder technology. The company is committed to adopting new capabilities to strengthen agility, accuracy, and operational efficiency. These ongoing improvements ensure Grupo Comercial DSW can respond quickly to shifting consumer expectations and maintain a modern, future-ready retail operation. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Scouting America Outfitters centralizes inventory and replenishment processes with Blue Yonder to improve operational visibility and efficiency](https://blueyonder.com/customers/scouting-america-outfitters) > Boost sales and streamline operations using Blue Yonder MMS: Optimize turnover, unify store layouts, and enhance data-driven decision making across all channels. Success Story Scouting America Outfitters Merchandise Management System, Business Analysis for MMS, Space Planning Improved inventory turns while reducing overall inventory levels Enabled centralized visibility across retail, wholesale, and eCommerce Standardized store assortments and layouts across 125 Scout Shops The company Scouting America Outfitters is a division of Scouting America, the organization formerly known as Boy Scouts of America. Scouting America Outfitters is responsible for purchasing, distributing, and selling the merchandise that supports the organization’s members. This includes a wide assortment of products ranging from uniforms and patches to Pinewood Derby® and handbooks. It operates both retail and wholesale channels, including branded eCommerce sites, and 125 company-operated Scout Shops. The business challenge Scouting America Outfitters lacked a centralized system to manage inventory and sales across its retail network. Each Scout Shop independently managed its own assortment and was responsible for placing replenishment orders with its distribution center. This decentralized approach limited its visibility into its processes, leading to inconsistent assortments across locations, and unreliable insight into demand patterns, which then led to missed sales opportunities. The solution Scouting America Outfitters uses Blue Yonder Merchandise Management System (MMS) as its foundation for centralized inventory, sales, and replenishment management. It serves as the operational backbone for nearly every aspect of the business, including product purchasing, store replenishment, web order processing, and accounts payable and receivable. In addition, Blue Yonder Space Planning capabilities help Scouting America Outfitters standardize store layouts while accounting for the fact that no two Scout Shops have the same physical footprint. Together, these solutions allow Scouting America Outfitters to move from reactive, store-driven inventory management to a centralized, data-driven operation. “Blue Yonder has allowed us to greatly reduce our inventory levels while increasing inventory turns by having greater visibility into inventory information, and everyone having access to the same data.” –Wayne Shell, Business Systems Manager, Scouting America Outfitters Overcoming mounting challenges in inventory operations Scouting America Outfitters’ distribution center was processing a constant flow of small, frequent orders driven by individual store behavior. This approach increased labor costs, reduced picking efficiency, and made it difficult to plan workloads. Limited visibility hindered an enterprise-wide view of inventory and sales performance across stores, high-ordering frequency created unnecessary strain on distribution center operations, and product availability varied significantly from location to location. “Before Blue Yonder, there was no centralized system to view store inventory and sales. We relied on each store to maintain its own assortment and order products from the distribution center. On average, each store placed five orders per week from the distribution center and there were a lot of missed sales opportunities from not having the right product in the right amount in the stores,” says Shell. These issues directly impacted both customer experiences and internal team efficiencies. Store teams spent excessive time managing inventory and placing orders, while the distribution center processed a high volume of small, inefficient shipments. Standardizing store replenishment and reducing distribution complexity With Blue Yonder Merchandise Management System, Scouting America Outfitters fundamentally changed this model. Scout Shops are now replenished once per week rather than five times per week, using system-driven recommendations based on actual sales and inventory positions. This shift provided numerous benefits, including: Lower distribution center workload volatility. Improved labor planning and efficiency. More consistent product availability at stores. Reduced transportation and handling costs. Most importantly, these gains were achieved without sacrificing service levels. Improved forecasting and replenishment logic help ensure that the right products are available in the right quantities. Creating enterprise-wide inventory visibility Blue Yonder creates a single source of truth for Scouting America Outfitters’ sales and inventory data. Teams across purchasing, merchandising, finance, and operations now work from the same data set. This shared visibility enables improved forecast accuracy, better coordination between departments, and faster response to changes in demand. “Every aspect of our business is touched by Blue Yonder MMS. We use MMS for purchasing products, replenishing products to the stores, processing web orders, accounts payable and receivable and general ledger functions,” says Shell. The impact of this shared visibility has extended beyond Scouting America Outfitters’ headquarters. Scout Shops benefit from consistent assortments and reliable replenishment, reducing the need for manual intervention and local workarounds. With centralized visibility and automated replenishment in place, Scouting America Outfitters significantly improved inventory efficiency. The organization reduced overall inventory levels while simultaneously increasing inventory turns. Standardizing store experiences for customers Scout Shops vary widely in size and layout, which historically made it difficult for Scouting America Outfitters to create consistent customer experiences across stores. With Blue Yonder Space Planning capabilities, the organization can design standardized assortments and layouts that are adapted to each store’s physical constraints. This approach ensures that core products are consistently presented across locations while allowing flexibility where needed. The result is a matching look and feel across each Scout Shop, improved merchandising effectiveness, and better use of limited store space. Enabling better analysis and faster decisions Blue Yonder Business Analysis for MMS has expanded Scouting America Outfitters’ ability to analyze performance across products, stores, and channels. Instead of relying on manual reports or disconnected tools, teams can now explore data directly within the MMS environment. This capability supports faster decision-making and reduces reliance on manual analysis. Leaders can quickly identify trends, evaluate performance, and take corrective action when needed. Looking ahead to expanding analytical capabilities with AI Scouting America Outfitters plans to continue building on its Blue Yonder foundation. The organization aims to make insights more accessible to its users across the business, reduce manual reporting effort, and support ongoing operational improvement. These capabilities will help Scouting America Outfitters continue to scale efficiently while supporting the evolving needs of its business. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Bata reaches 72% average in-store availability across India and Thailand with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bata) > Learn how Bata leveraged Blue Yonder's solutions to optimize its end-to-end supply chain planning and merchandising for improved efficiency and profitability. Success Story Bata Merchandising Planning, Assortment Planning, Demand and Replenishment Planning, Store Insights and Data Management Services Bata reaches 72% average in-store availability across India and Thailand with Blue Yonder Forecast accuracy has grown by 2% in India and 9% in Thailand Inventory reductions of 13% in India and 29% in Thailand Stock turn performance improvements of 15% in India and 31% in Thailand The company Bata is a multinational footwear, apparel, and accessories manufacturer and retailer headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Founded in 1894, Bata operates in over 56 countries across five continents, with 19 manufacturing sites and more than 6,000 retail locations. The company sells nearly 150 million pairs of shoes annually, offering a wide product range from high-fashion to athletic and industrial footwear. The business challenge Bata faced mounting challenges in accurately matching supply with demand across its vast network. Rapid shifts in consumer demand for footwear required more agile and precise planning processes. Legacy demand, replenishment, and merchandise planning systems lacked real-time data capabilities, making it difficult to adjust to market changes, optimize inventory turns, and protect margins. With over a million customers served daily, inefficiencies at scale risked lost sales, increased costs, and diminished customer satisfaction. The solution Bata chose Blue Yonder to implement its cloud-native planning solutions, including Demand Planning , Fulfillment , Assortment , and Store Insights, supported by Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team and Blue Yonder partner Infosys for implementation. These solutions modernized Bata’s planning processes, streamlined assortment management, optimized replenishment, and delivered store-level insights to better match product distribution to local demand. The collaboration between Bata and Blue Yonder has also included significant enablement efforts, comprehensive training, and close post-launch support to ensure adoption and long-term success. "Since implementing Blue Yonder, our in-store availability average across India and Thailand has increased to 72%, and we’ve been able to shorten product cycles, allowing us to introduce and replenish new collections more quickly.” –Barbara Franceschetto, Chief Global Product Officer, Bata Group. From complexity to clarity with one solution Bata’s transformation began with the recognition that its existing systems could not keep pace with evolving consumer trends, such as increasing e-commerce purchases. The shoe retailer sought a unified, agile platform capable of integrating merchandising, assortment, demand, and replenishment planning. The first deployment targeted India and Thailand, representing nearly a third of Bata’s global business. The implementation was complex, with over 100 people across multiple continents collaborating. Data accuracy was a central focus, as historical inconsistencies and mismatches threatened forecast reliability. Blue Yonder partner Infosys and the Blue Yonder Professional Services team worked closely with Bata to resolve these issues, implement operational enhancements, and refine workflows to boost productivity. Operational improvements—ranging from UI refinements to enhanced calculation logic—helped streamline assortment planning, and Blue Yonder Professional Services helped Infosys fill in knowledge gaps and establish best practices for Bata. Following go-live, the company and Blue Yonder shifted focus to stabilizing operations. This included establishing focused support groups, clear ownership structures, and regular cross-functional meetings. Delivering operational value and results With the Blue Yonder end-to-end planning solution, powered by Microsoft Azure, Bata has achieved an average in-store availability rate of 72% across Thailand and India post-implementation (with an 8% improvement in India between 2024-2025), ensuring customers can find the products they want when they need them. Between 2024 and 2025 there have been significant improvements for Bata. Forecast accuracy has grown by 2% in India and 9% in Thailand, enabling more precise and confident decision-making across the supply chain. This has led to inventory reductions of 13% and 29%,  and stock turn performance improvements of 15% and 31%, respectively, year on year. Blue Yonder Fulfillment and Store Insights have helped Bata match product distribution to local demand and shorten product cycles. These operational gains have delivered significant financial impact, supporting Bata’s commitment to customer satisfaction and operational excellence. “Blue Yonder’s merchandising and supply chain planning capabilities enable us to plan customer offers, forecast demand and execute more efficient inventory strategies that lead to higher availability and shorter product life cycles. With a modern platform we’re able to access a unified view of data, streamline our processes and enhance decision-making across our network.”—Barbara Franceschetto, Chief Global Product Officer, Bata Group. “Since implementing Blue Yonder, we’ve seen significant improvements,” points out Franceschetto. “In India and Thailand, our average in-store availability has increased to 72%, and we’ve been able to shorten product cycles, allowing us to introduce and replenish new collections more quickly. These early wins are just the beginning of our journey to provide the best possible offerings to our customers.” Bata now has an optimized process that supports a faster, more responsive supply chain, driving better business decisions and a more rapid, accurate response to changes in consumer demand. Bata can effectively distribute merchandise, seamlessly produce seasonal assortment plans, and build an intelligent distribution plan over time. “At Bata, we’re dedicated to providing quality footwear, and this collaboration with Blue Yonder aligns perfectly with our commitment to excellence. Together, we’re redefining our landscape, while setting new standards in innovation, sustainability and customer satisfaction,” says Franceschetto. “It has been an interesting journey. We leverage Blue Yonder to explore how we’ve been working and how we could improve. With the right team and right change management in place we’ve been able to reach the results we targeted. Technically it has been a very effective collaboration with Blue Yonder. We run the solution and by suggesting better ways to integrate them, we’re making the system even stronger and more efficient,” –Francesco Verde, Director of IT Solutions, Bata Group. Looking ahead With a successful foundation in place, Bata plans to expand its use of Blue Yonder’s solutions globally. The company views Blue Yonder not just as a technology vendor, but as a strategic partner in innovation and growth to create happy customers and improve availability. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [PFSCM’s digital transformation with Blue Yonder delivers streamlined access to a diverse range lifesaving health products](https://blueyonder.com/customers/partnership-for-supply-chain-management) > PFSCM chooses Supply Chain Command Center, powered by the Blue Yonder Network, to execute operational functions such as managing incoming client requisitions, order placement, logistics fulfilment and global logistics execution. Success Story The Partnership for Supply Chain Management (PFSCM) Supply Chain Command Center, powered by the Blue Yonder Network PFSCM’s digital transformation with Blue Yonder delivers streamlined access to a diverse range lifesaving health products 6,200+ unique SKUs and services handled on the Blue Yonder system 12,000 shipments containing 94 million products supplied since 2020 Complex laboratory devices shipped to 75 countries The company The Partnership for Supply Chain Management (PFSCM) is a procurement services agent (PSA) and 4PL services provider serving donors, governments, non-profits, and humanitarian agencies. Its health products are used to prevent, test, and treat HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, COVID-19, mpox, and address other health priorities. PFSCM offers complete sourcing, supply chain, and logistics solutions. This includes category and channel management, strategic sourcing, supply chain, and 4PL solutions, including forecasting, demand planning, product quality assurance and quality control testing, upstream and last-mile logistics, end-to-end shipment tracking, and storage and warehousing services. It helps achieve its clients’ public health goals through cost-saving procurement, efficient logistics, pharmaceutical-grade storage, and real-time data tracking in 75 low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Africa, Asia, and South America (with 90% of its volumes destined for Africa). It’s headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a main operational office in the Netherlands and access to several pharma-grade and GDP-compliant warehouses and facilities for data logger placement and re-icing. The business challenge PFSCM’s legacy systems were outdated, inflexible, and overly customized. They were not designed for integration with other systems or digital engagement with supply chain partners and were expensive to operate, enhance, and maintain. PFSCM needed to undergo digital transformation to improve supply chain visibility and streamline stakeholder collaboration. PFSCM sought a solution that could manage its operational scale, product complexity, multi‑party collaboration, and provide a better user experience for its staff. PFSCM has a product portfolio of more than 6,200 unique stock keeping units (SKUs), and associated services comprising pharmaceuticals and medical devices spanning ambient, temperature-controlled, cold-chain, and frozen products. Its products all have unique attributes that require specialized packing, storage, transportation, installation, and servicing, making every order a complex challenge. Supplying customers in LMICs presents additional challenges and physical bottlenecks. Often, in-country logistics comprises many supply chain tiers, with deliveries to central medical stores, then to regional and district stores, before reaching hospitals and health facilities. Poor quality roads, sporadic staffing levels, and demurrage penalties for delayed sea freight exacerbate the challenge. Another big challenge is unrest. Of the 75 countries it serves in 2025, at least 25 experienced a severe and disruptive hardship from natural disasters to infrastructure collapse, conflicts, and socio-political unrest. In some countries, the internet was inaccessible for long periods of time. The solution PFSCM chose Supply Chain Command Center , powered by the Blue Yonder Network, to execute operational functions such as managing incoming client requisitions, order placement, logistics fulfilment and global logistics execution. The Command Center enables digital execution of processes, and improved collaboration with suppliers and freight forwarders within the platform. The solution helps users manage their transactions, enables managers to track transaction execution, and streamlines exception handling. With Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center deployed in a public cloud, the organization now has real-time data for decision-making, performance monitoring, risk management, and continuous improvement. “Having a digital supply chain supported by Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center has enabled our many stakeholders within PFSCM’s supply chain to better understand situations that could result in risk. With increased data visibility and the right tools and partners, we’re able to save time, drive accountability among stakeholders, proactively manage issues, and always keep our finger on the pulse, ensuring risk is managed optimally. With our digital transformation, we’ve seen a huge improvement in our operational improvements whilst handling an explosion in the size of our product assortment over recent years.” –Berry de With, Product Owner and Lead ERP at PFSCM. Flexibility to embrace new business models Traditionally, PFSCM had focused on the shipment of pharmaceuticals like antiretroviral (ARV) medications, which was a straightforward procedure (around 50 SKUs), with purchase orders (POs) sent directly to a small number of vendors. But since the COVID pandemic, PFSCM has seen a massive increase in shipments of more sophisticated medical devices such as X-ray machines, which have created many additional layers of complexity in its operations, as these devices often require special shipment conditions and supporting products and services. These "lab technics products” are not only more capital-intensive devices but are also more challenging to supply. Aside from their physical delivery, they also require installation, commissioning, and training services—all of which are managed within the Blue Yonder system. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center has helped drive this transition through the digital execution of processes. It supports thousands of simultaneous orders, each containing multiple order lines, with numerous delivery schedules, across more than 6,200 SKUs. The solution can also handle separate lifecycle processes for products, warranties, maintenance, and services while keeping those flows linked to the originating order and asset records. In recent times, PFSCM also pivoted to serve as a more strategic orchestration partner to its many stakeholders. Previously, it provided straight-forward order management services—taking orders and handling POs with vendors. With the increasing focus on more complex medical devices, PFSCM needed to transition to a more ‘broker/middleman’ service offerings whereby it can orchestrate the strategic fulfilment amongst multiple parties. By handling all sales and purchase orders, PFSCM can conduct ‘strategic inventory’ for different inventory stores. This has led to improved customer service and increased options using various channels and pricing mechanisms. The system maintains a robust item master and supplier master database to ensure quality compliance, serial, and lot traceability, and to prevent non‑compliant products from entering the supply chain (chain of custody, serial/lot tracking, recalls). Digital collaboration with supply chain partners to manage transactions PFSCM uses Blue Yonder to execute all its critical operational functions, from managing incoming client requisitions to order placement and logistics execution. Importantly, Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center enables digital execution of those processes and direct collaboration with freight forwarders within the platform. It also provides native and custom-built functionality to help users manage their transactions and enables managers to track transaction execution and streamline exception handling to mitigate impact. The Blue Yonder solution ingests purchase requisitions from all types of client systems and external portals and supports quotation generation, routing, approval capture, and version control. It helps order placement with suppliers, tracks confirmations, monitors lead times, and exceptions through to fulfilment. It also helps orchestrate collaboration across suppliers, carriers, third-party logistics (3PL) services providers, and customs brokers to align pickup dates, shipping schedules, import documents, waivers, and customs clearance. This enables execution of warehousing, consolidation/deconsolidation, and last‑mile delivery to health facilities and other sites, while enabling partial/split orders and multi‑shipment handling to help optimize logistics. Ultimately, it provides a single version of the truth across planning, execution, and finance, so decisions are based on consistent, audited data. “Data integrity ensures we can make decisions based on facts. Without data, it is impossible to see where processes, transactions, or activities are getting stuck, why they are getting stuck, and how to get them unstuck. Highly interconnected supply chains require clients, suppliers, freight forwarders, and other stakeholders to perform critical roles and actions throughout each transaction’s life cycle. The Blue Yonder system has excellent integration capabilities, enabling us to connect with partners in a real-time, networked environment. This streamlines processes and drives effective data-sharing and digital collaboration, thereby ensuring transactions are executed smoothly.”— –Berry de With, Product Owner and Lead ERP at PFSCM. Faster order turnaround by smaller teams PFSCM has seen good results following the Blue Yonder deployment in 2019 (which was managed by a system integrator that later became part of digital solutions company Accenture). The organization now sees shorter lead times across all stages of its transaction lifecycle, including quotation, order placement, supplier lead time, and freight execution. Its data-driven processes result in fewer errors and exceptions. Additionally, internal efficiencies have led to lower service costs, which in turn result in savings for its customers. PFSCM is seeing the benefits of real‑time, multi‑party visibility across suppliers, carriers, distributors, and clients to surface early warnings and exceptions and reduce lead times and errors. By improving visibility and generating alerts, staff can proactively communicate with supply chain partners to ensure the smooth flow of goods. Not only does this ensure that lifesaving medication and medical devices arrive on time and cost-effectively, but it also avoids demurrage and detention penalties associated with port delays. Optimized logistics to improve efficiency PFSCM is also optimizing logistics planning. The Blue Yonder solution enables the grouping of items to improve logistics efficiency (consolidation for ocean/air freight) and the splitting of orders and shipments to match supplier readiness, transport capacity, funding windows, or recipient constraints. It also supports dynamic allocation and routing to make real‑time trade-offs between cost, speed, and risk when exceptions occur. These include load and route optimization, mode selection (road, rail, air, or sea), carrier management, cost control and freight budgeting, and regulation compliance. Planners leverage technology, including Blue Yonder and a Product Information Management (PIM) tool, to analyze data, track shipments, and make informed decisions that improve service levels and operational resilience. Logistics optimization also helps drive PFSCM’s sustainability targets by orchestrating plans to optimize loads and minimize the number of containers and shipments needed. Process improvements PFSCM has cut down the barriers to process improvement and innovation. Staff can now identify gaps related to supplier documentation and can work with suppliers to quickly upload the required data into the Blue Yonder solution. PFSCM has found that the longer staff collaborate in the digital space, the more they identify opportunities to streamline process interactions and data exchanges with suppliers and 3PLs. The Blue Yonder solution provides integration via APIs/EDI with multiple client procurement systems, supplier portals, freight forwarder platforms, customs systems, and financial systems, so information flows seamlessly across stakeholders. Clients have total flexibility: They can either be given secure access to the Blue Yonder solution or continue using their own systems and integrate with the Supply Chain Command Center via APIs. Dashboards create better exception management Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center provides true ‘control tower’ capabilities that encompass people, processes, and technology. For PFSCM’s users (two-thirds of all staff), there have been marked changes as the solution feeds into intuitive, role‑based dashboards (via Power BI) and workflows so operational staff can easily review queues, manage approvals, and act on exceptions without intensive training. The solution also enables actionable alerts, prompts, and workload views so users know what requires attention, where bottlenecks sit, and how to prioritize tasks. Management dashboards enable managers to track transaction execution, measure team workloads (regional teams), and monitor KPIs (turnaround time, fill rates, exception resolution) to sustain improved service levels and efficiencies. Compliant purchasing maintains high-quality standards PFSCM’s mission is to improve access to health products in LMICs through effective procurement and delivery of quality-assured products. PFSCM has done extensive work to create and maintain a robust framework for managing item and supplier master data to ensure all procurement complies with product quality assurance requirements. Products in the system all comply with the defined quality requirements, which is a key first step in preventing non-compliant products from entering the supply chain. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center supports various chain-of-custody solutions for serial tracking, lot tracking, tracking across consolidation and deconsolidation, IoT operations, and targeted recalls. These innovations will continue to play a critical role in ensuring product integrity and quality throughout the health supply chain. Partnership and Evolution PFSCM, Accenture and Blue Yonder partnership “Our approach to working with Accenture and Blue Yonder was to deploy the Supply Chain Command Center as the ultimate ‘go-to’ destination for users and the engine to power the organization. For this reason, it is commonly referred to as our ERP. But in the six years since the initial deployment, we have worked with Accenture to continually refine the system to add incremental value to the business, which is an ongoing initiative. The more our staff use the system, the more they can see areas where value can be created. It is a continual cycle of innovation.”—Berry de With. Secure online catalog launched In 2025, PFSCM launched a digital product catalog with a secure ordering portal to improve access to lifesaving health products for its clients. The HealthSupply Portal is connected to the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center to provide streamlined access to an extensive range of health products, simplifying procurement with intuitive search, comprehensive product information, and a secure ordering system. “In the last few years, PFSCM has become more digital and data-centric, with the deployment of new tools, including Blue Yonder, to help us incrementally improve product information management, increase transparency, and streamline processes to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. The new portal reduces the complexity of navigating our extensive portfolio of more than 6,200 specialized health products.” —Perry van Dam, PFSCM Information Technology Director. Future Plans Improved transportation management Since the initial deployment of the Blue Yonder system in 2019, PFSCM has been incrementally unlocking the value within the system to embrace new business models, logistic blueprints and best practices. Next, PFSCM plans to explore some of its advanced transportation management system (TMS) capabilities built into the application to increase the efficiency of its international freight management. It seeks to determine how TMS can help consolidate product consignments at the country of origin to promote efficiency. Summary Since the successful deployment of the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center, the solution has been used by PFSCM to deliver around 12,000 shipments (averaging 2,000 annually), totalling more than 94 million individual units. Bringing together real‑time visibility across an end-to-end network, advanced analytics, and a user‑friendly operational layer has enabled PFSCM to automate the use of accurate data to deliver shorter lead times, fewer errors, lower service costs, and better assurance of product quality for patients and end users of medical devices and other health products in LMICs. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center has helped convert transactional complexity into coordinated, data‑driven execution, enabling smaller teams to manage much larger volumes with greater reliability and transparency. “We have seen significant improvements in our operations since the deployment of the Blue Yonder Network solution, but there's still significant potential waiting to be unlocked. Once more business partners start working directly within the Blue Yonder Network, or digitally connect through integrations, we will all gain the reciprocal benefits of true real-time collaboration. The potential for momentum and economies of scale in the future is enormous.” –Berry de With, Product Owner and Lead ERP at PFSCM. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [FleetPride modernizes warehouse management operations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/fleetpride) > FleetPride needed a WMS to direct work and labor utilization related to task sequencing for pick-pack-ship and receiving. With Blue Yonder WMS, the company now has consistent, scalable warehouse operations, standardizing workflows and roles across its distribution centers. Success Story FleetPride Warehouse Management FleetPride modernizes warehouse management to meet e-commerce growth with Blue Yonder Operates a nationwide network of 325 stores and 85 service centers for aftermarket heavy-duty truck and trailer parts Standardizes roles and governance across all distribution centers Rapid execution, achieving first successful go-live in under four months The company FleetPride serves the aftermarket for heavy-duty trucks and trailers. It operates through 325 stores with 85 service centers that perform repairs, all supported by a distribution network designed to keep essential parts moving for commercial fleets. The business challenge FleetPride’s distribution centers previously ran largely on spreadsheets. Without a modern warehouse management system directing work, labor utilization was difficult to measure, processes depended on scattered internal knowledge, and task sequencing for pick-pack-ship and receiving lacked standardization, leading to inconsistent execution across each site. As e-commerce accelerated around 2020, order volumes spiked, and the company’s legacy approach could not scale or provide the traceability its leadership expected across receiving, put-away, shipping, and the end-to-end warehouse flow. These gaps put service levels and growth at risk. The solution FleetPride selected Blue Yonder Warehouse Management for its execution speed and commitment to a rapid initial deployment. The solution provides the company with consistent, scalable warehouse operations by standardizing workflows and roles across each of its five distribution centers, enabling real-time visibility and data-driven performance to increase workforce productivity and efficiency. Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team worked shoulder-to-shoulder with FleetPride operations to define, agree, and configure standard processes before go-live, resulting in a fast and successful rollout. “Implementing the Blue Yonder WMS in distribution centers has resulted in dramatic overall improvements in operational efficiency, inventory tracking, and accuracy.” –Mohit Jain, CIO, FleetPride Standardizing execution across five DCs FleetPride conducted an extensive search for a warehouse management solution that could replace its spreadsheet-driven legacy approaches to direct workflow operations across its distribution centers (DCs). The company selected Blue Yonder Warehouse Management (WMS) as its solution of choice, with the two organizations aligning collaboratively on FleetPride’s goals and vision for its operations in each of its DCs. FleetPride has standardized the Blue Yonder WMS-driven workflows across five distribution centers. Blue Yonder orchestrates core execution across the company’s warehouse operations, including receiving, put-away, picking, shipping. With consistent role definitions for shipping and receiving managers, operations managers, leads, and floor users, each facility follows the same playbook. Inventory control is similarly structured with a senior inventory leader who oversees all DCs, and each DC has an inventory controller and team, creating a common cadence for counts, adjustments, and investigations. This governance model reduces variability, streamlines training, and supports cross-site benchmarking. The effects are visible in day-to-day execution. Associates no longer rely on memory to decide the next move, as the Blue Yonder WMS sequences work and surfaces the ‘what and when,’ enabling steady new-hire ramp-up, predictable tasking for seasoned staff, and more consistent throughput. With processes codified in the system, site leaders gain control and visibility, while centralized teams gain comparable data to analyze performance and remove bottlenecks. Scaling to meet e-commerce growth As e-commerce volumes rise, FleetPride leans on the Blue Yonder WMS to scale. The move from spreadsheets to guided workflows brings discipline to receiving and put-away, ensuring items are stowed according to strategy rather than habit. On the outbound side, system-directed picking and packing helps the network absorb volatility—particularly as order profiles and mix change with digital demand. The company’s earlier challenges with traceability and throughput give way to a controlled, measurable process that leadership can analyze and improve. Blue Yonder WMS also helps FleetPride track order processing and service level agreement data and the company uses it to drive continuous improvement. The combination of standardized roles and shared metrics helps DC leaders compare like-for-like processes and identify opportunities for improvement. A rapid, low-risk cutover playbook Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team committed to an aggressive implementation timeline with FleetPride—roughly three to four months for the first deployment—and brought an experienced team onsite to co-design processes and configuration. Together, the teams adopted a two-phase operation: receive first into the new DC, then increase outbound processes in controlled waves. Running the legacy and new DC in parallel protected customer service, and training and change management were planned into the sequence, so users arrived at go-live with hands-on practice in the new process flows. The result was a successful first implementation that met the timing imperative and set the template for the company’s other DCs. Building leadership visibility Beyond floor execution, FleetPride’s leaders wanted near-real-time insight without heavy data wrangling. Today, teams pull operational data from the Blue Yonder WMS into reporting tools, track KPIs, and share them on daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms. Looking forward, FleetPride predicts increased native reporting in the solution so that leadership can see the same truths with fewer manual steps. The company is already standardizing how roles and responsibilities show up in the Blue Yonder WMS with richer built-in dashboards that would compound those gains. Looking ahead: extending coverage and deepening value FleetPride plans to expand locations as the business grows and to ensure every area of every DC runs on the Blue Yonder WMS, eliminating islands of manual work, such as overflow zones. Cleaning up pain points like small-parcel shipping inside the Blue Yonder WMS stack is imperative, and natively integrating parcel services natively would simplify workforce training and support. FleetPride is looking to explore AI with a clear lens: investment only where use cases create real productivity or top-line impact. A joint exploration of AI agents and embedded intelligence is next, with both teams committed to identifying where these capabilities deliver operational lift in the warehouse and beyond. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Hachette UK Distribution sees 30% growth from new scalable operation with Blue Yonder and ModernLogic](https://blueyonder.com/customers/hachette-uk-distribution) > Hachette UK Distribution provides leading-edge fulfilment and warehousing services to over 30 book publishers across the UK. It chose to replace its two legacy distribution centers with a purpose-built, automated super site where it deployed Blue Yonder WMS, using the expert services of Blue Yonder partner ModernLogic. Hatchette saw a 30% increase in volumes at its new site and the WMS now handles around 140,000 SKUs, about 80 million items a year. Success Story Hachette UK Distribution Warehouse Management System Hachette UK Distribution sees 30% growth from new scalable operation with Blue Yonder and ModernLogic Blue Yonder WMS provides a close fit for book distribution WMS handles c.140,000 SKUs (80 million items dispatched pa) Cost reductions, improved customer service, and reduced environmental impact from consolidated orders The company Hachette UK Distribution is the logistics arm of London-based Hachette UK, serving both Hachette’s own publishers and other publishing clients across the UK. It provides leading-edge fulfilment and warehousing services to over 30 publishers, specializing in a wide variety of sectors including trade, illustrated, educational, academic, professional, and children’s books. Annually, the organization moves 80 million books to shops, online retailers, schools, and libraries, handling everything from a single copy for a customer to large bulk orders for major retailers quickly and reliably. The business challenge Hachette had two legacy sites nearing lease end; aging IT systems and a growing need to consolidate shipments to reduce cost, improve customer service, and achieve sustainability gains. The solution Hachette UK Distribution chose to replace its two legacy distribution centers with a purpose-built, automated super site. The publisher decided to deploy Blue Yonder WMS without modifications keeping it as close to standard product as possible--avoiding the trap of heavy customization, protect upgrade paths, and keep costs predictable. “Hachette holds a vast catalogue and faces unpredictable order volumes, however the Blue Yonder WMS is up to the challenge as it handles around 140,000 SKUs, about 80 million items. Any one of them can sell on any day. The order profile is complex because it can be one book, 50 titles, 100 books, or 10,000. It’s whatever gets ordered that day.” –Marc Travers, Director of Operations at Hachette UK Distribution. From ageing systems to a single automated super site The technology holding Hachette’s two legacy distribution centers together had long outlived its usefulness. “We had ageing infrastructure, both software and hardware. We had, basically, a publishing software system that evolved into a warehouse management system. It was probably designed in about 1970.” In replacing this software, the strategic aim was straightforward: consolidate operations to reduce costs, improve the customer experience, and cut waste. “One of the key deliverables was consolidation. You’re then shipping a single box instead of two. From an environmental point of view, from a cost point of view, and from a customer service point of view, you’re improving on every front.” The new state-of-the-art facility was built at the Hely Hutchinson Centre (HHC) in Didcot, Oxfordshire—the largest single investment in the history of the UK book distribution industry. “One of the big drivers for the new super site was bringing in automation we’d never worked with before. We selected SAP for order-to-cash, Blue Yonder for WMS, and TGW for the WCS. The physical build had to match our order profile–it became the highest order-picking solution in Europe by weight.” Blue Yonder WMS configured for book distribution. “At the time, it was out-of-the-box Blue Yonder. You can take it off the shelf, and it works. We didn’t want to move away from that because otherwise, you end up in the same situation we had before, where you can never patch it, never upgrade it, and pay a fortune to develop it.” But a system built for general warehouses still needed tuning for the quirks of book distribution. That’s where Blue Yonder partner ModernLogic came in. “What I’d found difficult with previous partners was that it didn’t matter what we said–they’d tell us to change our process to fit the system. ModernLogic listened to how we worked and then helped design a solution together.” The difference showed in both pace and quality. “We saw a much better success rate on deployments. And the fix-forward approach was another big one–you weren’t backing things out; you were moving forward.” Vast catalogue and volatile orders test the WMS daily If the build was ambitious, the daily operation is even tougher. Hachette holds an enormous catalogue of 140,000 SKUs and faces unpredictable order volumes–which is handled well by the WMS. Keeping that flow smooth required constant refinement. Post go-live, the team focused on tightening processes, removing friction, and making sure fixes stuck. Stabilisation delivered 30% growth and smarter change Once the new site and systems were bedded in, around 30% growth in volume of shipments followed quickly. That growth was fuelled by stabilization and ongoing optimization. But for Hachette and ModernLogic, the focus was not just on fixing problems; it was on creating a model for continuous improvement that did not pile on unnecessary cost. “How do we work together to streamline the cost from both businesses, to ensure we can continue the improvements and the growth without there being a huge bill on the back of it?” The answer came in the form of collaboration. Building a centre of excellence on a true partnership The difference with ModernLogic has always been cultural as much as technical. “I’d like to thank ModernLogic for their patience, for listening to what we’re doing and committing to being a partner, not just a supplier. Because we built the partner relationship, that’s key. We’re partners, and we’ve done it together.” That mindset now underpins Hachette’s ambitions for the future. “I want this to be a center of excellence for supply chain,” Marc explained. The goal is to keep building capability, develop people, and draw on ModernLogic’s expertise when it counts.” Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [PepsiCo Latin America achieves 10-15% fleet efficiency gains with Blue Yonder Sidebar Callouts](https://blueyonder.com/customers/pepsico-latin-america) > PepsiCo Latin America modernizes its supply chain using Blue Yonder, enhancing visibility, agility, and sustainability for a resilient, efficient logistics network. Success Story PepsiCo Latin America Blue Yonder Network, Supply Chain Command Center PepsiCo Latin America achieves 10-15% fleet efficiency gains with Blue Yonder 8–10% savings in transportation spend 5–10% reduction in inventory 70% proof-of-delivery compliance The company PepsiCo in Latin America is one of the region’s leading food and beverage manufacturers, operating in 34 countries with over 40 production plants, and employing more than 80,000 people. Its $11.7 billion enterprise spans global brands like Pepsi, Lay’s, Quaker, and Doritos, as well as local staples such as Gamesa and Torix. The business challenge PepsiCo Latin America faced growing volatility on several fronts, including demand fluctuations, supply disruptions, increasing freight costs, unpredictable carriers, and limited data visibility. Manual processes and disconnected systems hindered collaboration and slowed decision-making, limiting the ability to respond in real time. The company decided to undergo a digital transformation to build a supply chain with a truly connected ecosystem. The solution PepsiCo Latin America implemented the Blue Yonder Network to orchestrate planning and execution across its supply chain. By integrating control towers for end-to-end visibility, the company was able to accelerate decision-making, optimize logistics, reduce emissions, improve fleet utilization, and deepen collaboration across regional partners. “I feel incredibly proud of how we are leveraging the Blue Yonder Network. The benefits of creating a smarter, more efficient logistics environment and a stronger supply chain go far beyond PepsiCo—they make a positive impact on the broader world we all live in. This is a win for everyone.” –Rapha Cylon, VP, Strategy and Transformation, Transportation and Fleet, PepsiCo Blueprint for a digital supply chain PepsiCo Latin America identified an opportunity to modernize its supply chain by connecting people, processes, and technology through next-generation control towers—laying the foundation for a smarter, orchestrated supply chain via the Supply Chain Command Center. To prepare for this shift, the company developed a strategic blueprint centered on scalable infrastructure, effective change management, and organizational maturity. This strategic clarity marked a pivotal phase in PepsiCo Latin America’s digital journey, with a sharpened focus on supply chain operations. Anchored in control tower capabilities that span planning and execution, this evolution is driven by the Supply Chain Command Center and powered by the Blue Yonder Network. It has laid the groundwork for a more intelligent and responsive logistics network spanning PepsiCo Latin America’s regional footprint. The Blue Yonder solution has enabled PepsiCo Latin America to accelerate its modernization efforts by eliminating manual reconciliation, increasing real-time visibility, and deploying standardized tools across its regional operations. These efforts have increased consistency across technology, processes, and data quality—driving more agile, insight-led decisions across markets. With this infrastructure in place and Blue Yonder as a strategic partner, PepsiCo Latin America is equipped to navigate complexity and lead confidently in a rapidly evolving global supply chain landscape. Connected visibility powers a resilient supply chain The Blue Yonder Network connects PepsiCo Latin America’s systems, shipments, and assets in real time—enabling smarter decision-making, proactive exception management, and seamless collaboration throughout the logistics ecosystem. As a result, PepsiCo Latin America has accelerated flow and reduced turnaround times—strengthening cost control and building greater supply chain resilience. “Some believe that because we can track trucks, their movements, and routes across the regions, that covers everything that needs to be managed. But that isn’t the case. While we created the tracking ability, our focus is also on managing exceptions—situations that don’t go according to plan. With this level of insight, teams can address issues on the spot, reroute shipments when needed, and respond swiftly to disruptions,” said Cylon. “The Blue Yonder Network manages exceptions and empowers everyone to improve our ecosystem. It’s like turning logistics noise into music. PepsiCo Latin America’s logistics are now orchestrated like a symphony, all working together.” Integrated planning enhances forecast accuracy and operational agility Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Command Center capabilities have enabled PepsiCo Latin America to integrate external variables such as weather patterns, market demand signals, supplier lead times, and transportation constraints into its planning process. This drives stronger forecast accuracy and better alignment across functions. From inventory staging to manufacturing and warehouse capacity management, planning is now faster, more precise, and cost-efficient, resulting in better resource allocation throughout the network. As a result, PepsiCo Latin America now has a more agile and resilient supply chain—one that can respond to new information in real-time and adapt quickly to changing conditions. By strategically positioning inventory and refocusing efforts where they matter most, the company can effectively manage contingencies and capitalize on emerging opportunities with greater confidence. Smarter fleet planning drives efficiency and sustainability The Blue Yonder Network also helps unlock new levels of performance and sustainability across PepsiCo Latin America’s transportation network. Using Supply Chain Command Center, a key area of improvement has been fleet efficiency, with vehicle capacity and asset utilization improving throughout its regions—ensuring trucks run fuller and more consistently. Given the company’s diverse product portfolio—where snacks require high-volume lightweight transport and drinks demand heavier, denser shipping solutions—optimizing both trailer space and weight capacity is essential. Through its use of the Supply Chain Command Center, PepsiCo Latin America is optimizing fleet and load configurations, boosting vehicle efficiency by 10–15%, reducing dwell time, and improving operational cost-effectiveness. These improvements have translated into meaningful environmental impact. PepsiCo Latin America has reduced the number of vehicles on the road, lowered engine idle time, and cut emissions. Resources are now deployed more strategically at every stage of the logistics chain—making transportation not only faster, but cleaner. Orchestrating end-to-end transportation with the Blue Yonder Network With 1.1 million loads annually, PepsiCo Latin America faced a complex transportation framework. The company needed a more agile, data-driven approach to optimize operations and strengthen collaboration with transportation partners. Its goals included cost control, smarter procurement, faster rate development, and more responsive logistics from planning to execution. Building on its fleet optimization efforts, the company extended its transformation into transportation management—digitizing workflows throughout a vast and complex logistics network. Leveraging the capabilities of the Supply Chain Command Center, PepsiCo Latin America has enhanced its ability to monitor, manage, plan, and execute transportation activities across its extensive network of partners. The solution provides a centralized, real-time view of transportation operations, enabling streamlined execution and more responsive logistics across both inbound and outbound flows. This connected view helps prevent delays, missed deliveries, and inefficiencies that could disrupt service or increase costs. It has also helped streamline procurement, centralize bid management, and accelerate rate deployment—delivering cost savings and improved execution. Beyond cost control, digitization is helping PepsiCo Latin America foster closer connections with its logistics partners, delivering tailored data and real-time messages to strengthen collaboration and improve responsiveness. The solution also alerts the company to disruptions and provides AI-based recommendations to resolve issues. Logistics transformation rooted in people and data PepsiCo Latin America has already achieved notable outcomes, including 8–10% savings in transportation spend, a 15% reduction in demurrage charges, a 5–10% reduction in inventory, a 1–2% increase in customer fill rates, and 70% proof-of-delivery compliance. This transformation has strengthened PepsiCo Latin America’s commitment to building a more connected and people-centered logistics culture. Continuing its vision to unify systems and empower teams, the company has made real-time responsiveness and data-driven decision-making core to its logistics approach. Empowering drivers to flag issues via mobile platforms and equipping regional teams with timely data are among the practices reshaping how the company manages logistics at every level. Scaling success: from regional gains to global ambitions The Blue Yonder Network has strengthened coordination among plants, suppliers, and partners, enabling deeper collaboration with local vendors and helping to eliminate inefficiencies throughout the supply chain. Adoption has been strong, and the results speak for themselves. The impact of PepsiCo Latin America’s supply chain transformation is gaining global momentum. “The PepsiCo Latin America success story is now expanding globally, starting with Saudi Arabia and supported by capability centers in Cairo, to be followed by Europe and North America,” said Cylon. With a proven, scalable Supply Chain Command Center model in motion, PepsiCo is applying its control tower methodology and partner-driven orchestration to build a unified, resilient logistics ecosystem—ready for whatever the world has in store next. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [SiteOne Landscape Supply transforms forecasting and order management by achieving 97% in-stock rate with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/siteone-landscape-supply) > Learn how Blue Yonder has become the foundation for SiteOne Landscape Supply's forecasting and order management processes Success Story SiteOne Landscape Supply Demand Planning, Fulfillment, Order Optimization SiteOne Landscape Supply transforms forecasting and order management by achieving 97% in-stock rate with Blue Yonder 680+ locations Improved demand forecasting accuracy Enhanced replenishment planning and inventory optimization across organization The company SiteOne Landscape Supply is the largest national distributor of landscaping products across the United States and Canada focused on serving green industry professionals. Through an extensive North American network, SiteOne offers a selection of over 170,000 SKUs across categories such as irrigation, outdoor lighting, agronomic maintenance, nursery, hardscapes and bulk materials. SiteOne has grown to $4.5B in revenue through solid organic growth coupled with a robust acquisition strategy. The business challenge SiteOne came about in 2016 and was at the cusp of significant growth, coupled with a supply chain transformation to support their future strategy. At the time, the company relied on a home grown enterprise system for its demand planning and replenishment operations. The platform lacked the core functionality required for forecasting and replenishment of highly seasonal and stochastic products, along with the capabilities required to support complex distribution and global import networks. With the tools available to the company, SiteOne relied on many resources to attempt to forecast hundreds of thousands of items on a monthly basis. In short, the platform available was not conducive to the product availability SiteOne leaders had in mind to support their customer’s needs or the financial objectives related to working capital. The solution SiteOne uses numerous Blue Yonder solutions, including Demand Planning , Fulfillment , and Order Optimization capabilities. Together, these solutions have modernized forecasting, replenishment, and inventory management across the enterprise. Blue Yonder Demand Planning has become the foundation of the process, generating statistical forecasts across all product categories and branches, and has given hundreds of hours back to customer facing associates in the process. Blue Yonder Fulfillment has transformed how inventory is distributed throughout SiteOne’s network, as the solution enables planners to use the demand plan as a baseline for managing distribution requirements planning (DRP), considering factors such as case and pallet quantities, vendor minimums, and lead times. Meanwhile, Blue Yonder Order Optimization has helped establish robust safety stock policies and purchasing efficiency. “Moving away from intuition-based decision towards data-driven forecasting has resulted in 97% in-stock rates, which would not be achievable without Blue Yonder.” –Greg Kidwell, Senior Supply Chain Systems Manager, SiteOne Landscape Supply Pivoting to unified decision-making As SiteOne’s business scaled rapidly, operational complexity grew in tandem. Managing product demand, optimizing inventory, and ensuring timely replenishment across hundreds of branches became increasingly challenging. The absence of world class technology and automation led to inefficiencies across multiple operational areas: Inventory replenishment was reactive across many core items rather than predictive, creating imbalances and service issues between branches Procurement teams faced difficulties aligning orders with vendor requirements or truckload efficiencies Branch managers spent excessive time manually analyzing data, leaving less capacity for customer facing activities To sustain reliable service and maintain customer satisfaction, the company needed a unified planning and forecasting system capable of handling its growing network and diverse product portfolio. “There was no easy way to forecast demand or plan replenishment across the network. The functionality simply did not exist in the system we had before Blue Yonder,” says Kidwell. Measurable and meaningful impact across the organization Blue Yonder’s solutions have provided SiteOne with end-to-end visibility and control over its supply chain operations. Forecasting and fulfillment became standardized processes rather than fragmented, manual exercises. This systemized approach allows planners to move away from intuition-based decisions and toward data-driven forecasting supported by advanced analytics. The most significant measurable outcome has been a 97% in-stock rate, a performance level that the company attributes directly to the capabilities of Blue Yonder. Blue Yonder Dynamic Deployment helps rebalance the company’s inventory between its branch locations and distribution centers, while Blue Yonder Order Optimization has ensured that replenishment orders are aligned with truckload sizes or targeted dollar amounts, optimizing procurement from both store-level and DC-level perspectives. “Blue Yonder Order Optimization is what we use to make sure we’re balancing out safety stock needs against what the system is telling us to order. It helps us optimize truckloads and vendor orders while keeping availability high,” says Kidwell. Although the organization is still refining its measurement framework and expanding its analytics capabilities, the operational improvements are evident across multiple dimensions: Forecasting accuracy : Enhanced statistical models and automated forecasting processes have improved visibility into product demand across regions and categories. Procurement efficiency : Automated order generation and load optimization have reduced overordering while maintaining service levels. Planning productivity : Planners now spend less time manually adjusting forecasts and more time analyzing business drivers, seasonal trends, and vendor performance. Together, these results have created a more responsive, data-driven supply chain that aligns planning decisions with real-time business needs. Evolving the supply chain for the future With the foundational Blue Yonder solutions firmly established, SiteOne is focused on advancing to the next phase of its supply chain transformation. The company is exploring how to integrate additional layers of intelligence, collaboration, and automation into its planning ecosystem. In addition to process expansion, the company is evaluating new Blue Yonder capabilities, including AI-driven planning forecasting. “Our focus is on moving planners away from constantly managing forecast exceptions and trend breaks and towards understanding the inputs that shape demand — like market intelligence and category feedback. This evolution will aim to strengthen both forecast reliability and planner efficiency,” says Kidwell. SiteOne Landscape Supply’s adoption of Blue Yonder solutions represents a decisive step toward modern, intelligent supply chain management. By unifying forecasting, inventory replenishment, and procurement processes, the company has achieved both operational stability and scalability across a rapidly expanding network. As SiteOne continues to evolve its planning capabilities, the collaboration with Blue Yonder is enabling new levels of efficiency, insight, and responsiveness—setting the stage for sustained growth and customer satisfaction across the landscape supply industry. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Shell enhances store-level operations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/shell) > About 33 million consumers shop at 47,000 Shell locations around the world buying petrol, diesel, gas, LNG, or use hydrogen stations or charging points on Shell forecourts. They can also use the adjoining Shell Cafés. Shell in Slovakia and Czech Republic have enhanced the usability and mobility of its Blue Yonder Store Execution system. As a result store managers can engage more actively with staff and focus on elevating customer experience, rather than being tied to back-office PCs. Success Story Shell Store Execution Shell enhances store-level operations with Blue Yonder Mobile access - supports store management flexibility Better forecasting, replenishment, and reduced stockouts Cloud deployment enables scalable and responsive software performance The company Every day, about 33 million consumers shop at 47,000 Shell locations around the world. Consumers can access Shell’s petrol, diesel, gas, LNG, and hydrogen stations or charging points on Shell forecourts. They can also enjoy a coffee, snack, or fresh sandwich from the adjoining Shell Café. The business challenge Shell in Slovakia and Czech Republic identified opportunities to enhance the usability and mobility of its previous Blue Yonder Store Execution system. While the previous version was robust and rich in data, Blue Yonder worked closely with Shell to optimize the interface and functionality—making the system more intuitive, mobile-friendly, and accessible directly from the shop floor. These enhancements allowed store managers to engage more actively with staff and focus on elevating customer experience, rather than being tied to back-office PCs. The solution Shell worked with Blue Yonder to develop a new mobile component to the system which allows site managers to do more, intuitive-based work with less training. Now they can spend more time out on the store shop than in the back office. Store Execution, which is powered by Microsoft Azure, is used to forecast demand, order products, optimize store inventory, capture and manage point-of-sale data, and accomplish back-office accounting tasks. “Shell is committed to improving store-level operations to better respond to changing conditions and customer needs. With mobile access to Store Execution, our teams can work more flexibly, make informed decisions, and maintain high service standards.” –Daria Osanchuk, Information Digital Technology Manager, Central and Eastern Europe, Shell Mobility Streamlined store operations Managing daily store activities involves balancing multiple responsibilities. Shell has adopted Blue Yonder’s mobile solution across Slovakia and the Czech Republic to support tasks such as forecasting, ordering, replenishment, and accounting. This approach helps site managers stay focused on customer service and store performance. Smarter inventory and replenishment Today, Shell is benefitting from the improved capabilities of Store Execution—Blue Yonder’s SaaS solution for convenience retailers—to automate the daily activities of forecasting, ordering, replenishment, and inventory placement. The retailer is also leveraging real-time cash, items, and price management functionality to keep stores running efficiently. Powerful reporting and analytics keep Shell on track to optimize ordering, minimize inventory investments, enhance service and availability, and increase sales by reducing stockouts. Powered by Microsoft Azure From an IT standpoint, Store Execution—delivered on the Microsoft Azure platform—can contribute to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). Shell benefits from faster upgrades and improved connectivity, which helps stores stay responsive and efficient. Using the latest mobile technology from Blue Yonder from automated forecasting, ordering, and replenishment to fast, accurate inventory execution, Shell continues to improve service quality and item availability, while enhancing operational efficiency and managing inventory investments effectively. https://www.shell.com/investors/disclaimer-and-cautionary-note.html Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Noatum Logistics transforms warehousing operations with Blue Yonder and ModernLogic](https://blueyonder.com/customers/noatum-logistics) > Noatum Logistics, a global integrated logistics company, needed to swiftly expand and innovate its logistics operations in the UK. Working with Blue Yonder partner ModernLogic, it deployed Blue Yonder WMS at two new UK sites. The successful deployment of WMS has led to greater capacity handling and a reduced dependency on manual labor. Success Story Noatum Logistics Warehouse Management Noatum Logistics transforms warehousing operations with Blue Yonder and ModernLogic Enhanced warehouse efficiency Warehouse Management integration with robotics for greater automation Improvements in operational capacity handling The company Noatum Logistics is a global integrated logistics company offering customized, value-added solutions across a broad spectrum of services, including freight management, international supply chain management, contract logistics, project logistics, and customs and trade compliance. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and with over 2,600 professionals, the company provides end-to-end worldwide supply chain support. The business challenge Noatum Logistics needed to swiftly expand and innovate its logistics operations in the UK to capitalize on opportunities presented by the growth of e-commerce in the wake of the pandemic. Its old-fashioned warehouse was operated on a manual paper-based system which was very labor-intensive. There was no warehouse management system and this often led to manual errors. The solution Noatum Logistics decided to modernize and construct two new warehouses to capitalize on market demands. The first major step was the construction of a 380,000 square-foot warehouse in London Medway. This included the implementation of advanced systems such as conveyors, pick-to-light technology, and robotics. Noatum adopted Blue Yonder’s warehouse management system (WMS) through Blue Yonder partner ModernLogic. Soon after, Noatum Logistics opened another new 530,000 square feet warehouse in Biggleswade to serve a new retail customer, which also required advanced technological integration. The deployment of WMS has led to greater capacity handling and a reduced dependency on manual labor. “The successful launch of two new UK warehouses, fully equipped with advanced technologies, has enabled us to enhance efficiency significantly. By addressing labor availability challenges through automation, we’ve been able to support our staff effectively and increase overall productivity. This not only met the accelerated demands of our existing customers but also attracted new clients by offering localized UK distribution and a superior level of service.” –Steve Hicks, Logistics Director at Noatum Logistics Achieving operational excellence and customer satisfaction through automation To meet its growing customer demand, Noatum Logistics built two new state-of-the-art UK warehouses. Blue Yonder partner, ModernLogic, supported the company through the configuration of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management across both operations with seamless integration to the sites’ automation facilities. A key element of this collaboration was reviewing operational processes to enhance team efficiency. Recognizing the challenges of labor availability and high costs in the UK, the integration of automation became a priority. Conveyors and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) were included in the scope to support staff in their day-to-day tasks, ultimately enabling Noatum Logistics to offer a best-in-class operation for its customers. ModernLogic configured Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to work seamlessly with conveyors, inline weighing systems, labeling, and printing solutions. The Blue Yonder partner also helped with the implementation of Locus Robotics for put-away and picking operations directly from the conveyors. The successful launch of both the London Medway and Biggleswade warehouses, fully equipped with advanced technologies, allowed Noatum Logistics to enhance efficiency significantly. The integration of automation and a robust WMS led to improvements in operational capacity handling and reduced dependency on manual labor. By addressing labor availability challenges through automation, Noatum Logistics was able to support its staff effectively and increase overall productivity. This not only met the accelerated demands of its online customers but also attracted new clients and strengthened existing relationships by offering localized UK distribution and a superior level of service. By successfully implementing advanced Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solutions and automation technologies, ModernLogic has helped transform Noatum Logistics’ operations to meet the evolving demands of a rapidly changing market. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Micron, one of the world's largest producers of semiconductors, achieves best in class planning accuracy with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/micron) > Learn how Micron tackled extreme cyclical demand volatility, long lead times, materials shortages and multinational operations, and was able to balance inventory levels, customer service and costs with Blue Yonder. Success Story Micron Supply Planning, Order Promiser Micron achieves planning excellence with Blue Yonder Increased fill rate by 4% in one day after go-live Achieved best in class accuracy with 5% improvement in original promise date (OPD) Reached best in class accuracy for entitled customer request date (eCRD) with a 25% increase in performance The company Micron is the world’s fourth largest producer of semiconductors, with average annual revenues of around $25 billion since 2021. As a public company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, its operations span 17 countries and include 11 manufacturing sites, 12 customer labs, and 20 design centers. With 56,000 patents, Micron’s semiconductor solutions are found in smart watches, tablets, PCs, desk top computers, data centers, and smart automobiles. It is currently experiencing significant growth due to global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) server memory in 5G data centers and high bandwidth memory (HBM) solutions. The business challenge Faced with extreme cyclical demand volatility, long lead times, materials shortages and multinational operations, Micron’s supply chain planners were challenged to balance inventory levels, customer service and costs. They had to move from a “push-based” long-term planning model and transition to “pull-based,” demand-driven supply planning, strategic allocation, and order promising. Micron also needed to replan dynamically as conditions changed. This required an investment in people, processes, and technology. The solution Micron implemented Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution to accelerate and optimize its end-to-end planning process, manage constraints, identify exceptions, and run simulations to resolve them. This ensured that capacity, raw materials, and other resources are aligned with near real-time demand, balancing costs, service levels, and sustainability objectives. Micron has also implemented Blue Yonder Order Promiser to ensure that supply was strategically and profitably allocated to customers worldwide. “Micron is pleased with the performance of our Blue Yonder solutions, and how they’ve brought innovation into our planning processes, and we reap the benefits every day. We couldn’t ask for more from our partnership and they are very receptive to our ideas for innovations, for instance, we think AI can make a real impact in the future, taking us towards a more ‘lights off’ scenario where problems get identified and fixed automatically. We truly have a super-powered supply chain and with that we are now rated as preferred vendor for most of our high-tech customers.” –Gaurav Tyagi, Director, Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Micron How Micron transformed its supply chain planning with Blue Yonder Micron operates in a very complex, manufacturing-based industry where demand changes quickly and products must move across the world just as fast. This means the company needs to make a series of complex decisions about what wafers to produce, where they will be produced, then tested, and where they will be promised. Adding to this complexity are silicon supply shortages, production constraints, high transportation costs, environmental concerns, and disruptions such as political escalations, extreme weather, and natural disasters. Dynamic planning increases fill rates by 4% and streamlined consumption of excess inventory on day 1 With Blue Yonder, Micron transformed its processes from a long-term planning horizon and high levels of buffer inventory to daily planning, dynamic inventory movements, and rapid production shifts. On the first day of implementation of Supply Planning, Micron increased its fill rates by 4% and quickly repurposed excess inventory to support it. Optimized planning leads to best in class customer conformance metrics Blue Yonder Order Promiser helps the company strategically allocate scarce inventory to high-priority customers to provide them with a commitment and then internally track the churn based on four criteria: frequency, consistency, magnitude, and stability. The solution’s optimization engine ensures that inventory is accurately and profitably promised and can be delivered on time. Order Promiser has helped Micron achieve best in class customer conformance metrics, where original promise date (OPD) performance went up by 5% and entitled customer request date (eCRD) performance went up by 25%. Consequently, Micron has become preferred vendor for an additional 45% of its customers. Increasing accountability to people and the planet with data and generative AI Blue Yonder’s cloud-based solutions have made Micron’s worldwide supply chain more agile, more adaptable, and more aligned with demand. They help drive its sales and operations planning (S&OP) processes with autonomous, data-driven decisions that maximize service, while minimizing costs and the distances traveled by products. Micron is actively co-innovating with Blue Yonder on generative artificial intelligence use cases for supply chain planning. The focus is on how generative AI can assist human decision making and, in some cases, automate resolutions to improve planner experience and increase the ability to react to market shifts as they happen. “We need to be accountable to the planet and to our own associates, so by deploying effective processes, we make sure their work life balance is intact. Working with Blue Yonder, while generating our master production schedule, we have an objective to minimize the miles traveled by our chips. As much as possible a chip is planned to get assembled, tested, packaged, and shipped from a single physical location. Earlier chips were moving across geographies for different manufacturing stages, for example from Malaysia to China, from China to Singapore, and from Singapore to Taiwan. With Blue Yonder Supply Planning, we create more stable and vertically integrated plans and save a lot of carbon emissions,” says Tyagi. Micron has become a supplier of choice in the competitive global semiconductor industry, thanks in part to its adoption of advanced technology and dynamic planning practices. Learn more about Micron and Blue Yonder below Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Constellation Brands sees 6% growth in category sales, increased availability and decreased stock-outs](https://blueyonder.com/customers/constellation-brands) > Category Management solutions from Blue Yonder help Constellation Brands take a customer-centric approach to their business. With forward-looking insights and predictive analytics, they now have a better understanding of future demand to get the right product on the right shelf, at the right store, to meet the evolving needs of consumers. Success Story Constellation Brands Floor Planning Constellation Brands takes a spirited approach to category management Up to 6% growth in category sales Increased availability and decreased stock-outs Incorporates predictive analytics to anticipate longer-term sales trends The company With annual revenues of $8 billion, Constellation Brands is a leading producer, marketer and manufacturer of beer, wine and spirits. The 100-plus brands in its portfolio include Corona Extra, Robert Mondavi and Svedka. The business challenge As retailers expanded the number of brands and SKUs they offer in stores, Constellation Brands needed to maximize its category item impact on shelf. Yet it was relying on historical data in a fast-moving market. The solution Constellation Brands partnered with Blue Yonder to incorporate forward-looking data and predictive analytics into its space plans, to support growth and maximize the value of assortment over the longer term. “Constellation Brands has built its business around looking at the needs of the consumer, and understanding those needs from our retailer customer’s perspective. Our goal is to go beyond a myopic focus on the category and instead focus on customer solutions that truly add value. Our Blue Yonder solutions bring that commitment to life.” –Trent McKinster, Senior Director, Assortment and Space Forming retailer partnerships based on trust “Retailers want transparency, and they want objectivity. They want to know that they can trust us and our data. With the Blue Yonder category management solutions, we’re able to provide a factual basis to show the real value we’re adding – and demonstrate how we arrived at our plans. Our retail partners can see exactly how we will both achieve success moving forward.” From a historical perspective to a forward-looking view “In the past, our plans were based on historical sales data. But in fast-moving categories like beer, wine and spirits, that’s not enough. By the time the shelves are set, demand has likely already changed. Blue Yonder enables us to leverage predictive analytics and modeling to forecast future demand movements and anticipate new consumer needs.” Planning for very diverse product assortments “Our product lines are large and diverse. Blue Yonder helps us rationalize our local assortments and determine which items add the most value. We can eliminate redundancies, focus on high-velocity and highly incremental SKUs, and take other actions that increase shelf productivity.” Solution benefits Expanded product categories and ranges, along with fast-moving consumer trends, mean that retailers need to constantly rationalize category SKUs. Space and floor planning solutions from Blue Yonder help Constellation Brands get the right product on the right shelf, at the right store, to meet the evolving needs of consumers. Instead of relying solely on an analysis of historic sales data, Constellation Brands can incorporate forward-looking, granular insights and predictive analytics to anticipate longer-term sales trends. Integrated category management solutions from Blue Yonder enhance visibility and collaboration, from planning through execution in the store, to support stronger partnerships with retailers and suppliers. “We selected category management solutions from Blue Yonder to maximize transparency and visibility when making critical item decisions. Compared to other space planning solutions, Blue Yonder allowed us to include more fields –over 50 descriptions–with more robust detail to allow for more impactful and accurate decision-making with our retail partners.” –Trent McKinster, Senior Director, Assortment and Space Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Tallink keeps pricing and revenue ship shape](https://blueyonder.com/customers/tallink) > Tallink, the Baltic Sea region’s leading provider of premium mini-cruise and passenger transport services. With travelers searching for the best cost and value online, it’s critical for pricing to evolve in real-time with market conditions. But the abundance of last-minute travel bookings makes it difficult to make effective pricing decisions without an automated revenue management system. Tallink selected Blue Yonder for this task and experienced up to 8% improvement in utilization. Success Story Tallink Revenue and Price Optimizer Tallink keeps pricing and revenue ship shape Increased utilization by up to 8% Maximized ability to shape demand through optimized pricing Positioned to better manage staffing, replenishment and supply chain requirements with deeper visibility into demand insights The company Tallink Grupp (Tallink), the Baltic Sea region’s leading provider of premium mini-cruise and passenger transport services, is continually innovating to keep pace with growing customer demand and business expansion through automation. With on-board purchases becoming Tallink’s largest revenue stream, it became critical to take ancillary revenues into account, in addition to ticket revenues, when supporting pricing policies and revenue decisions. Tallink and Blue Yonder partnered to consider on-board revenues in the optimization process to maximize the total contribution from all customers. The business challenge With on-board purchases becoming the largest revenue stream, Tallink needed an automated pricing and revenue management solution that optimized all revenue streams concurrently. An abundance of last-minute online travel bookings made it difficult for Tallink to make effective pricing decisions. The solution Tallink felt that automation of pricing decisions would free them to focus on new trends that could boost revenue. “Tallink is a fast-growing business and its online bookings are similarly rapidly increasing. With travelers searching for the best cost and value online, it’s critical for pricing of our fares to evolve in real-time with market conditions. But the abundance of last-minute travel bookings makes it difficult to make effective pricing decisions without an automated revenue management system. That’s where we looked to Blue Yonder for help.” –Head of Revenue Management, Tallink Managing the incoming tide With the Blue Yonder solution, Tallink can prioritize everyday work to focus on the most important issues and revenue opportunities. The solution’s flexible business rules enable Tallink to keep departures selling as expected while focusing instead on new trends that need more attention to boost revenues. Since implementation, Tallink has seen increases in passenger numbers and revenues, improving utilization by up to 8%. The company has been able to make transformative progress and redefine their customer experience, also benefiting from an uptick in demand forecast accuracy. Solution benefits Improved utilization, increasing the number of passengers by up to 8% on managed departures. Improvement in demand forecast accuracy, transforming the business to act proactively. Positioned to better manage staffing, replenishment and supply chain requirements with deeper visibility into demand insights. Maximized Tallink’s ability to shape demand through targeted, optimized pricing by targeting users with active changes in the market. “With Blue Yonder, Tallink has modernized our approach, allowing us to accelerate productivity and support customers online, on-board, everywhere.” –Head of Revenue Management, Tallink Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Pacific Star becomes supply chain all-star](https://blueyonder.com/customers/pacific-star) > Leveraging Blue Yonder's WMS capabilities, Pacific Star has improved accuracy and productivity resulting in optimized inventory management practices across all warehouses. Success Story Pacific Star Warehouse Management Pacific Star becomes supply chain all-star 85% Reduction in product shrinkage 75% Increase in employee productivity 30% Savings in payroll The company Based in Mexico, Pacific Star faces a complex supply chain challenge. This food distributor must store and transport more than 7,000 products to restaurants, hotels and other customers across a large geographic area, while managing three product categories with very different needs. The business challenge Dry, chilled and frozen products must all be stored under very specific conditions, yet the company must also consolidate orders and deliveries to keep costs low. The single biggest threat to the company’s profitability is shrinkage, caused when warehouse stock passes its expiration date. Pacific Star’s goals were to optimize inventory management practices in four warehouses to increase accuracy and productivity, improve service, manage shelf life and decrease shrinkage. The solution When Pacific Star started to use the warehouse management solution, they were able to perform a perfect item rotation, either through first in/first out or by sending out those items with a shorter shelf life first. This, in turn, resulted in decreased shrink levels caused by the previous incorrect rotation of items. “We have increased our employees’ productivity by around 75 percent of what they had previously achieved and gained cost advantage that generates growth and frees resources, so we can invest in other improvement initiatives.” –Warehouse Manager, Pacific Star Improved accuracy “Today, we have an error margin below 0.2 percent, when previously we used to have a 4 percent or even 5 percent error margin, due to incorrect picking of items. Being on the cutting edge of technology will make you a lot better in the picking process, specifically with regard to accuracy. We can now plan confidently, based on actual stock levels.” — Warehouse Manager, Pacific Star Reduced inventory shrinkage “By improving our management of expiration dates and our batch management capabilities, we have realized an 85 percent reduction in shrink. What we have accomplished is to have very competitive prices with a very efficient system, and with high quality service.” — Warehouse Manager, Pacific Star Solution benefits Warehouse management enables Pacific Star to perform a perfect item rotation, resulting in decreased shrink levels. The detailed reports that warehouse management provides allows Pacific Star to better project demand. Easy access to transparent consumption data has also resulted in better replenishment planning and eliminated product deficit. “We developed a list of the standard functionalities we required, and warehouse management fulfilled 98 percent of those requirements. In addition, we knew that Blue Yonder was the leading brand in the market. When we visited existing Blue Yonder customers and observed them using the warehouse management system, we were convinced that it was right tool for us.” –Warehouse Manager, Pacific Star Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Petco increases e-commerce revenues by 5% with Blue Yonder OMS](https://blueyonder.com/customers/petco) > Blue Yonder helps the largest US retailer of pet products, Petco to successfully deploy their BOPIS project across all 1,500 retail locations in less than four months. Success Story Petco Inventory Availability and Omni-Channel Fulfillment Groomed for success: Petco increases revenues with Blue Yonder Greater than 5% gains in ecommerce revenues and new customers From inception to full deployment across 1,500 stores in four months Single to double-digit millisecond response times for all inventory and fulfillment queries The company Headquartered in San Diego, California, Petco is the largest U.S. retailer of pet products and services, with 1,500 locations. The business challenge In response to emerging customer commerce needs, Petco decided to create and deploy a buy online pick up in-store (BOPOS) capability in an accelerated timeframe. The solution The requirements of the project included providing accurate and reliable inventory availability levels to both online and in-store consumers. Petco chose the inventory availability and omni-channel fulfillment capabilities from Blue Yonder. “With Blue Yonder’s inventory availability and omni-channel fulfillment microservices, Petco is able to provide customers with the option to view available inventory online, purchase products from nearby stores and pick them up that same day. Having a ‘single source of truth’ for our shoppers quickly drove a greater than 5% increase in online revenue and the number of net new customers.” –John Zavada, Chief Information Officer A 4-month implementation delivers rapid returns “While projects of this scale are typically extremely complex, taking six months or more to deploy, with Petco’s leadership and Blue Yonder’s expertise, the BOPIS project was able to be fully deployed across all 1500 retail locations in less than four months.” A solid foundation for omni-channel growth “Petco’s technical architecture was composed of multiple disparate platforms, prohibiting the ability to achieve a single view of inventory and enable the new BOPIS capability at the scale and performance level required for the emerging needs of Petco.com. Today, Blue Yonder complements Petco’s existing technology ecosystem and provides a consolidated, scalable and high-performing microservices foundation on which future omni-channel initiatives can be built.” Purchasing flexibility encourages consumer sales “With Blue Yonder’s inventory availability and omni-channel fulfillment capabilities, Petco is able to provide consumers with a real-time perspective on available inventory and their buying options right now. The solution creates an urgency to purchase by powering features such as buy online pick up in-store, view in-store and ship from store.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s inventory availability and omni-channel fulfillment capabilities unify Petco’s inventory, fulfillment and customer location data in a single platform to create customer-centric, personalized digital commerce. The results include higher conversion rates, reduced levels of abandonment and increased shopper satisfaction. Blue Yonder’s platform modernizes traditional technical architectures by leveraging microservices, data science, open application programming interfaces (APIs), and out-of-the-box adapters for order-management and inventory systems.  The solution is capable of operating at true internet scale. It supports thousands of transactions per second, with single to double-digit millisecond response times for all inventory and fulfillment-related queries. “At Petco, we are committed to the highest levels of customer convenience, whether online or in-store, and our BOPIS project was a prime example. We knew we needed to deliver fast and sought a partner that had deep expertise and product offerings in this space. We could not have done it without Blue Yonder’s technology and team.” –Chief Information Officer Learn how Petco revamped its e-commerce strategy with Blue Yonder: Learn more about Petco's usage of Blue Yonder Replenishment Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Positec achieves 60% global inventory reduction with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/positec) > Positec's demand planners together with Blue Yonder increases forecast accuracy by 40%, decreases safety stock, and improves on-time delivery. Success Story Positec Forecasting, Replenishment Positec’s toolkit for success 60% global reduction in inventory 75% decrease in safety stock 40% increase in forecast accuracy The company Headquartered in Suzhou, China, Positec manufactures and markets home improvement tools to professional contractors and homeowners. Positec has achieved industry-leading growth and today employs almost 4,000 people in 12 countries. The business challenge While the company was making headlines for its innovative products, Positec executives recognized that their internal tools for managing the global supply chain did not represent the most advanced, innovative technology. Positec lacked an aggregate forecasting tool and intelligent fulfillment capabilities to optimize inventory levels and profitably deploy products. The company had a long replenishment planning cycle that delayed its response times significantly, no real basis for planning at the regional distribution center level and low visibility across its entire global supply chain. The solution As a result of the Blue Yonder implementation, Positec has replaced its manual planning and reporting processes with automation and a new level of efficiency. “Technology and innovation have reshaped our business. We were an Excel and Post-it Note company prior. We have moved from the data-gathering stage to being able to actually analyze the data. Through a combination of internal improvements and deploying the solution, Positec’s supply chain is operating at a higher level,” commented Senior Demand Planning Manager, Positec. “Speed of delivery is very important to Positec. The quicker you can get the product into the customer’s hands, the better. We’ve improved our on-time delivery to customers by an average of 20 percent.” –Senior Demand Planning Manager, Positec Improved forecasting “We were facing a number of challenges. Our forecast accuracy number before the implementation was very low. Also, on-time delivery to customers was very low, and our safety stock was very high,” said Senior Demand Planning Manager, Positec. “We were facing a number of challenges. Our forecast accuracy number before the implementation was very low. Also, on-time delivery to customers was very low, and our safety stock was very high,” said Senior Demand Planning Manager, Positec. “We felt that the solution could help us better navigate our multiple distribution centers and could help us increase forecast accuracy by giving us the tools to analyze data, especially customer data.” Agile capabilities Today, Positec is able to develop an aggregate forecast across all customers, regions and product lines. The company can also assign dollar values to the forecast, including complex events such as new product launches and retail promotions. More importantly, the company has a much higher level of confidence in its demand forecast, as it is now based on company-wide collaboration, as well as data and analytics. “These capabilities are a great solution for our sales and delivery modes. It allows the forecasting and planning teams to work on one system for different modes,” said a Senior Demand Planning Manager at Positec. Solution benefits Based on the significant improvements in forecast accuracy enabled by BlueYonder, Positec has been able to reduce its overall global inventory levels by 60 percent, contributing to greater cash flow. Additionally, fulfillment lead time has decreased by 66 percent, giving Positec a significant customer service advantage in a highly competitive industry. Order fulfillment lead time has also been slashed from 90 days to 30 days. Plus, the company’s delivery time is much faster and more reliable, which helps make it a preferred supplier to its retail partners. Positec has also improved product availability by reducing its out-of-stock costs by more than 80 percent. “The expense of the Blue Yonder software is justifiable for Positec as a company. We’ve reduced inventories by approximately 60 percent, generating greater cash flow, and forecast accuracy has gone up across the board. So those benefits alone justify the expense. Blue Yonder really understands our business. The service and support we get from Blue Yonder globally has been well worth it.” –Senior Demand Planning Manager, Positec Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Prinsel achieves 62% reduction in fulfillment time and 30% increase in efficiency with Warehouse Management System](https://blueyonder.com/customers/prinsel) > Prinsel (Productos Infantiles Selectos) is a leading importer and distributor of toys and other children’s products in Mexico and Central America. Each year, its distribution centers manage over 1,000 SKUs, 7,000 shipments, and 2.5 million individual boxes. Prinsel engaged Blue Yonder and partner Netlogistik in implementing warehouse management capabilities that reduced inventory by 2%, increased efficiency by 30%, and slashed fulfillment times by 62%. Success Story Prinsel Warehouse Management With Blue Yonder, Prinsel is positioned for profitable growth 2% inventory reduction 30% improvement in warehouse efficiency 62% reduction in fulfillment time The company For 40 years, Prinsel (Productos Infantiles Selectos) has been a leading importer and distributor of toys and other children’s products, serving customers in Mexico and Central America. The business challenge Prinsel operates two busy distribution centers that manage over 1,000 SKUs, 7,000 shipments and 2.5 million individual boxes each year. These warehouses were managed by manual processes that made it hard to find and ship products. Both customer service levels and financial results were negatively impacted by a lack of visibility. The solution To optimize its operations, Prinsel partnered with Blue Yonder on an implementation of warehouse management capabilities that would increase both visibility and control. Argano supports the implementation by providing ongoing data management. “Inventory control is absolutely critical to Prinsel because it represents cash flow. Having unsold inventory or stock-outs dramatically impacts our profitability. Blue Yonder’s automated warehouse management has increased our fill rates, leading to a 2% inventory reduction and a 30% improvement in warehouse efficiency. The benefits we’ve experienced are huge.” –Chief Executive Officer Slashing fulfillment time by 62% “Prior to implementing warehouse management capabilities from Blue Yonder, we were using manual processes and a lot of paper. Our aisles were blocked because we didn’t understand our capacity. We knew we had products, but it was hard to find them. We struggled to get shipments done in time to meet our orders. Now that Blue Yonder is automating the storage and retrieval of products, we’ve reduced the average fulfillment time from two hours to 45 minutes.” A flexible solution that supports omni-channel growth “The main challenge we have today is supporting efficient, fast logistics, especially as we grow our ecommerce sales. We need to reach all our customers, across all channels, in the fastest, most reliable and secure way. Blue Yonder warehouse management has the capacity to expand, with no limits. We don’t have to keep adding modules; it covers all the needs that we forecast for the next 10 years.” Leveraging the experience of 400 joint implementations “Blue Yonder and Argano have partnered on over 400 customer implementations in 20 countries. We view the combination of Blue Yonder’s software and Argano's database management as one of the best solutions worldwide. Both the technology and the service we’ve received have been exceptional. It would be my number one recommendation for warehouse management.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution positions Prinsel to thrive in an ever-changing world. It enables the company to quickly adapt to disruptions and optimize tasks to meet customers’ cost and service expectations. Artificial intelligence engines in Blue Yonder warehouse management ingest real-time data from customers and partners, then synchronize a strategic response that maximizes outcomes across the extended supply chain. To support a Unified Logistics approach, Argano implements and consults on Blue Yonder’s warehouse, labor and transportation management solutions, relying on more than 170 accredited developers and consultants who provide 24/7 support. “We can highly recommend Blue Yonder’s warehouse technology, together with Argano, because it’s changed our culture and our way of working. It made our processes more efficient, bringing financial benefits. It’s like being in a dark room and not seeing what is there. With Blue Yonder, it was like turning the lights on in the warehouses and seeing everything. We can’t imagine working without Blue Yonder.” –Chief Executive Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Renault reduces safety stock and improves cashflow](https://blueyonder.com/customers/renault) > Blue Yonder helps Renault achieve a centralized calculation of inventory drivers, replenishment and forecast, allowing them to reduce redundant safety stock. Success Story Renault Forecasting, Replenishment Renault reduces safety stock and improves cashflow with Blue Yonder Forecasting and Replenishment Significantly reduced safety stock and improved cashflow Gained visibility to all stock across multi-tiered distribution network Met less than one-year ROI target through reductions in total inventory The company European automotive company Renault has built a reputation for quality, innovation and service. A critical part of this equation is the automaker’s spare parts business. They pledge to deliver any one of 200,000 spare parts overnight through a multi-echelon distribution network. The business challenge Renault maintained multiple layers of redundant safety stock in order to meet its overnight delivery promise even though its own supplier lead times range from two to eight weeks. Renault wanted to reduce inventory levels to free up cashflow without degrading its spare parts delivery commitment. Renault’s spare parts operations are supported by two master warehouses and a network of dozens of distribution centers scattered across Europe. Historically, Renault was able to honor its customer overnight delivery commitment by maintaining high spare parts inventory levels across its complex European distribution network, which includes up to five tiers of suppliers, dealers and regional distribution centers. This required stocking large amounts of redundant safety stock since supplier lead times vary from two to eight weeks. This was costly. The solution “Automotive companies don’t have big margins, so we are very sensitive to the economic environment. In addition, natural disasters and political unrest can significantly disrupt our worldwide supply chain.” Thus, when Renault decided to free up cashflow by reducing inventory levels, without impacting their overnight delivery promise, they looked for technology help. They found it in Blue Yonder’s Planning suite. “The robustness of the solution was an important topic. We wanted a proven solution, and Blue Yonder had one. We wanted a solution that could manage our big volumes. We wanted a companion that was able to follow up and support us anywhere in the world. Blue Yonder answered all those needs.” “It’s very hard to deliver every spare part overnight, but we need to respect this commitment across our European markets. We need a global supply chain that’s very strong in order to accomplish that goal.” –Renault program manager Centralized planning The Blue Yonder solutions have allowed Renault to achieve a centralized calculation of inventory drivers, replenishments and forecasts while also being able to understand the local nuances of its distribution centers. Renault has been able to maintain its same levels of product availability while dramatically reducing its redundant safety stocks. “We had a decentralized organization. Every distribution center was doing local optimization without any view of what happened before and after in the supply chain. Now, thanks to Blue Yonder, we have a global view of every stock in every distribution center and we can make the right decision for the customer.” Innovation Renault’s focus on innovation was also an important consideration. “Blue Yonder has a product that is very famous in retail. We wanted to bring the best ideas in retail to our spare parts logistics. We were looking for a major breakthrough, and we wanted to make it happen quickly.” Rapid returns Renault is not only pleased with the direct impact on its daily business processes, but also with its long-term payback on its investment in Blue Yonder solutions. “When we did the project, what was very important was to have a payback that was less than one year. Now, one year later, we can say that we achieved this objective.” Solution benefits Significantly reduced safety stock and improved cashflow without degrading its overnight spare parts delivery commitment. Centralized replenishment planning across multi-tiered distribution network, providing global visibility to all stock across every DC. Met less than one-year ROI target through reductions in total inventory. “I think the right word to summarize our relationship with Blue Yonder is ‘partnership.’ When we have any issues, they find us answers very quickly, as fast as possible. We have worked with them to improve forecast accuracy and results.” –Renault program manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Rhenus in Poland optimizes its warehouses for flexible management and omni-channel success](https://blueyonder.com/customers/rhenus-poland) > In just six months, Rhenus Poland has rolled out Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution for their major customers, leading to target wins in terms of speed, efficiency, accuracy, and overall customer service. Read our case study to find out more about the benefits Rhenus has experienced. Success Story Rhenus Warehouse Management Rhenus in Poland optimizes its warehouses for flexible management and omni-channel success Improved end-to-end visibility Increased process accuracy and efficiency Enhanced service, profitability and sustainability The company With an annual turnover of EUR 7.5 billion, the Rhenus Group is a leading global logistics service provider. Rhenus has 40,000 employees across 1,320 business sites. Rhenus Warehousing Solutions operates an extensive network that includes more than 180 locations in 23 countries, with over 4 million square meters of warehouse space. In Poland, Rhenus provides contract logistics services at 6 warehouses with 300k sqm of warehouse space. The business challenge Across its warehouses in Poland, Rhenus relied on three different warehouse management systems (WMS), resulting in redundant data and an expensive, complicated technology infrastructure. These legacy systems were not only costly to maintain, but they impeded the company’s ability to sense and respond quickly to changing customer needs. Rhenus needed to modernize its WMS footprint, consolidate its data, optimize processes and increase automation by implementing a single, best-in-class solution. The solution In just six months, Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution was rolled out for major Rhenus customers in a warehouse in Swadzim, Poland, leading to target wins in terms of speed, efficiency, accuracy and overall customer service. By embarking on the path of consolidating all its warehouses into a single WMS solution, Rhenus has taken the first major step toward end-to-end visibility, while significantly reducing the cost of ownership of the technology. “Over the last few years, we’ve faced a pandemic, a war, inflation, higher labor costs, growing energy expenses and a shift to e-commerce. Our legacy warehouse management systems were simply not flexible enough to respond to these challenges. We needed a world-class solution that could optimize our warehouse performance in a dynamic environment, enabling us to meet customers’ ever-increasing demands for reliable service and fast delivery. Blue Yonder warehouse management system is that solution” –Chief Innovation and Digitization Officer Realizing improvements across the warehouse “The intuitive nature of Blue Yonder’s WMS enabled us to quickly get employees up to speed — and start achieving results throughout the warehouse. We’ve been able to minimize handling time, accelerate the packaging process, optimize returns and increase profits as we maximize efficiency. By transitioning from paperwork to digitization, we’ve also significantly increased the sustainability of our warehouse operations.” A robust, full-featured solution designed by warehousing experts “Blue Yonder clearly understands warehousing and has designed a WMS solution that has all the capabilities we need. It easily accommodates our processes and integrates well with our other systems such as ERP, TMS and OMS. As a result, we have full visibility of the flow of orders and packages, as well as full transparency with our partners. It’s clear that Blue Yonder’s WMS has been proven and optimized over the course of many years.” Ushering in a new age of technology innovation “Our launch of Blue Yonder warehouse management system in Poland represents an important milestone for the company. It opens our organization up to new business opportunities as we increase our efficiency, operational flexibility, service and profitability through technology modernization and consolidation. It’s taking our company in a new direction.” Solution benefits Thanks to Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution, Rhenus can sense and quickly adapt to changes, optimize warehouse tasks, and define priorities to meet customers’ cost and service expectations. The Blue Yonder solution ingests near real-time data about customer orders and available inventory, then synchronizes critical work processes to accurately match supply with demand. The solution is optimized for connectivity and easy integration with other systems. Combined with its ease-of-use, this drives rapid implementation and an early return on investment. “Blue Yonder is a leader in warehouse management and optimization, as demonstrated by its presence at the top of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems. It’s a single, proven system that’s also easily customizable. This is very important for Rhenus. We’re implementing Blue Yonder warehouse management across multiple locations that have different processes, but we can also achieve standardized reporting and management.” –Chief Innovation and Digitization Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Robinsons enhances on-shelf availability tailored to customer segments](https://blueyonder.com/customers/robinsons-supermarket) > By tapping into Blue Yonder solution’s transactional and database management capabilities, Robinsons Supermarket streamlines processes to increase productivity. Success Story Robinsons Supermarket Merchandise Management, Space Planning Robinsons Supermarkets keeps customers at the heart of their business Improved on-shelf availability, tailored to customer segments Increased productivity and improved decision-making Improved data analysis and transaction management to support growth and regional expansion The company Robinsons Supermarket, a subsidiary of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI), is the second largest multi-channel retailer in the Philippines. Its systems must support six business segments with nearly 1,600 stores and over 1,900 franchised stores. The business challenge Supermarket retailing is a highly dynamic industry. Hundreds of products are introduced and delisted week to week. To remain relevant to their customers, Robinsons knew they must always ensure they offer the right products, at the right place, at the right time and at the right price. As Robinsons’ business grew, venturing into new regions and adding new segments and sub-formats, their manual processes and legacy systems became too inefficient and limiting. Expansion into new regions and formats created a need to segment their customer base for customized and engaging shelf assortments. Targeted expansion to different regions in the Philippines, coupled with strong organic growth and the addition of three new sub-formats, increased the volume of transactions, vendors, SKUs and database records Robinsons must manage. “Not only that, the value of the transactions increased as well. Our customers also evolved to become highly segmented, with each segment having different demands to be met.” — AVP for Merchandising The solution Robinson decided to implement a current version of Blue Yonder’s merchandise management capabilities, having first worked with Blue Yonder 15 years previously. Robinsons can now create purchase orders with larger amounts and quantities to cater to their growing requirements, attach unlimited attributes to SKUs and stores to help provide a deeper analysis of data and assign longer reference series to transactions to avoid constant purging of records. The system has also provided improved back-end processing of data and transaction management capabilities, allowing Robinsons to focus on their customers. “As the supermarket is a non-discretionary format that serves the daily needs of our customers, we have to ensure that the products that meet these needs are always available on shelf. An efficient and equipped supply chain process enabled us and our vendors to address the persistent challenge of on-shelf stock availability.” –Robinsons Supermarket President and COO Optimizing multiple formats Supporting multiple store formats while catering to local customer preferences was a challenge for Robinsons. They now use Blue Yonder’s space planning capability to create generic planograms for each format which are incorporated with display guidelines to help stores execute proper and equitable display of appropriate assortments on-shelf. Increased productivity As their business has grown and as customer needs have evolved, their focus has shifted to sustaining growth and meeting the needs of customers and vendors. The new  technology and automation have allowed associates to complete activities faster, smarter and more effectively. “We have increased the productivity of our stores and that of our associates, and improved the efficiency of our processes. We now have more time to spend on business building initiatives together with our vendors.” — Regional Operations Manager Solution benefits Improved on-shelf availability tailored to each format and customer segment. Increased productivity through reduced manual tasks and faster, smarter decision-making. Improved data analysis and transaction management to support growth and regional expansion. “At Robinsons Supermarket, we consider Blue Yonder as one of our core solutions. By tapping into their solution’s transactional and database management capabilities, we streamlined our processes, increased our productivity, enhanced our understanding of our customers and did our operational tasks and activities more efficiently. Simply put, Blue Yonder helped us achieve our mission of putting our customers at the heart and center of our business.” –Information Systems Delivery Manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Sally Beauty faces the future with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/sally-beauty) > Sally Beauty relies on a suite of Blue Yonder solutions to understand and meet customer demand, serve multiple fulfillment channels, and to position inventory strategically. Success Story Sally Beauty Demand Planning, Fulfillment Planning, Supply Chain Strategist, Assortment, Planogram Generator Category Knowledge Base Sally Beauty faces the future with Blue Yonder Increased insight into customer needs across channels More flexible, more profitable fulfillment Improved merchandising effectiveness The company Sally Beauty Holdings is a retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies with 20,000 SKUs, 5,000 stores and annual revenues of over $3.9 billion. It operates two business units: Sally Beauty Supply, aimed at consumers, and Beauty Systems Group, which targets professional stylists. The business challenge The company was challenged to manage the complexity of demand planning, fulfillment execution and category management across these very different markets. The solution To increase visibility, responsiveness and revenues — while also managing costs — Sally Beauty partnered with Blue Yonder on a large footprint of planning, execution and retail solutions. “Sally Beauty serves two customers: the consumer and the salon professional. They have very different purchasing behaviors. They don’t know what ‘omni-channel’ means, but they want speed and convenience. Demand planning from Blue Yonder enables us to meet every customer where and when they want to shop. We can create a broad network strategy that’s based on meeting very specific, granular customer needs.” –Vice President, Solution Delivery Flexible fulfillment for a shifting landscape “The pandemic demonstrated the need to be flexible. Consumer behaviors shifted overnight. Our buy online/pickup in store, or BOPIS, rate grew 30% very quickly. Blue Yonder supported rapid inventory movements, as well as flexible fulfillment capabilities like ship-from-store. Disruptions aren’t going away. But Blue Yonder helps us understand what levers to pull, what the implications are and what the outcomes will be.” Making profitable cost-service trade-offs “As e-commerce sales grew in 2020, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of split shipments where products were coming from both the DC and a store. We had to ask ourselves, does that make sense from a cost perspective? It’s very expensive to ship a $1.99 bottle of nail polish. With Blue Yonder, we can strike the right balance between driving sales and protecting margins.” The importance of accurate inventory positioning “Blue Yonder helps us minimize costs and maximize service by understanding omni-channel demand and then having inventory positioned strategically. We can ensure we’re using the right nodes for storing and shipping products, looking at factors like labor, facility and delivery costs. Our Blue Yonder solution suite provides the foundation to measure and monitor the outcomes of different inventory strategies.” Solution benefits Sally Beauty relies on Blue Yonder’s demand planning capabilities to consolidate and synchronize demand signals, as well as external variables, across two businesses and multiple sales channels. Prescriptive recommendations help Sally Beauty make more accurate decisions, from inventory staging to product assortments. Fulfillment planning capabilities from Blue Yonder help Sally Beauty make profitable, flexible decisions by considering channel- and market-specific demand signals, customer service targets, inventory locations, safety-stock policies and other constraints. Blue Yonder’s category management capabilities enable Sally Beauty to create intelligent, informed merchandising plans that drive revenue growth by leveraging customer insights, maximizing the selling space available and applying robust analytics. “Blue Yonder has provided Sally Beauty with a set of really nimble solutions that we can adjust as our outcomes become unfavorable. We know what levers we can pull to make some adjustments, we learn from a new set of configurations, and then we go forward from there. We don’t have to make one decision and live with it forever. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we’ve got to be nimble. And Blue Yonder has given us that agility.” –Vice President, Solution Delivery Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Silk Logistics optimizes warehouse service levels and costs](https://blueyonder.com/customers/silk-logistics) > Blue Yonder’s WMS supports Silk Logistics Holdings with strong processes to increase operational efficiency as well as third-party billing capabilities that automate the complex task of warehouse invoicing. Success Story Silk Logistics Warehouse Management, Extended Third-Party Billing Silk Logistics optimizes warehouse service levels and costs Flexible process configuration and customization Faster onboarding for new customers Improved customer service and retention The company Silk Logistics Holdings (ASX:SLH) (SLH) is proudly Australian-founded, providing technology-enabled and integrated port-to-door landside logistics to some of the world’s biggest names. SLH’s customer base includes fast-moving consumer goods companies, retailers, industrial manufacturers, agricultural companies and food manufacturers. The business challenge SLH built its success on delivering outstanding customer service, including customized warehouse processes. But, as the company grew, executives realized they needed to standardize, automate and accelerate many warehouse workflows and tasks. SLH needed to replace its legacy systems with a strong, repeatable and consistent warehouse management solution to increase operational efficiency, deliver personalization at a lower cost, improve overall customer satisfaction and retention, and drive revenue growth. The solution Growth in 3PL warehousing means delivering outstanding service to existing customers, while also continuously and seamlessly taking on new customers. Blue Yonder’s warehouse management system is purpose-built to achieve both goals. The Blue Yonder solution optimizes daily processes, while also enabling SLH to bring on new customers quickly via scalable deployment templates. SLH leverages extended third-party billing capabilities from Blue Yonder to simplify and automate the complex task of warehouse invoicing. “We’ve used Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution to create ‘The Silk Way,’ which is a unique approach to aligning people, processes and technology to give our customers a customized, memorable experience. Blue Yonder enables process standardization that increases efficiency and productivity — while also supporting process customization for individual customers. Blue Yonder allows us to make any process tweaks quickly, keeping customers happy and costs down.” –Chief Information Officer Accelerating the customer onboarding experience “Our new customers can choose any warehousing provider, so our goal is to deliver an experience where they never want to leave. That means streamlining the onboarding process to minimize operational change, effort and costs. Thanks to Blue Yonder, today we can get a customer set up on our system in less than 24 hours, depending on the complexity of the solution required. That sort of flexibility is key for winning new business, as well as retaining customers.” Streamlining the process of third-party billing “Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution, combined with its extended third-party billing capabilities, allow SLH to do more with less. The invoicing system used to be manual, with a team in place consolidating and sending out invoices to customers on a weekly basis. It took days or even weeks to finalize the numbers. Using Blue Yonder’s fully integrated solutions, every week up to 500,000 billing transactions get processed and converted to invoice lines within three days. Now that the invoicing process is fully automated, invoices go out to customers much faster, which in turn means Silk gets paid faster and faces far fewer billing disputes.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution enables SLH to quickly adapt to change. The company can continuously optimize tasks, define priorities and reconfigure workflows to meet each customer’s cost and service expectations, even as they evolve. Blue Yonder warehouse management allows SLH to standardize its operational processes, while also providing a personalized experience and custom services. The solution enables SLH to put customer needs first and improve the overall customer experience, while still working efficiently and cost effectively. Intuitive and user-friendly, Blue Yonder warehouse management is a flexible solution that makes it easy for SLH to onboard new warehousing customers in less than 24 hours. “When we’re out there talking to customers about Blue Yonder, it’s really well-known in the market. The connection between Blue Yonder and the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports for WMS helps us sell at the end of the day. It gives our customers confidence and comfort that the technology we’re using is world-class and leading-edge. Blue Yonder differentiates us from our competitors.” –Chief Information Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder aids Seedcom Logistics streamline and optimize inventory](https://blueyonder.com/customers/seedcom) > After a rapid two-month implementation, Blue Yonder’s WMS is helping Seedcom Logistics streamline processes, optimize inventory, and support efficient daily operations. Success Story Seedcom Warehouse Management Seedcom implements Blue Yonder Warehouse Management in two months More accurate, profitable inventory management Increased visibility and control Improved efficiency and productivity The company Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Seedcom Joint Stock Company (Seedcom) operates in the technology, retail, services, and manufacturing sectors. In 2022, Seedcom achieved net revenue of more than VND 1,600 billion, (U.S. $68 billion), up more than 60% over the same period in 2021. This growth primarily came from its retail, food, fashion, and supermarket businesses. Seedcom supports its retail business through a subsidiary, Seedcom Logistics, that manages inventory and delivers products to thousands of distribution points. The business challenge Seedcom has an ecosystem of 68 apparel stores, 155 The Coffee House stores, and 32 Kingfoodmart grocery stores, as well as e-commerce channels and 12,000 new retail CPG third-party merchants. Seedcom Logistics provides a seamless connection of Seedcom’s ecosystem to consumer, retailers, merchants, and suppliers, through four, modern distribution centers with specialized environments for dry, fresh and temperature-controlled products. These warehouses serve more than 35,000 distribution points. Seedcom Logistics’ legacy warehouse management system was unable to support Seedcom’s rapid growth or the demands of today’s fast-paced omni-channel environment. The solution Seedcom Logistics implemented Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to gain real-time visibility and control across the distribution network, manage growing order volumes, and balance cost and service outcomes. The implementation — which was completed in just two months — was led by Blue Yonder’s regional partner Total Solutions Logistics Company Limited (TSL), which has deep expertise in specifying and implementing leading logistics solutions in Vietnam. “The shift to omni-channel selling has transformed the global retail industry. Seedcom is the first company to implement the ‘new retail’ model in Vietnam by applying breakthrough technologies to our business operations to create great experiences for customers. Implementing Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution is a key component of that strategy. After a rapid implementation, it is helping us streamline our processes, optimize our inventory and other resources, and support fast, efficient daily operations.” –Chief Executive Officer, Seedcom Logistics A detailed, near real-time perspective on warehouse operations “Bringing advanced technology to the warehouse enables us to have detailed, near real-time insights that enable greater accuracy and efficiency. Tasks are assigned electronically through bar-code devices with an understanding of where employees are located, where products are located, and what the current priorities are. We can manage inventory more accurately, we can optimize any movements, and we can maximize all our resources, from people to goods. Intuitive reporting capabilities enable us to measure results and achieve continuous improvements.” Warehouse efficiency translates to improved sustainability “Sustainability is an important goal for Seedcom in general, and the operation of our warehouses plays a central role. By reducing our workflows and operating with maximum efficiency, we can use energy and staff more efficiently, which contributes to a smaller environmental footprint. Blue Yonder’s WMS has already proven its value in supporting efficiency and sustainability — and we anticipate even greater benefits in the future.” Solution benefits Thanks to its rapid implementation of Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System, Seedcom Logistics is positioned to thrive in the fast-paced world of omni-channel selling. The company can quickly adapt to demand changes across channels, optimizing tasks and defining priorities to meet customers’ cost and service expectations. Blue Yonder’s WMS ingests current data about customer orders and available inventory, then synchronizes work processes in near real time to accurately and fluidly match supply with demand. Seedcom Logistics has gained end-to-end visibility and control of all its warehouse operations, leading to improvements in the utilization of assets including inventory, human resources, space and equipment. Costs can be analyzed and controlled, without sacrificing customer service. “Blue Yonder has a long history of providing comprehensive solutions for the end-to-end supply chain ecosystem that feature the most advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. Blue Yonder’s regional partner TSL understands our business, so they can propose suitable solutions and processes. The fact that we achieved go-live in just two months demonstrates the strength of the long-term strategic partnership between Seedcom Logistics, Blue Yonder and TSL.” –Chief Executive Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [SodaStream achieves $30m inventory reduction and full ROI in under 6 months with Warehouse Management System](https://blueyonder.com/customers/sodastream) > When SodaStream needed to maximize the efficiency of its new warehouse, the business turned to Blue Yonder. Discover how we helped the world’s largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems save millions in inventory, decrease order fulfillment time and achieve full ROI in just six months. Success Story SodaStream Warehouse Management A sparkling partnership leads to a $30 million inventory reduction $30 million in inventory savings 30% decrease in order fulfillment time Realized full ROI in < 6 months The company The world’s largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems, SodaStream sells its products in more than 70,000 retail stores in 45 countries worldwide. The company provides 1.5 billion liters of homemade sparkling water to millions of homes globally, making it one of the largest beverage companies in the world. The business challenge SodaStream was consolidating its existing operations into a new campus in Israel. The company needed to rapidly implement an agile, flexible warehouse management solution to maximize the efficiency of its new warehouse. SodaStream had specific requirements regarding put-away, storage and mixing inventory — and a large number of unskilled employees who had to be trained in any new technology. The solution Working together, Blue Yonder and its strategic partner eWave Mobile delivered a rapid implementation of Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution, with basic functionality up and running in just three months. “Speed of delivery is critical to SodaStream’s success. As we are doing plan-to-order manufacturing, any delay within the process will have a critical impact on our efficiency, and also on order fulfillment rates. We use Blue Yonder mobile technology in our warehouses to be much more efficient in the way we are doing order fulfillment and in the way we are managing our inventory. As a result, we reduced our inventory value from $120 million to $90 million.” –Head of Global IT Improved disruption management leads to a 30% reduction in order fulfillment time “While warehouses represent an enormous cost center, they are also one of SodaStream’s key strategic assets — because it’s where customer promises are fulfilled. Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution enables SodaStream warehouse staff to skillfully handle real-world disruptions, driving improved performance and predictable results. We’ve decreased order fulfillment time by 30%.” A value-added partnership leads to a full ROI in just six months “SodaStream’s quick success is a testament to Blue Yonder’s technology, but also eWave Mobile’s hands-on approach to implementing distribution center design and warehouse automation. We worked with eWave from the beginning of the project, and they managed to deliver the required scope within the right time. The Blue Yonder solution was live in just three months, and we achieved a full return on investment in six months.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution positions SodaStream to thrive in an ever-changing world. It enables the company to maximize visibility, quickly adapt to disruptions and optimize tasks to meet customers’ cost and service expectations. Blue Yonder warehouse management provides SodaStream with robust functionality in an intuitive, easy-to-use mobile interface that quickly brings warehouse employees up to speed. eWave Mobile delivers best-in-class solutions, global knowledge and best practices, business understanding and proven experience managing global supply chain projects for customers in Israel, Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe. As a partner of Blue Yonder, the company sells, manages and implements Blue Yonder solutions to customers to ensure projects are successfully completed. “We’d been working with several companies, but we found that Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution is agile, flexible and best meets our needs. For us, Blue Yonder is a mission-critical partner. We have achieved great savings, realizing our return on investment in less than six months. The impact on the company’s revenue and profitability was amazing.” –Head of Global IT Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Super Retail Group reduces inventory and safety stock by 20%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/super-retail-group) > Explore how Blue Yonder helps Super Retail Group improve forecast accuracy and process efficiency through a rapid cloud services implementation in just 10 months. Success Story Super Retail Group Forecasting, Replenishment, Inventory Optimization, Allocation, Supply Planning Rapid results via the cloud Successful rollout in 10 months Reduced inventory holdings and safety stock Improved forecast accuracy The company Founded in 1972 as a small auto parts business, today Super Retail Group is one of the largest leisure retailers in Australia, with more than $2 billion in annual sales. The business challenge Since 2005, the company has grown exponentially through a series of strategic acquisitions. While this rapid growth has added sales volume and brand strength, it has also resulted in enormous supply chain complexity. The company operated each brand as a separate division and by 2011 it was managing seven distinct supply chains, which spanned from sourcing in Asia to distribution in Australia and New Zealand. The huge, sparsely populated geography of Australia added another layer of difficulty to Super Retail Group’s supply chains, optimizing cost per unit and cost to move became critical. As an additional challenge, Super Retail Group also added more soft goods, which have different demand patterns than hard goods. The retailer needed a forecasting and replenishment solution that could handle its geographic difficulty, as well as the stock keeping unit (SKU) complexity and demand variation across its seven retail brands. The solution To counter these obstacles, executives at Super Retail Group made a bold commitment to invest more than $50 million in supply chain and inventory management improvements over the span of three years. “I’m very happy to say that the reduction in inventory has been significant, about a 20 percent reduction in inventory holdings and safety stock. We’re continuing to pilot forecasting and replenishment in other business units and are realizing similar results. So, we’ve been really happy with that.” –Programme Manager of Supply Chain and Inventory Management, Super Retail Group Comprehensive cloud services Within 10 months, the integrated forecasting and replenishment solutions were live, thanks to rapid cloud deployment with Blue Yonder cloud services. By launching in a cloud environment not only did the company speed up implementation, it minimized risks and financial investment. “With Blue Yonder cloud cervices, we knew exactly what we were buying. There was a fixed price, and it was very easy to do. We trusted Blue Yonder Cloud Services because they are the experts. They’ve got a number of customers they’re rolling out. They are more proficient. That’s what they do, all day, every day, and that was an advantage to us.” - Solutions Manager for Supply Chain, Super Retail Group. Solution Benefits One benefit of working with Blue Yonder cloud services was the ability to do a pilot. From a cost point of view, the cloud enabled Super Retail Group to easily get the infrastructure in place, conduct a pilot and see results. The success of the pilot was enabled Super Retail Group to create a business case for moving forward with a single demand and fulfillment system, operating in a cloud environment. Not only has the cloud services model proven to be scalable across BCF’s enormous product diversity, it has also proven very reliable. The uptime has been near 100 percent, a critical factor given the large amount of data the retailer needs to move into Blue Yonder’s applications. Continuous results “We’ve made a significant shift in our organizational thinking and culture to become more customercentric. That’s a key outcome that we’re looking for, and Blue Yonder enables us to have that capability. In time, we’ll be getting the right feeds and visibility from the customer groups and the loyalty programs, and that data will feed into our demand planning capability.” -Programme Manager of Supply Chain and Inventory Management, Super Retail Group “When we need to upgrade versions or software packages, it is as simple as communicating with the Blue Yonder cloud services team. Then it just happens. We’ve found the cloud approach to be seamless, very quick and nonintrusive on our other business processes. Blue Yonder is very proactive in monitoring activity and communicating with us.” –Solutions Manager for Supply Chain, Super Retail Group Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supermercados Peruanos improved forecast accuracy from 65-70% to 90-95% with Demand Planning Solution](https://blueyonder.com/customers/supermercados-peruanos) > Supermercados Peruanos (Peruvian Supermarkets) is the largest supermarket chain in Peru, with 600 stores. A longtime user of Blue Yonder's replenishment solutions covering its consumer packaged goods (CPG) and center-store categories, Supermercados Peruanos recently implemented Blue Yonder's Demand Planning solution. This cloud-native application takes advantage of artificial intelligence to consider dynamic external variables and arrive at an extremely accurate forecast for perishable foods, including fresh and ultra-fresh. Success Story Supermercados Peruanos Demand Planning Supermercados Peruanos achieves accurate, low-touch daily forecasting Improved forecast accuracy from 65-70% to 90-95% Minimizes waste, while also maximizing service and profits Ingests and analyze massive volumes of data without overwhelming users The company Founded in 1993, Supermercados Peruanos (Peruvian Supermarkets) is the largest supermarket chain in Peru, with 600 stores. The business challenge Supermercados Peruanos was a long-time user of Blue Yonder’s replenishment solutions covering its consumer packaged goods (CPG) and center-of-store categories. But, using a manual and decentralized process, the retailer struggled to accurately forecast demand for fresh and ultra-fresh foods such as produce and meat. The solution Supermercados Peruanos partnered with Blue Yonder to implement Blue Yonder's Demand Planning, a cloud-native application that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to consider real-time external variables and arrive at an extremely accurate forecast. “We partnered with Blue Yonder on an automated, real-time approach to forecasting demand for ultra-fresh foods that considers complexities like price, cannibalization, seasonality and even the weather. Forecasting fresh foods requires extreme accuracy; you need to balance the risk of waste with the risk of lost consumer loyalty that might never be recovered. Blue Yonder's Demand Planning improved our accuracy from 65-70% to 90-95% for some products.” –Planning and Supply Manager Replacing manual forecasting with automation and precision “Traditionally our planners relied on Excel spreadsheets and manual processes to forecast ultra-fresh products, based on history. But the pandemic revealed the problems with that approach. We needed an advanced, automated tool that could manage uncertainty and go beyond human cognition. We have millions of dollars invested at our distribution centers. We must protect those investments with precision, not with averages. Many times we forget that the forecast drives the entire supply chain, at least in retail.” Considering complex, retailer-specific demand variables “Blue Yonder's Demand Planning considers some really complex variables like weather patterns, but also specific features of our business. Since the pandemic, some stores are closed on Sundays. Blue Yonder's Demand Planning managed to understand that and anticipate the supply needed to cover sales on Saturday with greater accuracy.” Achieving cultural and business benefits “We’ve realized many business benefits, but also a cultural change. From a purchasing calendar to the shelf life of a product, everything was normally found in a computer, in a person’s knowledge, in a printout, but it was not in any system. I’d say that was the biggest challenge. People gradually realized that they could generate much more value if they focused on strategy and not manual analysis.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s cloud-native Demand Planning on Microsoft Azure allows Supermercados Peruanos to automatically respond to demand fluctuations, quickly and accurately. It enables the retailer to minimize waste, while also maximizing service and profits, in the face of extreme volatility. Blue Yonder's Demand Planning enhances forecast accuracy by combining internal data with external, complex and interrelated variables like weather patterns, price and promos, holidays, product characteristics and events to create a holistic, risk-aware forecast. Machine-learning capabilities allow Blue Yonder's Demand Planning to ingest and analyze massive volumes of data without overwhelming users. Supermercados Peruanos can assess probabilistic impacts and risks as it weighs different forecasting outcomes. “Our partnership with Blue Yonder is generating economic benefits. We are still defining the economic impacts that are being achieved, but there is also a very positive impact on our culture. People really value this type of project; they feel they are moving from the Stone Age to modernization. That jump is what people value. Blue Yonder is truly focused on cultural change at the system level and not only in individual technology projects.” –Planning and Supply Manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Swire Coca-Cola increases forecasting and planning accuracy](https://blueyonder.com/customers/swire-coca-cola) > Swire Coca-Cola leverages Blue Yonder demand planning, supply planning and production sequencing solutions to drive a unified, end-to-end planning process. Success Story Swire Coca-Cola Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Sequencing Swire Coca-Cola increases forecasting and planning accuracy for greater responsiveness Increased forecasting and planning accuracy Improved market responsiveness Reduced production changeovers by 5.2% The company Swire Coca-Cola is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific Limited, which is the fifth-largest bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company by global volume. Swire Coca-Cola has been working with the Coca-Cola Company for more than 50 years. With 36 bottling plants and approximately 39,000 employees, Swire Coca-Cola is a full-category beverage company that provides more than 60 beverage brands to more than 880 million consumers in Greater China, Cambodia, Vietnam and the western USA. The company has diversified product categories. The business challenge Swire Coca Cola operates 24 factories in 12 provinces and cities in China (mainland), specializing in the provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan and Shanghai. It has about 24,000 employees with coverage of 700 million consumers in China (mainland). As both demand volatility and product complexity grew, the company needed to increase its forecasting accuracy — as well as the speed, accuracy and responsiveness of its supply and production planning processes. The solution A long-time user of Blue Yonder demand planning, Swire Coca Cola recently added supply planning and production sequencing capabilities. Today the company has a unified, end-to-end planning process from forecasting to supply planning, production master planning and factory sequencing. Swire Coca Cola can optimize the flow of products from production to distribution, which is key to balancing demand and supply across all its markets. “With our business growth and increasing production complexity, we need an automated system to perform forecasting and production planning at much higher accuracies. Thanks to Blue Yonder’s Planning solutions, we’ve been able to improve our forecasting accuracy and reduce the number of changeovers and changeover times. Blue Yonder will play a key role in helping us meet our challenges as we continue to grow.” –ZhaoGuangxu, Director of Supply Chain Planning, Swire Coca-Cola China Optimizing service, cost, asset utilization and planner productivity Blue Yonder has helped Swire Coca-Cola achieve higher planner productivity, better inventory management and an improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behaviors. We can optimize our demand, supply and production planning solutions to simultaneously balance customer service, cost and utilization outcomes — while also respecting complex manufacturing constraints and rules. Improving agility by implementing a daily planning cadence Previously Swire Coca-Cola relied on a weekly forecasting and production planning cadence. However, that limited our ability to respond to fast-changing market conditions. Blue Yonder enables us to forecast and plan on a daily basis, which supports greater agility. Blue Yonder’s automated planning capabilities have also reduced our time required for production planning in our Zhejiang factory by 76%, supporting a faster response in our factories. Blue Yonder also increases our near real-time visibility into network-wide inventory levels. As demand changes, our entire supply chain can respond in a synchronized manner. Reducing changeovers drives cost and service benefits Production changeovers are not only expensive, but they also slow our response times and reduce our production efficiency. Blue Yonder helped decrease the overall number of changeovers at our Zhejiang factory by 5.2% year-over-year. The time required for changeovers at that facility was reduced by 6%. This positively impacts our productivity and profitability. Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s demand planning capabilities consolidate near real-time demand signals, as well as external variables, across Swire Coca-Cola’s markets. The company can react swiftly when conditions change and continue to make accurate, profitable decisions about production and inventory staging. Supply planning and production sequencing capabilities from Blue Yonder automate the analysis of diverse factors such as demand signals, customer service targets, safety-stock policies and shelf-life constraints. The result? More accurate, profitable plans that match supply with demand. Swire Coca-Cola’s end-to-end Blue Yonder Planning solutions enable the company to manage the inflow and use of raw materials, as well as intelligently and profitably distribute manufacturing tasks across its production network. They support a synchronized response across the supply chain. “Blue Yonder’s Planning solutions have helped Swire Coca-Cola achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility and orchestration. We consider Blue Yonder to be a partner in our supply chain transformation journey as we continue to increase our planning speed, efficiency and accuracy. As our strategy evolves, Blue Yonder will help us continuously improve our operations.” –Zhao Guangxu, Director of Supply Chain Planning, Swire Coca-Cola China Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Apparel retailer Tennis’ warehouse management transformation drives sales and lowers costs](https://blueyonder.com/customers/tennis) > Headquartered in Medellin, Tennis S.A. is a Colombian apparel retailer with over 40 years of experience in the national and international fashion marketplace. Speed is essential in the world of fashion, where trends can shift overnight. To ensure its products reach customers while a trend is still hot, Tennis relies on the speed and flexibility of its end-to-end supply chain. Tennis chose to implement the Blue Yonder warehouse management system (WMS) across its distribution network, supported by implementation partner Netlogistik. With Blue Yonder, Tennis is better able to manage high inventory turnover and seasonal variations. It has seen a huge improvement in warehouse efficiency and improved fulfillment resulting in lower costs, enhanced customer satisfaction, and higher sales. Success Story Tennis Warehouse Management System (WMS) Apparel retailer Tennis’ warehouse management transformation drives sales 50% improvement in warehouse efficiency 56% reduction in store replenishment time 19% decrease in labor costs The company Headquartered in Medellin, Tennis S.A. is a Colombian apparel retailer with over 40 years of experience in the national and international fashion marketplace. With more than 100 stores, as well as a thriving e-commerce channel, Tennis has established itself as a market leader, delivering the latest fashions for young, trend-conscious shoppers. The business challenge Speed is essential in the world of fashion, where trends can shift overnight. To ensure its products reach customers while a trend is still hot, Tennis relies on the speed and flexibility of its end-to-end supply chain. Faced with exponential growth in its e-commerce order volumes, the retailer needed to optimize its warehouse operations to improve warehouse speed, operations efficiency, and order fulfillment accuracy. The solution Tennis chose to implement the Blue Yonder warehouse management system (WMS) across its distribution network, supported by implementation partner Argano. With Blue Yonder, Tennis is better able to manage high inventory turnover and seasonal variations. It has seen a huge improvement in warehouse efficiency and improved fulfillment resulting in lower costs, enhanced customer satisfaction, and higher sales. “The implementation of Blue Yonder WMS and the collaboration with Argano have been transformative for our operations. We have achieved unprecedented efficiency in our warehouse — so we can meet our customers’ expectations with greater precision and speed.” –José Fernando Arango Jiménez, IT Director at Tennis Fast fashion demands a fast, efficient warehouse For young consumers in Colombia — whether they are shopping online or at a retail store — Tennis is the destination of choice for trendy, fashion-forward apparel. As the retailer’s e-commerce sales began to grow exponentially, it needed to optimize warehouse operations to keep up. The company was looking to minimize order fulfillment cycle times and improve accuracy and efficiency, with the ultimate goal of getting its fashionable clothing items into shoppers’ hands — before the latest fast fashion trend has passed them by. Tennis went with Blue Yonder WMS because it helps the retailer efficiently manage a high volume of orders, ensure precise and rapid deliveries, and improve real-time visibility of inventory to avoid stockouts and overstocks. The Blue Yonder solution also supports efficient order fulfillment and allows the company to orchestrate workflows across multiple channels. Blue Yonder WMS: a tailor-made solution With help from implementation partner Argano, Tennis was able to quickly launch the Blue Yonder WMS solution. Since the WMS seamlessly integrates with other warehouse systems and tools, it began adding value immediately, significantly improving the company’s distribution center performance. Today, the Blue Yonder solution provides the power and flexibility to manage the high inventory turnover and seasonal variations that characterize the fast-fashion industry. For example, Blue Yonder tasking optimization enables the automation of key processes such as picking, packing, and receiving goods — significantly increasing speed and productivity. The solution also provides real-time visibility into inventory, so the Tennis logistics team can make quick, accurate decisions that eliminate both overstocks and stockouts. Transformative improvements in efficiency Tennis reported a 50% increase in warehouse efficiency due to the process optimization and task automation enabled by Blue Yonder WMS. Receiving productivity has increased by 20%,  picking productivity has improved by 25%, and the productivity of packing has grown by 20%.. As a result of its more efficient, more accurate warehouse operations, Tennis has been able to reduce its labor costs by 19%. Costs associated with storing and handling products were also reduced by 10%, improving overall operational profitability. Inventory visibility and accuracy have increased to nearly 100%, eliminating errors and improving customer satisfaction. Faster fulfillment means fewer lost sales By optimizing its order management processes, Tennis has substantially improved its response times and delivery accuracy. The cycle time for store replenishments decreased from 4.6 days to just two days — a reduction of 56%. Getting products into stores faster means fewer stockouts and less lost sales, as well as improved revenues and shopper satisfaction on peak sales days. In addition, the total cycle time for the e-commerce channel was reduced from 4.3 days to 3 days, adding up to a 30% improvement. The result has been increased shopper satisfaction — and a jump in sales. Tennis looks to the future According to Jiménez, the retailer’s new inventory accuracy has allowed it to expand its assortments to better meet online shoppers’ needs. “Thanks to the advanced functionalities of the Blue Yonder WMS and the associated new processes, we have 3% more inventory in the digital channel and 20% more SKUs. That allows us to offer online consumers a wider range of products, sizes, and colors. This is fundamental to fulfilling our e-commerce growth objectives.” Equipped with cutting-edge warehouse technology and optimized processes, Tennis is prepared to face new market challenges and seize new growth opportunities. The ability to respond quickly to changing demand and maintain high levels of efficiency is establishing Tennis as a leader in the fashion sector, continuously innovating and offering exceptional experiences to its customers. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Tesco colleagues' training tools](https://blueyonder.com/customers/tesco) > With more than 100 Tesco colleagues using Blue Yonder solutions, a customized training program was developed including a learning platform to help reduce training times for new colleagues. Success Story Tesco Blue Yonder Professional Services Tesco colleague training tools 80% reduction in solution training time for new colleagues Broader adoption of best practices across Tesco’s planning team Higher return on Blue Yonder software investments The company Tesco is the world’s third-largest retailer, with 2019 sales of £56.5 billion. With over 6000 stores across Europe and Asia, Tesco offers a wide product range, from groceries to clothing and electronics. The business challenge Tesco produces one million planograms and 125,000 store floorplan changes annually. For over 20 years, Tesco has relied on Blue Yonder solutions to ensure the fast, accurate generation of these planograms. More than 100 colleagues at Tesco use Blue Yonder solutions. To ensure that software knowledge and best practices are maintained, even as the workforce evolves, Tesco partnered with Blue Yonder Professional Services to create specialised user training. The solution With more than 100 Tesco colleagues using Blue Yonder solutions, a customised training programme was developed including a learning platform to help reduce training times for new colleagues. This is in addition to a two-day workshop for onboarding new users, a library of on-demand problem-solving videos and an ongoing self-assessment programme. “Tesco and Blue Yonder Professional Services are strong partners with a shared vision. Blue Yonder’s planning solutions were already adding significant value, and we have been able to strengthen our existing skills and capabilities through the Professional Services team to help maximize the software’s contribution.” –Mark Croft, Systems and Process Manager Establishing and sharing best practices Blue Yonder Professional Services helped create a library of 80 self-service training videos, available on a shared portal and mobile devices that allows users to learn a specific task quickly. A continuing self-assessment programme ensures that users can maintain a high-level of knowledge and skills. Benefits By replacing on-the-job learning and peer training with a customised training programme, Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team has helped capture best practices at Tesco that leads to higher-quality plans. Because Professional Services architects have expertise in both technology and education, they help Tesco users realise the full benefits of the software’s features and functionality, leading to a higher return on technology investments. The interactive, on-demand aspect of the Blue Yonder training programme makes it easy for Tesco colleagues to engage with the materials and learn independently. From the initial new-user workshop to ongoing knowledge assessments, learning has become a 360-degree experience. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [TNT partners with Blue Yonder to optimize warehouse operations](https://blueyonder.com/customers/thainamthip) > ThaiNamthip partners with Blue Yonder to optimize warehouse operations, increasing productivity of both human workers and physical assets, while minimizing errors. Success Story ThaiNamthip Warehouse Management and Labor Management TNT quenches its thirst for warehouse efficiency Reduction in order delivery errors to almost zero Increased productivity for both warehouse employees and capital assets Time and cost savings due to reduction in manual labor and paper-based processes The company ThaiNamthip (TNT) is Coca-Cola’s bottling partner in Thailand. It manufactures and distributes the full Coca-Cola portfolio, including Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, A and W Root Beer, Coke No Sugar, Namthip Drinking Water, Aquarius, Minute Maid Pulpy and Fuze Tea. The business challenge TNT was challenged to optimize its warehouse operations, to increase the productivity of both human workers and physical assets, while also minimizing errors. The company’s goal was to replace time-consuming, paper-based manual processes with speed and automation. The solution As part of a long-term effort to digitalize its entire supply chain, TNT partnered with Blue Yonder on a rapid implementation of its warehouse management and labor management solutions. “After we used Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and labor management solutions for two months, we saw an improvement in data accuracy, more accurate delivery of goods to our customers and improved customer service. The number of goods that were returned due to incorrect data was decreased to almost zero. Productivity was also increased. The utilization of our equipment and forklifts was higher. These were key benefits for our business.” –Warehouse Director Market leadership depends on supply chain digitization “TNT is currently the leader in the carbonated beverages market. If we are to maintain our market position in the long term, we must continue to invest in new technologies. If we can continue to partner with Blue Yonder whose logistics solutions are robust and globally recognized as leading technologies we will be able to build a truly world-class supply chain.” Flawless warehouse execution: a critical competency “TNT has always invested in technology which  has helped to enable advancements, both for our people and our processes. However, our warehouse processes were very dependent on manual labor, and we had no technology that allowed for automation. Blue Yonder allows us to automate our processes and also reduce the amount of human errors.” Blue Yonder builds long-term employee ownership “Blue Yonder supported us from design and training to implementation for our first pilot site, and everything was delivered successfully. We also asked Blue Yonder to assist in subsequent phases of the rollout of remaining sites. We expect Blue Yonder’s involvement to gradually reduce as we build our team and create ownership.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution is a highly scalable, real-time solution that helps TNT optimize every aspect of labor productivity and inventory movement. This solution integrates and synchronizes warehouse operations with the extended supply network. Labor management capabilities from Blue Yonder help TNT define best practices and performance expectations, track warehouse activities to enhance employee accountability and empower supervisors to effectively mentor their teams. Together, these solutions under the unified logistics umbrella support TNT in quickly adapting to change. The company can optimize the workforce and physical assets to get the right inventory at the right location at the right time, flawlessly. “We chose Blue Yonder because it is number one in warehouse management systems. In addition, Blue Yonder has many other capabilities that will help us improve our supply chain in the future. We see Blue Yonder as a strategic partner who will help us develop our complete end-to-end supply chain. Blue Yonder plays a pivotal and important role in the advancement of our entire supply chain, in partnership with our company.” –Warehouse Director Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder’s TMS helps Traxion to quantify savings and opportunities](https://blueyonder.com/customers/traxion) > By combining Blue Yonder’s TMS solutions and the Control Tower, Traxion achieves complete collaboration and transparency with customers, as well as carriers. Success Story Traxion Transportation Management Supported by Blue Yonder, Traxion leads in speed and service Real-time, autonomous decision optimization Increased visibility across the partner network Closer, digital relationships with customers The company Reflecting the dynamic growth of Mexico’s logistics market, Traxion has grown 28-fold since it was founded in 2011. With a fleet of 8,000 vehicles and over 1,000 customers, today Traxion is the country’s largest logistics provider, three times the size of its nearest competitor. The business challenge Traxion’s customer base grows — and customer requirements increase — the company needs to maximize its speed and responsiveness, while also controlling costs and ensuring profitability. The solution “With Blue Yonder’s transportation management, Traxion acquired a platform that provides a new level of visibility and control as we broker services and optimize loads, capacity, freight and routes. The optimization engine gathers real-time data and autonomously makes the best decision on the fly. It seamlessly manages our cross-border transportation between the US, Canada and Mexico.” “Even before 2020, the Mexican third-party logistics market was growing up to 25% per year. Then the pandemic dramatically accelerated that growth. E-commerce in Mexico doubled in 2020, compressing three years of logistics demand into just one year. Our Blue Yonder transportation management solution helps Traxion keep up with demand, balancing the speed and service required by omni-channel markets with cost control.” –Logistics Director Enabling a new level of customer centricity “One of the primary goals of our transportation management implementation was to become more customer-centric. We wanted to provide the easiest way for our customers to connect with us. We wanted to replace offline interactions with digital channels, so we could operate with our customers as a single entity. And we wanted to provide our customers with real-time, end-to-end visibility — which would enable them to make quick and informed decisions. Blue Yonder has enabled that new level of customer focus.” Creating new business opportunities “Another objective we’ve achieved via our Blue Yonder partnership is broadening our scope of services. We can leverage Blue Yonder’s carrier services, transportation modeling and network design capabilities to function as digital brokers and offer new solutions to our customers. We’ve been able to capture new market opportunities by offering end-to-end omni-channel services.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution enables Traxion to quantify savings and opportunities, balance service-level and cost tradeoffs, and prioritize execution. Traxion can evaluate network-wide performance, as well as troubleshoot disruptions, to drive reliability and savings. In its daily operations, Traxion benefits from Blue Yonder’s advanced routing, mode, container and service-level optimization with inventory awareness across the supply chain. Supported by artificial intelligence, the transportation management solution automates both execution and re-planning as conditions change. Blue Yonder allows Traxion to implement a single logistics platform — with shared data, metrics, workflows and best practices — across its operations, supporting consistent service and continuous improvement. “We chose Blue Yonder because of its extensive supply chain experience and the fact that it’s a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for TMS. Just as important was Blue Yonder’s understanding of our country, geography and business model. They knew we needed to get results quickly. Thanks to our strong partnership, we achieved record-breaking implementation speed!” –Logistics Director Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Marks & Spencer maximizes agility via cloud-based planning](https://blueyonder.com/customers/marks-and-spencer) > Marks & Spencer relies on Blue Yonder’s WFM and demand and fulfillment solutions for years to optimize processes, manage complexity and support responsiveness. Success Story Marks & Spencer Demand Planning, Fulfillment, Cloud Marks & Spencer maximizes agility via cloud-based planning Increased agility as conditions change Lower total cost of software ownership Immediate access to new functionality and innovations The company Based in London, Marks & Spencer is a leading multinational retailer with nearly 1000 stores and 2020 revenues exceeding $13 billon US. The company specializes in clothing, home products and food, mostly private-label. The business challenge For years, Marks & Spencer has relied on Blue Yonder’s Demand and Fulfillment solutions, as well as workforce management, to optimize processes, manage complexity and support responsiveness. Marks & Spencer needed to migrate all its Blue Yonder solutions to the cloud for higher levels of agility and increased supply chain speed to provide the best service for customers. The solution Marks & Spencer successfully migrated to the cloud, with support from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Microsoft. The new software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model maximizes speed, capacity and innovation. “During 2020, online sales grew from about 20% of our revenues to 90%. Our Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment SaaS solutions allowed Marks & Spencer to respond rapidly across our supply chain, including new fulfillment processes and new warehouse strategies. We really learned the power of technology, including the cloud, to maximize our speed and agility.” –Head of Technology Real-time visibility and responsiveness to market shifts “Retailers like Marks & Spencer are starting to embrace the fact that extreme demand shifts are not going away. Our planning solutions give us real-time, omni-channel visibility so we can make decisions quickly and confidently. Our new cloud model further accelerates our supply chain speed to provide the best service for customers — and a modern, user-friendly and highly configurable solution for our employees.” Leveraging the cost and performance benefits of SaaS “Our new cloud delivery model has delivered many benefits. We’re not encumbered by the cost and complexity of running data centers, and we have immediate access to any new functionality that can help our users do their jobs more effectively. There are lots of exciting innovations in the Blue Yonder pipeline, and we can access those right away.” A fast, seamless transition to the cloud “Minimizing business disruptions during the cloud migration was critical, because Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment is one of our mission-critical applications, which generates orders for our downstream systems. We can’t afford for our stores not to be replenished each day. The actual transition went remarkably well, and the involvement of Blue Yonder’s partner TCS helped accelerate the transformation from a business and technology perspective. We had very little noise at all. And our entire company was really appreciative of that.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s Demand Planning capabilities consolidate and synchronize demand signals, as well as external variables, across Marks & Spencer’s nearly 1000 stores. The retailer leverages prescriptive recommendations to make more accurate decisions, from inventory staging to maximizing turns. Fulfillment Planning capabilities from Blue Yonder help Marks & Spencer balance all the factors that determine inventory placement, including demand signals, customer service targets, safety-stock policies and product shelf-life constraints — all while keeping inventory costs low. Blue Yonder’s cloud model, hosted on Microsoft Azure, allows Marks & Spencer to scale on demand, deliver faster, reduce its total cost of ownership and leapfrog others on the path to innovation. The retailer’s cloud strategy positions it to integrate, orchestrate and execute in real-time to maximize responsiveness. “Accessing cloud-based planning capabilities helps us increase the speed of our supply chain to be more agile, ultimately better serving our customers online and in-store. Blue Yonder has also connected us with the expertise of Microsoft and TCS. We have a lot of stores, with a big product range, and that’s a really high volume of critical data. It was vital that we had trust in the partnerships we were forming.” –Head of Technology Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [McKesson Canada sees significant reductions in inventory with Blue Yonder planning and replenishment solutions](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mckesson-canada) > With annual revenues in the billions, McKesson Canada delivers more than one-third of all prescription drugs in Canada. And when the organization needed to optimize its inbound products and the inventory in its 13 distribution centers, Blue Yonder rose to the challenge. Discover how our solutions helped McKesson Canada reduce inventory levels and create greater efficiencies, resulting in millions of dollars in operating cash flow improvements. Success Story McKesson Canada Demand Planning, Supply Planning and Replenishment McKesson Canada optimizes Demand and Supply Planning Operating cash flow improved by millions of dollars Significant reduction in inventory Reduction of over 10% in inbound lines to DCs The company With annual revenues in the billions, McKesson Canada serves millions of customers every day, delivering more than one-third of all prescription drugs in Canada. The company’s global supply chain manages over 250,000 distinct product SKUs. The business challenge McKesson Canada was challenged to optimize its inbound products, and the inventory in its 13 distribution centers (DCs), via an outdated legacy system. New technology was needed to meet growing customer requirements, support revenue gains, manage supply-side disruptions, and increase accuracy and efficiency. The solution McKesson Canada partnered with Blue Yonder to manage product flow into its DCs, as well as inventory levels. The stakes are high: billions of dollars in product acquisitions and over $1 billion of inventory are managed through Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder solutions help McKesson Canada rationalize demand and supply planning for over 50,000 products across 13 distribution centers. We can segregate our forecasts and replenishment plans based on product turnover rates, seasonality and other factors. We can define profitable safety stock levels and other inventory policies. As a result, we’ve made our inventory more efficient, reduced overall inventory levels and improved operating cash flow by millions.” –Kareen Habib, Senior Director of Supply Planning Increased customer service and fill rates via improved forecast accuracy “Now that our forecasts have increased in accuracy, McKesson Canada can deliver higher levels of customer service. Our fill rates exceed our targets by 0.1% on average, and by 1% for new products. The overall value to customers also includes increased product availability and fewer lost sales.” Improved inbound efficiency in distribution centers “Because we can order products better and more accurately, Blue Yonder has enabled McKesson Canada to improve its receiving throughput by 10%, resulting in a more efficient use of labor, logistics and administrative resources.” Productivity gains thanks to process automation “Blue Yonder software streamlines and accelerates our everyday processes for managing inbound shipments and making inventory decisions. For example, an auto-approval feature enables McKesson Canada to generate automated approvals of Blue Yonder’s recommended supply plans for about 45% of our product portfolio, leading to significant gains in efficiency and productivity.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s combination of industry-standard and specialized, patented demand forecasting algorithms cover every type of sales pattern, including slow-moving SKUs, highly seasonal products and lumpy demand. This capability helps McKesson Canada achieve maximum forecast accuracy, with minimal time and effort from planners. Blue Yonder’s supply planning and replenishment capabilities help McKesson stage the right inventory throughout its distribution network, minimizing stock outs while maximizing inventory turns. The result is increased service, at a lower inventory investment. Automation enables Blue Yonder to handle much of the heavy lifting and decision making, leaving planners to focus on strategic priorities. In addition, Blue Yonder’s advanced analytics help maintain and even improve performance over time. “McKesson Canada selected Blue Yonder because of its advanced statistical models and the strength of its reputation in the industry. Blue Yonder has proven to be a valuable strategic partner with amazing, robust solutions that work for the scale of our operations. Blue Yonder capabilities make our organization more strategic, more flexible, more accurate and more efficient.” –Senior Director of Supply Planning Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Medifast saves 15-20% annual shipping costs and 8 times reduction in unloading times with Warehouse Management System](https://blueyonder.com/customers/medifast) > With the direct-to-work queue in warehouse management, Medifast employees are working in real-time, resulting in improved employee productivity and headcount optimization. Success Story Medifast Warehouse Management Medifast shapes up warehouse operations 30% decrease in labor costs in shipping function 15-20% saved in annual shipping costs 8X reduction of unloading time for trucks The company Medifast is an American wellness company that distributes and provides nutritional and weight loss-focused solutions. The company sells its products to consumers through a network of independent coaches who provide guidance and support through marketing and franchised weight-loss clinics. The business challenge As Medifast started to experience greater volume in each of its distribution centers, it was important to scale the company’s ERP system to accommodate its growing business. Medifast’s goals were to decrease labor costs in shipping function, save in annual shipping costs and reduce unloading time for trucks by optimizing their distribution center operations. The solution Real-time visibility into what is happening and what needs to happen on the warehouse floor has empowered Medifast’s staff to make quicker and more effective decisions, resulting in increased employee productivity. With the direct-to-work queue in warehouse management, about 40 percent of Medifast’s distribution employees are working on tasks assigned by the system. The solution has eliminated paperwork and movement transactions, enabling Medifast’s employees to work in real-time alongside the system. On achieving cost savings on labor and shipping Prior to implementing Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, Medifast employees were hand-selecting boxes, measuring efficiency based on speed, and required two employees to scan, weigh and apply shipping labels. Now that the company has the product weights and dimensions loaded into the WMS, excessive use of void fill and delays from repacking can be avoided. The system can choose the right box and apply the shipping label on the front end before the order is picked. Products go right into the shipping box, instead of into a tote first reducing double touches and wasted labor. Solution benefits With the direct-to-work queue in warehouse management, Medifast employees are working in real-time, resulting in improved employee productivity and headcount optimization. Visibility into dimensional analysis reduces double working a pick and pack, reducing overall time to ship and labor costs, which in turn increases margin. Blue Yonder’s experise While Blue Yonder was a natural candidate because Medifast was already using its web commerce solution the company also considered four other software providers. In the end, by conducting site visits with existing customers and attending industry events, the team at Medifast decided Blue Yonder was the right partner. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Mahindra & Mahindra soars revenues by 10% and lowers response time by 40%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mahindra-and-mahindra) > The Spares Business Unit at Mahindra & Mahindra Farm Equipment harnesses the power of Blue Yonder's Planning platform to increase their visibility and revenues. Success Story Mahindra & Mahindra Inventory Optimization Mahindra & Mahindra increases revenues by 10% via inventory optimization Reduced customer response times by 40% Grew business revenue by 10% Improved forecast accuracy by 10% The company With 100,000 SKUs and 21 distribution centers, the Spares Business Unit at Mahindra & Mahindra Farm Equipment needed to profitably manage its high inventory investments. See how the organization harnessed the power of Blue Yonder's Planning platform to increase their visibility, ultimately resulting in increased revenues, service levels, customer response times, and forecast accuracy. The business challenge Part of the $20 billion Mahindra Group, Mahindra & Mahindra Farm Equipment is the world’s number-one tractor company by volume, and its automotive business competes in almost every segment of the industry. The Spares Business Unit (SBU) provides genuine vehicle and tractor spare parts via advanced capabilities in sourcing, assembling, warehousing and distribution. The SBU was losing sales revenues due to stockouts and tight working capital as a result of its high inventory investments. The business was relying on manual analysis and Excel spreadsheets to create demand and supply plans, but they were not adequate for the complexity and scale of the challenge. The solution To gain greater responsiveness and ensure the availability of spares for different demand patterns, Mahindra sought Blue Yonder’s expertise and advanced technologies to optimize its parts inventories, spanning 100,000 SKUs and 21 distribution centers. “With Blue Yonder capabilities, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Spares Business Unit now has greater visibility regarding demand, inventory, supply and distribution plans — and is able to make more accurate and timely supply chain decisions. The SBU has been able to increase service levels by 10%, reduce customer response times by 40% and grow business revenue by 10%.” –Head of Demand and Supply Planning, Spares Business Unit, Mahindra & Mahindra A science-driven approach to forecasting and inventory modeling “By implementing Blue Yonder’s planning platform, Mahindra leverages the benefits of key demand forecasting, inventory management and replenishment planning capabilities. Scientific forecasting methods and multi-echelon inventory models have increased forecasting accuracy and optimized inventory levels, leading to higher customer service levels, reduced inventory investment and increased sales revenues.” Replacing manual analysis with automation and accuracy “Labor-intensive processes, disconnected systems and Excel-based planning worksheets have been replaced with integrated, automated data exchanges between Blue Yonder’s planning platform and Mahindra’s execution systems. This enables the SBU to plan, execute and deliver goods in an organized and consistent manner. Post-implementation, the SBU has realized an overall improvement in forecast accuracy of 10%.” Automated recommendations, based on deep industry expertise “Blue Yonder understands our spares business well. They also understand the nuances of our industry, and this gave us a good basis to work from. The software provides recommended selections based on pre-defined demand and supply parameters. SBU planners are able to apply default recommendations or override them, based on additional information.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s planning helps Mahindra transform its spare parts supply chain into a source of competitive advantage despite enormous demand variability, elongated lead times and constantly shifting logistics cost scenarios. As a result of more accurate forecasting and replenishment, fueled by automation and machine learning, the SBU has been able to eliminate excess inventory and reduce obsolescence costs, while maintaining high customer service levels. Blue Yonder’s flexible software solutions are able to quickly adapt the SBU’s inventory policies and stocking strategies to address changing market conditions, business objectives, supply chain constraints, and changes in customer segmentation and buying behavior. “Blue Yonder provides comprehensive, scalable, cutting edge technology-enabled supply chain planning solutions for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers across a diverse range of industries. Blue Yonder’s unique selling point lies in the highly capable team of individuals who strive to provide excellent customer service, and are driven toward innovating and collaborating with customers like Mahindra & Mahindra to create agile and responsive supply chains for the future.” –Head of Demand and Supply Planning, Spares Business Unit, Mahindra & Mahindra Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Michelin drives innovation and collaboration with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/michelin) > Hear how Blue Yonder helps Michelin adopt the right solution to fulfill each of their supply chain goals – improve customer service, lower logistics costs and reduce inventory. Success Story Michelin Sales & Operations Planning, Replenishment, Forecasting Michelin drives innovation and collaboration Increased planning efficiency Improved decision making process Improved visibility and greater accountability with key stakeholders The company Michelin is a leading tire manufacturer, headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region of France. Michelin is present in more than 170 countries and operates 68 production plants in 17 different countries. In addition to the Michelin brand, the company owns a strong brand portfolio, including BFGoodrich, Kleber, Tigar, Riken, Kormoran, and the Uniroyal brand for the North American market, among others. The business challenge Michelin’s supply chain complexity increased substantially and had become more difficult to manage due to scarce capacity, a growing portfolio of tire types and a significant increase in parts resulting from the company’s innovation efforts. The market in which the company operates had also become increasingly volatile and competitive, as well as impacted by seasonal demand. After analyzing its existing S&OP decision-making process, several potential improvements were identified including undetected opportunities, risks and constraints. Legacy tools and processes used by the Michelin business units were heterogeneous and didn’t have the flexibility necessary to support its S&OP transformation. The solution Michelin deployed Blue Yonder’s agile implementation approach, which includes a sequence of three-week sprints of designing, constructing, testing and validating the solution. This rapid prototyping methodology enabled the team to learn and mature quickly in their use of the solution while achieving results through each phase of the project, ensuring adoption by the business. A key enabler of this approach was the use of Blue Yonder cloud launch to support rapid deployment and performance testing. “We believe the Sharp S&OP project, supported by Blue Yonder S&OP, will significantly increase visibility into future risks and constraints, thanks to scenarios shared across the organization.” –Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain, Michelin Seamless implementation In addition to the organizational and technology rollout, Michelin conducted a gap analysis of its S&OP processes and its position on the S&OP maturity curve. The teams identified process gaps and data consistency issues and built an action plan to close those gaps. The action plan was then translated into monthly objectives, along with monthly status reviews, to reinforce organization-wide accountability. The company also joined Blue Yonder’s S&OP Special Interest Group, which enabled them to learn from other customers’ experiences and best practices. Solution Benefits Michelin turned to Blue Yonder for support in the transformational S&OP project, encompassing process, organizational and technology changes, to improve its supply chain plan decisions and cross-functional alignment. Blue Yonder’s sales and operations planning capabilities enabled Michelin to better share within the business unit executive team a common demand, sales and production plan, as well as manage priorities. It also allows the enterprise to balance demand against capacity across a 12-18-month horizon, a process often referred to as tactical balancing, or rough-cut capacity planning. Why Blue Yonder At the beginning of 2017, Michelin launched a reorganization study, modifying in depth its business structure. The collaboration capability in Blue Yonder S&OP played an integral part as it enabled multiple entities (such as manufacturing, regions and business lines) to work together to build common tactical sales, production and stock plans, and it was one of the main levers that allowed a quick transition from the old organization to the new. Since January 2018, the main Michelin activities worldwide have been driven using Blue Yonder’s S&OP capabilities and a tool deployment roadmap. The solution supports a standardized process and network for sharing best practices, empowering the plants and sales organizations with a new tool for collaboration. It also enables local simulations to support demand management in the regions, as well as capacity management at the plants, all using one set of data to ensure consistency. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Lenzing is reducing waste with greater efficiency](https://blueyonder.com/customers/lenzing) > Lenzing's Robert Van De Kerkhof sits down to discuss the partnership and success Lenzing has seen with Blue Yonder. Lenzing is in a unique position to change the fiber industry. Lenzing is the world's leading wood fiber producer. As Lenzing's Chief Commercial Officer, Robert, shares the transformation that Lenzing has gone through to adopt industry best practices. Based on their successful implementation of sales and operations planning with Blue Yonder, Lenzing sees the potential to transform not only their own business, but the entire fashion industry, via digital technologies like Blue Yonder’s. Their goal is to expand connectivity and collaboration capabilities outside of their business by forming closer relationships with their supply chain partners leveraging Blue Yonder. Ultimately, Lenzing envisions connecting the entire value chain and truly minimize their environment impact. Success Story Lenzing Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Fashioning a transformation Increased visibility thereby leading to greater forecast accuracy and better decisions Improved profitability and resource utilization New level of cross-functional alignment and employee buy-in The company Based in Austria, the Lenzing Group supplies high-quality specialty fibers to the global fashion industry. Its botanic cellulose fibers, which support the production of textile and nonwoven products, are known for their innovative properties, including a reduced environmental impact when compared to traditional materials. The business challenge The company sought to connect demand forecasting, sales planning and operations planning via digitalization thereby creating an extremely accurate, efficient end-to-end supply chain. The solution To achieve a solution, Lenzing partnered with Blue Yonder to implement Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) across its production operations, as well as its sales, marketing and finance activities. The company’s goal was to create an extremely accurate end-to-end planning process that matches demand and supply very precisely while also minimizing inefficiencies and maximizing profitability. S&OP addresses these needs by taking a cross-functional approach to integrated business planning that unites all the moving parts across the supply chain with a shared focus to meet demand across markets, with an eye on both immediate and long-term strategic goals. “Blue Yonder’s consultants helped us to first create a vision of the radical transformation, then share it with our employees. With assistance from Blue Yonder, we created a roadmap and invited people to join us on the journey. Then we empowered our employees to find their own way to make the digital transformation happen. We needed their creativity to drive innovation. The sense of ownership that resulted became a huge factor in our success.” –Chief Commercial Officer, Lenzing Digital transformation This implementation represented the first step of a digital transformation for this 80-year-old business. Existing commercial tools, such as Excel spreadsheets, and manually intensive processes were replaced with a specialized solution built to manage the complexity of Lenzing’s worldwide business model. Cross-functional teams were brought together for the first time in an agile, collaborative process, working with a single set of data that is shared across the business. This new level of transparency and visibility helped Lenzing stakeholders understand the needs of both customers and end consumers, creating a more accurate forecast and, ultimately, a much more agile and responsive supply chain. Solution benefits Increased visibility thereby leading to greater forecast accuracy and better decisions. Improved profitability and resource utilization. New level of cross-functional alignment and employee buy-in. “Not only did Blue Yonder deliver the best-in-class digital technologies Lenzing needed, but Blue Yonder also understood our overall business challenges and goals. Blue Yonder’s experts ensured that the new processes and supply chain model would set the stage for long-term success, both financially and in terms of our commitment to environmental stewardship. And they made sure our employees believed in the vision and made it happen.” –Chief Commercial Officer, Lenzing Boundaryless planning: Blurring the line between S&OP and S&OE Sustainability strategy turned into reality throughout the value chain Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [El Palacio de Hierro sees 30% improvement in customer delivery response times](https://blueyonder.com/customers/el-palacio-de-hierro) > El Palacio de Hierro deploys Blue Yonder’s logistics WMS capability to improve inventory visibility and accuracy to support their growth prediction of 521%. Success Story El Palacio de Hierro Warehouse Management Supporting rapid growth at El Palacio de Hierro 30% improvement in customer delivery response times 25% improvement in store delivery response times 30% improvement in DC labor productivity The company With growth predicted to hit 521 percent, Mexico City-based upscale department store chain El Palacio de Hierro realized they needed a new warehouse management system (WMS) to support business continuity and customerservice goals during this rapid growth. Their out-of-date software and infrastructure, with frequent downtime, was no longer viable. They selected Blue Yonder’s Luminate™ Logistics warehouse management capability to support growth and provide stability. The business challenge El Palacio de Hierro was supporting deliveries of omni-channel orders to customers and its well over 200 stores from a 430,000 sq. ft. DC in Mexico City. Their out-of-date WMS, servers and data base resulted in capacity and response time issues, as well as frequent down time, that impacted service to customers and stores. With predicted rapid growth and goals for improved customer service, including delivery of everything from e-commerce orders to major appliances, El Palacio de Hierro wanted a WMS to support all DC functions efficiently with 100% product availability and 99%+ order accuracy. The most significant goal for El Palacio de Hierro was to achieve operational stability. The solution El Palacio de Hierro did not achieve its significant savings and improvements simply by implementing a WMS. It took a partnership between the retailer, Blue Yonder alliance member Argano, and Blue Yonder services. Blue Yonder provided consulting and education services that continue to bear fruit. “The supply chain department at El Palacio de Hierro has significantly improved service and fulfillment levels on the product delivered to our customers and stores by implementing the Blue Yonder solution.” –Director of Logistics and Special Services, El Palacio de Hierro Managing hectic operations El Palacio de Hierro is challenged with increasing customer demands for 100 percent product availability and fast, accurate delivery of their orders. Add in the company’s rapid growth and wide selection of merchandise and itis clear why their DC operations can be hectic. Their Mexico City DC receives shipments from suppliers via scheduled appointments, as well as imported goods, and provides inventory storage, store replenishment, and cross-docking functions. It also ships direct to customers and stores and processes store and customer returns. There are over 19,000 floor and rack stock locations for picking orders for home delivery and store replenishment. Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capability supports all of these operations, providing significant cost and throughput benefits. Business continuity The number one goal for the WMS implementation was to create business continuity by eliminating system downtime. “The most significant benefit for our organization is achieving operational stability, thanks to the Blue Yonder tools. In the past, we used to experience significant operational breakdowns that led to very long wait times for our providers and brought operations to a halt. We have achieved this stability since the implementation.” Improving customer service Another goal for El Palacio de Hierro was to increase operational efficiency and accuracy across many functions to improve customer service while supporting an aggressive five-year growth plan. The implementation resulted in significantly improved inventory visibility and accuracy, increased labor productivity and substantially improved order delivery times to customers and stores. Solution benefits 100 percent inventory visibility reduced inventory errors by 75 percent and increased inventory accuracy to 99.96 percent. Labor productivity increased 30 percent, resulting in US$ 580,000 in annual saving. Order picking accuracy improved to 99.78 percent. Order response times improved substantially, with delivery times for customer orders improving 30 percent and store deliveries improving 25 percent. “Software training and education for our associates is very important for us because, thanks to Blue Yonder’s training support, over a year after its implementation, we are still experiencing improvements that have resulted in operational benefits. Blue Yonder provided us excellent service.” –Director of Logistics and Special Services, El Palacio de Hierro Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Long-term Blue Yonder customer dm improves forecasting with AI and machine learning](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dm) > Blue Yonder optimized external product supply for dm by creating demand predictions at SKU level for the distribution centers for 52 weeks. The weekly predictions of article demand were based on 2.5 years of historical data for each particular distribution center. Success Story dm AI/Machine Learning, Demand Forecasting Long-term Blue Yonder customer dm improves forecasting with AI and machine learning Improved store-level demand predictions Faster, more informed decisions with demand forecasting for up to 52 weeks Optimized staff planning The company Europe’s largest drug store, dm, employs more than 93,000 people and operates over 4,000 stores across 14 countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, and much of Central and Eastern Europe. The retailer offers a diverse range of products—from cosmetics and personal care to health items, household essentials, and organic foods—all supported by sustainability business practices. The business challenge In the years dm expanded the most, it faced growing operational challenges, including the need to align demand expectations across its network. Accurate forecasting was essential to help suppliers respond to shifting consumer needs, short-term fluctuations in store demand, and long supplier lead times. Forecasting sales during holidays and vacation periods added further complexity, as did balancing labor needs to avoid overstaffing and understaffing. The solution For a period of 21 years now, dm has used Blue Yonder’s software to address these challenges. This long-standing partnership enabled dm to continuously benefit from Blue Yonder’s AI and machine learning capabilities throughout these years—including the development of advanced forecasting models—delivering accurate and scalable insights. As a result, dm could better anticipate store-level demand and align labor and resources. Driving results through collaborative synergy With Blue Yonder’s advanced AI and machine learning capabilities—powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform—dm’s short-term store demand is more accurately anticipated, enabling teams to respond proactively to fluctuations. To help balance labor needs and maintain operational efficiency, Blue Yonder’s demand forecasting capabilities capture complex demand patterns, including those associated with holidays and seasonal shifts. Decision-making processes at dm have been enhanced by Blue Yonder’s AI and machine learning competencies, which provide predictive analytics and demand forecasting for up to 52 weeks ahead at a store level. Optimizing staff planning with data-driven sales forecasts Blue Yonder's AI-driven forecasts have played an integral role in aligning dm’s staffing with projected sales. By analyzing each store’s daily sales, operating hours, and external factors—such as public and school holidays—the system enables staffing levels to be accurately matched to the expected volume of outgoing goods. These probabilistic forecasting methods enable dm to fine-tune parameters and precisely calculate workforce needs, supporting both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Realizing mutual success through strategic innovation The 21-year alignment between dm and Blue Yonder—built on consistently close and appreciative cooperation—underscores the value of collaboration and innovation in driving long-term success. Blue Yonder's solutions are deeply embedded in dm's operations, making it an indispensable part of the retailer’s digital transformation journey. This long-term relationship has been mutually beneficial. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s 23 years of expertise in AI and machine learning, dm has enhanced its operational efficiency, while Blue Yonder has gained valuable insights and feedback from working closely with a major retailer like dm. This synergy has set a benchmark for industry standards in technological advancements and strategic collaboration, propelling growth for both companies. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Mitchells & Butlers optimizes WFM with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mitchells-and-butlers) > Learn how Mitchells & Butlers uses Blue Yonder's WFM and store execution solutions to improve labor forecast avoiding lost revenue opportunities from understaffing. Success Story Mitchells and Butlers Workforce Management, Store Execution Mitchells & Butlers optimizes its workforce management with Blue Yonder Improved labor forecast and significant positive financial impact Avoided lost revenue opportunities from understaffing Avoided unnecessary expense from overcommitting The company Established in 1898, Mitchells & Butlers plc is one of the largest operators of restaurants, pubs and bars throughout the United Kingdom, including much loved names like Miller & Carter, Harvester, Toby Carvery and more. The business challenge With over 1,600 properties, Mitchells & Butlers were facing two major challenges that they would need to address to remain competitive and reach the next phase of their growth. Firstly, rapidly changing market dynamics has put huge pressure on workforce management. Labour is often the single biggest cost in hospitality, so ensuring you have the right staff, with the right expertise, at the right time can make or break businesses. “It is critical that workforce management scheduling is managed effectively and efficiently, this includes balancing the needs of your employees with those of your business.” The second challenge facing Mitchells & Butlers was maximizing / minimizing revenue and waste at the point of sale. “When a guest chooses a premium menu item, if that is not available, they often downgrade to another item, resulting in a poor customer experience and potentially lost revenue for the business. Just one bad experience and today’s choosy, time-strapped consumers will shop elsewhere. However, by overstocking, you could potentially compromise freshness, resulting in waste and tying up revenue in stock. Therefore, to best serve our customers, and to maximize revenue there is a large incentive for hospitality businesses to always ensure they are appropriately stocked. This requires real-time visibility, accurate forecasts and auto-replenishment of inventory.” To achieve this, Mitchells and Butlers would need to review their store execution operations. With these unprecedented challenges, Mitchells & Butlers was seeking a solution provider that could offer multiple services to remove data silos and provide visibility across the business, so that they could streamline operations and reach the next level of business growth. The solution As long-term partners of Blue Yonder, Mitchells & Butlers once again turned to the industry leader to overcome these challenges. Blue Yonder’s Workforce Management (WFM) is a complete solution that includes everything from time and attendance and daily schedules to strategic employee planning. Using the industry’s most accurate forecast, it generates optimized labor schedules that are compliant with labor laws and corporate policies. Plus, it provides the flexibility to adjust schedules midweek if things change and lets employees swap or bid on shifts as their schedule allows. The solution provides a 12-month outlook on labor needs and recommends cross-training and recruitment opportunities to cover gaps. “The mobile capability was particularly attractive, as this enabled a high level of employee engagement with self-service tools and more scheduling flexibility.” Blue Yonder Store Execution can help companies to optimize daily operations, from inventory and pricing to foodservice and the forecourt. This innovative solution offers a mobile-first design to empower employees, allowing them to spend less time on logistics and more time serving customers and delivering on the brand promise. “Rising inflation, COVID-19 and Brexit have caused enormous disruption in the hospitality sector over the last few years, both for the workforce and for demand planning. With 40,000 staff, Mitchells & Butlers were seeking a solution that could help us to manage our workforce, while delivering the best possible guest experience. Blue Yonder’s solutions provide reliable store execution and accurate labour forecasts, allowing us to work within our budgets and creating tangible value.” –Project Manager, Mitchells & Butlers Results “By partnering with Blue Yonder, Mitchells & Butlers were able to increase revenue, provide better customer experiences, reduce cost of labor, and reduce waste, all without any disruption to services.” Mitchells & Butlers engaged in an auto scheduling pilot across multiple brands and began rolling this out to the rest of the business in the second half of 2022. “The pilot program has delivered several tangible benefits. For example it has allowed us to stagger shift starts to avoid overcommitting workforce and therefore unnecessary expense. This has had a significant positive financial impact and enabled us to hit our labour budget forecast accurately.” Typically, these Blue Yonder solutions would expect to see up to: 10% Reduced Labor Expenses; 25% Increased Employee Engagement; 60% Reduced Labor Violations. With Store Execution companies can achieve up to: 25% Waste Reduction; 20% Inventory Investment Reduction; 3% In Increased Sales. Looking ahead, Mitchells & Butlers will continue to work with Blue Yonder on an AI-led labor forecasting initiative, with the objective of improving labor forecast accuracy and further reducing costs. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Home improvement player, Gedimat deploys Blue Yonder category management](https://blueyonder.com/customers/gedimat) > Blue Yonder’s space planning and floor planning solutions empower Gedimat to make faster, better-informed business decisions and to provide strong planograms. Success Story Gedimat Space Planning, Floor Planning Building better lives at Gedimat 30% productivity improvement Increased efficiency in member stores through more effective planograms Enhanced analytics enabled faster, better-informed business decisions The company Gedimat is a member cooperative with approximately 500 independent dealers in France and Belgium, making it the second-largest home improvement player in the French market. In this marketplace, customers depend on their local store for trusted advice and information, making the in-store retail experience a key success factor. Speed of delivery is also vital, especially during busy seasons and when new products are coming to store shelves. Thanks to Blue Yonder’s solutions for space planning and floor planning, Gedimat’s local dealers can continue to provide the knowledge and winning retail experiences their shoppers are seeking, when they want it, making it easier for customers to build the lives they desire. The business challenge As a home improvement cooperative, Gedimat wanted to provide its dealers space planning and planograms to help them create winning customer experiences. Gedimat’s old sales and merchandising solution lacked the analytical capabilities needed to support their large retail cooperative and build better relationships with suppliers and manufacturers. Gedimat wanted to automate time-consuming manual tasks to increase productivity and efficiency and better serve their dealers. The solution As Gedimat’s business and dealer network grew, they realized that their old sales and merchandising systems lacked the analytical capabilities they needed to better understand their business and to provide their dealers and suppliers the information they needed to improve their business operations. The analytical capabilities of Blue Yonder’s solutions empower Gedimat to make faster, better-informed business decisions and to provide insights to their member stores. And since the Blue Yonder solutions can share almost every planogram format that has been created, Gedimat is able to collaborate on optimized strategies and build stronger relationships with its partner manufacturers and suppliers. “For a retailer like Gedimat, I think that Blue Yonder’s solutions are the best tools on the market, not only because they integrate store planning and planogramming, but also thanks to the capacity to adapt and evolve the tools with our business.” –Planogram Manager, Gedimat Greater productivity and efficiency Blue Yonder’s space planning and floor planning solutions helped Gedimat automate manual tasks to increase productivity and efficiency. The solutions’ easy-to-use work environments and intuitive interfaces make it easier for Gedimat to create planograms and communicate with suppliers, as well as to build floor plans based on those planograms that member stores can put into action. The solutions also automate tasks such as PDF creation, performance loading and planogram control that would otherwise be needlessly time-consuming. And the solutions will continue to improve and evolve, with the capability to scale and adapt to Gedimat’s future growth and business needs. The results have been very beneficial for Gedimat and, in turn, for their suppliers and member stores. Since implementing Blue Yonder’s solutions, Gedimat has seen productivity increase by 30 percent as formerly routine tasks are now automated. Solution benefits Improved planning staff productivity by 30%. Increased efficiency in member stores through more effective planograms. Improved relationships with suppliers and manufacturers through shared analytics and optimized strategies. Enhanced analytics enabled faster, better-informed business decisions. Blue Yonder’s expertise Without Blue Yonder’s space planning and floor planning solutions, Gedimat member stores would not be able to deliver the winning retail experiences their customers desire. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [ITC reduces cost of goods sold by 1% with ROI in 2 months](https://blueyonder.com/customers/itc) > Learn how Blue Yonder’s network design capabilities helps ITC save nearly 1% of cost of goods sold, resulting in full return on investment in less than 60 days. Success Story ITC Network Design ITC limited creates the perfect recipe for supply chain success 1% reduced cost of goods sold 2 months to realise full return on investment Enabled long-term cost-based planning decisions The company ITC Limited is a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate based in India with a diversified presence in fast-moving consumer goods, hotels, paper and packaging, agriculture and information technology. The company’s packaged foods business is experiencing fast growth, with biscuits (cookies) representing its largest single category. The business challenge The biscuit segment experiences high demand volatility and materials cost fluctuations. ITC recognized that its spreadsheet-based tools did not account for its continuously changing cost structures. The company needed a more powerful tool that would allow it to take a total-cost optimization approach toward its strategic, as well as tactical, supply chain planning. ITC was able to achieve this total-cost optimization with the Network Design capabilities within Blue Yonder’s Planning suite. ITC’s spreadsheet tools did not account for its continuously changing cost structures. Therefore, they could not see the macro effects of the supply chain decisions they were making. Cost optimization is complex at ITC due to frequent manufacturing changeovers required to produce its more than 120 distinct biscuit SKUs across its network of 17 factories and the dramatic price fluctuations in the agricultural sector that affect their materials costs. ITC’s spreadsheet-based planning did not allow them to make effective medium and long-range strategic plans. The solution To maintain its leadership position in the biscuit category and capitalize on future growth opportunities, ITC turned to Blue Yonder to ensure that the company’s supply network, which includes more than 17 factories and 50 warehouses, was delivering products to the market at the lowest possible cost. Since implementing Blue Yonder’s Network Design capabilities, “We have saved nearly one percent of the cost of goods sold by optimizing our supply network against our business plan, which represents a substantial savings. We achieved this by understanding and leveraging structural cost differences, as well as deploying our resources more effectively against changing market dynamics.” The financial benefits enabled ITC to realize a full return on its investment in less than two months. “Previously, we had focused on freight optimization as a means of driving out costs in the biscuit division. However, since freight expenses only contribute less than 10 percent of total cost, the scope of optimization was very limited. Our supply network was remaining static over time.” –Supply Chain Manager, ITC Enabling long-term planning ITC wanted to not only address its present-day challenges, but also create the foundation for future market leadership. “First, we needed to determine how we should be operating on a monthly basis, given our existing capacities and capabilities. But we also wanted to take a medium-term view so we could better align our supply chain resources with demand variations.” The company selected Blue Yonder’s Network Design capabilities because it could provide a transparent perspective on how any new investments would impact its overall cost structure. “Thanks to Blue Yonder, our business has been able to structure a five-year capacity roadmap, based on a total-cost approach, that simultaneously considers location, capacity, capability and timeline constraints. We have made multiple capacity decisions and have many supply chain expansion projects under way.” Making cost-based decisions ITC can now make cost-based decisions very quickly, taking corrective actions before there are any negative financial impacts. The quick response model enabled by Blue Yonder  positions the company to continuously improve its cost position, no matter what trends emerge. “When we are making future plans, we can evaluate the impact of multiple potential events on our costs and our profitability. We can look at what-if scenarios, make virtual choices and see how these decisions would impact our overall financial picture and our supply chain structure.” Cost savings through collaboration “During the period when we were implementing the Blue Yonder solution, there were dramatic price fluctuations in the agricultural sector which affected our materials costs. The Network Design capabilities helped us to create seamless collaboration among procurement, manufacturing, marketing, sales and logistics to manage these price fluctuations. We were able to identify cost savings opportunities that provided us with a competitive advantage. This process really helped change our culture and teach us the benefits of collaborative planning.” Solution benefits Reduced cost of goods sold by nearly one percent. Realized full return on investment in less than two months. Enabled long-term cost-based planning decisions. Achieved cost savings through better collaboration. Blue Yonder’s expertise Within ITC Limited, the biscuit division has emerged as a role model for embracing collaboration and alignment. “There is a strong interest from other business units in implementing similar supply chain innovations and best practices in order to drive competitive advantage. We’re proud of what we have accomplished with Blue Yonder.” Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [JFE Steel reduces planning time effectively by 50%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/jfe-steel) > Blue Yonder helps JFE implement best-in-class software to match their own highly innovative steel products overhauling outdated and manual sales processes. Success Story JFE Steel S&OP, Production Planning JFE Steel forges real-time planning 50% Reduction in planning time Real-time visibility to demand and order status Increased customer satisfaction through faster, more reliable promises and easy, real-time customer access to order status The company Headquartered in Tokyo, JFE Steel Group is one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers, producing 30 million tons of steel products annually. In order to optimize efficiency, capacity and costs at these manufacturing facilities, JFE Steel requires a highly accurate sales forecast, as well as intelligent planning software that synchronizes its supply of products with that demand. The business challenge The problem was that sales data was kept on each sales person’s computer, so management had to collect the information manually to load into their planning spreadsheets. Not only was this a slow, labor-intensive process, changes to the monthly plan also had to be entered manually and the long-term plan was never updated for changes. JFE Steel implemented Blue Yonder’s sales and operations planning (S&OP) capabilities to provide immediate visibility to demand, including changes impacting both monthly and long-term planning. Previously, it took four days just for the sales management team to meet with each individual sales group and collect the information. After the implementation, the company could instantly access a single view of demand across all of its customers and products. Accurate forecasting proved challenging, as demand data was not being shared across the entire sales team. Detailed information about specific customers and products were stored in individual employees’ computers. Sales management had to manually collect demand data, consolidate it and input it into a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Demand changes were only reflected in the monthly view, resulting in long-term forecasts that were consistently out-of-date and inaccurate. The solution JFE Steel executives recognized that they needed to match their own highly innovative steel products with best-in-class software tools in order to plan more accurately and effectively. JFE partnered with Blue Yonder to implement production planning capabilities from Blue Yonder’s Planning platform. “We considered a number of other software providers. In our view, Blue Yonder offered not only the robust planning functionality we needed, but they also had the best compatibility with the dynamics of the steel industry and the business processes of JFE.” –Executive Assistant General Manager, IT Innovation Leading Department Integrated planning “Our sales groups use an Excel-based interface to input their demand data into Blue Yonder’s S&OP solution. Whenever there’s a change, it’s immediately reflected in both our short-term and long-term plans. We have greater flexibility, and a more real-time view, because we’re not performing a ‘batch’ forecasting process.” As a result, company-wide visibility into the forecast has increased significantly. The rolling sales plan is directly integrated with the company’s production plans and revenue plans. Adjustments can be made across all these plans as needed, which enables JFE Steel to optimize its entire supply chain and react swiftly when demand changes. Improved customer satisfaction “Previously, we had to manually check order volume against production capacity. This slowed down our customer response time. With Blue Yonder, we are much faster and more reliable in making customer promises.” The company had also lacked a user-friendly system that allowed customers to inquire about their order status. “Thanks to Blue Yonder, today customers can easily access information about our production schedule and the real-time status of their orders. That’s a huge change that our customers are very happy about.” Solution benefits Reduced long-term planning time by 50 percent. Provides immediate visibility to demand, including changes impacting both monthly and long-term planning. Increased customer satisfaction through faster, more reliable promises and easy, real-time customer access to order status. Integrated sales, production and revenue planning. Blue Yonder’s expertise JFE Steel attributes much of its success to the relationship it has developed with the Blue Yonder services team. “Blue Yonder’s consulting services team studied our business and recommended the right solutions for our business processes. The skills of the Blue Yonder team are excellent. Their ability to clarify supply chain issues and then attribute them to solution recommendations is unparalleled. Blue Yonder is a reliable partner and we look forward to continuing our long relationship.” Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Unsworth becomes a sustainability leader by adding emissions measurement to its Pathway app](https://blueyonder.com/customers/unsworth) > Unsworth, one of the UK’s leading freight forwarders handling more than 1 million shipments, has deployed Blue Yonder Logistics Emissions Calculator to help more than 900 customers access emissions data on their shipments. Success Story Unsworth Logistics Emissions Calculator Unsworth becomes a sustainability leader by adding emissions measurement to its Pathway app 50 years experience and over 1 million shipments handled Over 900 customers (almost 2000 users) have access to emissions shipment reporting via Pathway In total, Unsworth clients have already measured over 82,150 tons of CO2e. The company With 50 years of experience and having handled well over 1 million shipments, Unsworth is one of the UK’s leading freight forwarders. In recent years, it has been pushing boundaries with its innovative Pathway app . Having already saved clients over 12,000 hours of data input, Pathway is providing value for clients and delivering Unsworth’s aim of focusing on technological innovation, collaboration and trust. The business challenge With climate change at the forefront of so many shippers’ minds, the logical next step for Pathway would be to offer clients emissions measurement and mitigation to help manage and reduce their environmental impact. Unsworth faced a challenge: How do you provide an integrated emissions measurement service without sacrificing the seamless experience that clients have come to expect from the Pathway app? The team looked into building emissions measurement capabilities directly into the Pathway app, but the cost, internal resources and time it would take to implement this meant the project was not feasible from a business perspective. The team needed a solution that provided clients with accredited emissions measurements while retaining the seamless user experience they had come to expect from the Pathway app — without the significant cost, resources and time required for an in-house solution. The solution When looking at available solutions, Unsworth found that Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager, stood out from other available tools. The solution is specifically built for freight forwarders. It enables the seamless integration of high-quality emissions measurement and reporting into freight management systems, with the option to integrate via API or AWS S3 bulk file import/export. “We looked into what building high-quality emissions measurement and reporting capabilities into our Pathway app would entail and found that it’s much more complex than we realised — it just wasn’t a commercially viable option for us if we wanted to achieve the standards required to be an industry leader in sustainable freight.” –James Coombs, Head of Innovation, Unsworth. Outcome: Unsworth is a leader in sustainable freight with its Pathway app After integrating Logistics Emissions Calculator into its Pathway app, Unsworth has placed carbon accounting front and centre of its business strategy, strengthening its endeavour towards delivering sustainable freight solutions. Despite only integrating in July 2023 Unsworth has already seen significant results: Over 900 customers (almost 2000 users) have access to emissions shipment reporting via Pathway In total, Unsworth clients have already measured over 82,150 tons of CO2e. Unsworth integrated using AWS S3 bulk file import/export, enabling server-to-server file exchange capabilities that allow the exchange of files with Logistics Emissions Calculator via Amazon S3 to support automated end-to-end workflows. Using this mechanism, Unsworth offered its clients: A seamless scope 3 emissions measurement and reporting experience as standard in the Pathway app. A clear, concise and comprehensive overview of multi-modal emissions data and container utilization. GLEC-accredited and ISO-aligned emissions calculations. Clarity™, enabling a full breakdown of the methodologies and assumptions used in emissions calculations. The ability to measure historical shipment emissions “When we discovered Logistics Emissions Calculator, we were really impressed with the level of detail and data utilization it enabled. It means we can provide our clients with much more than just high-level emissions measurement — we can actually educate them on how to lower their supply chain carbon footprint, enabling us to deliver real, tangible value to shippers who want to reduce their scope 3 emissions." James Coombs, Head of Innovation, Unsworth. “The impact of integrating the Logistics Emissions Calculator with our platform has been instant, and the feedback we’ve got from clients has been overwhelmingly positive. This is the first step in becoming a sustainable partner for our customers.” –James Coombs, Head of Innovation, Unsworth. Unsworth anticipates long-term growth and strengthened customer loyalty By integrating the Blue Yonder emissions measurement solution into its Pathway app, Unsworth has underscored that sustainability is not just a buzzword, but an integral part of its services. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Infineon Technologies reduces planning effort by 30%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/infineon-technologies) > Infineon chooses Blue Yonder to create an integrated solution suite providing a reliable demand forecast and realistic production plan helping to reduce errors. Success Story Infineon Technologies Sales & Operations Planning Infinite possibilities with Infineon 30% reduced planning effort 90% decrease in planning errors Cut forecasting lead time from four weeks to two weeks The company Infineon Technologies operates in an industry known for its demand volatility, long product lead times and high capital investments. They provide semiconductor and system solutions, focusing on the needs of modern society to diverse customers worldwide, including auto manufacturers, industrial electronics companies, chip card and security businesses, and information and communications technology leaders. The company’s ability to sense and respond to demand changes, while balancing global production capacity across its more than 20 facilities, can be challenging. The business challenge Create a single integrated, multidimensional sales and operations planning process that promotes global collaboration and enables the company to quickly respond to market changes. The solution Infineon tested sales and operations planning (S&OP) solutions from a number of different vendors. It selected Blue Yonder’s S&OP, in order to create an integrated solution suite that could provide both a reliable demand forecast and realistic production plans. Out of all of the solutions Infineon evaluated, Blue Yonder’s S&OP was the only solution that fulfilled the functional requirements of volume planning and production maturity. “Our new solution is a kind of revolution for Infineon because, with S&OP, we link a lot of single processes into one tool. Now we can combine our demand planning activities with capacity calculations and the capacity confirmation, and at the end we have a constrained plan.” –Senior Director of Supply Chain Engineering, Corporate Supply Chain Multidimensional results “When we compare the time before using the S&OP solution, we offered our internal customers a fragmented view of planning. We now have the possibility to combine all the different views of planning. Because S&OP is integrated with our other Blue Yonder software, it’s a combined solution that serves the long-term forecast with short-term production programs. Demand, supply, capacity and load are always synchronized and calculated together,” said Senior Director of Supply Chain Engineering, Corporate Supply Chain. Solution benefits Reduced planning effort by 30 percent. Cut forecasting lead time from four weeks to two weeks. Decreased planning errors up to 90 percent. Reduced forecast adjustments by a factor of 10. Increased overall forecast accuracy. “Blue Yonder understands our business quite well. They also understand the specifics of the semiconductor industry well, and that gave us a good basis to work from.” –Vice President, IT Supply Chain Management Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s planogram accuracy rate hits 99 percent](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dr-pepper-snapple-group) > Dr Pepper Snapple Group's space methodology paired with Blue Yonder’s space planning capability optimizes days of supply and increases inventory turns item-by-item. Success Story Dr Pepper Snapple Group Allocation and Space Dr Pepper Snapple Group transforms its category management process 99% improved accuracy 15X reduction in labor hours to maintain and update planograms Reduces excess inventory and boosts cash flow for retailers The company Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) is one of North America’s leading refreshment beverage companies. The company sells its diverse and popular soft drinks to top franchise businesses like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other independent bottling companies throughout North America. With category management a core competency, the beverage company’s space, assortment and speed-to-insight capabilities are continuously evolving. The business challenge DPS was challenged to mass produce store-specific planograms on a large scale to meet the changing needs of their retail customers without draining their time and resources. The company’s goals were to improve the accuracy rate, increase efficiency, boost retail partnerships without increasing headcount and reducing excess inventory to achieve increased cash flow. The solution The Category Manager stated, “In order to increase our retail partnerships and categories without increasing headcount, we implemented proven solutions that would support our new approach to space management and help us speed up the planogram creation process.” The Blue Yonder solution automated the large-scale production of optimized, store-specific planograms, increasing Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s accuracy rate to 99%. “Our space methodology paired with Blue Yonder’s space planning capability optimizes days of supply and increases inventory turns on an item-by-item basis, which results in a reduction in excess inventory and a boost in cash flow for the retailer. We can also reset our retail customers’ planograms twice a year or more, which many of our competitors just can’t handle.” –Director, Category Management, Dr Pepper Snapple Group On resetting planograms Automatically generating planograms based on user-defined information allowed DPS to dedicate more resources toward category analysis and market trends. “Our space methodology paired with Blue Yonder’s space planning optimizes days of supply and increases inventory turns on an item-by-item basis, which results in a reduction in excess inventory and a boost in cash flow for the retailer. We can also reset our retail customers’ planograms twice a year or more, which many of our competitors just can’t handle.” On reduced resources and greater accuracy “While our past process would take as many as 600 hours and require 10 people to support, we now have a fully automated process that takes two people and about 40 hours to generate an equivalent number of planograms. Blue Yonder’s solution accounts for bottler and fixture complexities, scales to an unlimited planogram quantity and leaves no room for human error.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s solutions automated the large-scale production of customized planograms, significantly increasing Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s accuracy rate. With space planning, DPS was able to reduce excess inventory and boost cash flow for retailers. “One of the DPS analysts said that using Blue Yonder’s space planning is like making the switch from manually filling out a 1040 tax form to using an automated, online tax application. It’s so quick, easy and accurate – why would you ever go back to the old way? That’s a perfect way to describe how much the solution has transformed our business. With space planning, we are well positioned to help even the largest retailer manage their store-level, consumer-driven planograms.” –Director, Category Management, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Globus CR reduces out-of-stock rate by 20%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/globus-cr) > Planning solutions from Blue Yonder facilitates planning processes, reduces leftover stock and addresses increasing labor costs for Czech retailer, Globus CR. Success Story Globus CR Demand Edge Globus CR focuses on value with ML-driven automation Reduced out-of-stock rate by 20% Reduced promotion leftover stocks by 40% Increased automation rate to 85% The company Globus Group has 18.500 employees and operates in three countries. In addition to a total of 47 hypermarkets, 91 DIY stores and six electronics stores in Germany, the Globus Group also includes 15 full-range stores in the Czech Republic, 15 in Russia, as well as two DIY stores in Luxembourg. The business challenge From the beginnings of commerce, promotion has been vital to retailers. Amidst increasing technology sophistication, the right promotions strategy can increase brand loyalty, accelerate buying decisions, attract new customers, move excess inventory, and increase the average value of sales transactions. And you can’t promote what you can’t supply so managing inventory replenishment is key. For Globus CR, keeping a focused eye on these two areas is essential to their supply chain management strategy. With promotion shares very high and labor costs significantly increasing recently, they took a strategic look at how to reduce high planning and handling costs and realized the root cause was costly manual processes and high leftover stocks after promotions. To future proof the business and remain resilient they looked to partner with Blue Yonder. Market landscape is extremely promotion and price driven. Manual and cumbersome promotion planning processes. High promotion leftover stocks fill backroom storages. Increasing labor costs driving need for automation. The solution Before implementing Blue Yonder Demand Edge and Store Fulfilment, centralized and automated processes seemed out of reach. With data insights and planning activities housed across different parts of the business, it was difficult to maintain both promotion leftovers and out-of-stocks at a reasonable level. With close coordination between Globus and Blue Yonder, these solutions were a game changer towards achieving higher promotion forecast accuracy and more demand driven, automated and centralized promotion planning and replenishing processes. “Promotions represent almost half of Globus’ Food business: in the assortments using AI-based automated ordering from Blue Yonder, the result is 20% less out-of-stock while reducing leftover stock after the promotion by 40%.” –Hans-Jörg Bauer CEO of Globus CR, v.o.s. Taming a volatile market with automation Many retailers are looking to leverage the power of machine learning in their forecasting, planning and replenishment processes. With Blue Yonder Demand Edge, Globus CR was able to develop highly accurate forecasts that go beyond traditional deterministic forecasting algorithms by including hundreds of additional demand influencers. Results were realized in a sustainable manner with a 20% reduction in out-of-stocks during promotion, 40% reduction of promotion leftovers, and significant automation of promotion planning and replenishment processes. Globus CR successfully moved from a store-based manual promotion process to a future-proof centralized and automated process to achieve greater value and serve their customers more effectively. The Globus and Blue Yonder joint team were particularly focused on managing the changes resulting from ML-driven automation and, in parallel, tracking the relevant KPI improvements. Working hand in hand, both organizations relentlessly drove a successful adoption. Solution Benefits Comprehensive forecasting with increased accuracy for decision making. Improved data quality, data processes, technical and business processes. Centralized and automated store-based promotion process. Blue Yonder’s Expertise Blue Yonder is the leading provider of SaaS-based, end-to-end, integrated retail and supply chain planning and execution capabilities for more than 4,000 customers worldwide. Our unique capabilities empower our clients to achieve more by optimizing costs, increasing revenue and reducing time to value so they can always deliver on their customer promises. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Henkel’s global warehouse network runs on Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/henkel) > Blue Yonder’s WMS and WLM solutions helps Henkel improve speed, accuracy, efficiency, service level, sustainability and profitability of their operations. Success Story Henkel Warehouse Management, Warehouse Labor Management Henkel’s global warehouse network runs on Blue Yonder Improved process speed, accuracy and efficiency Higher service, at a reasonable cost Increased visibility and control The company Henkel is a German multinational company and a leader in both the consumer goods and industrial sectors. With revenues of more than 20 billion €, the company is organized into three global business units: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Henkel’s consumer brands include Schwarzkopf Professional, Persil, Dial and Purex. The business challenge Around the world, Henkel operates hundreds of distribution facilities of all sizes. These facilities were relying on time-consuming, error-prone manual processes and a variety of outdated technology solutions. To improve customer service while driving down costs, Henkel needed to adopt best practices, advanced digital capabilities and process standardization across its worldwide network. The solution Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and warehouse labor management solutions have been rolled out in North America and Latin America, with additional regions to follow. Already, Henkel has seen improvements in speed, accuracy, efficiency, service and cost control. With improved visibility, the company can prepare some shipments up to 48 hours in advance, while also pivoting its warehouse operations flexibly as supply and demand conditions change. “Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and warehouse labor management solutions are adding significant value for Henkel. Tasks such as storing and picking inventory are much faster and more accurate, and we have much better visibility of warehouse performance. Blue Yonder software is the backbone of our warehouse operations, enabling the high levels of service and availability — as well as the flawless execution — that’s crucial for Henkel’s success.” –Blue Yonder Centre of Excellence Leveraging the benefits of cloud delivery and user mobility “The fact that our Blue Yonder solutions are delivered on a simple, agile web platform — enabled by the cloud — is an extremely important benefit. And the user-friendly, mobile nature of the software supports the dynamic nature of the warehouse environment. Because all our employees are using a standard interface, training is easy. The solutions are always available, easy to use and easy to manage. That keeps our implementation costs low.” Standardizing and optimizing warehouse processes worldwide “One of Henkel’s strategic priorities is identifying best practices and adopting them in every warehouse as process templates, supported by Blue Yonder capabilities. Blue Yonder has positioned us to track, measure and continuously improve our warehouse operations, because we now have a means for process visibility, orchestration and control.” Supporting corporate sustainability goals “Across the end-to-end supply chain, Henkel is committed to transforming into a highly sustainable organization, and digitalization plays a significant role. Blue Yonder is helping our warehouse operations to become paperless, and its solutions also support efficiencies in picking, packing, stacking and loading which translate to smarter, greener operations.” Solution benefits Supported by Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution, Henkel can react quickly to volatility, while strategically balancing cost and service outcomes. Warehouse tasks are automatically optimized and prioritized as conditions change. Advanced capabilities in Blue Yonder warehouse management ingest near real-time data from across the supply chain, then synchronize critical work processes to accurately — and profitably — match supply with demand. Blue Yonder’s warehouse labor management solution helps Henkel optimize its complex warehouse operations to maximize service and productivity. The company can combat labor shortages, and improve job satisfaction, by driving greater employee engagement and performance. “We consider Blue Yonder to be a strategic partner and a valued collaborator in our digitalization journey. Its warehouse management and warehouse labor management solutions are truly best-in-class, with outstanding user friendliness. We’re already realizing value from our current Blue Yonder software and plan to expand our footprint in the future.” –Blue Yonder Centre of Excellence Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Compañía Cervecerías Unidas manages a 30% increase in order volumes using no extra resources](https://blueyonder.com/customers/ccu-chile) > As Chile’s largest brewery, CCU strives to optimize its warehouse operations so it can combine high service levels with profitability. The company delivers beer, soft drinks, wine and liquor from its DC in Curauma. To support a 30% growth in order volumes without adding personnel or facilities, CCU Chile implemented Blue Yonder’s Logistics platform. Success Story Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Warehouse Management Brewing up efficiency at CCU Chilé 30% order increase with existing resources 95% DC utilization rate achieved Optimized investments in people, space and other resources The company As Chilé’s largest brewery, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU) strives to optimize its warehouse operations so it can combine high service levels with profitability. The company delivers beer, soft drinks, wine and liquor to approximately 115,000 customers across Chilé. About 70% of these orders are fulfilled by CCU’s distribution center (DC) in Curauma. The business challenge CCU Chilé was anticipating a 30% growth in order volume which would flow through their main DC in Curauma. They wanted to accommodate this growth with existing facilities and personnel. CCU Chilé wanted full control over all warehousing operations through a single technology solution to drive greater efficiency and throughput. CCU Chilé wanted to optimize its processes and use of personnel in order to improve its delivery speed and customer service. The solution The company embarked on a strategic initiative to make operations in this key warehouse more efficient. With support from Blue Yonder partner Southern Technology Group (STG Chilé), CCU implemented Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution to manage all the day-to-day tasks being accomplished in this facility. “We were looking for a technology solution that would give us full control of the Curauma DC, everything from reception of products to warehousing, picking and the deployment of trucks. Today, Blue Yonder’s solution is the heart of our operations in Curauma. It enables us to deliver the right product at the right time every day.” –Planification and Projects Manager Supporting growth CCU Chilé has been able to maintain high customer service levels while managing a 30% increase in order volume. While many businesses would have added new personnel and new space to accommodate a 30% increase, CCU was able to maintain its previous resource investments and is currently utilizing more than 95% of its Curauma DC. Thanks to the new warehouse management capabilities, the company can focus on leveraging its resources to meet their customers’ needs and deliver products in the most efficient manner. Optimizing resources As part of the implementation, CCU sought to maximize resource optimization in the facility. In order to maintain or improve its delivery speed while supporting the increased volume of business that flows through the Curauma warehouse, the company needed to ensure it was getting the most out of its people and processes. Expansion The implementation of warehouse management at the Curauma facility has proven so successful that CCU is now rolling the solution out to other DCs. “Currently, we are implementing the solution in all of our facilities in Chilé and Argentina and anticipate having all of the information from the DCs available online.” Solution benefits Managed a 30% increasein order volume with existing facilities and personnel. Achieved a utilization rate of 95% in their main DC in Curauma. Increased control over all DC functions and gained visibility to all stock across the facility, soon to include stock across all facilities. Optimized investments in people, space and other resources. Blue Yonder’s expertise CCU chose Blue Yonder because of its proven expertise and success in South America. “We were able to talk to some of Blue Yonder’s customers and learn about their experiences before we implemented the solution in our own operations. We realized that Blue Yonder has a lot of expertise in our industry and understands supply chain problems at a very deep level.” CCU relied on both Blue Yonder and its partner, STG Chilé, to deliver education and training services during the implementation. “Educating and training our employees represented a core component of the software implementation.” “Blue Yonder is now a strategic partner to our business. We want to keep improving in our use of the solution, and Blue Yonder is right there to help.” “The speed and quality of delivery is very important to us. We implemented solutions from Blue Yonder in order to reach a world-class level of excellence in our operations.” –Planification and Projects Manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Clipper Logistics meets retailers' demand for speed and accuracy](https://blueyonder.com/customers/clipper-logistics) > Across 54 sites and 16 million square feet of logistics space, Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution helps Clipper Logistics move 500 million retail products annually with speed and accuracy. When Clipper onboards a new customer, warehouse capabilities can be up and running in just 4 days. As demand volatility increases in the retail industry, Blue Yonder helps Clipper anticipate issues and act with agility and innovation. Success Story Clipper Logistics Warehouse Management Clipper logistics meets retailers’ demand for speed and accuracy With Blue Yonder software, Clipper can establish new warehousing services in 4 days Onboards new warehousing customers in a matter of weeks Maximizes visibility, quickly adapts to disruptions, and optimizes tasks to meet customers’ cost and service expectations The company Founded in 1992, Clipper Logistics is one of the UK’s leading independent logistics companies, with turnover of circa £700 million. At 54 UK and European sites, Clipper employs over 10,000 core people and operates circa 16 million square feet of logistics space. The business challenge In providing warehouse and fulfillment services to its retail clients, Clipper must deliver an extreme level of speed, efficiency, accuracy and responsiveness. As demand volatility increases and customer expectations grow, Clipper needs the most advanced technology available. The solution For over 20 years, Clipper Logistics has relied on Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capabilities to optimize the warehousing and management of 500 million products per year for leading retailers. “During the peak of the UK’s COVID crisis, the British government and the Ministry of Defence asked Clipper to provide warehousing for critical personal protective equipment. Typically, people talk about a rapid deployment being six, eight, 12 weeks — but we were up and running with Blue Yonder warehouse management in mere days. On the fourth day, we were fully operational and receiving PPE inventory.” –Chief Executive Officer Delivering extreme speed, accuracy and profitability for big retailers “Our retail customers are moving massive product volumes and receiving large numbers of returns. Our job is all about delivering speed and accuracy on a massive scale. When products are selling well, they need to be released from the warehouse rapidly to be sold at full margin. Blue Yonder enables us to release inventory on 24 hours’ notice so retailers can move fast and maximize their full-margin sales.” Managing uncertainty via advanced technology “As 2020 proved, nothing in retail is certain. Retail forecasts are always going to be wrong. And so we need to help our retailer customers manage that uncertainty by being agile, being flexible, being collaborative and thinking out of the box. Our partnership with Blue Yonder allows us to anticipate problems before they happen and be proactive, agile and innovative in dealing with them.” Supporting the “click and collect” demands of e-commerce “At Clipper, we pride ourselves on helping customers meet their most urgent challenges. Today that means profitably serving the e-commerce channel. The rapid growth of click and-collect offered the opportunity to create ‘Clicklink,’ the Clipper/JLP joint venture that supports click-and-collect services for circa 40 customers and is integrated with our Blue Yonder warehouse management system.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution positions Clipper to thrive in serving the volatile retail market. It enables Clipper to maximize visibility, quickly adapt to disruptions, and optimize tasks to meet customers’ cost and service expectations. The depth of functionality provided by Blue Yonder warehouse management provides Clipper with the confidence that, with configuration alone, they can meet the demanding needs of all their warehousing clients. Intuitive and user-friendly, Blue Yonder warehouse management is a flexible solution that makes it easy for Clipper to onboard new warehousing customers in a matter of weeks. “I have absolute confidence in the power and accuracy of our Blue Yonder warehouse management system. When we’re asked by a customer to rapidly deploy, I never have to concern myself with, ‘Will the solution work?’ And that’s really important because we are a high-profile business serving high-profile retailers. Our new activities often appear in the press and trade magazines. Customer success and retention are key to our growth.” –Chief Executive Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Conad Adriatico sees 100% ROI on WMS investment in 12 months](https://blueyonder.com/customers/conad-adriatico) > Conad Adriatico achieves 100% ROI since going live with Blue Yonder warehouse replenishment solution, which they credit to the reduction of inventory costs. Success Story Conad Adriatico Warehouse Replenishment CONAD Adriatico transforms its supply chain 100% ROI 12 months after solution implementation Maximized internal warehouse operations productivity Significantly reduced transportation, moving goods and inventory expenses The company CONAD Adriatico brings together 377 independent grocers in Italy as well as in neighboring Albania and Kosovo. This cooperative leader in the regions where they operate is part of the larger CONAD Group, which collectively represents one of the largest grocery retailers in Italy and is a leader in the supermarkets channel. The business challenge The company was challenged with the need to strike the right balance between stock ownership and store inventory needs by minimizing order fragmentation and determining the right purchasing frequency for each product, while simultaneously considering logistics constraints, such as truckload capacity utilization and minimum order quantities. CONAD Adriatico’s goal was to achieve this supply chain transformation while delivering the highest level of service to their affiliates and customers. The solution Blue Yonder’s warehouse replenishment solution provides a single view of warehouse and point-of-sale replenishment needs, based on accurate SKU-level forecasts. With these forecasts as inputs, the solutions are able to define profitable inventory policies, including new delivery schemes that focus on shipping products directly from vendors to peripheral warehouses. These new initiatives helped maximize the productivity of CONAD Adriatico’s internal warehouse operations, while also significantly reducing logistics and inventory expenses. “Based on selecting accurate software and given the features of the warehouse replenishment solution, Blue Yonder was a natural choice for CONAD Adriatico to support our strategic supply chain transformation effort.” –Chief Information and Logistics Officer Achieving a fast ROI CONAD Adriatico achieved 100 percent ROI since going live with the warehouse replenishment solution, which they credit to the reduction of inventory costs, as well as to the efficiency of their new logistic network. Increasing productivity The productivity of the replenishment team increased allowing CONAD Adriatico to manage a sophisticated and structured replenishment process using the same resources, with a consistent decrease of stock and a solid and constant increase in profitability. Solution benefits The warehouse management capability allowed CONAD Adriatico to achieve a supply chain transformation that struck the right balance between stock ownership and store inventory needs. The company maximized internal warehouse operations productivity, while significantly reducing transportation, moving goods and inventory expenses. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Retailer CRV increases shopper intelligence and decreases out of stocks](https://blueyonder.com/customers/crv) > Chinese retailer, CRV relies on Blue Yonder's category management, demand, fulfillment and replenishment solutions to create consistent consumer-centric plans. Success Story CRV Supply Chain Planning and Commerce Retailer CRV increases shopper intelligence with Blue Yonder Reduced days of inventory Decreased out-of-stocks Increased store sales due to consumer centricity The company Retailer CR Vanguard (CRV) is part of CR Group, a state-held company directly managed by China’s central government and a Fortune Global 500 enterprise. CRV owns many popular retail brands including CR Vanguard, Suguo, Olé, blt, V+, Tesco express and V>nGO. CRV operates more than 3,240 stores across China, with total sales revenue of nearly 90 billion yuan. The business challenge One of the largest retailers in China, CRV must strategically orchestrate planning and merchandising across more than 3,000 stores in multiple formats, including hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. CRV’s objective is to be customer-centric by leveraging best-in-class technology to understand and meet shopper needs, even as demand volatility increases. The solution In 2009, CRV partnered with Blue Yonder on an implementation of category management solutions to drive revenues through customer-centric plans, assortments and displays. Based on that success, CRV next implemented demand, fulfillment and replenishment solutions from Blue Yonder. Today CRV has established a complete closed-loop planning process that enables its consumer-centered, highly successful retail model. “To increase market competitiveness, CRV embarked on a customer-centric retail transformation journey with Blue Yonder. In the past, we had disconnected manual planning processes, which led to inaccuracies and suboptimal results. Today we have connected, consistent, consumer-centric plans from forecasting and replenishment through category management.” –Jingyao Li, Chief Information Officer Increasing forecast accuracy across stores via industry-leading algorithms “CRV’s demand planning was accomplished by a homegrown solution that failed to capture the complexity of 3,000 stores, multiple formats and localized shopper needs. Blue Yonder’s industry-leading forecasting algorithms and machine learning capabilities are built to manage localization, seasonality, fashion trends and other demand complexities. Now the forecasting process is more accurate and more autonomous, requiring minimal human intervention.” Driving sales growth via product localization and rapid replenishment “Across our stores, Blue Yonder has helped increase sales, while decreasing inventory, by matching products more precisely to local needs. We can monitor the status of key items in each store and make sure they are replenished rapidly to capture the sales opportunity and delight our shoppers. The combination of greater planning accuracy and improved visibility is driving our success at the store level.” Connecting the end-to-end supply chain around the demand forecast “Having a single, automated demand forecast not only increases our internal planning efficiency, but it also closely connects us with our suppliers and other trading partners. We can share local demand information and drive end-to-end visibility and responsiveness, as all stakeholders focus on the needs of our end consumers.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s demand planning solution helps CRV manage demand volatility and inevitable disruptions. The retailer can continue to meet localized customer needs across over 3,000 stores as conditions shift dynamically. Fulfillment and replenishment capabilities from Blue Yonder enable CRV to maximize the value of its inventory investments. The retailer can deliver the right product to the right place at the right time to maximize both shopper satisfaction and profit margins. Space planning solutions from Blue Yonder support increased localization by leveraging automation and data science. In every store, CRV can prioritize space devoted to high demand offerings that will increase revenue and maximize financial return. The Vanguard advantage Vanguard Digital Business Data Co., Ltd. is an information technology company 100% controlled by China Resources Vanguard, which was established in 2019. While serving China Resources Vanguard, it also provides the overall solution, as well as operation and maintenance services, of the core business system for retailers and their technology ecosystem. In the past few years, Vanguard Digital Branch and Blue Yonder have closely cooperated with each other in innovation and development, and jointly promoted and successfully established a complete closed-loop planning process for CR Vanguard. In addition, Vanguard Digital Branch, as the global partner of Blue Yonder, based on serving China Resources Vanguard, enables the whole industry and supports a new model of consumer-centered retail digital intelligent transformation. “From our first successful roll-out of Blue Yonder space planning solutions in 2009, CRV has achieved real business value and built a solid foundation for digital transformation. As CRV has adopted more Blue Yonder solutions, such as forecasting and replenishment, we have been able to achieve a true consumer focus and a closed-loop planning process across our business.” –Jingyao Li, Chief Information Officer Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Organic supermarket chain Alnatura grows revenues by 4%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/alnatura) > German supermarket chain, Alnatura relies on Blue Yonder solutions to drive planning accuracy and automation causing reduced overstocks and revenue increase. Success Story Alnatura Category Management, Space and Floor Planning Alnatura grows revenues via optimal product placement 6% reduction in out-of-stocks 29% decrease in overstocks 4% increase in revenues for fresh foods The company Founded in 1984, Alnatura is an organic supermarket chain that operates 139 supermarkets in 65 cities across Germany. The company offers 6,000 products and has annual revenues of $1.28 billion. The business challenge Alnatura must manage tight space constraints, while maximizing availability and minimizing stock-outs. This is challenging because of the diverse local preferences across its markets. Fresh foods are especially difficult to manage profitably due to the high costs associated with waste. The solution The company turned to Blue Yonder to drive more automation, greater accuracy and localization, and increased efficiency for its category management and space planning activities. “Our partnership with Blue Yonder enables Alnatura to implement extremely accurate, store-specific planograms that consider the available space, and the local conditions, to ensure the right product is on the right shelf at the right store — including the automatic addition of regional products. As a result, we’ve decreased out-of-stocks by 6% and overstocks by 29%.” –Category Manager Achieving a 4% increase in fresh foods revenues “Blue Yonder’s solutions in category management, as well as space and floor planning, allow Alnatura to make more accurate space allocation decisions, even for challenging categories like fresh foods. By leveraging customer insights and robust analytics, Alnatura can maximize the productivity of available selling space to drive revenue growth, including a 4% increase in fresh food sales.” Increased efficiency in both planning and store-level execution “The planning automation provided by Blue Yonder has made it easier and faster to not only generate plans, but to execute them at the store level. Our Blue Yonder platform supports a connected category review process that optimizes our product assortments and shelf executions. The store-level adoption and execution of planograms has increased by 30% thanks to Blue Yonder.” Meeting changing consumer needs with speed and accuracy “Category management is the heart of all retail processes, especially in today’s fast-changing environment. So it’s critical for Alnatura to implement advanced technology that enables each store to meet its unique, local needs. As those needs evolve over time, Blue Yonder supports speed and responsiveness in adapting our plans.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s industry-leading space and floor solutions, including Planogram Generator, enable Alnatura to build store-specific, space-aware, consumer-centric planograms that meet local demand — with minimal inventory investments. Blue Yonder category management solutions leverage granular shopper insights, data analytics and automation to increase the accuracy and profitability of available space. Buying insights, store layouts, space and shelf availability are combined with category intelligence to grow shopper loyalty and increase basket size. Integrated within the Luminate Commerce portfolio, Blue Yonder solutions empower Alnatura’s category managers and space planners to work in collaboration, with complete visibility, resulting in increased revenues and availability. “We chose Blue Yonder because customer centricity is a key driver for our daily operation and business. We have now established a process to support the local needs of shoppers, while improving our planogram planning efficiency and increasing store adoption of planograms by 30%. We look forward to further expanding our relationship with Blue Yonder as we continue to transform our stores and operations.” –Category Manager Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [AI-powered pricing boosts revenue and profit for retailer bonprix](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bonprix) > During the pandemic, the situation changed every few days as new protective measures were taken by governments. These fluctuations had unprecedented effects on customer demand as well as on the supply chain, and the entire fashion retail industry was heavily impacted. But leveraging Blue Yonder’s lifecycle pricing capabilities bonprix achieved the flexibility and reactiveness retailers needed, especially during times of crisis. Was able to quickly respond to changes in the market, stock and incoming orders, lifecycle pricing analyzes data to propose the prices that fully matched bonprix’s expectations and business objectives. Success Story bonprix Pricing and Promotion AI-powered pricing boosts revenue and profit for retailer bonprix Successful 2-week implementation Fully automated pricing, reducing staff time-spend Avoided overstocks while maintaining margins The company Bonprix is a European e-commerce company founded in 1986, specializing in affordable fashion for women, men, and children, as well as home goods. It operates online shops in 16 different European countries. The business challenge Since 2014, international fashion retailer bonprix has employed Blue Yonder’s pricing capabilities as a purely market-driven pricing tool, but the current COVID-19 disturbance has required them to take more factors into account regarding individual stock and demand. Because of the sudden and drastic shift in the marketplace, the online German shop with five house brands in 30 countries, was forced to re-evaluate their pricing strategy. In the past, this strategy positioned bonprix as a price and quality leader and allowed bonprix to focus on bringing value to consumers while maintaining a well-balanced supply. With COVID-19 effects taking hold, the supply chain has been heavily disrupted, and the supply of goods is no longer guaranteed. As it is unavoidable to have both an over and understocking of products, due to delayed and canceled orders, bonprix sought Blue Yonder’s expertise to manage increasing timescales and avoiding immediate sell-off of high demand goods, as wells as overstocking low-demand goods. The solution Within only two weeks, an entirely new pricing strategy was rolled out in Germany to allow bonprix to steer prices in accordance to their disrupted supply chain and drastically changing consumer behaviors during the COVID-19 upheaval. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s lifecycle pricing capabilities, bonprix can quickly and effortlessly react to market and stock shifts while maintaining strategic business goals. “Blue Yonder’s Lifecycle Pricing reacts fast to the highly volatile demand fluctuations of our clients in the current situation.” –VP Merchandise Controlling/Projects & Systems, bonprix Clear results With COVID-19, the situation changes every few days as new protective measures are taken by governments. These fluctuations have unprecedented effects on customer demand as well as on the supply chain, and the entire fashion retail industry is heavily impacted. But leveraging Blue Yonder’s lifecycle pricing capabilities bonprix achieved the flexibility and reactiveness retailers need, especially during times of crisis. Able to quickly respond to changes in the market, stock and incoming orders, lifecycle pricing analyzes data to propose the prices that fully matched bonprix’s expectations and business objectives. After a very successful go-live in Germany, bonprix decided to roll out the lifecycle pricing strategy in the other European markets, including Italy, Austria, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. While bonprix’s mid-term goal is to return to pricing that is fully customer-centric, the flexible switch bonprix has experienced between the pricing strategies will remain an important lesson learned and one that can be leveraged in case of similar disruptions. What’s more, the pricing solutions are fully automated. Error-prone manual interventions would have missed certain factors and considerations and would have required labor intensive reassessments every single day. Blue Yonder’s AI/ ML pricing solutions automatically run daily price analysis, freeing the staff to deal with all the other challenges that are arising during these times, such as closely observing the conditions in the procurement markets. Blue Yonder delivers Bonprix achieved data-driven pricing decisions based on stock and demand levels after only 2 weeks of implementation. Few of these decisions could have been successfully made with employees, given the time constraints, large data sets and continuously unfolding events. With flexible price strategy settings and full automation, Blue Yonder will continue to play a very important role in attaining future success. Expansive capabilities Rather than engaging in “price wars” and high discount promotions on their whole assortment. “Blue Yonder’s Lifecycle Pricing reacts fast to the highly volatile demand fluctuations of our clients in the current situation.” –VP Merchandise Controlling/Projects & Systems, bonprix Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Amway's global supply chain for beauty products increases supply chain flexibility and agility](https://blueyonder.com/customers/amway) > A long-time customer, Amway relies on a suite of Blue Yonder planning and execution solutions to manage hundreds of thousands of SKUs distributed across a complex global supply chain. Recently, Amway migrated its Blue Yonder software to a cloud delivery model to realize a lower total cost of ownership, on-demand scalability, seamless upgrades and other benefits. Success Story Amway Supply Chain Planning and Execution Amway’s global supply chain runs on Blue Yonder Increased supply chain flexibility and agility Improved responsiveness and operational performance Reduced cost of ownership via the cloud The company Founded in Ada, Michigan, in 1959, today Amway is a global presence. The company sells health, beauty and home care products in over 100 countries worldwide. Amway’s annual sales exceed $8 billion. The business challenge As Amway expanded into new regions, its supply chain and logistics processes were becoming inconsistent. Amway’s long partnership with Blue Yonder, including multiple planning and execution solutions, has helped unify the global supply chain and deliver more consistent results. Recently Amway began migrating its Blue Yonder solutions to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model to maximize speed, capacity and agility, while minimizing Amway’s total cost of ownership. The solution “Amway manages over 221,000 demand-forecasting units, and regional demand for those products across 100 countries is a moving target. Blue Yonder’s planning and execution engines help us recognize demand shifts early and respond by adjusting manufacturing, warehousing and transportation plans accordingly. We can re-set our global supply chain to maintain profitability, even in an uncertain environment.” “Whether consumers want to shop in-store, shop online, order direct, pickup in-store or utilize home delivery, our Blue Yonder solutions position us to plan, execute and fulfill flexibility across 388,000 SKUs and supply chain facilities in 40 countries. We can quickly re-assign inventory, people and transportation assets as conditions change. We can thrive in today’s culture of demand volatility and constant adjustments.” –Lead Supply Chain Analyst Standardizing supply chain processes worldwide “Amway has a large Blue Yonder footprint across its worldwide supply chain, including deployments in over 50 warehouses and the related transportation networks. That allows us to share planning and execution information seamlessly, standardize daily processes and establish shared best practices. As a result, we maximize efficiency, improve delivery performance despite disruptions and volatility, and deliver more consistent service because our global employees are doing things the same way, regardless of geographic or cultural differences.” Capitalizing on the cost advantages of the cloud “Moving from on-premise software hosting to a cloud delivery model helps Amway achieve a lower total cost of ownership while improving scalability for our Blue Yonder solutions. In addition, our employees benefit from an improved user experience and the latest software functionality, without the complexity of upgrades.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities consolidate and synchronize demand signals, as well as external variables, across Amway’s global markets. Amway can make more accurate, profitable decisions, from inventory staging to maximizing turns. Supply chain execution and fulfillment capabilities from Blue Yonder help Amway balance all the factors that determine inventory placement and solve executional problems in advance, with consideration of demand signals, customer service targets, safety-stock policies and supply chain constraints — all while keeping costs to-serve low. Blue Yonder’s cloud model, hosted on Microsoft Azure, allows Amway to scale on demand, deliver faster and reduce its total cost of ownership. Amway’s SaaS delivery model positions it to integrate, orchestrate and execute in real-time to maximize responsiveness. “Blue Yonder is a long-time, strategic partner to Amway. They understand our business and what we are trying to accomplish — and are very responsive to our needs. Our recent shift to a SaaS model is a great example. We were able to migrate capabilities seamlessly, with no interruption in operations or service. The Blue Yonder team could not have been more supportive or responsive during the transition.” –Lead Supply Chain Analyst Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder turns returns into a competitive advantage for Australia Post](https://blueyonder.com/customers/australia-post) > Blue Yonder builds a customized returns platform solution powering a suite of modular products thus giving a world-leading returns experience to Australia Post. Success Story Australia Post Returns Management Blue Yonder turns returns into a competitive advantage for Australia Post 24% increase in [Ecommerce] spend year on year Consumers spend an average of just two minutes booking their return 500+ merchants now live on the returns portal 0 % satisfaction score amongst live retailers 0 hours from process initiation to launch The company Australia Post, an Australian government-owned corporation that provides postal service throughout the country. It is a self-funding organization with a purpose to connect Australians and serves over 12.7 million delivery points across the country. Its operations include domestic and international mail and parcel delivery, a network of post offices, and a range of products sold through its online shop and retail outlets. The business challenge An increase in both outgoing and incoming parcel volume was putting pressure on the Australia Post network. They needed to find sustainable and scalable ways of handling growing parcel volumes. Returns were costly for Australia Post. They were looking for ways to make the process more profitable. With increased competition, Australia Post was keen to improve their retail customers’ loyalty by providing added value, as well as bringing on new customers. Australia Post has a large number of post offices throughout Australia that were being underutilised. They wanted to drive more footfall to these locations. A huge amount of customer service resource was directed towards handling inbound queries about refunds. The solution Doddle has built a single platform solution that powers a suite of modular products to solve out-of-home delivery and returns challenges globally. By adopting our solution, Australia Post were able to provide a market leading return experience to their retail customers, as an added value service offering. Doddle’s fully customisable returns platform addresses some of the key friction points for the consumer in the returns journey; providing an exceptional returns experience for retailers, consumers and carriers. The portal is easily integrated with all retailers’ systems either via an API or a plugin to the major ecommerce platforms. This meant that 85% of Australia Post’s retail partners adopted the portal. The portal allowed Australia Post to better manage the flow of returns. They could consolidate returns at drop off locations and plan routing more efficiently. The portal gave consumers a digital returns journey which removed the need to print a label. The electronic returns receipt could be taken to one of Australia Posts locations, driving footfall into store. The portal gave consumers access to tracking updates and refund status, alleviating the need to call Australia Post’s call centre. “We chose to partner with Doddle because we consider them experts in pick-up & drop-off, and it’s really important for us that we do work with the best-in-class from around the world.” –Australia Post CEO The Doddle difference Ecommerce growth in Australia was rapidly accelerating, with a 24% increase in spend year on year Amazon had recently entered the market, further exacerbating the shift towards online shopping The growth of ecommerce also brought new carrier challenger brands, fragmenting the market and taking volume away from Australia post Australian retailers knew that returns were a core part of harnessing ecommerce growth. Whilst in the past there was a tendency to make the returns process as complicated as possible to dissuade consumers, the focus was now on simple and clear returns to drive loyalty and repeat purchase. Our returns solution was the right choice for Australia Post for several reasons. Global Expertise: Doddle works with some of the biggest carriers in the world and are able to take global expertise and apply it to local carrier challenges. Partnering with Doddle meant Australia Post accessed a product that benefits from ongoing research, development and innovation through Doddle’s team of global experts. Speed to market: With out-of-the-box integrations, Doddle’s returns portal can be deployed in just two weeks. There’s no need for long and costly internal development. Low-risk commercial model: Doddle’s commercial model is based on a per parcel fee structure. This limits risk for the carrier and focuses on the shared goal of driving retailer adoption and parcel volume. Flexible digital experience: Australia Post wanted to be able to offer a market leading digital experience to retailers and consumers. Doddle’s fully customisable merchant portal and seamless and stress-free consumer journey gave them confidence that they could stand out in this space vs competitors. Merchant Portal Merchant/retailers can access the portal on an admin level to configure items for their consumers including reason codes, branding and payment options. Carrier Administration Platform Carriers can administrate the full portal, including approval/rejection of retailer applications, onboarding and retailer reports. Consumer Portal Consumers are able to access the fully branded (either in carrier or merchant brand) portal to book their return, provide details about their item, select an exchange, and pick method/location of return. “By adopting our solution, Australia Post were able to provide a market leading return experience to their retail customers.” –Australia Post CEO Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Americold reduces labor costs by 10% across 150 locations](https://blueyonder.com/customers/americold) > Americold leverages Blue Yonder solutions to achieve industry defining cold-chain innovation while adapting to a rapidly-evolving marketplace. Success Story Americold Warehouse Management, Warehouse Labor Management Americold drives innovation in cold-chain Reduced labor costs 5% - 10% National recognition for supply chain transformation Reinvested savings from optimized warehouse operations into ongoing cold-chain innovation The company Americold is the largest temperature-controlled warehousing and distribution services provider in the world, with over 150 locations worldwide. The logistics and fulfillment giant is continually innovating to meet the changing goals of its customers, making it critical to have the right supply chain platform. The business challenge Americold’s legacy warehouse management and labor management systems did not have the flexibility to quickly adapt to their fast-evolving marketplace. Americold needed greater productivity and efficiency from their logistics personnel to support increasing customer demand. The goal to drive cold-chain industry innovation as the hub between food manufacturers and retailers required advanced capabilities and efficiencies not available from their legacy solutions. The solution To support their innovation and efficiency goals, Americold deployed Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and warehouse labor management solutions. “Investment in innovation gives us the ability to adapt to the changing marketplace and our customers’ ever-changing needs. Operating more efficiently is core to our mission of being a global provider through innovation, experience and people, goals that can only be achieved if the right technology is in place.” –President and CEO Supporting evolving customer needs To address evolving customer requirements and develop new and innovative supply chain solutions, including crossdocking capabilities and other value-add products and services specifically designed to complement traditional temperature-controlled supply chain activities, Americold needed to upgrade from its legacy warehouse and labor management solutions. With Blue Yonder, Americold has modernized its legacy warehouse environment through real-time visibility into delivery, labor management and operations to satisfy escalating customer expectations, save valuable resources and reduce overhead. The ability to optimize any order configuration from full pallets to mixed cases to eaches has enabled a highly flexible and responsive supply chain. Greater workforce efficiency Blue Yonder’s warehouse labor management capabilities have supported the implementation and monitoring of workforce incentives to promote associate productivity. Baseline metrics and KPIs provide the measuring stick to calibrate and reward performance, resulting in up to a 5 percent improvement in productivity. The system also enables more accurate forecasting for workforce planning by providing trends based on the latest labor standards. Americold is predicting the potential for up to 10 percent savings in labor costs when the warehouse labor management capabilities are implemented in certain locations. Solution benefits Reduced labor costs by 5% - 10% through more effective labor standards, monitoring and incentives. Offering flexible, more advanced warehouse management capabilities to support evolving marketplace requirements increased Americold profitability and customer loyalty. Reinvested savings from optimized warehouse operations into ongoing cold-chain innovation. Received national recognition for supply change transformation. Blue Yonder’s expertise To promote operational excellence, Americold has deployed the Blue Yonder solutions across a growing number of sites throughout its global network of temperature controlled warehouse operations. The implementations have supported the enablement of efficiency tools including voice-picking technologies, enhanced case- and each-pick functionalities, task interleaving, visibility and reporting. The solutions integrate with Americold’s supply chain control portal, providing greater transparency into inventory and enhanced order management capabilities for Americold’s customers. “We primarily use Blue Yonder’s labor management capabilities to operate in some of our more complex warehouse environments. With these tools we can set more effective standards for our labor force and create better processes that are more efficient.” –EVP of Business Development and Supply Chain Solutions Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [AEON optimizes local assortments with Blue Yonder category management](https://blueyonder.com/customers/aeon) > As a leading multiple-format retailer in Malaysia, AEON needed to improve assortments and on-shelf availability based on local demand in order to deliver on their customer first strategy. Discover how Blue Yonder’s suite of category management capabilities helped AEON make better assortment decisions, maintain schematic plans and more. Success Story AEON Category Management Suite AEON optimizes local assortments with Blue Yonder category management Improved customer satisfaction through optimized local assortments Increased profitability and rapid ROI Rapid return on investment and around-the-clock support through cloud-based deployment The company AEON CO. (M) BHD. is a leading multiple-format retailer in Malaysia, with supermarkets, general merchandise stores and specialty and convenience stores, as well as shopping centers, mostly situated in suburban residential areas. At all times, in every market, AEON’s activities are guided by its unchanging ‘Customer First’ philosophy. The business challenge AEON was looking to improve store assortments based on localized schematic plans, eliminate out-of-stocks and maintain efficient assortment listings to increase customer satisfaction. Speed-to-market was critical in having the right products allocated to the right stores with appropriate volumes to increase sales and minimize out-of-stocks. AEON stressed the importance of cloud-based solutions to reduce implementation time and quickly realize return on investment. The solution A cloud-based solution was very important to AEON to reduce their implementation time and quickly realize return on their investment. They also wanted to shorten the time needed to set up and maintain the infrastructure, as well as around-the-clock support to maintain application availability to focus on their core business needs. Blue Yonder’s category management capabilities are fully implemented and maintained by Blue Yonder on the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform to meet these criteria. “We needed a solution that would make the right assortment decisions in merchandising, utilize retail space efficiently in each store and execute and maintain schematic plans. That naturally led us to Blue Yonder.” –Manager, Schematic Plan Foodline Merchandising Support Putting the customer first To deliver on their customer first strategy, AEON needed to improve their ability to keep the right products on store shelves to meet local demand. Optimizing on-shelf availability Blue Yonder’s suite of category management capabilities helps AEON move products quickly and efficiently through their supply chain and utilize retail space effectively. Schematic plans are developed for approved assortments in space planning and are saved in the category knowledge base repository. Shelf capacities of approved schematic plans are interfaced to AEON’s PROFIT system to support auto-ordering processes. Schematic plans are also emailed to stores for schematic plan implementation, increasing plan compliance. Localized assortments Blue Yonder’s channel clustering capability is used to group stores based on product performance to identify and localize customer preferences. Generated store groups are interfaced to the category knowledge base to support assortment optimization processes and recommend optimal assortments that are space-aware for schematic plan creation in space planning. Finalized schematic plans are interfaced to AEON’s PROFIT system for store auto ordering. Solution benefits Improved customer satisfaction from increased on-shelf availability of enhanced product assortments based on local demand and plan schematics. Increased profitability through reductions in out-of-stocks and obsolete merchandise. Rapid return on investment and around-the-clock support through cloud-based deployment. “Working with Blue Yonder has been a remarkable experience. Everyone that I’ve worked with at Blue Yonder has been more than helpful throughout the process. From the cloud services aspect to the capabilities of Blue Yonder’s solutions, it’s been a very powerful collaboration.” –Manager, Schematic Plan Foodline Merchandising Support Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Zencargo makes supply chains more sustainable with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/zencargo) > London-based digital freight forwarder deploys Blue Yonder's Emissions Calculator to have access to accurate, instant and accredited carbon emissions measurement and reporting. This provides detailed emissions breakdowns by mode of transport, supplier and region in its quest to become an environmentally responsible freight forwarder. Success Story Zencargo Logistics Emissions Calculator Zencargo makes supply chains more sustainable with Blue Yonder Instant, accredited and automated emissions measurement and reporting Emissions tracking across all trade lanes and transport modes Proposes optimization strategies for emissions reduction The company Zencargo is a London-based digital freight forwarder enabling organizations, from FTSE 100 businesses to fast-growing startups, to make smarter decisions with industry-leading logistics experts and real-time supply chain visibility. The supply chain solutions provider works with businesses to move sea, air and road cargo with greater efficiency and accuracy and helps improve the sustainability of their logistics operations. The business challenge Amid accelerated climate change and increased scrutiny from stakeholders, supply chains need emissions tracking and elimination. While consumers and investors value environmental responsibility, navigating carbon accounting for complex supply chains can be challenging. Zencargo realized that for shippers, tracking scope 3 emissions across trade lanes, suppliers, products and diverse modes of transport can be a tough task, making compliance and impact assessment more difficult. The solution Zencargo selected Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager to provide instant, accredited and automated emissions measurement and reporting. Zencargo envisions a world of smarter trade and a key component of this vision is fostering sustainability within customers' supply chains. Using the solution, Zencargo utilizes emissions data to establish a benchmark for an organization's CO2 emissions. This involves tracking emissions across trade lanes and transport modes, proposing optimization strategies for emissions reduction and offering offsetting options aligned with businesses' goals and culture. Zencargo can now incorporate emissions measurement capabilities into its services, enabling customers to access emissions data on demand. “Firstly, our relationship with Blue Yonder drives visibility and value for our clients, equipping them with a sustainability toolkit to measure, reduce and offset scope 3 supply chain emissions. Secondly, as sustainability is a priority for supply chain decision-makers, we can drive forward key offsetting and insetting initiatives with clients as a true partner." –James Fry, VP Product, Zencargo Zencargo and Blue Yonder empowers customers with real-time carbon emissions data for supply chains. Zencargo’s customers are now able to access real-time and accurate carbon emissions data that could also be backdated to measure historical emissions. By allowing them to visualize and understand their supply chain emissions, Zencargo’s customers can now meet sustainability regulations requiring the disclosure of their supply chain emissions. With access to critical data insights about their supply chain emissions, Zencargo’s customers can also develop and implement carbon reduction strategies based on accurate and accredited emissions data insights. Zencargo continues to drive sustainability in supply chains. By working with Blue Yonder, Zencargo has enabled all of its customers to have access to accurate, instant and accredited carbon emissions measurement and reporting—providing detailed emissions breakdowns by mode of transport, supplier and region. As a result, Zencargo has made a big step towards its vision for a world with smarter trade by becoming an environmentally responsible freight forwarder through its work with Blue Yonder. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Arcadia Cold builds supply chain resilience and sustainability with AI and ML](https://blueyonder.com/customers/arcadia-cold) > Arcadia Cold wanted to establish itself quickly as a leader in the competitive world of temperature-controlled logistics. With help from Blue Yonder, implementation partner Netlogistik, and Snowflake, the Atlanta based logistics service provider (LSP) has ushered in “The New Age of Cold Chain” running on digital processes and advanced technology across its supply chain. Blue Yonder’s industry-leading solutions in warehouse management, warehouse labor management, and transportation management have helped Arcadia Cold gain real-time visibility, improve efficiency, and build resilience and sustainability into its operations from the start. Success Story Arcadia Cold Transportation Management, Warehouse Labor, Warehouse Management, Panasonic Edge Arcadia Cold builds supply chain resilience and sustainability with AI and ML 9 new facilities in 3 years Built a digital supply chain with real-time visibility utilizing the Blue Yonder Platform and powered by Snowflake AI Data Cloud 9% increase in warehouse labor productivity The company Established in 2021 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics specializes in providing third-party, temperature-controlled handling, storage, distribution and value-added services to the food industry. The logistics service provider (LSP) aims to establish “The New Age of Cold Chain” by designing and deploying modern facilities and providing innovative solutions to become the most customer-centric cold chain organization in the U.S. Currently, it has nine cold storage facilities across the U.S. The business challenge Arcadia Cold wanted to establish itself quickly as a leader in the competitive world of temperature-controlled logistics. To do so, it had to build state-of-the-art facilities, hire the best employees and deploy the best technology—all from scratch. The ‘start-up’ company sought trusted partners who understood the challenges of cold chain logistics—and could quickly deliver the advanced technologies needed to address them. The solution With help from Blue Yonder, implementation partner Argano, and Snowflake, Arcadia Cold ushered in “The New Age of Cold Chain,” running on digital processes and advanced technology across its supply chain. Blue Yonder’s industry-leading cloud-native solutions in warehouse management , warehouse labor management , and transportation management helped Arcadia Cold gain real-time visibility, improve efficiency, and build resilience and sustainability into its operations from the start. As a result, this cold storage and logistics leader was able to launch five new facilities in just 18 months between 2023 and 2024—and is poised for future growth, with nine warehouses already in operation and the aim for 26 facilities by 2036. “Our business model means we act as an extension of our customers’ supply chains. We wanted to provide our customers with only the best technology, so we chose Blue Yonder to help us run all our operations. It allows us to apply a digital-first and cloud-native strategy, implement one common set of integrated solutions, and adopt proven best practices to improve employee training and ultimately, efficiency.” –Christopher Lafaire, Chief Information Officer, Arcadia Cold Arcadia Cold is using Panasonic Edge products as a white glove service to manage its hardware technologies within its warehouse operations. Arcadia Cold: disrupting cold-chain logistics with digital technology Cold chain storage and transportation are complex activities. However, as a new competitor in this LSP space, Arcadia Cold had an advantage: It could build its operations from the ground up based on leading-edge, scalable, digital technologies and processes that simplify complexities. ‘ArcadiaOne’ – web portal built on Snowflake AI Data Cloud Blue Yonder and Argano helped Arcadia deploy the Blue Yonder Platform , which utilizes the Snowflake AI Data Cloud as its central intelligence hub for its operations. Linking all Blue Yonder applications and its ERP system, this serves as the backbone to the ‘Arcadia One’ web portal. The portal provides real-time, comprehensive visibility and orchestration of end-to-end operations, whilst facilitating appointment scheduling, billing, and electronic messaging for customers. The portal provides a single source of truth. Advanced AI and ML technology enables real-time visibility and responsiveness Blue Yonder’s warehouse management, warehouse labor management, and transportation management solutions helped Arcadia Cold launch five new warehouses — in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Pennsylvania — in a record-setting 18 months between 2023 and 2024. The company also gained a competitive edge by providing customers with real-time visibility into their processes, inventory and shipments. The result? Arcadia Cold quickly became a force to reckon with in the U.S. temperature-controlled logistics market, onboarding new customers every day. Blue Yonder’s solutions provide a modern UI that helps Arcadia Cold maximize the accuracy and efficiency of ongoing processes such as receiving, picking, and scheduling employees, trucks, and other assets. Advanced AI and ML technology alerts Arcadia Cold to disruptions and exceptions in real time, creating a resilient supply chain that meets cost and service targets even as conditions change. It helps the company weigh complex trade-offs associated with third-party cold-chain logistics to make optimal decisions consistently. Warehouse labor productivity boosted by 9% By deploying Blue Yonder’s Labor Management solution , Arcadia Cold witnessed a 9% increase in labor productivity through optimized task allocation and real-time performance tracking. It also enhanced operational efficiency through streamlined processes and real-time insights. Faster and deeper insights into direct and indirect labor times improved resource management and accelerated operational adjustments to maximize productive work time. Lafaire summarizes this entire deployment as ‘a game-changer!’ Supply chain optimization supports sustainability efforts In addition to cost and service outcomes, Arcadia Cold also considers sustainability a key strategic priority. By optimizing routes, reducing energy consumption, and enabling better space utilization, Arcadia Cold can provide industry leading service levels, control costs, and be a conscientious environmental steward. “As a start-up company, we could embed sustainability from the start in our business processes and technology choices. Blue Yonder’s solutions gave us the ability to start digital. We do everything digital — from taking pictures of inbound trucks and showing our customers how we receive their products to how we ship their products. There’s no paper waste. Blue Yonder provides us and our customers with a single view of our data so we can see all their information in one place. Everything is documented in a system for ease of access and waste reduction,” explains Lafaire. A cognitive future Over the last 2.5 years, Arcadia Cold has implemented Blue Yonder WMS at nine of its facilities (ranging from distribution hubs to port-side storage facilities that receive products  by ocean freight from Australia and Brazil). Over the years, several versions of the Blue Yonder WMS have been used, and Arcadia Cold is now planning to standardize on the latest Cognitive version. The LSP plans to take full advantage of the Blue Yonder Platform's most advanced integration capabilities and its embedded Agentic AI. “We have been an early adopter of the cognitive version of WMS and have worked collaboratively with Blue Yonder to help make advancements. A huge advantage of the cognitive WMS is that it uses Snowflake as its single data source, ensuring our employees and the AI agents we are starting to deploy share a single source of truth. Multiple databases and data replication will soon become a problem of the past,” said Lafaire. Arcadia Cold is currently implementing the new WMS at its first site before rolling out to the other eight sites. Agentic AI Arcadia Cold expects significant productivity improvements from AI agents native to the new cognitive solution. “There is a lot of talk about Agentic AI. I always start by defining the end game for any project. I’m expecting major advances in staff training. I believe only 30-40% of the information is retained when onboarding new associates; we’re going to change that with AI agents. These are being deployed to guide new associates not only during their introductions but also throughout their careers here at Arcadia Cold,” said Lafaire. Additionally, Arcadia Cold is working with Blue Yonder to develop its Warehouse Ops Agent, which will utilize AI to facilitate supervisor changeovers. Agents will provide accurate insights into those pending priorities that need to be carried over from shift to shift to ensure continuity of service throughout the day. Agents will also be used to help balance staffing between Arcadia’s frozen and cold storage rooms. Staffing needs vary with demand and the number of people clocking in at each facility at the start of each shift, which means Arcadia Cold needs to be agile to rebalance demand and supply to meet multiple customer service level agreements. Rebalancing staffing and workloads will be based on clear recommendations from AI Agents to maximize the productivity of each work session. Arcadia Cold is rapidly emerging as a disruptive force in cold chain logistics and plans to continue expanding in strategic locations across North America to have 26 facilities by 2036 — and Blue Yonder is proud to be an active partner on its ambitious journey. Data sharing without the hassles The Blue Yonder Data Share App simplifies data integration for Blue Yonder customers using Snowflake, regardless of their cloud provider or region. Cutting down on the complexity of data pipelines also accelerates time to value and minimizes operational overhead, so teams can concentrate on strategic initiatives. Available through a private listing in the Snowflake Marketplace, the Data Share App makes data-driven decisions even more efficient and scalable. Learn More Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Ingredion and Blue Yonder: A winning recipe for planning optimization](https://blueyonder.com/customers/ingredion) > Ingredion implemented Blue Yonder Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Fulfillment, and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) across its global operations, all running on the Blue Yonder platform powered by Microsoft Azure. Success Story Ingredion Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Fulfillment and S&OP Digital planning and automation help Ingredion improve forecasting and customer service 30% improved service levels internally to affiliate companies 16% reduced global inventories 15% improved service levels to domestic customers The company With over $8 billion in annual sales, Ingredion serves more than 18,000 customers in 120 countries. Based in Illinois, this leading global ingredient solutions provider turns grains, fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based materials into value-added ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition, brewing, and industrial markets. The business challenge Ingredion was experiencing strong fluctuations in customer demand across its 60 product segments and thousands of worldwide customers. The company was challenged to manage its customer forecasts and inventory levels and achieve its ambitious targets for on-time, in-full deliveries. Ingredion sought to mature its existing digital platform to gain better visibility into its data, thereby enhancing decision-making within the company. By dedicating efforts to improve and increase adoption, it aimed to extract more value from the platform. The solution In 2019, Ingredion implemented Blue Yonder Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Fulfillment, and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) across its global operations, all running on the Blue Yonder platform powered by Microsoft Azure. This deployment, along with significant investments in digital capabilities, enabled Ingredion to extract tremendous value from the system. By 2023, the company realized tangible benefits, including 16% reduction in global inventories, a 2% improvement in forecast accuracy, and a substantial enhancement in customer service levels. “We now have all our customers’ demands at our fingertips. We have clear visibility of the flow of materials in our organization; we know what the resource utilizations are for our entire network, which allows us to look for network optimization opportunities that not only improve efficiencies, but also customer service.” –Vin Carneiro, Senior Manager, Global Center of Excellence and Customer Insights, Ingredion How Ingredion optimized supply chain global planning Optimizing inventory to accurately match supply with volatile demand is challenging, but it is especially tough when producing thousands of products across 60 diverse segments to serve 18,000 global customers in 120 countries. This was Ingredion in 2023. The company’s planners knew they needed to access and analyze real-time data to sense shifts in demand and then immediately re-align forecasts, supply and inventory plans, and sales and operations plans. The Blue Yonder center of excellence (COE) alongside Ingredion’s recently created Global Digital Operations Team worked effortlessly on development of visualization tools that enabled strong cross-functional and cross-regional collaboration, as well as exceptional execution. It also required Blue Yonder’s solutions to accommodate many complexities, including a range of inventory turnover speeds — from fast-moving to nonmoving — as well as tightly constrained specialty assets and warehouse space. Key Benefits In 2023, Ingredion saw several benefits, including a 2% improvement in demand forecast accuracy and a reduction of global inventory levels by 16%. The company also implemented strategic sourcing changes that contributed to significant savings globally. Better visibility has helped Ingredion boost its service levels: a 30% improvement to service levels internally to its affiliate offices and a 15% improvement in service levels to domestic customers. “Our partnership with Blue Yonder is incredibly valuable to us. Its solutions have been instrumental in modernizing our approach to demand planning, supply chain visibility and inventory optimization. The Blue Yonder team genuinely cares about our success and shows an unwavering commitment to our satisfaction,” says Carneiro. These rapid results are a testament to the success of Ingredion’s digital transformation. Blue Yonder’s reporting and analysis capabilities improve visibility, provide insights into changing conditions, and help track key performance indicators (KPIs). Ingredion can analyze larger volumes of data more efficiently, so planners can identify trends, patterns, and potential risks in its operations much faster. Ingredion is in the early stages of development of its in-house machine learning forecast and is looking forward to integrating it with Blue Yonder. Also, Ingredion is exploring the capabilities of Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Planning solutions to take supply and demand planning to the next level. Whatever the future brings, Ingredion has a formula for success. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Bayer’s digital logistics transformation improves operational efficiency, asset utilization, and customer service](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bayer) > Blue Yonder helps Bayer implement a single logistics platform with shared data, metrics, workflows and best practices across more than 350 locations worldwide. Success Story Bayer Transportation Modeling, Transportation Management, Blue Yonder Network Bayer’s digital logistics transformation improves operational efficiency, asset utilization, and customer service 4% reduction in logistics cost 7% increase in optimized asset utilization 3% improvement in on-time delivery and carrier performance tracking metrics The company Bayer Crop Science (Bayer) delivers agricultural solutions to customers in over 70 countries. Its products include a broad portfolio of high-value seeds, innovative pest management solutions, and digital farming tools while also providing extensive customer service for sustainable agriculture. The company works with a large global network of suppliers and logistics service providers (LSPs) to provide the ingredients required to make its finished products. The business challenge Bayer could not respond quickly to market changes due to growing volatility in supply chains, transportation challenges, and disparate internal tools and processes across regions. But the seasonal nature of the company’s business meant there was little room for error. To better meet time-sensitive customer demands, Bayer needed to standardize its end-to-end transportation processes across 70+ countries and increase visibility into its global network of LSPs and suppliers. The solution With Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions , Bayer ensured its employees across 50 facilities in 70 countries share consistent transportation practices and business rules. This resulted in more efficient operations with a 4% reduction in logistics cost and a 7% increase in optimized asset utilization. With the addition of One Network Enterprises, now a Blue Yonder company, Bayer can use the Control Tower to gain end-to-end visibility and be able to make even better data driven decisions across its network. Together, the two technologies will help Bayer execute a complete digital overhaul of its supply chain. “We have great expectations that this new platform will support us to improve our customer experience and our logistics operations throughout the entire global supply chain network.” –Johnny Ivanyi, Global Head of Logistics Operational Excellence How Bayer is modernizing its end-to-end, global logistics operations In recent years, Bayer Crop Science witnessed increasing volatility on both the supply side and demand side of its business. Everything from extreme weather, material shortage, and transportation disruptions to its own internal processes and systems hindered the company’s growth. The seasonality of the agriculture business further complicated matters. But being in the food business, Bayer had to ensure the delivery of the right product to the right place at exactly the right time, no matter what stood in its way. Enter Blue Yonder The company’s first step was to optimize its transportation and logistics processes across 50 facilities in over 70 countries that were using disparate tools, outdated legacy systems, and manual processes to manage an incredibly complex logistics network. Blue Yonder is helping Bayer ensure that all its employees share consistent transportation practices and business rules while efficiently supporting the company’s growth. “No matter where they are based and what markets they are serving, our employees need to share consistent practices and the same set of analytical tools and fact-based decision-making processes. Our supply chain strategy empowers our employees around the world to act with speed and agility in making logistics and transportation decisions while also guaranteeing that everyone is acting in the best financial interests of our company, based on a shared set of values and priorities,” says Ivanyi. Improved Cost Optimization and Delivery Performance Using Blue Yonder’s digital platform, Bayer modernized its end-to-end logistics operations including route consolidation, load optimization, transportation analytics, and procurement automation. As part of this initiative, Bayer also streamlined routine carrier bidding events, reduced time to conduct bid analysis, and enabled complex scenario modeling to ensure the most cost-effective strategy is  selected for all new contracts. The result was a 4% reduction in logistics cost and a 3% improvement in on-time delivery and carrier performance tracking metrics. Improved asset utilization and customer experience The modernization enabled Bayer’s planners to leverage Blue Yonder’s advanced technologies in mobility, data tracking, and geo-mapping, increasing their ability to make real-time decisions that maximize responsiveness. The best part is the impact on customer service. Integrations with track and trace platforms have provided real-time delivery information so customer service teams can answer questions in a single phone call, or even be proactive if unexpected changes occur to a delivery. Supply chain Control Tower with One Network Enterprises One Network Enterprises’ Control Tower will provide Bayer global supply and logistics visibility, monitoring, predicted shipment ETAs, issue detection, and issue resolution across a complex mix of suppliers, LSPs, and Bayer factories linked by a global multi-modal logistics network. The goal is to unlock value for its entire ecosystem of trading partners and carriers together to achieve common market objectives. As supply chain volatility continues to increase, Bayer intends to increase its investments in logistics digitalization including robotic process automation (RPA) to redefine non-touch logistics planning, as well as moving from a decentralized planning to a centralized approach that spans its global operations. Blue Yonder is proud to partner with Bayer as it continues to power the global food network. Hear from Johnny Ivanyi on how Bayer Crop Science has successfully turned its logistics visibility into a core functionality of its business using Blue Yonder TMS. Hear from Bayer on how it continues to change the landscape of global distribution and logistics using Blue Yonder. Hear from the team at Bayer on its next wave of distribution and logistics transformation. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [L.L.Bean improves customer service, forecast accuracy and inventory productivity](https://blueyonder.com/customers/llbean) > Learn how US-based, L.L. Bean achieves their business goals harnessing Blue Yonder’s merchandise financial planning, forecasting, and replenishment capabilities. Success Story L.L.Bean Merchandise Financial Planning, Forecasting, Replenishment L.L.Bean improves customer service, forecast accuracy and inventory productivity 30% improved service levels internally to affiliate companies 16% reduced global inventories 15% improved service levels to domestic customers The company L.L.Bean is a privately held American outdoor retail company founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean in Freeport, Maine, Known for its iconic “Bean Boots” and commitment to quality, durability, and outdoor lifestyle. Still family-owned, L.L.Bean maintains a strong focus on customer satisfaction, environmental stewardship, and community engagement, emphasizing practical design and rigorous product testing. The business challenge The company employs some 5,000 people year-round, with that number increasing to about 10,000 during its peak sales season. As L.L.Bean’s business has expanded, they’ve realized that one of their major challenges has been to get a read on the market so that it could invest inventory in the right products in the coming year. “Speed of delivery is very important to us at L.L.Bean. We are known for our customer service, so it’s very important that we get our products to our customers in a timely manner,” said Process Lead, L.L.Bean. The solution With L.L.Bean implementing Blue Yonder’s merchandise financial planning, forecasting and replenishment capabilities, they can now more accurately predict sales, buy products from their vendors and allocate those products to the appropriate stores. While leveraging these capabilities, L.L.Bean is actively exploring other solutions to maximize the value of the integrated Blue Yonder ecosystem. “We ultimately chose them because we really felt that they could deliver on our critical business requirements,” explains Process Lead, L.L.Bean. “Technology and automation have really helped us to make our business more scalable, so that we have been able to go from a single store in Freeport, Maine back in 1912 to the $1.6 billion company that we are today. I think even more importantly it’s allowed us to automate our processes so that we can really focus on our customer, which is what we do best.” –Process Lead, L.L.Bean Strategic partnership L.L.Bean’s success goes beyond the implementation of technology. Throughout the design phase, Blue Yonder consultants were not only advising the team about their current situation, we worked with L.L.Bean to consider future objectives and goals and how their next implementation can fit in with the solution that is being currently designed. “We have a very strategic partnership, and as we’re working on solutions, we’re not just thinking about one year ahead or two years ahead. We’re really thinking about the longer term,” reports Process Lead, L.L.Bean. Hear from the team at L.L. Bean on how Blue Yonder helped the company navigate major shifts in demand during the pandemic and exceed sales plans in some categories by over 130%. “Blue Yonder is very important to our business at L.L.Bean. We actually refer to Blue Yonder as one of our pillars in our new simplified system architecture. Blue Yonder is really a foundation on which we’ve built more integrated processes. It’s allowed us to really better serve our customer so that we can fulfill our simple but noble belief that a life spent outdoors is more complete.” –Process Lead, L.L.Bean Hear from Kirsten Piacentini, VP of Inventory Management at L.L. Bean on how Blue Yonder helped the company navigate shifting changes in requirements for demand and inventory during the pandemic. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Kenco boosts replenishment by 50% to reach full productivity](https://blueyonder.com/customers/kenco) > Blue Yonder warehouse management solution helps North American logistics provider, Kenco meet its goals and reach full productivity within weeks of implementation. Success Story Kenco Warehouse Management System, Inventory Availability Kenco improves replenishment by 50% with Blue Yonder warehouse management and labor management Replaced manual picking processes and work-arounds with efficient system-directed picking Added system-directed processes to support growth and improve customer service Trained Kenco resources for future customer implementations and service The company Kenco, one of the largest family-owned and privately held third-party logistics (3PL) providers, offers a host of logistics management services and supply chain solutions for customers in the health and personal care, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial, and durable goods industries. The business challenge The customer’s existing technology solution lacked emergency replenishment functionality, which was interfering with their ability to fill orders rapidly and cost-effectively. “The legacy solution could not allocate orders to the pick faces without the full quantity available to fill the order, requiring the last few items of a particular lot to be physically moved out of the pick face so the system would generate a replenishment for a new lot to fill orders” The solution With Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capability, the customer’s replenishment processes have been enhanced by a new level of automation that has increased productivity. Primary pick locations can now be changed dynamically, there is no downtime on the pick line with users waiting for new product and no wasted product moves to clear pick-face locations. “We have an entire team focused on the healthcare industry and growing this vertical within our customer base. In order to do so, we must have a supply chain solution that supports this initiative.” –Vice President of IT, Kenco Kenco helps healthcare provide better outcomes With Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capability, the customer’s replenishment processes have been enhanced by a new level of automation that has increased productivity. Primary pick locations can now be changed dynamically, there is no downtime on the pick line with users waiting for new product and no wasted product moves to clear pick-face locations. Handling emergencies “Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capability drives an emergency replenishment for wave allocations in the pick face with sufficient quantity to fill customer orders. Previously, this was a completely manual process that required paper workarounds.” Fast, successful implementation With the help of Blue Yonder services, Kenco was able to go live with the system for its customer in only nine months, and was shipping full volumes within two weeks after go- live. “The training and on-site support we received from Blue Yonder services drove a level of user engagement that ensured our success upon go-live.” Partnership The partnership with Blue Yonder services provided a valuable, hands-on learning experience for the company’s implementation team members. “Our internal support team learned how to troubleshoot issues, research process changes, test rules and various configurations, maintain the system long-term, and begin structuring our own internal expertise around implementing the solution in future opportunities.” Solution benefits Replaced inefficient manual picking processes and solution workarounds with automated and efficient system-directed picking. Added intelligent system-directed pick waves and fulfillment processes to support customer growth and improved service to the customer’s customers. Trained Kenco resources for future customer implementations and service. Watch this recording hosted by Supply Chain Management Review for a round-table discussion on agile logistics through automation, AI, and optimization “We chose Blue Yonder because of its strategic focus on 3PL partnerships, as well as its market leadership in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry vertical. They have truly provided a partnership mentality to help us grow our market footprint and deliver customized models that provide value to new opportunities. The Blue Yonder team is responsive, creative and always willing to go above and beyond to service our account.” –Vice President of IT, Kenco Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Accel improves warehouse productivity by 35%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/accel) > Accel chose to migrate its Blue Yonder solution to the cloud, to improve its speed and agility in the face of increasing demand volatility. Success Story Accel Warehouse Management Accel improves warehouse productivity by 35% with Blue Yonder 35% increase in warehouse productivity Real-time inventory visibility and product tracking Improved speed and agility against demand volatility The company Accel Logistics is a leader in the Mexican logistics market, offering inventory management, packaging, distribution and transportation services. Its 19 regional warehouses include more than 28,000 square meters of space. The business challenge For years, Accel has relied on Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution to streamline processes in its distribution centers, resulting in cost reductions, productivity growth and superior customer service. Recently, market demand for logistics has skyrocketed — but the unpredictability of that demand has also grown. The solution To improve its speed and agility in the face of increasing demand volatility, Accel chose to migrate its Blue Yonder solution to the cloud. Blue Yonder partnered with Argano on the cloud migration. “One of Accel’s main strategic challenges is having full visibility and control of our warehouse operations and inventory, which allows us to maximize our speed and responsiveness. Blue Yonder’s warehouse management capabilities, integrated with mobile voice technologies, have eliminated many manual processes, created real-time connectivity and increased warehouse productivity by 35%.” –Manuel Vazquez Caro, Systems Development Manager Significant improvements in speed and accuracy, via digitization “Accel partnered with Blue Yonder and Argano to digitally transform our 19 warehouses, including voice controls and real-time product tracking, which significantly improved the speed and accuracy of our daily operations. This drives better customer service and value, which is critical to our success in the highly competitive third-party logistics marketplace.” A seamless upgrade to the cloud, with support from Argano “Achieving a true digital transformation meant migrating our existing Blue Yonder warehouse management solution to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. With support from Argano, this transition occurred seamlessly, with no disruption to our daily operations across our distribution centers.” Increased automation drives service and cost improvements “Blue Yonder warehouse managemen t features artificial intelligence that exceeds the abilities of manual processes. The solution can ingest data, apply advanced analytics and autonomously make optimal decisions that balance customer service with cost control.” Solution benefits Backed by Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution, Accel can increase its real-time visibility and control. As a result, the company can quickly adapt to disruptions and optimize tasks to meet customer expectations. Artificial intelligence engines in Blue Yonder warehouse management consider real-time data across the extended supply chain, then autonomously create a strategic response that maximizes both cost and service outcomes. Blue Yonder’s cloud delivery model, hosted on Microsoft Azure and implemented with support from Argano, allows Accel to scale on demand, deliver faster, reduce its total cost of ownership and upgrade software seamlessly. “By enabling Accel to automate and digitize our most critical processes, Blue Yonder demonstrates its leadership in warehouse management. No one understands the daily operation of the warehouse better, or delivers the advanced technology required to automate and accelerate those activities for maximum responsiveness.” –Jesús Lara Herrera – System and Operations Director Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Innovations in workforce management at Harris Teeter](https://blueyonder.com/customers/harris-teeter) > Discover how Harris Teeter pursues their continued push for innovation and inclusion, to bring world-class capabilities to the table with the help of Blue Yonder. Success Story Harris Teeter Workforce Management Innovations in Workforce Management at Harris Teeter Increased revenue through enhanced labor forecasting and scheduling Reduced costs and increased associate engagement and satisfaction Improved shift coverage and in-stock positioning due to enhanced labor forecasting and scheduling, leading to increased revenue The company From their first grocery store in 1960 through to today and beyond, Harris Teeter’s secret sauce is innovation. Whether it’s opening the first fully air-conditioned grocery store in North Carolina, providing innovative wine and beer bars or pursuing Uber-like mobile shift postings, innovation is a core culture at Harris Teeter. They wanted the same level of innovation from their workforce management solution. The business challenge North Carolina-based Harris Teeter, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co., with over 265 retail locations, 52 fuel centers, three distribution centers and a dairy manufacturing operation, needed an enterprise-wide workforce management platform to drive associate engagement, efficiency and customer satisfaction. Any solution for Harris Teeter has to reflect and support the culture of diversity and inclusion that, together with innovation, is a foundation of their business model Harris Teeter wanted a workforce management solution that not only supported their continued push for innovation and inclusion, but also brought innovative capabilities to the table. The solution Supports Harris Teeter’s culture of inclusion and innovation through innovative workforce management capabilities across the enterprise. Improved shift coverage and in-stock positioning due to enhanced labor forecasting and scheduling, leading to increased revenue. Greater associate engagement and job satisfaction to increase customer service and reduce turnover, hiring costs and training. “Diversity and inclusion are naturally woven throughout the framework of Harris Teeter, starting with our own associates and the customers that we serve... we recognize that creative energies and ideas generated by a diverse group of associates will always exceed those of any one particular group.” –Harris Teeter President Culture of inclusion As a mid-sized regional grocer and retailer, Harris Teeter is in competition with everything from mega-stores to mom & pop shops. To compete successfully, Harris Teeter has a laser focus on three areas of its business: the diversity and inclusion of their workforce; an ever-increasing goal of customer satisfaction; and continued innovation in products and services. The three areas are mutually supportive. By having the associates in stores reflect the diversity in the customer base they serve, customers feel more welcome and comfortable. It also helps drive innovation. Supporting innovation Harris Teeter continuously strives to innovate in the way they serve their customers. Examples include having Starbucks locations in stores, offering “Hot Bars” serving pizza by the slice and other chef-prepared foods, omelet stations, sushi stations, burger bars and beer and wine bars. Their stores also support buy online/pickup in-store (BOPUS) convenience for shoppers. Supporting all of its innovative customer services with a diverse workforce nearing 39,000 associates across its various business segments is a major challenge, especially considering some of the areas it serves have as low as a 1.25% unemployment rate. Harris Teeter chose to deploy Blue Yonder’s retail workforce management capability enterprise-wide to drive innovation in their workforce management practices. Advanced scheduling capabilities enable Harris Teeter to automatically schedule associates weeks in advance based on past customer traffic and planned events. Harris Teeter gets heightened efficiency and better coverage, resulting in improved in-stock positions and customer service and satisfaction. Driving associate engagement Harris Teeter believes driving associate engagement results in higher associate satisfaction and retention, as well as improved customer satisfaction. Blue Yonder's mobile workforce management app gives associates 24/7 access to their schedules and time cards from their smartphones. In addition to their own shifts, associates can see and bid on uncovered shifts, as well as swap shifts with other associates. Managers can post open shifts and approve shift swaps. Blue Yonder expertise Harris Teeter believes Blue Yonder’s innovative mobile app can drive greater associate engagement and coverage across locations. “We want to think outside the box and start sharing shift postings across locations. In some of our coverage areas we have several stores within an easy drive of each other. Associates could see and bid for any of those shifts. We think it could be like Uber where associates could see and rate available shifts and managers could rate the associates after they’ve worked a shift.” “Associates have real-time information at their fingertips at any time and can take action. We are truly driving engagement by putting more control in our associates’ hands for scheduling coverage.” –Workforce management business analyst Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Armada achieves real-time visibility and cuts disruption response times by 65%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/armada) > Discover how AI & ML-powered Blue Yonder control tower helped Armada recognize 96% of disruptions within one hour, leading to a 65% reduction in response time. Success Story Armada Supply Chain Command Center, Warehouse Management System, Demand Planning, Store Fulfillment Armada achieves real-time visibility and cuts disruption response times by 65% with Blue Yonder Control Tower 65% reduction in disruption response times 96% of disruptions recognized in under an hour $1M in early freight cost savings The company With approximately $4.0 billion in revenues, Armada is a supply chain solutions provider to many of America’s largest restaurant chains. With locations nationwide, Armada moves nearly 100 million cases annually and approximately 450,000 truckloads with speed and agility. One in eight US consumers benefits from Armada’s services each day. The business challenge To maximize the value of its end-to-end solutions for existing clients — while also attracting new ones — Armada was focused on enablement of next-generation supply chain orchestration solutions. The company wanted to create a digital thread across the network that would enhance real-time visibility and connectivity of network stakeholders, leading to greater agility and responsiveness in the face of inevitable disruptions. The solution As a long-time user of multiple Blue Yonder planning and execution solutions, Armada partnered with Blue Yonder as an early adopter of Blue Yonder's Control Tower for enablement of Armada’s Profitable Response Orchestration™ solution. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), this solution monitors conditions across the network in real time. By digitally connecting Armada’s orchestrators with all network stakeholders, Blue Yonder's Control Tower enables a fast, coordinated response when the unexpected occurs, adding value via cost savings and continuity of supply. “Blue Yonder's Control Tower gives Armada real-time visibility into every aspect of our operations, including inventory availability, shipment status and predicted delivery time. When an exception occurs — from a demand spike to a network event — it’s recognized and communicated to all stakeholders within one hour, 96% of the time. That gives us an incredible customer service advantage.” –Chief Innovation Officer Savings potential in the millions from minimizing unplanned freight “Because Blue Yonder's Control Tower enables Armada to identify issues and respond faster, we avoid many network costs related to unplanned activities. Unexpected freight costs, including spot market rates and expediting fees, represented a category of savings that were achieved at an early stage. By proactively identifying alternative strategies and quantifying the financial impacts upfront — instead of taking a reactive stance — we’ve achieved an estimated $1 million in cost savings from just one program that targeted specific lanes. We expect several million in savings from freight-related cost mitigations as we continue to expand.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder's Control Tower provides a real-time, unified view of events and critical alerts that help Armada connect the dots when an exception occurs anywhere in the network. Armada can confidently predict the impacts on service levels and costs before orchestrating a corrective action. Based on the ability of AI and ML to ingest huge volumes of data, recognize patterns and anticipate outcomes, Armada can make fact-based, optimal decisions in a fraction of the time required for manual analysis. Blue Yonder's Control Tower has significantly increased the efficiency of Armada’s orchestration team via automation. With fewer manual interventions and faster task completion, the Armada team and network stakeholders can focus on higher-value work. A 65% reduction in resolution time for disruptions “Blue Yonder's Control Tower creates a digitally connected environment in which disruptions can be managed quickly and strategically, many in an automated manner. For more complex issues, it enables Armada’s orchestration professionals to collaboratively test scenarios, predict outcomes in advance and enact an optimized solution. For many scenarios, we’ve reduced our disruption response time by 65% compared to our previous manual resolution methods.” Blue Yonder’s expertise “Our long partnership with Blue Yonder gives Armada the ability to stay at the leading edge of technology, taking us from legacy systems to a true digital transformation. We are continuing to expand our Blue Yonder footprint because of its cloud based solutions, its emphasis on AI and ML, and its open platform, which supports real-time integration and interoperability with Armada’s other systems.” Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Atlanta Bonded Warehouse standardizes warehouse operations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/atlanta-bonded-warehouse) > Atlanta Bonded Warehouse increases warehouse efficiency and customer satisfaction with the ability to perform individual employee measurements. Success Story Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Warehouse Management, Labor Management Atlanta Bonded Warehouse standardizes warehouse operations Increased warehouse efficiencies Standardized warehouse operations and services Improved customers’ level of confidence The company Atlanta Bonded Warehouse (ABW), a family owned third party warehouse provider, has delivered public and contract food-grade, temperature-controlled distribution services for over 60 years. Warehouse management system (WMS) from Blue Yonder has helped them increase efficiency within the warehouse, given them the ability to perform individual employee measurements and provide their customers with confidence in their services. The business challenge Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Corporation (ABW) has provided public and contract food-grade, temperature-controlled distribution services for over 60 years and has grown to 3.8 million square feet of modern, high cube storage and distribution capacity in 12 facilities across the southeast. ABW sought to standardize their warehouse operations and the services they provide in order to be an all-in-one provider to their supply chain customers. ABW’s paper based legacy system made this very challenging. ABW’s goals were to implement a highly configurable warehouse management system that would offer more functionality than their legacy system and to move their customers’ products through their supply chains in a much more efficient manner, while retaining the ability to track and trace food lot codes to support food safety requirements. The solution By utilizing warehouse management and labor management together, ABW was able to increase warehouse efficiencies. The extensive configuration capabilities of the Blue Yonder digital platform enabled ABW to standardize warehouse operations, thus improving visibility and accuracy. With extra functionalities within warehouse management, such as track and trace, ABW saw significant improvement in customers’ level of confidence. “During the first five years of using Blue Yonder’s warehouse management, we realized a variety of benefits. Certainly, the first was improved warehouse efficiency, using directed work to direct the lift-truck operators. Interleaving inbound and outbound tasks to reduce trips with empty forks instantly improved efficiency. Now, we’re starting to capture data to measure individual performance. Those are some of the big benefits we are seeing.” –General Manager of Public Warehouse Operations, Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Competitive advantage “Blue Yonder’s warehouse management gives us a distinct competitive advantage over other third-party logistics providers (3PLs) in our region. The additional functionality within Blue Yonder’s platform gives our customers confidence that ABW can provide the services they need,” per General Manager of Public Warehouse Operations, Atlanta Bonded Warehouse. Speed of delivery “Speed of delivery is very important to Atlanta Bonded Warehouse. Our environment is very dynamic. We onboard a new customer about once every three weeks. Our growth rate has been extremely rapid so the ability to have support from Blue Yonder to address needs as we onboard new customers.” Standardizing services “Our Blue Yonder digital platform, with its extensive configuration capabilities, allows us to be that individual,  unique provider to any one particular customer, while at the same time using industry standard support to cover the basics that every customer needs in their supply chain.” “Many of the other platforms we researched would tell us, for example, ‘If you have item 123 for two different customers, you must augment the item code to make it unique. Blue Yonder’s digital platform didn’t require that, so both customer A and customer B could have item 123 and we could maintain them uniquely in the software. That’s just one critical attribute that we considered, but across multiple solutions and other key features, Blue Yonder’s platform clearly rose to the top.” –General Manager of Public Warehouse Operations, Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [DSW makes every foot count with optimized fixed store capacities](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dsw) > DSW implements state-of-the-art Blue Yonder retail solutions to project right inventory levels, keep stores optimally stocked and purchase right products. Success Story DSW Merchandise Financial Planning and Allocation DSW makes every foot count with optimized fixed store capacities Increased sales and margins Lowered inventory levels Improved buyers’ productivity and efficiency The company Designer Brands Inc. is an American retailer that sells designer and brand name shoes and fashion items. It owns the Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) chain of stores and operates over 500 stores in the United States. The business challenge Previously a close-out retailer, DSW evolved into a large footwear specialty retailer in the mid-2000s. Stores average over 20,000 square feet and feature approximately 24,000 pairs of shoes and accessories. While this format seems large, the fixed capacity of its branded locations has created a strategic challenge. The leading U.S.-based retailer’s existing supply chain processes and technology tools only focused on the highest levels of the business and overall metrics. With limited backrooms to keep excess merchandise, assortment management must be kept to an exacting degree for each market. “Previously our planning was done in dollars, and it was done at the department level. We saw a real opportunity to drop down to a deeper level planning solutions and realize significant benefits ,” — Vice President of Planning & Allocation, DSW. The solution To support both financial and merchandise planning, DSW implemented a state-of-the-art Blue Yonder retail solution. Able to align planning, assortment allocation and pricing, DSW can project the right inventory levels, keep stores optimally stocked and purchase the right products, even the right mix of shoe sizes. “We went from having a mosaic of Excel worksheets, Access databases and numerous other independent pieces of technology to relying on a unified set of solutions that are customized to our unique business needs,” — Executive Vice President of Supply Chain, DSW. “We established a much more robust planning system that goes all the way down to the subclass level, measuring performance in both dollars and units. As a result, we are much more capable of controlling our sales, inventory and forecasting. That has significantly improved our margins.” –Vice President of Planning & Allocation, DSW Future outlook With such impressive results, DSW plans to implement additional solutions over the next few years. “I feel strongly that, as a result of the solutions we’ve used, we have significantly improved our business over the past three years in a time when the economy was really tough. While most retailers really struggled through the past two years, we have had significant increases in our business. We’ve had increased sales, lower inventory and increased margins. A lot of the success that we have had, in addition to our great merchants who buy a great product, is due to the solutions and our ability to get efficiencies and productivity out of those tools. Based on that success, we’re excited about what the future holds,” — Vice President of Planning & Allocation, DSW. Blue Yonder delivers Seeking a long-term partner and just the right toolkit to manage systems, DSW leadership relied on proven experiences. “They had been a tremendous partner to me in the past, and the flexibility of the Blue Yonder solutions allowed our team to customize those tools to accommodate our processes,” — Vice President of Planning & Allocation, DSW. “Blue Yonder has provided us with technology capabilities that are robust enough to manage the complexity of our supply chain, while also supporting our critical business processes.” –Vice President of Planning & Allocation, DSW Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [CONA services partners with Blue Yonder to drive automation for Coca-Cola bottlers](https://blueyonder.com/customers/cona) > Founded in 2016, CONA Services LLC is an IT services company owned and governed by the 11 largest Coca-Cola bottlers in North America. CONA is a strategic partner that provides its bottlers with a common set of processes, data standards, and technology platforms. CONA solutions and services have been rolled out to more than 500 locations in the US and Canada, representing 80,000 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Success Story CONA Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Inventory Optimization, Transportation Management, Sequencing and S&OP CONA services partners with Blue Yonder to drive automation for Coca-Cola bottlers Improved planning automation by up to 70% Increased planning efficiency and accuracy Smoothed and optimized inventory management The company Founded in 2016, CONA Services LLC is an IT services company owned and governed by the 11 largest Coca-Cola bottlers in North America. CONA is a strategic partner that provides its bottlers with a common set of processes, data standards, and technology platforms. CONA solutions and services have been rolled out to more than 500 locations in the U.S. and Canada, representing 80,000 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. The business challenge Coca-Cola bottlers across North America face common supply chain challenges shared by other consumer packaged goods (CPG) leaders, including demand volatility, raw materials availability issues, and labor shortages. These supply chain constraints are compounded by having to optimize plans every day across an entire continent. The solution In order to address the supply chain challenges faced by its bottlers, CONA Services implemented an end-to-end portfolio of Blue Yonder solutions to help with demand planning, supply planning, inventory optimization , transportation management , production planning and sequencing, and sales and operations planning. As a result, the bottlers have benefitted from more reliable demand, supply, transportation, and production plans to improve their inventory positions. “When you tackle a complex problem — like optimally planning Coca-Cola’s bottling across a continent each day — you need more than just a software provider. You need a trusted partner that’s deeply invested in your success. That’s the relationship CONA has with Blue Yonder. It’s exciting to see the value Blue Yonder delivers to our bottlers and tally up the wins. Furthermore, with Blue Yonder’s recent investment in product innovation, the new product roadmap and the expanding platform powered by Snowflake, we’re even more excited about our future with Blue Yonder.” –Baron Jordan, Chief Product Officer of Supply Chain for CONA Services Improving supply chain resilience with active operations monitoring and automation Every morning, CONA Services monitors its Blue Yonder dashboards, applications, and key performance indicators (KPIs) across its entire operations. If there are any disruptions or deviations from plan, these issues are resolved collaboratively before they have a significant impact on the supply chain performance of the bottlers. This daily tactical planning session complements CONA’s long-range planning efforts, ensuring all bottlers are on track to achieve optimal cost and service outcomes. As a result, CONA’s planners have benefited from increases in speed and efficiency, while also freeing up time for higher-value work, ultimately delivering better service to their bottling partners. Some key benefits include: Inventory improvements CONA bottlers have seen significant improvement in inventory positions, reduced “days of supply,” decreased out-of-stock situations, and a several percentage points increase in demand forecast accuracy. Increased visibility and greater insights Blue Yonder provides more visibility to CONA bottlers so they can dig deeper into the data and use its analytics and planning capabilities for better and more reliable demand, supply, transportation, and production plans. It has made them more resilient by putting a cohesive enterprise planning solution together in one place. Increased automation by 70% CONA has also gained from automating numerous processes that were previously highly manual. In some cases, it has seen an increase by 70%. This means, CONA and bottler associates enjoy a better user experience and have more flexibility to focus on critical tasks and improve their performance. Artificial intelligence, Snowflake, and the Blue Yonder platform CONA is not resting on its laurels. It is already experimenting with artificial intelligence specifically within demand forecasting, gathering data, classifying data, and examining use cases. It has also launched a pilot program with one of its bottlers to explore the potential added benefits of Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning, which is powered by the Blue Yonder platform and includes the latest AI and ML technology. Looking ahead, CONA is starting to move from a private cloud to the public cloud utilizing Microsoft Azure, while also planning to re-platform the solution onto the Blue Yonder Platform (powered by Snowflake Data Cloud). Together, these changes will improve latency and speed to drive its business to the next level. Blue Yonder is proud to partner with CONA every step of the way. Data sharing without the hassles The Blue Yonder Data Share App simplifies data integration for Blue Yonder customers using Snowflake, regardless of their cloud provider or region. Cutting down on the complexity of data pipelines also accelerates time to value and minimizes operational overhead, so teams can concentrate on strategic initiatives. Available through a private listing in the Snowflake Marketplace, the Data Share App makes data-driven decisions even more efficient and scalable. Learn More Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Dole Food & Beverage Group reduces inventory by 40% and secures fill rates over 95% in just 18 months](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dole-food-and-beverage-group) > To enable optimal decision-making, Dole recently transformed its supply chain capabilities to add leading-edge visualization, along with data analytics. Following a successful launch of Blue Yonder solutions in demand planning, supply planning, sales and operations planning (S&OP) and data access services, Dole has realized a range of benefits. The company achieved fill rates over 95%, while reducing inventory by 40%. Success Story Dole Food & Beverage Group Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Factory Planning, Sales and Operations Planning, Data Access Services Dole Food & Beverage Group transforms its supply chain planning and visibility with remarkable results Reduced inventory by 40% Improved fill rates to >95% in all key markets Increased forecast accuracy The company Dole Food & Beverages Group, a division of The Dole Sunshine Company, is a world leader in growing, sourcing, distributing, and marketing fruit and healthy snacks. The company sells packaged, shelf-stable fruit, frozen fruit, dried fruit and juices to customers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Dole operates manufacturing facilities around the world, with factories in the Philippines, Thailand and the US, as well as a global 3PM network. The business challenge Dole has been a Blue Yonder customer since 2002, with multiple planning solutions. Recently Dole partnered with Blue Yonder to transform its supply chain capabilities across its end-to-end network and add leading-edge visualization, along with data analytics, for insights that enable optimal decision-making. The solution Multiple solutions were rolled out remotely, across different time zones, with challenging timelines. Dole successfully launched demand planning, supply planning , sales and operations planning and data access services in 2022. Today more than 150 Dole employees leverage these solutions, which span the company’s Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Operations and Markets teams. “Our multiple Blue Yonder solutions support end-to-end, integrated planning with a centralized view of information, shared access to data analytics, and near real-time decision support. We not only have complete visualization of the supply chain, for improved disruption management, but we can also make data driven decisions and minimize risk. That’s led to a range of benefits that include lower costs, higher service and increased productivity.” –Dinesh Vyas, Senior Director, Supply Chain Solutions Dole’s sweeping transformation drives fill rate, inventory improvements To drive a comprehensive transformation, Dole needed to enable agile, responsive cross-functional supply chain processes that empower people with data-driven decision making capabilities, leveraging an end-to-end, integrated technology platform. “The combination of processes, people and technology was critical to our success,” says Siddharth Ramaswamy, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Dole. “Blue Yonder’s planning solutions emerged as the perfect fit, enabling us to make faster business decisions, enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs and optimize planner time.” The results of the transformation include fill rates that are above 95%, as well as a 40% inventory reduction in just 18 months. “Due to supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 and ocean shipping issues, our fill rates saw a substantial decline, while inventory levels increased due to market demand fluctuations,” notes Anuj Shrimal, VP, Global Supply Chain Planning and Solutions. “However, through the adoption of Blue Yonder solutions, we successfully enhanced demand forecast accuracy across our primary markets. That led to a dramatic improvement of fill rates, while significantly reducing inventory levels. For manufacturers, inventory represents cash sitting idle, without earning any interest — hindering the company’s ability to invest in growth. Decreasing inventory value, especially as interest rates were rising, had a substantial positive impact on net income.” A key moment of discovery for Dole was recognizing that traditional planning solutions and cadences aren’t sufficient to address today’s new level of demand and supply volatility. Blue Yonder’s cloud-native software helps Dole plan weekly, on a more dynamic basis, fed by near real-time data — for better visibility and responsiveness to changes. It’s dramatically improved Dole’s planning results and the productivity of its team. In addition, Blue Yonder helped Dole transform its reporting process, so the supply chain team can accurately measure and improve its results. By implementing Data Access Services, Dole can not only make fact-based decisions, but it’s also built a comprehensive analytical framework for the supply chain that includes KPIs, exceptions, dashboards and reports. “Blue Yonder has been our strategic supply chain partner for over 20 years. When we decided to embark on a digital transformation, we conducted a very methodical and structured process to evaluate different technology providers. We chose to partner with Blue Yonder based on its proven supply chain capabilities, ability to provide mature solutions across the supply chain, and our trust in Blue Yonder based on our long and successful relationship.” –Dinesh Vyas, Senior Director, Supply Chain Solutions Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Knauf leverages Blue Yonder for predictive supply chain transformation](https://blueyonder.com/customers/knauf) > Knauf selected Blue Yonder to support demand and supply planning transformation, beginning with the implementation of demand planning and supply planning in its insulation and ceilings businesses. These solutions enhance demand forecasting accuracy at the SKU level and streamline downstream supply chain processes, which enables Knauf to increase forecast accuracy and reduce working capital. By modernizing supply planning and order promising capabilities, the company is on track to deliver predictive insights on product availability, setting a new standard for customer fulfillment. Success Story Knauf Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Order Promiser Knauf leverages Blue Yonder for predictive supply chain transformation Enhanced demand forecasting accuracy to streamline supply chain processes Positioned as a digital leader in customer interactions and service delivery Digital fulfillment enhances customer reliability at 95% order accuracy The company Knauf, established in 1932, is a leading global construction materials company. With over 41,000 employees, 300 plants in 92 countries, and annual revenue exceeding €15 billion, Knauf is renowned for high-quality plasterboards, plaster, ceiling materials, and insulation products. The company’s customer-centric approach underpins its growth, empowering customers with competitive solutions, and superior product quality. The business challenge Knauf embarked on a digital transformation journey under its Knauf100 strategy, aiming to become the market leader in digital customer interactions and supply chain operations. The company identified an urgent need to modernize its sales and operations planning (S&OP) to support rapid demand planning, order fulfillment, and supply planning across its global supply chain. Traditional, manual methods were falling short of meeting the company’s expectations for forecast accuracy and customer reliability. The solution Knauf selected Blue Yonder to support demand and supply planning transformation, beginning with the implementation of Demand Planning and Supply Planning in its insulation and ceilings businesses. These solutions enhance demand forecasting accuracy at the SKU level and streamline downstream supply chain processes, which enables Knauf to increase forecast accuracy and reduce working capital. By modernizing supply planning and order promising capabilities, the company is on track to deliver predictive insights on product availability, setting a new standard for customer fulfillment. “Forecasting demand accurately is the foundation of supply chain success. With Blue Yonder, we’re confident in our ability to serve customers reliably, setting new standards in digital supply chain excellence.” –Martin Brown, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Knauf Managing demand and supply challenges Knauf’s goal of becoming a leader in digital supply chain called for a reimagined approach to managing global demand and supply challenges. Recognizing that accurate planning and agile responses are essential for customer satisfaction, the company set out to integrate advanced technology into its operations, aiming to bridge digital gaps in sales, order fulfillment, and production processes. Transforming demand and supply planning Knauf began with Blue Yonder Demand Planning to improve demand forecasting in its insulation and ceilings businesses. As the company’s demand planning accuracy increases, so does its ability to make data-driven supply chain decisions. In 2024, Knauf expanded its use of Blue Yonder with Supply Planning, adding layers of precision in production scheduling and enhancing the company’s ability to meet customer demand effectively. Strategic alignment with Knauf100 goals A pivotal part of its Knauf100 strategy, the transformation enables Knauf to position itself as a digital leader in customer interactions and service delivery. Blue Yonder solutions support Knauf’s ambition to provide customers with reliable product availability forecasts, enabling faster and more accurate order fulfillment. Adopting a composable journey with Blue Yonder brings the company closer to achieving an end-to-end digital supply chain by combining its planning and execution capabilities. “Blue Yonder helps us understand and manage customer demand, enabling accurate forecasts and efficient supply planning. We’re achieving real transformation in our supply chain, ensuring our customers have a reliable source of supply,” said Martin Brown, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Knauf. Realizing tangible benefits Knauf reports significant gains, including improved forecast accuracy and SKU-level visibility, which contribute to better supply planning and reduced working capital. The company also anticipates that predictive capabilities in the Order Promiser application will further enhance service reliability in the future. Partnering with Accenture as an implementation and maintenance partner, Knauf ensures the effectiveness of Blue Yonder solutions in achieving strategic digitalization milestones. Looking ahead Knauf is moving towards Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning – commencing with its European gypsum operations which will go live in 2025. It envisions an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled future with comprehensive, integrated planning solutions that combine planning and execution. This continued transformation with Blue Yonder strengthens the company’s digital footprint, cementing its role as a reliable, forward-thinking supplier in the construction industry. “The Blue Yonder composable journey will help us to reach a number of our Knauf100 goals by having a digital end-to-end supply chain solution. Our vision for Blue Yonder is that it will enable us to fulfill our customer demands on time and in full 95% of the time, and thereby helping Knauf to remain a reliable partner to our customers,” concludes Brown. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Southeast Toyota Distributors reduces excess inventory by 10% with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/southeast-toyota-distributors) > Learn how Southeast Toyota Distributors partnered with Accenture to transform its inventory management with Blue Yonder. Success Story Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC Demand and supply planning Southeast Toyota Distributors reduces excess inventory by 10% and transforms inventory management with Blue Yonder 68,000 parts successfully planned during initial stocking launch 40-year-old legacy mainframe replaced with modern forecasting & planning system One solution for a single source of truth for inventory management The company Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“SET”) is the world’s largest independent distributor of Toyota automotive vehicles. SET serves 177 dealerships across the southeastern United States by distributing Toyota vehicles, parts, and accessories. The business challenge SET sought to modernize its 40-year-old mainframe inventory system to better support its growing distribution network and evolving operational needs. As part of a broader transformation—including a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool, warehouse management systems, and a central data platform—the company aimed to improve forecasting, enhance replenishment, and enable long-term scalability without disrupting service quality. This transition involved phasing out its single legacy distribution center (“DC”) and establishing two new DCs on staggered six-month timelines, each requiring three months to stock parts and three months for phased dealer rollouts. During this period, SET managed three DCs in varying stages of operation, presenting complex forecasting and planning challenges due to shifting demand patterns—growth at new DCs and decline at the legacy DC, with high variability at the dealer-part level. To address these complexities, SET prioritized standardized, flexible planning processes to support user adoption and manage variability effectively. Toyota Motors North America (TMNA), a key stakeholder, required detailed inventory build-out plans six months ahead of each DC launch, with monthly updates. This included ensuring safety stock levels, optimizing inventory during the transition, and strategically managing part transitions—introducing new parts, sunsetting obsolete ones, handling supersessions, and accounting for unique PIO part requirements at vehicle processing centers. The solution SET partnered with Accenture to implement Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities to address these challenges. The solution delivered advanced planning tools with data integration across legacy and modern systems, boundaryless scenario and simulation modeling for strategic decision-making, and a simplified, intuitive user experience. A phased rollout, robust change management, and strong collaboration ensured success for the company. “Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities have successfully modernized our inventory management, helping us meet dealer fill rate targets and replacing a 40-year-old legacy mainframe system. We’re continuing to improve operational efficiencies, supporting growth and resiliency, and impacting financial outcomes.” –Jack Sumner, AVP, Southeast Toyota Distributors Automated business logic and enhanced usability-oriented workflows A comprehensive suite of automated business logic was implemented to streamline and standardize various aspects of parts planning and procurement. This included automation of general parts planning and accessories parts planning, ensuring consistent and efficient handling of both standard and port-installed parts. Dynamic order rounding was introduced to optimize order quantities, while rules-based order approval added a layer of control and compliance. Vendor forecast collaboration was enhanced to improve supply chain visibility and responsiveness. Additionally, specialized planning logic was applied to slow mover parts and warranty parts, enabling more accurate forecasting and inventory management for these unique categories. To improve user experience and streamline week/ day in the life planning processes, a series of usability-focused workflows were introduced. Structured Forecast review workflow, Enhanced item qualification for stocking, Safety Stock review & approvals, Tracking of forecast tuning reviews & accuracy segmentation, have all contributed to planner efficiencies, easy decision making and dynamic adjustments that cater to evolving business needs. Driving success with a robust process framework, change management and collaboration Several innovative solution designs were introduced. Heijunka logic to enable stable ordering patterns, safety stock fill rate simulation, smoothening of weekend ordering spikes, generation of statistical forecasts for parts during DC rollouts, min-max logic for slow moving parts, and modelling supersession logic at all planning levels to meet all the unique business needs of SET. Safety stock levels derived using empirical distribution served as a reference against statistical models, giving planners additional confidence about the right inventory levels to be maintained. Working closely with Blue Yonder partner Accenture, SET implemented Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning solution. The program kicked off with an envisioning & planning phase. During this phase, all the business & IT requirements were defined, a project road map was finalized and software features needed were mapped out. During the design phase, detailed solution designs addressing functionality, integrity, and performance were built. Accenture designed solutions leveraging Blue Yonder platform, partnering closely with SET to define prescriptive workflows, and the IT team to define the extraction and transformation logic for interfaces. High degree of automation and intuitive workflows enabled users to manage day-in-the life activities by exception, enabling significant productivity gains and manage the significant re-design of core operations, distribution network, and system landscape with ease. Rigorous testing across systems based on end-end business processes ensured data quality. Beyond technology, the project’s success hinged on business adoption. Strong business adoption was achieved through business simulation, collaboration & continuous engagement. Over the course of the initiative, several system enhancements were delivered to improve functionality and user experience. These efforts were supported by comprehensive user training, ensuring smooth adoption across all stakeholders during transition from mainframe and operational churn when new DCs were being established. During new DC launches, Accenture ran Blue Yonder models to generate stocking plans 6 months ahead of go-live. Plans were refreshed monthly and shared with TMNA. This was a major success factor for the launch & roll out of new DCs. Obtaining measurable business outcomes Accenture’s implementation of Blue Yonder delivered significant results, aligning with SET’s vision to modernize its supply chain, expand reach, and launch planning and ERP solutions with minimal disruption. The initiative delivered numerous measurable successes across parts planning, inventory management, and financial control. Planning capabilities were expanded to support approximately 68,000 parts across three major distribution centers, the two new DCs and the existing DC. Through targeted safety stock optimization, the team achieved a 10% reduction in excess inventory, contributing to leaner operations. At both new DCs, around 21 days of prebuild inventory volume were successfully managed over a three-month period, ensuring readiness ahead of full operational transitions. Additionally, working capital impacts were effectively contained, with inventory volume increases kept within expected limits despite the addition of new distribution centers. Operational efficiency was significantly enhanced through several key initiatives. The new part introduction process was streamlined by refining part eligibility procedures, which reduced planner workload and enabled the successful introduction and purchase order creation for all active stocked parts (68K per DC). The forecast review process was also improved through the implementation of actionable workflows and performance metrics, leading to greater planner productivity. Additionally, the planning of Port Installed Options (PIO) parts was strengthened by integrating PIO forecasts and aligning them with specific business rules, which supported a smooth transition for the Jacksonville Distribution Center (DC). To support business growth and ensure operational resiliency, hierarchical forecasting models were implemented during a three-and-a-half-month dealer rollout period. These models enabled accurate parts forecasting by accounting for dealer-level sales variations, ensuring that inventory levels aligned with actual demand. Throughout the rollout, end-state inventory thresholds were successfully maintained, providing stability during the transition. Additionally, a one-stop solution was developed to support the entire lifecycle of distribution center operations—from initial stocking to steady-state performance across multiple DCs—ensuring a smooth and scalable expansion process. The initiative delivered strong financial results by significantly reducing excess inventory and optimizing distribution center transitions. A five-stage plan was implemented to reduce overall inventory, all while maintaining high fill rates. The optimized safety stock levels were then effectively translated to the new DC, ensuring continuity in service levels. During the shutdown of the old DC, inventory transfers were minimized by proactively reducing safety stock levels and providing forward visibility into excess inventory. This enabled the development of tailored strategies to manage forecasts and orders, further enhancing inventory efficiency and cost control. Partner collaboration was strengthened through proactive planning and communication. Weekend spikes were smoothed out, re-distributing demand to regular weekdays to avoid daily limit constraints and ensuring a more balanced and predictable supply chain flow. TMNA was provided visibility through the building out of new DCs. All pre-defined business rules were adhered to throughout the transition period, and dealer fill rates were maintained. Looking ahead With the successful transition to a modern forecasting system, SET is positioned for sustained competitive advantage. The company is exploring opportunities to deepen data insights, enhance dealer collaboration, and further automate planning. The partnership with Accenture and Blue Yonder has established a scalable, interoperable foundation for future enhancements, including advanced analytics and broader supply chain optimizations, ensuring SET remains a leader in the evolving automotive distribution landscape. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [ASC Engineered Solutions sees a 15 percentage point increase in on-time-in-full with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/asc-engineered-solutions) > Learn How ASC Engineered Solutions has enhanced their supply chain efficiency with Blue Yonder. Success Story ASC Engineered Solutions Demand Planning, Fulfillment, Inventory Optimization, Platform ASC Engineered Solutions enhances supply chain efficiency with Blue Yonder 10 ppt increase in forecast accuracy 15% reduction in inventory level in the first year 15 ppt increase in on-time in-full (OTIF) The company ASC Engineered Solutions, founded in 1850 as the Grinnell Co., is headquartered in Oak Brook, IL, and operates five production plants, two valve assembly plants, and ten distribution centers across the United States and Canada. ASC is a leader in designing, manufacturing, and distributing precision-engineered pipe connections, valves, and support solutions used in everything from commercial buildings and industrial facilities to power plants and oil fields. All over the globe, people who work in and around these essential facilities rely on ASC to meet critical needs and protect against life-threatening events. The business challenge ASC Engineered Solutions faced significant challenges in improving its distribution inventory management. Challenges with forecasting and managing safety stock levels, along with difficulties in understanding bill of materials component demand impacted its ability to efficiently project inventory requirements and avoid stockouts The solution Blue Yonder provided ASC with a robust solution to automate planning, forecasting, and replenishment. Blue Yonder’s demand planning and fulfillment capabilities, plus Inventory Optimization solution address the company’s forecasting accuracy and safety stock calculations, ultimately streamlining its supply chain management. "Blue Yonder has transformed our supply chain operations, enabling predictive insights and optimizing inventory to meet market demands efficiently. It has helped us reduce inventory by 15% in the first year." –Lisa VanLanduyt, VP of Supply Chain. Addressing challenges in planning and replenishment for optimized inventory ASC Engineered Solutions faced critical operational challenges that risked undermining its long-standing reputation for availability and reliability. The company's demand planning team lacked the ability to accurately forecast demand and anticipate potential issues, such as stockouts and low inventory alerts. Additionally, inefficiencies in distribution management and the need for a more resilient safety stock strategy highlighted the urgency for transformation. To address these challenges, ASC Engineered Solutions embraced Blue Yonder's advanced supply chain capabilities, enabling greater visibility, efficiency, and control over its operations. Transformation through automation and accurate forecasting Blue Yonder’s demand planning and fulfillment capabilities allowed ASC's demand planning team to leverage precise forecasting based on sales history. The solution works in unison to analyze changes in demand patterns and supply availability to balance each aspect of the planning process. The Blue Yonder system underpins ASC’s Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning process, driving a 10 ppt increase in forecast accuracy, a 15% reduction in inventory, and a 15 ppt increase in on time in full performance in the first year. The implementation of Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization has been instrumental in transforming ASC’s supply chain operations. Through dynamic inventory rebalancing, ASC has minimized excess procurement, mitigated stockouts, and maintained optimal stock levels. This strategic approach enabled the company to reduce expenditures by 5% annually. Gaining greater insights through the power of data At ASC, the Blue Yonder Platform drives key dashboards and analytics via links into its Snowflake data lake. This data sharing enables customized exception management dashboards as well as complex analyses on large data sets. By storing historical data, it allows ASC to efficiently analyze weekly and monthly trends in a way it could not previously. By embracing Blue Yonder solutions, ASC Engineered Solutions is not only optimizing its inventory but also enhancing its service levels, setting a new standard in supply chain management precision and reliability. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Martin Brower transforms waste management with Blue Yonder’s AI solutions](https://blueyonder.com/customers/martin-brower) > With Blue Yonder's AI-driven demand and supply planning and fulfillment solutions, Martin Brower has improved efficiency, strengthened market responsiveness, and advanced sustainability efforts. Success Story Martin Brower Demand Planning, Supply Planning and Fulfilment Martin Brower transforms waste management with Blue Yonder’s AI solutions Up to 2.5% improvement in forecast accuracy observed in certain programs Time savings of up to 30% in forecasting tasks Average time savings of up to 33% in managing forecast exceptions 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. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Promart increases inventory profitability by 40% using Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/promart) > To strategically maximize store space based on distinct characteristics of each store format and region, Promart leveraged Blue Yonder's customized optimization capabilities to meet diverse requirements. Success Story Homecenters Peruanos (Promart) Assortment optimization, Space planning, Floor planning, Category management Promart increases inventory profitability by 40% using Blue Yonder 40%+ GMROI increase in implemented stores 10%+ increase in net sales in optimized categories 3,000+ low-impact SKUs replaced by 800 high-sales-potential products The company Homecenters Peruanos (Promart) is a Peruvian home improvement retail chain with 37 stores nationwide. Since 2010, it has offered comprehensive solutions in construction, remodeling, and decoration for both consumers and commercial clients, combining products, services, and professional advice. The business challenge Promart sought to free up capital tied to inventory and reduce stockout risk, while preserving a positive customer experience. At the same time, it needed to strategically maximize store space based on the potential and distinct characteristics of each store format and region. The solution Blue Yonder‘s assortment optimization capabilities were customized to meet Promart’s diverse store format requirements. This enabled the retailer to measure key metrics such as demand, profitability, and space utilization—insights that allowed Promart to redefine its national portfolio, creating a more precise and regionally tailored allocation strategy. “Blue Yonder’s assortment optimization capabilities have transformed how we refine our store layouts and product selection, creating a more efficient and engaging shopping experience. Our teams have the insights to make smarter, data-driven decisions—driving increased sales, stronger customer loyalty, and a more personalized retail environment.” –Flavio Roman Ramos, Head of Category Management and Master Data, Promart Refining assortment strategy for a growing retail network While Promart’s standardized national assortment strategy supported its early growth, the expansion and diversification of store formats highlighted the need for a more tailored approach. Promart addressed this by adopting Blue Yonder’s assortment optimization capabilities—implemented by Blue Yonder’s partner, Goldco. Blue Yonder’s advanced analytics identified opportunities to improve product allocation and space utilization based on actual customer behavior and category contributions. This shift replaced a one-size-fits-all model with a dynamic, store-level strategy, improving inventory efficiency and product availability. By refining allocation logic, Promart has freed up capital while achieving measurable gains in product availability and story performance. Elevating retail performance with transformative category management Promart has begun rolling out Blue Yonder’s assortment optimization capabilities across its store network, driving measurable gains where implemented. The retailer streamlined its portfolio by reducing the number of SKUs from 27,000 to 15,000 and replacing over 3,000 low-impact items with 800 high-sales-potential products that align with customer demand and business priorities. Blue Yonder’s capabilities also enabled a large-scale SKU reallocation, ensuring each store carried the most relevant assortment for its market. Additionally, more than $5.5 million in slow-moving products were identified and liquidated—freeing up resources and streamlining inventory management. This targeted transformation resulted in a more than 40% increase in Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI) and a 10% increase in sales. “The initial rollouts confirmed the impact we were aiming for: we simplified the portfolio, improved availability, and achieved tangible results in both profitability and sales. These learnings are the foundation to scale the implementation across our stores and consolidate a much more effective assortment strategy,” said Leonardo Baronio, Chief Merchandising Officer (CMO), Promart. The next phase in retail efficiency using Blue Yonder Looking ahead, Promart is focusing on deepening profitability analysis by space and assortment, harnessing the power of the Blue Yonder Platform. Internal models will continue to be developed to integrate commercial, operational, and format-specific contribution data. The goal is to identify new efficiency levers and ensure every square meter of store space is aligned to maximize value. This evolution will further strengthen Promart’s strategic decision-making in commercial management. “This project has opened the door to a new way of managing category and space. The next step is to deepen profitability models per square meter, integrating more commercial and operational variables. In this way, we ensure every decision creates sustainable value for Promart and our customers.” –Flavio Roman Ramos, Head of Category Management and Master Data, Promart Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Core-Mark boosts planogram coverage by 40% with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/core-mark) > Core-Mark sees faster, smarter store shelving execution with Blue Yonder space planning. Success Story Core-Mark Space planning, Planogram generator Core-Mark boosts planogram coverage by 40% with Blue Yonder, enabling faster, smarter store shelving execution 51,000 customer/retailer locations supported by single cloud platform 10% yearly rise in planogram collaboration after using Blue Yonder professional services Reduced slow movers by 4% to free up shelf space for high-margin, fresh-food items The company Core-Mark, a Performance Food Group company, is one of North America’s largest distributors to the convenience-retail industry. From snacks and tobacco to automotive supplies and health-and-beauty care, Core-Mark moves 36,000-plus SKUs through 45 distribution centers to 51,000 stores in the United States and Western Canada. Core-Mark employs more than 12,000 employees across its facilities. The business challenge Core-Mark’s rapid growth—fueled by acquisitions such as Eby-Brown—left the company’s category management operations fragmented. Store-specific planograms were built in multiple legacy systems, each with its own product hierarchy and back-office interface. Analysts could not share libraries, talent was siloed, and demand for planograms doubled as retailers discovered the value of data-driven assortments. Without a unified category management system, the company struggled to deliver consistent, data-driven assortments at the pace and scale required to meet the shelving needs of its expanding retail footprint. The solution Core-Mark selected Blue Yonder space planning , leveraging its planogram generator feature to standardize its planogram process. Analysts can now log in, retrieve store-specific fixture data, and generate shelf-ready planograms within minutes—regardless of which back-office system the retailer uses. By standardizing planogram creation with Blue Yonder, Core-Mark significantly accelerated its time-to-shelf while ensuring consistency across its diverse retail network. This not only improved the company’s operational efficiency for its planogram processes, but also unlocked collaboration across its category management teams, enabling scalable growth without sacrificing brand integrity. Additionally, Core-Mark brought together analysts from its corporate team and acquired companies to participate in joint Blue Yonder training sessions. These sessions built a shared skill set and common language while allowing the team to establish separate but interconnected product libraries that preserved each brand’s identity. “With Blue Yonder’s category management capabilities, our retail customers don’t even think about going to any other distribution service.” – Jim Hachtel, Senior Director, Category Management, Core-Mark From fragmentation to one source of shelf truth The acquisition of Eby-Brown doubled the size of Core-Mark’s category management team overnight, while also doubling the number of disparate category management tools in its use. Analysts who previously relied on desktop-based software had to send files back and forth across multiple time zones, while newer team members favored cloud-based workflows. Without a unified category management platform, the company risked slower refresh cycles, inconsistent merchandising standards, and the loss of hard-won customers when stores could not get the localized assortments they expected. Core-Mark chose Blue Yonder having acknowledged it to be the leader in space planning software and offering the best solution for the company’s customers. “When we looked at Blue Yonder, obviously they’ve been the known and acknowledged leader in space planning for many years. So we wanted to go with the best,” says Hachtel. Within 18 months, Core-Mark launched a state-of-the-art Center of Excellence in Westlake, Texas, and migrated its legacy planogram data into Blue Yonder’s SaaS-based platform, which connects to a data hub built on Snowflake. Planogram processes were standardized company-wide while still allowing for region-specific customization through separate product libraries. The team created a master set of 525 unique “gold-standard” planograms, which are refreshed every quarter to stay aligned with product introductions and consumer preferences. These planograms now serve over 70 regional and national chains, along with tens of thousands of independent convenience stores. This transformation created a single, reliable source of shelf data that feeds into corporate reporting, supplier negotiations, and store-level execution. Delivering localized assortments at scale Convenience stores vary widely in size and layout, and no two stores have identical footprints. With Blue Yonder, Core-Mark can tailor assortments to each location without starting from scratch. Analysts input key store attributes—such as fixture dimensions, refrigeration types, and regulatory considerations—into the system. They then generate a store-specific planogram based on the gold library of 525 planograms. This flexibility allows Core-Mark to outperform competitors. By providing store-specific planograms, the company strengthens its customer relationships and makes it difficult for clients to consider switching to other distributors. For example, the company was able to reduce planogram turnaround time from two weeks to just three days for a 70-store Midwest chain, allowing stores to reset before the summer beverage rush. Independent operators now benefit from this same level of service, with sales reps showing planogram visuals on tablets to illustrate what shelves will look like after installation—an offering that was once limited to large chains. Empowering a distributed workforce With category management analysts spread across offices from Calgary to Tampa, collaboration previously posed a challenge. Before Blue Yonder, collaboration involved screen-sharing sessions, inconsistent file versions, and significant time spent reconciling updates. Now, with all analysts working in Blue Yonder, they can easily tag each other in comments, co-edit plans, and incorporate changes into quarterly refresh cycles. Internal surveys show that planogram collaboration has increased by 10% annually, freeing up time for more strategic planning and customer engagement by streamlining and automating time-consuming shelving processes. Reaching quantifiable business impact Blue Yonder space planning has helped improve planogram productivity, with each analyst now able to manage 40% more stores than they could before adopting the solution. Unified product hierarchies have also revealed duplicate or underperforming SKUs, allowing Core-Mark to reduce slow movers by 4% and free up shelf space for high-margin, fresh-food items. Customer retention has improved as well, with stores receiving quarterly planogram refreshes renewing distribution contracts at a rate 15% higher than those on annual update cycles. Additionally, Core-Mark can now offer performance dashboards to suppliers, improving vendor collaboration and unlocking incremental trade funds that help offset distribution costs. Education through training Core-Mark attributes much of its success to the training services provided by Blue Yonder. Group classes followed by one-on-one support from Blue Yonder’s professional services team helped create a learning environment where team members could align skills and feel confident in using the new system. This approach laid the groundwork for a culture of continuous improvement that is now extending into floor-planning pilots—Core-Mark’s next step in elevating its capabilities. Continuous improvement through Blue Yonder Professional Services Core-Mark attributes much of its success to the training services provided by Blue Yonder. During onboarding, Blue Yonder’s professional services team led training classes with a mix of experienced and newly integrated analysts. The sessions provided a space where all participants could ask questions and develop confidence in a shared set of processes. By the end of training, all analysts had developed the ability to pull SKU-level velocity data from Core-Mark’s Snowflake environment, match items to a normalized product hierarchy, and auto-generate planograms that accounted for the unique fixture constraints often found in convenience store formats. “What united us and what made it really work for everybody was the educational classes from Blue Yonder. We were able to have team sessions where we worked directly with a Blue Yonder training leader to teach us a particular part of the software. And that facilitated engagement and deep understanding. The training with Blue Yonder has made me excited about the direction we’re able to go in,” says Hachtel. Group classes followed by one-on-one support from Blue Yonder’s professional services team helped create a learning environment where team members could align skills and feel confident in using the new system. This approach laid the groundwork for a culture of continuous improvement that is now extending into floor-planning pilots—Core-Mark’s next step in elevating its capabilities. Looking ahead to AI-driven merchandising Core-Mark’s vision is to serve more than 70 growing convenience-store chains and nearly 35,000 independent operators with Blue Yonder, and to provide these retailers with the same level of precision and customization offered to national accounts. The company is already evaluating how Blue Yonder’s generative-AI agents can enhance its capabilities by proposing micro-assortments based on hyper-local trends, identifying planogram compliance issues through store images, and reducing the time analysts spend on manual data processing. Core-Mark is optimistic on the role these AI assistants will play, citing that they will allow analysts to focus more on customer relationships and strategic planning while improving the quality and timeliness of planogram delivery. By incorporating AI into its quarterly planogram refresh cycle, Core-Mark expects to reduce manual data preparation, compress insight-to-execution timelines from weeks to days, and unlock new sales opportunities by capturing niche and regional preferences in real time. With Blue Yonder’s robust space planning solution and emerging AI tools, Core-Mark is not only standardizing the present—it’s also shaping the future of convenience retail, one store at a time. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [ODP Corporation realizes $30 million in inventory reduction with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/the-odp-corporation) > Learn how ODP Corporation has transformed its B2B and ecommerce operations with Blue Yonder Success Story The ODP Corporation Demand and Supply Planning, Replenishment, Space Planning The ODP Corporation realizes $30 million in inventory reduction for B2B and ecommerce operations with Blue Yonder 16% improvement in Office Depot’s forecast accuracy 5% improvement in ODP Business Solutions’ forecast accuracy 850+ retail stores and 55+ distribution locations served The company The ODP Corporation (NASDAQ:ODP) is a leading provider of products and services through an integrated business-to-business (B2B) distribution platform and omni-channel presence, which includes world-class supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated sales professionals, online presence, and a network of Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores. The company operates through three core brands: Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores, ODP Business Solutions B2B sales professionals, and VEYER , a world-class supply chain organization that provides fulfillment and distribution services across multiple channels—B2B, B2C, and third-party logistics (3PL) clients. The ODP Corporation holds a footprint that includes approximately 850 Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores and more than 55 warehouse locations across North America. The business challenge ODP faced a complex and high-stakes supply chain challenge. Its brands operated in an omni-channel environment which required managing fulfillment and inventory for retail outlets, direct-to-consumer ecommerce, and business clients—all while the company was expanding its third-party logistics services. Its legacy systems needed to be updated to handle the complexity and scale. ODP needed a dedicated, scalable solution that could unify its operations, enable predictive accuracy across all channels, and provide the foundation for future innovation—without adding complexity or cost. The solution ODP leverages several Blue Yonder solutions for demand and supply planning capabilities, replenishment, floor planning, and planogram generation. The deployment spans retail stores, ecommerce, and B2B supply chains. The company has automated its forecasting processes, optimized its floor plans for its retail stores across the country, and has uncovered $30 million in inventory reductions for its B2B and ecommerce operations. “We’ve seen great benefits working with Blue Yonder. Forecast accuracy in our retail business is up 16%. In our B2B supply chain business, our forecast accuracy is up 5%. And we’ve reduced our inventory by $30 million without disruption to our distribution process so that the right products are in the right place at the right time. Blue Yonder is a big part of what we’re doing here at ODP, and there’s more to come.” –Andrew Parry, CIO, The ODP Corporation Transforming demand and supply planning across Office Depot, ODP Business Solutions, and VEYER Each of ODP’s brands faced distinct and complex challenges that added layers of operational complexity. Office Depot, its retail arm, struggled with outdated, manual forecasting systems that couldn’t keep pace with the volatile and category-diverse nature of in-store demand, resulting in stock imbalances across its 900+ stores. ODP Business Solutions, serving B2B clients, needed highly tailored forecasting to meet service-level expectations and manage inventory efficiently across a broad product portfolio. Meanwhile, VEYER , the company’s dedicated supply chain and logistics arm, had the dual responsibility of managing fulfillment for both internal brands and third-party clients. It required real-time visibility and automation to scale operations, streamline logistics, and contribute to corporate sustainability goals. ODP’s forecasting processes had long relied on an aging mainframe-based, in-house built system. As demand volatility increased across product categories such as office supplies, technology, furniture, and services, the limitations of the legacy system became clear. Forecasting rules had to be manually coded, and each product category required handcrafted logic—adding enormous overhead and risk. Efforts to modernize with packaged ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions also fell short, still requiring excessive manual intervention. “We found there was too much manual intervention required to get to the necessary accuracy we needed. We sell core office products, technology, furniture, and services. That’s a lot of different sets of rules. We had to handcraft all those rules, and then you must add in the complexity of the multiple channels like our retail channel and our B2B channel, and it just became too complex and required too much manual intervention,” says Parry. When Office Depot merged with OfficeMax in 2013, the company saw firsthand the capabilities of Blue Yonder’s solutions, which OfficeMax was already using. Impressed by the solution’s forecasting accuracy and automation capabilities, ODP made the strategic decision to roll out Blue Yonder across the business. Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities provide intelligent, automated forecasting for the company’s retail locations and ecommerce fulfillment. It has enabled VEYER to shift from manual forecasting to real-time, data-driven decision-making, dramatically improving inventory turns and accuracy. With Blue Yonder’s space planning tools, ODP manages planograms and floor space optimization across its 900+ retail stores. These tools integrate directly with inventory systems so that product placement aligns with actual demand. Additionally, ODP is leveraging collaboration with Blue Yonder partner Shipium for transport route planning and carrier selection. Scaling tangible business results across channels The results of ODP’s supply chain transformation with Blue Yonder have been extremely quantifiable across multiple business dimensions. The company has seen a 16% increase in retail forecast accuracy in Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores and has reduced out-of-stocks and dead inventory—freeing up working capital and ensuring product availability without overstocking. In VEYER’s B2B and ecommerce operations, it has seen a 5% increase in forecast accuracy, which has translated into a $30 million reduction in inventory. This improvement has enhanced inventory turnover and helped maintain service levels, especially during demand fluctuations. While ODP’s legacy systems required human review at every stage, Blue Yonder’s automation now enables continuous forecasting and planning with minimal intervention. What once required handcrafted logic is now achieved through intelligent algorithms operating at scale. The accuracy and visibility provided by Blue Yonder also contributes to ODP’s sustainability goals. By reducing unnecessary transport, packaging waste, and warehouse inventory, VEYER supports ODP’s broader environmental initiatives to protect the planet. “We have programs in place that reduce our packaging and reduce the amount of transportation we need to use, and Blue Yonder certainly helps us with that,” says Parry. Looking ahead: AI agents, and 3PL growth As a forward-looking organization, ODP is deeply invested in data-driven decision-making. The company plans to deepen its use of Blue Yonder’s solutions while expanding its service offerings to third-party logistics clients. AI and automation remain at the core of ODP’s transformation strategy. The company is actively developing intelligent agents in conjunction with Blue Yonder to manage inventory, detect demand trends, and automate decisions across supply chain functions. These AI agents will eventually serve both internal and 3PL clients—offering new levels of proactive service and visibility. VEYER is in the midst of expanding its role as a full-service logistics partner, not only fulfilling orders but also managing inventory and forecasting on behalf of its clients. Blue Yonder’s robust capabilities will be central to delivering on that promise. ODP’s ultimate vision is a unified, intelligent supply chain—one that seamlessly integrates real-time planning, fulfillment, and analytics across channels, partners, and platforms. “We want to make sure we’ve got the right product in the right place at the right time, and I think that Blue Yonder and its roadmap are definitely going to help us continue to innovate in the future.” –Andrew Parry, CIO, The ODP Corporation Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Paradies Lagardère optimizes its workforce processes with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/paradies-lagardere) > Learn how Paradies Lagardere reduced administrative burdens of associate scheduling and enhanced customer service with Blue Yonder workforce management. Success Story Paradies Lagardère Workforce Management Paradies Lagardère optimizes its workforce processes with Blue Yonder Reduced administrative burden due to auto-scheduling Enhanced customer service by aligning workforce needs with business demands Improved employee satisfaction through employee self-service The company Paradies Lagardère, the North American division of Lagardère Travel Retail, is an award-winning airport retailer and restaurateur operating over 700 retail and dining locations in more than 90 airports across the U.S. and Canada. The company has over 9,000 employees. The business challenge Operating diverse concepts within airports, Paradies Lagardère faced unique scheduling hurdles due to shared employees and varying work rules across airport locations. Its legacy systems proved inadequate, leading to increased costs and diminished customer service. The solution Paradies Lagardère chose Blue Yonder for its workforce management solutions tailored to its specific needs. Implementing time and attendance, auto scheduling, and employee self-service across divisions has revolutionized its workforce processes, providing flexibility and efficiency in the company’s workforce. "Blue Yonder's solutions have enabled us to better satisfy both business demands and employee preferences. We continue to work with Blue Yonder on ways to enhance our solutions to better match the ever-changing needs of our associates and the business." –TJ Slade, SVP – Supply Chain and Business Transformation, Paradies Lagardère The need to revamp workforce management Paradies Lagardère’s’ business model stands out for operating multiple concepts and brands within airports across North America, necessitating the sharing of employees across various locations and presenting unique scheduling challenges. These challenges were compounded by differing work rules governed by various collective bargaining agreements across multiple airports, leading to distinct work rules specific to each airport. Historically, managing and sharing schedules while accommodating associates' individual preferences, such as scheduling preferences and time-off requests, was daunting. Paradies Lagardère selected Blue Yonder to tackle workforce management challenges effectively across its business largely due to its understanding of the company’s business model and operational challenges. Improving service and satisfaction The implementation of Blue Yonder workforce management solutions has resulted in tangible improvements for the company’s associates. By aligning employee schedules with peak business hours while adhering to personal preferences and work rules Paradies Lagardère has enhanced service quality and employee satisfaction. By streamlining its scheduling processes, it has significantly decreased administrative efforts required by management teams. The benefits of this approach have been visible in increased customer satisfaction metrics and feedback. The auto-scheduling feature has proven to be a game-changer, allowing the company to assign employees across various store locations efficiently. Looking forward Through this strategic implementation, Paradies Lagardère has successfully navigated its business challenges, ensuring robust operations and service delivery. The journey with Blue Yonder illustrates a committed approach to innovation and employee satisfaction, and the collaboration between Paradies and Blue Yonder is poised to grow significantly. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [GL events streamlines scope 3 data collection and reporting with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/gl-events-uk) > GL events chose Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager. This has helped GL events’ supply chain team save time, ensure consistent data calculations, and meet climate disclosure regulations. Success Story GL events UK Logistics Emissions Calculator GL events streamlines scope 3 data collection and reporting with Blue Yonder Simplified and automated data collection across seven business units and multiple supply chain partners GLEC accredited solution ensures trustworthy, auditable results for regulatory compliance and internal reporting Reduced risk of human errors, freeing up valuable time for other strategic initiatives. The company GL events UK is part of the global GL events Group, a leader in providing integrated solutions and services for live events, conferences, venues and exhibitions. With a presence in nearly 100 international offices across 20 countries and five continents, and supporting events that welcome 12 million visitors annually, GL events’ logistics infrastructure is vast and complex, requiring immense coordination and efficiency. The business challenge Sustainability has emerged as a key priority for GL events in recent years. With scope 3 emissions from logistics operations within its supply chain contributing a large proportion of its carbon footprint, there is an increasing need to streamline operations and accurately report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GL events UK faced several key challenges. One of the primary issues was dealing with disparate data across its supply chain, which made emissions reporting both time-consuming and unreliable. The solution GL events chose Logistics Emissions Calculator, formerly known as Pledge, a carbon accounting solution which is part of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager. This has helped GL events’ supply chain team save time, ensure consistent data calculations, and meet climate disclosure regulations. “Our suppliers range from small local operators to large international haulers, so collecting standardized data was never easy. We often received data in different formats and consolidating it into something usable was a real challenge.” –Jamie Connolly, Sustainability Specialist at GL events UK Consolidating diverse transportation data Each of GL events UK’s seven business units manages its own supply chain, spanning a range of logistics partners, from international haulers to small, independent operators. This diversity in suppliers created significant difficulties in consolidating transportation data into a standardized format. Gathering, organizing and interpreting data for Scope 3 emissions — covering both upstream and downstream transportation and logistics — was particularly demanding. Each supplier provided data in various formats, creating an additional layer of complexity that made it difficult to create accurate, uniform reports. Additionally, recalculating the company’s carbon emissions baseline was a complex and time intensive process. Calculating Scope 3 emissions required extensive manual calculations using the UK DEFRA emission factors. But, without standardized data from suppliers, GL events struggled to produce consistent results. “We were spending hours manually crunching the numbers, and there were always concerns about the accuracy of the data,” Connolly explained. “Data quality issues were a constant frustration, which really slowed down our reporting process.” GL events required a solution that could not only simplify data collection but also ensure trustworthy, auditable results for regulatory compliance and internal reporting. The demand for sustainable solutions as well as accurate and reliable data is continuing to change the way in which traditional business transactions are being conducted. Scott Jameson, GL events UK CEO remarked: “We are beginning to witness a real shift in client demands. Demands range from alternative sustainable solutions across our whole product range beginning at the first start of our value chain right up until post-delivery with the requirement to provide a carbon impact analysis of the event we have delivered. Blue Yonder Logistics Emissions Calculator plays a pivotal role in capturing this data.” Automated solution to standardize data collection Recognizing the need for a streamlined, scalable emissions reporting solution, GL events UK partnered with Blue Yonder. Logistics Emissions Calculator provided a solution designed to automate and standardize emissions data collection, calculation, and reporting, offering several key benefits: 1. Time savings by automating data collection and consolidation across suppliers Blue Yonder’s solution consolidated logistics data across all suppliers, regardless of size or location, significantly reducing the time spent gathering and formatting information. Instead of manually sorting through disparate data sets, GL events could now collect transportation data in an automated way with a consistent format. 2. Accredited calculations The solution ensures that emissions calculations are reliable and adhere to industry standards. Its Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC)-accredited and ISO 14083-aligned solution calculates and reports emissions using an auditable and transparent process. This enabled the company to make meaningful comparisons between suppliers and track their carbon emissions with confidence. 3. Scalable across the business The flexibility of Logistics Emissions Calculator made it easy to scale across GL events UK’s multiple business units. Whether a shipment was handled by an international hauler or a local logistics provider, Blue Yonder’s solution supported all transport modes and provided comprehensive emissions data for each. This allowed GL events to gain a complete picture of its environmental impact. 4. Data-driven decision-making for emissions reductions With Logistics Emissions Calculator, GL events could not only gather emissions data but also leverage it to make informed decisions. The detailed insights into the environmental impact of its supply chain helped the company identify areas for improvement and implement targeted emissions reductions across its operations. 5. Seamless onboarding and support The Logistics Emissions Calculator’s user-friendly interface and dedicated support made onboarding smooth and efficient. GL events quickly integrated the solution into their existing processes, with guidance available at every step of the way. “The team has been fantastic to work with. The solution covers everything we need, and the team was incredibly supportive during onboarding. It’s great to know we’re in the hands of experts,” Connolly said. Results Partnering with Blue Yonder delivers measurable benefits for GL events UK, both in terms of sustainability and operational efficiency. 1. Transparent calculations that build trust The Accuracy™ and Clarity™ features within Logistics Emissions Calculator ensure GL events can provide fully transparent emissions data to its stakeholders. This transparency helps build trust both within the company and with customers and suppliers throughout the supply chain. Stakeholders can now clearly see how emissions are calculated and the quality of the data provided, making the company’s sustainability reporting more robust and credible. 2. Reliable data for impactful emissions reductions The data collected through Logistics Emissions Calculator allows GL events to produce detailed reports on carbon emissions for each shipment. These insights are crucial for calculating the company’s overall carbon footprint and identifying areas for improvement. With trustworthy data at their fingertips, GL events can confidently pursue emissions reduction initiatives within their supply chain. 3. Improved efficiency By automating the carbon accounting process, Logistics Emissions Calculator eliminated many of the manual steps that previously bogged down GL events’ supply chain team. Data collection, calculation and reporting are now all automated, reducing the risk of human error and freeing up valuable time for other strategic initiatives. This not only improves internal efficiency but also increases the reliability of the company’s emissions data. Conclusion Looking forward, GL events UK plans to continue its sustainability journey, leveraging Blue Yonder’s solution to further refine its emissions calculation and reporting processes and implement effective emissions reductions across its supply chain. By partnering with Blue Yonder, GL events has made significant strides in creating a more transparent, efficient and sustainable logistics operation. As the company grows and the demand for environmentally conscious events increases, GL events is well-positioned to meet regulatory demands, reduce logistics supply chain emissions and achieve its long-term sustainability goals. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Nestlé Purina finds success in-store with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/nestle-purina) > Nestlé Purina Petcare is the leading manufacturer of pet care products with over 90 years in the industry. Nestlé Purina's Training Manager, Gene Feldman talks at ICON about the successes it has seen using Blue Yonder solutions. Success Story Nestlé Purina Space Planning, Floor Planning, Planogram generation capabilities Nestlé Purina PetCare transforms category management processes with unified decisioning from Blue Yonder Faster ‘speed to yes’ with retail partners via enhanced visual storytelling Formed ‘Phygital Shelf’ vision with 360-degree view of shelving layouts by blending digital and physical retail experiences Created a single source of truth for space and floor planning across retail channels The company Acquired in 2001, Nestlé Purina PetCare is Nestlé’s pet food subsidiary, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets a broad portfolio of pet products such as dry and wet pet food, treats, litter, and supplements. These products are known as iconic brands like Purina Pro Plan, Purina One, Friskies, Beneful, Fancy Feast, Cat Chow, Dog Chow, Tidy Cats, and more. The business challenge Purina’s manual retail store planning processes could not keep up with shopper expectations, new omnichannel behaviors, and the growing need for real-time collaboration with retail partners. As brick-and-mortar retail began evolving with digital influences, Purina recognized the urgency to align its tools and storytelling so it could react with speed and agility. The solution Purina chose Blue Yonder’s category management solutions, including space planning, floor planning, and planogram generator to transform the way it supports retailers. These solutions, combined with Blue Yonder partner 3DVR Solutions, have enabled Purina to create immersive, data-driven category plans and visual narratives that help secure faster retailer approvals and deliver more engaging customer experiences. “The two biggest metrics we have been recently focusing in on are the ‘speed to yes’ with our customers, and the semantic shift that accompanies new innovations. Blue Yonder helps us achieve both. Our teams and customers now think in a shared language—what we used to call virtual shelves or digital twins, we now call ‘Phygital Shelves.’ That’s transformation, and Blue Yonder acts as our landscape software. It’s the predominant choice for a lot of our customers, and we really enjoy it because it’s a full package—it gives us everything we need, at a quick snapshot.” – Gene Feldman, Training Manager, Center for Functional Excellence, Nestlé Purina PetCare A digital transformation rooted in storytelling and agility Before Blue Yonder, Purina’s space planning efforts were fragmented and often manual. As a supplier working exclusively through reselling channels, Purina does not sell directly to consumers—its success depends on helping retail partners create compelling in-store and digital experiences. As the retail landscape rapidly evolved, traditional methods of planogramming and space planning began falling short. By implementing Blue Yonder category management solutions, Purina has turned scattered data into a centralized source of truth. Blue Yonder became essential for the company’s internal team, known as ‘The Hub’, which supports sales and category planning by integrating and visualizing data for strategic, unified decision-making. Blue Yonder planogram generator became the kickoff point. “Rather than staring at a blank canvas, Blue Yonder provides a place to start, offers recommendations, and prompts us to ask bigger questions around shopper behavior,” says Gene Feldman, Training Manager, Center of Functional Excellence at Nestlé Purina. With this foundation in place, space planning and floor planning brought the vision to life—connecting aisle-level insights and optimizing store layout across different retailers. This transformation was not just operational—it was cultural. By telling better stories with its data, Purina began to resonate emotionally with retailers. “We really love being able to tell a good narrative with our product. We love that emotional connection,” Feldman says. Bringing the “Phygital Shelf” to life One of the most innovative outcomes of Purina’s journey has been the emergence of “Phygital Shelves”—the petcare company’s term for store layouts that blend physical and digital shelf elements. With support from Blue Yonder and Blue Yonder partner 3DVR Solutions, Purina began offering virtual reality-rendered walkthroughs of category plans. Retail partners could experience a 360-degree view of the shelf layout, removing the need for costly travel or physical product samples. Purina can also avoid the need to go in-store to conduct a walkthrough, as customers can experience entire categories virtually, all through VR headsets. This approach not only increases efficiency, but creates a digital playground—a collaborative environment to iterate and innovate with retail partners. It significantly improves Purina’s unified decision-making, shortens planning cycles, and boosts retailer confidence. The transformation extends beyond tools into behavior. Purina’s internal language has shifted, with teams adopting new terms like ‘Phygital Shelf,’ signaling genuine engagement and acceptance of new ways of working. Speeding up retailer alignment through unified decisioning The most impactful result has been Purina’s ability to secure retailer buy-in faster than ever before. By using immersive visuals and unified data through Blue Yonder and 3DVR Solutions, Purina reduces friction and uncertainty in plan reviews. Retailers can now see how proposed changes look, function, and support category goals, leading to accelerated approvals and reducing time-to-market. “Rather than constantly starting and stopping, our customers see our vision and sign up with it,” says Feldman. The result has been a dramatic improvement in ‘speed to yes’—one of the company’s core performance metrics. Futureproofing through ecosystems and innovation Looking ahead, Nestlé Purina is committed to future-proofing its operations by bringing emerging technologies together in a unified ecosystem. Blue Yonder remains at the center of this strategy, supported by a growing network of partners and integrated innovations. “We see AI, the Metaverse, and other technologies from Blue Yonder as pieces of a much bigger puzzle. We want to be ready on day one to respond to our customers as technology evolves,” Feldman says. Blue Yonder’s openness and extensibility are enabling Purina to continuously adapt, experiment, and grow with confidence. By investing in collaborative digital ecosystems and tools that align with its customers’ needs, Nestlé Purina is not just keeping pace—it’s shaping the future of retail. “Blue Yonder has been a tremendous partner to us. That’s why it’s hard to answer the question of what the world was like before Blue Yonder. It’s always been there with us,” Feldman says. Hear from Gene Feldman, Training Manager at Nestle Purina on how Blue Yonder category management tools are reshaping the retail experience for customers. Blue Yonder Chief Revenue Officer interviews Nestle Purina's Gene Feldman and Sean Fitzgerald on all things category management. Hear from Nestle Purina's Gene Feldman and Sean Fitzgerald in a discussion from Microsoft Inspire on category management & VR Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Discount Tire optimizes retail operations with Blue Yonder’s AI solutions](https://blueyonder.com/customers/discount-tire) > Discount Tire uses Blue Yonder’s demand planning and fulfillment solutions to streamline its inventory management capabilities. Success Story Discount Tire Demand Planning, Replenishment Discount Tire optimizes retail operations with Blue Yonder’s AI solutions 600 basis points increase in forecast accuracy 1,000 basis points improvement in vendor fill-to-order Improved operational efficiency The company Discount Tire is a leading independent retailer of tires and wheels. Founded in 1960, the company has experienced significant growth, with over 1,200 stores across 39 states, and offers a wide range of tire and wheel products and services. Known for its customer-centric approach, Discount Tire continues to innovate and expand, maintaining a strong presence in the automotive and retail industry. The business challenge As the retailer evolved its portfolio and store footprint through acquisitions, an inevitable disconnect between systems and technology emerged. A new process was needed to increase supply chain visibility to help standardize forecasting and replenishment. The solution Discount Tire implemented Blue Yonder’s AI-driven demand and replenishment capabilities to streamline its inventory management. This enables the company to align stock levels with real-time demand, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency. Ensuring best-selling products are consistently available generates greater customer satisfaction and increased profitability. “Leveraging Blue Yonder’s demand planning and replenishment capabilities has helped transform and enhance Discount Tire’s forecasting, resulting in increased accuracy and efficiency. These improvements have driven substantial operational efficiencies for us and strengthened our supply chain resilience—ensuring our customers find what they need, when they need it.” –Dan Newman, Vice President Demand Planning, Supply Planning and Fulfillment, Discount Tire Transforming operations and driving results Discount Tire leverages Blue Yonder’s demand planning and replenishment capabilities, built on Microsoft Azure, to enhance its planning process with AI-driven predictions. These technologies deliver highly accurate, probabilistic demand forecasts that incorporate hundreds of internal and external variables. The retailer also established a center of excellence—a specialized hub for Blue Yonder knowledge and innovation—up-leveling employees’ skills and collaboration. With over 1 million item locations—individual product placements—across its 1,200 stores, Blue Yonder’s technologies help Discount Tire manage these metrics by enhancing inventory management and demand forecasting. It also accurately tracks and optimizes inventory levels, reducing out-of-stock occurrences and ensuring product availability. Another advantage of Blue Yonder’s demand planning and replenishment capabilities is the automation of routine tasks and integration of input from various departments. These competencies continuously evolve to meet shifting market demands through self-learning algorithms and deeper insights into customer behavior. Elevating operational efficiency and profitability Streamlined processes and team structures also helped aid in more responsive and agile operations. Discount Tire, with the help of Blue Yonder, achieved a 600-basis-point increase in 90-day purchase forecast accuracy and a 1,000-basis-point improvement in vendor fill-to-order. These enhancements are helping Discount Tire adapt to market changes and optimize inventory management, securing its competitive edge and supporting long-term growth. Momentum through connected planning Discount Tire continues to expand its work with Blue Yonder as it implements dynamic allocation and supersession for demand planning. Next, the retailer will add assortment planning on the merchandising side, creating a seamless connection from financial planning, through assortment, demand planning, and inventory management. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [CPF reduces carbon emissions and perishable food wastage with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/charoen-pokphand-foods) > CPF sees a 15% reduction in food waste using Blue Yonder's demand and supply planning solution, running on Microsoft Azure. Success Story Charoen Pokphand Foods Demand Planning, Supply Planning CPF reduces carbon emissions and perishable food wastage with Blue Yonder 86% reduction in time to plan the optimization of production, from seven days to one 15% reduction in food waste, improving sustainability metrics Carbon emissions recorded in Blue Yonder for compliance submissions The company Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) is a $30 billion global food production company with headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. 50% of CPF’s revenue comes from export to 40 countries— with two notable markets being Scandinavia and Germany. CPF has a diverse product range of fresh meats ranging from chicken, duck, beef, pork and shrimp. The business challenge CPF has a complex supply chain which is vertically integrated from hatchery, feed, farm, processing, and distribution across a diverse range of products. It distributes to 40 countries where consumers have varying requirements for the size and quality grade of its meats. Each animal (and sometimes species) must be raised, processed and distributed in different ways. This level of diversity and complexity was ill served by manual spreadsheets, which led to CPF being unable to respond to customers on expected shipment dates. CPF needed an advanced supply chain planning system to manage both complex demand and supply constraints whilst synchronizing multiple production sites across the Asia and Pacific region. The solution Deployed on the Microsoft Azure public cloud, Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning solution was chosen for its end-to-end capabilities to help manage supply chain operations from hatchery to production right through to distribution. The solution also provides superior handling of reverse bill of materials (BOM)—where a single raw material can be disassembled into multiple stock keeping units (SKUs). “Blue Yonder demand and supply planning software provides near real-time, end-to-end visibility of our incredibly complex supply chain. It has improved our sustainability metrics as we have reduced residual food wastage by 15% through better meat-cutting optimization.” –Birasit Boonnam - Head of Aquatic Operations, CPF Data lake provides end-to-end and near real-time visibility Core to the success of the Blue Yonder demand and supply planning solution is access to CPF’s data lake which provides end-to-end visibility along the entire supply chain. This captures all the live information from hatchery, farm, production, and distribution to retail operations providing essential management information—reducing the time and improving the quality of information. The system provides a single source of near real-time information for CPF’s teams to access. This data lake takes automatic feeds from Blue Yonder, IoT (internet-of-things) devices and cameras used in hatcheries and farms to monitor the growth and welfare of animals. At the other end of the supply chain, POS (point-of-sale) data from retailers is also recorded, ultimately providing end-to-end visibility from production to sales. Improvements in sustainability metrics A core benefit of Blue Yonder’s solution is its ability to reduce operational food waste and carbon emissions through intelligent, demand-driven production. By replacing manual Excel-based workflows with Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning tools, CPF has achieved a 15% reduction in residual waste from its meat-cutting operations–all while continuing to meet precise customer requirements on size and quality. Using Excel, the time to calculate the cutting optimization process previously took one week— which was not effective when dealing with highly perishable meat products where time and freshness is of the essence. Now, these calculations can be done in around one day—an 86% reduction in time. The data lake is used to capture sustainability numbers based on actual versus planned key performance indicator (KPI) reports to measure food wastage, and energy consumption. This is essential disclosure for CPF’s exports to its European customers. The company can access data from the Blue Yonder system to calculate carbon emissions from its production processes. This system helps with sequencing the meat-cutting process to reduce production times. It also calculates any idle times and deviations to total the amount of energy used during the process. The Blue Yonder solution also monitors the amount of time taken for animal feeding on the farms to calculate carbon emissions. Overfeeding is not only costly but also has significant carbon impact. With insights from Blue Yonder, the process can be optimized to balance the exact demand requirements with the timing and sizing of animals. This means a more precise feeding process to ensure the right size of animals prior to slaughter. Artificial intelligence to predict demand CPF incorporates down-stream demand data from retailers’ POS systems into the planning process and leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to improve demand predictions. “I’m very happy with how well the Blue Yonder team works with the CPF team to help us use AI especially for predicting demand sizes, reduce inventory and produce the right product at the right time. AI helps feed our decision-making with more information and faster than we’ve ever had before. Things change so fast in the fresh food business and AI can really help with demand predictions. The more dimensions we have on our demand, the more we can reduce inventory and complexities in our factories.” –Birasit Boonnam - Head of Aquatic Operations, CPF Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Penske Powers Greater Supply Chain Operational Agility with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/penske) > Penske uses Blue Yonder Yard Management and Panasonic Edge to transform its warehouse and yard management workflows. Success Story Penske Penske transforms warehouse and yard operations with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management System, Yard Management Automated yard management system standardizes gate check processes Improved data accuracy, enabling faster and more reliable processing Enables scalable deployments across distribution centers The company Penske Logistics is a leading provider of supply chain and logistics services, operating a global network of distribution centers. With services in freight management, warehousing, and transportation, Penske supports industries ranging from automotive to retail. The company’s commitment to innovation and efficiency fuels its operations across North America and beyond. The business challenge Penske was facing persistent inefficiencies in its yard operations at its warehouse sites. Gate bottlenecks caused congestion, limited visibility into trailer locations, and reliance on manual workflows were contributing to increased process errors, labor costs, lost assets, and higher insurance claims. These inefficiencies hampered scalability and impacted the company’s overall supply chain agility. The solution Penske implemented Blue Yonder’s AI-powered yard management solution to overcome these operational barriers, integrated with its existing warehouse management system. Panasonic Edge devices and real-time data capabilities created a fully automated yard system—reducing human errors, improving throughput, standardizing gate check processes, and enabling scalable deployments across distribution centers. “By replacing manual entries with real-time computer vision technology, we’ve reduced errors, strengthened compliance, and laid the groundwork for scalable optimization of our yard and dock operations. With Blue Yonder, we are seeing a stronger foundation for ongoing expansion and customer satisfaction.” –Ramu Pannala, VP of Supply Chain Technology, Penske Logistics A clear vision for Automation When Penske set out to reimagine its yard operations, the goal was ambitious yet clear: eliminate inefficient yard management processes and reduce human error through intelligent automation. The company’s Shippensburg, Pennsylvania distribution center became the pilot launchpad for a transformation that would redefine its operational model. The challenges Penske faced weren’t minor: gate congestion created traffic jams and delays, manual entries of trailer data led to errors and inefficiencies, and limited trailer visibility increased the risk of misplaced assets and missed schedules. These issues translated into lost time, higher labor costs, and difficulty scaling the yard operations model across its network. Leadership at Penske envisioned a smarter, more connected yard—one driven by real-time visibility, automation, and AI-based technology. Success was defined by the elimination of gate bottlenecks, reduced human intervention, and standardized gate-to-dock and dock-to-gate processes. The goal wasn’t just to fix isolated problems—it was to lay the foundation for a yard model that could scale across dozens of distribution centers. Transforming yard operations through computer vision and automation Blue Yonder deployed its AI-powered yard management solution at its Shippensburg site to bring Penske’s vision for success to life. This pilot project was tightly integrated with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management (WMS) already in place. The transformation was led by a cross-functional team including Blue Yonder product development and professional services groups, as well as Penske’s IT, logistics systems, and business operations teams. These teams collaborated to design gate workflows that would optimize throughput, install and configure Panasonic Edge devices and AI-driven cameras, integrate the yard management solution with existing systems, test rigorously for real-world conditions and user needs, and train staff on new workflows and systems. Key milestones in the deployment included the proof-of-concept phase, detailed solution design, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), training, and final go-live in October 2024. Throughout the process, one major lesson stood out: early and deep involvement of subject matter experts and end-users was critical for setting expectations and ensuring smooth adoption. From manual to automated: Measurable impacts The impact of the transformation was immediately noticeable. With Blue Yonder, Penske successfully eliminated manual trailer entries. Panasonic Edge cameras and automated systems now capture entry and exit data in real-time, dramatically reducing quality issues and freeing staff from repetitive administrative tasks. Storing vehicle images and timestamps has also fortified Penske’s compliance posture. These records are invaluable during audits or dispute resolution, giving the operations team confidence in the accuracy and traceability of every yard event. The integration between Blue Yonder yard management and WMS systems have improved data synchronization and quality, enabling faster, more reliable processing. Gate throughput has improved, labor costs have been reduced, and the user experience received positive feedback from operations staff—many of whom previously dealt with time-consuming manual processes. While qualitative results are already strong, Penske expects to see measurable improvements in detention charges and further increases in gate check-in and check-out efficiency. The Shippensburg deployment is now a blueprint for future rollouts, positioning Penske as a technology leader in yard and dock optimization. Looking ahead The successful transformation at Shippensburg represents more than just a pilot project—it is a scalable model for the future of Penske’s yard operations. With AI-driven automation now delivering measurable improvements in accuracy, efficiency, and scalability, Penske is poised to roll out similar deployments across its broader network. By embracing cutting-edge technologies and fostering strong cross-functional collaboration, Penske has not only solved today’s problems but also set the stage for tomorrow’s innovation. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Honda Trading Asia Co, Ltd. Improves Customer Services Levels Through Precise Demand Forecasting](https://blueyonder.com/customers/honda-trading-asia) > Learn how Honda Trading Asia Co, Ltd optimized its inventory and supply chain performance with Blue Yonder. Success Story Honda Trading Asia Honda Trading Asia Optimizes Inventory and Supply Chain Performance with Blue Yonder Improved customer service levels through precise demand forecasting Reduction in expediting costs by optimizing inventory management Enhanced operational efficiency with a unified data system The Company Honda Trading Asia Co. Ltd. is a subsidiary of Honda Trading Corporation, engaged in procuring parts, equipment, dies, molds and raw materials, including steel, aluminum, and resins. It provides logistics services such as customs clearance, just-in-time delivery operations and warehousing. With its extensive supply chain and strategic operations, it plays a crucial role in supporting Honda's manufacturing and service centers throughout Thailand. The Business Challenge Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd. faced supply chain disruptions intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to supply and demand fluctuations and escalating expediting costs for last minute, overseas, express shipments. The company’s reliance on in-house spreadsheets, a legacy system for demand and supply calculations resulted in data inaccuracies and inefficiencies which, in turn, led to low on-hand inventory, severe stock shortages, and on other occasions, wastage from excess inventory holdings. The Solution Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd. leverages Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization and Demand and Supply Planning solutions to improve forecasting accuracy and streamline its supply chain operations. This replaced manual, ad-hoc methods, allowing Honda Trading Asia to align its inventory strategy with market demand efficiently. “Our mission was ultimately to enhance working capital. Honda Trading needed an integrated approach to better balance demand and supply, right-size inventory, and meet customer service requirements with improved fulfillment rates. To achieve this, we turned to Blue Yonder for data accuracy, supply chain visibility, and the ability to act swiftly and share information, as speed of decision-making is crucial in the automotive parts industry.” –Somya Mayuraskoon, Director, Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd. Transforming supply chain dynamics with inventory solution Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization was a pivotal element in Honda Trading Asia’s supply chain transformation. Combined with Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning, it can accurately forecast demand and adjust inventory levels to optimize inventory performance and meet market fluctuations. This strategic shift not only minimizes supply chain risks, but also significantly reduces expediting costs and improves overall service delivery. Honda Trading Asia is experiencing notable improvements in operational efficiency and decision-making processes due to the automation of manual tasks and the unification of previously fragmented data sources. The company is focusing on cost management strategies that have led to a decrease in unnecessary expenditures through optimized inventory levels, and have shown an increase in customer satisfaction as a direct result of its updated operations. A key success factor of the successful implementation was the role of Blue Yonder partner Nexus, which provided strategic integration and rigorous data management services. Nexus actively addressed the business challenges Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd. aimed to solve with Blue Yonder solutions and provided step-by-step guidance to achieve its goals. Looking ahead Blue Yonder has helped Honda Trading solve immediate challenges such as monitoring customer buying behavior, right-sizing inventory and optimizing postponement and replenishment supply chain strategies. It has also positioned the company toward achieving long-term operational excellence and played a critical role in Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd.’s ongoing commitment to enhancing customer service across Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Multi-Color Label Corporation Improves Forecast Accuracy By 50% Year-over-year](https://blueyonder.com/customers/multi-color-label-corporation) > Learn how Multi-Color Label Corporation reached 95% on-time-in full in 2025 with Blue Yonder. Success Story Multi-Color Label Corporation Multi-Color Label Corporation Streamlines Demand Management with Blue Yonder Reduced lead times from 4–5 weeks to consistently manageable durations Improved forecast accuracy by 50% YOY Reached 95%+ on-time-in full (OTIF) in 2025 The Company Established in 1916, Rosemont IL-based Multi-Color Label Corporation (MCC), is a global leader in producing specialized labels and printed materials for various industries, including retail and grocery. Operating 109 facilities worldwide, MCC focuses on high-volume label production with direct manufacturing for over 8,000 end-customers. The Business Challenge MCC struggled with reactionary workflows and capacity allocation management, leading to frequent production delays and extended lead times. Challenges included labor constraints hindering responsiveness to customer demands, equipment acquisition delays contributing to cycles of overcapacity and underutilization, and cyclical demand volatility leading to increased variability in supply planning. MCC needed a versatile solution to digitize its supply chain and drive growth. The Solution Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning enables MCC with proactive forecasting and strategic resource allocation. This reduces ad-hoc hiring and equipment purchases and aligns capacity with projected demand. MCC’s digital transformation has helped stabilize its operations by mitigating cyclical changes. In addition, improved supply chain visibility and accessibility, provides the company with actionable insights to meet customer needs. "MCC's adoption of Blue Yonder not only enhanced our forecasting capabilities but transformed our entire production strategy, aligning it seamlessly with market demands. It’s a versatile tool that can scale with us as we grow." –Margaret Hug, Vice President, Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning, MCC. Managing challenges in demand, labor and equipment MCC's journey to improved operational efficiency was necessitated by the persistent challenges posed by a lack of forecasting capabilities. The company's traditional reactionary workflow often led to production delays and extended customer lead times of four to five weeks. These inefficiencies were compounded by labor and equipment constraints—hiring skilled press operators took months and acquiring machinery stretched to over a year. Consequently, MCC faced cycles of overcapacity and underutilization, directly impacting customer satisfaction and retention. This escalated the need for a versatile solution to balance MCC’s supply chain. Evolving forecasting capabilities MCC found a transformational solution in Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning. Built on Microsoft Azure’s public cloud, it enables the company to forecast demand trends more accurately to proactively optimize staffing, equipment purchases, and production schedules. It has reduced MCC's reliance on reactive measures and helped it to align its capacity with projected needs and mitigate operational volatility. Creating a consistent operational workflow With Blue Yonder, MCC stabilized its operations, balancing supply chain visibility with clear, actionable insights. By shortening lead times and enhancing overall production proficiency, the company was able to overcome inefficiencies and retain customer loyalty. MCC achieved 95% on-time-in-full (OTIF) in 2025 and increased its forecast bias to +/-2.5% in 2025. This demonstrates the power of proactive planning in transforming business operations, ultimately leading to sustained success in a competitive market. Through strategic demand forecasting and resource management with Blue Yonder, MCC evolved from having a reactionary workflow to a proactive, efficient production strategy. This transformation underscores the significant impact that integrated technological solutions can have in redefining industry standards and enhancing customer satisfaction. "Blue Yonder has been a critical piece in allowing us to move forward towards an integrated business plan, because we're able to get a demand plan that people trust. So now we can work together between our operations, finance, and commercial teams to really come up with what our forecast is going forward.” –Margaret Hug, Vice President, Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning, MCC. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Bata reaches 72% average in-store availability across India and Thailand with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bata-old) > Learn how Bata leveraged Blue Yonder's solutions to optimize its end-to-end supply chain planning and merchandising for improved efficiency and profitability. Bata reaches 72% average in-store availability across India and Thailand with Blue Yonder Forecast accuracy has grown by 2% in India and 9% in Thailand Inventory reductions of 13% in India and 29% in Thailand Stock turn performance improvements of 15% in India and 31% in Thailand The Company Bata is a multinational footwear, apparel, and accessories manufacturer and retailer headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Founded in 1894, Bata operates in over 56 countries across five continents, with 19 manufacturing sites and more than 6,000 retail locations. The company sells nearly 150 million pairs of shoes annually, offering a wide product range from high-fashion to athletic and industrial footwear. The Business Challenge Bata faced mounting challenges in accurately matching supply with demand across its vast network. Rapid shifts in consumer demand for footwear required more agile and precise planning processes. Legacy demand, replenishment, and merchandise planning systems lacked real-time data capabilities, making it difficult to adjust to market changes, optimize inventory turns, and protect margins. With over a million customers served daily, inefficiencies at scale risked lost sales, increased costs, and diminished customer satisfaction. The Solution Bata chose Blue Yonder to implement its cloud-native planning solutions, including Demand Planning, Fulfillment, Assortment, and Store Insights, supported by Blue Yonder’s Professional Services team and Blue Yonder partner Infosys for implementation. These solutions modernized Bata’s planning processes, streamlined assortment management, optimized replenishment, and delivered store-level insights to better match product distribution to local demand. The collaboration between Bata and Blue Yonder has also included significant enablement efforts, comprehensive training, and close post-launch support to ensure adoption and long-term success. "Since implementing Blue Yonder, our in-store availability average across India and Thailand has increased to 72%, and we’ve been able to shorten product cycles, allowing us to introduce and replenish new collections more quickly.” –Barbara Franceschetto, Chief Global Product Officer, Bata Group. Delivering operational value and results With the Blue Yonder end-to-end planning solution, powered by Microsoft Azure, Bata has achieved an average in-store availability rate of 72% across Thailand and India post-implementation (with an 8% improvement in India between 2024-2025), ensuring customers can find the products they want when they need them. Between 2024 and 2025 there have been significant improvements for Bata. Forecast accuracy has grown by 2% in India and 9% in Thailand, enabling more precise and confident decision-making across the supply chain. This has led to inventory reductions of 13% and 29%,  and stock turn performance improvements of 15% and 31%, respectively, year on year. Blue Yonder Fulfillment and Store Insights have helped Bata match product distribution to local demand and shorten product cycles. These operational gains have delivered significant financial impact, supporting Bata’s commitment to customer satisfaction and operational excellence. “Blue Yonder’s merchandising and supply chain planning capabilities enable us to plan customer offers, forecast demand and execute more efficient inventory strategies that lead to higher availability and shorter product life cycles. With a modern platform we’re able to access a unified view of data, streamline our processes and enhance decision-making across our network.”—Barbara Franceschetto, Chief Global Product Officer, Bata Group. “Since implementing Blue Yonder, we’ve seen significant improvements,” points out Franceschetto. “In India and Thailand, our average in-store availability has increased to 72%, and we’ve been able to shorten product cycles, allowing us to introduce and replenish new collections more quickly. These early wins are just the beginning of our journey to provide the best possible offerings to our customers.” Bata now has an optimized process that supports a faster, more responsive supply chain, driving better business decisions and a more rapid, accurate response to changes in consumer demand. Bata can effectively distribute merchandise, seamlessly produce seasonal assortment plans, and build an intelligent distribution plan over time. “At Bata, we’re dedicated to providing quality footwear, and this collaboration with Blue Yonder aligns perfectly with our commitment to excellence. Together, we’re redefining our landscape, while setting new standards in innovation, sustainability and customer satisfaction,” says Franceschetto. “It has been an interesting journey. We leverage Blue Yonder to explore how we’ve been working and how we could improve. With the right team and right change management in place we’ve been able to reach the results we targeted. Technically it has been a very effective collaboration with Blue Yonder. We run the solution and by suggesting better ways to integrate them, we’re making the system even stronger and more efficient,” –Francesco Verde, Director of IT Solutions, Bata Group. Looking ahead With a successful foundation in place, Bata plans to expand its use of Blue Yonder’s solutions globally. The company views Blue Yonder not just as a technology vendor, but as a strategic partner in innovation and growth to create happy customers and improve availability. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Watco enhances productivity and customer relations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/watco) > Learn how Watco is processing over 1,500 freight rate loads monthly with Blue Yonder Success story Watco enhances productivity and customer relations with Blue Yonder Resourcing and labor management, Transportation modeling Increased boost in operational productivity Enhanced efficiency in processing over 1,500 freight rate loads monthly Strengthened customer relationships The company Founded in 1983, Watco operates a diverse network of short- line railroads, terminals, and ports across North America and Australia. The company’s fastest-growing sector, its logistics division, was established in 2014 and has positioned itself as among the top service providers due to its customer-centric culture and operational scale. The business challenge Watco aimed to improve the management of freight rates for its carriers, moving away from manual processes to sort through market rates. The solution Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery enables Watco to offer real-time market rates to customers, processing over 1,500 freight rate loads monthly. This enables a fast turnaround of spot quotes with guaranteed capacity to meet customer needs. With Blue Yonder Transportation Modeling, the company is experiencing improved daily processing capabilities, optimized routing for complex logistics, and is reducing carbon emissions "We see the relationship between Watco, our customer, and Blue Yonder as a collaborative effort, where we all sit at the table together to find efficiencies and boost performance. Logistics is a team sport, and Blue Yonder helps us work seamlessly with our customers” –Chase Downing, Senior Director of Logistics Sales, Watco. Transforming manual processes to advanced logistics operations Watco is a very customer-centric organization, and they have always focused on meeting customers where they are. By integrating with Blue Yonder, the company is always ready to serve its customers in real -time, every minute of the day. Watco leveraged Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery to offer its customers real-time market freight rates, with guaranteed capacity to fulfill customer demands and giving it a significant edge over its competitors. Watco has improved productivity significantly, processing over 1500 rate requests a month with increased rate accuracy, allowing it to respond to market volatility instantly and save time spent on generating freight loads. To optimize its own freight network, Watco uses Blue Yonder Transportation Modeling to adjust its freight routes in real-time. This allows it to increase cost effectiveness, improve efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions and fuel burned by shortening truck routes. The company can simulate digital transportation routes with speed, streamlining driver capacity, optimize freight loads, and bring mindfulness to sustainability in its operations. Shifting to a streamlined business approach After gaining experience with serving customers through Blue Yonder, Watco is excited about what’s next. The company feels empowered to continue this great growth story with Blue Yonder, expanding into new relationships, and simplifying high-touch tasks. This gives Watco more time to focus on customer care and strategic conversations with customers. “Blue Yonder is empowering our logistics strategy, streamlining our operations and enabling us to serve our customers better. We've seen tangible improvements across daily tasks and strategic engagements.” –Chase Downing, Senior Director of Logistics Sales, Watco. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Rexall Pharmacy transforms Store Operations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/rexall-pharmacy) > Learn how Rexall Pharmacy improved operational efficiency by delivering faster store layout adjustments with Blue Yonder Success Story Rexall Pharmacy Space Management, Convenience Store Operations Rexall Pharmacy transforms Store Operations with Blue Yonder Achieved increased sales potential through strategic space planning Improved operational efficiency by delivering faster store layout adjustments Category management and floor planning teams have shared visibility into floor plans and productivity metrics The company Founded in 1903, Rexall Pharmacy is a leading pharmacy retailer with 377 stores across Canada. Known for its mission of "Caring for Canada's Health, one person at a time," Rexall stands as a cornerstone in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry, providing essential health services nationwide. The business challenge Rexall faced significant challenges in managing its store space planning and floor planning due to outdated processes. Manual, ad-hoc reporting hindered effective space utilization and planning. This led to inefficiencies that affected project scaling and overall strategic planning for its storefronts. In addition, its IT team was looking for solutions to the time-consuming floor plan process – where AutoCAD plans had to be built and converted into floor plans across hundreds of stores. The solution Blue Yonder’s Floor Planning and Space Planning solutions helped Rexall automate and optimize its floor layouts and shelf allocations in its stores, providing data-driven insights and enhancing visibility into store operations. This enables strategic decision-making and streamlined category management. The AutoCAD Floor Planning Convertor (AFP) from Blue Yonder partner 3DVR Solutions, enabled automated conversion of native CAD data into Blue Yonder Floor Plans. "Blue Yonder solutions have empowered Rexall, reducing our reliance on manual processes, and driving data-driven insights for better store reflows and strategic investments. It keeps our operations moving forward." –Mow Shahrori, Senior Director, Application Services Rexall Canada Rexall optimizes store operations with space planning and floor planning solutions Rexall Pharmacy embarked on a transformative journey to optimize its store operations and meet the growing challenges of modern retailing. The initial hurdles included managing an influx of capital projects without a database of floor plans. This forced the pharmaceutical retailer’s teams to work outside its database to extract store details and buyer sales information from other systems. This reliance on external third-party software for rudimentary tasks like conversions and data cleanup led to challenges such as trying to juggle multiple maintenance, space change, and capital projects simultaneously, making it difficult to scale projects effectively. These capital projects included store renovations, expansions, new store openings, and closures. Finding a new path forward To address these challenges, Rexall chose Blue Yonder for its strong reputation and its solution’s capabilities and implemented its Space and Floor planning solutions. These solutions facilitated the transition to a centralized, data-driven approach, dramatically improving operational efficiency. Blue Yonder Floor Planning was instrumental in identifying increased sales potential for capital projects, supporting the expansion of priority categories. Blue Yonder Space Planning helps Rexall identify all positions that an item has faced within a store, as well as redundant facings that are, in turn, decreased. And 3DVR AFP saved hundreds of hours in labor, increased accuracy and reduced delays in making Floor Plans operational. Seamless implementation with a trusted partner Rexall's collaboration with Blue Yonder partner Plantensive during the implementation phase was pivotal, offering crucial support and training to its teams, thus ensuring seamless integration and operationalization of the new solutions. Plantensive effectively assisted with behind-the-scenes fixes in real-time to ensure any issues were quickly addressed without impacting stores. By transforming its operations with Blue Yonder solutions, Rexall not only enhanced its operational efficiency, but also identified new revenue opportunities. This successful journey highlights the critical importance of integrating advanced technology into retail operations, setting the stage for future growth and innovation. “Automating the conversion of our CAD data directly into Blue Yonder has saved significant time and effort, generating a great return on investment. The speed in which our floorplans are generated frees up valuable resources and delivers the benefits of the Blue Yonder Floor Planning solutions sooner” –Mow Shahrori, Senior Director, Application Services Rexall Canada Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [PepsiCo Latin America Achieves Over 80% Forecast Accuracy, Driving Greater Precision](https://blueyonder.com/customers/pepsi-co-latin-america) > PepsiCo Latin America modernizes its supply chain using Blue Yonder, enhancing visibility, agility, and sustainability for a resilient, efficient logistics network. Success Story PepsiCo Latin America PepsiCo Latin America Achieves Over 80% Forecast Accuracy, Driving Greater Precision Achieved a rapid 30% return on investment Improved forecast accuracy to 80% Increased service levels with reduced inventory The Company With $7.2 billion in annual sales, PepsiCo Latin America employs more than 70,000 people in 34 countries. Its beverage, food and snack products include major global brands such as Pepsi, Quaker, Lays and Gatorade as well as brands tailored to regional and local markets. The Business Challenge PepsiCo Latin America, a long-time Blue Yonder customer, was seeking a customer-focused and perfectly synchronized value chain, supported by standardized usage of its supply planning and execution solutions across 16 countries. As demand variability, materials costs and transportation expenses increased, this value chain would enable greater speed, accuracy and responsiveness. The Solution PepsiCo Latin America partnered with Blue Yonder to integrate and roll out its solutions in demand planning, supply planning, inventory optimization, shipment scheduling and promotions across 34 countries. Horizon, the largest supply chain transformation effort in the company’s history, seeks to transform supply chain planning, as well as automate and integrate all the processes that comprise it. "Blue Yonder is delivering huge value because we know how to sell our products, who is buying them, how much they need and what it will cost to fulfill orders. We can make fact-based decisions that minimize our cost to serve, while improving our cash flow and operating expenses. We’ve already generated an early 30% return on investment — and we’re just getting started.” –Director, Integrated Supply Chain, PepsiCo Latin America Forecast accuracy levels above 80% drive greater precision “We’re seeing forecast accuracy levels above 80% in some countries. In addition to reducing our costs, this allows us to plan our supply chain resources much more efficiently, such as warehouse capacity and plant utilization. Since the price of commodities is rising and we’re moving light products, we also need to maximize the capacity of all transport containers and trailers. Our Blue Yonder solutions allow us to match forecast accuracy with operations precision.” An agile supply chain delivers higher service with less inventory: “Blue Yonder is helping PepsiCo Latin America create a supply chain that is agile, that is fully integrated, that is resilient, that can react immediately to new information. We can contain contingencies and take advantage of opportunities by strategically positioning our inventory and refocusing our efforts. We can actually increase our service levels with one or two days less inventory.” Standardized processes produce cost and service results: “We’re internally transforming our supply chain so every country has the same process, the same quality of data, the same look and feel, the same tools. With the help of Blue Yonder, we’re creating a truly integrated, end-to end solution to standardize our operations, which will minimize costs, maximize speed and efficiency, and deliver the same high level of service regardless of geography.” Solution benefits Blue Yonder’s demand planning capabilities consolidate and synchronize demand signals, as well as external variables, across PepsiCo Latin America’s diverse markets. The company can make more accurate, profitable decisions, from inventory staging to maximizing usage of manufacturing resources. Fulfillment capabilities from Blue Yonder help PepsiCo Latin America balance all the factors that determine inventory placement, including demand signals, customer service targets, safety-stock policies and shelf-life constraints — all while keeping inventory costs low. “Blue Yonder is helping us achieve our mission: to be an integrated supply chain, to generate value not only for our customers and consumers, but also to have that same value throughout the supply chain and in our supplier relationships. We are working together with the Blue Yonder team to deliver the best return on investment on this project, from solution design to international deployment.” –Director, Integrated Supply Chain, PepsiCo Latin America Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Mitsubishi Motors North America Accelerates Vehicle Parts Operations with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mitsubishi-motors-north-america) > Learn how Mitsubishi Motors NA is forecasting vehicle part orders up to 6 months in advance with Blue Yonder. Success Story Mitsubishi Motors North America Mitsubishi Motors North America Accelerates Vehicle Parts Operations with Blue Yonder Forecasting vehicle part orders up to 6 months in advance Improves inventory management and minimizes excess stock Dual-responsibility inventory analyst team improves productivity and efficiency The Company Through a network of approximately 330 dealer partners across the United States, Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is responsible for the sales, marketing and customer service of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles in the U.S. In its recently announced Midterm Plan – “ Challenge 2025 ” – MMNA’s parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has committed to accelerating its efforts toward a sustainable carbon-neutral future, setting goals of 40 percent reduction in vehicle CO2 emissions and 50 percent reduction in operational CO2 emissions by 2030. Additionally, MMC has set targets for global sales of electrified vehicles at 50 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035, leveraging a blend of plug-in hybrids (PHEV), hybrids (HEV) and pure electrics (BEV). The Business Challenge Charged with dual responsibilities segmented into vehicle parts demand and supply planning, MMNA’s team of inventory analysts relied heavily on manual extrapolation from Excel templates. They recognized the need for a more dynamic approach to inventory forecasting and replenishment planning. The automaker had already implemented Blue Yonder, but was singularly leveraging the solution for data repository purposes without expanding on that usage to scale its initiatives. The Solution With Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities, MMNA has replaced Excel-based tasks and can actively develop precise vehicle parts forecasts, infused with insights and market intelligence. The user-friendliness of Blue Yonder enables MMNA to navigate inventory forecasting with greater precision in decision-making and less manual intervention. "There's definitely increased analyst satisfaction from using Blue Yonder as opposed to Excel templates, allowing us to meet dynamic market demands more effectively. And that’s coming from a guy who started our Excel process.” –Luke Madden, Senior Inventory Analyst, Mitsubishi Motors North America The need to accomplish more with less Entrusted with the dual roles of managing vehicle parts demand and supply planning, MMNA’s team of inventory analysts were using Excel templates to analyze data pulled from Blue Yonder. They realized the necessity for a more dynamic approach to inventory forecasting and replenishment planning. The automaker had already implemented Blue Yonder, but was not leveraging the technology to the fullest extent of its capabilities. MMNA had only previously been using the solution as a data warehouse, pasting FE pages into Excel to determine purchasing. With Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities, MMNA has a single integrated solution that simultaneously analyzes demand patterns and supply availability changes to harmonize every aspect of the planning process. The solution brings the automaker accelerated forecasting up to six months in advance, end-to-end visibility, advanced data management and integration, and extensibility for market-specific needs. This solution enables MMNA to accomplish more with less. Collaborative success with a partner MMMA sought external expertise to achieve its ambitious goals. Plantensive, a prominent Blue Yonder partner, provided critical resources and support, enabling the automaker to fully implement and optimize its capabilities with Blue Yonder and manifest significant operational improvements. Challenging team members to become immersed in technology Through this approach, MMNA has embodied two of its core values: "conduct and challenge yourself professionally" and "respect all, work as a broader team." The automaker has encouraged its team to step away from the conventional processes and fully engage with Blue Yonder. Its teams have embraced this challenge with enthusiasm, adapting smoothly and finding satisfaction in Blue Yonder’s user-friendly interface. Beyond mastering the solution, MMNA has cultivated a collaborative environment where cross-functional relationships thrive, enabling better forecasting for parts. Blue Yonder pushes analysts to think critically, identify trends, and actively seek insights from other teams to strengthen market intelligence. Looking to the future MMNA continues to explore and harness Blue Yonder's diverse functionalities, ensuring adaptability and heightened performance in a competitive market landscape. This strategic alignment with Blue Yonder not only supports the automaker’s current objectives but also prepares it for future challenges. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Stanley 1913 Optimizes and Scales D2C Order Management with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/stanley-1913) > Learn how Stanley 1913 processes major product launches and bulk orders in minutes with Blue Yonder. Success story Stanley 1913 Inventory, Commits, Order Services Stanley 1913 optimizes and scales D2C Order Management with Blue Yonder Go-live in just three months Ability to process a significant number of orders in minutes Speed and accuracy during major product launches The company Stanley 1913 has been fueling the human experience since the iconic Stanley vacuum bottle revolutionized the way people enjoyed food and beverage. Today, the company’s thoughtfully-designed products go beyond function, elevating everyday moments with style and empowering active lifestyles. The company believes in creating sustainable products for a better world, products with enduring design that minimize impact on the planet. The business challenge Given its hydration category success in 2020, Stanley 1913 knew that it could build stronger sales, profit margins and strong shopper relationships by creating an improved direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales channel on its website. However, the company knew it would need order and inventory management support for its major product launches — which can generate significant orders in minutes. The solution Blue Yonder Order Management and Commerce solutions help Stanley 1913 optimize its D2C ordering process. The company chose to partner with Blue Yonder because its solutions — including Availability, Commits and Order Services — address the complete range of order management and fulfillment Stanley 1913 needs. Delivered as cloud-native, composable microservices, the Blue Yonder solutions were launched, and began to add value in just three months. “In just a few years, the Stanley Quencher became a hydration essential among consumers. This was a huge opportunity, but also a challenge as we aimed to optimize inventory availability and order fulfillment in our D2C channel. Our scalable Blue Yonder solutions enable us to match demand with supply under a range of market conditions.” –Raj Chudasama, CIO, Stanley 1913 Flexibility to scale inventory Stanley 1913 turned to Blue Yonder for modern order management and commerce software that keeps pace with the company’s brand innovation. Blue Yonder offered the only solutions that could truly scale in real-time, easily shifting from predictable demand levels to the volume spikes associated with a sought-after new product drop. Blue Yonder’s solutions automate and accelerate order management and inventory commitment processes, while easily accommodating the huge volumes of real-time data generated across multiple product lines and thousands of orders. Real-time product availability data is available to the operations team so they can maximize speed, accuracy, and responsiveness. The solution is also available to customers, increasing their awareness and ability to make more informed choices. A seamless and speedy implementation with a collaborative team Keeping with Stanley 1913’s incredibly successful product launches, Blue Yonder commerce solutions were up and running in just three months. Blue Yonder’s cloud-native, composable microservices were easily added to Stanley 1913’s tech stack — integrating with existing systems. Initially told by other consultants that such an implementation would take a year or more, Stanley 1913 found Blue Yonder Professional Services’ knowledge, agile methodology and close collaboration with Shopify and internal teams to be key factors that enabled a fast nationwide launch. Daily check ins, frequent architecture reviews and a carefully prioritized feature roadmap made the rapid deployment possible. “Stanley has grown so fast and so rapidly in the last four years, that we did not have any in-house knowledge of best patterns and practices in supply chain. Our partnership with Blue Yonder enabled us to not only obtain a solution that we really needed but also provide expertise that helped us understand how to fulfill our product the right way. This included how to route our products the right way, what technologies to leverage, which machine learning capabilities to leverage and to quickly and efficiently integrate with our technology stack that we already had, including our ERP, as well as downstream systems,” says Chudasama. The speedy implementation was executed by the Blue Yonder Professional Services team that addressed the company’s specific needs. The Blue Yonder Professional Services team seamlessly integrated its software on the back end with the Shopify platform on the front end. The online checkout experience is optimized for consumers and Stanley 1913’s internal teams. Stanley 1913 praised Blue Yonder Professional Services’ deep expertise in order-routing best practices and its ability to analyze historical data, supply and demand patterns, and inventory allocations across the U.S. and Canada. By combining insights into the company’s consumers and future-state goals with guidance from Blue Yonder on leveraging its cloud-native platform, the two organizations were able to lower shipping costs and accelerate fulfillment, ensuring customers receive their purchases quickly — many of whom receive the products the next day, as opposed to several days later. Based on the successful implementation and the strong synergy between the two teams, Stanley 1913 plans to expand the rollout to EMEA, APAC and Latin America. Blue Yonder Professional Services will support every phase of the journey — highlighting the ongoing partnership between the two organizations. Award-winning innovation Stanley 1913 was recognized by Supply and Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics as a 2025 Top Supply Chain Projects award winner, highlighting the company’s outstanding achievements in supply chain innovation and operational excellence now and beyond. “Winning the Top Supply Chain Projects award means a lot to us. It allows us to understand how it’s received in the industry, and that we are on the right path to be focused on our consumers. It also allows us to understand that we are focusing on the operational excellence that is expected by the consumers, the company, and the industry itself. We will leverage this to our advantage in terms of hiring and in partnering.” — Raj Chudasama, CIO, Stanley 1913. See how Blue Yonder Professional Services works in close collaboration with Stanley 1913. “Blue Yonder solutions are built for the real-time, dynamic nature of omni-channel availability and fulfillment. Stanley 1913 employees, retail partners and consumers all have accurate visibility of inventory levels, product availability, order status and other key components of the shopping journey. We can deliver reliably and drive greater consumer satisfaction.” –Raj Chudasama, CIO, Stanley 1913 Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [ReaderLink Achieves a 30% Increase in New Product Forecasting Accuracy with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/readerlink) > Learn how ReaderLink improved forecast accuracy for new product introductions up to 30% for some retailers and segments with Blue Yonder. Success Story ReaderLink ReaderLink Achieves a 30% Increase in New Product Forecasting Accuracy with Blue Yonder Improved forecast accuracy for new product introductions up to 30% for some retailers and segments Customized assortments resulted in significantly reduced forecast errors Inventory aligned with customer demand minimized excess stock and reverse logistics The Company Based in Chicago, ReaderLink is the largest full-service book distributor in North America. It services America's top big-box retailers, warehouse clubs, and grocery chains. Its products range from the newest bestsellers to evergreen products like children’s books and reach 99% of the US population every week. Shipping 300 million books annually, ReaderLink holds a significant market presence in the distribution of printed trade books. The Business Challenge Forecasting new products is always a risky proposition, especially when a distributor is launching up to 50 to 100 new items every week. ReaderLink was encountering stockouts and lost sales in some stores, coupled with overstocks and product returns in others. It needed to create more accurate, customized new-product forecasts at massive scale. The Solution ReaderLink implemented Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment Planning to enhance forecast accuracy, utilizing advanced algorithms and an attribute-based model. This has resulted in improved forecast accuracy for new product introductions by up to 30% for some retailers and segments. "America’s largest retailers rely on us to create dynamic, high-selling assortments and consistently introduce new titles—as many as 50 to 100 new products weekly. Getting the forecast wrong means stockouts, overstocks, dissatisfied shoppers and costly returns. Blue Yonder enables an attribute-based forecasting process that has improved our accuracy for new product introductions by up to 30% for some retailers and segments. By leveraging Blue Yonder to digitize forecasting, our analysis and planning processes have become much more dynamic." –Kyle Marx, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain Planning and Enterprise Analytics, ReaderLink. ReaderLink navigates demand dynamics with advanced forecasting solutions Operating at the forefront of the North American book distribution industry, ReaderLink encountered a significant challenge with its new product forecasting, which directly impacted profitability. With a distribution network that introduces up to 100 new titles weekly, precise stock allocation was critical. Stock discrepancies led to both stockouts and overstocks, negatively influencing its bottom line. In response to these challenges, ReaderLink sought the expertise of Blue Yonder, already a trusted partner for its space planning solutions across 100,000 retail locations and its attribute-based model. With the integration of Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment, the company leveraged powerful forecasting algorithms. This approach, centered around attribute-based forecasting models, enables a deeper understanding of demand dynamics. Customization and precision at scale ReaderLink's enhanced ability to customize assortments for its massive retailer network resulted in significantly reduced errors in forecasts. With a data-driven approach, the company transitioned from general to highly specific forecasting models, utilizing real-world sales data and product attributes. Achieving better results consistently By accurately forecasting demand, ReaderLink minimizes excess stock and reverse logistics, which were previously eroding profit margins. Blue Yonder's solution aligns inventory with customer demand, fostering satisfied retailers, customers, and a steadier financial outlook. This has resulted in improved forecast accuracy for new product introductions by up to 30% for some retailers and segments. ReaderLink's journey with Blue Yonder's innovative solution exemplifies a successful leap from traditional forecasting to a precision-driven model, setting a new benchmark for efficiency and profitability in the book distribution landscape. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Personal Collection Achieves 99.3% Product Availability with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/personal-collection) > Philippines based direct selling company faced challenges in distribution planning It adopted Blue Yonder Demand & Fulfillment and reduced safety stock inventory by 26% and boosted product availability to 99.3% Success Story Personal Collection Personal Collection Achieves 99.3% Product Availability with Blue Yonder 24% increase in product availability Millions of dealers Close to 700 branches 0 % product availability now attained 0 % reduction in safety stocks The Company Personal Collection Direct Selling, Inc., one of the leading direct selling companies in the Philippines, offers high-quality, affordable, Filipino-made products across eight categories: home care, personal care, men’s care, baby care, healthcare, fragrances, intimate apparel, and cosmetics. Personal Collection started in 2003 in a small warehouse with just eight employees and eight dealers. It has grown to include thousands of employees, millions of dealers, and over 200 SKUs across all its product categories. In 2023, it opened its first international business unit in Malaysia. The company has close to 700 branches and plans to open an additional 200 new branches in 2025. The Business Challenge Personal Collection faced challenges in distribution planning, compounded by its exceptional growth over recent years. The company struggled to scale quickly to meet market demands. Its reliance on time-consuming and error-prone manual planning processes often took 20 days to plan and execute. The result was just 80% product availability, mismanaged orders, and lost sales. Personal Collection needed a modern, scalable solution to improve demand management and order fulfillment. The Solution Personal Collection chose Blue Yonder Demand & Fulfillment and began with the fulfillment part of the business process. This incorporated a materials requirements planning (MRP) engine to help manage all the necessary procurements across its central and regional distribution centers and its own manufacturing plants and contract manufacturers—ultimately optimizing inventory and order replenishment. This project was successfully implemented by Blue Yonder partners GenieX and Smartlinks within nine months. “Our past over-reliance on manual systems caused us problems with stock-outs and unhappy dealers who could not sell to their full potential. We needed to plan our production and sourcing more effectively, in line with demand. Now, with the help of Blue Yonder Fulfillment, we’re seeing 99.3% product availability, together with a 26% reduction in safety stocks. We now have happy dealers and more motivated and strategic planners within our team.” –Abigail Parazo, General Manager, Personal Collection Direct Selling, Inc. Better fulfillment for omni-channel sales Personal Collection faced challenges in its demand and supply planning operations. Its sales are omni-channel, mainly through house-to-house personal canvassing by dealers, in-store purchases, telephone sales, and from trucks or other temporary locations. With millions of dealers across the region—selling to households and collecting products from hundreds of stores to deliver products—placed enormous pressure on managing demand and fulfillment. Personal Collection also has a complex, multi-echelon sourcing network consisting of several central and regional distribution centers, third-party logistics operations, its own manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines, and many contract manufacturers overseas—all with varying lead times to manage. Manual production planning caused 80% product availability Previously, production planning was manual and siloed, often making the wrong products in the wrong quantities. The inaccuracy of data also impacted production and on-time delivery. This adversely affected product availability—which was as low as 80%—and often caused stock-outs. Personal Collection could not meet market demands in this ‘pull’ model. In 2022, Personal Collection decided the most significant problem to address first was its supply fulfillment—it needed to get the supply optimized, so the correct products could be in store at the right time. “Initially, we had to fix our product availability at all costs, so we built inventories and safety stocks to eliminate the damage to our sales. We boosted product availability up to 96% and got happy dealers—but this was not a sustainable model as we were tying up too much working capital in inventory. We needed to optimize our supply chain. Having already deployed the Blue Yonder software at a global pharmaceutical giant in my previous role, I had every faith in its capabilities.”—Abigail Parazo, General Manager, Personal Collection Direct Selling, Inc. Blue Yonder partners drive project to completion and beyond To ensure a successful project, Blue Yonder partners GenieX and Smartlinks provided Personal Collection with various services, including data integration, batch frameworks, impact assessments, training, change management, and support services. Blue Yonder Fulfillment uses MRP (materials requirements planning). It integrates to the Personal Collection’s NetSuite ERP system to optimize the company’s inventory and replenishment planning, create time-phased inventory plans (that now take just five days to complete), respect multiple time horizons (days, weeks, and months), and recognize the network’s interdependencies on customer service and inventory investment. Now that Fulfillment has been fully adopted, the GenieX and Smartlinks team will focus on working with Personal Collection to move from a ‘pull’ to a ‘push’ environment with the implementation of the Blue Yonder Demand solution during 2025. This will provide better knowledge of promotions and forecasts, allowing Personal Collection to be organized centrally rather than driven by the stores. Better demand forecasting will reduce safety stocks further Having a more stable and dependable demand signal will help optimize product orders and plan optimum safety stock levels. Ultimately, better demand forecasting is expected to reduce stores’ safety stocks by around three days, which will significantly reduce wastage and improve cash flow. “GenieX is a Philippines-based company, and we are extremely proud to have supported Personal Collection throughout its supply chain transformation and digitalization process. We look forward to continuing the partnership as Personal Collection progresses to the next stage of its transformation journey.” –John Boe, Senior Director Supply Chain, GenieX. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [PVH Masters End-to-End Planning for Global Retail Brands](https://blueyonder.com/customers/pvh) > From understanding demand and forecast, to partnering with suppliers to better understand capacity allows PVH to enable end-to-end global planning across brands. Success Story PVH PVH Masters End-to-End Planning for Global Retail Brands Greater inventory control Better compliance to plan Efficient decision making The Company U.S.-based retailer PVH is one of the largest global apparel companies with a diversified portfolio of brands including CALVIN KLEIN, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, and IZOD. The Business Challenge PVH has a vision for enabling end-to-end global planning across its multiple brands -being able to see products from creation through the end consumer’s purchase is key. The retailer contemplated: “How do we take what is perceived at retail modules and be able to use them across the enterprise?” The Solution Productivity improvement Blue Yonder’s solutions have brought end-to-end visibility to PVH’s entire supply chain by aligning forecasting, replenishment and capacity merchandise planning, allowing everyone along the supply chain to make good decisions. “We have moved the business forward significantly by introducing tools that help us towards our goals of inventory optimization, sales growth and improved consumer satisfaction.” –Chief Executive Officer, PVH’s Heritage Brands & North America Wholesale Solution Benefits The implementation of these retail tools helps PVH to better optimize sales in retail locations, improve productivity of its retail associates, and increase sell-throughs at retail. On the wholesale side, having a long-range forecast available at multiple levels gives PVH the ability to be more responsive and flexible with its orders. PVH analyzed its gross margin planning and opportunities to be more aggressive in the market with Blue Yonder’s merchandise financial planning capabilities. Using the planning tools, PVH could create models that also allowed it to be flexible by store and region. PVH found that it has better inventory control, plus greater collaboration across teams, better compliance to plan and better decision making overall. According to PVH Chief Information Officer, “When our users, the people who are using the tool, have told us we’ve given them something that provides better insights, allows them to make better and different decisions, and also makes their job easier, it’s a home run for anybody that delivers technology.” As a strategic business partner for more than 15 years, Blue Yonder continues to contribute tangible benefits to PVH. “We believe they’re the best in the industry,” says Chief Information Officer, PVH. “Their partnership and their willingness to work with PVH — they’re open to our ideas. We really believe that Blue Yonder is a strategic partner, and they’ve proven that every day that we operate with them.” “We really have taken a step back and looked at all the data we have, and asking ourselves if we’re using it properly? Were we really sending the right demand out, and were we contracting correctly with our factories or did we have overcapacity? We want to plan, and we want to plan consistently, whether it is our wholesale channel or our retail channel. And working with some of the Blue Yonder thought leaders, we really got to have conversations with how the tools help our full complement of businesses.” –Chief Information Officer, PVH Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Shanghai PepsiCo Optimizes Production Sequencing with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/shanghai-pepsi-co) > PepsiCo Shanghai uses Blue Yonder’s real-time data integration to streamline production sequencing, reduce change-over costs and maintain high order fill rates. Success Story Shanghai PepsiCo Shanghai PepsiCo optimizes production sequencing with Blue Yonder Met sales demands while optimizing inventory levels Reduced production changeover costs Achieved high order fill rate (OFR) The Company Established in 1989, Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co., Ltd. is one of PepsiCo’s most important subsidiaries in China. The company produces and sells popular beverage brands such as Pepsi, 7-Up, Mirinda, and Gatorade, providing high-quality products and innovative marketing strategies in a large territory covering Shanghai and southern Jiangsu, China. The Business Challenge Shanghai PepsiCo has seen rapid and sustained growth across its products, which has resulted in production complexity. To maximize customer service and financial results, Shanghai PepsiCo needs to strategically plan, schedule, and sequence production in its factories. Manual processes and human analysis were ineffective in tackling the complexity of adjusting a sequence in real-time to support rush orders, material shortages, or equipment downtime. The Solution Today, Blue Yonder Order Sequencing ingests data from the sales forecasting, inventory management, and production planning functions to arrive at an intelligent, profitable order sequence in seconds. The sequence considers all constraints — including those in the supply and transportation planning functions — so bottlenecks are eliminated, and costs are controlled. Order Sequencing also supports dynamic re-sequencing as conditions change. “Successfully managing a supply chain the size of Shanghai PepsiCo requires real-time visibility and coordination. Blue Yonder provides us with a fast, automated way to adjust sequencing so that production, financial, and service objectives are consistently met. Blue Yonder has helped us meet sales demand and control inventory more effectively by integrating real-time data from sales forecasts, inventory management, and production planning. We’ve also reduced our production change-over costs and inventory levels while maintaining high order fill rates.” –Supply Chain Management Department, Shanghai PepsiCo. How Shanghai PepsiCo is boosting production efficiency whilst reducing waste across its operations. Balancing complex demand with production complexities at Shanghai PepsiCo In providing beverages to consumers in Shanghai and southern Jiangsu, China, Shanghai PepsiCo faces a host of production complexities compounded by its rapid growth. The manufacturer must balance shifting market demand for its broad product range with constraints that include materials supply, current inventory levels, manufacturing capacity, asset utilization, and warehouse and transportation availability. The key is to create an ideal production sequence that matches the moving targets of supply and demand as precisely as possible. The order sequence must also be continuously and dynamically updated as upstream and downstream conditions change. Previously, Shanghai PepsiCo was challenged to successfully manage this complexity when it relied on its planning team's manual analysis, experience, and intuition. Human planners were overwhelmed by the volumes of real-time data they needed to consider, including sales forecasts, inventory levels, turnover rates, materials availability, and end-to-end supply chain capacities. The beverage leader turned to Blue Yonder and its service partner PWC, to implement Order Sequencing, a module within the Blue Yonder Production Planning solution set. Intelligent, profitable order sequencing based on real-time inputs While human analysts are overwhelmed by large, complex datasets, Blue Yonder Order Sequencing is purpose-built to ingest real-time data from across the supply chain, conduct rigorous analysis, and arrive at an optimal order sequence in seconds. In addition, as new data is added, this intelligent solution automatically adjusts the order sequence to get production, profitability, and customer service goals back on track. With a consistent focus on optimizing efficiency, resource utilization, time, and cost, Order Sequencing combines the strategic advantages of a stable order sequence with the practical benefits of an adaptable production scheduling solution. The benefits for Shanghai PepsiCo have been significant. The manufacturer can match sales demand with product supply at a new level of precision and agility. Shanghai PepsiCo has also reduced its inventory investments, carrying costs, and expenses associated with production changeovers. At the same time, the company has consistently achieved high order fill rate (OFR) metrics. The software implementation, managed by PWC, will enable Shanghai PepsiCo to increase production efficiency further, optimize inventory, improve customer service, and reduce waste and costs across its production operations. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Hewlett Packard Enterprise Adopts the Blue Yonder Network for Multi-enterprise Data Integration to Achieve Real-time Visibility](https://blueyonder.com/customers/hewlett-packard-enterprise) > Tan Chop Sam, Director, Global Digital Supply Chain Transformation at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), presents at Blue Yonder’s Manufacturing Connect 2024 event in Taiwan, about HPE’s digital transformation. He shares how ONE Network Enterprises, a Blue Yonder company, is helping HPE address supply chain process challenges with multi-enterprise data integration that provides the company with a single version of the truth and real-time visibility. He also delves into managing supply chain disruptions, the importance of transparency and traceability, and optimizing supply chains to meet sustainability and carbon footprint goals. Hewlett Packard Enterprise hewlett-packard-enterprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise Adopts the Blue Yonder Network for Multi-enterprise Data Integration to Achieve Real-time Visibility Tan Chop Sam, Director, Global Digital Supply Chain Transformation at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), presents at Blue Yonder’s Manufacturing Connect 2024 event in Taiwan, about HPE’s digital transformation. He shares how ONE Network Enterprises, a Blue Yonder company, is helping HPE address supply chain process challenges with multi-enterprise data integration that provides the company with a single version of the truth and real-time visibility. He also delves into managing supply chain disruptions, the importance of transparency and traceability, and optimizing supply chains to meet sustainability and carbon footprint goals. ### [PACCAR Drives Advanced Planning & Scheduling Excellence Across Its Global Operations](https://blueyonder.com/customers/paccar) > PACCAR manufacturers Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brand trucks in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the UK. It needed an Advanced Planning & Scheduling system to match its complex operations with shifting global demand. Success Story PACCAR PACCAR drives Production Planning and Scheduling excellence across its global operations Optimized Production Planning and Scheduling across seven countries Easier, more cost-effective vehicle customization Improved utilization of labor and assembly lines and with smoother, more balanced production $ 0 billion revenue 0 countries The Company PACCAR is a global leader in manufacturing premium light, medium and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brands. Its production operations span the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil and the UK. In 2023, PACCAR delivered a record 204,200 vehicles to customers in 100 countries worldwide, with annual revenue of $35 billion. The Business Challenge PACCAR’s extensive product portfolio demands a robust Production Planning and Scheduling system to precisely match its complex operations with shifting global demand. PACCAR must schedule the manufacture of a range of customized, engineer-to-order vehicles across its worldwide operations — while considering the complexity of various product attributes, process constraints, assembly flows and production rules. The Solution PACCAR relies on Blue Yonder to implement Production Planning and Scheduling across its global manufacturing operations, spanning five countries and two continents. With modules for order slotting, order sequencing and detailed scheduling, Blue Yonder Production Planning and Scheduling is designed to deliver the operational flexibility PACCAR requires in today’s volatile automotive marketplace. This solution enables PACCAR to replan production as quickly as conditions change on both the demand and supply sides. “The long-term collaboration with the Blue Yonder team, has been marked by continuous improvement and mutual success, with PACCAR consistently achieving its production goals thanks to the robust capabilities of the Blue Yonder Production Planning and Scheduling.” – Cathy Higgins, Business Analyst, Kenworth Truck Company How PACCAR is modernizing its end-to-end, global logistics operations Delivering Operational Flexibility — an Industry Imperative Like every automotive and heavy truck manufacturer, PACCAR faces tough challenges. It must balance long lead times and frequent supply chain disruptions — like material shortages — with delivery speed and reliability. It also must achieve profitability despite uncertain demand, and an increasing need for vehicle personalization. The key to meeting these challenges is operational flexibility. Yet automotive production is not built for flexibility and agility. In scheduling its customer orders, PACCAR faces practical challenges like complex order configurations, diverse plant requirements, multiple assembly line attributes and constraints, and complex production rules. PACCAR needed a robust Production Planning and Scheduling solution that could transform its operations for increased flexibility, cost control and responsiveness to changing conditions. By ingesting real-time data, the solution would help smooth production by identifying and responding to disruptions on both the demand and supply sides. The solution would need to integrate seamlessly with PACCAR’s existing IT system for real-time data import and export. Driven by Data, the Blue Yonder solution Steers Production Toward Market Needs After a thorough review of various software solutions, PACCAR chose Blue Yonder — to address its need for flexible production scheduling. Blue Yonder Production Planning and Scheduling ingests real-time demand and supply data, then considers multiple order attributes and production constraints as it automatically creates an optimal manufacturing schedule. As the Blue Yonder solution schedules, slots and sequences orders, it leverages advanced optimization engines to consider a wide range of data. It accounts for different product configurations, plant capabilities and production requirements. Even unusual scenarios, such as multi-color paint jobs that require additional time in certain areas, are easily managed. This solution also monitors truck production in real time to ensure adherence to constraints and optimize assembly workflows. Today PACCAR can balance rapid, reliable customer delivery with cost-effective production that makes the most of labor, equipment and other resources. Production is smoother and more balanced, even in the face of demand volatility. Schedules can be easily updated and replanned as conditions change, and any issues or constraints are flagged and addressed in real time. PACCAR’s collaboration with the Blue Yonder team has resulted in continuous improvement, and consistently achieving its production goals. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [XPO Logistics Achieves 99.9% Stock Accuracy with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management](https://blueyonder.com/customers/xpo-logistics) > XPO Logistics implemented Blue Yonder Dispatcher, part of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, to enhance accuracy and productivity. The solution helped XPO Logistics optimize pick and stock accuracy across multiple sites, reaching a 99.9% stock accuracy rate for some customers. Success Story XPO Logistics XPO Logistics Improves Stock Accuracy and Operational Efficiency with Blue Yonder 99.9% stock accuracy Expanded use across 15 UK sites and deployment into European markets Enhanced productivity and warehouse efficiency The Company XPO Logistics is a $7 billion global logistics company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, with a robust presence in supply chain management and transportation management solutions. In Europe it has over 215 sites across 14 countries, with 1,000,000 sq meters of warehousing space, transporting 60 million pallets annually, operating 7,500 trucks and employing 14,000 people. The Business Challenge As XPO Logistics expanded its European business, customer demands became increasingly complex, which meant the existing systems were no longer optimal in managing the intricate needs of its customers – such as the supersessions of parts in automotive inventory and real-time revision tracking. This led to challenges delivering the precision and efficiency outputs that customers had come to expect. The Solution To address these challenges, XPO Logistics implemented Blue Yonder Dispatcher, part of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, to enhance accuracy and productivity. The solution helped XPO Logistics optimize pick and stock accuracy across multiple sites, reaching a 99.9% stock accuracy rate for some customers. In addition, the solution’s integration with other technologies bolstered warehouse and transportation synchronization, meeting the complex supply chain needs of XPO Logistics’ customers. "We’ve seen unparalleled improvements in stock accuracy and productivity using Blue Yonder. It's become a key part of our growth and automation strategy." – Nigel Rouch, SVP of Technology - Europe, XPO Logistics. How XPO Logistics is modernizing its end-to-end, global logistics operations Meeting high standards in complex operations A leading name in supply chain and transportation, XPO Logistics serves clients with intricate and highly specific supply chain needs. The company needed to overcome challenges that arose from managing complex inventory revisions, especially in sectors with frequent parts supersession, such as automotive. As a result of continued business growth, its existing system could no longer meet the rigorous demand for accuracy and operational efficiency in these high-stakes environments. A transformation seven years in the making When XPO Logistics adopted Blue Yonder Warehouse Management nearly seven years ago, it was in search of a system that could simplify complex logistics processes. The solution facilitates precise management and tracking, enabling the accuracy required to match customer expectations and enhancing the overall supply chain experience. For instance, an automotive customer of XPO Logistics is benefiting from seamless revision tracking and supersession management, ensuring that accurate parts are always available, and customer satisfaction remains high. Expanding efficiency and accuracy across operations With the system, XPO Logistics is enhancing its pick and stock accuracy across 15 sites in the UK and is currently rolling out the solution across Europe, including new implementations in Spain and Ireland. This expanded use of Blue Yonder allows XPO Logistics to achieve near-perfect stock accuracy, exemplified by a 99.9% stock accuracy rate for one customer in the hard landscaping industry – this improvement sets an industry benchmark. “The warehouse management system is helping our productivity in that we're able to leverage off other technologies in conjunction with Blue Yonder to make our pickers more productive, improve our accuracy, and our integration to our transportation solutions as well,” said Nigel Rouch, SVP of Technology – Europe, at XPO Logistics. A solution for automation Blue Yonder Warehouse Management serves as a foundational layer that has enabled XPO Logistics to enhance its automation strategy. By building on the system, the company integrates cobots and other robotic solutions into warehouses, boosting employee safety, and reducing the time required for manual processes. This automation not only increases efficiency, but also allows employees to engage more meaningfully on technical tasks, contributing to a more dynamic and safer work environment. Achieving sustainability goals with technology Sustainability also stands at the forefront of XPO Logistics’ values, and Blue Yonder plays a key role in helping the company meet these goals. With Warehouse Management, XPO Logistics optimizes warehouse space, minimizes packing materials, and reduces the number of transportation runs, leading to lower emissions and a smaller carbon footprint. Blue Yonder warehouse management’s efficiency gains contribute directly to XPO Logistics' sustainability initiatives, ensuring that both operational success and environmental responsibility go hand-in-hand. Looking ahead Blue Yonder continues to be an integral part of XPO Logistics' growth strategy as the company expands. XPO Logistics sees the warehouse management system as the foundational platform upon which to build more advanced automated systems and leverage other emerging technologies. With Blue Yonder as a strategic partner, XPO Logistics is well-positioned to continue meeting complex client demands, increasing its efficiency, and pioneering sustainable logistics solutions across new markets. “We drive a lot of the automation in our warehouses on Blue Yonder. More importantly, it is what allows us to deliver excellence to our clients,” concludes Rouch. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Food Wholesaler METRO Achieves Record Product Availability With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/metro) > Blue Yonder's intelligent solutions enable METRO to optimally balance ambitious customer service targets with inventory controls and accurate resource planning. Success Story METRO Food Wholesaler METRO Achieves Record Product Availability With Blue Yonder Improved resource utilization Greater resilience and agility Faster stock turnovers 0 % product availability More than € 0 billion sales under digital management The Company Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, METRO is a leading international food wholesaler specializing in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, caterers (HoReCa), and independent merchants (traders). METRO’s retail network includes over 600 stores in 21 countries. Most of METRO’s stores offer delivery, and the wholesaler also operates its own delivery company to support direct sales. Around the world, METRO has approximately 15 million customers through all of the wholesaler’s channels. The Business Challenge Product availability is crucial to METRO customers whether delivered or purchased in-store. METRO must maintain healthy stock levels while fully utilizing its inventories, trucks, labor, and other resources— something its existing systems and processes could not manage. With this complexity, METRO needed digital planning solutions to maintain a profitable balance between supply and demand. It also needed to operate a resilient, agile supply chain in the face of changing demand levels, disruptions, and economic trends. The Solution METRO relies on Blue Yonder supply chain planning solutions—including demand and fulfillment planning—to keep product availability and profit margins high. These intelligent solutions enable METRO to optimally balance ambitious customer service targets with inventory controls and accurate resource planning. The wholesaler has implemented Blue Yonder planning software across 16 countries and achieved record availability levels. Five more countries are to be rolled out the solutions. “An omni-channel sales model is at the heart of METRO’s business, which creates planning complexity. Blue Yonder demand and fulfillment solutions have upgraded our planning speed, precision, and results across our end-to-end network. We can balance high availability and high customer service with cost controls and strong financial results. Blue Yonder has also improved our resiliency by allowing us to make fast, fact-based decisions when the unexpected occurs.” – Alexander Stepannikov, Supply Chain Planning & Ordering Domain Owner, METRO Digital. Achieving 97% product availability Leading food wholesaler METRO operates a complex supply chain with products sold at physical stores and directly delivered to hotels, restaurants, grocers, and other food-service businesses. These small- to mid-sized customers depend on timely, in-full deliveries from METRO and high levels of in-store product availability to meet their customers’ needs. This pressures METRO to achieve “just right” inventory levels while supporting fast stock turnovers and avoiding excess inventory investments. Accurate planning is also critical to fully utilize METRO’s trucks, labor, and physical space investments. METRO rolled out Blue Yonder demand planning and fulfillment planning software across 16 countries to increase its supply chain planning accuracy. This was a significant upgrade from the company’s existing manual processes and legacy software solutions. “Our intelligent Blue Yonder solutions have been a core enabler of planning optimization at METRO,” says Alexander Stepannikov, Supply Chain Planning & Ordering Domain Owner at METRO Digital. “By relying on advanced digital solutions to ingest data, perform rigorous analysis, and create accurate plans, we can meet our defined customer service targets while respecting stock and capacity planning constraints.” Stepannikov credits the Blue Yonder Services team with architecting the solution footprint and providing hands-on implementation support. As the Blue Yonder solutions have been implemented across multiple countries and channels, METRO sees that related countries demonstrate, on average, a 1% higher availability with better stock performance right from the moment of implementation. This improvement further evolves along with the planning maturity development in the countries. The availability of goods is one of the key strategic goals of METRO's core strategy. METRO has the ambition to reach 98% of product availability by 2030. In line with this goal, in the financial year October 2023 - September 2024, METRO’s cumulative availability has grown from 96% to 97%. Today, Blue Yonder planning software manages more than €15bn sales volume. The global blueprint implementation will be rolled out in five more countries. Increasing resilience with fast, data-driven decisions Over the last few years, METRO has experienced significant supply chain disruptions such as the global pandemic, war in Ukraine, and the Suez Canal blockage. However, Stepannikov notes that Blue Yonder has successfully helped the company navigate these disruptions. “We see consistent proof that the Blue Yonder’s supply chain planning blueprint performs better than our former way of working,” says Stepannikov. “Especially during major supply chain challenges, our operations in countries with Blue Yonder software have shown strong resilience and improved supply chain agility. With its intelligent optimization engines, Blue Yonder enables us to consider current data and make the right decision very quickly, no matter what surprises occur.” Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Bloomin Brands: Reshaping the Restaurant Supply Chain in the Digital Age](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bloomin-brands) > Bloomin Brands is taking control of the supply chain with a multi-party network created by One Network Enterprises - a Blue Yonder company. Juan Guerrero, Bloomin Brands Chief Global Supply Chain Officer shares how the company deployed a cloud-based, real-time, demand-driven network for its 270 suppliers, seven distributors, and 1500 restaurant customers. Blue Yonder’s machine learning capabilities help Bloomin Brands generate best-in-class forecast accuracy (80%) and optimize costs, reducing inventory by 50% and helping it deliver the freshest products to its restaurants. Bloomin Brands bloomin-brands Bloomin Brands: Reshaping the Restaurant Supply Chain in the Digital Age Bloomin Brands is taking control of the supply chain with a multi-party network created by Blue Yonder. Juan Guerrero, Bloomin Brands Chief Global Supply Chain Officer shares how the company deployed a cloud-based, real-time, demand-driven network for its 270 suppliers, seven distributors, and 1500 restaurant customers. Blue Yonder’s machine learning capabilities help Bloomin Brands generate best-in-class forecast accuracy (80%) and optimize costs, reducing inventory by 50% and helping it deliver the freshest products to its restaurants. ### [PEP Talks About the Benefits of Using Composable Journey](https://blueyonder.com/customers/pep) > Hear PEP, the largest single-brand retailer in South Africa, talk about how the Blue Yonder Composable Journey helped identify opportunities and prioritize objectives to build a strong innovation roadmap. PEP pep PEP Talks About the Benefits of Using Composable Journey Hear PEP, the largest single-brand retailer in South Africa, talk about how the Blue Yonder Composable Journey helped identify opportunities and prioritize objectives to build a strong innovation roadmap. ### [Machine Learning for Resilient High-Tech Supply Chains | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/maxim-integrated) > Watch this informative session with Maxim Integrated, Blue Yonder and Microsoft on current industry trends and innovations across high-technology supply chains. Maxim Integrated Maxim Integrated Machine Learning for Resilient High-Tech Supply Chains Watch this informative session with Maxim Integrated, Blue Yonder and Microsoft on current industry trends and innovations across high-technology supply chains. ### [Automated Returns Solution Helps the World’s Largest Retailer Save Staff Time and Improve CX](https://blueyonder.com/customers/leading-ecommerce-company) > Learn how our automated returns solution has helped the world’s largest retailer save staff time as they rolled kiosks across the entire grocery store chains. Leading E-Commerce Company Leading E-Commerce Company Leading E-Commerce Company Improves Customer Service with In-store Returns Process and Drop-off Kiosk Technology How our automated returns solution has helped the world’s largest retailer save staff time and improve CX Download ### [Clearing the Air: Philip Morris' Transportation Transformation | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/philip-morris) > Philip Morris (PMI), set out to transform their business and further commercialize its smoke-free products category. PMI selected Blue Yonder’s SaaS & cloud-based TMS solution to complete its end-to-end supply chain strategy with improved agility to adapt to changing requirements. Philip Morris Philip Morris Clearing the Air: Philip Morris' Transportation Transformation Philip Morris (PMI), set out to transform their business and further commercialize its smoke-free products category. PMI selected Blue Yonder’s SaaS & cloud-based TMS solution to complete its end-to-end supply chain strategy with improved agility to adapt to changing requirements. ### [Dixon Technologies Improve Operational Efficiency | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dixon) > With a revenue of approximately $1.5 billion, Dixon Technologies operates from 21 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India and houses three cutting-edge R&D centers in India and China. Learn how Dixon Technologies is on a digital transformation where they take data-driven decisions to serve their customers better - increasing its efficiency and accuracy of supply chain planning with the implementation of Blue Yonder solutions. Dixon Technologies Dixon Technologies Dixon Technologies Improve Operational Efficiency with Blue Yonder Dixon Technologies is the largest EMS (electronics manufacturing services) provider in India, partnering with leading Global Consumer Electronics brands around the world. Learn why it turned to Blue Yonder for a Production Planning and Optimization solution for maximizing capacity utilization and optimal inventory utilization for its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. The solution was chosen  to handle the complex manufacturing requirements of the hi-tech industries whilst optimizing costs, maximizing operational efficiency and improving profitability. ### [Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptor, Carlsberg moves to the cloud within three months | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/carlsberg) > Carlsberg Group is one of the leading brewery groups in the world today, with a large portfolio of beer and other beverage brands. In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, Carlsberg's Tomas Tomasson, Service Owner Logistics and Transportation, share how the company is going digital first using Blue Yonder's Transportation Management, the company's “Zero & Beyond” strategy and more. Carlsberg Carlsberg Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptor, Carlsberg moves to the cloud within three months Carlsberg Group is one of the leading brewery groups in the world today, with a large portfolio of beer and other beverage brands. In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, Carlsberg's Tomas Tomasson, Service Owner Logistics and Transportation, share how the company is going digital first using Blue Yonder's Transportation Management , the company's “Zero & Beyond” strategy and more. ### [Blue Yonder Control Tower Champions Customer Service and Sustainability with Real-Time Visibility for Diageo | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/diageo) > With the world’s attention on supply chain, real time visibility has never been more important. Hear how Diageo continues to evolve and innovate their global end-to-end supply chain operations. Delivering complex change starts with the right people and the right technologies. Diageo shares their story of implementing Luminate Control Tower to power real-time visibility across their supply chain to not only satisfy customer demands and reduce their operational cost but also shape their commitment and transformation to efficient, sustainable production standards. Diageo Diageo Blue Yonder Control Tower Champions Customer Service and Sustainability with Real-Time Visibility for Diageo With the world’s attention on supply chain, real time visibility has never been more important. Hear how Diageo continues to evolve and innovate their global end-to-end supply chain operations. Delivering complex change starts with the right people and the right technologies. Diageo shares their story of implementing Blue Yonder Control Tower to power real-time visibility across their supply chain to not only satisfy customer demands and reduce their operational cost but also shape their commitment and transformation to efficient, sustainable production standards. ### [REI Empowers Customers with Choice Using Blue Yonder Order Management Microservices | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/rei) > REI is a specialty outdoor retailer and the nation’s largest consumer co-operative with a growing community of over 23 million lifetime members and more than 182 stores. REI is on a mission to put the customer at the center of everything they do from improving the customer journey to meeting their values with sustainable options. Amit Kulkarni, Technology DVP at REI describes how they are taking friction out of the omni-channel experience, bringing visibility to a wide array of fulfillment options, and optimizing accurate delivery dates that customers can confidently trust, all while empowering their customers with choice. REI REI REI Empowers Customers with Choice Using Blue Yonder Order Management Microservices REI is a specialty outdoor retailer and the nation’s largest consumer co-operative with a growing community of over 23 million lifetime members and more than 182 stores. REI is on a mission to put the customer at the center of everything they do from improving the customer journey to meeting their values with sustainable options. Amit Kulkarni, Technology DVP at REI describes how they are taking friction out of the omni-channel experience, bringing visibility to a wide array of fulfillment options, and optimizing accurate delivery dates that customers can confidently trust, all while empowering their customers with choice. ### [Poland’s 3rd Largest Freight Forwarder Deploys Blue Yonder WMS For Its High Levels of Configuration to Meet Diverse Customer Needs | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/rohlig-suus-logistics) > Rohlig Suus Logistics is one of the leading logistics providers in Poland, with worldwide operations. As a trusted freight forwarder across land, sea and air, the company also provides contract logistics and warehousing services. Warehouse management from Blue Yonder has provided Rohlig Suus with a stable and an easily configurable solution that can be seamlessly integrated into existing IT environments, enabling the company to grow their contract logistics business while establishing themselves as true transport logistics experts and a partner their customers can trust. Rohlig Suus ROHLIG SUUS Logistics Poland’s 3rd Largest Freight Forwarder Deploys Blue Yonder WMS For Its High Levels of Configuration to Meet Diverse Customer Needs ROHLIG SUUS Logistics is one of the leading logistics providers in Poland, with worldwide operations. As a trusted freight forwarder across land, sea and air, the company also provides contract logistics and warehousing services. Warehouse management from Blue Yonder has provided ROHLIG SUUS with a stable and an easily configurable solution that can be seamlessly integrated into existing IT environments, enabling the company to grow their contract logistics business while establishing themselves as true transport logistics experts and a partner their customers can trust. ### [Mitr Phol Sugar Achieves Savings of 5% on Its Logistics Spend](https://blueyonder.com/customers/mitr-phol-sugar) > Increased on-time delivery to 90%. Explore how Asia’s biggest sugar producer, Mitr Phol Sugar chooses Blue Yonder as its digital backbone for its daily operations. Mitr Phol Sugar Mitr Phol Sugar Mitr Phol Sugar Achieves Savings of 5% on Logistics Spend and Improves On-time Delivery Rate of Up to 90% with AI Mitr Phol Sugar is Thailand’s and Asia’s biggest sugar producer, and is in the Top 5 for largest sugar production capacity worldwide. Mitr Phol’s fully-owned logistics company, Fast and Fair, was challenged to deliver Mitr Phol’s products on time due to a lack of visibility and a lengthy, manual process for managing disruptions. Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution supports an on-time delivery rate of up to 90%, while also reducing the annual logistics spend by 5%. Download ### [RaceTrac Gets Immediate ROI From Increased Store Profitability with Retail Planning and Category Management Solution | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/racetrac) > Looking to increase store profitability and reduce unauthorized inventory? Leaders from RaceTrac, a regional convenience store retailer, share what happened when they upgraded their category management solutions to see more gains in merchandising and in stores. Listen as RaceTrac's Senior Space Manager and Director of Merchandising Solutions explains how Blue Yonder solutions helped the company achieve almost instant ROI in facing execution challenges to provide a foundation for an enhanced ordering application and open collaboration across the company. Racetrac RaceTrac RaceTrac Gets Immediate ROI From Increased Store Profitability with Retail Planning and Category Management Solution Looking to increase store profitability and reduce unauthorized inventory? Leaders from RaceTrac, a regional convenience store retailer, share what happened when they upgraded their category management solutions to see more gains in merchandising and in stores. Listen as RaceTrac's Senior Space Manager and Director of Merchandising Solutions explains how Blue Yonder solutions helped the company achieve almost instant ROI in facing execution challenges to provide a foundation for an enhanced ordering application and open collaboration across the company. Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors: RaceTrac In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, RaceTrac’s Executive Director, Supply Chain Merchandise, Daniel Vasseur, shares with how the company is planning to transform its warehousing operations and transportation modeling capabilities with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, Labor Management, and Transportation Modeling solutions to support its nearly 800 retail stores, under the RaceTrac® and RaceWay® brands. ### [Oriflame Reduces Inventory Levels By 25% with 10% Increase in Service Levels with Demand Planning & Fulfillment Solutions | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/oriflame) > A direct-to-consumer beauty company present in over 60 countries, Oriflame was ready to take their business to the next level – but needed help making sure they could keep up with demand, reduce volatility and gain visibility. Listen to the organization’s management director explain how Blue Yonder helped Oriflame achieve key goals, including reducing inventory levels and increasing service levels. Oriflame Oriflame Oriflame Reduces Inventory Levels By 25% with 10% Increase in Service Levels with Demand Planning & Fulfillment Solutions A direct-to-consumer beauty company present in over 60 countries, Oriflame was ready to take their business to the next level – but needed help making sure they could keep up with demand, reduce volatility and gain visibility. Listen to the organization’s management director explain how Blue Yonder helped Oriflame achieve key goals, including reducing inventory levels and increasing service levels. ### [Asda is Transforming its Supply Chain with the Help of Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/asda) > Leading UK retailer, Asda’s CIO, Carl Dawson speaks with our CRO Corey Tollefson about how Asda has transformed its supply chain with the help of Blue Yonder. Asda Asda Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors: Asda Asda is one of Britain’s leading retailers with a unique position in the market. In this “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session, Asda’s CIO, Carl Dawson speaks with Blue Yonder’s CRO Corey Tollefson to discuss how Asda is transforming its supply chain with the help of Blue Yonder. ### [Geodis Deploys Warehouse Labor Management to Improve Customer Service and Productivity](https://blueyonder.com/customers/geodis) > Geodis utilizes warehouse labor management from Blue Yonder to help improve customer service and productivity of 50,000+ employees across 120 countries globally. GEODIS Geodis French 3PL Deploys Warehouse Labor Management to Improve Customer Service and Productivity of 50,000+ employees across 120 countries Global third-party logistics provider, GEODIS, utilizes warehouse labor management from Blue Yonder to help drive their business forward and stay efficient. This is a mission-critical system for GEODIS, as almost 80 percent of their hours are being tracked. ### [Morrisons Simplifies Fresh Food Clearance with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/morrisons) > Discover how Blue Yonder helps UK-based grocery retailer Morrisons increase shelf availability of over 29,000 SKUs in 130 categories across its 500 stores. Morrisons Morrisons Morrisons Improve On-shelf Availability by 30% with Blue Yonder Demand For UK-based grocery retailer Morrisons, serving its more than 11 million customers starts with making sure the right products are in the right place. Discover how Blue Yonder helped the organization increase shelf availability of over 29,000 SKUs in 130 categories across its 500 stores. Download Download ### [NFM Increases Warehouse Productivity From 35% to 75% in 7 months](https://blueyonder.com/customers/nebraska-furniture-mart) > Learn how Nebraska Furniture Mart gains visibility into their labor force thanks to their partnership with Blue Yonder leading to a steep increase in productivity. Nebraska Furniture Mart Nebraska Furniture Mart Blue Yonder Labor Management Increased Warehouse Productivity From 35 % to 75% in 7 months at Nebraska Furniture Mart Learn how Nebraska Furniture Mart gained visibility into their labor force thanks to their partnership with Blue Yonder leading to a dramatic increase in productivity and a stable foundation for future growth. Nebraska Furniture Mart Delivers on Its Customer Promises Profitably with Blue Yonder As North America’s largest home furnishings retailer, Nebraska Furniture Mart’s goal is to be customer-centric. A suite of Blue Yonder solutions reinforces that customer focus across the organization, from demand and fulfillment planning through DC operations, while minimizing the cost to serve. Bobbi Lindeman, Senior Omni Channel Executive, and Jocelyn Pedersen, General Manager for Merchandise Systems and Process, emphasize the real value Blue Yonder adds to the organization — by applying machine learning and other advanced capabilities. ### [Fearless Females of Supply Chain | Love's Travel Stops](https://blueyonder.com/customers/loves) > Watch how Love's culture empowers and celebrates strong women, and how we can all make a difference in the supply chain field. Tune in to hear their story! Love's Travel Stops Loves Travel Stops Fearless Females of Supply Chain: Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Blue Yonder’s “Fearless Females of Supply Chain” celebrates strong women who are making a difference in the supply chain field. In this session, Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores’ Ashley Gockstetter, Director Customer Strategy, Loyalty & Analytics, and Karlyn Cottle, Manager of Vendor Strategy, share their story, how Love’s culture empowers women, and how we can all make a difference in the supply chain field. ### [Fearless Females of Supply Chain BrassCraft Manufacturing Company](https://blueyonder.com/customers/brasscraft-manufacturing-company) > BrassCraft Manufacturing Company’s Ann Jones, Director, joins us on special International Women's Day, to share how she embraces equality in the supply chain. BrassCraft Manufacturing Company BrassCraft Manufacturing Company Fearless Females of Supply Chain: BrassCraft Manufacturing Company Blue Yonder’s “Fearless Females of Supply Chain” celebrates strong women who are making a difference in the supply chain field. BrassCraft Manufacturing Company’s Ann Jones, Director, Supply Chain, joined us for a special International Women's Day session, where she shared her story and how she embraces equity in the supply chain. ### [Fearless Females of Supply Chain: Ajinomoto Foods | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/ajinomoto-foods) > Blue Yonder’s “Fearless Females of Supply Chain” celebrates strong women who are making a difference in the supply chain field. Ajinomoto Foods’ Gema Verdin, VP of Supply Chain Management Planning, shares how she jumped on career-growing opportunities every chance she could so she could learn and improve her skills. Ajinomoto Foods Ajinomoto Foods Fearless Females of Supply Chain: Ajinomoto Foods Blue Yonder’s “Fearless Females of Supply Chain” celebrates strong women who are making a difference in the supply chain field. Ajinomoto Foods’ Gema Verdin, VP of Supply Chain Management Planning, shares how she jumped on career-growing opportunities every chance she could so she could learn and improve her skills. ### [Farmacia San Pablo Gains ROI From Blue Yonder Assortment Optimization](https://blueyonder.com/customers/farmacia-san-pablo) > Learn how Farmacia San Pablo trusts Blue Yonder to create more efficient product selections saving working capital and efficiencies across their 140 stores. Farmacia San Pablo Farmacia San Pablo Mexican High End Pharmaceutical Retailer Gains ROI From Blue Yonder Assortment Optimization and Category Knowledge Base Through Savings in Working Capital and Efficiencies Gained across 140 stores. Learn why Farmacia San Pablo trusts Blue Yonder to create more efficient product selections in their stores. ### [Essity Manages Delivery Peaks and Demands with Blue Yonders Transportation Management System | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/essity) > Essity, a leading global hygiene and health company, delivers approximately 3,000 trucks per day from more than 1OO warehouses around the world. Watch the video below to hear from Sergio Gallardo, Essity Transportation Operations Manager, as he explains how the organization harnessed Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System to digitally transform their operations to become more flexible, scalable, agile and efficient. He also explains how Essity used the system to effectively overcome supply chain disruptions during the pandemic. Essity Essity Essity Manages Delivery Peaks and Demands with Blue Yonder's Transportation Management System Essity, a leading global hygiene and health company, delivers approximately 3,000 trucks per day from more than 1OO warehouses around the world. Watch the video below to hear from Sergio Gallardo, Essity Transportation Operations Manager, as he explains how the organization harnessed Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System to digitally transform their operations to become more flexible, scalable, agile and efficient. He also explains how Essity used the system to effectively overcome supply chain disruptions during the pandemic. ### [Sainsbury’s Leverages AI and ML for Supply Chain Optimization](https://blueyonder.com/customers/sainsburys) > Blue Yonder assists Sainsbury's in improving forecasting, optimizing store orders, and increasing sustainability leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. Sainsbury's Sainsbury's Enabled by Blue Yonder, Sainsbury’s Leverages AI and ML for Supply Chain Optimization With 32.9 billion € in annual sales, Sainsbury’s is a trusted brand, loved by millions of UK consumers. The retailer operates over 600 supermarkets and more than 800 convenience stores. Karen Brown, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, discusses how Blue Yonder is helping the retailer leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve forecasting, optimize store orders, and increase sustainability. ### [Hong Kong Healthcare Products Producer Puts Blue Yonder WMS at Heart of its Business To Gain Visibility | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dch) > Watch this video to hear how DCH Auriga, a $6 billion company that distributes health care and lifesaving drugs and products across Asia, worked with Blue Yonder and AC2 Group to help manage its warehouse visibility. David Mouland, vice president of logistics, DCH Auriga, and Aw Yang Uei, managing partner, AC2 Group, discuss the dynamic markets in which DCH Auriga operates, the need for a flexible warehouse management system (WMS), and how Blue Yonder's warehouse management serves as the backbone of DCH Auriga’s successful logistics services. DCH Auriga DCH Auriga Hong Kong Healthcare Products Producer Puts Blue Yonder WMS at Heart of its Business To Gain Visibility Watch this video to hear how DCH Auriga, a $6 billion company that distributes health care and lifesaving drugs and products across Asia, worked with Blue Yonder and AC2 Group to help manage its warehouse visibility. David Mouland, vice president of logistics, DCH Auriga, and Aw Yang Uei, managing partner, AC2 Group, discuss the dynamic markets in which DCH Auriga operates, the need for a flexible warehouse management system (WMS), and how Blue Yonder's warehouse management serves as the backbone of DCH Auriga’s successful logistics services. ### [At Home Improves Inventory Planning and Allocation for 50,000 SKUs](https://blueyonder.com/customers/at-home) > Home decor retailer At Home uses allocation solutions and services from Blue Yonder to improve inventory planning and allocation across their 129 locations. At Home At Home Texas Home Décor Retailer Uses Cloud-Based Blue Yonder System to Improve Inventory Planning and Allocation for 50,000 SKUs, across 129 locations in 31 states. Home decor retailer At Home uses allocation solutions and services from Blue Yonder to improve inventory planning and allocation across their 129 locations in 31 states. ### [Outokumpu Shares How Transportation Management System (TMS) Enables the Stainless Steel Leader to Drive an Environmentally Friendly Transportation Program | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/outokumpu) > Outokumpu is the sustainability leader in stainless steel, driven by their heritage, people and operations. In this Blue Yonder Live session, Outokumpu’s Ronald van Dodewaard, VP Logistics, shares how Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System enables the company to drive an environmentally friendly transportation program. Outokumpu Outokumpu Outokumpu Shares How Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System (TMS) Enables the Stainless Steel Leader to Drive an Environmentally Friendly Transportation Program Outokumpu is the sustainability leader in stainless steel, driven by their heritage, people and operations. In this Blue Yonder Live session, Outokumpu’s Ronald van Dodewaard, VP Logistics, shares how Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management System enables the company to drive an environmentally friendly transportation program. ### [South African Beer Giant Deploys Blue Yonder for its S&OP Journey | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/distell) > Distell, a global brewing and beverage company that produces and markets a diverse portfolio of award-winning brands in over 100 countries. In this session, Dr. Lee-Anne Terblanche, Transformation Program Manager at Distell talks about their supply chain transformation, including the modules that the company has implemented and how Blue Yonder has supported along the way. Distell Distell South African Beer Giant Deploys Blue Yonder for its S&OP Journey Distell, a global brewing and beverage company that produces and markets a diverse portfolio of award-winning brands in over 100 countries. In this session, Dr. Lee-Anne Terblanche, Transformation Program Manager at Distell talks about their supply chain transformation, including the modules that the company has implemented and how Blue Yonder has supported along the way. ### [Walgreens Delivers on 30-minute Promise for 9 Million Customers](https://blueyonder.com/customers/walgreens) > Andy Kettlewell, VP at Walgreens esplains how Blue Yonder’s Order Management Microservices help them gain speed and proximity to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Walgreens Walgreens Walgreens Delivers on 30-minute Promise with Blue Yonder Inventory and Order Management Microservices for 9 Million Customers Walgreens, the 2nd largest pharmacy store chain in the US, has embraced omni-channel. They serve 9 million customers daily and have over 200 million item/store combinations. The sheer scale and complexity made accurate order promising to online customers difficult and the need for real-time visibility, accuracy and efficiency essential. Andy Kettlewell, VP of Inventory and Analytics, describes how Blue Yonder’s Order Management Microservices help Walgreens achieve speed and proximity to the customer to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Download ### [Tuš Delivers High-quality CX with End-to-end Supply Chain Technology](https://blueyonder.com/customers/tus-supermarkets) > Tuš delivers a personalized, high-quality customer experience with end-to-end supply chain technology increasing accuracy and delivering quality fresh goods to families. Tuš Supermarkets Tus Supermarkets Slovenia’s 3rd Largest Retailer Obtains More Accurate Deliveries and Manage Processes to Control Costs with Blue Yonder Advanced Warehouse Replenishment and Category Knowledge Base With over 140 stores, Tuš is a leading supermarket chain based in Slovenia. Learn how Tuš is delivering a personalized, high-quality customer experience with end-to-end supply chain technology - increasing accuracy and efficiency, and delivering quality fresh goods to families. ### [Kappahl Manages 95% of Allocations Across 260 European Stores Using Powerful AI and ML | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/kappahl) > Using the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology, Blue Yonder Retail now manages 95% of all KappAhl allocations. This represents 80% of cross-dock flows and 100% of replenishment. “By handling allocations and replenishment at a lower level of detail with the software, we have achieved a return on investment and significant benefits,” noted Director of Merchandise Management, KappAhl. KappAhl KappAhl Kappahl Manages 95% of Allocations Across 260 European Stores Using Powerful AI and ML Blue Yonder Solution Using the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology, Luminate Retail now manages 95% of all KappAhl allocations. This represents 80% of cross-dock flows and 100% of replenishment. “By handling allocations and replenishment at a lower level of detail with the software, we have achieved a return on investment and significant benefits,” noted Director of Merchandise Management, KappAhl. Download ### [Cemex Increases Visibility, Reduces Man Hours on Decision Making](https://blueyonder.com/customers/cemex) > Cemex's Arnulfo Guevara speaks about the importance of cloud strategy and explains how real-time visibility has been key for streamlining internal processes. Cemex Cemex Mexican Building Products Leader Increases Visibility, Reduces Man Hours on Decision Making with Blue Yonder Planning Cemex's Arnulfo Guevara sits down with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, ICON reporter, to speak about the importance of cloud strategy in their processes. Cemex is a global leader in the building materials industry. As Digital Enablement & Technology Supply Chain Leader, Arnulfo explains how real-time visibility has been key for streamlining their internal processes. ### [Agile Network Runs its Shipping Management Operations and Cuts Labor Costs | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/agile-network) > Enterprise shipping management solutions provider Agile Network leverages both unattended and attended integration models with the Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management System (WMS) to run operations seamlessly, cut labor costs and help retail customers ship faster and save money. Agile Network Agile Network Agile Network Runs its Shipping Management Operations and Cuts Labor Costs with Blue Yonder WMS Enterprise shipping management solutions provider Agile Network leverages both unattended and attended integration models with the Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management System (WMS) to run operations seamlessly, cut labor costs and help retail customers ship faster and save money. ### [DSC Logistics Sees 20% Decrease in Variable Labor Costs Across 50 DCs](https://blueyonder.com/customers/dsc-logistics) > DSC Logistics implements Blue Yonder labor management to achieve a 20% reduction in its variable labor spend across its mission-critical logistics network. DSC Logistics DSC Logistics DSC Logistics Sees 20% Decrease in Variable Labor Costs Across 50 DCs From Better Optimization with Labor Management DSC Logistics views labor management as mission-critical and as at the same level of importance as its ability to receive and ship cases for customers. The company implemented labor management to achieve a 20-plus percent reduction in its variable labor spend across its logistics network. Download ### [Californian Distributor of Kitchen Tools and Gadgets Describes Blue Yonder WMS - The Best Out-of-the Box Solution for Receiving, Inventory Control and Shipping | Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/bradshaw-international) > Bradshaw relies on the warehouse management system (WMS) from Blue Yonder to ensure speed and delivery while managing fast growth and limited space. Bradshaw International Bradshaw International Californian Distributor of Kitchen Tools and Gadgets Describes Blue Yonder WMS - The Best Out-of-the Box Solution for Receiving, Inventory Control and Shipping. Bradshaw relies on the warehouse management system (WMS) from Blue Yonder to ensure speed and delivery while managing fast growth and limited space. ### [Lenovo Masters Complex Inventory Challenges with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/customers/lenovo) > Explore how Blue Yonder helps Lenovo to ensure the right products are in the right place, leading to faster turns, higher service levels and reduced costs. Lenovo Lenovo Blue Yonder Helps Lenovo Master Its Complex Inventory Challenges Operating 30 manufacturing facilities and serving 180 markets worldwide, Lenovo produces an astonishing three devices every second. Jingcan Xu, Supply Chain Digital Transformation Director at Lenovo, explains how Blue Yonder’s solutions have become the backbone of Lenovo’s digital planning initiatives—spanning across demand, and supply planning, factory planning, and order promiser. Its results include measurable gains such as a 5% boost in forecast accuracy, 4% improvement in on-time delivery, 10% higher delivery accuracy, and 10% reduction in inventory turns. Jack Fiedler, VP of Digital of Digital Transformation for the Global Supply Chain at Lenovo, describes how Blue Yonder has enabled Lenovo to match demand with supply, simulate risk scenarios, and direct materials to the right sites at the right time. Kevin Brandman, Director of Integrated Business Planning and Lifecycle Management at Lenovo, shares how Blue Yonder has helped make Lenovo's supply chain more resilient through market headwinds, and how Blue Yonder helped Lenovo change its processes for its customers, associates and technology. ### [Driscoll's Leverages Warehouse Management to Manage Cold-Chain Complexity](https://blueyonder.com/customers/driscolls) > Sankar Chinnathambi, VP at Driscoll's, describes how Blue Yonder’s user-friendly WMS helps Driscoll’s manage their cold-chain operations across 70+ warehouses. Driscoll's Driscoll's Driscoll’s Leverages Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to Manage Cold-Chain Complexity Driscoll’s is the global market leader in fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. The company’s cold-chain operations, including more than 70 warehouses, must reliably manage, store and deliver delicate, perishable products. As berries are moved between more than 900 independent growers and consumers in over 20 countries, real-time visibility, accuracy and efficiency are essential. Sankar Chinnathambi, VP of Global Applications and Data, describes how Blue Yonder’s user-friendly warehouse management solution helps Driscoll’s manage this complexity. ### [Wegmans’ Transportation Network Drives 4.75% Cost Saving](https://blueyonder.com/customers/wegmans) > US supermarket chain, Wegmans experiences double-digit cost reductions through Blue Yonder’s transportation modeling capabilities. Wegmans Wegmans Wegmans’ Transportation Network Drives 4.75% Cost Saving with Blue Yonder Transportation Modelling Solution Wegmans is a family-owned supermarket chain headquartered in Rochester, NY. With over 100 stores and almost $10 billion in revenue, Wegmans is one of the largest private companies in the U.S. With a large and complex transportation network, Wegmans wondered if they were getting the most utility possible from their fleet investments. To find out, and help them model other potential transportation strategies, Wegmans turned to logistics consulting firm, enVista, and Blue Yonder’s transportation modeling capabilities. The result was double-digit cost reductions. Download ### [City Plumbing Reduces Inbound Receiving Time by 20%](https://blueyonder.com/customers/city-plumbing) > Blue Yonder's WMS enables City Plumbing to enhance visibility and responsiveness, resulting in reduction in inbound receiving time and improved process accuracy. City Plumbing City Plumbing City Plumbing Reduces Inbound Receiving Time by 20% with Added Productivity, Efficiency and Sustainability Measures After experiencing a rapid growth in e-commerce, requiring delivery to customer homes and retail locations, City Plumbing needed to find a way to optimize their legacy warehouse systems. Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management System enabled them to enhance their visibility and responsiveness, resulting in a 20% reduction in inbound receiving time, improved process accuracy and efficiency, and higher levels of service and profitability. Download Download ## Press Releases ### [Forbes: The Warehouse Is The Brainstem For The Modern Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/forbes-the-warehouse-is-the-brainstem) > Distribution hubs previously moved inventory, but now they move data, decisions and the bottom line. Press Release Forbes: The Warehouse Is The Brainstem For The Modern Supply Chain July 14, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital: Saskia van Gendt: The Agricultural Impact of Climate Change](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-chain-digital-saskia-van-gendt) > Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder, explores how agriculture supply chains are being impacted by climate change. Press Release Supply Chain Digital: Saskia van Gendt: The Agricultural Impact of Climate Change July 3, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: What sets the most confident supply chain leaders apart?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-what-sets-the-most-confident) > Blue Yonder's Patricia Harris on the 2026 Supply Chain Compass report, the leaders earning confidence through unified data and platforms as well as visibility. Press Release Diginomica: What sets the most confident supply chain leaders apart? July 1, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Al Jazeera: Are prices really dropping in the US, as Trump claims?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/al-jazeera-are-prices-really-dropping-in-the-us) > Donald Trump boasts on social media that since the signing of a US-Iran MoU for a peace deal, oil is flowing and prices are dropping. Press Release Al Jazeera: Are prices really dropping in the US, as Trump claims? June 18, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [CNBC: As Hormuz crisis eases, gas prices may drop—other costs like groceries and home goods could stay high for a while](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/cnbc-as-hormuz-crisis-eases-gas-prices-may-drop) > Americans could see some relief at the gas pump after oil prices tumbled Monday on news of a tentative agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Press Release CNBC: As Hormuz crisis eases, gas prices may drop—other costs like groceries and home goods could stay high for a while June 16, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Management Review: AI-powered supply chains require work redesign, not just process automation](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-chain-management-review-ai-powered-supply) > As supply chain leaders accelerate AI adoption, the organizations seeing the strongest results are rethinking how work gets done, linking operational decisions to financial outcomes. Press Release Supply Chain Management Review: AI-powered supply chains require work redesign, not just process automation June 16, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: New technology helps companies prove sustainability claims](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/fast-company-new-technology-helps-companies) > Consumers still value sustainability, and technology is making it easier for businesses to measure and prove their claims. Press Release Fast Company: New technology helps companies prove sustainability claims June 15, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [USA Today: 'Super El Niño' will have an alarming financial impact, experts fear](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/usa-today-super-el-nino-will-have-an-alarming) > El Niño, a natural warming of Pacific Ocean water, can have a big impact on the world economy, costing trillions of dollars around the globe. Press Release USA Today: 'Super El Niño' will have an alarming financial impact, experts fear June 13, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Newsweek: AI Impact: Are Companies Thinking Too Small About AI?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/newsweek-ai-impact-are-companies-thinking-too) > AI Impact tracks AI’s bigger test: redesigning supply chains, finance workflows and health care access around better systems. Press Release Newsweek: AI Impact: Are Companies Thinking Too Small About AI? June 12, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SiliconANGLE: Blue Yonder pushes supply chain AI toward autonomous operations](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/siliconangle-blue-yonder-pushes-supply-chain-ai) > The supply chain sector has perhaps more to gain from the artificial intelligence age than any other sector. Press Release SiliconANGLE: Blue Yonder pushes supply chain AI toward autonomous operations June 11, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain 24/7: Screwworm Threat Raises New Concerns for Beef Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-chain-247-screwworm-threat-raises-new) > Retailers and grocery suppliers are preparing for potential disruptions to beef supply as concerns grow over the spread of New World screwworm in Mexico and the southern United States. Press Release Supply Chain 24/7: Screwworm Threat Raises New Concerns for Beef Supply Chain June 11, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Voices in Transformation: Blue Yonder Innovation Chief: AI Is Driving True Business Transformation, Bigger Than the Internet](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/voices-in-transformation-blue-yonder-innovation) > In this episode of Voices in Transformation, Maria Villablanca speaks to Blue Yonder’s Chief Innovation Officer, Andrea Morgan-Vandome, about what true transformation actually looks like and why AI is now sitting at the center of it. Press Release Voices in Transformation: Blue Yonder Innovation Chief: AI Is Driving True Business Transformation, Bigger Than the Internet May 14, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Voices in Transformation: Blue Yonder CEO: Automation Is Not the Same as True Transformation](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/voices-in-transformation-blue-yonder-ceo) > In this episode of Voices in Transformation, Maria Villablanca speaks to Duncan Angove, CEO of Blue Yonder, about why supply chain leaders are entering a fundamentally different era, and how AI is forcing businesses to rethink what transformation actually means. Press Release Voices in Transformation: Blue Yonder CEO: Automation Is Not the Same as True Transformation April 30, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Agents Are Getting Really Smart](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/forbes-blue-yonders-supply-chain-agents) > Blue Yonder had its ICON event for customers and partners in the middle of May. Blue Yonder, is one of the largest providers of supply chain software. The company has spent the better part of four years and $2.5 billion to rebuild its technology stack from the ground up. Press Release Forbes: Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Agents Are Getting Really Smart June 5, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2026 Company Highlights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-releases-q1-2026-company-highlights) > Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q1 2026 company highlights. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2026 Company Highlights Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2026 Company Highlights DALLAS – June 4, 2026 5 minute read Continued momentum reflects customer adoption and innovation across retail supply chain solutions, agentic AI and mobile experiences Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder) , the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q1 2026 company highlights. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q1 2026, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its strong momentum in the market by: Adding 30 new customer logos Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 24 key technology industry analyst reports (see full list below) Releasing the findings of its 2026 Supply Chain Compass report (details below) Solution Highlights Blue Yonder continued its innovation momentum, unveiling significant enhancements to its retail supply chain solutions at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference, as well as an expanded set of AI agents and role-specific mobile applications . Retail Supply Chain Solutions Released new AI-driven innovations across end-to-end planning and execution solutions , enabling retailers to increase agility, optimize customer experiences and drive profitable growth. Enhanced AI agents for Merchandise Financial Planning and Assortment Planning to help retailers make faster, smarter decisions to identify profit risks, recommend actions and build optimized assortments based on trend analysis. Added a new mobile companion app for Allocation and Replenishment , enabling planners to review daily store orders, quickly adjust allocations, and confirm quantities on the go. Enhanced Inventory Ops Agent and Shelf Ops Agent to help teams evaluate inventory strategies, update multi-sourcing setup using natural language prompts, and automate complex micro-space planning activities at scale. Expanded order management and returns capabilities with sourcing simulator and rebalancer enhancements, AI models in Smart Disposition engine , and native AI agents for fulfillment and customer service. Introduced new capabilities in Micro Space Planning , including planogram optimization and a new mobile app that helps store associates execute planograms faster and more accurately. Agentic AI and Mobile Experiences Expanded its set of AI agents and role-specific mobile applications for end-to-end planning and execution solutions, built around real customer use cases and feedback to help businesses make smarter, faster, more accurate decisions and boost supply chain resilience. Enhanced AI agents for Merchandise Financial Planning and Assortment Planning, alongside a mobile companion app for Allocation and Replenishment that enables planners to review daily store orders, make changes and confirm final quantities at the DC. Added Fulfillment & Sourcing Agent (beta) to optimize sourcing in real time by analyzing availability, SLA risks and fulfillment performance. Expanded agentic AI for Manufacturing Planning and Transportation Management to automate issue detection and resolution, generate prioritized briefs and recommendations, monitor active loads, correlate them with real-time weather advisories, and uncover feasible backhaul opportunities. Added embedded AI and mobile enhancements for Warehouse Management, including dynamic operational briefs, guided root cause analysis and increased functionality in the Warehouse Operator App. Extended mobile and collaboration experiences with the Orchestrator mobile application and expanded Microsoft Teams integrations to bring agentic insights and workflows directly into collaboration environments. With these enhancements, Blue Yonder is helping organizations connect retail supply chain innovation with broader agentic AI and mobile experiences across planning and execution. The latest innovations help businesses respond faster to change, improve decision-making, streamline operations and deliver better service with greater speed and accuracy. Supply Chain Compass Survey Blue Yonder released the findings of its 2026 Supply Chain Compass report, which provides a comprehensive view of the key strategic priorities of nearly 700 supply chain professionals across North America and Europe. The research found that fewer supply chain leaders believe they are ready for the future now (66%) than last year (73%). Amid widespread uncertainty, leaders’ top two priorities are improving efficiency and productivity and faster, better decision-making, which moved up significantly from last year. Key findings from the report include: Improving efficiency and productivity is the No. 1 strategic priority for 2026, selected by 35% of leaders. Faster, better decision-making rose to the No. 2 spot after ranking seventh in last year’s report. Unified data platforms are the most widely adopted new technology, reflecting continued focus on better visibility and more integrated, data-driven supply chain strategies. The most optimistic leaders are taking an end-to-end approach, collaborating and breaking down silos, and investing in technology, particularly AI and unified data platforms. The report found that nearly half of supply chain leaders are optimistic about the future, with confidence tied to greater visibility, stronger technology adoption, and more integrated, data-driven supply chain strategies. Technology industry analyst mentions in Q1 2026: Gartner: Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems Market Guide for Retail Forecasting, Allocation and Replenishment Solutions: Short Life Cycle Products Market Guide for Unified Commerce Retail Store Inventory Management Applications Market Guide for Warehouse Labor Optimization and Management Systems Market Guide for Retail Forecasting, Allocation and Replenishment Solutions: Long-Life-Cycle Products Innovation Insight: Intensify Focus on Multitier Supplier Visibility Market Guide for Retail Workforce Management Technology Market Guide for Detailed Manufacturing Scheduling Market Guide for Supply Chain Network Design Tools Manage, Optimize and Negotiate Microsoft Costs Tool: Assess the Right Vendor for Warehouse Labor Optimization and Management Systems Tool: Supply Chain Network Design Vendor Shortlist Builder IDC: Retailers Move Toward Unified Decisioning at NRF NRF: Top 5 Retail Supply Chain Takeaways IDC Worldwide Sustainability Software Taxonomy, 2026 IDC Market Glance: Supply Chain Planning, 4Q25 Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Market Shares, 2024: Synchronized Planning Worldwide Supply Chain Warehousing and Inventory Management Applications Software Market Shares, 2024: Intelligent Convergence Forrester: Enterprise Software Latest Earnings In H2 2025 Is The AI Hype Versus Procurement Power Battle About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Ethical AI is a strategic priority for supply chain leaders](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/fast-company-ethical-ai-is-a-strategic-priority) > A smart business strategy takes ethical AI seriously, holding the system accountable for its behavior and ensuring it operates fairly, safely, and transparently. Press Release Fast Company: Ethical AI is a strategic priority for supply chain leaders June 3, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Modern Materials Handling: Information Management: WMS in the cloud](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/modern-materials-handling-information-management) > Warehouse management systems have fully embraced the SaaS model, but vendors are taking different approaches to cloud architecture, customization and AI-enabled innovation. Press Release Modern Materials Handling: Information Management: WMS in the cloud June 1, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-named-2026-amer-snowflake) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, has been named the 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year by Snowflake at its annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 26. This is the fifth year in a row that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Snowflake partner award winner. Press Release Blue Yonder Named 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year Blue Yonder Named 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year SAN FRANCISCO and DALLAS – June 3, 2026 3 minute read Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, has been named the 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year by Snowflake at its annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 26 . This is the fifth year in a row that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Snowflake partner award winner. Blue Yonder was recognized for its achievements as part of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers unify data across internal and external sources to make faster, smarter decisions at scale. The partnership enables Blue Yonder to integrate Snowflake’s data capabilities into its Blue Yonder Platform , allowing companies to access live, real-world data through a single source of truth to improve and accelerate decision-making. By facilitating seamless data sharing and collaboration on a unified platform and leveraging advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, users can execute thousands of supply chain scenarios simultaneously, significantly reducing the cost, complexity and time associated with traditional data marketplaces. “Today’s supply chain operations are dealing with unprecedented levels of demand and disruption, driving the need for robust technology with greater speed, accuracy and agility,” said Chris Burchett, senior vice president, Generative AI, Blue Yonder. “Together, Blue Yonder and Snowflake eliminate silos and provide a unified data foundation that enables companies to make more AI-driven decisions with greater speed and precision than ever before. We’re proud to be named a winner for the fifth consecutive year and look forward to our ongoing collaboration.” Blue Yonder leverages Snowflake as the data foundation for its Cognitive Solutions . These agentic, AI-driven solutions seamlessly integrate planning and execution, enabling supply chain teams to coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows across their end-to-end operations to minimize disruptions, boost performance and drive value. “We’re honored to recognize Blue Yonder as our 2026 AMER Snowflake Product Growth Partner of the Year,” said Amy Kodl, SVP, Worldwide Alliances & Channels at Snowflake. “By combining Blue Yonder’s intelligent supply chain solutions with Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud, we’re helping enterprises increase efficiency, cost savings and resilience while making faster, higher-quality decisions across their entire network.” Learn more about the Blue Yonder and Snowflake partnership in the “ Supply Chain Management With Blue Yonder and Snowflake ” video and the “ Using GenAI To Drive Fast, Precise Decisions For Supply Chain Management ” video interview of Burchett on Data Cloud Now. Check out keynotes from Snowflake Summit 26 live or on-demand here and stay on top of the latest news and announcements from Snowflake on LinkedIn and X . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Reuters: Analysis: Could Hormuz be the crisis that finally makes the world rethink farming?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/reuters-analysis-could-hormuz-be-the-crisis) > When the Strait of Hormuz was blockaded, few people were surprised at the impact that it had on oil prices. But many were shocked at just how important the waterway is for another commodity crucial to the global economy: fertiliser. Press Release Reuters: Analysis: Could Hormuz be the crisis that finally makes the world rethink farming? June 1, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th Consecutive Time](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2026-gartner-wms) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th Consecutive Time Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th Consecutive Time DALLAS – June 2, 2026 3 minute read Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions combine robust functionality, advanced AI capabilities and cloud-native performance to enable intelligent, unified decisioning across warehouse operations Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. This is the 18th consecutive time the company has been recognized in the report. i,ii Blue Yonder is one of only two companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning: Discrete Industries, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems. iii As companies navigate ongoing disruptions and rising cost and labor pressures, Blue Yonder continues to advance its Warehouse Management Solution . Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, one of the company’s Cognitive Solutions , leverages the Blue Yonder Platform and AI data cloud to eliminate silos and enable end-to-end interoperability for unified decisioning and optimization across systems. With predictive and agentic AI, resource optimization, and real-time visibility and execution enhancements, the solution helps customers drive faster, smarter decisions, reduce costs and increase efficiency. “Today’s warehouses must operate more autonomously than ever before,” said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. “We believe being recognized for the 18th time from Gartner underscores our continued innovation and what our customers are achieving with it—increased agility, speed and precision across their warehouse operations.” The product of over 25 years of customer-centric development, Blue Yonder Warehouse Management has been widely adopted, averaging one go-live per business day in 2025. The solution delivers optimized performance and transformative capabilities across all warehouse processes, including warehouse execution, labor management, yard management, load building, and returns processing, among others. Blue Yonder continues to expand these capabilities through ongoing innovation and strategic acquisitions, including One Network and Optoro . Some of the latest innovations and enhancements include: Advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, including the AI-powered Warehouse Ops Agent, provide real-time monitoring, actionable insights, dynamic forecasting, resource orchestration, and advanced slotting to increase efficiency and boost performance Streamlined onboarding and seamless integration with robotics and automation solutions improve utilization, increase throughput and accelerate time to value Comprehensive features and functionality with a cloud-native architecture support customer-specific operating requirements while enabling zero-downtime deployments, peak availability and limitless scalability Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems report here Learn more about Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management Solution here i Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall et.al, 29 April 2026. ii Blue Yonder was previously listed as Red Prairie/JDA/JDA Software; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. iii Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Joe Graham et.al, 18 March 2026. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns et.al, 30 March 2026. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall et.al, 29 April 2026. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder's Chris Burchett on the AI reality in supply chain - and why customers need an honest conversation](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-blue-yonders-chris-burchett) > Blue Yonder SVP of Generative AI Chris Burchett makes the engineering case for owned intelligence - and doesn't shy away from telling customers what the road to the autonomous supply chain actually involves. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder's Chris Burchett on the AI reality in supply chain - and why customers need an honest conversation May 22, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 — Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove isn't nervous to say ‘the agent is the app’ (or that the SI industry is about to become a product feature)](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-blue-yonder-ceo-duncan) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove is being more honest than most enterprise software vendor CEOs out there - an approach that will likely resonate well with customers. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 — Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove isn't nervous to say ‘the agent is the app’ (or that the SI industry is about to become a product feature) May 20, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder's cognitive platform keeps taking shape, and customers are starting to see results](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-blue-yonders-cognitive) > Blue Yonder's ICON 2026 day two delivered a raft of product announcements - including cognitive solutions for category management and production planning - but the more compelling story was the customers on stage starting to show real results from the platform investment. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder's cognitive platform keeps taking shape, and customers are starting to see results May 19, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Knauf's 80% touchless order management goal - and the Blue Yonder foundation being built to reach it](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-knaufs-80-touchless) > Knauf's Chief Supply Chain Officer Dr. Martin Brown explains how the building materials giant is using Blue Yonder's cognitive planning solutions to work towards an ambitious target of 80 per cent touchless order management - and why getting the data and the people right matters more than the technology itself. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Knauf's 80% touchless order management goal - and the Blue Yonder foundation being built to reach it May 19, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder bets everything on Cognitive. The agent is the app and the new operating model is the product.](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-blue-yonder-bets-everything) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove used ICON 2026 to announce a manifesto commitment to automating the software implementation lifecycle itself - signaling that Blue Yonder's ambition goes beyond selling customers new technology and extends to changing how they operate entirely. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder bets everything on Cognitive. The agent is the app and the new operating model is the product. May 18, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder partners with NVIDIA for its model factory, as it targets owned - not rented – intelligence](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-icon-2026-blue-yonder-partners-nvidia) > Blue Yonder has partnered with NVIDIA to build a Model Training Factory on Nemotron open-source models, as CEO Duncan Angove makes the case that supply chain AI demands owned, domain-trained intelligence rather than dependency on costly and imprecise frontier models. Press Release Diginomica: ICON 2026 - Blue Yonder partners with NVIDIA for its model factory, as it targets owned - not rented – intelligence May 18, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces 2026 Partner Award Winners](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-announces-2026-partner-award-winners) > Blue Yonder‘s partners play an important role in helping customers advance their digital supply chain strategies. That’s why at this year’s annual ICON conference, Blue Yonder is proud to announce the winners of its annual Partner Awards, recognizing exceptional partner success over the past year. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces 2026 Partner Award Winners Blue Yonder Announces 2026 Partner Award Winners DALLAS and SAN DIEGO – May 20, 2026 2 minute read Blue Yonder ‘s partners play an important role in helping customers advance their digital supply chain strategies. That’s why at this year’s annual ICON conference , Blue Yonder is proud to announce the winners of its annual Partner Awards, recognizing exceptional partner success over the past year. This year’s winners are: Edge Program Partner of the Year: Honeywell Global LSP Partner of the Year: Capgemini Global Manufacturing Partner of the Year: Deloitte Global Retail Partner of the Year: Accenture Global CPG Grocery Life Sciences Partner of the Year: EY Planning Partner of the Year: EY APAC Partner of the Year: Lenovo MEA Partner of the Year: Microsoft LATAM Partner of the Year: Bluegistics Category Management Partner of the Year: Crisp Supply Chain Execution Partner of the Year: Argano Transformational Partner of the Year: Snowflake Technology Partner of the Year: Microsoft This year’s winning partners helped Blue Yonder expand its market reach, develop and deliver innovation, and accelerate joint customers’ digital supply chain transformations. By helping customers identify, implement and extend the right Blue Yonder solutions, these partners enabled organizations across logistics, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), grocery, life sciences and retail to improve operational performance, increase agility and realize greater value from their Blue Yonder investments. “Our partner ecosystem of valued advisors and technology experts across supply chain, digital transformation and AI does an amazing job helping customers achieve exponential value and faster ROI from Blue Yonder solutions every day,” said Kelley Lear, CVP, General Manager, Global Alliances, Blue Yonder. “This year’s winners stood out for the way they invested in our relationship, supported customers, delivered customer satisfaction and value, and helped to transform supply chains. We’re so proud to recognize their work and congratulate them on this impressive achievement.” To learn more about Blue Yonder’s partners, visit blueyonder.com/partners . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder and Syndigo Partner to Bring Trusted Product Data to Supply Chain Planning and Execution](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-and-syndigo-partner-to-bring-trusted) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, and Syndigo, a global leader in Product Experience Management (PXM) and product content solutions, today announced at Blue Yonder’s ICON conference a strategic partnership to improve the efficiency of supply chain and store operations while improving customer satisfaction. Press Release Blue Yonder and Syndigo Partner to Bring Trusted Product Data to Supply Chain Planning and Execution Blue Yonder and Syndigo Partner to Bring Trusted Product Data to Supply Chain Planning and Execution DALLAS, CHICAGO and SAN DIEGO – May 19, 2026 4 minute read Trusted shared data foundation powers agentic commerce, smarter assortment planning, more reliable planograms and end-to-end supply chain execution for retailers and brands Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, and Syndigo , a global leader in Product Experience Management (PXM) and product content solutions, today announced at Blue Yonder’s ICON conference a strategic partnership to improve the efficiency of supply chain and store operations while improving customer satisfaction. The partnership combines Syndigo’s enriched, GS1-aligned product content, including validated attributes, standardized images and accurate dimensions, with Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions to help retailers and brands plan smarter and execute faster. That trusted data foundation also powers the next generation of agentic commerce, from product discovery through fulfillment. With the ability to leverage both standardized and customizable product data into AI-orchestrated supply chain workflows, the partnership helps organizations onboard products faster, improve the efficiency of execution and ensure products show up as expected in stores. This partnership transforms how trading partners share and collaborate on product data. Using the integration, one simple update within Syndigo cascades to every partner within the Blue Yonder Network, resulting in significant efficiencies, cost savings and prevention of lost sales. Through the partnership, Syndigo’s trusted, enriched and validated product content will integrate with Cognitive Solutions built on the Blue Yonder Platform, for customers that license the applicable Syndigo solutions, making it available across the entire digital supply chain, including network partners. Syndigo’s trusted and validated, GS1-aligned product data flows directly into Blue Yonder workflows in real time, eliminating the manual data cleansing that delays onboarding, distorts demand signals and creates planning exceptions. “As retailers and brands work to improve collaboration across increasingly complex ecosystems, trusted product data is essential,” said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. “Through this partnership with Syndigo, we help customers close the gap between product information and supply chain intelligence, bringing trusted and reliable data into the Blue Yonder Network and Space Planning so planning and execution are built on accurate, customer-ready truth. That helps customers reduce exceptions and make more accurate decisions from supplier onboarding through in-store execution.” Syndigo enables trusted, network-ready product data and enriched product content to flow straight into the Blue Yonder Network of retailers, brands and carriers across the supply chain. The result is faster onboarding, cleaner assortment decisions and fewer back-and-forth cycles because every party is working from the same product information. Within Blue Yonder Space Planning, the integration allows Syndigo to provide GS1-aligned dimensions, standardized images and validated attributes that support planogram creation, optimization and compliance monitoring. This helps customers build higher-confidence planograms on trusted data, resulting in faster resets, fewer exceptions, better performance, and measurable improvements in store execution compliance. As agentic commerce reshapes how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase products, the quality of product data is increasingly what determines which retailer wins a sale. An AI agent making product recommendations or comparisons will favor items with the most accurate, complete and enriched product data, and bypass those with gaps, inconsistencies or missing context. The Blue Yonder and Syndigo partnership is built to help organizations compete and execute in exactly that environment. Together, they close the full agentic commerce loop, from the moment a consumer expresses intent to the moment a product arrives at their door. “Blue Yonder plays a critical role in how many of the world’s largest retailers plan, collaborate and execute,” said Stephen Kaufman, chief strategy & alliances officer, Syndigo. “Together, we’re helping customers move away from fragmented data inputs and toward a single trusted source across all partners, reducing manual effort and ensuring products show up correctly everywhere.” By reducing data-related rework and improving confidence in upstream inputs, the Syndigo and Blue Yonder partnership helps customers spend less time fixing data and more time improving outcomes. Joint users can onboard products faster, improve planogram accuracy and drive more consistent execution from manufacturer to shelf, giving retailers and brands a clearer path from trusted product data to better execution. Supply chain AI is only as good as the data beneath it. Blue Yonder spans the supply chain from factory to enterprise, connecting manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers on a single network. Syndigo spans enterprise to shelf, ensuring every product shows up correctly in physical stores, digital channels and AI-driven commerce environments. Together, their data-powered foundation covers the full journey from planning through execution and from the shelf to the consumer's door and return if needed. To learn more about Blue Yonder Network, visit: https://blueyonder.com/why-blue-yonder/blue-yonder-network To learn more about Blue Yonder Space Planning, visit: https://blueyonder.com/solutions/retail-planning/space-planning To learn more about Product Experience Management and trusted product data from Syndigo, visit: https://syndigo.com About Syndigo Syndigo helps brands, retailers, and distributors drive growth and loyalty through exceptional product experiences. Connecting more than 15,000 brands and 3,500 retailers through the industry’s leading commerce data pool, Syndigo delivers the most complete and composable Product Experience Management (PXM) and product MDM solutions. Companies rely on Syndigo to organize and enrich product data, publish it everywhere they sell, and optimize performance through AI powered insights. Brands and retailers including J.M. Smucker Company, Dole International, Stanley Black & Decker, Colgate-Palmolive, L’Occitane, Unilever, Weber, Boden, Kroger, Sprouts, Menards, and AutoZone drive growth with Syndigo. Learn more at www.syndigo.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2026 ICONic Customer Awards](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-announces-winners-of-2026-iconic) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today recognized the most innovative supply chain companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2026 ICONic Customer Awards Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2026 ICONic Customer Awards DALLAS and SAN DIEGO – May 18, 2026 9 minute read Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today recognized the most innovative supply chain companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference . The ICONic Customer Awards honor customers that are driving digital transformations of their supply chains and delivering measurable impact through exceptional use of Blue Yonder solutions. These organizations are leading with innovation and turning transformation into business results across areas such as customer experience, cost, forecast accuracy, labor, and sustainability. “We are proud to celebrate this year’s winners and the impact they are delivering through their use of Blue Yonder solutions,” said Brittany Easley, chief customer officer, Blue Yonder. “These customers are embracing transformation while propelling their businesses forward. We are grateful to partner with them and congratulate them on this recognition.” The winners of the 2026 ICONic Customer Awards are: The Trendsetter: Linfox This award honors a pioneering leader who has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to introduce transformative innovations, improving processes, efficiency and product quality. The winner demonstrates exceptional creativity and progress, setting new industry benchmarks and driving significant advancements in their industry. Why they won : Linfox moved beyond a collection of bespoke solutions to establish a stable, reusable digital platform through its Digital Freight Network and Blue Yonder Transportation Management . Today, the platform processes 50,000-60,000 integration messages per day and enables new customers to be onboarded in as little as 3-5 business days, down from several weeks previously. More than 2,500 supplier accounts are actively enabled through the customer portal, allowing suppliers to self serve booking and track and trace freight. This combination of enterprise grade reliability, rapid onboarding and high-volume orchestration has set a new benchmark for operating logistics networks at scale. The Groundbreaker: Under Armour This award honors a company that has leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to break new ground in their industry by challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries. The winner’s groundbreaking approach to utilizing technology sets new standards for operational efficiency and inspires transformative change. Why they won : Under Armour is undertaking a multi-year transformation to modernize its end-to-end planning capabilities amid significant operational pressure, with a clear objective to optimize planning across all functions on a single, global foundation. Partnering with Blue Yonder across Demand , Fulfillment , Supply Planning and Merchandise Financial Planning , the team worked to improve planning accuracy, protect consumer needs and manage inventory more effectively across regions, channels and stores. The transformation is set to deliver more disciplined, demand signal-driven forecasting, resulting in lower inventory, improved visibility and a stronger global planning foundation. With this strong foundation in place, Under Armour is poised to leverage AI as an objectively informed collaborator, augmenting planners with deeper insights, highlighting risks and opportunities, and progressively automating elements of the planning process. The Dynamic Operator: FedEx This award recognizes a company that demonstrates exceptional agility and adaptability in their operations by swiftly responding to market demands through the strategic use of Blue Yonder solutions. The winner has adopted dynamic strategies that drive sustained growth and competitive advantage, setting a standard for operational excellence. Why they won : FedEx focused on establishing clear metrics to measure success, such as increased efficiency, cost savings and improved customer satisfaction scores. Through real-time data access, improved reporting and streamlined operations, the company strengthened its ability to respond more effectively to changing demands. The impact included higher retention rates and reduced labor costs, driven by improved satisfaction and a more agile operating model for managers and their teams. The Game-Changer: Hewlett Packard Enterprise This award celebrates the company that has best leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive their future business and meet the changing demands of their customers. The winner has embraced the power of technology to transform their operations, resulting in improved efficiency, customer centricity and profitability. Why they won : Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) advanced a Chain of Custody initiative designed to improve traceability across critical nodes of its supply chain. With Blue Yonder Chain of Custody , the effort created end-to-end, near real-time visibility across inbound and outbound flows and enabled stronger provenance reporting for onboarded data. In turn, HPE gained broader traceability coverage and faster, smarter and more predictable supply chain decisions. The Game-Changer: Conagra Brands Why they won : Conagra Brands set out to reimagine supply chain planning as a modern, automated, high-trust ecosystem built on Blue Yonder, enabling the organization to respond faster to customers, optimize inventory and prepare for next-generation agentic AI capabilities. By scaling Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization and reducing supply planning cycle time from two weeks to less than a week, Conagra Brands improved agility, service and financial performance. The transformation is delivering 80% touchless inventory optimization, 90% touchless production planning, 98% service levels, a 7.4% improvement in case fill rate, and a 13% inventory value reduction. The Accelerator: Zabka Polska The winner of this award has utilized Blue Yonder solutions to accelerate its transformation to meet the evolving needs of its business and customers. This winner exemplifies innovative thinking, sets new standards and inspires excellence within their industry. Why they won : Zabka Polska set out to reimagine personalized retail at scale while supporting the rapid expansion of more than 1,300 new stores every year in Poland and Romania. With Blue Yonder, the company moved from a one-size-fits-all model to full hyper-personalization, generating store-specific planograms automatically and feeding AI-powered data models with store-level inputs to optimize layout and assortment for each location. The result is a model capable of producing hundreds of thousands of planograms annually while supporting rapid national expansion without increasing operational complexity. The Accelerator: Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Why they won : Compañía Cervecerías Unidas set out to transform its logistics operations to make them more efficient and competitive at both the local and regional levels. Through a SaaS-based roadmap built on Blue Yonder Warehouse Management , the company accelerated from a historical pace of two implementations per year to a rigorous target of over four per year for the next six years, while reengineering every legacy system integration to synchronize with Blue Yonder’s Platform Data Cloud. Guided by a process-oriented approach, cutting-edge technology and a people-first focus, the transformation is streamlining processes and empowering the workforce at scale. The Visionary Connector: Knauf This award celebrates a company that excels in fostering collaboration and connectivity through seamless integration using Blue Yonder solutions. The winner’s visionary approach to connectivity demonstrates what is possible with next-generation cognitive supply chains powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud. Why they won : Knauf is working toward a fully automated and connected end-to-end supply chain by 2032, with targets of 80% touchless orders and being the easiest to do business with. Leveraging Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions for Planning— Integrated Business Planning and Demand & Supply Planning —to create a touchless flow, the company is focused on management by exceptions and breaking silos between demand and supply, order management and scheduling for their supply chain. With a global go-live of Demand Planning underway and the blueprint for DSP and IBP progressing, Knauf is already driving transparency and service-level improvements for its customers. The Eco-Leader: Novolex The winner of this award is leading the charge toward a more sustainable future. The winner has woven sustainability into their operations using Blue Yonder solutions to drive sustainable practices throughout their supply chain, resulting in reduced waste, improved energy efficiency and a lower carbon footprint. Their commitment to sustainability sets a high bar for the industry and serves as an inspiration for others. Why they won : Novolex set out to build a digitally enabled, sustainability-driven supply chain with end-to-end visibility and smarter decision-making across one of the packaging industry’s most complex manufacturing and distribution networks. Using Blue Yonder’s unified platform, including Demand Planning , Supply Chain Planning , Sequencing , Order Promising , Warehouse Management , and Transportation Management , Novolex transformed its operations. It improved forecast accuracy by approximately 12%, reduced overproduction, decreased finished goods inventory by 15-20%, optimized transportation routes to reduce miles by 15-20%, and increased warehouse throughput by 20-25%. These operational gains also supported Novolex’s broader sustainability progress, contributing to a 50% reduction in global Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions since 2019. The Innovator: PepsiCo This award recognizes the company that has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive innovation and transformation in their operations. By embracing advanced technologies, the winner has enhanced supply chain efficiency, improved service delivery and optimized logistics processes. The winner demonstrates how digital innovation can revolutionize their industry and inspire excellence across the sector. Why they won : PepsiCo initiated a digital transformation aimed at creating a fully integrated supply chain ecosystem in response to fluctuating demand, supply chain disruptions, rising freight costs, unpredictable carriers, and limited data transparency. The company created a fully integrated supply chain ecosystem and established the Blue Yonder Network as a foundation for a more sophisticated, coordinated supply chain. That has helped PepsiCo collaborate with suppliers, carriers and customers to support end-to-end supply chain processes and visibility from the customer shelf to the farmer. The Trailblazer: Crate & Barrel This award recognizes a forward-thinking organization that is blazing a trail of innovation by harnessing the latest Blue Yonder solutions and cloud technologies. It celebrates pioneers who not only optimize operations with Blue Yonder solutions but also set a benchmark for industry-wide collaboration, inspiring others to embrace a unified vision for success. Why they won : In September 2023, Crate & Barrel launched Bring It Home, a multi year strategy to improve inventory optimization, demand forecasting and delivery speed through AI and automation. Together with Blue Yonder, they are modernizing end to end fulfillment and sourcing, with a strong focus on Omnichannel Order Promising & Optimization . The initiative reduced peak season backorders, improved online conversion through more reliable inventory availability, and increased fulfillment efficiency across distribution centers and stores. What began as a response to peak constraints has evolved into a unified, predictive planning and execution platform that enables smarter decisions, faster operations and sustainable digital growth—delivering greater reliability, personalization and a seamless customer experience. Top Advocate: Nik Haggerty, VP of Transformation, Chalhoub Group This award recognizes an individual for their exceptional dedication and unwavering commitment to advocating for our customers. They consistently go above and beyond to provide references and success stories, building meaningful relationships that make a lasting impact. Through their expertise and passion for advocacy, they have set a shining example and truly enriched the customer experience. Why he won : Nik Haggerty has been a strong advocate for Blue Yonder and a positive champion in the market. In 2025, he spoke on Blue Yonder’s behalf at multiple events and supported the company through numerous reference calls, helping share practical insights with peers and customers. His ongoing engagement and willingness to support Blue Yonder’s solutions make him a trusted voice and valued advocate. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Launches New Cognitive Solutions and AI-Driven Innovations at ICON 2026](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-launches-new-cognitive-solutions) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today announced new Cognitive Solutions for Space Planning and Production Planning and Scheduling. The company also announced new AI agents, user experience enhancements and updates to its planning, warehouse and commerce solutions at ICON 2026, the company’s annual customer conference. Press Release Blue Yonder Launches New Cognitive Solutions and AI-Driven Innovations at ICON 2026 Blue Yonder Launches New Cognitive Solutions and AI-Driven Innovations at ICON 2026 DALLAS and SAN DIEGO – May 19, 2026 7 minute read From factory floor to store shelf, new launches close the gap between supply chain planning decisions and execution Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today announced new Cognitive Solutions for Space Planning and Production Planning and Scheduling. The company also announced new AI agents, user experience enhancements and updates to its planning, warehouse and commerce solutions at ICON 2026 , the company’s annual customer conference. The updates are designed to help customers improve decision-making, automate complex processes, enhance workforce productivity, and respond to disruption with greater speed and precision. “Every solution and update we are announcing today comes back to the same question. Can the person using this system get to a better decision faster?” said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder. “Auditability, scenario modeling, agents that help users act instead of just reporting. These are not just new features. They close the gap between knowing something and doing something about it.” New Cognitive Solutions for Space Planning and Category Management Cognitive Solutions for Space Planning and Category Management are now available on the Blue Yonder Platform and AI data cloud, with a single set of data aligning planograms across assortment and allocation, replenishment, warehousing, and transportation. A change on the store shelf will now flow directly into forecasts, ordering and load builds. With this new capability, built on the Blue Yonder Network, suppliers, store teams and category managers can co-create planograms in real time. This helps them replace email-based collaboration with one planogram, one version of the truth, shared, shaped, and owned by everyone who needs it. On the store floor, associates now have a mobile experience with live planograms and step-by-step guidance, with overnight changes and compliance issues flagged directly on the floor. This gives them AI-assisted insights into inventory changes, ordering details and forecast revisions. New Space Planning capabilities allow retailers to move from cluster-level planogramming and ranging decisions to store-specific decisions grounded in category strategy, commercial priorities, space constraints, and the operational reality of each location, without adding resources or time to achieve the outcome. New Cognitive Solutions for Production Planning and Scheduling Blue Yonder launched its new Cognitive Solutions for Production Planning and Scheduling, designed to close the gap between strategic planning and the factory floor. The solutions are designed from the ground up to connect demand-driven supply planning bi-directionally to the factory floor. Planners can generate feasible plans that account for real material and capacity availability and real resource constraints, while minimizing changeovers and maximizing throughput, all done concurrently. Customers gain a visual command of what is happening across production resources, with the ability to model, adjust and optimize before changes filter into expensive mistakes on the floor. The solution is paired with new capabilities in Blue Yonder's recently released Cognitive Solution for Integrated Business Planning, which surfaces the financial impact of product launch and portfolio rationalization strategies, demand and supply decisions, and sales and marketing plans in one plan, one version of the truth. This provides a concurrent view that tracks the collective impact across the business. Newly added dynamic constraint management capabilities help customers understand the impact of even temporary constraints, such as the unavailability of key components. This includes the impact on the channels, customers and finished goods they serve, in near real-time. AI Enhancements to Increase Operational Resiliency and Reliability When a system issue occurs, every minute spent diagnosing it is time the supply chain is operating in the dark. AI-driven risk monitoring, proactive incident management and automated diagnostics help increase the resiliency and reliability of supply chain operations. They alert and guide users to expert advice, helping them avoid disruptions, detect problems earlier and resolve them faster. Key enhancements include: Predictive Incident Management: AI and ML detect anomalies and identify potential system issues before they become incidents. Automated Root-Cause Analysis: Links system events and signals to automatically identify the likely source of issues. AI-Generated Answers in Search: Provides quick access to the most relevant information, reducing time spent searching across multiple pages and cutting resolution time. AI-powered Digital Assistant: Users can ask questions in their natural language and receive clear, precise answers for products, features and common use cases. New Agents, Enhanced Skills for Existing Agents and UX Enhancements to Enable Agent-Augmented Workforces Personalized, agentic AI experiences that guide and support teams help businesses close the supply chain talent gap and improve staff efficiency. Customers can now replace fragmented portals with one conversational AI interface across desktop and mobile, in any language, personalized to specific needs. They can quickly and confidently take action with real-time, at-a-glance information. They can improve warehouse staff productivity with a secure mobile user experience and agentic AI that supports daily tasks. And they can improve store planning efficiency with AI-assisted insights into inventory changes, ordering details and forecast revisions. Key updates include: New Skills for the Inventory Ops Agent: An agentic ordering workflow that accelerates supplier order approvals while giving planners clear, explainable insight into how each decision was made. A New Workforce Management Knowledge Agent: As part of the Blue Yonder Workforce Management solution deployment, this agent serves as a Blue Yonder expert available to answer questions on the customer’s configured solution and guide solution operators and support personnel. Mobile App for Warehouse Managers: A new mobile application for Android and iOS with improved configuration flexibility, scalability and security. Blue Yonder UX Enhancements: A new, unified user experience across desktop and mobile devices. Enhancements include custom avatars that carry individual preferences into every AI interaction; a new command bar and citations for at-a-glance supply chain details with full transparency into data sources; and comprehensive localization so global operators can engage with full AI functionality in their native language. New Planning Capabilities to Improve User Trust in AI Reasoning and Strengthen Auditability and Trust Supply chain planning decisions face growing scrutiny from regulators, boards and cross-functional teams. Companies need planning systems that can clearly show what changed, who changed it and why. New capabilities in this release give every planner and executive a single source of the truth with advanced audit tracing and explainability. New and enhanced capabilities include: Demand and Supply Insight-Driven Planning: Eliminates black-box planning with AI that explains optimization decisions in plain language. Captures root causes at a more granular level, giving planners visibility into what changed in a forecast, why it changed and how to address it. Manufacturing Planning and Execution Audit and Traceability: Maintains a defensible, audit-ready trail of every forecast change, override and approval for regulatory and governance requirements. Provides unified audit logging across all scenario-level changes, distinguishing planner, manager and executive actions with full before-and-after detail. Intelligent Tagging: Enhances collaboration across organizational silos so teams understand what needs to be adjusted to meet business plan goals. Captures full update lineage when planners, managers and executives modify the same data, preserving approved corridors, risks and opportunities as corporate memory. Blue Yonder Network Supplier Ordering: Based on rules set by users, AI generates purchase orders that balance network constraints, procurement decisions and carrying costs while maintaining or exceeding service levels. Gives planners the ability to automate and monitor SKU availability and optimize inventory quantities, supplier usage and purchase order timing. New Warehouse Capabilities for Smarter Fulfillment and Lower Automation Costs Warehouses are managing more SKUs, more automation vendors and higher returns volumes than ever, while labor costs keep rising. These updates turn static warehouse operations into dynamic, real-time orchestration of work, inventory and automation to maximize resource utilization, increase inventory yield and achieve SLAs at the lowest cost. New and enhanced capabilities include: Advanced Slotting: Facilitates fast and efficient fulfillment by proactively ensuring that SKUs with high future demand are positioned in the ideal forward slot locations. Automation Extensions: Simplifies and reduces the cost of automation integration, modification and onboarding with a vendor-agnostic transformation layer that unifies automation through one flexible interface. Warehouse Returns – Return to Vendor Dispositioning: Orchestrates and simplifies the reverse supply chain with intelligent return-to-vendor capabilities that accelerate credit recovery and reduce revenue leakage. Enables return-to-vendor processing directly within the Warehouse Management Solution, improving operational flexibility across reverse flows. New Capabilities for Order Management and Returns The costs of getting fulfillment wrong, whether through a broken delivery promise, an unnecessary return or excess inventory sitting idle, impact margins and customer loyalty directly. New updates make every inventory decision smarter, more proactive and connected across the entire commerce lifecycle. They improve the ability to forecast and meet customer demand while reducing returns volume, which can be a drain on profits. New and enhanced capabilities include: Commits Service: Transforms fulfillment from reactive monitoring to proactive, performance-driven optimization to protect SLAs and reduce escalations. Analyzes delivery accuracy by comparing promised and actual outcomes. Detects performance risks such as throughput drift and backlog buildup, proactively recommends corrective actions for supply chain disruptions, and surfaces partial fulfillment risks to drive sustained fill-rate improvement. Fulfillment Sourcing Simulator: Simulates future demand and inventory scenarios to proactively optimize sourcing strategies before execution, not after a miss. Online Returns: Delivers personalized, margin-aware return journeys that improve retention and reverse logistics governance. Provides rule-based, personalized return experiences by customer cohort, with new store credit return methods and deeper Blue Yonder Platform integration, including enhanced access controls. Additional Resource: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s latest product release here About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Develops Model Training Factory to Power the Autonomous Supply Chain With NVIDIA](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-develops-model-training-factory) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today announced its Model Training Factory, built on NVIDIA Nemotron, to accelerate the development of specialized AI agents for the autonomous supply chain. Press Release Blue Yonder Develops Model Training Factory to Power the Autonomous Supply Chain With NVIDIA Blue Yonder Develops Model Training Factory to Power the Autonomous Supply Chain With NVIDIA DALLAS and SAN DIEGO – May 18, 2026 5 minute read Purpose-built AI agents will drive the everyday decisions that keep warehouses, factories and stores moving, at the speed and cost autonomous operations demand Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today announced its Model Training Factory, built on NVIDIA Nemotron , to accelerate the development of specialized AI agents for the autonomous supply chain. Unveiled at ICON , Blue Yonder’s annual customer conference, the Model Training Factory is a repeatable system for fine-tuning and testing highly specialized supply chain models. Trained to consistently perform high-value tasks at the level of supply chain subject matter experts, these models are fine-tuned and built to execute complex, multi-step supply chain workflows, working alongside human operators and then graded to ensure high-quality outcomes. Accessed via agentic AI, they will ultimately enable supply chain processes to run autonomously, driving decisions across warehouse management, supply and demand planning, transportation, merchandising and network operations. Blue Yonder and NVIDIA are working together, fine-tuning Nemotron open-source models for agent development, to build and deploy a system that combines NVIDIA’s Nemotron open-source models and NeMo AI tools with Blue Yonder’s four decades of supply chain decisioning, data and operational expertise. Why it matters Supply chain decisioning is extremely complicated, demanding real-time analysis and coordination across globally distributed teams. It requires extreme precision at very low latency across thousands of warehouses, lanes and stores. The next generation of AI assistants will help organizations analyze what is happening in the supply chain faster, with more advanced and precise AI, and faster speed only possible with agentic AI. Enterprises are moving from AI assistants to teams of specialized agents that can perceive, reason, use tools and act alongside human operators at machine speed. The economics of doing that at scale are shifting fast. As coding agents drive a surge in demand for inference, the cost of running large frontier models in production keeps climbing. The model factory addresses these problems with a hybrid approach: frontier models where their breadth is needed, and custom supply chain models trained to work alongside them, delivering the precision and speed individual workflows demand at a fraction of the cost. "Supply chain has always been an AI domain. Our research into how agentic models perform on real warehouse and planning decisioning is exactly why we know where frontier models hit a wall," said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. "Working with NVIDIA, we're building owned intelligence, not rented intelligence—supply chain models trained on the workflows, telemetry, and decision logic that actually run a warehouse or a planning system. This isn't a one-off fine-tuned model. It's a factory, and it produces purpose-built agents at the speed, precision and cost the autonomous supply chain demands." Inside the model factory Blue Yonder is using NVIDIA’s agentic AI stack to build the Model Training Factory: Nemotron open models as the foundation and the NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit for building, evaluating and orchestrating agents. Nemotron's family of model sizes lets Blue Yonder match model size to the job, from compact models tuned for high-frequency warehouse decisions to larger models built for complex multi-step planning. Each model is trained to become an expert in specific tasks, deliver specific outcomes of agentic decisioning and is held to strict evaluation criteria before deployment and as it improves over time. Models are trained on synthetic data, not customer data. Blue Yonder is also using NVIDIA AI Enterprise for the Model Training Factory, combining the microservices, frameworks and libraries for AI development with advanced GPU orchestration and infrastructure management in a fully supported, production-ready commercial software solution. “The next phase of enterprise AI for supply chains requires specialized, affordable and accurate domain-trained agents that can operate within the workflows that run a business,” said Azita Martin, Vice President and General Manager, Retail and CPG, NVIDIA. “Blue Yonder is leveraging NVIDIA Nemotron, the NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit and NVIDIA AI Enterprise to build a Model Training Factory that fine-tunes models with proprietary supply chain data, enabling them to build agentic AI systems for some of the world’s largest and most complex supply chains.” First proof points in the warehouse Blue Yonder plans to roll out the first models against warehouse management workflows, including WMS allocation shorts, inventory exceptions, due-time urgency and inventory across yard and receiving trailers. These are high-frequency warehouse decisions where speed and accuracy directly drive on-time performance, inventory shortages and order cycle times. Subsequent models will extend to the broader Blue Yonder solution portfolio. Inside a warehouse, a shift can fall apart fast. A plan set in the morning is routinely upended by late trucks, equipment failures and shifting priorities, forcing constant reallocation against the clock. A specialized agent can weigh hundreds of trade-offs in seconds, where a human typically considers a handful, and do it cheaply enough to run continuously across every warehouse, every day. A repeatable advantage The model factory turns operational expertise into reusable AI training signals, encoding that intelligence across domains in a repeatable way that can scale across the supply chain. Blue Yonder’s advantage lies in the loop itself: workflows, decision logic, telemetry, subject-matter experts, evaluations, and governed retraining that competitors cannot easily recreate. The first models are expected to enter customer production through Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions later this year. NVIDIA is helping Blue Yonder build the foundation for a new generation of supply chain AI: open at the model layer, specialized at the workflow layer and built to scale across the enterprises that move the world’s goods. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions Learn more about Blue Yonder’s AI Innovation Learn more about NVIDIA Nemotron Learn more about NVIDIA AI Enterprise About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [MC Advances Supply Chain Transformation with Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/mc-advances-supply-chain-transformation-with-blue-yonder-cognitive-solutions) > MC, the retail division of Sonae and a leading player in Portugal’s grocery market and health, wellness, and beauty retail across the Iberian Peninsula, has selected Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions for Allocation and Replenishment to advance its supply chain transformation. With more than 400 stores across multiple formats, MC operates major supermarkets and hypermarkets such as Continente, along with convenience stores, health and wellness shops, and online grocery services. Blue Yonder’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enabled solutions will help the company improve visibility into demand forecasting. The new solutions will be implemented by Blue Yonder Services. Press Release MC Advances Supply Chain Transformation with Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions MC Advances Supply Chain Transformation with Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions PORTO and DALLAS – May 13, 2026 3 minute read Leading retailer strengthens agility with AI and machine learning to improve allocation and replenishment decisions across its network and brands MC , the retail division of Sonae and a leading player in Portugal’s grocery market and health, wellness, and beauty retail across the Iberian Peninsula, has selected Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions for Allocation and Replenishment to advance its supply chain transformation. With more than 400 stores across multiple formats, MC operates major supermarkets and hypermarkets such as Continente, along with convenience stores, health and wellness shops, and online grocery services. Blue Yonder’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enabled solutions will help the company improve visibility into demand forecasting. The new solutions will be implemented by Blue Yonder Services . “The grocery retail sector is adapting to a period of significant change, underlining the need for more agile operations across the supply chain. We needed end-to-end visibility and faster, more accurate inventory planning to address demand uncertainty while prioritizing our business goals,” said Sofia Castro, Head of Supply Chain, at MC. "We were impressed by Blue Yonder’s patented AI and machine learning forecasting capabilities, which help us establish a single source of truth and coordinate decision-making across demand and supply planning. They support our need to serve every part of our retail portfolio, enabling our teams to deliver results more efficiently.” Blue Yonder Allocation and Replenishment solution, powered by the Blue Yonder Platform , offers a multi-echelon inventory planning solution that enables retailers to manage inventory with visibility into constraints across the supply chain. Planners can automate product flow throughout its lifecycle to optimize full-price sales by using forecasts based on actual sales. With Blue Yonder, MC will be able to achieve the following benefits: Increase customer loyalty by having the right product in the right place at the right time, improving inventory fit to regional demand, and preventing spoilage of date-sensitive inventory to reduce waste Reduce manual intervention by considering constraints at the time of calculation Increase inventory turns by accounting for demand uncertainty and optimizing inventory investment Leverage ML-based behavioral clustering to analyze more supply chain planning data than traditional rule-based systems, improving assortment mapping to seasonal buying trends and accelerating inventory turnover Maximize efficiency with seamless workflows across various teams “This initiative by MC reflects a broader trend in which leading retailers are increasingly adopting AI and machine learning-driven solutions to address grocery and retail challenges," said Terry Turner, President, Global CPG, Life Sciences and Grocery, Blue Yonder. "With Blue Yonder, MC will gain AI and machine learning-powered analytics and predictive insights, enabling the company to anticipate market trends and optimize decision-making to exceed customer expectations consistently.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder's AI capabilities Learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions for grocery and convenience About MC MC is a leader in the food retail sector in Portugal and operates a portfolio of food retail formats (Continente, Continente Modelo, Continente Bom Dia, Continente Online and Meu Super), health, wellness and beauty businesses (Wells, Arenal and Druni), as well as other complementary growth businesses (Bagga, Go Natural and note!). About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [The New York Times: Why Do Stores Throw Away So Many Perfectly Good Products? I Went Dumpster Diving to Find Out.](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/the-new-york-times-why-do-stores-throw-away) > Before I flew to Texas to fully immerse myself in the reality of dumpster diving, I spent hours online watching videos of people pulling scores of discarded products out of various stores’ trash bags. Press Release The New York Times: Why Do Stores Throw Away So Many Perfectly Good Products? I Went Dumpster Diving to Find Out. April 28, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: 66% of Leaders Are Actively Working To Reduce Their Supply Chain’s Impact](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-2026-compass-sustainability-survey) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today released the 2026 Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on Sustainability report, which examines North American and European supply chain leaders’ prioritization and perception of sustainability initiatives. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: 66% of Leaders Are Actively Working To Reduce Their Supply Chain’s Impact Blue Yonder Survey: 66% of Leaders Are Actively Working To Reduce Their Supply Chain’s Impact DALLAS – April 20, 2026 5 minute read Nearly half (47%) of large enterprises have dedicated sustainability teams to help direct cross-functional strategies Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today released the 2026 Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on Sustainability report, which examines North American and European supply chain leaders’ prioritization and perception of sustainability initiatives. Blue Yonder surveyed 678 senior supply chain professionals from large enterprises with annual revenue of more than $500 million. Supply chains are responsible for 60% of global carbon emissions. Against that backdrop, Blue Yonder’s data shows sustainability is top of mind for many leaders. Key takeaways: Two-thirds (66%) of leaders are actively working to reduce their supply chain’s impact. Nearly half (47%) of large enterprises have created dedicated sustainability teams. More than half (56%) agree that supply chain operators bear responsibility to help solve problems like inflation and climate change. Only one in five supply chain leaders say they are confident in achieving their sustainability objectives. “Sustainability remains a priority, even in a year marked by immediate business risks like tariffs, disruption and inflation,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “Right now, efforts are primarily focused on improving efficiency and productivity and making faster, better decisions, which can translate into less waste, more sustainable operations and cost savings. Sustainability is no longer a discrete objective, but a strategic element of mature, modern business plans.” How leaders are advancing sustainability Rather than pursuing sustainability as a standalone initiative, many supply chain leaders are advancing sustainability goals through improvements in their operations. More than one-quarter (26%) say data and traceability are the primary actions needed to further sustainability efforts, while 33% identify forecasting technology as a sustainability opportunity. That shift is also visible in how companies are organizing. Nearly half of respondents (47%) say their companies have created dedicated sustainability teams, even as sustainability, in and of itself, becomes less likely to rank as a high priority. Only 12% of supply chain leaders list sustainability among their top three strategic priorities, down from 24% last year. In a year when 68% of leaders cite economic challenges like labor and inflation as top concerns, it’s understandable that some priorities would shift. Sustainability is now viewed as a shared, cross-functional strategy owned by dedicated teams, operations and logistics. AI’s role in sustainability Supply chain leaders are much more likely to associate AI with operational gains than with sustainability outcomes. Respondents’ top three operational benefits of AI were better planning and predictability (29%), better risk management (26%), and better, faster decision-making (23%). By contrast, only 11% believe AI could deliver sustainability benefits, and just 13% cite enhanced traceability as a key benefit of using AI. This suggests that many leaders still view AI primarily through an operational lens, even though the capabilities they value most, including improved planning, faster decisions and better risk management, can also support sustainability by reducing waste and improving efficiency across the supply chain. As AI adoption grows, we can expect greater awareness of how operational proficiency translates into sustainability gains. Leaders say sustainability targets may need to go further One-quarter (25%) of respondents said that current sustainability targets do not go far enough. Another 25% said the right sustainability initiatives will be disruptive to current processes. This underscores that leaders recognize both the urgency of the challenge and the operational change it can require. Industry-leading solutions for smarter, sustainable businesses As the report shows, many organizations are still working to translate sustainability goals into action. That makes better data, better visibility and stronger decision-making tools critical. To help improve reporting accuracy and optimize operational performance through unified, end-to-end insights, Blue Yonder has released several updates to its sustainability solutions: Logistics Emission Calculator: Streamlines global logistics sustainability workflows and data collection with GLEC-accredited, audit-ready transportation emissions measurement, facilitating direct data collection from carriers. Integrations with Blue Yonder Transportation Management Solutions and Network enable carbon emissions visibility at the point of decision making and the ability to optimize transportation plans based on carbon emissions. Sustainable Supply Chain Manager integration with Demand and Supply Planning (DSP): Embeds carbon emissions and waste metrics directly into scenario planning and optimization, allowing planners to simultaneously optimize service levels and carbon impact. This enables leaders to balance end-to-end supply chain cost and holistic operational performance with sustainability goals. Sustainable Supply Chain Manager integration with Allocation and Replenishment: Adds transportation, procurement and waste-related carbon analysis to optimize replenishment plans for end-to-end sustainability impact. “Pursuing sustainable supply chains means changing processes, which is challenging for every organization,” added van Gendt. “Now technology can accelerate change by integrating sustainability into supply chain decision making and optimization while achieving greater adaptability, resilience and staying power in the market.” Read the “2026 Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on Sustainability” report here . FAQs: What is the main takeaway from the 2026 Supply Chain Compass Sustainability report? Two-thirds (66%) of leaders are actively working to reduce their supply chain’s impact. They are pursuing sustainability through efficiency, better decision-making, data and traceability, and dedicated sustainability teams. Is the 2026 Supply Chain Compass Sustainability report the same thing as the 2026 Supply Chain Compass report? The Sustainability report is a breakout analysis from the broader 2026 Supply Chain Compass Report. It focuses specifically on sustainability, whereas the Supply Chain Compass report covers topics like business resilience, technology adoption and leaders’ attitudes toward the future. What are supply chain leaders doing to improve sustainability? They are pursuing overall efficiency improvements, working to make smarter decisions for their business, appointing dedicated sustainability teams and focusing on data and traceability to support sustainability efforts. How does Blue Yonder support sustainability? Blue Yonder’s sustainability solutions include the Logistics Emission Calculator and Sustainable Supply Chain Manager which help leaders track and improve emissions, integrate sustainability into decision-making and make smarter decisions for the future. These tools were enhanced in 2026 with new and improved features. Additional Resources: Read the “Supply Chain Compass 2026” report here . Learn more about Blue Yonder’s sustainability solutions here . Learn more about Blue Yonder’s AI-driven, end-to-end supply chain solutions here . Methodology: For the second consecutive year, Blue Yonder partnered with B2B International, an independent market research agency owned by dentsu, to conduct the Supply Chain Compass research. In autumn 2025, Blue Yonder surveyed 678 senior supply chain professionals at companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue, representing retail, manufacturing and logistics industries across North America and Europe. The research examined the behaviors and attitudes of respondents regarding strategic priorities, disruptions, technology, artificial intelligence, sustainability and business confidence. This report focuses on the relevant sustainability responses. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Sustainability Solved: The Tech That Lets You See Carbon and Cost in Every Supply Chain Decision](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/sustainability-solved-the-tech-that-lets-you-see) > Most organisations know their supply chain is where the bulk of their emissions sit. The problem has always been visibility: if you can't see it, you can't manage it. In this episode, we sit down with Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder, one of the biggest supply chain software platforms on the planet. Press Release Sustainability Solved: The Tech That Lets You See Carbon and Cost in Every Supply Chain Decision April 14, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Industry Today: Closer, Smarter, Stronger: Nearshoring the Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/industry-today-closer-smarter-stronger) > Tariffs and geopolitics drive nearshoring, but volatility and conflicts disrupt routes, delay shipments, and increase risk. Press Release Industry Today: Closer, Smarter, Stronger: Nearshoring the Supply Chain April 10, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Free returns come with a hidden environmental cost](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/fast-company-free-returns-come-with-a-hidden) > Imagine you’re a retailer in January, sifting through boxes of holiday returns. You’re trying to distinguish between worn and unworn clothing, find cracks in electronic device screens, and ensure all accessories are still there, such as laptop cables. Press Release Fast Company: Free returns come with a hidden environmental cost April 9, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Food Dive: How AI is changing food supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/food-dive-how-ai-is-changing-food-supply-chains) > As consumer shopping habits evolve, experts say accurate and on-time deliveries have become more important than ever. Press Release Food Dive: How AI is changing food supply chains April 2, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Inaugural 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-2026-gartner-scp) > Blue Yonder highlights its Cognitive Solutions and unified decisioning in AI-driven supply chain planning. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Inaugural 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the Inaugural 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries DALLAS – April 2, 2026 4 minute read Blue Yonder highlights its Cognitive Solutions and unified decisioning in AI-driven supply chain planning in field Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, was recognized as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions (Discrete Industries) i based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Blue Yonder has been recognized for over a decade for Supply Chain Planning Solutions and is now named in this new report. ii Blue Yonder believes this new recognition reflects the strength and leadership of its solutions and their ability to support complex supply chain environments across industries, worldwide. Blue Yonder attributes its position to its recently launched Cognitive Solutions . These are AI-native and designed to operate at machine speed, scale and precision, allowing teams to seamlessly coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows across all parts of the supply chain from planning to execution. Built on a modern and true cloud architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities, Cognitive Solutions sit on the Blue Yonder Platform , leverage the AI data cloud and the multi-enterprise Blue Yonder Network to break down silos and enable end-to-end interoperability. They are intelligent, agentic, and offer reimagined experiences for users. Blue Yonder’s planning applications include Demand and Supply Planning, Integrated Business Planning, and Production Planning. These solutions are engineered to enable seamless and concurrent planning across every level of the supply chain, aligning teams and organizations through unified decisioning. Blue Yonder highlights three areas of differentiation across its planning solutions: Blue Yonder combines predictive, generative and agentic AI with AI-driven insights, automated workflows and automations that eliminate manual bottlenecks, helping planners achieve faster planning cycles and respond rapidly to market changes. Blue Yonder’s platform is built on a shared data architecture for real-time decisions, with a common interface, workflows, in-memory cube, and database, and the ability to run hundreds of different scenarios in minutes instead of days or weeks. Blue Yonder offers intelligent supply chain planning across forecasting and demand planning, supply planning and optimization, inventory management and optimization, and production planning and scheduling on a cloud-native planning platform. "Today’s supply chains face increasing disruptions, including tariffs, geopolitical changes, new demand patterns, and growing pressure to accomplish more with less," said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder. "We believe being recognized for over a decade for Supply Chain Planning Solutions and now in this inaugural report reflects the advancements we've made with our new AI-driven Cognitive Solutions. We've reimagined supply chain planning on the Blue Yonder Platform to enable unified decisioning across demand and supply so businesses can move at the speed, scale, and precision required by today's complex, volatile global supply chains.” Blue Yonder continues to invest in Agentic AI and autonomous planning capabilities, which are intended to reduce the workload of human planners while supporting decision-making across demand, supply, inventory and production. The acquisitions of One Network Enterprises and flexis AG in 2024 have extended Blue Yonder’s ecosystem visibility and production scheduling capabilities and strengthened its position in end-to-end planning. Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning (Discrete Industries) report here Learn more about Blue Yonder's supply chain planning solutions here i Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, Buse Aras, Julia von Massow, Eva Dawkins, Jan Snoeckx, March 18, 2026. ii Blue Yonder was recognized as a Leader for 12 years in the Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning since the report's inception. This includes consecutive recognitions in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions—Discrete Industries (2026), Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions (2021–2025), Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning System of Record (2014–2020) and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of Differentiation (2015–2019). Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) for the 19th Consecutive Time](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2026-gartner-tms) > AI-based transportation management and multi-enterprise network help organizations respond quickly to volatility and rising costs across the supply chain. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) for the 19th Consecutive Time Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) for the 19th Consecutive Time DALLAS – April 1, 2026 3 minute read AI-based transportation management and multi-enterprise network help organizations respond quickly to volatility and rising costs across the supply chain Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, has again been recognized as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) , based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. This is the 19th consecutive time that Blue Yonder has secured this designation in the report. i,ii Blue Yonder is one of only two companies assessed as a Leader across the three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems. iii Blue Yonder continues to solidify its position as a pioneer in the transportation management space, demonstrating remarkable growth and innovation. The company credits its success to its recently launched Cognitive Solutions , which are agentic, AI-driven and designed to operate at machine speed, scale, and precision. They enable supply chain teams and AI to seamlessly coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows across the entire supply chain, from planning to execution. Transportation management teams face growing pressure from tariffs and trade agreements, supply chain disruption caused by geopolitical events, increased costs for transporting goods and higher customer service expectations. By using AI and machine learning, Blue Yonder Transportation Management helps retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers identify potential areas for improvement and access real-time analytics to better meet customer needs. The Blue Yonder Network provides customers access to more than 172,000 global trading partners and supports over a billion transactions annually, helping improve real-time visibility and collaboration across the entire supply chain. Blue Yonder believes its Transportation Management Solution stands out in three areas: AI-driven Cognitive Solutions that operate at machine speed, scale, and precision, enabling supply chain teams and AI to coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows A modernized user experience that includes generative AI and Logistics Ops Agents Interoperability between Blue Yonder Transportation Management and Blue Yonder Network, helping connect transportation workflows with broader supply chain execution "Transportation leaders face constant disruption," said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. "We believe this Gartner recognition reflects the investments Blue Yonder has made in AI, network connectivity and platform innovation. Blue Yonder Transportation Management gives customers the visibility, intelligence and flexibility to adapt quickly to change and act with confidence." Blue Yonder Transportation Management complements Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, Order Management and Blue Yonder Production Planning, enabling customers to plan and execute across their supply chain from the first mile to the last. Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for TMS report here Learn more about Blue Yonder's Transportation Management solutions here i Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns et.al, 30 March 2026. ii Blue Yonder was previously listed as i2/i2 Technologies/JDA/JDA Software; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. iii Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, Buse Aras, Julia von Massow, Eva Dawkins, Jan Snoeckx, 18 March 2026. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns et.al, 30 March 2026. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, and Federica Stufano, 01 May 2025. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: As AI Transforms The Supply Chain, Humans Are More Valuable Than Ever](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/forbes-as-ai-transforms-the-supply-chain) > The supply chain is often seen as slow-moving: essential, of course, but anchored in sluggish physical processes. AI will change that. Press Release Forbes: As AI Transforms The Supply Chain, Humans Are More Valuable Than Ever March 30, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Fewer Supply Chain Leaders Say Their Organizations Are Ready for the Future in 2026](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-survey-fewer-supply-chain-leaders) > Second annual report finds stark optimism divide among supply chain professionals as disruptions multiply and decision fatigue grows. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Fewer Supply Chain Leaders Say Their Organizations Are Ready for the Future in 2026 Blue Yonder Survey: Fewer Supply Chain Leaders Say Their Organizations Are Ready for the Future in 2026 DALLAS – March 31, 2026 5 minute read Second annual report finds stark optimism divide among supply chain professionals as disruptions multiply and decision fatigue grows Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, released its second annual Supply Chain Compass report today. The report provides a comprehensive view of the key strategic priorities of nearly 700 supply chain professionals across North America and Europe. The research found that fewer supply chain leaders believe they are ready for the future now (66%) than last year (73%). Amid widespread uncertainty, leaders’ top two priorities are improving efficiency and productivity and achieving faster, better decision-making. The report also looked at the 46% of leaders who identified as highly optimistic about the future of their supply chains to find any differences in performance or outcomes over those who were not highly optimistic. Confidence correlates strongly with expected financial performance. The most optimistic leaders are doing things differently—taking an end-to-end approach, collaborating and breaking down silos, and investing in technology, particularly in AI and unified data platforms. As a result, they're much less concerned about disruption or the pace of technological change. Key findings from the 2026 Supply Chain Compass report include: Only 48% of less optimistic leaders believe they are ready for the future, compared to 87% of optimistic leaders. Improving efficiency and productivity is the No. 1 strategic priority for 2026, selected by 35% of leaders, followed by faster, better decision-making, which moved up significantly this year to claim the No. 2 spot after only ranking seventh in last year’s report. While supply chain leaders felt more equipped to handle technological threats or operational issues, they are slowest to be able to effectively respond to geopolitical disruptions . Only 20% of leaders can develop and deploy a response within 24 hours. Another 38% take longer than a week to develop and deploy a response to geopolitical disruptions. Unified data platforms are the most widely adopted new technology, already deployed by 51% of supply chain leaders. AI adoption is widening: 45% are using machine learning and predictive AI today, 24% are using generative AI (double from 2025), and only 8% are using agentic AI. “Supply chain leaders are being asked to make more decisions, more frequently and with less time available,” said Duncan Angove, chief executive officer, Blue Yonder. “In supply chain management, confidence is not simply a mindset. It is built on end-to-end visibility, unified data and practical AI that allows teams to make good decisions quickly and at scale. Blue Yonder enables companies to link together planning, sourcing and execution functions so they can reduce decision fatigue, rapidly respond to disruptions and manage the business with more control.” An emerging confidence gap The 2026 report finds that optimism impacts important business goals. The 46% of leaders who are highly optimistic have confidence in their approaches to building resilience, managing supply chains and establishing priorities. Notably, the less optimistic group is nearly twice as likely to state they need a new approach ( 43% vs. 23% ) than the highly optimistic group. Operational strength first, decision speed second for 2026 "Improving Efficiency/Productivity" was the top strategic priority for 2026, selected by 35% of supply chain leaders. The report also identifies a dramatic shift in importance: faster, better decision-making has become far more important than it was in 2025. As companies continue to invest in technology, they can make faster decisions on a more granular level, and problems will become easier to detect and solve. At the same time, disruptions and complexities will continue to multiply. Making good decisions quickly and at scale has become one of the biggest challenges that leaders face today. Disruption response remains slowest for geopolitics The report illustrates varying response times for different types of disruptions. Geopolitical disruptions are the slowest to be responded to. Only 20% of leaders can develop and deploy a response within 24 hours, while 38% take longer than a week to develop and deploy a response to geopolitical disruptions. Unified data and predictive AI are separating leaders Optimists are more likely to dedicate a technology investment budget, and those budgets are likely to be larger. Optimists are also more likely to have implemented unified data platforms. Among all participants, unified data platforms were identified as the most utilized technology today. Machine learning/predictive AI is the most prevalent form of AI in use in supply chains today. Generative AI is growing rapidly, while agentic AI is in the early stages of adoption. Read the Supply Chain Compass 2026 report here . FAQ: What is the main takeaway from the 2026 Supply Chain Compass Report? Supply chain leaders are divided in their optimism for the future, with 46% expressing more optimism and 54% expressing less optimism. The two groups differ in their strategic priorities and adoption of advanced technology. What are the main differences between more optimistic and less optimistic supply chain leaders? More optimistic leaders are more likely to have large, dedicated investment budgets. They embrace advanced supply chain technologies such as platform-based architectures and unified data platforms. Less optimistic respondents are 2.3x more likely to struggle with slow data sharing, 2.5x more likely to operate in silos, 3.4x more likely to face logistical challenges collaborating with suppliers and 4x more likely to struggle with disjointed supply chains. What are supply chain leaders most focused on today? Supply chain leaders are trying to use technology and strategy to better anticipate and respond to disruptions, especially geopolitical disruptions. Their top priorities are improving efficiency and productivity and making faster, better decisions. Additional Resource: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s AI-driven, end-to-end supply chain solutions here Methodology For the second consecutive year, Blue Yonder partnered with B2B International, an independent market research agency owned by dentsu, to conduct the Supply Chain Compass research. In autumn 2025, Blue Yonder surveyed 678 senior supply chain professionals at companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue, representing retail, manufacturing and logistics industries across North America and Europe. The research examined the behaviors and attitudes of respondents regarding strategic priorities, disruptions, technology, artificial intelligence, sustainability and business confidence. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [The New York Times: Global Food Supply Faces a Dangerous Bottleneck as Iran War Persists](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/the-new-york-times-global-food-supply) > Fertilizer prices are climbing as a result of disruptions in the Middle East, putting global food supplies at risk. Press Release The New York Times: Global Food Supply Faces a Dangerous Bottleneck as Iran War Persists March 27, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [TechTarget: GenAI is ready for more autonomy, but supply chains are not](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/techtarget-genai-is-ready-for-more-autonomy) > Disruptions, vulnerabilities, late deliveries and customer interactions are among the supply chain concerns that GenAI could address autonomously -- if businesses can trust it. Press Release TechTarget: GenAI is ready for more autonomy, but supply chains are not March 24, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SupplyChainBrain: Iran War Threatens Global Food Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supplychainbrain-iran-war-threatens-global-food) > While the Iran war's impact on oil prices has captured much of the attention of global markets, the impacts to the world's food supply chains can't be overstated. Press Release SupplyChainBrain: Iran War Threatens Global Food Supply Chains March 24, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Refocus AI on ROI to unlock a world of new opportunities](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/fast-company-refocus-ai-on-roi) > In 2025, AI’s impact was big, but this year is already shaping up to be bigger and bolder—and bringing even more upside for supply chain operators. We’ve already seen significant advances, with models becoming much more capable in early 2026. Press Release Fast Company: Refocus AI on ROI to unlock a world of new opportunities March 24, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: Blue Yonder expands its agentic AI footprint - from warehouse floors to Microsoft Teams](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-blue-yonder-expands-its-agentic-ai) > Blue Yonder has expanded its agentic AI capabilities across manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and retail, with new mobile execution tools and deeper Microsoft Teams integration. Press Release Diginomica: Blue Yonder expands its agentic AI footprint - from warehouse floors to Microsoft Teams March 17, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SupplyChainBrain: Planning After the Holiday Rush: What Comes Next?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supplychainbrain-planning-after-the-holiday-rush) > Retailers the world round have earned big sighs of relief: They survived the 2025 holiday season. They dealt with massive surges in demand involving billions of moving parts, from raw materials to retail shelves, with factories and tiers of suppliers humming in between. Press Release SupplyChainBrain: Planning After the Holiday Rush: What Comes Next? March 11, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Expands Agentic AI and Mobile Experiences for Industry-Specific Supply Chain Execution](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-expands-agentic-ai-and-mobile) > Blue Yonder today announced an expanded set of AI agents and role-specific mobile applications for its end-to-end planning and execution solutions. Press Release Blue Yonder Expands Agentic AI and Mobile Experiences for Industry-Specific Supply Chain Execution Blue Yonder Expands Agentic AI and Mobile Experiences for Industry-Specific Supply Chain Execution DALLAS – March 11, 2026 5 minute read Blue Yonder today announced an expanded set of AI agents and role-specific mobile applications for its end-to-end planning and execution solutions. These updates to its Cognitive Solutions are built around real customer use cases and feedback to help businesses make smarter, faster, more accurate decisions and boost supply chain resilience. “In today’s complex supply chain environment, teams need a competitive edge to collaborate and adapt to real-world operations and scale across the enterprise,” said Duncan Angove, chief executive officer, Blue Yonder. “Our new agentic AI capabilities and mobile companion applications help teams work faster, assess risks and opportunities instantly, and execute role-specific tasks consistently.” These updates focus on the following key areas: Embedded solution AI/ML, agentic AI and modern user experiences that enable anywhere engagement to break through barriers. What's new: Retail Planning AI: Enhanced AI agents for Merchandise Financial Planning and Assortment Planning empower retailers to make faster, smarter decisions to identify profit risks and recommend actions, as well as build optimized assortments based on trend analysis. And a new mobile companion app for Allocation and Replenishment enables planners to review daily store orders, quickly adjust allocations and confirm quantities on-the-go for unmatched flexibility. As a result, planning teams are more effective, delivering better results that are less prone to human error, and with more time to focus on higher impact initiatives. Retail Mobile Allocation and Replenishment app: This mobile companion application enables teams to review daily store orders on mobile, make changes, and confirm final quantities at the DC. Fulfillment & Sourcing Agent (beta): In addition to embedded AI updates for retail planning, new agentic AI optimizes sourcing in real time by analyzing availability, SLA risks, and fulfillment performance to improve decision transparency and operational efficiency. Agentic AI for Manufacturing Planning: New agents boost planner productivity by automating issue detection and resolution across demand, supply, and inventory plans. AI agents generate briefs that explain metric degradation, root causes, monetary impact, and prioritized actions, while teams can explore agentic resolution options through deep analysis of plan constraints, recommendations and quick scenario generation and comparison, all through a natural-language orchestrator. Agentic Transportation Management: With this release, AI agents can continuously monitor active loads and correlate them with real-time weather advisories. Enhancements include machine learning-based route guidance and support for uncovering feasible backhaul opportunities to help reduce empty miles and lower transportation costs and emissions. Warehouse Management AI: Embedded AI continuously monitors Warehouse Management system (WMS) operational signals and translates live data into clear insights for roles such as operations managers and supervisors. Updates include dynamic operational briefs with recommended actions and guided root cause analysis for key exceptions, including late shipment rate and short order analysis. WMS Mobile Application: Increased functionality in the Warehouse Operator App supports pallet-level workflows across inventory, receiving, picking and loading, as well as the ability to configure and tailor the app. Customer Service Agent (beta): Empowers customer-facing teams to manage inquiries, resolve order issues and deliver exceptional customer experiences effectively. Orchestrator mobile application: Provides direct access to Blue Yonder agentic AI, supporting supply chain efforts anywhere and anytime that optimizations need to be made and challenges need to be addressed. Expanded Microsoft Teams integrations: With this release, Teams can be used for increased human and AI collaboration, bringing agentic insights and workflows directly into collaboration environments to enable faster, more informed decisions. These enhancements advance Blue Yonder’s strategy to deliver enterprise-ready agentic AI that scales across planning and execution. With these advancements, we help organizations achieve faster execution and greater resilience across their supply chains. Execution wherever work happens Blue Yonder continues to expand its mobile execution capabilities through the Orchestrator app, enabling users to control supply chain processes in real time on any device. Our mobile apps now support shelf management, inventory, logistics, network operations, and planogram compliance–connecting tasks from warehouse to storefront. Integration with Microsoft Teams ensures seamless, collaborative execution in the flow of work. Extensible user experiences and enterprise integrations With expanded UI and UX extensibility, customers and partners can tailor experiences on top of the platform while maintaining consistency across applications and user personas. These deeper Microsoft Teams integrations make it easier for users to access and apply agentic capabilities where work happens, reducing friction and speeding up execution. This extensibility supports enterprise-scale adoption by allowing organizations to adapt experiences to their needs without sacrificing governance, reliability, or long-term platform integrity. Scaling agentic intelligence across the supply chain Each enhancement advances Blue Yonder’s strategy to lead AI for supply chain management and anywhere engagement, empowering teams to break down silos, improve collaboration across planning and execution, and integrate into the everyday workflows of supply chain teams. By combining agentic intelligence with mobile execution and extensible user experiences, Blue Yonder helps organizations move beyond fragmented solutions and future promises to achieve faster execution and build resilient, future-ready supply chains. Existing Blue Yonder customers can also take advantage of Blue Yonder AI Advisory to deliver agents that support customer success and deliver rapid ROI on their existing Blue Yonder solutions, regardless of the version. The Blue Yonder AI Advisory Team is a group of experts dedicated to providing AI-driven solutions for supply chain management. They work closely with clients to optimize end-to-end operations using agentic AI combined with advanced machine learning and predictive analytics to deliver outcomes. To date, AI Advisory agents address pain points across areas such as inventory and supply, warehouse operations, shelf and planogram compliance, logistics execution, and allocation and replenishment. Additional Resources: Learn more about our UX here Learn more about Microsoft Teams integration here About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [DC Velocity: WMS gets dynamic, and users adapt](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/dc-velocity-wms-gets-dynamic-and-users-adapt) > Artificial intelligence is allowing warehouse management systems to become nimbler and more responsive, reacting dynamically to operational changes in real time. WMS users are learning to use those new capabilities, step by step. Press Release DC Velocity: WMS gets dynamic, and users adapt March 4, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain 24/7: How CDC Vaccine Changes Are Reshaping Pharma Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-chain-247-how-cdc-vaccine-changes) > When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updates its childhood vaccine schedule, the impact reaches far beyond doctors’ offices. In this Q&A, Tiffany Brewer, a Senior Director at Blue Yonder, explains how the new guidance is reshaping demand forecasts, production planning, and cold-chain logistics across the pharmaceutical supply chain. Press Release Supply Chain 24/7: How CDC Vaccine Changes Are Reshaping Pharma Supply Chains February 20, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 523: Q1 Kick-Off: Discover the Strategies and Steps You Need to Take Now, with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/lets-talk-supply-chain-523-q1-kick-off) > Today, Duncan Angove, Chief Executive Officer at Blue Yonder, joins me to talk all about supply chain in 2026 and beyond. We’ll be exploring the biggest challenges and opportunities for the year ahead and what leaders need to do next. Press Release Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 523: Q1 Kick-Off: Discover the Strategies and Steps You Need to Take Now, with Blue Yonder February 16, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Lamipak Boosts Global Supply Chain Performance and Resilience With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/lamipak-boosts-global-supply-chain-performance) > Leading aseptic packaging company will implement Blue Yonder Network to drive greater agility, efficiency and cost savings. Press Release Lamipak Boosts Global Supply Chain Performance and Resilience With Blue Yonder Lamipak Boosts Global Supply Chain Performance and Resilience With Blue Yonder KUNSHAN, China and DALLAS – February 12, 2026 3 minute read Leading aseptic packaging company will implement Blue Yonder Network to drive greater agility, efficiency and cost savings Global supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, driving companies to adopt intelligent, autonomous solutions that can anticipate, analyze and rapidly resolve issues across their multi-enterprise network. That’s why Lamipak is teaming up with Blue Yonder to gain end-to-end visibility, collaboration and orchestration across its global supply chain operations with Blue Yonder Network . Founded in 2007, Lamipak is a leading producer of high-quality aseptic packaging, providing innovative, sustainable solutions to customers in over 80 countries. With its fast-growing customer base and production volumes, Lamipak sought an advanced, interconnected solution to effectively navigate variability and volatility and optimize cross-border supply chain management. Blue Yonder Network enables Lamipak to seamlessly connect with trading partners including customers, suppliers and carriers to synchronize plans and actions across its entire supply chain ecosystem. Leveraging Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center —a next-generation control tower solution—Blue Yonder Network provides real-time visibility, AI-driven recommendations and multi-party collaboration, enabling Lamipak to quickly identify and respond to disruptions and changes to improve operational efficiency. “Amid ongoing supply chain disruptions and instability, we needed a robust, scalable solution to effectively manage our rapid growth across regions while continuing to meet the evolving demands of our customers globally,” said Ricky Zhou, project manager, Lamipak. “By implementing Blue Yonder Network, we will gain end-to-end visibility and enhanced intelligence, enabling us to successfully navigate complexity and uncertainty while streamlining operations, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction.” With Blue Yonder, Lamipak will be able to: Access a single data cloud and end-to-end visibility of inventory, shipments and orders across all trading partners to increase operational agility. Facilitate multi-party coordination and orchestration to optimize the flow of goods, improve time to market and support profitable growth. Continuously monitor for shifting demand, capacity and lead times and receive proactive risk and exception alerts to reduce latency and increase resilience. Leverage advanced AI capabilities and data-driven insights to improve and accelerate decision-making and increase performance and service levels. “Supply chain resilience is crucial for a company like Lamipak, whose expansive global network and steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction heavily depend on efficiency, agility and reliability,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We’re excited to support Lamipak in their digital transformation journey by providing a comprehensive, scalable solution that will enable them to strengthen their partnerships, gain a competitive advantage and drive sustainable growth.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Network Learn more about Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center About Lamipak Lamipak is a global aseptic packaging company established in 2007, with manufacturing operations in China and Indonesia and customers in more than 80 countries. The company works closely with food and beverage brands to deliver safe, reliable packaging while providing services that support product development and market growth. Sustainability is a key focus, reflected in Lamipak’s use of responsibly sourced materials and continuous investment in circular and low-impact solutions. For more information, please visit https://www.lamipak.biz/ . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Shop Eat Surf Outdoor: Companies Launch Myriad AI Products for Retailers and Brands at NRF 2026](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/shop-eat-surf-outdoor-companies-launch-myriad-ai) > From the warehouse floor to the retail floor, from merchandising to supply chain, we have a sampling of some of the AI retail-related products that companies debuted on the show floor. Press Release Shop Eat Surf Outdoor: Companies Launch Myriad AI Products for Retailers and Brands at NRF 2026 February 10, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Your Supply Chain is Only as Secure as the Weakest Link](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-demand-chain-executive-your-supply-chain) > Now is the time for organizations to bolster their defenses and protect themselves from security breaches. Press Release Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Your Supply Chain is Only as Secure as the Weakest Link February 9, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases New Solution Enhancements](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-releases-q4-2025-company) > Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q4 2025 company highlights. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases New Solution Enhancements Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases New Solution Enhancements DALLAS – February 9, 2026 5 minute read Company momentum reflects strong customer adoption and continued innovation of AI-driven supply chain capabilities Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder) , the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q4 2025 company highlights. Annual Company Highlights In FY25, Blue Yonder continued to show its end-to-end strength in the market, including: FY25 company revenue was $1.42 billion, including 10.4% SaaS revenue growth year-over-year. Net revenue retention was 103.8% . Gained a total of 114 new customers in FY25. Included in over 90 key technology industry analyst reports in FY25 from Gartner, IDC, Forrester, Nucleus, IHL, Everest, and Verdantix among others. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q4 2025, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its strong momentum in the market by: Adding 29 new customer logos . Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 21 key technology industry analyst reports and recognition by key industry awards in Q4 2025 (see full list below). Winning the 2025 Microsoft Global ISV Partner of the Year , as well as being named a finalist in the Global Retail & Consumer Goods category. Blue Yonder was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft Cloud Applications, services, devices, and AI innovation during the past year. Learn more here . Releasing the findings of its 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey , which explored the pressures faced by retailers and logistics service providers and examined how consumers are reimagining their holiday shopping and shipping strategies. The survey found that while over 53% of consumers expect packages to arrive within two to four days, only one-third are very confident about the delivery date. The survey also found that many consumers are willing to explore alternative shipping methods to reduce costs, delivery time and environmental impact. Explore the full survey findings here . Solution Highlights Blue Yonder continued its innovation momentum, unveiling significant enhancements to its Demand and Supply Planning and Warehouse Management solutions. Demand and Supply Planning Introduced insight-driven scenario planning that simulates real-time events and recommends plan changes to help teams hit service, financial, market share and greenhouse gas goals. Added higher-precision supply solvers for challenges like excess inventory, shelf-life constraints, attribute-based planning and complex bills of materials. Launched the Inventory Ops Agent to help planners move from exception chasing to proactive, root-cause diagnosis and guided actions (such as alternate sourcing, expediting and demand swaps). Extended collaborative planning through the Blue Yonder Network so teams can adjust inventory, reroute shipments, engage alternate suppliers and reallocate capacity in near real time. Integrated Sustainable Supply Chain Manager to quantify emissions and waste impacts. Improved interoperability with logistics and warehouse execution constraints. Warehouse Management Added AI-driven capabilities to help operators see and respond faster during the day, including the Warehouse Ops Agent for dynamic daily briefs and real-time monitoring that surfaces actionable insights. Introduced new resource orchestration and forecasting capabilities to support intraday decisioning by dynamically matching labor, equipment and tasks based on shifting priorities, skills and bottlenecks. Applied AI and machine learning to improve forecasts from weeks down to minutes ahead of a shift. Expanded advanced slotting to continuously update slot plans using real-time demand signals. Accelerated robotics and automation value with faster onboarding for more than a dozen automation vendors and real-time communication to reduce batching and handle automation failures. Introduced AI-powered migration tools to streamline upgrades and reduce deployment complexity and time. With these enhancements, Blue Yonder helps customers sense disruption faster and respond with precision and confidence, using AI-driven, insight-led planning and real-time warehouse execution to improve service levels, reduce cost and waste, and align decisions to financial and sustainability goals. “Supply chain teams are being asked to deliver faster service and stronger performance, even as disruption and complexity keep rising,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Our continued momentum reflects that customers are choosing Blue Yonder’s AI-driven solutions to unify planning and execution, turn data into insights and faster decisions and essentially build more resilient supply chains.” Industry Recognition Blue Yonder was honored with key industry awards in Q4 2025, including: Named a 2026 FreightTech 100 winner by FreightWaves Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer, being named a 2025 Top 100 Corporate Impact Leader by ChangeLeaders. Technology industry analyst mentions in Q4 2025: Gartner Voice of the Customer for Warehouse Management Systems Market Guide for Yard Management Open Semantic Interchange Promotes Unified Metadata as the Key to Unlock Agentic Analytics Competitive Landscape: Retail Unified Price, Promotion, and Markdown Optimization Solutions Open Semantic Interchange Unlocks the Composite Semantic Layer Tool: TMS Implementation Partner Finder IDC IDC Market Glance: Concept-to-Consumer Retail Supply Chain, 4Q25 IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Blue Yonder Ecosystem Services 2025–2026 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Overall Ecosystem Services 2025–2026 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain All Other Ecosystems Services 2025–2026 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Price Optimization Solutions 2025–2026 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2025 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Workforce Management (WFM) and Compliance 2025 Vendor Assessment AI-Driven Supply Chain Optimization and Thresholds of Acceptability Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Warehousing and Inventory Management, 2025 Nucleus WMS Technology Value Matrix 2025 TMS Technology Value Matrix 2025 Forrester The Retail Planning Platforms Landscape, Q4 2025 Empower Procurement To Build Resilient Supply Chains And Drive High-Performance IT Develop Your Vision For Agentic AI In Supply Chain Management Everest Into the Order Management System (OMS) Verse: Market Outlook, Trends, Challenges, and Provider Landscape Join Blue Yonder May 17-20 at ICON 2026 at the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in San Diego. The premier supply chain conference will bring customers, partners and industry leaders together and feature 150+ sessions, including keynotes, breakouts and onsite networking. Registration is now open. Learn more here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Management Review: Successful AI in retail only works when operations change with it](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supply-chain-management-review-successful-ai) > After years of pilots and dashboards, retailers are learning that AI improves outcomes only when it reshapes how planning, execution, and decision-making actually work on the ground. Press Release Supply Chain Management Review: Successful AI in retail only works when operations change with it February 2, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SupplyChainBrain: Why Agentic AI Belongs on Every Supply Chain Roadmap](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supplychainbrain-why-agentic-ai-belongs) > Supply chain leaders can’t change external factors and disruptions. But when it comes to technology that drives warehouses forward, the future is bright. Becoming a more agile, responsive, data-driven organization means embracing advanced technology, especially agentic artificial intelligence. Press Release SupplyChainBrain: Why Agentic AI Belongs on Every Supply Chain Roadmap February 2, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: Seven capabilities that separate modern supply chain platforms from legacy tools](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-seven-capabilities-that-separate) > Blue Yonder's Salil Joshi identifies the seven pillars that enable efficient, agile, AI-powered supply chains. Press Release Diginomica: Seven capabilities that separate modern supply chain platforms from legacy tools February 5, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Newsweek: AI Impact: Why Is Trust the Key to Unlocking Value with AI?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/newsweek-ai-impact-why-is-trust-the-key) > This is AI Impact, Newsweek's weekly newsletter where each week, we will explore how business leaders are unlocking real value through artificial intelligence. Press Release Newsweek: AI Impact: Why Is Trust the Key to Unlocking Value with AI? January 30, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [DC Velocity: Transportation and logistics providers see 2026 as critical year for technology to transform business processes](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/dc-velocity-transportation-and-logistics-providers) > As market challenges increase, cost pressures rise, and supply chains evolve, so too must the technologies that shippers and logistics operators deploy to plan, stage, move, track, and deliver the freight that keeps supply chains flowing. Press Release DC Velocity: Transportation and logistics providers see 2026 as critical year for technology to transform business processes January 29, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Logistics Viewpoints: AI in Transportation: The Next Frontier for Logistics Excellence](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/logistics-viewpoints-ai-in-transportation) > The logistics sector is entering a new era, where artificial intelligence is emerging as the essential driver for operational excellence. Nowhere is this impact more profound than in transportation, the beating heart of supply chain performance. While technology investments have long connected various systems, it is AI that is finally bridging the remaining gaps—democratizing optimization, slashing costs, and enabling real-time, data-driven decisions that keep goods moving efficiently. Press Release Logistics Viewpoints: AI in Transportation: The Next Frontier for Logistics Excellence January 26, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: Blue Yonder's Chief Innovation Officer - how retail AI shifted from 'budget to spend' to delivering value](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-blue-yonders-chief-innovation-officer) > Andrea Morgan-Vandome discusses how AI in retail has moved from "what can we do with our budget" to "how do we deliver measurable value and drive adoption" - and Blue Yonder's latest product updates. Press Release Diginomica: Blue Yonder's Chief Innovation Officer - how retail AI shifted from 'budget to spend' to delivering value January 23, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [The Robin Report: NRF Trade Talks: Four Unique Perspectives](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/the-robin-report-nrf-trade-talks) > Shelley caught up with four innovators at NRF 2026 to get their takes on the retail industry and an outlook for this year. Their conversations ranged from managing returns and geo-location insights to advanced tools for managing inventory. Listen and learn from the experts. Press Release The Robin Report: NRF Trade Talks: Four Unique Perspectives January 16, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SupplyChainBrain: The GLP-1 Effect: How Weight Loss Drugs are Reshaping Food and Pharma](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/supplychainbrain-the-glp1-effect) > As GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have moved from a niche treatment to a mainstream prescription, their impact is starting to show up well beyond pharmacies, as they've quietly reconfigured supply chains stretching from drug manufacturing and cold-chain logistics, to grocery shelves and food production lines. That's because the drugs don't simply facilitate weight-loss; they have also been found to profoundly change patients' eating habits. Press Release SupplyChainBrain: The GLP-1 Effect: How Weight Loss Drugs are Reshaping Food and Pharma January 22, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: In retail’s AI transformation, smart strategies (not speed or spending) will define the winners](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/diginomica-in-retails-ai-transformation-smart) > Blue Yonder’s Jim Hull says retail winners will be those who plan AI adoption carefully, co-create strategies with users, build human capabilities, and unify data to enable end-to-end visibility across networked platforms. Press Release Diginomica: In retail’s AI transformation, smart strategies (not speed or spending) will define the winners January 21, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 516: Innovation, Transformation, and Modern Supply Chains, with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/lets-talk-supply-chain-516-innovation) > Today I’m joined by Blue Yonder, a business that’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. Press Release Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 516: Innovation, Transformation, and Modern Supply Chains, with Blue Yonder January 19, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Transforms Retail Supply Chains With New AI-Driven Innovations for Unified Planning and Execution](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-transforms-retail-supply-chains) > Retail supply chains are facing immense pressure today, as rising complexity and siloed operations are leading to shrinking margins and unhappy customers. To address these challenges, Blue Yonder has released new AI-driven innovations across its end-to-end planning and execution solutions, enabling retailers to increase agility, optimize customer experiences and drive profitable growth. Press Release Blue Yonder Transforms Retail Supply Chains With New AI-Driven Innovations for Unified Planning and Execution Blue Yonder Transforms Retail Supply Chains With New AI-Driven Innovations for Unified Planning and Execution DALLAS – January 9, 2026 7 minute read Latest solution enhancements enable precision forecasting, optimized inventory management and smart, real-time decisioning Retail supply chains are facing immense pressure today, as rising complexity and siloed operations are leading to shrinking margins and unhappy customers. To address these challenges, Blue Yonder has released new AI-driven innovations across its end-to-end planning and execution solutions, enabling retailers to increase agility, optimize customer experiences and drive profitable growth. “Increasing customer demands for speed, personalization and convenience are driving the need for connected, data-driven supply chain solutions that deliver speed and precision while protecting a company’s bottom line,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “By leveraging AI-driven capabilities, unified decisioning and an intelligent multi-enterprise network, our latest innovations help retailers adapt to market volatility, optimize resources and deliver delightful customer experiences at scale.” The latest enhancements come on the heels of the company’s launch of new AI-powered, platform-driven Cognitive Solutions in the summer of 2025. Recent innovations include: Innovations in unified supply chain planning Planning agents for speed and flexibility Blue Yonder is transforming retail planning with machine learning (ML) and AI-driven capabilities that optimize inventory strategies, improve forecast accuracy and dynamically align plans with market changes and operational realities. Enhanced AI agents for Merchandise Financial Planning and Assortment Planning empower retailers to make faster, smarter decisions to identify profit risks and recommend actions, as well as build optimized assortments based on trend analysis. And a new mobile companion app for Allocation and Replenishment enables planners to review daily store orders, quickly adjust allocations and confirm quantities on-the-go for unmatched flexibility. As a result, planning teams are more effective, delivering better results that are less prone to human error, and with more time to focus on higher impact initiatives. The updated Inventory Ops Agent empowers forecasters, allocators and re-buyers to leverage AI to evaluate whether current inventory strategies are achieving desired business outcomes, while exploring suggestions for further gains. Additionally, the agent now facilitates updates to multi-sourcing setup using natural language prompts, boosting efficiency and elevating success. Shelf Ops Agent has been enhanced to enable micro-space planners to automate complex activities—from planogram edits to product substitutions—at-scale using natural language, all while delivering visibility into underlying performance and improving decision-making. Real-time order and returns orchestration With AI-powered orchestration delivering real-time inventory visibility, precise fulfillment and best-in-class returns across every omnichannel touchpoint, Blue Yonder is transforming order management and returns. Enhancements to sourcing simulator and rebalancer now enable order-driven demand planning across fulfillment nodes, helping retailers make better planning decisions and proactively redistribute orders across locations while improving ideal order placement and fill rates. Smart Disposition engine now includes new AI models to maximize revenue, predicting resale value across locations and routing returned inventory to the optimal place for margin recovery. Enhanced Order Management with native AI agents—including a new fulfillment agent that provides real-time inventory visibility and automated recommendations to resolve sourcing and fulfillment issues proactively, as well as a customer service agent that empowers customer-facing teams to manage inquiries, resolve order issues and deliver exceptional customer experiences effectively. Over the 2025 Thanksgiving weekend, Blue Yonder surfaced inventory availability to its customers in as quickly as 10-12 milliseconds and estimated delivery dates for over 1.2 billion SKUs, driving improved conversion for retailers. Together, these innovations help retailers optimize margins—from click to purchase to return—and elevate the end-to-end customer experience. Connected merchandising to meet store-specific requirements Leveraging AI-based orchestration and recommendations, Blue Yonder Micro Space Planning enables retailers to create assortment-driven shelf and display plans that maximize product impact across every store. Planogram optimization : Utilizing Blue Yonder’s built-in ML engine, the solution uses rough-cut assortment data and changing, market-specific demand requirements to generate localized, store-level planograms at-scale, removing the need for store-specific templates, merchant intent or consumer preference rules. Planogram execution : A new mobile app empowers store associates to receive planograms on their phones, ensuring faster, more accurate planogram implementations that guarantee higher customer satisfaction and more consistent in-store experiences. Planogram compliance : Store associates can further use the mobile app to take an image of the new display and communicate it back to the planner, allowing for in-the-moment identification of variances from the planogram. This information is instantly available to management to take into consideration for future store-specific planograms. Innovations in supply chain execution Warehouse operations that sense, predict and flex to optimize for efficiency Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution now helps soft-lines, grocery and general merchandise retailers to manage growing operational complexity with pull-based streaming that improves agility, maximizes capacity utilization, increases performance, and ensures continuous operations. The enhanced Warehouse Ops Agent provides explainable, actionable insights and pre-shift reviews to dynamically optimize resources and slotting plans to maximize throughput without disruption. When combined with Blue Yonder’s 3D load-building and transportation route and load optimization capabilities, retailers gain a distinctive competitive advantage. In the first 10 months of 2025 alone, Blue Yonder optimized over 23 million human tasks in warehouses. Seamless and intelligent logistics at scale Advancements in warehouse and transportation management enable retailers to streamline workflows, automate tasks and improve collaboration to deliver greater value across the end-to-end supply chain. The enhanced Logistics Ops Agent features a modern, persona-based UX that empowers teams to work more efficiently. It also includes expanded capabilities to proactively identify challenges such as unrouteable loads and offer resolutions such as backhaul opportunities to increase cost savings and delivery speed. “By embedding AI across its end-to-end solutions, Blue Yonder enables retailers to unlock greater value and agility across their operations,” said Jordan Speer, Research Director, Worldwide Retail Product Sourcing, Fulfillment and Sustainability Strategies, IDC. “Through innovations that allow planning and execution to work essentially in tandem by letting AI uncover constraints, disruptions, accurate inventory counts, and so forth, Blue Yonder surfaces actionable intelligence for quick, optimal decisions that cut waste and cost while creating opportunity to serve the customer better while driving profitable growth.” These innovations further strengthen Blue Yonder’s retail solutions which include the Blue Yonder Network , a multi-enterprise supply chain network that provides retailers access to over 172,000 global trading partners, and the Blue Yonder Platform to create an integrated, efficient, and responsive retail supply chain. Blue Yonder will showcase its latest innovations at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show , Jan. 11-13, 2026, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. In addition to solution demos at the company’s booth #4239, other highlights at the show include: Big Ideas Session : Join Blue Yonder’s Big Ideas Session, “Smashing Retail Silos with AI-powered Network Transparency,” on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, at 10:15am EST. Blue Yonder customers Tom Farrell, VP of merchandising systems and technologies at Fabletics, and Amit Kulkarni, VP of supply chain, merchandising & co-op brands tech at REI, will join Andrea Morgan-Vandome, chief innovation officer at Blue Yonder, to discuss how end-to-end visibility and collaboration and AI-driven insights are helping retailers achieve real results across planning and execution. Playoff Football Watch Party : Blue Yonder will host a watch party for the NFL playoffs on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, from 6-9pm EST for supply chain and retail leaders. Sponsored by Microsoft and Hakkoda, this invite-only event will feature meet-and-greets with former XXXVI Super Bowl champion Drew Bledsoe and Super Bowl XLII champion Antonio Pierce. Deep Dive Conversation at NRF Rev : Join Blue Yonder at NRF Rev for a Deep Dive Conversation titled, “Return. Restock. Resell. How AI Turns Returns into Revenue-Ready Inventory,” on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 12pm EST. This session will explore how AI-powered solutions and an omni-inventory approach enable retailers to transform returns from a cost drain into a growth engine. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management Solution enhancements here Learn more about Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management Solution enhancements here Learn more about Blue Yonder at NRF here About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: History Shows Supply Chain Leaders Should Put The User First](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/forbes-history-shows-supply-chain-leaders) > Supply chain innovation is about building the future of global commerce—but sometimes, it’s important to look back at the past. When it comes to user experience (UX), for instance, history holds important lessons for today’s supply chain leaders. Press Release Forbes: History Shows Supply Chain Leaders Should Put The User First January 6, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Defense Solutions Welcomes Lieutenant General Michael S. Cederholm as CEO](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/blue-yonder-defense-solutions-welcomes-lieutenant) > Blue Yonder Defense Solutions, the defense and government arm of the world’s leading AI supply chain company, today announced the appointment of Retired LtGen Michael S. Cederholm as its chief executive officer, effective immediately. LtGen Cederholm brings more than 36 years of senior leadership experience translating strategic intent into disciplined execution across complex, mission-critical global operations. Press Release Blue Yonder Defense Solutions Welcomes Lieutenant General Michael S. Cederholm as CEO Blue Yonder Defense Solutions Welcomes Lieutenant General Michael S. Cederholm as CEO DALLAS – January 5, 2026 3 minute read Cederholm to lead organization to enable decision advantage across global operations Blue Yonder Defense Solutions , the defense and government arm of the world’s leading AI supply chain company, today announced the appointment of Retired LtGen Michael S. Cederholm as its chief executive officer, effective immediately. LtGen Cederholm brings more than 36 years of senior leadership experience translating strategic intent into disciplined execution across complex, mission-critical global operations. In an era of disruption and competition, supply chains have become a core instrument of national power and decisive source of strategic advantage. LtGen Cederholm assumes leadership at a pivotal moment when global operations, the Defense Industrial Base and associated supply chains face unprecedented disruption and risk. Under his leadership, Blue Yonder Defense Solutions will accelerate innovation to provide customers decision advantage at scale—enabling defense, allied, humanitarian organizations, and industry partners to operate with greater readiness, speed and resilience in challenging environments. Blue Yonder Defense Solutions will continue to apply proven commercial AI to defense-grade missions, supporting U.S. forces, allied and partner nations through Foreign Military Sales (FMS), the Defense Industrial Base, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response worldwide. “It is an honor to lead Blue Yonder Defense Solutions,” said LtGen Cederholm. “Throughout my career, I’ve seen how disciplined innovation transforms readiness and operational effectiveness. Blue Yonder Defense Solutions delivers industry-leading, AI-driven capabilities that enable defense and government organizations to perform in the most demanding environments. I look forward to leading this team in supporting the warfighter and the aid worker on the front lines, ensuring constant readiness, resilience and the ability to deliver across every mission and environment.” Most recently, LtGen Cederholm had the privilege of serving as the Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force, where he led 44,500 service members in complex, multinational operations. Previously, as Deputy Commandant for Aviation, he architected Project Eagle, a 15-year, $240B modernization strategy designed to strengthen readiness and operational decision-making through AI-driven capabilities. “LtGen Cederholm’s strategic leadership and deep operational experience align perfectly with our commitment to deliver AI-powered logistics intelligence for our defense and government customers,” said Gene Trousil, president, Blue Yonder Defense Solutions. “We’re excited to have him on board as we accelerate modernization and redefine what’s possible in contested environments.” LtGen Cederholm holds a Master of Science in National Security Studies from the National War College and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Wesleyan University. He is a graduate of and former Instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and a Fellow of MIT’s Seminar XXI and AI for National Security Leaders programs. About Blue Yonder Defense Solutions As the defense and government arm of the world’s leading AI supply chain company, Blue Yonder Defense Solutions delivers logistics intelligence tailored for the mission-critical requirements of the U.S. military and federal agencies. Its AI-enabled, zero-trust, multi-enterprise platform seamlessly orchestrates supply, transportation and depot operations, enabling defense supply chains to operate with full visibility, speed and uncompromising accuracy—even in disconnected and contested environments. For more information, please visit https://www.blueyonderdefense.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Is a circular supply chain possible? Technology says yes.](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/fast-company-is-a-circular-supply-chain-possible) > New technology is giving companies the visibility they need to recover materials, reduce waste, and build truly circular supply chains. Press Release Fast Company: Is a circular supply chain possible? Technology says yes. January 2, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [AP: Why your holiday gift returns might go to a landfill and what you can do about it](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/ap-why-your-holiday-gift-returns-might) > The holiday season will soon come to a close, but the busiest time of the year for product returns is just beginning. Press Release AP: Why your holiday gift returns might go to a landfill and what you can do about it December 26, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [CNBC: NRF estimates returns cost $75 billion to retailers in 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/cnbc-nrf-estimates-returns-cost-75-billion) > CNBC’s Courtney Reagan reports on the cost of returns and recent estimates from the National Retail Federation. Press Release CNBC: NRF estimates returns cost $75 billion to retailers in 2025 December 30, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: 4 strategies to boost agentic AI success in your supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fast-company-4-strategies-to-boost-agentic-ai) > It’s no secret that some enterprises struggle to generate value from their AI investments. Now, a growing number are betting on developing AI agents capable of acting independently and rapidly turning predictive insights into real-world actions. Press Release Fast Company: 4 strategies to boost agentic AI success in your supply chain December 24, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Talk Retail To Me: Retail’s AI Reality Check: Why Data and Adoption Drive Success](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/talk-retail-to-me-retails-ai-reality-check) > In this episode of Talk Retail To Me, Parker Avery’s chief revenue officer, Dan Wittner, and Blue Yonder’s head of global retail strategy, Jim Hull, discuss the evolving landscape of retail, focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence, the importance of data quality, and the transformation of store models into fulfillment centers. Press Release Talk Retail To Me: Retail’s AI Reality Check: Why Data and Adoption Drive Success December 18, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: Three months to recover from supply chain disruption - there's a better way](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/diginomica-three-months-to-recover-from-supply) > Supply chain leaders are using AI-driven scenarios and learnings from the pandemic to operate in extreme volatility. Puneet Saxena, CVP Industry Advisory at Blue Yonder, explains why organizations shouldn't have to wait three months when things go wrong. Press Release Diginomica: Three months to recover from supply chain disruption - there's a better way December 16, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: Executive Intelligence podcast: Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove on pragmatic AI for supply chain, change management, and platform thinking](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/diginomica-executive-intelligence-podcast) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove joined diginomica to discuss the company's transformation from a collection of point solutions to an end-to-end supply chain platform - a journey that has required not just $2.5 billion in R&D investment, but a massive change management exercise across the entire industry. In our conversation, Angove explains why traditional approaches created brittle supply chains, how he's getting buyers to think differently, and why Blue Yonder has taken a pragmatic approach to AI that prioritizes real business value over hype. Press Release Diginomica: Executive Intelligence podcast: Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove on pragmatic AI for supply chain, change management, and platform thinking December 12, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [The Futurist: The Future of Supply Chains: How Blue Yonder + HEINEKEN Are Redefining Global Logistics](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/the-futurist-the-future-of-supply-chains) > How will supply chains operate in 2030 — or even sooner? This deep dive shows how Blue Yonder and HEINEKEN are already building that future: unified, intelligent, responsive. In this episode of The Futurist we dive deep into the Future of Supply Chains with two industry leaders! Press Release The Futurist: The Future of Supply Chains: How Blue Yonder + HEINEKEN Are Redefining Global Logistics November 27, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: How shippers can turn speed and reliability into loyalty and growth](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/diginomica-how-shippers-can-turn-speed-and) > Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey highlights AI-powered logistics can deliver affordable, efficient and reliable shipping. Press Release Diginomica: How shippers can turn speed and reliability into loyalty and growth December 2, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Panasonic Connect: How AI Agents Enhance Supply Chain Performance](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/panasonic-connect-how-ai-agents-enhance) > When intelligence turns into action, efficiency follows. In this episode, Margarita Lindahl, moderator and Head of AI at Panasonic Connect, talks with Chris Burchett, Senior Vice President of Generative AI at Blue Yonder, about how AI agents are transforming supply chains, from insight to execution. They explore how to scale impact beyond predictions, empower customers to build their own agents and why trust is the foundation for the next wave of autonomous supply chains. Press Release Panasonic Connect: How AI Agents Enhance Supply Chain Performance November 24, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Unifies Demand and Supply Planning With End-to-End Collaboration and Actionable Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-unifies-demand-and-supply-planning) > Today’s supply chain planners face unprecedented challenges that can compromise customer satisfaction and a company’s bottom line. As a result, the need for increased speed, agility and resilience across the entire supply chain has never been greater. In response to these growing pressures, Blue Yonder has announced expanded capabilities for its Demand and Supply Planning solution to improve decision-making and collaboration. Press Release Blue Yonder Unifies Demand and Supply Planning With End-to-End Collaboration and Actionable Insights Blue Yonder Unifies Demand and Supply Planning With End-to-End Collaboration and Actionable Insights DALLAS – December 2, 2025 4 minute read Enhance planning accuracy and efficiency with seamless interoperability, agentic AI and holistic decisioning Today’s supply chain planners face unprecedented challenges that can compromise customer satisfaction and a company’s bottom line. As a result, the need for increased speed, agility and resilience across the entire supply chain has never been greater. In response to these growing pressures, Blue Yonder has announced expanded capabilities for its Demand and Supply Planning solution to improve decision-making and collaboration. Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning, one of the company’s AI-infused Cognitive Solutions , enables organizations to concurrently optimize inventory flow and stocking decisions while respecting logistics, warehouse and supplier constraints. It orchestrates resource needs and commitments with supply chain ecosystem partners in near real time. Built on the Blue Yonder Platform with a modern and true cloud architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities, the solution leverages the AI data cloud to eliminate silos and enable end-to-end interoperability and unified decisioning across teams. “Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning delivers a unified solution for demand, supply, inventory, and manufacturing planning,” said Charles Brennan, Senior Analyst, Supply Chain, Nucleus Research. “By leveraging real-time data, AI and machine learning, the Blue Yonder Platform synchronizes supply chain operations, enabling planners to make faster, smarter decisions that boost productivity and improve plan quality.” The latest enhancements and areas of innovation include: Insight-driven scenario planning: Existing exception-driven planning processes put the burden of lengthy root-cause analysis and resolution options on the individual planner. To save time and costly delays, Blue Yonder simulates scenarios for real-time events and determines optimal plan modifications to quickly resolve issues and deliver on customer service level, profit, revenue, market share, and GHG emission goals. Precision planning power and scale: Planners can now achieve superior decision-making speed with quality and precision. Enhanced supply solvers, engineered algorithms tuned specifically for supply chain management, provide new capabilities for managing excess inventory, shelf-life, attribute-based planning, and complex bill-of-materials so planners can dramatically improve delivery accuracy, reduce inventory waste and avoid lost sales. Solvers enable human planners and Blue Yonder AI to handle even the most complicated demand and supply considerations in unison, so that supply converts into sales more often. Reimagined experiences with agentic AI: The Inventory Ops Agent allows planners to achieve significantly higher productivity by migrating from exception-driven planning to proactive, insight-driven planning. The agent matches supply with demand by guiding attention to mismatches, exceptions and systemic issues. It rapidly diagnoses root causes and recommends opportunities around alternate sourcing, expediting or demand swaps to ensure plans are aligned with real-time conditions. The agent allows planners to communicate changes to other supply chain teams, ensures downstream alignment and increases overall operational efficiency. Network-enabled collaborative planning: With real-time visibility and collaboration across the Blue Yonder Network , users can proactively identify and respond to disruptions, increasing speed and agility. The solution enables planners to dynamically adjust inventory, reroute shipments, engage alternative suppliers and reallocate capacity across the network in near real time, ensuring a flexible and responsive supply chain. Sustainable supply planning: Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager operates with the Demand and Supply Planning solution, enabling planners to measure and analyze carbon emissions and waste impacts from demand and supply planning processes. It allows them to understand trade-offs as well as opportunities to better meet sustainability goals. Execution interoperability: Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning is built for cross-functional orchestration with logistics and warehouse operations, incorporating real-time constraints and updates. With Blue Yonder, plan quality is higher, enabling unified decision-making across the supply chain and reducing the potential for day-to-day manual interventions. “In today’s volatile and rapidly changing market, identifying the right balance of demand, supply and inventory has become increasingly complex for supply chain planners,” said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder . “Our latest Demand and Supply Planning capabilities deliver comprehensive visibility, real-time collaboration and AI-driven insights to help our customers reduce risks, costs and waste while improving customer satisfaction and overall supply chain performance.” Additional Resources: Learn more about these product enhancements here Join Blue Yonder at the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Retail Brew: Why speedy shipping may be crucial to holding on to customers](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/retail-brew-why-speedy-shipping-may-be-crucial) > What’s driving holiday shopping decisions this year? Competitive prices, value for money, and—more than ever—fast delivery. Press Release Retail Brew: Why speedy shipping may be crucial to holding on to customers November 24, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 503: Women In Supply Chain, Andrea Morgan-Vandome](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/lets-talk-supply-chain-503-women-in-supply-chain) > In today’s episode of Women In Supply Chain™ I’m joined by Andrea Morgan-Vandome, an award-winning leader who’s held executive roles at a range of big-name brands from IBM Watson and Oracle to Nike. Press Release Let’s Talk Supply Chain: 503: Women In Supply Chain, Andrea Morgan-Vandome November 17, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Schwab Network: How AI Can Change the Holiday Shopping Season](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/schwab-network-how-ai-can-change-the-holiday) > Ann Marie Jonkman explains consumer expectations for the holiday shopping season. She says speedy, timely delivery is critically important, and consumers are shifting to shopping earlier to make sure everything arrives on time. Other concerns include sustainability and avoiding shipping fees. She says AI can help increase customer satisfaction by being able to predict demand and keep supply steady. Press Release Schwab Network: How AI Can Change the Holiday Shopping Season November 14, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: Are Your Supply Chain KPIs Leaving You Vulnerable?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/forbes-are-your-supply-chain-kpis-leaving-you) > Supply chain management is a numbers game. Companies track countless key performance indicators (KPIs)—forecast accuracy, on-time rates, cost-to-ship and more—and then work relentlessly to optimize them. Press Release Forbes: Are Your Supply Chain KPIs Leaving You Vulnerable? November 14, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder recognized as the winner of 2025 Microsoft Global ISV Partner of the Year](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-2025-microsoft-global-isv-partner) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today announced it has won the Global ISV 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award, as well as being named a finalist in the Global Retail & Consumer Goods category. Press Release Blue Yonder recognized as the winner of 2025 Microsoft Global ISV Partner of the Year Blue Yonder recognized as the winner of 2025 Microsoft Global ISV Partner of the Year November 13, 2025 3 minute read Company also recognized as a finalist in the Global Retail & Consumer Goods category Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today announced it has won the Global ISV 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award , as well as being named a finalist in the Global Retail & Consumer Goods category. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. “We are excited to be recognized as the Global ISV Partner of the Year by Microsoft; this award reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions across our platform, powered by Microsoft Azure, that drive value for our customers. Being a finalist in the Global Retail & Consumer Goods category further highlights our impactful collaborations with leading retailers and brands,” said Kelley Lear, corporate vice president and general manager, Global Alliances, Blue Yonder . “Earlier this year, we announced a collaboration with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry to further strengthen our advancements with AI agents. We also announced that we would co-innovate groundbreaking AI supply chain solutions with the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs to address the most pressing challenges in the industry. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s AI-powered solutions alongside Microsoft’s cloud capabilities, our joint customers can achieve precision planning and speed of execution in their supply chains, driving their business to succeed no matter what challenges come their way.” The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft Cloud applications, services, devices, and AI innovation during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from more than 4,600 nominations across more than 100 countries. Blue Yonder was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services as a Global ISV. The Blue Yonder Platform is an intelligence-enriched, integrated technology platform that spans supply chain planning and execution in one end-to-end solution. Customers can utilize innovative AI and machine learning capabilities, prescriptive recommendations, a unified data model, and reimagined user experiences to optimize their supply chain planning and logistics operations. In addition, Blue Yonder Warehouse Management recently achieved the Certified Software Designation (CSD) from the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP). This designation is a testament to Blue Yonder’s commitment to innovation and excellence, placing the company among a group of partners globally who have earned this distinction. The certification process involved a rigorous technical audit to ensure Blue Yonder’s software meets the highest standards of quality and performance. This achievement underscores the company’s dedication to delivering innovative solutions that drive customer success across various industries. Learn more in this blog post . “Congratulations to all the winners and finalists of the 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards,” said Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice president, Microsoft. “This year, our partners harnessed the transformative power of Microsoft’s Cloud and AI platforms to deliver transformative solutions that redefine the boundaries of innovation. The energy and ingenuity across our ecosystem continue to inspire us. The 2025 honorees exemplify what’s possible when technology and vision unite to empower customers around the world.” The 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced ahead of Microsoft Ignite, which will be held in San Francisco from Nov. 18-21. Additional details on the 2025 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner blog . The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: When supply chain partners share data, everyone cuts carbon](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fast-company-when-supply-chain-partners-share-data) > Three ways technology can improve Scope 3 emission assessment. Press Release Fast Company: When supply chain partners share data, everyone cuts carbon November 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey Reveals Key Shifts in Consumer Shopping Behaviors and Delivery Expectations This Holiday Season](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-survey-reveals-key-shifts) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, today unveiled the findings of its 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey, which offers a comprehensive look at how consumers are reimagining their holiday shopping and shipping strategies. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey Reveals Key Shifts in Consumer Shopping Behaviors and Delivery Expectations This Holiday Season Blue Yonder Survey Reveals Key Shifts in Consumer Shopping Behaviors and Delivery Expectations This Holiday Season DALLAS – November 12, 2025 4 minute read Retailers and logistics service providers face pressure as consumers rethink holiday strategies for fast and free shipping Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today unveiled the findings of its 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey , which offers a comprehensive look at how consumers are reimagining their holiday shopping and shipping strategies. The survey polled consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. A key finding revealed that while over half (53%) of the surveyed consumers expect packages to arrive within two to four days, only one-third (34%) are very confident about the delivery date. As a result, 78% of respondents purchasing gifts for people outside of their household are planning to shop at least three to four weeks in advance. The survey also found that many consumers are willing to explore alternative shipping methods to reduce costs, delivery time and environmental impact. “The shipping and logistics industry has faced a variety of challenges this year, and our 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey reveals how these disruptions are reshaping consumer behaviors,” said Ann Marie Jonkman, Vice President, Global Industry Strategies, Blue Yonder . “Consumers across regions and generations are entering the holiday season with higher expectations around speed, affordability and sustainability. These shifting priorities could have major impacts on retailers and logistics service providers as we enter peak season—with the potential to influence year-end sales performance significantly.” Key findings from Blue Yonder’s 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey include: High expectations for fast shipping but low confidence in delivery timelines Fast standard shipping: Over half (53%) of respondents expect packages with standard shipping to arrive within two to four days of placing an online order. This sentiment is most common among respondents in Germany (64%), the U.K. (61%), France (57%), the Middle East (54%), compared to less than half in the U.S. (47%) and ANZ (36%). Lack of confidence: While expectations for fast shipping are high, just over one-third (34%) are very confident that they will receive their packages by the expected delivery date. Across regions, respondents from the Middle East (51%) were the most likely to express the highest confidence about timely package delivery, compared to those in the U.S. (37%), Germany (31%), ANZ (30%), France (30%) and the U.K. (26%). Padding delivery timeframes for non-household purchases: Of those planning to purchase gifts for people outside of their household, more than three quarters (78%) of respondents plan to make their holiday gift purchases at least three to four weeks in advance, reflecting a strategy to ensure timely delivery. Among age groups, Gen Z (48%), Gen X (45%) and Millennials (44%) plan to order gifts 3-4 weeks in advance, whereas close to half of Baby Boomers (49%) will plan to order gifts more than a month in advance. Cost-conscious consumers rethink shipping strategies for speed and sustainability Direct shipping gifts from retailers: 86% of consumers prefer to ship gifts for those outside of their households directly from retailers, with the strongest preference in the Middle East (94%), followed by France (90%), the U.S. (86%), Germany (86%), ANZ (81%), and the U.K. (80%). Gen Z and Millennials significantly favor direct shipping (91%) over Gen X (83%) and Baby Boomers (76%). Unwillingness to pay for expedited shipping: Many respondents in the U.K. (43%) and the U.S. (40%) aren’t willing to pay any additional cost for expedited shipping, compared to those in ANZ (32%), Germany (28%), France (24%) and the Middle East (11%). This trend is also seen across generations, with almost half of Baby Boomers (49%) expressing unwillingness to pay any additional cost, followed by Gen X (34%), Millennials (22%) and Gen Z (15%). Willingness to use in-store and locker pickup for free and fast delivery: More than half (53%) of respondents are willing to use in-store pickup to receive their online purchases faster, followed by locker pickup (42%). These are also the top two alternative methods for consumers seeking free shipping, with 49% of respondents willing to utilize in-store pickup and 38% opting for locker pickup. Bundling purchases for sustainability: 56% are willing to bundle purchases to minimize the environmental impact of shipping, while 34% are open to slower shipping options to reduce emissions. Additionally, 23% are willing to pay a fee for carbon offsets. Notably, one-third of respondents in the Middle East were willing to pay the small fee, compared to those in France (29%), Germany (26%), ANZ (19%), the U.K. (17%) and the U.S. (17%). “These findings underscore a pivotal shift in consumer behaviors and delivery expectations this holiday season,” Jonkman added. “Retailers and logistics service providers must prove their reliability and agility, not just promise it. AI-powered supply chain solutions offer a path forward, enabling companies to optimize their logistics operations to meet rising demands and deliver a better customer experience.” Additional Resources: Check out the infographic on key survey findings Learn how to optimize shipping across the industries we serve Survey Background The Blue Yonder 2025 Global Consumer Holiday Shipping Survey was fielded by a third-party provider in October 2025. Blue Yonder surveyed over 6,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. to gather insights on how shipping is impacting consumer shopping behaviors this holiday season. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they plan to purchase gifts for the holiday season. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Connect: Connecting the Dots: How AI Unifies Supply Chain Planning and Execution](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-connect-connecting-the-dots) > Ann Marie Jonkman of Blue Yonder discusses how AI is transforming supply chain ops by enabling real-time decision-making, improving visibility and helping businesses respond to disruptions. Press Release Supply Chain Connect: Connecting the Dots: How AI Unifies Supply Chain Planning and Execution November 10, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Leaders in Supply Chain and Logistics: Supply Chain Transformation Blueprint with Duncan Angove of Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/leaders-in-supply-chain-and-logistics-podcast) > Duncan Angove, CEO of Blue Yonder, joins me to unpack the seismic shifts in supply chain driven by AI, data, and imagination. From powering $25 billion in machine workloads daily to orchestrating global operations for the world’s largest brands, Duncan reveals how Blue Yonder’s platform is reshaping the industry. We explore AI ethics, change management, platformization, and what supply chains might look like in a decade, fueled not just by tech, but by societal transformation. Press Release Leaders in Supply Chain and Logistics: Supply Chain Transformation Blueprint with Duncan Angove of Blue Yonder November 6, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q4 2025 Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-releases-q3-2025-company-highlights) > Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q3 2025 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in Q4 2025. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q4 2025 Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q4 2025 Industry Insights DALLAS – November 6, 2025 6 minute read Leading AI-driven supply chain solutions company accelerates growth in Q3, completes key acquisition, and continues to focus on sustainability Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder) , the AI company for supply chain, today released its Q3 2025 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in Q4 2025. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q3 2025, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its strong momentum in the market by: Adding 24 new customer logos. New customers who selected Blue Yonder or existing customers who extended their footprint during the quarter include: Americas: Softys, Ingram Micro, Jugos del Valle APAC/EMEA: 7-Eleven Philippines, Century Pacific, Catom, Dedeman, Mitchell & Butlers, Société Magasin Général (SMG) Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 17 key technology industry analyst reports and recognition by four key industry awards in Q3 2025 (see full list below). Acquiring Optoro , a leading technology provider for returns, to enhance Blue Yonder's warehouse and in-store returns processing capabilities. With Optoro and Blue Yonder coming together with a consolidated offering, retailers, brands and logistics service providers (LSPs) gain access to a comprehensive end-to-end Returns Management solution, which allows them to streamline services for greater efficiency, visibility and waste reduction. Learn more in the press release . Establishing a new Commerce and Returns business unit. Multi-channel operations are growing across retail, logistics and manufacturing but the technology landscape remains fragmented. Blue Yonder is addressing this challenge with a unified platform that can optimize order fulfillment, returns management and customer experience whether an item is making its first delivery or being reintroduced to inventory after a return. Tim Robinson, former Corporate Vice President for Returns, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of this unit to lead a cross-functional team focused on delivering market-leading solutions that power multi-channel inventory management and elevate customer experiences. Launching its annual Global Consumer Retail Returns Survey , which reveals how increasingly tight retail returns policies are influencing consumer shopping behaviors. The survey polled over 6,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. Two key findings include that the majority of consumers (84%) will stop shopping at their favorite retailer if stricter returns policies are implemented, and 2 in 3 consumers are reluctant to make a purchase due to tighter returns restrictions. Glean more insights from the survey here . Publishing its first Environmental Statement and 2024–2025 Sustainability Report , marking a significant milestone in the company’s sustainability journey. The report provides a comprehensive look at progress made over the past year, including alignment with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and measurable impact across emissions, waste, circularity, and social responsibility. Learn more in the report . Solution Highlights Blue Yonder continues its innovation momentum as we enter Q4, unveiling significant enhancements to its Warehouse Management Solution to drive competitive advantage, adaptability and greater efficiency in warehouse operations. Built on the Blue Yonder Platform, the enhanced solution delivers predictive planning, transformational agentic AI, adaptive execution, and unified labor and automation for improved operational outcomes. The latest enhancements and areas of innovation allow companies to: Gain visibility and speed with AI agents Orchestrate and optimize resources in real time Dynamically plan labor and resources Continuously model and update slot plans Accelerate value from robotics and automation Ensure seamless migration with AI-powered tools With these enhancements, Blue Yonder empowers customers to enhance collaboration with intelligent and agentic operations, prepare for top performance with predictive planning, unify labor and automation seamlessly, and optimize intraday activities for superior outcomes. Industry Insights As Q4 2025 progresses, Blue Yonder continues to provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of key industries, driven by its deep expertise and understanding of market dynamics: Retail industry faces challenge of high online returns: With the holiday season ongoing, online return rates persist at elevated levels, a trend confirmed by Blue Yonder’s recent survey indicating that customers prioritize easy returns. Retailers are being forced to stock considerably more than customers will ultimately retain, and according to the 2025 Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey , consumers are expecting to make 56% of their holiday purchases online. This situation propels investment in AI agents and omni-inventory solutions to enable real-time inventory visibility, prediction and redeployment across channels. Manufacturing industry impacted by tariffs: Tariffs continue to elevate material and production costs across automotive, high tech and industrial sectors. To counter these obstacles, companies delay product launches, reduce manufacturing and logistics expenses, and invest in efficiency and scenario planning to minimize cost impacts on customers. Logistics industry preparedness for peak season: As the peak season arrives, LSPs and 3PLs enter full readiness mode by tightening forecasts, securing carrier capacity, and establishing command centers to manage surging demand. Labor strategies include flexible staffing, automation support and extended shifts to meet fulfillment SLAs, while warehouses re-slot high-velocity inventory and transportation teams recalibrate routes for faster turnaround. Predictive AI tools forecast volume spikes and prevent bottlenecks, emphasizing orchestration that connects transportation, warehouse and customer data in real time to optimize cost, capacity and service performance. Success in this environment will be marked by those who transform peak season chaos into coordinated precision. “Businesses today are facing a convergence of challenges, from global tariffs to rising return rates to peak season pressures,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Our continued momentum reflects our commitment to helping customers overcome these complexities with AI-powered solutions that deliver speed, precision and resilience, empowering them to achieve operational excellence and better outcomes across the supply chain.” Industry Recognition Blue Yonder was honored with key industry awards in Q3 2025, including: Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Chief Innovation Officer, being named a Women in Supply Chain Award winner in the “Trailblazer” category by Supply & Demand Chain Executive . Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer, being named a Top 100 Chief Sustainability Officer in North America 2025 . Named a Finalist for the annual SaaS Awards in the “Best SaaS Solution for Logistics and Transportation” category . Named a winner in the “Website Redesign” category by the dotCOMM Awards . Technology industry analyst mentions in Q3 2025: Gartner Voice of the Customer for Transportation Management Systems Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Execution and Logistics Technologies, 2025 Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies, 2025 Europe Context: Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems Hype Cycle for Digital Commerce, 2025 Tool: Digital Commerce Technology Vendor Guide, 2025 IDC Market Glance: AI-Integrated Workspace, 3Q25 MarketScape: Worldwide Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling 2025 Vendor Assessment Reimagining the Supply Chain: Blue Yonder's Unified, AI-Driven Platform for a Sustainable Future China Supply Chain Planning and APS Market Share, 2024: The Fourth Suite for Industrial Enterprises Market Glance: Transportation and Global Trade Applications, 3Q25 IDC European SCM Applications Market Shares, 2024: Strong Growth Driven by Increased Demand for Modern Cloud-Based Solutions Nucleus Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2025 Supply Chain Planning Technology Value Matrix 2025 Forrester Global Commercial Software Forecast, 2025 To 2029 IHL The Order Management Market-2025 Verdantix Verdantix Buyer’s Guide: Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions (2025) About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Total Retail: What Did Back-to-School Teach Us About the Holiday Season?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/total-retail-what-did-back-to-school-teach-us) > Parents around the country have caught their breath after surviving another back-to-school frenzy, and retailers are debriefed from the summertime rush while also preparing for the upcoming holiday season. What lessons can brands learn from this year’s back-to-school period as they execute their plans for the end of the year? Back-to-school has long been the bellwether for consumer behavior, and this year offered plenty of insights. From timing to technology to tariffs, there’s a lot to unpack. Press Release Total Retail: What Did Back-to-School Teach Us About the Holiday Season? November 4, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Transforms Warehouse Management With Artificial Intelligence and Unified Decisioning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-transforms-warehouse-management) > Blue Yonder continues to enhance its industry-leading Warehouse Management Solution with machine-speed, precision and AI to drive competitive advantage, adaptability and greater efficiency in warehouse operations. Press Release Blue Yonder Transforms Warehouse Management With Artificial Intelligence and Unified Decisioning Blue Yonder Transforms Warehouse Management With Artificial Intelligence and Unified Decisioning DALLAS – October 28, 2025 5 minute read Drive competitive advantage and boost warehouse efficiency and performance with predictive and agentic AI, resource optimization, and advanced slotting Faced with rising customer expectations and operational complexity, warehouse operators must meet increasingly aggressive shipping deadlines and swiftly adapt to changing requirements while managing persistent labor challenges and cost pressures. Compounding these challenges are outdated and siloed warehouse technologies that are difficult to manage, support and modernize to keep pace with evolving needs. To tackle these issues, Blue Yonder continues to enhance its industry-leading Warehouse Management Solution with machine-speed, precision and AI to drive competitive advantage, adaptability and greater efficiency in warehouse operations. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution, one of the company’s Cognitive Solutions , empowers retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers with a step-change in capability to run leaner, faster and more accurately. The enhanced solution transcends traditional warehouse management offerings, delivering predictive planning, transformational agentic AI, adaptive execution, and unified labor and automation for improved operational outcomes. The solution is built on the Blue Yonder Platform with a modern and true cloud architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities. It uses the AI data cloud to eliminate silos and enable end-to-end interoperability for unified and orchestrated decisioning across systems. "By leveraging Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management Solution, Arcadia Cold has built a resilient, high-performance logistics operation with real-time visibility into inventory, shipments and warehouse processes,” said Christopher Lafaire, chief information officer, Arcadia Cold. “The solution’s advanced AI and machine learning capabilities enable us to proactively manage disruptions and consistently make optimal decisions, allowing Arcadia Cold to deliver unparalleled service levels, reduce costs and emerge as an industry leader in cold chain logistics." The latest enhancements and areas of innovation allow companies to: Gain visibility and speed with AI agents: The Warehouse Ops Agent is the first AI-powered agent designed to transform warehouse operations. By delivering dynamic daily briefs and monitoring real-time changes, the agent empowers operations managers to plan effectively and adapt throughout the day. It analyzes complex data in seconds—rather than hours or days—to identify patterns and disruptions and surface actionable insights, enabling faster, more confident decision-making. With AI teammates that can see, analyze, decide and act, warehouse teams gain unprecedented visibility and agility, driving strategic performance and optimizing operations across every corner of the warehouse. Orchestrate and optimize resources in real time: Resource Orchestration gives customers the ability to dynamically allocate resources to tasks and optimize resource assignments as conditions evolve throughout the day. By considering task priorities, resource skillsets, equipment permissions, and current operational bottlenecks, this capability ensures that the workforce is always aligned with operational needs, enhancing flexibility and productivity. An embedded warehouse execution system powered by AI intelligently orchestrates resources to deliver smarter decisions, greater flexibility and maximum efficiency in the warehouse. Dynamically plan labor and resources: Resource Forecasting enables teams to predict labor and resources requirements—by role, equipment, task and work zone—ranging from weeks to minutes before a shift begins. Unlike traditional methods that rely solely on historical data, our approach is powered by AI and machine learning and incorporates real-time updates, predictive learning models and real-world process variations to create highly accurate forecasts. This ensures warehouses begin each shift prepared for the specific demands of the day. Continuously model and update slot plans: Advanced Slotting enables customers to transform slotting from a reactive, rules-based process into a proactive, continuously optimized system. By integrating real-time demand forecasts and machine learning algorithms that predict order volumes and task times, it dynamically determines optimal slot counts and locations to reduce pick travel time and maximize fill rates. AI-powered warehouse agents provide real-time insights into slotting accuracy and efficiency, offering clear actionable recommendations. The system generates daily slot plans that improve space utilization, streamline operations, reduce handling costs, and ensure products are consistently stored in the most efficient locations. Accelerate value from robotics and automation: Customers can unify labor and automation for enhanced warehouse performance—from streamlined onboarding to adaptable execution and ongoing performance improvements. Accelerated automation onboarding is available for over a dozen leading vendors for rapid time to value and increased scalability. Real-time communication between automation and the Warehouse Management Solution prevents the need for batching, immediately identifies automation failures and retries or reassigns resources for optimal productivity and utilization. Robotics performance can be tracked as autonomous work or human-assisted for heightened insight into overall resource performance. Ensure seamless migration with AI-powered tools: Blue Yonder’s new AI-powered migration tools facilitate a smooth upgrade process for all Warehouse Management Solution customers, enabling efficient adoption of the latest systems. Leveraging AI significantly reduces integration complexity and deployment time, providing faster transitions, enhanced operational agility and greater value for customers. “Warehouse operators face intense pressure in today’s digital world, yet many still struggle with disconnected systems and reactive processes, leading to operational challenges,” said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder . “Our latest warehouse enhancements provide customers with a new level of efficiency and effectiveness. By building on decades of customer-focused development, our Warehouse Management Solution leverages the power of cloud-native computing and AI, enabling our customers to seamlessly scale resources and act faster with greater precision for better outcomes. This not only delivers substantial financial benefits but helps our customers outperform in today’s competitive market.” With the latest enhancements, warehouse leaders and supply chain transformation executives will empower their teams to: Enhance collaboration with intelligent and agentic operations. Customers can amplify the impact of informed decision-making with AI agents seamlessly integrated into their operations. Prepare for top performance with predictive planning. Customers can optimize planning, work prioritization and resource utilization by accurately and reliably predicting warehouse needs through a data-driven, machine-learning-powered approach. Unify labor, equipment and automation seamlessly. Customers can achieve complete synergy across labor and automation with intelligent insight into resource capabilities, capacity and performance dependencies. Optimize intraday activities for superior outcomes. Customers can execute intraday activities with greater agility, higher efficiency and better outcomes through real-time visibility into workloads, resource capacities and shifting priorities. Additional Resources: Learn more about these product enhancements here and in this webinar Learn why Blue Yonder is recognized as a leader by a leading analyst firm in warehouse management Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution’s Certified Software Designation (CSD) from the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Let’s Talk Supply Chain: Transform Your Returns Management and Delight Customers, with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/lets-talk-supply-chain-transform-your-returns) > Today I’m joined by Blue Yonder, a business that’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. Press Release Let’s Talk Supply Chain: Transform Your Returns Management and Delight Customers, with Blue Yonder October 22, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Schwab Network: Government Shutdown Could Disrupt Peak Holiday Inventory](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/schwab-network-government-shutdown-could-disrupt) > How is the government shutdown affecting supply chains? Wayne Usie sees the biggest challenge in customs at docks as the peak of holiday inventory moves into the country. He thinks this could create a bottleneck, hitting consumer demand and creating a domino effect. One day of disruption in ports can take up to two weeks to recover, he says. Wayne thinks AI can help companies anticipate and deal with these kinds of issues. Press Release Schwab Network: Government Shutdown Could Disrupt Peak Holiday Inventory October 20, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Modern Materials Handling: System Report: School Specialty resets its fulfillment foundation](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/modern-materials-handling-school-specialty) > How do you revive a brownfield DC and make its essential systems hum again? It’s been one step at a time for School Specialty, with software investments leading the way to reveal the best steps to take with automation, controls and storage. Press Release Modern Materials Handling: System Report: School Specialty resets its fulfillment foundation October 1, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Breaking the Bottleneck: Friday 5 | Chris Burchett](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/breaking-the-bottleneck-friday-5-chris-burchett) > 25 Billion Decisions a Day: Blue Yonder’s Blueprint for Agentic Supply Chains Press Release Breaking the Bottleneck: Friday 5 | Chris Burchett September 26, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [7-Eleven Philippines Selects Blue Yonder To Scale Its Store Operations](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/7-eleven-philippines-selects-blue-yonder) > Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, announced that 7-Eleven Philippines has chosen its store execution capabilities to help scale store operations nationwide. Press Release 7-Eleven Philippines Selects Blue Yonder To Scale Its Store Operations 7-Eleven Philippines Selects Blue Yonder To Scale Its Store Operations MANILA and DALLAS – September 28, 2025 3 minute read Philippines' convenience retailer to implement Blue Yonder solution to enhance customer experience through innovation and technology Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, announced that 7-Eleven Philippines has chosen its store execution capabilities to help scale store operations nationwide. Once implemented, with the support of Blue Yonder Professional Services , 7-Eleven Philippines aims to further strengthen its customer service promise by improving inventory management, reporting, and operational agility. Operating over 4,300 stores across the country, 7-Eleven Philippines is the nation’s largest and most dominant convenience store chain, with plans to expand to more than 5,000 stores in the near future.  7-Eleven Philippines expects this collaboration to allow it to streamline operations, scale efficiently, and continue innovating to meet its customers’ needs. Blue Yonder: Supporting 7-Eleven’s Growth “Convenience retailers today compete not only with other c-stores but also with grocers and quick-service restaurants,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder . “We are proud that 7-Eleven Philippines has selected Blue Yonder to help optimize its store operations and fuel its growth. Together, we will ensure they continue to deliver modern convenience and exceptional service to millions of customers across the Philippines.” Blue Yonder’s store execution capabilities provide near real-time visibility of on-hand inventory, mobile management tools, and automated exception alerts—ensuring all items are accounted for from delivery to final sale. This enables greater accuracy in reporting, reduced manual work, and improved responsiveness to market dynamics. Additional Resources: Gain insights into the grocery and convenience industry Learn about Blue Yonder’s retail offerings About 7-Eleven Philippines Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), the exclusive licensee of 7-Eleven in the Philippines, began its journey on February 29, 1984, with the opening of its first store at the corner of EDSA and Kamias Road in Metro Manila. From its modest beginnings, PSC has grown into a nationwide icon, a leader in convenience retail, consistently delivering reliable service and staying true to its mission of providing modern convenience to its customers. Today, PSC has expanded its footprint to over 4,300 stores across the Philippines, a remarkable achievement that is a testament to the brand’s deep-rooted connection with Filipino consumers. This growth is a direct reflection of PSC’s unwavering commitment to consumer satisfaction and continued success in adapting to the evolving needs of the market by providing convenient and reliable service. Keeping pace with both geographical and digital footprint expansion, PSC has embraced digital and geographical growth opportunities that are linked to the dynamic needs of the market. The corporation has introduced a diverse range of new products and a wide array of services, including financial solutions and digital payment options, further reinforcing its mission of providing accessible convenience to Filipinos nationwide. As PSC remains committed to synchronizing with the consumers’ way of life, it also continues to align its efforts with sustainability goals, championing environmentally friendly initiatives for a more sustainable future.  By staying ahead of industry trends and a deep understanding of consumer expectations, PSC continues to safeguard and solidify its competitive edge and its position as a trusted brand in the retail sector. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital: Strategic Priorities for Supply Chain Leaders](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-digital) > Blue Yonder's first Supply Chain Compass report examines the priorities of nearly 700 senior supply chain executives working across manufacturing, retail and logistics in North America and Europe. Press Release Supply Chain Digital: Strategic Priorities for Supply Chain Leaders August 7, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Coop Group Extends Blue Yonder Footprint To Enhance Customer-Centric Strategy](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/coop-group-extends-blue-yonder-footprint) > Leading Swiss retailer expands Blue Yonder Category Management to its DIY brand division, Jumbo, optimizing store operations, space management, and assortment planning. Press Release Coop Group Extends Blue Yonder Footprint To Enhance Customer-Centric Strategy Coop Group Extends Blue Yonder Footprint To Enhance Customer-Centric Strategy BASEL, Switzerland, and DALLAS – September 23, 2025 Leading Swiss retailer expands Blue Yonder Category Management to its DIY brand division, Jumbo, optimizing store operations, space management, and assortment planning Faced with rapidly changing consumer behavior, supply chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures, retailers must make swift decisions to meet customer demand. That’s why the Coop Group, a leading retailer in Switzerland and a current Blue Yonder customer, has expanded its deployment of Blue Yonder Category Management to also include Jumbo , Coop's chain of Do It Yourself (DIY) superstores. This initiative builds upon the company’s existing use of Blue Yonder Category Management within the Coop supermarkets network, which dates back to 2018. The expansion was implemented by Strategix , a Blue Yonder partner. Coop has a history spanning over 160 years. The retailer began as a small consumer cooperative and is now an international retail and wholesale business. In 2024, Coop recorded revenue of 34.9 billion Swiss Franc (approximately $40 billion USD). With around 97,000 associates, Coop operates through a network of retail formats that include more than 2,400 points of sale, as well as online sales channels. “Coop acts with a deep sense of responsibility towards its people, regions, and ecosystems, and we are committed to delivering both quality and a diverse range of brands and products we can be proud of,” said Alexander Senft, head of IT Merchandise Management Masterdata, Coop. “Category management excellence is vital for providing value to our customers, which is why we were excited to extend our collaboration with Blue Yonder and Strategix. Expanding the deployment of Blue Yonder Category Management to include Jumbo’s 125 points of sale underscores our dedication to innovation and focus on our demand-driven strategy, ensuring we continue to effectively meet the evolving needs of our customers." With Blue Yonder Category Management, Coop has achieved a significant milestone in optimizing space planning for its supermarket network, particularly for meat products and fresh bread where the Blue Yonder solution generates approximately 5,700 planograms automatically each year. This innovative space planning solution enables planograms to be tailored to the specific needs of each store while adhering to the requirements of each category. Coop plans to further expand automated planograms into other product groups to further increase efficiency. Some of the other benefits Coop has seen thanks to Blue Yonder Category Management include: Optimized operations: Coop can quickly optimize available inventory with fully automated processes, allowing category managers to focus on more strategic tasks. Informed decision-making: Coop can make informed choices on product assortment and placement using valuable data-driven insights based on shopper behavior and demand. Enhanced customer experience: Coop can tailor assortments to meet store-specific customer requirements at every point of sale, boosting satisfaction and loyalty through more targeted experiences. Increased profitability and sustainability: Coop can optimize assortments through automated planograms to better align product offerings with consumer preferences to drive sales, reduce waste, and support sustainable practices. “Thanks to Blue Yonder Category Management, a key advantage of automated planogram creation is the efficient integration of new products into store shelf planning. This capability allows us to plan exactly where new items will be placed and determine the appropriate stock levels for each store. As a result, we can now establish the initial quantities needed for orders, streamlining the introduction of new products across the supply chain. In addition, the solution leverages sales data to optimize product placement and quantity on shelves, enhancing the overall efficiency and value of the stocking process,” said Senft. "We take pride in our long-term collaboration with the Coop Group and are excited they chose to extend their category management footprint for their DIY division with us,” said Fredrik Prada, vice president, Retail – EMEA, Blue Yonder. “Our Category Management solution provides Coop with the necessary speed and agility to keep up with customer demand and constant industry changes so they can stay ahead of their competition and meet business goals.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for grocery and convenience stores Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for retail planning and category management About Coop Group The Coop Group operates in the retail as well as wholesale and production sectors. In the retail sector, Coop operates supermarkets and various specialist formats in Switzerland. The Coop Group is the market leader in many of these formats. In wholesale, the Coop Group operates in Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain, France, Austria and Switzerland through Transgourmet. In the production sector, the internationally active Bell Food Group is the biggest company in the Coop Group. In addition to the Bell Food Group, the Coop Group also operates other manufacturing companies in Switzerland.  The Coop Group can look back on a history of over 160 years and has always been structured along cooperative lines. At the organizational level, it is divided into six regions and has some 2.59 million cooperative members. For the Coop Group, the focus is on the customers. The company gears all its efforts to their needs. As a cooperative, the Coop Group does not strive to maximize profits and reinvests its profits in the company, e.g. in lower prices or its commitment to sustainability. This enables it to plan and invest sustainably over the long term. Coop Group About Strategix Strategix is a boutique consulting company that has implemented most space and category management solutions and processes within Central and Eastern Europe for the past 20 years. Recognized as the Best Category Management Consulting Firm in 2021, Strategix provides highly qualified expertise thanks to its consultants' tenures averaging over ten years. Strategix works closely with 15 of the top 30 retailers in Europe. In addition, its one-stop consulting shop provides customers with system implementation and integration, training and a mobile application to secure the last mile in Category Management. In 2024 and 2025 Strategix has received the Top Service Award by the German Institute for Digitization and Sustainability. strategix About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Century Pacific Selects Blue Yonder’s AI-Powered Solution To Digitally Transform Its Demand and Supply Planning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/century-pacific-selects-blue-yonder-ai-solution) > Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF), one of the leading food companies in the Philippines, has chosen to digitally transform its supply chain with Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning, part of Blue Yonder’s AI-driven Cognitive Solutions. Press Release Century Pacific Selects Blue Yonder’s AI-Powered Solution To Digitally Transform Its Demand and Supply Planning Century Pacific Selects Blue Yonder’s AI-Powered Solution To Digitally Transform Its Demand and Supply Planning MANILA and DALLAS – September 21, 2025 4 minute read Leading Filipino food company to adopt Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions to optimize inventory and enhance demand and supply forecasting A vast product portfolio with regional specialization and constant disruptions can complicate lifecycle management, collaboration and supply chain continuity for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. That’s why Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF) , one of the leading food companies in the Philippines, has chosen to digitally transform its supply chain with Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning , part of Blue Yonder’s AI-driven Cognitive Solutions . As a food company, CNPF is focused on delivering affordable nutrition to its broad consumer base. It is engaged in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of branded marine, meat, milk, coconut, and plant-based products. At present, the company’s brands hold market-leading positions in the Philippines with a growing presence abroad. It also operates as one of the Philippines’ leading exporters of private-label tuna and coconut products. With an expanding product portfolio and a drive to accelerate digital transformation, CNPF turned to Blue Yonder for a solution that would optimize inventory and sharpen demand and supply forecasts, ensuring resilience even in times of disruption. Blue Yonder aims to help CNPF: Generate precise machine learning-driven forecasts: The solution will allow the company to generate demand forecasts by harnessing the best combination of machine learning algorithms and statistical methods to analyze all relevant demand drivers. Planners are not bound by causal factors, allowing them to gain clear insights into what’s driving demand. Act with machine speed and precision thanks to AI agents: By utilizing Blue Yonder’s Inventory Ops Agent, CNPF aims to see, analyze, decide, and act with machine speed and precision, even amid disruptions. With the Inventory Ops Agent, planners may be able to match supply with demand by guiding attention to mismatches, exceptions, and systemic issues. The agent rapidly diagnoses root causes and recommends actionable solutions like alternate sourcing, expediting, or demand swaps. It will also highlight necessary plan adjustments based on real-time conditions and communicate changes to ensure downstream alignment. Unify supply and demand planning: CNPF may be able to harmonize its supply chain activities by aligning planners through a shared planner workspace. This drives collaboration, increases planner productivity, and optimizes resource use. Accelerate decision-making with predictive insights: Intelligent planner workflows and event-based planning enable supply chain planners to act swiftly, resolve issues, and achieve key business goals. Adapt rapidly to global changes with scenario planning: With robust scenario analysis, the solution may be able to test and explore options, effectively answering any "what-if" questions, and make strategic planning decisions. Reduce costs and boost inventory turnover: By staging inventory strategically across the supply chain using dynamic segmentation and multi-echelon inventory optimization, CNPF may be able to unlock opportunities to reduce operational costs and waste, as well as enhance inventory turnover across the supply chain. As part of Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions, Demand and Supply Planning sits on the Blue Yonder Platform , and is built on a modern and true cloud-native architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities. With inventory optimization and demand planning connected to supply planning, CNPF can ensure forecast precision, seamless collaboration, and optimal inventory placement. “As we continue to expand our product portfolio and grow our business, we needed a solution that could help us make fast and precise planning decisions,” said Chad Manapat, chief financial officer, CNPF . “We look forward to adopting Blue Yonder’s AI-driven Demand and Supply Planning solution because it has the potential to transform our approach to inventory, demand, and supply management. It can support our growth strategies and aid our company in navigating supply chain volatility and disruptions.” “CPG brands are increasingly focused on building speed, agility and resilience into their supply chains to effectively streamline operations and manage sourcing and production disruptions. We are excited to be working with Century Pacific to help them enhance their supply chain and demand planning processes using our Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning solution,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder . “By connecting demand sensing to supply planning, CNPF can achieve accurate forecasts and optimal inventory placement, allowing them to operate smoothly as they expand and grow in the Philippines and beyond.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning Gain insights into the Consumer Goods industry About Century Pacific Food Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF) is one of the Philippines' leading food and beverage companies. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of processed marine, meat, milk, coconut, plant-based, and pet products. With an established track record in brand-building spanning more than 40 years, it has developed a roster of household names, which include Century Tuna, Argentina, 555, Ligo, and Birch Tree. These brands of the Company hold market-leading positions locally and are growing their presence abroad. Further, the Company also operates as one of the Philippines' leading providers of private label tuna and coconut products for export overseas. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Viva Energy Australia Selects Blue Yonder To Fuel Strategic Approach to Convenience Store Shopping Experience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/viva-energy-australia-selects-blue-yonder) > OTR Group, Australia’s largest convenience store operator, part of the Viva Energy Australia group of companies, has chosen to digitally transform its in-store experience with Blue Yonder. OTR Group will implement Blue Yonder Category Management solution and demand planning capabilities to elevate its space planning, demand forecasting, and fulfilment. Press Release Viva Energy Australia Selects Blue Yonder To Fuel Strategic Approach to Convenience Store Shopping Experience Viva Energy Australia Selects Blue Yonder To Fuel Strategic Approach to Convenience Store Shopping Experience MELBOURNE and DALLAS – September 24, 2025 4 minute read Leading Australian energy company will utilize Blue Yonder’s AI-powered solutions to transform OTR Group’s in-store operations Convenience stores that offer fuel and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations play a crucial role in influencing where consumers choose to stop while on the road. Success depends on understanding customer needs, localized assortment of convenience offerings, and adaptable inventory to ensure efficient and profitable operations. That is why OTR Group , Australia’s largest convenience store operator, part of the Viva Energy Australia group of companies, has chosen to digitally transform its in-store experience with Blue Yonder. OTR Group will implement Blue Yonder Category Management solution and demand planning capabilities to elevate its space planning, demand forecasting, and fulfilment. Viva Energy helps Australians reach their destination by refining, importing, and delivering the energy that they need to get there. In addition to supplying fuel, products and services, Viva Energy, through OTR Group, operates approximately 1,000 service stations across Australia, including Shell Reddy Express, On The Run (OTR) and Store24 sites, as well as 100 quick service restaurants and 275 Smokemart and Giftbox (SMGB) sites, and runs the manufacturing and supply of Krispy Kreme in South Australia. With such rapid growth, OTR Group wanted to be able to efficiently range its assortment of convenience offerings at each location and predict the demand across its store network, considering each location’s unique needs and demographics. As such, it engaged the global supply chain digital transformation leader, Blue Yonder, to address these needs. Thanks to Blue Yonder, OTR Group will leverage artificial intelligence (AI), comprehensive category management, and platform integration capabilities to: Enable more accurate forecasting by SKU, store, and day–at scale. Drive optimized inventory levels through store segmentation and calculation of safety stock. Automatically align inventory management with consumer preferences to enhance the in-store experience. Better manage the impact of new items, discontinuations, or assortment changes on overall demand. Expand the range of items offered to better align with changing consumer expectations. Natalie Dalbo, chief customer officer, OTR Group , said, “Following the strategic acquisition of convenience store networks from Coles and the more recent acquisition of OTR and SMGB, there was a need to standardize range management, demand forecasting and fulfilment processes on a single platform for our Category and Supply Chain teams. We believe that this whole company view of demand will enable us to switch sources and modes of supply to optimize the mix and service to stores. “We needed to replace legacy systems with integrated solutions that could meet current and future needs to optimize end-to-end product availability across our store network. Blue Yonder solutions met all our requirements, both from a focused capability and a broader technology perspective. We look forward to collaborating with the Blue Yonder team to help us realize our goal of being the leading convenience and mobility retailer in Australia.” Blue Yonder’s flexible solutions, embedded with AI and machine learning (ML), will help OTR Group seamlessly optimize the shopping experience. OTR Group will also be able to accelerate its in-store business operations through a model that supports rapid implementations. “OTR Group is leading a game-changing transformation of its convenience retail network, focused on customer centricity, and we are proud to welcome them among our customers. Blue Yonder solutions for retailers are engineered to scale, perform, and operate under the highest volumes seen on the market. They transform store operations with a composable approach, delivering rapid time-to-market, enhancing scheduling and automation tasks like inventory management and planogram updates, which are essential for increasing customer satisfaction, advancing store operations, and driving profitability and rapid return. We cannot wait to support Viva Energy in accelerating their ongoing digital transformation,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Category Management and retail planning solutions Solution Sheet: The Case for Smarter Convenience Stores About Viva Energy Viva Energy Australia (ASX: VEA) is a leading convenience retailer, commercial services and energy infrastructure business who supply approximately a quarter of the country’s liquid fuel requirements. It is the exclusive supplier of high-quality Shell fuels and lubricants in Australia through an extensive network of more than 1,300 service stations across the country. Viva Energy owns and operates the strategically located Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals, polymers, and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals and 60 airports and airfields across the country. For more information: vivaenergy.com.au About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: AI supply chain symphony - getting your tools to speak the same language](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/diginomica-ai-supply-chain-symphony) > Supply chain management is both data-intensive and labor-intensive—and that makes it a fertile space for AI innovation. The supply chain is ripe with the data on which AI thrives — it’s also a target-rich environment for intelligent technologies capable of accelerating, automating, and streamlining business operations. Press Release Diginomica: AI supply chain symphony - getting your tools to speak the same language September 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Sourcing Journal: Logistics Report 2025: The Technology Issue](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/sourcing-journal-logistics-report-2025) > When it comes to logistics and technology, machines and humans continue their symbiotic dance—getting goods loaded, shipped, railed, trucked, stored, sorted, picked, packed and delivered with ever-greater efficiencies. Press Release Sourcing Journal: Logistics Report 2025: The Technology Issue September 10, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Make warehousing your center of sustainability](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fast-company-make-warehousing-your-center) > While fully implementing a sustainable warehouse strategy may seem daunting, there are three areas you can focus on to get started quickly and begin seeing results. Press Release Fast Company: Make warehousing your center of sustainability September 12, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Barron’s: A Tariff Exemption Just Closed. Expect Delays, Shortages, and Higher Prices.](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/barrons-a-tariff-exemption-just-closed-expect-delays-shortages-and-higher-prices) > The end of a rule that allowed low-value parcels to enter the U.S. duty-free could make those goods more expensive and harder to get, a particular setback for low-income households and small businesses. Press Release Barron’s: A Tariff Exemption Just Closed. Expect Delays, Shortages, and Higher Prices. August 29, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Elevates Transportation Management Solution With Advanced Cognitive Intelligence](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-elevates-transportation-management) > Blue Yonder continues to enhance its industry-leading Transportation Management solution, adding a multi-enterprise network framework, machine-speed precision, and cognitive intelligence to transform transportation operations into a resilient, efficient and intelligent part of the supply chain. Press Release Blue Yonder Elevates Transportation Management Solution With Advanced Cognitive Intelligence Blue Yonder Elevates Transportation Management Solution With Advanced Cognitive Intelligence DALLAS – September 18, 2025 4 minute read Evolve transportation management with a multi-enterprise network, AI, intuitive design, and sustainability, to empower supply chains to achieve greater efficiency and resilience In today's dynamic supply chain environment, transportation operations are facing mounting pressure to rein in costs, exceed both internal and external service levels, and reduce emissions to meet corporate and regulatory goals, all while trying to minimize impacts from disruptions, like tariffs and geopolitical shifts. Addressing these challenges head-on, Blue Yonder continues to enhance its industry-leading Transportation Management solution, adding a multi-enterprise network framework, machine-speed precision, and cognitive intelligence to transform transportation operations into a resilient, efficient and intelligent part of the supply chain. Blue Yonder Transportation Management, one of the company’s Cognitive Solutions ,  empowers retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers (LSP) to deliver unprecedented operational efficiency, multi-enterprise collaboration and supply chain resiliency. The solution is powered by the Blue Yonder Network and generative artificial intelligence (AI) agents with predictive analysis and a conversational interface designed for simple, human-friendly engagement. The enhanced solution transcends traditional transportation management offerings, driving operational precision, improved sustainability and reduced risk. Part of Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions, Transportation Management sits on the Blue Yonder Platform and is built on a modern and true cloud architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities. It uses the AI data cloud to eliminate silos within the supply chain ecosystem. This enables seamless end-to-end interoperability by harnessing unified decisioning across a multi-enterprise network. “In today’s disruption-filled world, leaders require business continuity and need transportation solutions that provide resiliency, cost savings, and efficiency while complying with regulatory requirements,” said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder. “Our latest enhancements and vision enable customers to transition from reactive to predictive and prescriptive operations, with real-time visibility and optimization powered by AI and a multi-enterprise network. From ocean to over-the-road, our Transportation Management solution allow our customers to seamlessly scale their shipment volume from anywhere, at any time.” The latest enhancements and future innovations include: Network-enabled transportation: Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management solution and Blue Yonder Network are now seamlessly integrated. This enables customers to efficiently manage data across different systems and trading partners, including carrier collaboration, appointment scheduling, real-time visibility (including telematics), and inbound shipment optimization and collaboration, to ensure smooth and coordinated operations. As a result, customers can adapt to changes and disruptions instantly for improved resilience, cost efficiency, delivery times, and collaboration. Sustainability optimization and insights: Blue Yonder’s new Logistics Emissions Calculator, part of the Sustainable Supply Chain Manager solution, is integrated with the Transportation Management solution, allowing customers to track transportation emission factors and charges, as well as seamlessly incorporate sustainability goals into the optimization engine when planning loads. This allows transportation to factor emission requirements when optimizing shipments and routes, enabling customers to make smarter emissions-based decisions to positively impact their sustainability goals. AI agent: The Logistics Ops Agent provides persona-based daily briefs to help teams understand what is happening across transportation operations faster. It notifies users in real time of issues and opportunities and provides suggestions on how to handle them, including backhaul opportunities, shipment routing resolutions, and more, to ensure they are addressed quickly to avoid disruptions to operations. Embedded predictive AI insights: By embedding predictive AI into the transportation planning process, customers can swiftly pinpoint loads requiring route adjustments and identify at-risk shipments based on root causes, such as carrier performance. This enables proactive mitigation before the load even departs the facility. The optimization engine continuously improves solution quality as it blends execution realities with leading optimization techniques. This ensures that future planning decisions benefit from these smarter, data-informed decisions. Role-specific experience: Customers can manage transportation through the conversational AI agent and the new user experience (UX) that provides personalized alerts, dynamic views based on each role, access to KPI measurement, and more. “Bayer’s unwavering commitment to manage digital disruption and elevate innovation is exemplified through Blue Yonder Transportation Management and Blue Yonder Network. These transformative efforts transcend conventional technological upgrades, serving as strategic imperatives that redefine supply chain management in a rapidly evolving landscape. By embracing agility, collaboration, and cutting-edge technology, Bayer is establishing a resilient, efficient, and customer-centric logistics network poised for future challenges,” said Johnny Ivanyi, Global Head of Logistics COE, Bayer Crop Science . With the latest enhancements, transportation and logistics leaders and supply chain transformation executives will empower their teams to: Increase precision with intelligent and agentic operations. Customers can harness machine learning, AI, and smart design that transcends traditional ways of getting the job done. Enhance agility with predictive AI-influenced optimization. Customers can masterfully balance service levels, cut costs, and achieve sustainability goals with ease. They can also respond to disruption swiftly, powered by dynamic optimization algorithms. Make smarter decisions and execute faster with scalable, adaptable solutions. Customers can enable limitless scale, secure operations, seamless updates, and instant innovation. Navigate past disruptions with a collaborating ecosystem. Customers can unite their network of carriers and suppliers to share essential insights and drive streamlined decisions. Additional Resources: Learn more about these product enhancements here Read “The Future of Freight Is Connected: AI, Optimization, and the Power of Networked Logistics” white paper Register here for the Sept. 25 webinar “Modernizing Transportation: Unlocking the Future of Supply Chains” Learn why Blue Yonder is recognized as a leader by various analyst firms in transportation management About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Sustainability Magazine: Q&A with Blue Yonder CSO Saskia Van Gendt](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/new-page) > Sustainability LIVE returns to New York for Climate Week 2025. Ahead of her taking part in the CSO Strategy Summit, Sustainability Magazine spoke to Saskia Ven Gendt about emerging sustainability trends. Press Release Making Tariff Mitigation Sustainable July 9, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [ITWire: Building Greener, Smarter Supply Chains in 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/itwire-building-greener-smarter-supply-chains) > In this Q&A, Blue Yonder’s Daniel Kohut explains the market pressures and evolving technology driving change in global supply chains. Press Release ITWire: Building Greener, Smarter Supply Chains in 2025 September 10, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Stricter Returns Policies Deter Global Consumer Spending](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-survey-stricter-returns-policies-deter-global-consumer-spending) > Blue Yonder released the results of its 2025 Global Consumer Retail Returns Survey, which reveals how increasingly tight retail returns policies are influencing consumer shopping behaviors across regions. The survey, now in its third year in the U.S., also polled consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, and the U.K. this year. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Stricter Returns Policies Deter Global Consumer Spending Blue Yonder Survey: Stricter Returns Policies Deter Global Consumer Spending DALLAS – September 10, 2025 6 minute read Findings reveal that 2 in 3 consumers are reluctant to make a purchase due to tighter returns restrictions Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, today released the results of its 2025 Global Consumer Retail Returns Survey , which reveals how increasingly tight retail returns policies are influencing consumer shopping behaviors across regions. The survey, now in its third year in the U.S., also polled consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, and the U.K. this year. A key finding was that 84% of global respondents will stop shopping at their favorite retailer if stricter returns policies are implemented. “These findings highlight the negative consumer attitudes toward tighter returns policies, with a majority of consumers continuing to make decisions on where to shop based on these policies,” said Tim Robinson, senior vice president, commerce and returns, Blue Yonder . “Across generations and regions, consumers are consistent in believing that returns restrictions are unfair and inconvenient to them, underscoring their expectation for an easy and hassle-free process. With 9.5 billion pounds of returns ending up in landfills , it’s more important than ever that retailers develop customer-friendly processes, while more efficiently managing returns across omni-channel environments to reduce costs and unnecessary waste.” Tighter Returns Deter Millennial and Gen Z Consumers Two-thirds (66%) of all respondents are deterred from making a purchase due to more stringent returns policies. Across regions, consumers in the Middle East are most likely (75%) to be deterred from a purchase due to tighter returns restrictions, followed by France (70%), Germany (65%), the U.K. (63%), ANZ (62%) and the U.S. (59%). This trend is most notable among Millennials (74%) and Gen Z (71%), consistent with 74% and 76% in 2024 , respectively. Over half of global respondents (53%, consistent with 51% in 2024) believe tighter returns restrictions are inconvenient and unfair for consumers. For one-third (33%) of global consumers, some online retailers’ policies are strict enough to make them avoid shopping there altogether. Returns Fees Are Unpopular with Consumers Half (50%) of global respondents note that charging a fee to return a purchase is the most inconvenient element of tighter returns policies, but consumers are still generally willing to pay the price. Consumers in the U.S. (36%) are most likely to not return an item if there is a fee associated, followed by the U.K. (31%), ANZ (31%), Middle East (12%), France (11%), and Germany (10%). Generationally, Baby Boomers are the most likely to not return an item if there is a fee associated in the U.S. (45%), Middle East (44%), the U.K. (41%), Germany (17%), and France (16%), while in ANZ it is Gen X (38%). The End of “Keep It” Returns? “Keep it” returns became very common during the COVID-19 pandemic. But retailers may be shifting away from such policies. More than half (60%) of respondents have been told by a retailer to keep a product rather than undergo the returns process, down from 72% in 2024. Globally, respondents in the Middle East (73%) are told most frequently to keep a product rather than return it, followed by France (68%), Germany (67%), the U.S. (55%), the U.K. (50%), and ANZ (47%). Across regions, clothing and accessories (38%) is the top category associated with “keep it” policies, followed by electronics (18%) and grocery (13%). Gen Z Consumers Face Returns Rejection Over one-third (36%) of respondents stated they had a return rejected by a retailer within the last year. Generationally, Gen Z consumers (49%) are the most likely to have a return rejected, followed by Millennials (42%), Gen X (31%) and Baby Boomers (14%). Across regions, consumers in Germany (52%) and the Middle East (52%) are the most likely to have a return rejected, followed by France (50%), ANZ (24%), the U.S. (20%), and the U.K. (19%). Across regions, the top three reasons for rejections by retailers were that the returns request fell outside of the return window (31%), the product was non-returnable (26%), and the consumer's returns history precluded additional returns (20%). Notably, 31% of global respondents noted that defective or damaged products were the main reason for requesting a return, followed by incorrect size or fit (27%, down significantly from 75% in 2024). Sustainability Concerns Around Returns are Growing Among Consumers Consumers report increased dedication to sustainable returns habits, with almost two-thirds (65%, up from 55% in 2024) of consumers stating they are somewhat or very concerned about the environmental impact of returns. Globally, Middle Eastern respondents note the highest amount (75%) of environmental concern of returning products, followed closely by France (73%), Germany (69%), the U.K. (61%), ANZ (57%), and the U.S. (56%). Nearly three-quarters (71%) of global respondents said they would not complete the returns process if they knew their returned product might end up in a landfill. Respondents noted they would instead seek an alternative, eco-friendly disposal method (23%), attempt to resell the product (21%), donate the product to charity (16%), or give the product to friends and family (10%). Across regions, Middle Eastern consumers (31%) are most likely to seek an alternative, eco-friendly disposal method, followed by Germany (27%), France (26%), ANZ (19%), the U.K. (18%), and the U.S. (16%). ANZ consumers (25%) are most likely to attempt to resell the product, followed by the U.K. (24%), the U.S. (24%), Germany (21%), France (20%), and the Middle East (16%). “These results demonstrate that consumers value the ability to easily return items and, when possible, prioritize retailers that offer convenience and sustainable returns options,” Robinson added. “Retailers around the world have an opportunity to deliver a better, more sustainable returns journey for consumers. By leveraging AI-driven solutions, retailers can better track returns data and trends, allowing them to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to automated decisioning that implements the ideal returns journey for each return based on value. This enables retailers to achieve the perfect balance between cost, customer experience, and sustainability. “Blue Yonder continues to invest in the best technology to support our customers as they look to convert returns into valuable inventory. We recently acquired Optoro to enhance our warehouse and in-store returns processing capabilities, allowing us to offer a robust, comprehensive returns management solution so our customers can streamline their operations for greater efficiency, waste reduction, and visibility.” Additional Resources: To learn more about how Blue Yonder makes the first and last mile more seamless, visit blueyonder.com Check out the infographic on key survey findings Learn more about Blue Yonder Returns Management Survey Background The Blue Yonder 2025 Global Consumer Retail Returns Survey was fielded by a third-party provider in July 2025. Blue Yonder surveyed over 6,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. to gather insights on how returns restrictions are impacting consumer shopping behaviors. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they were aware of increasingly tightened returns policies. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply & Demand Chain Executive: 2025 Women in Supply Chain Award Winners Continue to Think Outside the Box](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/sdce-2025-women-in-supply-chain-award) > These female logistics leaders exemplify leadership, mentorship and supply chain excellence. Let's meet the winners. Press Release Supply & Demand Chain Executive: 2025 Women in Supply Chain Award Winners Continue to Think Outside the Box September 8, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: Would you trust an AI agent to run your supply chain?](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fast-company-would-you-trust-an-ai-agent) > We must develop an understanding of how AI agents should work across the supply chain, and use that to promote the best practices needed to safely accelerate progress. Press Release Fast Company: Would you trust an AI agent to run your supply chain? September 5, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Entrepreneur Middle East: How the UAE is Prototyping the Future of Trade](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/middle-east-entrepreneur-how-the-uae-is-prototyping-the-future-of-trade) > The UAE is not just investing in clean energy or convening global climate dialogue – it's redefining the backbone of supply chains, embedding sustainability into the very systems that power logistics, manufacturing, and commerce. Press Release Entrepreneur Middle East: How the UAE is Prototyping the Future of Trade Blue Yonder , August 28, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: If Your Warehouse Runs Like Clockwork, You’re Doing Something Wrong](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/forbes-if-your-warehouse-runs-like-clockwork-youre-doing-something-wrong) > A decade ago, the media got a peek at the future of warehouses: Amazon’s fulfillment center in Tracy, California, where hundreds of robots whizzed around in a silent ballet, shipping 1.5 million orders per day. The warehouse had been transformed into "a machine in constant motion," the magazine declared. Press Release Forbes: If Your Warehouse Runs Like Clockwork, You’re Doing Something Wrong August 15, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Europa Worldwide Group Enhances Carbon Management and Reporting With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/europa-worldwide-group-enhances-carbon-management-and-reporting-with-blue-yonder) > Leading British LSP adopts accredited, precise emissions reporting to meet growing customer demand for more environmentally responsible operations Press Release Europa Worldwide Group Enhances Carbon Management and Reporting With Blue Yonder Europa Worldwide Group Enhances Carbon Management and Reporting With Blue Yonder London and Dallas – August 28, 2025 3 minute read Leading British LSP adopts accredited, precise emissions reporting to meet growing customer demand for more environmentally responsible operations The global regulatory landscape, particularly in the U.K. and European Union, acts as a powerful catalyst for change, urging companies to embrace sustainable practices that extend beyond basic compliance. Logistics service providers (LSPs) are witnessing an increased demand from their customers to actively monitor emissions and ensure adherence to both current and forthcoming regulations. That’s why Europa Worldwide Group, a leading LSP with a global presence, has adopted Blue Yonder’s Logistics Emissions Calculator, part of the Sustainable Supply Chain Manager solution, to meet its sustainability goals and evolving customer demands. Europa Worldwide, celebrated for its cutting-edge logistics solutions, has integrated Blue Yonder’s advanced logistics carbon management capabilities— recently enhanced by the acquisition of Pledge —across its Road Freight division in the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This strategic implementation underscores the company's commitment to offering sustainable logistics services. Europa Worldwide selected Blue Yonder for its ability to deliver precise and detailed carbon emissions reports, leveraging millions of data points through advanced emissions modelling. Blue Yonder’s Logistics Emissions Calculator provides GLEC-accredited and ISO 14083-aligned calculations, ensuring industry-recognized accuracy and credibility. Furthermore, Blue Yonder’s seamless API integration with Europa Worldwide’s transportation management system facilitates efficient carbon reporting, enhancing transparency and customer trust. Prior to adopting Blue Yonder, Europa Worldwide faced challenges with its in-house emissions reporting method, which lacked the granularity and accreditation necessary for impactful sustainability efforts. The limitations of the previous system highlighted the need for a more robust solution to meet customer demands for precise data and to support the global initiative towards Net Zero. “Europa Worldwide is proactively advancing towards more defined sustainability objectives,” said Tom Jenkins, Central Services Director, Europa Worldwide Group. “Since implementing Blue Yonder’s Logistics Emissions Calculator, we have experienced a significant rise in customer engagement with emissions reporting, showcasing the solution's value. The integration of Blue Yonder’s emission reporting capabilities underscores our dedication to maximizing strategic efforts in enhancing sustainability within logistics.” The new reporting system was first launched in Europa Worldwide’s Road department, receiving significant usage by customers, with up to four new customers being added per week. Europa Worldwide plans to extend Blue Yonder’s Logistics Emissions Calculator to its Air and Sea customers by the end of 2025, further integrating emissions reporting into its customer self-serve portal for enhanced accessibility and self-service. “Amidst a global push for sustainable practices, Europa Worldwide seized the opportunity to be a leader in addressing carbon emissions from logistics,” said Saskia Van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “By strategically embedding sustainability into their operations, they are not only improving visibility for carbon emissions but also future proofing their business and their customers’ business against regulatory shifts. We are proud to support their journey towards decarbonizing transportation.” Additional Resources: •    Learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions for Logistics Service Providers About Europa Worldwide Group Europa Worldwide Group is an ambitious independent logistics operator with three divisions, Europa Road, Europa Air & Sea dedicated to getting goods from A to B on time, and Europa Warehouse, 3PL and warehousing experts who store, pack and dispatch goods for our customers. The group employs over 1,300 people globally with sites across the UK and Ireland, plus Europa’s own teams in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, China, India, the UAE and South Africa. The global operator has an annual turnover of £300m+. europa-worldwide.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Freightvine: Vishal Jadhav | AI in Supply Chain: From Rules to Reasoning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/freightvine-vishal-jadhav-ai-in-supply-chain-from-rules-to-reasoning) > This week’s guest is Vishal Jadhav, Product Director at Blue Yonder. Everyone listening to this podcast knows of Blue Yonder. It is a company with a long history, from I2 to JDA, that has consistently been on the cutting edge of supply chain management software. Vishal has spent almost 20 years at Blue Yonder. His recent work and writings have delved into the evolution of Large Language Models (LLMs) and how they are being incorporated into supply chain solutions. Our conversation explores the differences between traditional Operations Research (OR) techniques and modern AI. Vishal highlights how these technologies can enhance optimization and decision-making by mimicking human reasoning and learning from experience. We also address the challenges of explainability in AI and the emerging concept of agentic AI, which suggests a future of more proactive and autonomous systems within the supply chain. Press Release Freightvine: Vishal Jadhav | AI in Supply Chain: From Rules to Reasoning August 21, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [The Enterprise Edge: Chris Burchett, SVP, GenAI, Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/the-enterprise-edge-chris-burchett-svp-genai-blue-yonder) > While most companies are still debating whether to trust AI with basic tasks, is already executing 25 billion AI predictions every day - three times more than Google's daily searches - and one grocery customer just attributed 4% sales growth directly to their AI-driven supply chain autonomy. In this eye-opening conversation, SVP of Generative AI reveals how they're solving the $196 billion trust paradox that's killing 40% of enterprise AI projects before they start, and why the traditional "fast, good, or cheap - pick two" product development rule is about to become obsolete. From weathering COVID's 10x scale demands in four hours instead of four days, to deploying agentic AI that sees, analyzes, decides, and acts (SADA) across global supply chains while navigating complex data sovereignty laws, this is a masterclass in how to operationalize AI-enabled systems that actually work within complex supply chains. If you've ever wondered what separates the GenAI early adopters from the 64% still sitting on the sidelines, or how to tell if vendors are serious about agentic AI, this conversation delivers the insider playbook for the supply chain transformation that's already reshaping entire industries. Stream it now! Press Release The Enterprise Edge: Chris Burchett, SVP, GenAI, Blue Yonder August 19, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Acquires Optoro](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-acquires-optoro) > Blue Yonder announced it has acquired Optoro, Inc., a leading technology provider for returns, to enhance its Returns Management capabilities, delivering a more robust, comprehensive solution. Press Release Blue Yonder Acquires Optoro To Further Transform Returns Management and Extend Capabilities Blue Yonder Acquires Optoro WASHINGTON, D.C., and DALLAS – August 19, 2025 5 minute read Strategic acquisition of U.S.-based technology company to enhance Blue Yonder's warehouse and in-store returns processing capabilities, delivering a comprehensive returns management solution Product returns create friction for consumers, negatively impact profit margins for companies, and result in significant inefficiencies in inventory utilization throughout the supply chain. To combat these challenges, Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, announced today it has acquired Optoro, Inc. , a leading technology provider for returns, to enhance its Returns Management capabilities, delivering a more robust, comprehensive solution. Returns processing both in the warehouse and in-store is a complex part of the returns lifecycle, especially since 9.5 billion pounds of returns end up in landfills . Blue Yonder identified Optoro’s robust returns processing capabilities, especially for major retailers and brands with a high volume of returns, as a way to further strengthen its capabilities in this space. With Optoro’s and Blue Yonder’s solutions coming together into a consolidated offering, retailers, brands and logistics service providers (LSPs) gain access to a comprehensive end-to-end Returns Management solution, which allows them to streamline services for greater efficiency, waste reduction, and visibility. “With e-commerce sales continuing to grow , retailers need to be prepared when it comes to returns, which were projected to hit $890 billion last year , representing 16.9% of annual retail sales and is more than double the return rate from 2019,” said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Returns, Blue Yonder . “We are excited to acquire Optoro, to enrich the capabilities available to our customers, allowing them to enhance their ability to manage returns with increased efficiency and effectiveness to meet the needs of consumers. This strategic acquisition affirms Blue Yonder's commitment to leading the industry, providing customers with unparalleled opportunities to refine their operations and driving transformative business success through a comprehensive returns solution.” When combining Optoro’s capabilities with Blue Yonder’s existing returns management offering from a previous acquisition , Blue Yonder can now offer customers: Enterprise-Grade Returns Processing: Enhances Blue Yonder's current offering with cloud-native, mature, feature-rich, processing and dispositioning capabilities to process returns in the warehouse and in-store. This completes the circularity of the journey of the returned item. Enables Dedicated Returns Facilities: Allows retailers, brands and LSPs to efficiently manage specialized returns facilities, enhancing operational flexibility and efficiency. In-Store Returns: The in-store app enables faster processing and automates inventory disposition to optimize recovery and maximize margin potential. By driving returns traffic in-store, retailers can capitalize on opportunities to resell products to enhance profitability and attract invaluable foot traffic with new-purchase potential. Recommerce Capabilities: With configurable workflows to recommerce vendors built in, the solution enables retailers and brands to efficiently identify resalable inventory and sell it to the next-best option, promoting inventory circularity. This prevents backlogs in warehouses and reduces goods ending up in landfills. Next-Level Returns Management: By extending Blue Yonder’s existing capabilities in returns initiation, decisioning and kiosks, Blue Yonder customers can complete the end-to-end journey needed to fully manage the returns process. "Blue Yonder's acquisition of Optoro extends its returns management solution as an even more comprehensive offering,” said Jordan K. Speer, research director, IDC Retail Insights . “With the addition of Optoro, Blue Yonder will be able to provide more expanded capabilities that address the complexities of the returns lifecycle. This strategic move not only opens new opportunities to enhance operational efficiency but also aligns with the growing demand for sustainable practices. Blue Yonder's comprehensive approach addresses the downside of traditional returns processes, which often lead to poor profitability and lower customer satisfaction, by taking a transformative, dynamic approach to the entire end-to-end supply chain. The new combined offering has the potential to deliver great value to its users." Blue Yonder customers who use the solution will receive the following benefits: Enhanced Efficiency: With up to 18% of inventory often tied up in the returns process , optimizing returns management is crucial. Customers can accelerate receiving speeds by more than two times, enabling quicker inventory turnaround for resale and faster customer refunds. Improved Financial Performance: Customers can achieve significant cost savings by reducing the volume of returns and cutting reverse logistics expenses. Additionally, they can streamline warehouse operations to lower labor costs and minimize fraud. Loyalty-Winning Customer Experience: Customers can deliver both a simple, digital returns journey and an exceptional in-store returns experience, while offering fast refunds and exchanges to enhance customer satisfaction and foster brand loyalty. Increased Sustainability: Customers will be able to reduce shipping miles, stock wastage, and stock transfers, as well as removing returns labels from parcels, all while improving sustainability. “Optoro was founded when e-commerce was in its early days, with the foresight to solve the returns problem. Over time, we built enterprise-grade returns solutions to meet the needs of the most iconic retail brands,” said Amena Ali, CEO, Optoro .  “Now, thanks to Blue Yonder’s growing customer base, we will realize the full potential of our vision, helping thousands of companies worldwide address the returns challenge. By seamlessly integrating with Blue Yonder, it will be easier than ever for companies to optimize their returns to improve the shopper experience, inventory planning, and overall profitability.” Blue Yonder continues to be the only company with a comprehensive portfolio of solutions, from planning and execution to fulfillment and returns, to build more sustainable and profitable, end-to-end supply chains. This deal is Blue Yonder’s sixth acquisition in less than two years and is indicative of Blue Yonder's momentum in the supply chain management space. The acquisition allows the company to continue showcasing its strength in the retail and logistics industries. The acquisition agreement was closed by Blue Yonder and Optoro on Aug. 19, 2025. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q3 2025 Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-releases-q2-2025-company-highlights-and-showcases-q3-2025-industry-insights) > Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the world leader of end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q2 2025 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in Q3 2025. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q3 2025 Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2025 Company Highlights and Showcases Q3 2025 Industry Insights DALLAS – August 11, 2025 9 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company accelerates growth in Q2, completes two acquisitions and continues focus on security with a strategic hire Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder) , the world leader of end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q2 2025 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in Q3 2025. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q2 2025, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its strong momentum in the market by: Adding 31 new customer logos in Q2 2025. New customers who selected Blue Yonder or existing customers who extended their footprint during the quarter include: Americas: Coca-Cola FEMSA, Compañías Cervecerías Unidas (CCU) APAC/EMEA: Morrisons, Royal Mail, Sainsbury's, The Shoprite Group Averaging five customer go-lives per business day in 1H 2025. Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 27 key technology industry analyst reports in Q2 2025 ( see full list below ). Acquiring Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS) —a joint venture between Doddle, a part of Blue Yonder, and Inmar, Inc.—through its subsidiary Doddle Inc. The entity, renamed Blue Yonder Reverse Retail Operations LLC, will continue to support FedEx Easy Returns , which offers FedEx customers access to a low-cost, package- and label-free returns solution. Learn more in the press release . Acquiring the business of Pledge Earth Technologies Ltd. , including its global supply chain sustainability solution for beneficial cargo owners (BCOs), enterprise supply chain leaders and logistics service providers (LSPs). Blue Yonder’s already robust platform has expanded to include globally accredited logistics CO2e emissions reporting, allowing customers to monitor their own emissions and those of their trading partners and suppliers. Learn more in the press release . Hiring Dr. Erika Voss to serve as its Chief Security Officer . Dr. Voss is spearheading the vision, strategy and execution of comprehensive, industry-leading security measures that safeguard digital innovation and business resilience. She is focused on application security, access control, authentication, third-party risk management, and intrusion detection. She leads the implementation of robust security frameworks aligned with the evolving threat landscape. Her leadership ensures strict compliance with industry standards and regulations, driving trust and operational excellence across Blue Yonder. Solution Highlights Following the introduction of its Cognitive Solutions at ICON 2025, Blue Yonder continued its innovation momentum in Q2 by unveiling significant enhancements to its Transportation Management solutions to transform transportation operations into a resilient, efficient, and intelligent part of the supply chain. Offering machine-speed precision and cognitive intelligence, the enhancements are powered by the Blue Yonder Network , predictive, generative and agentic artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and intuitive design—transcending traditional transportation management to drive operational precision, speed and intelligence. The latest enhancements and future innovations include: Network-enabled transportation for seamless data management Sustainability optimization through emissions tracking AI agents that deliver daily operational insights Predictive AI for proactive transportation planning Personalized role-based transportation management With these innovations, Blue Yonder empowers customers to increase precision with intelligent and agentic operations, enhance agility with predictive AI-influenced optimization, make smarter decisions and execute faster with scalable, adaptable solutions, and navigate past disruptions with a collaborating ecosystem. Industry Insights As Q3 2025 progresses, Blue Yonder continues to provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of key industries, driven by its deep expertise and understanding of market dynamics: Retail Industry Continues To Be Impacted by Inflation: Retailers are continuing to navigate the current business environment, as inflation puts pressure on consumer spending and retail margins. Retailers who are using AI are pulling ahead, enhancing forecasting accuracy and improving availability while reducing inventory waste. Retailers are also looking to maximize available inventory by accelerating the conversion of returns to sellable inventory and personalizing engagements at scale, thereby remaining both price-competitive and profit-resilient. According to McKinsey, AI-driven forecasting can reduce errors between 20%-50% and lower inventory levels by 20-30% . Generative AI is the next thing supply chain leaders are focused on. According to Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Compass Report , only 36% are using or implementing generative AI; however, Blue Yonder expects that number to grow as the benefits of using generative AI are realized. Consumer Inflation Concerns Impacting Grocery and CPG: As highlighted in Blue Yonder's recent survey , consumers are increasingly shifting their grocery shopping habits due to inflation concerns. In response, grocery retailers and CPG companies should look to embrace AI technologies to enhance supply chain resilience and adapt to changing consumer behaviors. AI-driven demand forecasting and inventory optimization are crucial for maintaining product availability and reducing waste, ensuring that consumers find the products they need. AI can also identify potential demand and supply disruptions to then suggest and execute workflow solutions. Additionally, generative AI can be utilized to design cost-effective packaging solutions and create personalized marketing campaigns that address consumer preferences and budget constraints. Tariffs Continue To Challenge Manufacturing: Ongoing trade tensions and tariffs are creating cost challenges across manufacturing, including automotive, high tech, semiconductor, industrial, and life sciences. To counteract these impacts, manufacturers should adopt advanced risk modeling and scenario planning to better assess tariff implications. Manufacturers will also need to consider reshoring or diversifying suppliers to mitigate risks. Learn about the hidden costs of tariffs . Logistics Industry Transformation Driven by Intelligent Networks and Bonded Warehouses: Across LSPs globally, there is accelerated investment in intelligent networks and command center-centric operating models. These models deliver measurable bottom-line savings and shift execution from reactive to proactive, SLA-driven performance. As a result, LSPs are re-architecting their footprints with bonded warehouses, nearshored U.S. facilities, and digitally integrated infrastructure to deliver speed. Tariff fatigue is real; hence, agility in their supply chains is top of mind. LSPs are using AI agents to orchestrate planning, inventory, warehousing and transportation decisions in real time—enabling scale and consolidation of multi-site operations decisions under one unit. "In today's dynamic economic landscape, businesses are facing unprecedented challenges, from inflationary pressures to global tariffs to geopolitical shifts,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder . “Now has never been a more critical time for businesses to lean into AI and advanced technologies to help them navigate these complexities. We are committed to empowering our customers across retail, manufacturing and logistics with cognitive solutions that offer machine speed and precision to enhance operational efficiency, resilience and sustainability. By leveraging AI agents, our customers can see, analyze, decide and act to quickly mitigate risks, adapt to changing market conditions, and seize new opportunities for growth. Our focus on innovation ensures that our customers are well-equipped to tackle today's challenges and be ready for tomorrow's opportunities." Customer Highlights Blue Yonder proudly highlights the achievements of its customers by showcasing their digital transformation journeys through compelling stories. Learn how Blue Yonder customers are successfully navigating supply chain complexity and uncertainty here . More From Blue Yonder Blue Yonder was honored with key partner awards in Q2 2025, including: The "AI Visionary" Award in Hakkoda’s Data Innovation Awards The "2025 Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year" in the annual Snowflake Partner of the Year Awards Blue Yonder released the results of its inaugural “Supply Chain Compass” report , which highlighted the key strategic priorities for supply chain leaders, including implementing new technology, improving efficiency and productivity, and building more resilient supply chains. The three-part report features responses from senior supply chain leaders in North America and Europe who work in manufacturing, retail and logistics. To learn more about the findings, check out the three-part report: Navigating Complexity , AI and Technology , and Sustainability . Blue Yonder launched a Global Consumer Sentiment on Grocery Inflation Survey that gathered insight on consumer shopping behaviors due to inflated grocery prices and their feelings on what is contributing to prices. The survey polled over 6,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. The survey found that the majority of respondents (85%) are concerned about inflation’s impact on grocery prices, with almost half (49%) believing newly introduced global tariffs are the leading factor behind inflated grocery prices. Glean more insights from the survey here . Technology industry analyst mentions in Q2 2025: Gartner: Case Study: The Transport Control Tower Empowers People Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems Define Next-Generation Application Service Offerings To Drive Growth How To Respond to the 2025-2026 Threat Landscape Implement an Intelligent Front Door With a Phased Approach Innovation Insight: Supply Chain Orchestration Platforms Power the Modern Supply Chain Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems Market Share: Enterprise Application Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2024 Market Share: Enterprise Application Software, Worldwide, 2024 Market Share: Enterprise Software, Worldwide, 2024 Market Share: Supply Chain Management Software, Worldwide, 2024 North America Context: ‘Magic Quadrant for Third-Party Logistics’ Predicts 2025: Supply Chain Planning Technology Quick Answer: Should I Use M365 or a Packaged Solution for an Intranet? Tool: Identify Multi-Enterprise Collaboration Network Vendor Candidates Tool: Identify Supply Chain Planning Solution Vendor Candidates Tool: Vendor Identification for Custom Software Development Services Tool: Vendor Identification for Distributed Order Management Solutions Vendor Revenue Profiles Data, 2024 IDC Market Glance: Future of Work — Space/Place, 2Q25 Worldwide Software Taxonomy, 2025 Worldwide Sustainability Software Taxonomy, 2025 Nucleus Blue Yonder automates WFM across Industries WFM Technology Value Matrix 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Sustainable Supply Chain: Cutting Scope 3: How AI and Data Are Driving Sustainable Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/sustainable-supply-chain-cutting-scope-3-how-ai-and-data-are-driving-sustainable-supply-chains) > Supply chains are responsible for the majority of global emissions, yet they remain the hardest to decarbonise. In this episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast, I sit down with Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder, to explore how data, AI, and end-to-end visibility are changing that equation. Press Release Sustainable Supply Chain: Cutting Scope 3: How AI and Data Are Driving Sustainable Supply Chains August 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Let’s Talk Supply Chain: Women in Supply Chain, Saskia Van Gendt](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/lets-talk-supply-chain-women-in-supply-chain-saskia-van-gendt) > Today Saskia will be talking all about her career journey; the biggest supply chain sustainability challenges and opportunities right now; her experience as a woman moving through the industry; and what being a trailblazer means to her. Press Release Let’s Talk Supply Chain: Women in Supply Chain, Saskia Van Gendt August 4, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Diginomica: The hidden costs of tariffs - a strategic guide to supply chain resilience in trade wars](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/the-hidden-costs-of-tariffs-a-strategic-guide-to-supply-chain-resilience-in-trade-wars) > If business leaders only consider the obvious threats from tariffs, they could be blindsided by less obvious and arguably more serious problems. Let’s dive into the deeper and easily overlooked fallout that might emerge from tariffs, and the opportunities that come with addressing them. Press Release Diginomica: The hidden costs of tariffs - a strategic guide to supply chain resilience in trade wars July 29, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Kobelco Construction Machinery Digitally Transforms Demand and Supply Planning Capabilities With Blue Yonder, Strengthening Its Global Production and Sales System](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/kobelco-construction-machinery-digitally-transforms-demand-and-supply-planning-capabilities) > Manufacturers need to see, analyze, decide, and act to changes in near real-time. That’s why Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (KCM), a leading manufacturer of construction machinery, has deployed Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities to digitally transform its global production and sales operations to be more resilient to demand fluctuations. Press Release Kobelco Construction Machinery Digitally Transforms Demand and Supply Planning Capabilities With Blue Yonder, Strengthening Its Global Production and Sales System Kobelco Construction Machinery Digitally Transforms Demand and Supply Planning Capabilities With Blue Yonder, Strengthening Its Global Production and Sales System TOKYO and DALLAS – July 16, 2025 4 minute read Japanese construction machinery manufacturer strengthens production and supply plans with Blue Yonder to build resiliency to market fluctuations Manufacturers need to see, analyze, decide, and act to changes in near real-time. That’s why Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (KCM) , a leading manufacturer of construction machinery, has deployed Blue Yonder ’s demand and supply planning capabilities to digitally transform its global production and sales operations to be more resilient to demand fluctuations. KCM globally offers a wide variety of construction and transportation machinery and is continually innovating. The company is dedicated to supplying customers with products, services, and information that have true value, while contributing to the creation of a prosperous society. However, KCM was dealing with an environment of constant supply chain challenges and disruptions, as well as challenges with its speed of decision-making in response to market fluctuations and the optimization of Production, Sales, and Inventory (PSI). The company was looking for a solution that could immediately create an optimized production and supply plan to cater to market fluctuations at its global locations, so it turned to Blue Yonder. With Blue Yonder’s capabilities, KCM will be able to achieve the following: Transform its global manufacturing and sales structure to be more resilient to market fluctuations. Visualize, control and orchestrate its supply and demand processes across its global network of suppliers and production facilities. Establish a system that can quickly respond to changes in the market and adjust production levels accordingly by providing support to each site (with automatic data collection/distribution) and controlling supply when production increases/decreases. Gain near real-time, end-to-end collaboration across its entire supply chain to optimize inventory management and improve cash flow. "Blue Yonder's demand and supply planning capabilities have long been trusted by global manufacturers to support their planning operations, giving us confidence that their high level of expertise would drive operational transformation for KCM,” said Yoshio Nishida, executive officer, Kobelco Construction Machinery. “Thanks to Blue Yonder, we are building a foundation to support our goal of a global production and sales system that is resilient to demand fluctuations." Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities allow KCM to stage the right inventory throughout its distribution network, minimizing stock-outs while reducing lost sales opportunities, lowering manufacturing costs, and maximizing profits. The capabilities also allow KCM to gain a strong return on invested capital, minimize cost-to-serve and cash-to-serve, and maintain a high level of customer service. “We are honored that KCM selected to digitally transform its planning capabilities with Blue Yonder,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “Today, excess inventory will worsen cash flow, while insufficient inventory will cause missed business opportunities, so it is essential for manufacturers to develop optimal supply plans. With Blue Yonder, KCM will be able to solve their current challenges and improve planning accuracy across their enterprise and products.” “We worked closely with KCM to help them realize their goal of strengthening and transforming their global supply chain with Blue Yonder’s capabilities,” said Daiju Watanabe, representative director and president, Blue Yonder Japan. “During the implementation, we prioritized the operation and integration of the solution in real-world settings. As a result, KCM can now be more resilient to demand fluctuations and disruptions, enabling them to better meet the needs of their customers.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning capabilities About Kobelco Construction Machinery Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (KCM), as a member of the KOBELCO Group, is engaged in the development, production, sales, and service of construction machinery. The company offers three main product lines: hydraulic excavators, cranes, and environmental recycling machines. Currently, KCM has production bases in Japan, China, Thailand, and India, and are expanding the business globally. With the identity of "User Site Principle," KCM aims for its construction machinery to harmonize with urban landscapes and people, making them feel familiar. Therefore, KCM has adopted a distinctive blue-green color for its products. In addition to its well-established environmental technology development, such as "low fuel consumption and low noise," KCM is advancing the commercialization of "Koto" business with ICT construction machinery and DX solutions under the slogan "Worksites where anyone can work." For more details, please visit www.kobelcocm-global.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Rhenus Warehousing Solutions and Blue Yonder: Strategic Partnership for Global Standardization](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/rhenus-warehousing-solutions-and-blue-yonder-strategic-partnership-for-global-standardization) > Rhenus Warehousing Solutions is intensifying its long-standing cooperation with Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformations, to drive forward its global standardization. As part of this extended partnership, Blue Yonder Warehouse Management will gradually be implemented in Rhenus warehouses worldwide, in order to create a uniform, more efficient and more flexible IT landscape in the long term. At more than 180 sites in over 20 countries, customers already benefit from tailor-made warehousing solutions and fulfilment services, which will be further strengthened and standardized as a result of this partnership. Press Release Rhenus Warehousing Solutions and Blue Yonder: Strategic Partnership for Global Standardization Rhenus Warehousing Solutions and Blue Yonder: Strategic Partnership for Global Standardization HOLZWICKEDE, Germany, and DALLAS – January 27, 2025 3 minute read Rhenus Warehousing Solutions is intensifying its long-standing cooperation with Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformations, to drive forward its global standardization. As part of this extended partnership, Blue Yonder Warehouse Management will gradually be implemented in Rhenus warehouses worldwide, in order to create a uniform, more efficient and more flexible IT landscape in the long term. At more than 180 sites in over 20 countries, customers already benefit from tailor-made warehousing solutions and fulfilment services, which will be further strengthened and standardized as a result of this partnership. As part of the partnership, Rhenus will implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, an interoperable and configurable solution, globally. This will enable the company to implement and realize specific customer requirements worldwide quickly and efficiently. The ability to configure the Blue Yonder Warehouse Management modules in-house greatly reduces the need for completely new developments and allows for optimal use of resources across countries. “With the global expansion of Blue Yonder, we are creating a robust and flexible foundation for the future of our warehouse management. This not only strengthens our competitiveness, but also enables us to respond to the individual needs of our customers worldwide. This partnership marks an important step in further expanding our position in an increasingly global competitive environment and underlines our commitment to accelerating the connection to customer systems and thus optimizing implementation processes,” says Ronny Sassen, CEO of Rhenus Warehousing Solutions. A central aspect of the partnership is the establishment of a Blue Yonder competence center. Preconfigured modules for various industries will be developed here to accelerate the implementation process and support the global introduction of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management. The initial implementation project illustrated the progress of the collaboration and contributed significantly to the effective introduction of a global, standardized and flexible warehouse management solution. Long-term IT infrastructure for the future The partnership between Rhenus and Blue Yonder provides for a long-term collaboration with the aim of gradually ensuring the global availability of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management. This approach will enable Rhenus to build a consistent and scalable IT infrastructure that meets both current and future requirements. “With Blue Yonder, we are building an IT infrastructure that optimizes our global business processes while ensuring the security and performance of our systems. By harmonizing this infrastructure, we are strengthening cooperation between all our sites and offering our business partners a reliable basis for their core business,” explains Markus Sandbrink, Chief Information Officer of the Rhenus Group. Nafe Hagen, general manager, Global Logistics Service Provider and Edge Technologies, Blue Yonder. added: “Expanding our relationship with Rhenus to include warehousing is an important step in jointly developing innovative and scalable supply chain solutions. Our technology will support Rhenus’ security and performance needs as they look to deploy our solutions globally.” About Rhenus The Rhenus Group is one of the leading logistics specialists with global business operations and annual turnover amounting to EUR 7.5 billion. 40,000 employees work at 1,320 business sites in more than 70 countries and develop innovative solutions along the complete supply chain. Whether providing transport, warehousing, customs clearance or value-added services, the family-owned business pools its operations in various business units where the needs of customers are the major focus at all times. www.rhenus.group About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [RealCold Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Warehouse Operations Across Growing Cold Chain Logistics Network](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/realcold-selects-blue-yonder-to-optimize-warehouse-operations-across-growing-cold-chain-logistics) > National cold chain solutions provider will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to meet evolving requirements and support long-term growth Press Release RealCold Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Warehouse Operations Across Growing Cold Chain Logistics Network RealCold Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Warehouse Operations Across Growing Cold Chain Logistics Network NEW YORK and DALLAS – January 21, 2025 4 minute read National cold chain solutions provider will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to meet evolving requirements and support long-term growth While traditional supply chains face many challenges, cold chain operators are met with even more complex challenges. When managing goods which are both time and temperature sensitive, speed, efficiency and accuracy are essential to ensure the safety and quality of inventory . To address this, RealCold , a leading cold chain service provider, will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to digitally transform its warehouse operations to meet the diverse needs of its customers and the increasing demands of the sector. The project will be implemented by Netlogistik , a Blue Yonder partner. Founded in 2022, RealCold was established to address the shifting trends and unique needs of food processors, retailers, and the food service industry. By leveraging a rapidly growing national network of high-throughput facilities, customer-centric solutions, and a wide range of value-added services, RealCold has quickly become a leading domestic cold chain provider. The company currently operates five facilities in high-consumption markets across the U.S. and plans to open two additional cold storage facilities in early 2025 in Florida and Texas, with another location in New Jersey scheduled for occupancy in Q1 2026. To support this growth, RealCold sought a proven, scalable and resilient SaaS solution that is configurable to handle the varied complexity of operational warehouse requirements across its core customer segments. The company selected Blue Yonder based on its extensive cold chain experience and innovative, end-to-end software solutions. With the Blue Yonder solution supported by Netlogistik, RealCold will be able to: Achieve faster start-up times for new customer operations through accelerated onboarding and streamlined system integrations. Provide visibility into end-to-end warehouse processes to increase accuracy, efficiency and customer service levels. Leverage intelligent insights gleaned from robust data analysis to improve productivity and performance. Support diverse and evolving requirements through expansive configuration settings and customizable workflows. “Our customers have a wide range of storage, distribution and fulfillment requirements, from high-volume case pick to direct-to-consumer delivery,” said Keith Goldsmith, CEO, RealCold. “Blue Yonder’s end-to-end warehouse management solution enables us to effectively manage diverse operations while seamlessly integrating with our existing technology and infrastructure, ensuring our clients receive the best possible service and outcomes.” “With our extensive experience in 3PL and Blue Yonder implementations, Netlogistik is excited to support RealCold in scaling their operations to meet dynamic cold chain demands,” said Jagan Reddy, managing partner, Netlogistik. “Blue Yonder Warehouse Management offers RealCold the flexibility to rapidly scale and adapt their operations to meet constantly changing demands,” said Nafe Hagen, general manager, Global Logistics Service Providers and Edge Technologies, Blue Yonder. “We’re excited to team up with Netlogistik to help RealCold achieve profitable growth and provide their customers with a competitive advantage.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solutions Watch “ The Warehouse of the Future Powered by Blue Yonder ” video About RealCold Established in 2022, RealCold was founded to address the unmet needs of the food cold chain sector. By combining high-growth strategic locations, modern facilities, and exhaustive offerings that include traditional storage programs and diverse value-added services (including DTC), the company has positioned itself as a collaborative and integrated provider for food retailers, producers, and food service providers. This mission is reinforced through its highly bespoke solutioning and customer-centric approach. The RealCold platform operates a national, omni-channel network, inclusive of a comprehensive direct-to-consumer program, which can reach the majority of U.S. consumers within 1- or 2-day ground service. For more information on RealCold, please visit www.realcold.com . About Netlogistik Netlogistik drives faster time to value through strategic advisory, seamless deployments of the Blue Yonder logistics and distribution solutions, and other top-of-the-line supply chain technologies. With over 300 certified solutions and technical experts with mastery in logistics and commerce, we are committed to adding value to customers’ supply chains with powerful and flexible services and an unmatched level of expertise. Our team has successfully delivered hundreds of projects across the US, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit netlogistik.com. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Mathis Home Selects Blue Yonder To Improve Customer Satisfaction by Optimizing Inventory Planning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/mathis-home-selects-blue-yonder-to-improve-customer-satisfaction-by-optimizing-inventory-planning) > From slow-moving inventory to capacity constraints, the furniture industry faces unique supply chain challenges that are difficult to manage at scale via manual processes. That’s why Mathis Home, one of America’s largest independent furniture retailers, has selected Blue Yonder to optimize its inventory planning and increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. The project will be implemented by Blue Yonder Professional Services. Press Release Mathis Home Selects Blue Yonder To Improve Customer Satisfaction by Optimizing Inventory Planning Mathis Home Selects Blue Yonder To Improve Customer Satisfaction by Optimizing Inventory Planning OKLAHOMA CITY and DALLAS – March 20, 2025 3 minute read Leading home furnishings retailer chooses Blue Yonder demand and replenishment capabilities to transform its supply chain operations From slow-moving inventory to capacity constraints, the furniture industry faces unique supply chain challenges that are difficult to manage at scale via manual processes. That’s why Mathis Home , one of America’s largest independent furniture retailers, has selected Blue Yonder to optimize its inventory planning and increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. The project will be implemented by Blue Yonder Professional Services. Founded in 1960, Mathis Home, formerly known as Mathis Brothers Furniture, operates 43 locations throughout the U.S. and offers more than 230,000 items online, including home furniture, mattresses, rugs, outdoor furniture, home decor, and much more. To support its ongoing growth, Mathis Home sought a scalable solution to automate planning processes and improve its forecasting capabilities, so it turned to Blue Yonder. With Blue Yonder, Mathis Home will be able to: Increase forecast accuracy and dynamically adjust plans based on changing market conditions and consumer behaviors, driving the right products to the right locations at the right time. Streamline processes and improve automation, enabling planners to focus on higher-value activities while increasing productivity and efficiency. Utilize real-world data and collaborative planning to improve and accelerate decision-making and increase agility and resilience. Optimize inventory levels to minimize stockouts and overstock while increasing customer satisfaction and profitability. “For more than 60 years, Mathis Home has been committed to offering our customers the largest selection of quality products at the lowest prices,” said Rit Mathis, CEO, Mathis Home. “As we continue to grow, Blue Yonder’s solution will enable us to maintain the right product assortment and deliver exceptional customer service throughout our entire network, strengthening our longstanding commitment to our customers and positioning Mathis Home for long-term business success.” Blue Yonder demand and replenishment capabilities will allow Mathis Home to quickly and accurately respond to demand fluctuations, ensuring the right products are available at the right place and time. This will enable the company to improve customer service levels and efficiency while reducing inventory, waste and costs across its entire network. “Increasing speed and accuracy is critical for achieving higher cost savings and customer satisfaction, especially for furniture retailers, where varying lead times and low turnover rates can result in lost sales and excess inventory,” said Vince Beacom, president, Global Retail, Blue Yonder. “With Blue Yonder’s demand and replenishment capabilities, Mathis Home will be able to transform its inventory planning and management to gain a competitive advantage and increase supply chain resilience.” About Mathis Home In 1960, the Mathis brothers, Don and Bud, revolutionized the furniture business with everyday low prices, which meant customers didn't have to wait for a "sale." As they said at the time, "we took a little less, so our neighbors could have a little more." The concept was a spectacular success, helping Mathis Home become one of the largest independent furniture retailers in America. Today there are 43 Mathis-family brand locations in the U.S., including Mathis Home, Design Studio, Mathis Outlet, Mathis Sleep, LZB and Ashley stores, each offering the largest selection of home furnishings in their region. Mathis Home offers more than 230,000 items online, including living room furniture, bedroom furniture, dining sets, dining room furniture, mattresses, and much more for the home. Mathis Home’s core principles have always been to offer the biggest selection, prices no other dealer can match, backed by the strongest guarantees and best customer service in the industry, because a satisfied customer is and always has been our most important product. For more information, please visit www.mathishome.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Knauf Builds an Autonomous Supply Chain With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/knauf-builds-an-autonomous-supply-chain-with-blue-yonder) > Global leader in building materials and construction systems chooses Blue Yonder to enhance supply chain agility and achieve strategic objectives leveraging AI and ML Press Release Knauf Builds an Autonomous Supply Chain With Blue Yonder Knauf Builds an Autonomous Supply Chain With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , IPHOFEN, Germany, and DALLAS – February 11, 2025 4 minute read Global leader in building materials and construction systems chooses Blue Yonder to enhance supply chain agility and achieve strategic objectives leveraging AI and ML In the highly competitive and dynamic building materials and systems industry, manufacturers need to drive strategic growth and financial performance to succeed. That’s why Knauf , a globally leading manufacturer of building materials and construction systems, has chosen to deploy Blue Yonder Demand Planning , a cloud-native solution with cognitive capabilities that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The solution will enable Knauf to gain access to industry-focused insights that enable faster decisioning and more precise forecasting to further transform its supply chain demand planning capabilities. The solution deployment is led by Blue Yonder Professional Services. Since 1932, Knauf has been synonymous with innovation, quality, and sustainability, boasting over 300 production sites in more than 90 countries. The company’s extensive product range – from drywall systems to plaster and ceiling solutions – and innovative insulation materials enables sustainable and efficient construction projects worldwide. To realize its 2032 supply chain strategy, Knauf required a holistic approach to processes and technologies. This strategy aims to create an autonomous, end-to-end supply chain by digitalizing, orchestrating, and automating all supply chain processes across its three global business units. To achieve this, Knauf turned to Blue Yonder, its long-time supply chain solutions provider. The Blue Yonder solution will serve as the backbone of Knauf’s supply chain transformation, enhancing forecast accuracy by considering dynamic external and internal variables, enabling causal simulations and automating processes. “Blue Yonder has been an integral part of our digital transformation journey, and their Demand Planning solution provides the agility and precision we need to adapt to evolving market demands,” said Dr. Martin Brown, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Knauf. “This collaboration marks a critical milestone in realizing our 2032 supply chain strategy. By leveraging advanced AI and ML technologies, we are not only enhancing forecast accuracy but also building a future-ready supply chain that delivers end-to-end operational excellence, sustainability, and an exceptional customer experience.” With Blue Yonder Demand Planning solution built on the Blue Yonder Platform , Knauf expects to achieve the following: Agile and integrated planning : Knauf will deploy adaptive demand plans by integrating real-time data and systems, enabling streamlined operations and enhanced responsiveness to market shifts. Advanced scenario planning : Knauf will optimize demand planning processes by orchestrating advanced scenario simulations to manage variability effectively. Enhanced forecast accuracy and inventory optimization: By combining market intelligence with advanced statistical methods and ML models, Knauf will improve demand forecasting accuracy and optimize SKU levels, ultimately reducing excess inventory and working capital. Dynamic decision-making: Knauf will enable real-time demand scenario planning, shortening forecasting cycles and empowering faster, data-driven decisions to meet customer needs more effectively. Tailored and extensible demand planning solutions at scale: Knauf can design and implement tailored demand planning workflows to address unique business challenges while ensuring scalability across the business divisions. Today, companies face challenges due to fluctuations in demand caused by unexpected supply chain disruptions, evolving customer habits, inflation and a growing demand for sustainable products and processes. These industry dynamics pose significant challenges for conventional forecasting methods. Blue Yonder Demand Planning solution, hosted on Microsoft Azure, addresses these challenges with AI-based capabilities, transforming how companies collaborate, predict, plan and make decisions. “Blue Yonder Demand Planning solution empowers manufacturers like Knauf to swiftly adapt to evolving external dynamics and market conditions, ensuring their supply chains remain agile, sustainable, and competitive,” said Terry Turner, president, manufacturing, Blue Yonder. “With Blue Yonder, Knauf can optimize its supply chain and confidently pursue its 2032 strategy, a vision that Blue Yonder is proud to support.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Demand Planning Learn more about Blue Yonder Platform Video: Next Generation Demand Planning with Cognitive Demand Planning Video: What is a composable journey Video: Knauf Case Study Video: Blue Yonder Integrated Business Planning Video: Blue Yonder Order Promising & Optimization About Knauf The Knauf Group is a globally leading manufacturer of building materials and construction systems. With over 300 production sites in more than 90 countries, Knauf represents innovation, quality, and sustainability. Our comprehensive product range, which spans from drywall systems to plaster and ceiling solutions and innovative insulation materials, enables us to realize sustainable and efficient construction projects around the world. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [GXO and Blue Yonder Announce New Strategic Global Agreement](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/gxo-and-blue-yonder-announce-new-strategic-global-agreement) > New agreement creates strategic growth opportunities for both companies while delivering industry-leading supply chain solutions for customers Press Release GXO and Blue Yonder Announce New Strategic Global Agreement GXO and Blue Yonder Announce New Strategic Global Agreement GREENWICH, Conn., and DALLAS – May 5, 2025 2 minute read New agreement creates strategic growth opportunities for both companies while delivering industry-leading supply chain solutions for customers GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO), the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, and Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, announced today a global multi-year strategic agreement to deploy new end-to-end logistics software solutions that will enhance speed, flexibility and predictability for GXO customers. To support GXO’s rapid growth and need for seamless implementations at scale for clients across industries, Blue Yonder will become one of the company’s preferred off-the-shelf software solution providers for warehouse management systems (WMS). The agreement creates additional warehouse and logistics capabilities and will help deliver even faster speed-to-market for businesses that require extra inventory flexibility, resulting in a simple onboarding experience that gives more insight into operations with real-time data forecasting as goods move through the warehouse. “At GXO, we’ve invested deeply in automation and robotics to manage high-speed, high-volume operations for the world’s leading brands. As throughput increases, so does complexity. With businesses navigating new logistics challenges daily and as global supply chains are met with increased unpredictability, our technology solutions will be more productive and more predictable to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges,” said Nizar Trigui, Chief Technology Officer of GXO. “We built an innovative offering that supports GXO’s rapid growth and differentiation in a highly competitive market,” said Duncan Angove, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Yonder. “This agreement further enables GXO to achieve its goal of delivering smarter, faster and leaner supply chains for its customers.” GXO serves the world’s top brands at more than 1,000 sites in 27 markets. GXO’s strategic offering with Blue Yonder is an important milestone that will further the company’s leadership in tech-enabled fulfillment, building upon decades of data to develop cutting-edge logistics solutions. About GXO GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO) is the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider and is benefiting from the rapid growth of ecommerce, automation and outsourcing. GXO is committed to providing an inclusive, world-class workplace for more than 150,000 team members across more than 1,000 facilities totaling approximately 200 million square feet. The company partners with the world’s leading blue-chip companies to solve complex logistics challenges with technologically advanced supply chain and ecommerce solutions, at scale and with speed. GXO corporate headquarters is in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. Visit GXO.com for more information and connect with GXO on LinkedIn , X , Facebook , Instagram and YouTube . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Galeria Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Enhance the In-Store and Online Customer Shopping Experience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/galeria-teams-up-with-blue-yonder-to-enhance-the-in-store-and-online-customer-shopping-experience) > Germany’s iconic department store chain deploys Blue Yonder’s AI-driven demand and replenishment capabilities to strengthen its commitment to quality and convenience Press Release Galeria Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Enhance the In-Store and Online Customer Shopping Experience Galeria Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Enhance the In-Store and Online Customer Shopping Experience ESSEN, Germany, and DALLAS – May 13, 2025 4 minute read Germany’s iconic department store chain deploys Blue Yonder’s AI-driven demand and replenishment capabilities to strengthen its commitment to quality and convenience In today’s rapidly evolving retail landscape, consumers increasingly seek personalized shopping experiences tailored to meet their specific demand requirements. For omni-channel retailers, success depends on seamlessly delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service powered by advanced technology that effectively supports a demand driven, omni-channel strategy. That is why Galeria , Germany´s leading department store chain, has chosen to deploy Blue Yonder ’s demand and replenishment capabilities to strengthen its supply chain and enhance operational efficiency. This strategic investment enables the retailer to deliver a highly responsive and seamless shopping experience across both in-store and online channels, reinforcing Galeria’s commitment to quality and convenience. Galeria previously relied mainly on manual processes that limited the company’s ability to forecast demand and accurately allocate inventory across its stores. Through strong collaboration between Galeria’s IT, purchasing and supply chain teams    and Blue Yonder, the teams were able to significantly improve the retailer’s data quality, availability, and business process efficiency. The collaboration was also pivotal in establishing well-defined system interfaces to support seamless data integration and automation. A crucial milestone in this transformation was the development of a robust forecasting model, built through extensive analysis of transactional and promotional data. “Galeria’s supply chain management is undergoing a significant transformation, with a primary focus on boosting customer satisfaction,” said Moritz Winter, chief supply chain officer, Galeria. “To achieve this, it was crucial to enhance both stock availability and allocation accuracy. There was an urgent need to improve the management of allocations and replenishments, streamline business processes, and implement standardization and automation.  Galeria recognized Blue Yonder as the ideal supply chain solutions provider for this transformation.” “Blue Yonder’s demand and replenishment capabilities provide a high level of standardization, AI-driven forecasting, and processes simplification, making them a perfect fit for our needs,” said Alexander Rings, director, inventory management & buying analytics, Galeria. “The implementation was initially designed to help us transform into a customer- and demand-driven supply chain by leveraging software as an enabler; however, it also reshaped our understanding of central business processes and needs. While stock availability increased significantly, we are in parallel working on fundamentally improving data and buying processes.” With Blue Yonder’s AI-powered demand and replenishment capabilities, Galeria will be able to: Utilize a fully automated machine learning model that enhances supply chain agility and resilience, allowing rapid adaptation to local demand, market shifts, and external factors. Improve customer service levels by aligning inventory with actual demand, reducing the risk of stockouts, minimizing overstocking, and reducing waste. Streamline lifecycle management, especially for seasonal and promotional products. Accelerate new product introductions and optimize seasonal assortment plans. Enhance end-of-life product management, reducing markdowns and excess inventory through demand pattern analysis. With Blue Yonder’s capabilities now live, Galeria can forecast, plan, and execute with greater accuracy – optimizing inventory, improving fulfillment, and driving operational efficiency across both in-store and online channels. This transformation not only strengthens Galeria’s supply chain but also deepens customer loyalty through a seamless shopping experience. “We are proud to collaborate with Galeria to optimize their supply chain. As Galeria continues its business and processes innovation, we look forward to being a key solution provider and advisor in their journey, ensuring that their supply chain evolves alongside their success,” said Vince Beacom, president, global retail, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for Retail Planning Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for Apparel and Footwear About Galeria With around 185 million visitors a year and 83 stores in around 70 cities, GALERIA S.à r.l. & Co. KG, the largest department store in Germany, always has one goal in mind: to focus on its customers. Versatility, regionality and strategic partnerships play a decisive role in this. A mix of modern brands, paired with quality and first-class service, characterize the innovative and inspiring shopping experience. GALERIA analyzes its target groups precisely and is therefore the market leader in categories such as lingerie, luggage and accessories. The market halls and restaurants round off the shopping offer in the department stores. In addition to the stationary range, GALERIA offers around 1,500 brands on its online marketplace, www.galeria.de. All this makes GALERIA one of the most important shopping destinations in the heart of German city centers. More information at www.galeria.de. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fabletics Elevates Supply Chain Planning With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fabletics-elevates-supply-chain-planning-with-blue-yonder) > Active lifestyle brand to evolve its end to-end planning, allocation and replenishment capabilities with Blue Yonder, supported by Plantensive Press Release Fabletics Elevates Supply Chain Planning With Blue Yonder Fabletics Elevates Supply Chain Planning With Blue Yonder EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and DALLAS – February 13, 2025 4 minute read Active lifestyle brand to evolve its end to-end planning, allocation and replenishment capabilities with Blue Yonder, supported by Plantensive Fabletics , the world’s most fashionable, high-performance active and lifestyle wear brand, announces a collaboration with and the selection of Blue Yonder ’s SaaS-based Supply Chain Planning solutions, including demand planning , allocation & replenishment , merchandise financial planning , and size scaling , to further expand its global footprint. The transformation will be supported by Plantensive , a Blue Yonder partner. Once the Blue Yonder solutions are implemented, Fabletics will: Own a best-in-class and agile planning toolset that can grow with the business and offer flexibility. Utilize varying datasets and algorithms for inventory recommendations across each of its brands. Transform its business processes across its direct-to-consumer e-commerce, retail, and dropship and wholesale channels, resulting in improved inventory turns and reduction leading to higher revenue. Positively impact sustainability thanks to better planning processes that allow inventory to be in the right location to sell, leading to less waste and further benefiting the company’s CarbonNeutral® certification . With Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Planning solutions, Fabletics can harness the power of demand planning and forecasting to improve sustainability and meet increasing customer expectations. Fabletics can achieve higher planner productivity, better inventory management, and gain an improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behavior. With allocation, Fabletics will receive recommendations for the right merchandise distribution down to size so it can optimize inventory, reduce waste and avoid unnecessary markdowns. With merchandise financial planning, Fabletics can tie enterprise-wide strategic plans to the execution of shared goals, establishing consumer-centric, omni-channel financial guidelines to manage inventory profitability and productivity. And with size scaling, Fabletics will be able to conduct low-level, detailed analysis at appropriate intervals to get the right sizes to each location while decreasing excess, fringe-sized assortments. “We are thrilled to partner with Blue Yonder to drive the strategy and execution of Fabletics’ digital transformation journey. As a strategic partner, Plantensive is committed to delivering end-to-end planning, allocation, and replenishment solutions that will not only enhance Fabletics’ internal operations but also elevate their customer experience,” said Derek Cesarz, managing partner, Plantensive. “We are excited to be part of their growth story and look forward to a successful collaboration.” “Retailers today find it increasingly challenging to manage demand planning, allocation, replenishment, and forecasting due to supply chain disruptions such as labor shortages and rising inflation. Fabletics is taking the first step in transforming their business to better meet the needs of their consumers and internal teams to expand globally and support their manufacturing process as a result. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of their transformation along with our partner Plantensive and look forward to working with Fabletics further as they continue to evolve as a global brand,” said Vince Beacom, president, Global Retail, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s SaaS-based Supply Chain Planning solutions, including demand planning , allocation & replenishment , merchandise financial planning , and size scaling About Fabletics Founded in 2013 and headquartered in El Segundo, CA, Fabletics is the largest digitally native activewear brand in the world*. By fusing style-centric designs with high-performance technology, Fabletics is creating the world’s most fashionable, high-performance active lifestyle products at an accessible price. Driven by its innovative VIP membership program serving over 2 million loyal members and powered by analysis from its Fashion OS tech platform enabling deep customer understanding, Fabletics has evolved activewear beyond the gym into every walk of life, guided by its foundational belief that everyone and every body deserves to look and feel their best. Fabletics can also be shopped in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico (2025), and in person at the brand’s state-of-the-art retail stores in over 100 locations. *Source: Euromonitor International Limited; Based on total global retail sales in the calendar year 2020 from custom research conducted in October 2021. About Plantensive, A MorganFranklin Company Plantensive, a MorganFranklin company, is a supply chain and retail planning solutions provider to many of the Fortune 500 and mid-market companies across the consumer packaged goods, distribution, manufacturing and retail industries. Plantensive provides end-to-end supply chain solutions and proven tools to accelerate value by building, implementing and optimizing dynamic, reliable supply chain solutions aligned with business strategies. For more information visit: plantensive.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Europastry and Blue Yonder Team Up To Strategically Drive Efficiency, Sustainability and Customer Satisfaction](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/europastry-and-blue-yonder-team-up-to-strategically-drive-efficiency-sustainability-and-customer) > Global bakery leader implements Blue Yonder transportation management solutions supported by BlueGistics to optimize supply chain operations across Europe Press Release Europastry and Blue Yonder Team Up To Strategically Drive Efficiency, Sustainability and Customer Satisfaction Europastry and Blue Yonder Team Up To Strategically Drive Efficiency, Sustainability and Customer Satisfaction Barcelona and Dallas – January 15, 2025 3 minute read Global bakery leader implements Blue Yonder transportation management solutions supported by BlueGistics to optimize supply chain operations across Europe Delivering frozen bakery products presents several challenges that can impact the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of the supply chain. To address these challenges, Europastry, a world leader in the frozen bakery industry, has selected Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions to evolve its supply processes and optimize its logistics operations. The transformational project was deployed by BlueGistics , a Blue Yonder partner and worldwide consulting company specializing in the implementation of Transportation Management Systems. With an ever-growing distribution network spanning more than 80 countries, Europastry sought to increase efficiency in its transportation processes, reduce costs, and continue delivering its wide range of bakery products efficiently. Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions provide Europastry a comprehensive offering with real-time visibility into transportation operations, enabling the company to better plan and execute its deliveries. The solutions integrate advanced analytics and machine learning to optimize routes, reduce transit times, and enhance overall efficiency. “Efficient transportation management is crucial to our ability to meet the high-quality standards our customers expect,” said Andreu Venteo Casas, global supply chain director, Europastry. “With Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions, we will be able to streamline our logistics operations, ensuring that our products are delivered quickly and sustainably. This is a significant step towards optimizing our supply chain and reducing operational costs.” As Europastry’s supply chain expands, managing transportation routes and ensuring timely deliveries across multiple regions becomes increasingly complex. Thanks to Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions supported by BlueGistics, Europastry expects to achieve the following benefits: Increase customer service levels and satisfaction by reducing lead times. Improve profitability by reducing logistics costs. Support sustainability goals by optimizing routes, reducing fuel consumption, and lowering carbon emissions. Balance efficiency with supply chain agility and resilience to adapt to changing market conditions. “In today’s complex supply chain environment, effective transportation management is more important than ever. We are thrilled to support Europastry in strategically transforming their supply chain operations,” said Terry Turner, president, Global Manufacturing, Blue Yonder. “With our transportation management solutions deployed by BlueGistics, Europastry will not only reduce transportation costs but also improve service levels for its customers, driving both operational excellence and sustainability.” “By optimizing routes and reducing transportation costs, we’re empowering Europastry to meet growing customer demand while maintaining their commitment to sustainability. As Europastry continues its business expansion across Europe and beyond, we look forward to being a key partner in their journey, ensuring that their supply chain evolves alongside their success,” said Adrià Estañol, chief executive officer, BlueGistics. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions About Europastry Europastry is a family business specialized in frozen bakery. At our core, we are bakers ready to transform baking as we know it. Respecting and honouring the tradition of artisan baking is, along with our curious spirit and our tireless pursuit of innovation, the basis of all our work. Today, Europastry is present in more than 80 countries, through our more than 5,000 bakers, 27 production plants and 30 commercial offices. Europastry – We are bakers europastry.com About BlueGistics BlueGistics is a leading consulting firm specialized in Blue Yonder Transportation Management. As an official partner of Blue Yonder, we excel in delivering expert solutions for TMS implementation, support, rollouts, upgrades, migrations, and training. Our commitment to exceptional quality, service, and value ensures success in every project we undertake. BlueGistics – Futuring the Transportation bluegistics.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Border States Selects Blue Yonder To Streamline Its Warehouse Operations and Improve Customer Service](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/border-states-selects-blue-yonder-to-streamline-its-warehouse-operations) > From rising materials costs to trade tensions, ongoing disruptions and uncertainty continue to generate supply chain challenges for the electrical distribution industry. That’s why Border States, a leading electrical distributor, has selected Blue Yonder to power its first regional distribution center, slated to open in late 2026. Border States will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management and Warehouse Labor Management solutions — underpinned by the Blue Yonder Platform — supported by Open Sky Group, a Blue Yonder partner. Press Release Border States Selects Blue Yonder To Streamline Its Warehouse Operations and Improve Customer Service Border States Selects Blue Yonder To Streamline Its Warehouse Operations and Improve Customer Service FARGO, N.D., and DALLAS – June 24, 2025 4 minute read Leading electrical distributor will implement Blue Yonder’s cloud-based solutions at its first regional distribution center, supported by Open Sky Group From rising materials costs to trade tensions, ongoing disruptions and uncertainty continue to generate supply chain challenges for the electrical distribution industry. That’s why Border States , a leading electrical distributor, has selected Blue Yonder to power its first regional distribution center, slated to open in late 2026 . Border States will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management and Warehouse Labor Management solutions — underpinned by the Blue Yonder Platform — supported by Open Sky Group , a Blue Yonder partner. Border States provides innovative products and supply chain solutions to the construction, industrial and utility markets. As one of the largest electrical distributors in the U.S., Border States has grown exponentially over the years, with more than 130 locations across the country. To support its expanding network, Border States is planning to add several distribution centers equipped with robust solutions to streamline operations, so it turned to Blue Yonder to improve warehouse performance and customer service. With Blue Yonder, Border States will be able to: •    Optimize end-to-end warehouse processes to increase performance, efficiency and service levels. •    Effectively manage inventory across a vast network to reduce costs and improve customer service. •    Increase employee satisfaction and retention to maximize performance and drive continuous improvement. •    Boost productivity, reduce labor costs and unlock hidden efficiencies with fair, accurate performance tracking powered by engineered standards and real-time work visibility. •    Scale and adapt operations as needed to support changing demands and overcome disruptions. “We are excited about our distribution center strategy and collaborations with Blue Yonder and Open Sky Group,” said Tony Serati, vice president, Supply Chain Strategy, Border States. “These collaborations will help better serve our customers, scale our business through strong growth projections, drive operational efficiencies, and enhance the experience for our employee owners. Blue Yonder’s AI-enabled, end-to-end warehousing solutions will enable us to achieve these goals and build a more resilient and scalable supply chain.” Blue Yonder Warehouse Management leverages machine learning and system-directed activities to achieve end-to-end warehouse optimization. The comprehensive, highly scalable solution will allow Border States to increase accuracy, efficiency, throughput and customer satisfaction. In addition, Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management will enable Border States to improve labor productivity, utilization and morale with actionable insights and performance reporting. “At Open Sky Group, we’re proud to support Border States on this pivotal project,” said Jeremy Hudson, vice president, Client Services, Open Sky Group. “Their investment in Blue Yonder’s advanced warehouse and labor management solutions reflects a strong commitment to operational excellence. We look forward to helping them scale smarter, improve workforce performance, and deliver even greater service to their customers.” “Leveraging advanced technology and automation is essential for transforming warehouse operations into a competitive advantage,” said Umar Ausaf, general manager, Global Manufacturing, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder’s cloud-based solutions will provide Border States with increased visibility, efficiency and control to improve customer service, cost savings and decision-making across their entire supply chain while supporting the company’s long-term growth.” Additional Resources: •    Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management and Warehouse Labor Management solutions •    Video: Blue Yonder Warehouse Management About Border States Border States supplies products and services to construction, industrial and utility customers. The 100% employee-owned company is rated the sixth largest electrical distributor in the United States by Electrical Wholesaling magazine. Border States has nearly 3,500 employee-owners in 31 states. The Branch Support Center (corporate office) is located in Fargo, North Dakota. About Open Sky Group Open Sky Group stands as a global leader in supply chain technology, boasting a carefully curated portfolio with best-of-breed partners and cutting-edge SaaS platforms. Our diverse operational expertise in multiple supply chain solutions empowers your operations with proven and unparalleled service. Through our extensive supply chain proficiency and customer-centric focus, we operate as an extension of your existing operations. Being a single solution architect with fluent multi-technology translation, Open Sky Group is your premier supply chain advisor. By merging our partner portfolio with our state-of-the-art SaaS platform, you now possess a comprehensive toolkit for achieving end-to-end supply chain excellence. At Open Sky Group, our supply chain experts are dedicated to revolutionizing the way you manage your supply chain. We work to propel your business toward unprecedented levels of success through maximized profitability and efficiency in an increasingly competitive landscape. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Unveils Advanced AI-Driven Cognitive Solutions With Latest Product Release](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-unveils-advanced-ai-driven-cognitive-solutions) > Leading supply chain company’s intelligent, AI-powered, platform-driven solutions help businesses rapidly adjust to demand and disruptions while driving cost efficiency and resiliency Press Release Blue Yonder Unveils Advanced AI-Driven Cognitive Solutions With Latest Product Release Blue Yonder Unveils Advanced AI-Driven Cognitive Solutions With Latest Product Release NASHVILLE, Tenn., and DALLAS – May 6, 2025 12 minute read Leading supply chain company’s intelligent, AI-powered, platform-driven solutions help businesses rapidly adjust to demand and disruptions while driving cost efficiency and resiliency As volatility increases and economic concerns grow, supply chain leaders are under intense pressure to optimize every aspect of their supply chain to maximize profits and avoid bottlenecks. With its latest product release that was showcased at its annual customer conference, ICON 2025 , Blue Yonder delivers several artificial intelligence (AI)-infused Cognitive Solutions, accelerating long-range and intraday decision making, even in the most complex situations, for increased resiliency, resource leverage, and cost control. “Our latest product release helps businesses tackle volatility, improve profit margins, and reduce complexity,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder . “By leveraging our AI-powered, platform-driven Cognitive Solutions, directly connected to the Blue Yonder Network, companies can achieve unprecedented agility and resilience, enabling them to anticipate and respond to market changes with speed and precision. This empowers our customers to not only meet current demands but also to strategically position themselves for future growth and success.” With this product release, Blue Yonder advancements are focused on the following key areas: Cognitive Solutions Reimagine Supply Chain Management Cognitive Solutions are designed to operate at machine speed, scale and precision with AI natively built-in, allowing supply chain teams and AI to seamlessly coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows across all parts of their supply chain from planning to execution to returns management. Built on a modern and true cloud architecture for scale and access to advanced AI capabilities, the Cognitive Solutions on the Blue Yonder Platform leverage the AI data cloud to breakdown silos in the supply chain ecosystem and enable end-to-end interoperability through the power of unified decisioning on a multi-enterprise network. Cognitive Solutions are intelligent and agentic, offering reimagined experiences for users. With Cognitive Solutions, Blue Yonder customers will receive the following benefits: Increased Agility To Address Mounting Business Uncertainty: Businesses can quickly evaluate risks and opportunities by aligning objectives and constraints using internal and external data sources, to reduce the time elapsed between planning and execution. Planners and operations managers can now build more scenarios on additional data in less time and then leverage the power of AI to quickly pinpoint the most effective path for optimized execution. And with a multi-enterprise network, businesses can use agentic AI to adjust operations in conjunction with trading partners to work around disruptions, optimize costs and more. Optimized Cost-to-Serve With Speed of Delivery: Businesses can optimize capital resource output, reduce inventory waste, and identify hidden inefficiencies to maximize profits and minimize cost-to-serve with AI- and machine learning (ML)-driven analysis across their supply chain. Simplified, AI- and ML-Driven Decisioning: Building on more than two decades of innovation in predictive analysis for supply chain management, Blue Yonder has expanded AI leverage across these Cognitive Solutions while also implementing more sophisticated ML techniques. AI agents enable businesses to utilize and act on vast amounts of supply chain data for optimizing decision-making, identifying patterns, and predicting disruptions – as well as opportunities – that humans might miss. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s AI agents here . Cognitive Solutions support the high-speed decision-making required of today’s supply chain teams. These interoperable solutions span business processes and break down silos, supporting efficient collaboration. Unified Planning and Streamlined Decisioning Across the Supply Chain for Manufacturers and Retailers With Cognitive Solutions for supply chain planning, Blue Yonder delivers end-to-end, concurrent planning based on a common set of services and data. Both manufacturers and retailers gain new capabilities in this release. Manufacturers can optimize planning and boost profits by swiftly analyzing demand in unison with supply from across a multi-tier network of supply partners, and collaborating easily with suppliers and carriers to ensure they have the right materials that meet their specific requirements. Retailers can enhance ranging decisions in near real-time across sales, stock buying, inventory management, and financial management processes using the Blue Yonder Platform’s unified and centralized data management structure. This gives retailers the planning speed and flexibility they need to accelerate inventory turnover and minimize waste, even as customer and business demands evolve. New offerings in this release include: AI-Driven Demand and Supply Planning: Introduced during the last product release , Demand and Supply Planning eliminates traditional planning silos and redefines the strategic planning process. This release introduces new features, including: New product introduction analysis uses AI to analyze how the introduction of new products impacts supply requirements, production, and sourcing, as well as how to align with real-time consumer and market changes for more successful product launches. Multi-tier planning and orchestration expands the supply chain planning process by connecting supply, demand and inventory planning with the Blue Yonder Network, enabling multi-tier planning, responsiveness and supplier collaboration. Solver enhancements , along with new insight and optimization tools, enable planners to reduce excess inventory and safety stock costs while improving delivery accuracy and reducing production delays. Dynamic Integrated Business Planning: Enhancements to Integrated Business Planning automatically create risk and opportunity corridors that enable planners to explore a range of possible situations to assist them in creating more accurate plans in today’s age of uncertainty. In addition, dynamic constraints and planning capabilities enable planners to identify supply chain limits and use AI to recommend scenarios that achieve supply chain goals while aligning with broader company objectives. Enhanced Inventory Management for Retail: Building on the previous release of a seamless Allocation and Replenishment solution that supports the entire lifecycle of a product from introduction to end-of-life, this release introduces new features. This includes enhanced best balance ordering that allows retail planners to improve inventory fit for regional demands and prevent spoilage for date-sensitive inventory, reducing waste. The addition of rule-based store grouping allows retailers to predefine which factors (such as product demand, store sales, etc.) determine inventory allocation across stores. And ML-based behavioral clustering enables planners to analyze more supply chain planning data than legacy, rule-based systems, improving assortment mapping to seasonal buying trends and accelerating inventory turnover. End-to-End Assortment Planning for Softlines Retail: This release introduces new features to Assortment Planning targeted to softlines. Merchants and planners can better understand and manage the impact of their assortment decisions by leveraging its built-in AI agent, which analyzes historical performance, subscriptions, and fashion trends to determine the likelihood of future product sales against customer preferences, channel or regional idiosyncrasies, and events, amongst other causals. Maximize Warehouse Efficiency and Speed With AI and ML Blue Yonder is delivering its next-generation warehouse management solution built natively on the Blue Yonder Platform – combining 25 years of proven capabilities and a cloud-native platform in one solution. This allows effortless scalability and extensibility, no downtime code updates, and immediate access to AI and ML innovation. Businesses will dramatically improve warehouse efficiency with unprecedented adaptability and visibility, accelerated receipt and movement of goods, and optimized workforce performance. And it allows them to deliver optimized cost-to-serve metrics, in addition to reducing the cost per case metric within the warehouse. The new capabilities available for consumption at customer warehouses include: Improve Equipment Tracking in the Yard: Powered by computer vision and ML, businesses can automatically track equipment arriving and departing the yard, as well as the movement within the yard, resulting in increased efficiency and improved trailer prioritization. Computer vision technology detects equipment to create a 3D map of the yard, giving businesses operational visibility and the ability to search and identify available equipment to meet SLA’s. Enable the Next Phase in People-Robot Collaboration: Warehouse managers can utilize the new robotics performance tracking capabilities totrack their autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) like any other labor resource, with the ability to see productivity and utilization. And with automatic assignment reprocessing capabilities , warehouse managers can automatically attempt to reprocess failed or incorrect transactions to ensure data integrity. Support Retail Store Replenishment From the Warehouse: Using the new retail store replenishment capabilities, warehouse operators can integrate chase pick, garment on hanger, ratio packs, and more, enabling retailers and logistics service providers to replenish store inventory and stock levels across their store network. This improves inventory visibility and picking efficiency. Returns Process and Tracking for Added Visibility: The returns processing capability gives warehouses visibility into incoming Returns Merchandise Authorization (RMA) for more efficient returns, automates decision making, and enables faster processing to get goods back to sale more quickly. Extend Supply Chain Visibility and Orchestration With a Multi-Enterprise Network The Blue Yonder Network enables businesses to swiftly coordinate with suppliers, customers and carriers, optimizing the flow of goods and improving time to market to support profitable growth. With this release, the Blue Yonder Network now offers: Multi-Tier Networking for Blue Yonder Transportation Management: The integration of the Blue Yonder Network with Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions delivers access to advanced telematics, automation of transportation appointment scheduling, and RFQ collaboration with suppliers and carriers. This enables real-time tuning of transportation plans and schedules. Scalable, Permission-Based BOM View: The multi-tier Bill of Material (BOM) management capability enables rapid tracking and adjustment of raw materials and components across multiple suppliers to optimize for cost, time-to-market, and more. Analyze Root Cause Across Multi-Party Processes: The new risk impact analysis capability performs multi-party root cause analysis to identify issues and alternate suppliers and carriers to mitigate issues and improve resiliency. Support Alternate Vendor Selection: The dynamic order schedule management capability allows alternative vendor selection based on established contractual and component requirements for faster pivots, allowing retailers and manufacturers to address cost, time to market, and supply availability considerations. Optimize Returns To Get Goods Back Into Inventory Faster With the latest release, retailers can empower a circular supply chain that reduces waste and increases profits: Gain Control Over Returns and Refund Decisions: With the ability to tailor returns processes based on data such as product SKU, returns reason or customer profile, retailers can decide to issue refunds while excluding items, even in grouped orders, that are cost-prohibitive to return. They can do this without requiring the customer to return the item when it is unsellable or when the cost of return exceeds resale value to improve overall profitability. Increase Visibility With Analytics and Reporting Capabilities: The addition of returns analytics and customizable reporting in Blue Yonder Returns Management provides insights into frequently returned items, returns reasons, customers with high returns rates, volumes, and more to improve inventory management, inform future buying decisions, and stop revenue leakage. Improve Inventory Recovery: The introduction of the Warehouse Processing app offers new and enhanced grading functionality that enables retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs) to customize quality check instructions for warehouse workers, using data to determine the optimal disposition outcome. This ultimately leads to more consistent decision-making, increased inventory resale, and enhanced revenue recovery while minimizing waste. Dynamic Grading for Resale: Automatically determine the quality of returned goods — and whether they should be restocked, resold, or removed — to minimize return losses, and get goods back into sales inventory sooner. Enhanced Capabilities That Promote Sustainable Abundance Blue Yonder also introduced a new sustainability offering, called Sustainable Supply Chain Manager , which integrates carbon and waste management with supply chain management. This new integration will help Blue Yonder customers reduce waste and pollution while cutting costs – a win-win for the business and the environment. “Over the past few years, businesses have been able to scale global supply chains through technology; however, this progress has come at a cost to the environment as supply chains today account for most of global carbon emissions,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder . “The good news is that this same technology can be used to address sustainability impacts in the supply chain. We’re excited by our new offering that provides actionable data and optimization capabilities to address emissions and waste in the supply chain, helping businesses meet their sustainability goals.” Blue Yonder’s Sustainable Supply Chain Manager allows customers to: Measure carbon emissions and proactively plan : The new Sustainable Supply Chain Manager solution embeds high-fidelity, carbon emissions measurement into Blue Yonder’s transportation management and supply chain planning solutions. Customers can calculate multimodal emissions across all transport modes, including air, inland (e.g., truck, rail, barges), and sea, as well as logistics hubs that align with the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) framework, and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14083 (Greenhouse gases). This solution enhances proactive retail and manufacturing planning to reduce emissions by streamlining and providing accurate emissions data for regulatory compliance and ESG reporting without manual and fragmented data collection, saving time and costs. Optimize transportation carbon emissions scenario modeling: Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution will now feature scenario modeling for carbon emissions optimization and trade-off analysis. This enhancement enables proactive planning and forecasting, driving progress on sustainability goals, reducing fuel usage and costs, and enhancing operational efficiency. In addition, as previously announced , Blue Yonder acquired the business of Pledge Earth Technologies Ltd. (“Pledge”) , which will enhance its already robust platform to include globally accredited logistics CO2e emissions reporting that allows customers to monitor their own emissions and those of their trading partners and suppliers. Learn more here . Blue Yonder Launches Supply Chain Advisory Also, at ICON, Blue Yonder unveiled its newly formed Supply Chain Advisory , which offers deep industry, solutions and data science expertise to guide customers through their digital transformation journeys and adoption of Blue Yonder’s solutions and AI agents. The Supply Chain Advisory helps customers cut through supply chain complexity, tackle tough challenges, avoid potential missteps, and keep ahead of what’s next. The team engages customers from the beginning of their project via workshops to guide their digital transformation and remains a strategic advisor throughout their entire lifecycle. The team signifies the next phase in Blue Yonder’s Customer Experience strategy, engaging in close collaboration with the implementation team, Customer Success, and partners to advance customer success. The Supply Chain Advisory will help customers at every stage of their adoption of Blue Yonder’s solutions,  including offering transformation blueprints and guidance on change management. An Agent Activation Advisory will work closely with customers to develop AI agents that help them unlock even greater value from their Blue Yonder solutions. “We understand the growing complexity of modern supply chains and the transformative potential of AI,” said Andrea Morgan Vandome, chief innovation officer, Blue Yonder . “Our customers look to Blue Yonder as a trusted advisor to navigate tough challenges and identify opportunities. The Supply Chain Advisory is here to help them embrace innovation and rethink how work is done, ensuring they achieve their vision with the guidance of experienced professionals.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder’s latest product release here Learn more about Blue Yonder’s recent acquisition of Pledge’s sustainability capabilities here About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Transforms Supply Chain Management With New AI Agents and Supply Chain Knowledge Graph at ICON 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-transforms-supply-chain-management-with-new-ai-agents) > Leading supply chain company highlights its Cognitive Solutions and AI agents that help businesses make faster and more precise decisions to gain resiliency, pivot around disruptions, and improve profitability Press Release Blue Yonder Transforms Supply Chain Management With New AI Agents and Supply Chain Knowledge Graph at ICON 2025 Blue Yonder Transforms Supply Chain Management With New AI Agents and Supply Chain Knowledge Graph at ICON 2025 NASHVILLE, Tenn., and DALLAS – May 5, 2025 7 minute read Leading supply chain company highlights its Cognitive Solutions and AI agents that help businesses make faster and more precise decisions to gain resiliency, pivot around disruptions, and improve profitability Collaboration with Snowflake and RelationalAI enhances Cognitive Solutions with a unique supply chain knowledge graph Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, launched several new solutions and showcased its vision to build the supply chain of the future at ICON 2025 , its annual customer conference, taking place in Nashville, Tennessee. During the opening keynote session, Blue Yonder’s CEO Duncan Angove launched the company’s new Cognitive Solutions and five critical artificial intelligence (AI) agents that enhance speed and agility in supply chain management. “We are excited to launch our Blue Yonder AI agents that will revolutionize supply chain management,” said Angove. “Built on over two decades of AI and machine learning expertise, these AI agents empower businesses to act with machine speed and precision, even in complex situations. These new agents are groundbreaking in their approach, and will transform some of the key functions in the supply chain. And they’ve been thoughtfully developed to help reduce waste and costs. They optimize the entire supply chain and enable faster, smarter decision-making. Together with our customers, we are setting new benchmarks for addressing supply chain challenges to move beyond boundaries.” AI-Enabled Next Generation Cognitive Solutions Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions are more intelligent and precise with AI natively built-in, allowing businesses to autonomously coordinate tasks, decisions and workflows across all parts of their supply chain. These solutions are built on a modern and true cloud architecture, sit on the Blue Yonder Platform and Snowflake AI Data Cloud, have access to a multi-enterprise network, and offer end-to-end interoperability and unified decisioning. The Cognitive Solutions also offer reimagined experiences for users through innovative uses of predictive, generative and agentic AI. Cognitive Solutions support supply chain teams by expediting routine tasks, helping solve problems, and analyzing complex data quickly. With these enhanced capabilities, Cognitive Solutions empower supply chain teams to move more quickly from data to real-world action. More information on Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions will be available in tomorrow’s ICON announcement. Machine-Speed Decisioning With AI Agents Blue Yonder’s new AI agents ,built in collaboration with customers, enable businesses to see, analyze, decide, and act with machine speed and precision, even amid disruptions and evolving geopolitical situations. Agentic AI is also infused throughout Blue Yonder’s supply chain planning and execution solutions, offering continuous optimization of the end-to-end supply chain network. Customers can unlock additional agentic functionality with Cognitive Solutions, including the ability to: Increase the impact and return on investment: AI agents are transforming how organizations manage their operations by analyzing a wide range of planning and execution data, enabling more informed and comprehensive decision-making. AI agent recommendations can be swiftly automated with human approval, ensuring faster response times and enhancing operational agility. Reduce decision-making lag and potential missed issues: Supply chain teams are empowered to take action from anywhere, at any time thanks to a mobile user experience (UX) for AI agents, ensuring that critical decisions are made promptly. Also, real-time push notifications and alerts from the AI agent provide a quick overview of developments, allowing teams to prioritize actions effectively and promptly address urgent matters. Accelerate human decision-making and expert analysis: The AI agents operate within an adaptive UX that adjusts to a user’s device and working location (whether in an office, on location, in a car/truck, etc.), enabling supply chain teams to seamlessly zoom in and out with the speed and flexibility needed to analyze plans and take action at both granular and macro levels. Additionally, visualization of supply chain data and activities by the AI agents offers comprehensive end-to-end modeling, helping teams identify opportunities and make informed decisions that drive efficiency and growth. Blue Yonder’s AI agents include: Inventory Ops Agent: Thanks to the Inventory Ops Agent, planners can match supply with demand by guiding attention to mismatches, exceptions, and systemic issues. The agent rapidly diagnoses root causes — from material or capacity constraints to parameter or configuration errors — and recommends actionable solutions like alternate sourcing, expediting, or demand swaps. It also highlights necessary plan adjustments based on real-time conditions and communicates changes to ensure downstream alignment. Shelf Ops Agent: Planograms are an important part of visualizing the in-store experience, yet they can be time-consuming for planners to create. With the Shelf Ops Agent, planners can rapidly perform at-scale planogram edits with simple, natural-language interactions. Actions such as swapping a product with another in many planograms, updating planograms in a project, analyzing performance, and creating custom reports can now be performed with a few instructions, boosting user productivity. Logistics Ops Agent: Logistics is a key part of any supply chain, yet with so many moving pieces and constant disruptions, it can be daunting to keep track of operations. The Logistics Ops Agent helps logistics teams monitor conditions and recommend route changes to prevent delivery disruptions, as well as automate appointment scheduling changes to speed execution. It also identifies ways to optimize transport costs, on-time deliveries and emissions. Warehouse Ops Agent: Executing intraday plans with precision remains a significant challenge in dynamic warehouse environments. Success hinges on the ability to adapt to real-time changes and make informed decisions at both strategic and operational levels. The Warehouse Ops Agent empowers warehouse leaders to drive consistent performance every day. By intelligently coordinating highly interdependent tasks, the agent enables faster, more confident decision-making. It dynamically reallocates labor in response to shifting priorities, optimizes warehouse layouts based on predictive demand and supply insights, identifies outbound risks early to prevent delays, streamlines trailer docking and unloading according to content urgency and staffing levels, and proactively mitigates risks associated with on time in full (OTIF) compliance. The result is greater agility, higher throughput, and improved service reliability — delivered seamlessly at scale.​ Network Ops Agent: With the help of the Network Ops Agent, customers can effectively monitor supply chain operations across the multi-enterprise network, proactively manage disruptions, and optimize inbound supply and logistics by automating order confirmations, stockout resolutions, carrier assignments, predictive ETA updates, container prioritizations, appointment re-scheduling and performance analysis. This allows businesses to pivot quickly to avoid delays, ensuring that raw materials, components and finished goods arrive on time, in full at low cost. Users can have multi-modal interactions with the agent to gain real-time insights and collaboratively orchestrate problem resolutions. “With more than 25 billion AI predictions being delivered every day, Blue Yonder is taking supply chains to the next level with our AI agents,” said Angove. “The five new AI agents empower our customers to see, analyze, decide, and act, enabling them to respond swiftly to disruptions, minimize delays, uncover growth opportunities within their supply chain, and increase the return on investment in their solutions. At ICON 2025, we also demonstrated our new Tariffs Agent to help customers quickly find solutions and alternatives to minimize the negative impact on their organizations. All of these AI agents are transforming the way businesses manage their supply chains.” Advancing AI Agents and Solutions With Microsoft During the keynote session, Blue Yonder announced its Agent Activation Advisory, designed to get customers successfully running agents for their organization in 6-12 weeks, ensuring customers maximize the benefits, speed, and precision of the Blue Yonder Platform and Cognitive Solutions. The Agent Activation Advisory will also work with the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs to co-innovate groundbreaking AI supply chain solutions to tackle the world’s most challenging supply chain issues. In addition, Blue Yonder announced a partnership with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry , a trusted, integrated platform that allows for the design, customization, and management of AI applications and agents. Blue Yonder will leverage the Azure AI Foundry to build AI agents. The Azure AI Foundry offers a rich set of AI capabilities and tools through a simple portal, unified software development kit (SDK), and APIs, facilitating secure data integration, model customization, and enterprise-grade governance to accelerate the path to production. Knowledge Graph Powers Cognitive Solutions Supported by Snowflake and RelationalAI Blue Yonder also announced a collaboration with Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company , and RelationalAI to enhance its Cognitive Solutions with a supply chain knowledge graph. Leveraging the features of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud, the Blue Yonder supply chain knowledge graph records the structure of business relationships and processes declaratively and in human-readable form. Users can engage with complex supply chain data more intuitively and contextually, while AI agents are capable of reasoning more effectively, including with the extended ecosystem on the Blue Yonder Network. The supply chain knowledge graph helps customers to: Navigate uncertainty by efficiently understanding and modifying key relationships within the supply chain, such as rapidly shifting to a new supplier if an existing one becomes unavailable. Shift from reactive, exception-based supply chain management toward an insight-driven approach, with the knowledge graph underpinning AI that can evaluate the impact of every supply chain event in near real-time. Extend Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions by leveraging the combined strengths of the Blue Yonder Platform, the Snowflake AI Data Cloud, and RelationalAI’s technology. Blue Yonder will demonstrate these supply chain knowledge graph-based Cognitive Solution capabilities during a breakout session and in the Innovation Experience at ICON 2025 . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Transforms and Reimagines Supply Chain Planning With Latest Product Release](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-transforms-and-reimagines-supply-chain-planning-with-latest-product-release) > Comprehensive new solutions and focus on AI innovation and scalability allows companies to harness the full power of their supply chain to maximize revenue, accelerate productivity, increase operational speed and scale, and make more impactful decisions Press Release Blue Yonder Transforms and Reimagines Supply Chain Planning With Latest Product Release Blue Yonder Transforms and Reimagines Supply Chain Planning With Latest Product Release Dallas – January 9, 2025 6 minute read Comprehensive new solutions and focus on AI innovation and scalability allows companies to harness the full power of their supply chain to maximize revenue, accelerate productivity, increase operational speed and scale, and make more impactful decisions Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today announced product updates to its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform and cognitive planning and execution solutions that enable organizations of any size to be more agile, accelerate their global expansion, and meet their business goals. “For Blue Yonder, this is more than a product update; this release represents the culmination of two years of effort and the integration of 8,000 workstreams spanning supply, demand and business planning, synchronized execution, and AI-centric data modeling,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “This release enables customers to build out and support new market opportunities or adjust their entire supply chain model as priorities shift, in a fraction of the time while maximizing profits. It also allows our customers to grow their business while navigating geopolitical tensions, disruptions, economic shifts, or anything else that may come their way.” With this release, Blue Yonder advancements are focused on the following key areas: Bring Together Comprehensive Planning That Encompasses Business, Demand and Supply To Accelerate Profitability and Productivity Supply chains are a critical component to successful and profitable business operations. With this release, Blue Yonder eliminates traditional operational silos and redefines the strategic planning process to empower collaborative, real-time decision-making that leverages inputs from demand, supply, finance and operations for more accurate, actionable plans that ensure profitability. Integrated Demand and Supply Planning With Enhanced AI and ML : Blue Yonder has transformed the demand and supply planning processes into a single integrated motion. Blue Yonder Integrated Demand & Supply Planning solution simultaneously analyzes changing demand patterns and supply availability to balance all aspects of planning for maximum efficiency, resiliency and service level attainment. Blue Yonder takes a unique approach to concurrent planning that harmonizes necessary supply, sourcing factors and capital resource availability to reduce costs, increase capital resource efficiency, and cut inventory waste.  For demand planners, this release utilizes AI and ML to provide recommendations on leveraging available inventory to serve specific customer segments and regions – optimizing cost efficiency and on-time, in-full delivery. Enhanced Integrated Business Planning : With AI and machine learning (ML) updates to accelerate planning across supply chain and financial operations, as well as increased support for custom risk and opportunity scenarios, Integrated Business Planning provides near real-time recommendations that drive alignment across supply chain and financial goals. Support for Vertically Integrated Retailers : With retail, manufacturing and supply planning all connected and available on the Blue Yonder Platform , this release enables every aspect of the planning cycle to be handled in a single location for superior inventory and capital asset utilization while minimizing waste. Planning and Inventory Management Designed for Omni-Channel Commerce As customer behavior shifts, supply chains must evolve to ensure business goals are met, resources are used sustainably, and inventory can be delivered – or returned – efficiently. Blue Yonder delivers a single platform that supports a circular supply chain through: A Single View of Online and In-Store Inventory: As customer demand for in-store and online shopping continues to shift, planners can update assortment and strategic spaceto bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds to better meet demand and reduce inventory holds. Enhanced Returns Orchestration To Reduce Costs and Inventory Waste: New integrations between warehouse management , commerce , and Returns Management solutions combine order data with details on returning stock to improve inventory control. Integrated Pre- and In-Season Planning To Better Serve Demand: Advancements to Allocation & Replenishment allow teams to quickly calculate and adjust order quantities based on upstream and downstream constraints so companies can pivot based on how digital trends influence demand. AI and ML Architecture Enhancements To Support Faster, More Impactful Decision-Making With AI and ML embedded in the Blue Yonder Platform and supply chain planning solutions, businesses can make faster decisions with: AI-Tuned Data Model for Ongoing Intelligence: Updates to the common data model enable embedded AI and ML to enrich and leverage data for more accurate and explainable insights, as well as faster recommendations and root cause analysis. This intelligence will be critical for linking to external, generative AI agents that can engage with Blue Yonder and third-party data. Custom ML To Support Business-Specific Needs : When an independent or Blue Yonder data model needs to be tuned, an ML Studio is now available to meet custom requirements. The ML Studio includes the ability to test different models to find the one that best supports specific needs. Expanded AI Integration To Optimize Planning : The release adds new AI capabilities to Inventory Optimization , Demand Planning , Supply Planning , Integrated Business Planning , and Integrated Demand & Supply Planning . Combined, these capabilities enable planners to model thousands of scenarios in minutes, tuned for specific business goals – identifying the optimal approach to leverage available supply to meet changing global demand. Warehouse and Logistics Enhancements To Dramatically Increase Operational Speed and Scale Blue Yonder customers will be able to increase operational efficiency, cut costs and improve decision-making accuracy with these product updates: Optimize Freight Billing and Payment Accuracy: Updates to transportation management solutions and Fleet Dispatcher allow companies to analyze and reconcile multiple customers at once, including identifying billing issues from late shipments and damaged goods, so freight charges are accurate and there is no overpayment for shipments. Streamline and Scale Logistics Across Transportation and Warehouse Operations : Enhancements to transportation and warehousing solutions deliver exponential increases in scalability so organizations can handle increasingly complex transportation routes and millions of orchestrated warehouse and distribution center tasks with ease. Rapidly Respond to Logistics Disruptions. Updates to the notification services ensure that planning and logistics teams are alerted faster than ever so when a disruption occurs it can be quickly addressed before the business and customers are significantly impacted. Boost Warehouse Performance Through Enhanced Labor and Automation Integration : Advancements in Robotics Hub and Warehouse Tasking improve our leadership standing as one of the top robotics management companies for logistics service providers (LSPs), enabling companies to work around network and timing issues and pinpoint and resolve real issues impacting warehouse tasking faster so operations are more efficient. Optimized User Experience With Up to 40% Faster Load Time The release also includes a holistic update to the overall user experience, introducing the first wave of user experience (UX) / user interface (UI) enhancements including but not limited to: Increased workflow performance with up to 40% faster load time, allowing planners to move more quickly through the UI. New density mode allows planners to maximize screen real estate, empowering them to see everything at a glance to make smarter decisions and decrease decision fatigue. Improved accessibility with an overhauled theme engine, including light/dark modes and browser support for users with impairments. Dynamically generated content that provides insights for planners, driving better decision-making. Embedded user collaboration to streamline workflow efficiency with contextual information, bringing planners and their managers together. Additional Resources: More information on the current product launch can be found here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Pay Sustainability Premium for Everyday Retail Products, But Not Other Categories](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-survey-consumers-willing-to-pay-sustainability-premium) > Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey, highlighting consumer spending habits, concerns and overall sentiment around brands’ sustainability initiatives. The survey, which has expanded to poll consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, U.K., and U.S., found that most respondents say it is important to align their purchasing decisions with sustainability. In practice, however, this alignment applies more to some product categories than others. Findings suggest that while consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable, routinely purchased products such as food, beverage, beauty, and cleaning products, they are not as willing to do so for higher-cost occasional purchases such as electronics and automobiles. Findings suggest this discrepancy is tied to the high costs associated with sustainable product options and consumer wariness of brand sustainability claims and messaging. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Pay Sustainability Premium for Everyday Retail Products, But Not Other Categories Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Pay Sustainability Premium for Everyday Retail Products, But Not Other Categories DALLAS – March 25, 2025 5 minute read Across regions, consumers say they are willing to spend more for food and beverage, cleaning products and more, but high prices and perceptions of greenwashing remain key barriers Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey , highlighting consumer spending habits, concerns and overall sentiment around brands’ sustainability initiatives. The survey, which has expanded to poll consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, U.K., and U.S., found that most respondents say it is important to align their purchasing decisions with sustainability. In practice, however, this alignment applies more to some product categories than others. Findings suggest that while consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable, routinely purchased products such as food, beverage, beauty, and cleaning products, they are not as willing to do so for higher-cost occasional purchases such as electronics and automobiles. Findings suggest this discrepancy is tied to the high costs associated with sustainable product options and consumer wariness of brand sustainability claims and messaging. “It’s promising to see consumers are ready to align their habits with sustainability as its importance grows, and we hope this enthusiasm will translate to lived behaviors,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “Consumers are already prioritizing sustainability when it comes to some retail categories. But we can't rely on consumers alone. We also need brands to demonstrate and communicate clear and quantifiable sustainability benefits.” Consumers Want to Make Sustainable Purchasing Decisions Results found that 78% of consumers say that sustainability considerations are somewhat or very important when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer. These considerations are especially important in younger generations like Gen Z (88%) and Millennials (86%) compared to Gen X (77%) and Baby Boomers (66%). From a regional standpoint, this sentiment is most popular in France (86%) followed by Germany (79%), the U.K. (78%), ANZ (75%) and the U.S. (74%). The latter represents a small decrease compared to the 78% observed in this region last year . Despite consumers’ best intentions, they may be unwilling or unable to live these values in practice. Consumers Are Willing to Spend More on Everyday Retail Purchases, But Cost Presents a Barrier for Other Categories Consumers face several barriers in aligning their purchasing behaviors with sustainability, chief of which is the higher cost of sustainable products (54%). Consumers seem willing to face the cost of sustainable shopping for some purchases, but not others. When asked which product categories they’ve focused their sustainability efforts in, consumers cited food and beverage (48%), cleaning products (37%), personal care and beauty (30%) and clothing and footwear (26%) the most. More expensive categories like appliances (20%), consumer electronics (19%) and automotive (19%) proved less popular. “Our respondents are sending a message that ethical sourcing and clean ingredients matter when it comes to food, cleaning products, beauty, and clothing,” said Lesley Simmonds, vice president, Industry Strategy – Retail, Blue Yonder . “Retailers in these categories can gain a clear competitive advantage and grow their business if they execute with credibility, affordability and convenience in mind.” Again, most consumers say that they are prepared to increase their spending, with 47% reporting a willingness to spend an additional 5–9.9% more on sustainable products, most notably among Gen Z (52%) and Millennials (50%). An additional 14% of consumers are willing to spend 10–19.9% more, while 4% are willing to spend more than 20%. Just over one-third (36%) are not willing to spend more money on sustainable products, which is especially true among Baby Boomers (52%) and regions including ANZ (42%), the U.K. (39%) and U.S. (38%). This year, U.S. consumers were much less willing to pay more than 10%; just 12% expressed interest in spending 10–19.9% more, dropping from 22% in 2024 and 2023 . Consumers Doubt Brand Sustainability Claims Sustainability continues to be incorporated into corporate messaging; however, only 20% of consumers believe that brands are accurately communicating their sustainability initiatives in their ads and marketing. The trust is highest in France (25%), followed by the U.S. (23%), Germany (22%), the U.K. (17%), and ANZ (13%). However, U.S. consumers have grown more trusting of these claims in the past year, increasing from 17% in 2024. In contrast, one-quarter (25%) of consumers feel they cannot trust brands’ sustainability claims, with 17% saying they feel the need to do additional research and 9% saying they feel brands capitalize on sustainability as a trend whether their actions are authentic or not. However, the majority (55%) of consumers feel they can sometimes trust brands’ sustainability claims, depending on the message, brand, or history. Other Key Findings: Consumers say that they are willing to delay delivery – to a point: Consumers are willing to increase delivery timeframes for sustainable purchases, with 30% willing to delay one to two days and 36% willing to wait up to five days. In addition, 15% of consumers are willing to wait up to one week for their deliveries if it means being more sustainable. Opinions vary on who bears primary responsibility for upholding sustainability efforts: One-third (33%) say the onus is on brands and corporations, 28% say it should be government agencies and policymakers, and 32% say everyone has a role to play. Only 8% say environmental nonprofits and advocacy groups bear responsibility. Consumers are split on the role AI will play in sustainability: One-third (33%) of respondents are optimistic that the technology could lead to new innovations and more sustainable outcomes, but an equal share (33%) said they are unaware of how it might be beneficial while 12% do not believe it will have a significant impact on sustainability. The remaining 22% of consumers are concerned about the increased environmental impact of AI and data centers. “Our survey findings indicate that sustainability can be a competitive advantage and drive growth for brands,” said van Gendt. “Sustainability can increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, meet regulatory requirements, and improve brand perception. To support claims validation, brands and retailers can turn to technology and a multi-tier, multi-enterprise network to improve visibility and authenticate responsible practices across their end-to-end supply chains.” Additional Resources: To learn more about how Blue Yonder is helping to create more sustainable supply chains, visit here Learn how a multi-tier, multi-enterprise network can help with sustainable sourcing Check out the infographic on key survey findings Research Methodology The Blue Yonder 2025 Sustainability Survey was fielded by a third-party provider in February 2025. Blue Yonder surveyed 5,000+ consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, U.K. and U.S. to gather insight on their sustainable shopping preferences, their perception of corporate sustainability and their overall sentiment around sustainability. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Shift Grocery Shopping Habits Amid Mounting Financial Pressures, Global Inflation and Tariff Uncertainty](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-survey-consumers-shift-grocery-shopping-habits-amid-mounting-financial-pressures) > Blue Yonder, the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today announced the results of its 2025 Global Consumer Sentiment on Grocery Inflation Survey, revealing how sustained inflation, supply chain challenges and global tariffs are influencing grocery spending and broader consumer behavior across generations and regions. The survey, which polled consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S., found that 85% of overall respondents are concerned about inflation’s impact on grocery prices, illustrating consumer unease and clear changes in purchasing decisions across the world. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Shift Grocery Shopping Habits Amid Mounting Financial Pressures, Global Inflation and Tariff Uncertainty Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Shift Grocery Shopping Habits Amid Mounting Financial Pressures, Global Inflation and Tariff Uncertainty DALLAS – June 17, 2025 5 minute read Global consumers say they are reshaping spending habits and lifestyle choices, driving cutbacks on alcohol, apparel and electronics Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today announced the results of its 2025 Global Consumer Sentiment on Grocery Inflation Survey , revealing how sustained inflation, supply chain challenges and global tariffs are influencing grocery spending and broader consumer behavior across generations and regions. The survey, which polled consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S., found that 85% of overall respondents are concerned about inflation’s impact on grocery prices, illustrating consumer unease and clear changes in purchasing decisions across the world. “The findings of this survey underscore just how widespread and deeply felt the impact of inflation is on consumers’ everyday lives,” said Ben Wynkoop, senior director, Global Industry Strategist, Grocery & Convenience, Blue Yonder. “From buying fewer grocery items and cutting back on alcohol purchases to shopping at discount retailers and reprioritizing spending across other categories, consumers are navigating prolonged uncertainty — and retailers must adapt accordingly.” Inflation Drivers: Tariffs, Rising Labor and Materials Costs and Increased Profit Margins Nearly half (49%) of all respondents believe newly introduced global tariffs are the leading factor behind inflated grocery prices, followed by increased costs for raw materials (42%), increased labor costs in manufacturing and food processing (39%), and increased profit margins for brands and manufacturers (33%). The perceived top factor driving inflated grocery prices differs across regions. Consumers in the U.S. (65%), the U.K. (56%) and the Middle East (50%) feel global tariffs are the leading cause of rising prices. Consumers in ANZ (50%) feel that increased profit margins for brands and manufacturers is the top factor for inflated prices, while consumers in France (48%) and Germany (47%) believe the increased cost of raw materials is the leading cause of grocery inflation. There is a generational divide, too. Baby Boomers uniquely believe that increased labor costs in manufacturing and food processing are the leading cause for grocery inflation (52%), whereas all other generational groups believe global tariffs are the top cause of inflated prices. “In today’s global market, tariffs are significantly impacting grocery supply chains, resulting in inventory and logistics challenges, as well as increased costs for both retailers and consumers,” said Wynkoop. “Leveraging advanced technology for AI- and ML-driven scenario planning and visibility across the end-to-end supply chain can help grocers mitigate tariff-related disruptions by increasing agility, resilience and cost savings.” Across Categories, Consumers Are Buying Less – And Shifting Shopping Behaviors Inflation’s grip on grocery bills is triggering global concern from consumers. Almost two-thirds of consumers (65%) report they would buy fewer grocery items across categories to cope with price increases, while 42% would shop at discount and wholesale stores. In addition, approximately one-third would prefer shopping based on promotions and discounts (36%) and switching to private label brands (34%). Alcohol is facing the biggest budget cuts compared to other grocery categories, with one-third (33%) of consumers saying they would reduce alcohol purchases in response to inflation price increases. “During times of economic uncertainty, consumers often look for ways to save money on essential items such as groceries, from shopping at discount stores to seeking out sales and opting for private label brands,” said Wynkoop. “As a result, retailers tend to prioritize and invest more heavily in their owned brands to accommodate these changing shopping behaviors. Sophisticated retailers are becoming more vertically integrated from production to consumer to maintain greater control over their supply chain, increase profitability and deliver more affordable products to shoppers.” Clothing and Footwear Top the List of Cutbacks Consumers Are Willing To Make To offset high grocery costs, many consumers noted they would be willing to cut back on discretionary spending. More than half (56%) of respondents are willing to cut back on clothing and footwear – this was also the top response by generations and regionally. Other top categories consumers are willing to cut back on include consumer electronics (46%), streaming/gaming subscriptions (43%), personal care and beauty (36%), appliances (33%), and automotive purchases (28%). Only 7% of respondents were not willing to reduce their other retail spending to offset grocery costs. Generationally, Baby Boomers are most likely to scale back on clothing and footwear (63%), compared to Gen X (59%), Gen Z (53%) and Millennials (50%). Globally, consumers in ANZ are the most likely to reduce spending on clothing and footwear (67%), followed closely by the U.S. (62%), the U.K. (61%), France (49%), Germany (49%), and the Middle East (47%). The next top category varied by country, with ANZ (60%) and U.K. (54%) consumers most likely to reduce spending on streaming and gaming subscriptions, followed by Germany (42%), the Middle East (40%) and France (39%) willing to reduce spending on consumer electronics. These two categories – subscriptions and consumer electronics – were tied for U.S. consumers (54%). “With most consumers willing to adjust shopping habits in response to grocery inflation and mounting financial pressures, retailers – not just grocers – need to recognize the importance of building trust with shoppers through transparency, targeted promotions and affordability-first strategies,” Wynkoop added. “Having the right supply chain solutions can help retailers win with consumers during times of both economic prosperity and difficulty.” Survey Background The Blue Yonder 2025 Global Consumer Sentiment on Grocery Inflation Survey was fielded by a third-party provider in May 2025. Blue Yonder surveyed over 6,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. to gather insight on their shopping behaviors due to inflated grocery prices and their feelings on what is contributing to prices. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2024 Company Highlights and Q1 2025 Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-releases-q4-2024-company-highlights-and-q1-2025-industry-insights) > Leading supply chain solutions company grows SaaS revenue 14.2% year-over-year, leans into AI with new cognitive planning capabilities to allow customers to harness the full power of their supply chains Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2024 Company Highlights and Q1 2025 Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2024 Company Highlights and Q1 2025 Industry Insights DALLAS – February 6, 2025 8 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company grows SaaS revenue 14.2% year-over-year, leans into AI with new cognitive planning capabilities to allow customers to harness the full power of their supply chains Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q4 2024 and FY24 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in these early days of 2025. Annual Company Highlights In FY24, Blue Yonder continued to show its end-to-end strength in the market, including: FY24 company revenue was $1.36 billion, including 14.2% SaaS revenue growth year-over-year . Net revenue retention was 101.2% . Gained a total of 132 new customers in FY24. Included in 112 key technology industry analyst reports in FY24 from Gartner, IDC, Forrester, and Nucleus, among others. Quarterly Company Highlights Added 42 new customer logos in Q4 2024 . Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 30 key technology industry analyst reports in Q4 2024 ( see full list below ). The latest Blue Yonder product release transforms and reimagines supply chain planning . The release included comprehensive new solutions and a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and scalability to allow companies to harness the full power of their supply chain to maximize revenue, accelerate productivity, increase operational speed and scale, and make more impactful decisions. To learn more read the press release that provides details around the company’s latest advancements, which are focused on the following key areas: Bringing together comprehensive planning that encompasses business, demand and supply . Supply chains are a critical component to successful and profitable business operations. With this release, Blue Yonder eliminates traditional operational silos and redefines the strategic planning process to empower collaborative, real-time decision-making that leverages inputs from demand, supply, finance and operations for more accurate, actionable plans that ensure profitability. Planning and inventory management designed for omni-channel commerce. As customer behavior shifts, supply chains must evolve to ensure business goals are met, resources are used sustainably, and inventory can be delivered – or returned – efficiently. Blue Yonder delivers a single platform that supports a circular supply chain through: a single view of online and in-store inventory, enhanced returns orchestration, and integrated pre- and in-season planning. AI and ML architecture enhancements to support faster, more impactful decision-making. With AI and machine learning (ML) embedded in the Blue Yonder Platform and supply chain planning solutions, businesses can make faster decisions with: AI-tuned data model for ongoing intelligence, custom ML to support business-specific needs, and expanded AI integration to optimize planning. Warehouse and logistics enhancements to dramatically increase operational speed and scale. Blue Yonder customers will be able to increase operational efficiency, cut costs and improve decision-making accuracy with updates to transportation management and warehouse management solutions, as well as advancements in Robotics Hub and warehouse tasking solutions. Optimizing the user experience with up to 40% faster load time. The release also includes a holistic update to the overall user experience, introducing the first wave of user experience (UX) / user interface (UI) enhancements, including but not limited to workflow performance, density mode, accessibility upgrades, and embedded user collaboration. “As technology continues to advance, the emergence of generative AI has shown us that companies embracing this innovation will be the ones who can quickly overcome supply chain disruptions and manage their business efficiently,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder has been implementing AI in our solutions for more than a decade and with our latest product release, we have further cemented AI into our Blue Yonder Platform and the solutions that sit on top of it. These cognitive solutions are enabling organizations to be more agile, accelerate their global expansion, and meet their business goals.” Industry Insights Heading into 2025, Blue Yonder shares insights into the topics at top of mind for customers, shaped by its industry expertise: AI is beginning to reshape the retail industry. As organizations increasingly adopt AI-powered capabilities, they are transforming planning and operations; driving speed with enhanced demand forecasting, assortment insights, inventory management, and fulfilment; managing issue resolution across suppliers and carriers; and revamping the customer experience with personalized shopping experiences, targeted returns processes, and real-time consumer insights. Retailers who embrace these innovations will deliver a reimagined customer experience and gain a competitive edge. However, the true winners of AI’s emergence within the retail industry will be those who focus on practical applications that deliver tangible outcomes, ensuring authenticity and trust with customers. Shoppers expect retailers to be environmentally conscious. From reducing waste to optimizing logistics for reduced pollution and carbon emissions, sustainability is becoming a non-negotiable expectation for consumers and stakeholders alike. Retailers who are leveraging technology to improve data and traceability in alignment with EU regulations and minimizing their environmental impact will not only see rising consumer demand but also position themselves as leaders in a more sustainable retail future. Trade tensions and tariffs weigh heavily on the minds of manufacturers globally. Across automotive, industrial, high tech and life sciences industries, higher tariffs will increase the cost to import goods, leading to lower profit margins or higher prices for consumers. Resulting changes in supply chain networks will increase the potential likelihood of supply disruptions in the short term. Reliable cross-network visibility into sourcing, inventory, transportation and compliance will become essential when navigating complex tariff scenarios. Manufacturers will need to rely on advanced risk modeling and scenario planning to assess the impact of tariffs and strategize effectively. Logistics service providers (LSPs) continue prioritizing building resilient supply chains. While geopolitical conflicts and weather will continue to disrupt logistics operations, LSPs are also looking to address climate, labor and sustainability initiatives to meet business objectives. Technology adoption, including the use of AI and predictive analytics, is at the heart of every discussion as LSPs look to optimize operations, improve quality, and enhance visibility across their networks. LSPs are further diversifying their sub-verticals to take advantage of the growth in e-commerce and cold chain. Economic and environmental demands are causing a shift to nearshoring, which will create growth opportunities. Digital twins emerge as a critical capability in retail . By creating virtual representations of physical stores, warehouses, and supply chains, retailers can use them to optimize inventory with real-time visibility, enhance the shopper journey through simulated store layouts and product placements, and build supply chain resilience by modeling disruptions to enable proactive responses. Those who integrate data across systems, break down silos, and align digital twins with AI-driven insights will unlock new levels of efficiency and adaptability in a competitive retail landscape. “Looking toward 2025, AI will be crucial in creating resilient supply chains. AI agents will transform work by automating complex tasks and providing deeper insights, allowing teams to focus on strategic goals. Additionally, AI-driven insights will advance sustainability, helping businesses optimize resources and reduce their environmental impact,” said Angove. Customer Highlights: Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are persisting during times of disruption to digitally transform their supply chains and reimagine the consumer experience: Arcadia Cold Builds Supply Chain Resilience and Sustainability With AI/ML from Blue Yonder and Snowflake Ingredion and Blue Yonder: A Winning Recipe for Planning Optimization Knauf Leverages Blue Yonder for Predictive Supply Chain Transformation Micron, the Fourth Largest Producer of Semiconductors, Achieves Best in Class Planning Accuracy with Blue Yonder Apparel Retailer Tennis’ Warehouse Management Transformation Drives Sales and Lowers Costs More From Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder was honored with the following awards in Q4 2024: Blue Yonder was ranked in the Newsweek Excellence 1000 Index 2025 Blue Yonder Yard Management solution was named a Top Software & Technology Solutions Award winner by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine Blue Yonder was certified as a Great Place to Work® in India for the fifth year in a row Blue Yonder was certified as a Great Place to Work® in India for the fifth year in a row Blue Yonder’s 2024 Consumer Automotive Personalization Survey examined the preferences of prospective car buyers across the U.S., UK, France, and Germany. Of those surveyed, more than 40% of those looking to buy a car in the next year felt personalizing vehicles is important when making a buying decision, marking it a key consideration alongside delivery speed and cost . Glean more insights from the survey here . Technology industry analyst recognitions in Q4 2024: Gartner Market Guide for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Systems IntegratorsAsia/Pacific Context: Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning SolutionsVoice of the Customer for Supply Chain Planning SolutionsWin New SCM Transformation Deals with Supply Chain Orchestration PlatformsMarket Guide for Multienterprise Collaboration NetworksForecast Analysis: GenAI in SCM SoftwareMarket Guide for Detailed Manufacturing SchedulingDesign Supply Chain Backorders and Substitutions to Increase AntifragilityGartner Tool: Create Your Own Hype Cycle with Gartner’s 2024 Hype Cycle BuilderGartner Europe Context: Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems IDC Market Analysis Perspective: Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa Supply Chain Management Applications, 2024Market Analysis Perspective: European Enterprise Applications, 2024Worldwide Supply Chain Warehouse and Inventory Management Applications Market Shares, 2023: Warehouse AutomationWorldwide Supply Chain Integrated Planning Applications Market Shares, 2023: Orchestration ExtendedWorldwide Supply Chain Management Applications Market Shares, 2023: Maintained FocusMarket Glance: Supply Chain Planning, 4Q24MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Promotions Management 2024–2025 Vendor AssessmentMarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Spare Parts/MRO Industries 2024 Vendor AssessmentWorldwide Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Applications Market Shares, 2023: Transportation and Logistics ManagementMarketScape: Worldwide Aftermarket Service Life-Cycle Management Systems Integrators/Business Process Outsourcing 2024–2025 Vendor Assessment MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Overall 2024 Vendor Assessment MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Life Sciences Industries 2024 Vendor AssessmentMarket Glance: B2B Digital Commerce, 4Q24Worldwide Semiannual Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Workloads Taxonomy, 2024MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2024 Vendor AssessmentMarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Process Industries 2024 Vendor AssessmentMarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Discrete Industries 2024 Vendor AssessmentThe Impact of GenAI on the IT Partner Ecosystem in Latin America Nucleus WMS Technology Value Matrix 2024 Forrester The Forrester Wave™: Collaborative Supply Networks, Q4 2024 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2025 Company Highlights and Launches Cognitive Solutions With AI Agents Heading Into Q2](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-releases-q1-2025-company-highlights) > Leading supply chain solutions company kicked off Q1 strong and heads into Q2 with game-changing AI-powered and platform-enabled solutions that support its customers during times of disruption Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2025 Company Highlights and Launches Cognitive Solutions With AI Agents Heading Into Q2 Blue Yonder Releases Q1 2025 Company Highlights and Launches Cognitive Solutions With AI Agents Heading Into Q2 Dallas – May 15, 2025 6 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company kicked off Q1 strong and heads into Q2 with game-changing AI-powered and platform-enabled solutions that support its customers during times of disruption Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the world leader of end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q1 2025 company highlights and further showcased its vision to help companies “bring on tomorrow” at its annual customer conference, ICON 2025, by introducing new Cognitive Solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) agents. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q1 2025, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its strong momentum in the market by: Adding 30 new customer logos in Q1 2025. New customers who selected Blue Yonder or existing customers who extended their footprint during the quarter include: Americas: Fármacon, GXO, Supermercados Erbi APAC/EMEA: Foodstuffs North Island, Linfox, Coop-Gruppe Genossenschaft, Honda Motor Europe Logistics N.V., Sainsbury’s Building on its reputation as an industry leader with inclusion in 24 key technology industry analyst reports in Q1 2025 ( see full list below ). Solution Highlights At its annual customer conference, Blue Yonder ICON, the company introduced several artificial intelligence (AI)-infused Cognitive Solutions , accelerating long-range and intraday decision making, even in the most complex situations, for increased resiliency, resource leverage, and cost control. These new solutions help businesses tackle volatility, improve profit margins, and reduce complexity with speed and precision. Highlights include: Machine-Speed Decisioning With AI Agents: Blue Yonder announced the launch of five critical artificial intelligence (AI) agents that enhance speed and agility in supply chain management. The new AI agents enable businesses to see, analyze, decide, and act with machine speed and precision, even amid disruptions and evolving geopolitical situations. The new AI agents include: Inventory Ops Agent, Shelf Ops Agent, Logistics Ops Agent, Warehouse Ops Agent, and Network Ops Agent, with a Tariffs Agent in the works. Learn more here . Unified Planning and Streamlined Decisioning Across the Supply Chain for Manufacturers and Retailers: With Cognitive Solutions for supply chain planning, Blue Yonder delivers end-to-end, concurrent planning based on a common set of services and data, giving both manufacturers and retailers new capabilities. Manufacturers can optimize planning and boost profits by swiftly analyzing demand in unison with supply from across a multi-tier network of supply partners. Retailers gain the planning speed and flexibility they need to accelerate inventory turnover and minimize waste, even as customer and business demands evolve. Maximize Warehouse Efficiency and Speed With AI and ML: Blue Yonder delivered its next-generation warehouse management solution built natively on the Blue Yonder Platform. This allows effortless scalability and extensibility, no downtime code updates, and immediate access to AI and ML innovation. Extend Supply Chain Visibility and Orchestration With a Multi-Enterprise Network: The Blue Yonder Network enables businesses to swiftly coordinate with suppliers, customers and carriers, optimizing the flow of goods and improving time to market to support profitable growth. Optimize Returns To Get Goods Back Into Inventory Faster: Retailers can empower a circular supply chain to reduce waste and increase profits thanks to new capabilities in this product release. Enhanced Sustainability Capabilities That Promote Sustainable Abundance: Blue Yonder also introduced a new sustainability offering, called Sustainable Supply Chain Manager , which integrates carbon and waste management with supply chain management. This new integration will help Blue Yonder customers reduce waste and pollution while cutting costs – a win-win for the business and the environment. “We heard lots of excitement from our customers around our Cognitive Solutions and AI agents at ICON 2025,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder . “We’re changing the game for supply chain management with our new solutions to help our customers do more, faster and with greater precision. If there’s one thing we’ve seen recently, it’s that uncertainty stemming from factors such as tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and other disruptions can severely limit business growth. But with the support of the right supply chain solutions and AI agents, our customers can pivot, thrive and succeed.” Learn more about the latest product release here . Customer Highlights Blue Yonder proudly highlights the achievements of its customers by showcasing their digital transformation journeys through compelling stories. Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are successfully navigating supply chain complexity and uncertainty here . More From Blue Yonder Blue Yonder was honored with several awards and recognitions in Q1 2025: Blue Yonder’s Tiffany Brewer was named a 2025 Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain magazine in the Leaders in Excellence category Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt was named to Sustainability Magazine’s Top 250 Sustainability Leaders Blue Yonder was named a 2025 Top 100 Logistics IT Providers by Inbound Logistics Blue Yonder was named a Best Place to Work in Texas 2024 At ICON 2025, Blue Yonder unveiled a new Supply Chain Advisory , which offers deep industry, solutions and data science expertise to guide customers through their digital transformation journeys and adoption of Blue Yonder’s solutions and AI agents. The team engages customers from the beginning of their project via workshops to guide their digital transformation and remains a strategic advisor throughout their entire lifecycle. An Agent Activation Advisorywill work closely with customers to develop AI agents that help them unlock even greater value from their Blue Yonder solutions. Learn more about this team here . Also at ICON 2025, Blue Yonder launched a brand shift that reflects the company’s growth and evolution across all parts of the business. Blue Yonder’s refreshed brand showcases the company’s relentless drive to equip customers to act decisively and boldly leap forward with absolute certainty. Check out Blue Yonder’s website to see the new brand in action: blueyonder.com . Blue Yonder presented its annual customer and partner awards at ICON 2025. The ICONic Customer Awards celebrate organizations that challenge the status quo, accelerate innovation, and push boundaries. Winners of this year’s award, which acknowledge the success and impact of their efforts, can be found here . The Partner Awards recognize exceptional partners who have expanded Blue Yonder’s market reach, facilitated the development and delivery of innovation, and accelerated joint customers’ efforts to digitally transform their supply chains. Winners of this year’s Partner Award are here . Blue Yonder’s fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey examined consumer spending habits, concerns and overall sentiment around brands’ sustainability initiatives. The survey, which expanded to poll consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany, U.K., and U.S., found that most respondents say it is important to align their purchasing decisions with sustainability. In practice, however, this alignment applies more to some product categories than others. Glean more insights from the survey here . Technology industry analyst mentions in Q1 2025: Gartner: Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems Emerging Tech: Market Risk Projection of GenAI on SCM Software How Command Centers Support Supply Chain Transformation Market Guide for Advanced Retail Space Planning Applications Market Guide for Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Market Guide for Supply Chain Cost-to-Serve Analytics Technology Market Guide for Supply Chain Network Design Tools Market Guide for Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Tool: Identify Supply Chain Planning Solution Vendor Candidates Tool: Vendor Identification for Supply Chain Network Design Tools Vendor Rating: Accenture IDC A View from NRF 2025: Is AI Part of Retail? AI-Powered Retail – Central Retail Corporation’s Approach to Personalization, Efficiency, and Growth CES 2025: Five Takeaways for Industry Ecosystems Market Glance: Aftermarket Services, 1Q25 Market Glance: Core HR, 1Q25 Market Glance: European B2B Digital Commerce, 1Q25 Market Glance: Facility Management, 1Q25 MarketScape: Worldwide Retail AI-Driven Assortment Planning Solutions 2025 Vendor NRF 2025 Supply Chain Top Takeaways ProductScape: Worldwide AI-Fueled Retail Assortment Planning Solutions, 2024-2025 TechScape: Frictionless CX-Enabling Technologies in Retail, 2025 The Forrester Wave™ Order Management Systems, Q1 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 14th Time in a Row](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-warehouse-management) > Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports in 2025 covering Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems1 Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 14th Time in a Row Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 14th Time in a Row Dallas – May 19, 2025 6 minute read Evaluation based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports in 2025 covering Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems 1 Blue Yonder , the leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformations, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2025 Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 2 (WMS) based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Blue Yonder attributes its success to the depth and breadth of its warehouse management solutions – powered by the Blue Yonder Platform . Blue Yonder recently delivered its next-generation warehouse management solutions as part of its Cognitive Solution s launch, combining 25 years of proven capabilities and a cloud-native platform in one solution. This next-generation solution allows for effortless scalability, low-code extensibility, no downtime code updates and streamlined access to AI and ML innovation. Businesses will dramatically improve warehouse efficiency with unprecedented adaptability and visibility, accelerated receipt and movement of goods, and optimized workforce performance. And it allows them to deliver optimized cost-to-serve metrics, in addition to reducing the cost per case metric within the warehouse. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader for the 14 th time in a row in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) 3 . “The warehouse is a pivotal component of the supply chain, so companies should look to enhance resilience and sustainability across their warehouse, transportation, and planning sectors to better meet customer needs,” said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions empower companies to coordinate sourcing, production, logistics, and network strategies within a unified platform. This comprehensive approach enables companies to effectively plan their network, warehouse, and labor capacities from start to finish, resulting in shortened lead times, improved service levels, optimized operational efficiencies, maximized business opportunities, and reduced costs.” Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solutions are shaped through decades of continuous product development to design the latest cutting-edge technology to meet the intricate needs of the world’s most complex warehouse operations. Some of the new capabilities available soon include: Enhanced Equipment Tracking: Utilizes computer vision and machine learning to automatically monitor equipment in the yard, improving efficiency and trailer prioritization, as well as gaining the ability to create a 3D yard map for operational visibility. Advanced People-Robot Collaboration: Robotics performance tracking capabilities track autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) like labor resources, ensuring productivity and utilization. With automatic assignment reprocessing capabilities, warehouse managers can automatically attempt to reprocess failed or incorrect transactions to ensure data integrity. Retail Store Replenishment Support From the Warehouse: Integrates capabilities like chase pick, garment on hanger, ratio pack and more for improved inventory visibility and picking efficiency, aiding retailers and logistics service providers in stock management and store inventory replenishment. Returns Processing and Tracking: Offers visibility into Returns Merchandise Authorization (RMA), automating decisions for faster processing and quicker return of goods to sale. Warehouse Ops Agent: Announced at ICON 2025 , the agent enhances daily warehouse operations by actively monitoring for changes in real-time and identifying important trends and causality for informed and impactful decision-making. Blue Yonder’s warehouse customers span 19 vertical industries, including consumer products, food & beverage, grocery, automotive, industrial, life-science, and logistics service providers. Blue Yonder has a solid history of delivering its warehouse management solutions to its customers through its strong partner ecosystem globally and its Blue Yonder Global Professional Services. In addition, according to the 2025 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Solutions report 4 , Blue Yonder ranked second highest in the Level 3 and Level 4 Warehouse Operations Use Cases and in the five highest scoring vendors for the Level 5 Use Case. Blue Yonder recently announced a strategic agreement with GXO, the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, who will deploy new end-to-end logistics software solutions that will enhance speed, flexibility and predictability for its customers. Under this agreement, Blue Yonder will serve as one of GXO’s preferred software solution providers for WMS, supporting GXO’s rapid growth and need for seamless implementations at scale for clients across industries. Learn more in the joint press release here . With this latest Gartner Warehouse Management System Magic Quadrant, Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems 1 . Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports at blueyonder.com/MQs Learn more about Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solutions and Blue Yonder Platform Read our blog about why we are a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WMS Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 1 May 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Systems, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. 2 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 1 May 2025. 3 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA because the company rebranded in early 2020. Also, recognitions were in the post-JDA/RedPrairie acquisition timeframe announced in 2012. 4 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 28 May 2025. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation. With a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network, Blue Yonder empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers — all at machine speed. Blue Yonder’s modern supply chain innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers to confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-transportation-management-systems) > Blue Yonder, the leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems DALLAS – April 9, 2025 4 minute read Evaluation based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering supply chain planning solutions, transportation management systems and warehouse management systems 4 Blue Yonder , the leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) 1 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company credits its success to Blue Yonder's transportation management solutions and to the Blue Yonder Platform, alongside its multi-tier, multi-enterprise network . In today’s constantly evolving economic uncertainty, Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions can help businesses redraw distribution networks and prioritize cost-saving efficiency to pivot around these disruptions. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader 14 consecutive times in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for TMS 2 . The company’s position as a Leader represents its Strengths and Cautions in the TMS market. In addition, according to the 2025 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management System report 3 , Blue Yonder ranked among the three highest ranked vendors for Level 3, 4 and 5 Use Cases. "Blue Yonder’s transportation management and supply chain execution solutions enhance supply chain resilience and sustainability through seamless interoperability," said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. "Our solutions, powered by the Blue Yonder Platform, transform transportation operations from network modeling to execution, fostering carrier collaboration and optimizing last-mile delivery. With real-time situational awareness, customers can make informed decisions to optimize routes, reduce emissions, and exceed expectations, achieving operational resilience, meeting business goals, and enhancing sustainability initiatives." The Blue Yonder Platform and transportation management solutions deliver scalable capabilities for global logistics, empowering Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) and transportation teams in manufacturing and retail to boost performance, enhance agility, and build resilience through advanced orchestration that balances service-levels and cost. Additionally, Blue Yonder equips customers with advanced tools to manage critical aspects of the transportation lifecycle, including strategic network modeling, logistics procurement bidding, and a multi-enterprise network for seamless carrier connectivity. Moreover, Blue Yonder's advanced transportation optimization algorithms not only scale strategic planning but also empower organizations to swiftly identify and implement operational planning opportunities that balance service, cost, and emission impact, related to mode shifts, shipment consolidation, and optimized routing. By reducing carbon footprint and empty miles, companies can be better aligned to meet their sustainability and business goals. “Efficient transportation management is crucial to our ability to meet the high-quality standards our customers expect,” said Andreu Venteo Casas, global supply chain director, Europastry. “With Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions, we will be able to streamline our logistics operations, ensuring that our products are delivered quickly and sustainably. This is a significant step towards optimizing our supply chain and reducing operational costs.” With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Blue Yonder is one of only two companies recognized as a Leader in the three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports 4 covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems. Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports at blueyonder.com/MQs Learn more about Blue Yonder Transportation Management solution and how it digitalizes transportation Learn more about how to synchronize inventory, warehousing, transportation, yard and returns operations Learn more about Blue Yonder Platform Sources: 1 Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems,” Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. 2 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 3 Gartner, “Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems,” Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 25 March 2025. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain , 24 March 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Launches Supply Chain Compass Report Highlighting Top Strategic Priorities for Supply Chain Leaders](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-launches-supply-chain-compass-report-highlighting-top-strategic-priorities) > Leaders recognize technology as a supply chain performance enabler, with 61% investing between $1–$10 million across the next five years to build more resilient, efficient supply chains Press Release Blue Yonder Launches Supply Chain Compass Report Highlighting Top Strategic Priorities for Supply Chain Leaders Blue Yonder Launches Supply Chain Compass Report Highlighting Top Strategic Priorities for Supply Chain Leaders Dallas – June 3, 2025 5 minute read Leaders recognize technology as a supply chain performance enabler, with 61% investing between $1–$10 million across the next five years to build more resilient, efficient supply chains Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its inaugural “Supply Chain Compass” report highlighting nearly 700 global supply chain leaders’ key strategic priorities: implementing new technology (51%), improving efficiency and productivity (40%) and building more resilient supply chains (29%). The three-part report features responses from senior supply chain leaders in North America and Europe who work in manufacturing, retail and logistics. Achieving each strategic priority over the next three years will require specific actions, and respondents identified better demand planning (46%) and quickly obtaining and analyzing data on performance (46%) as two of the top actions they believe are essential to success. This was followed by investing in tracking and visibility solutions (45%), digital software transformation and innovation (41%) and managing supply chain costs (33%). In the current macroeconomic environment characterized by volatility and rapid change, focusing efforts on each of these actions will be critical. These priorities not only speak to immediate operational challenges but also position organizations to adapt swiftly to external pressures, ensuring resilience and competitiveness in an unpredictable landscape. “A consistent theme among surveyed leaders was the adoption of innovative solutions that deliver true end-to-end visibility across the supply network and enable a more connected, intelligence-driven approach to demand and supply planning,” said Andrea Morgan-Vandome, chief innovation officer, Blue Yonder. “In the face of ongoing economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, and inflationary pressures, supply chain leaders are prioritizing technologies that enhance speed and precision. The report highlights that, beyond mitigating risk, decision-makers are increasingly exploring next-generation AI agents to advance sustainability goals and build supply chains that are not only faster but also more efficient.” Implementing New Technology is Foundational to the Future of the Supply Chain Many leaders across industries are actively witnessing the transformative power that new technology can bring, with 74% agreeing that AI is already changing the way their business operates. A staggering 82% of leaders agree that outdated technology will hinder their supply chain’s potential, and 51% state that implementing new technology is a top priority in the next three years. Supply chain leaders are willing to invest in technology, with 89% of decision-makers dedicating a specific budget to new supply chain technologies. For 61% of respondents, the budget for supply chain technology is between $1 – $10 million across the next five years. With technology being a key enabler of supply chain performance, decision makers recognize they will need to prioritize new solutions and tools to respond to market challenges and growth opportunities. Barriers to AI Adoption Generative AI is currently under-implemented compared to traditional AI, which is largely used for prediction and automation. The majority of respondents (83%) are using (or are implementing) AI-powered automation, and 78% said the same of machine learning and predictive AI. By contrast, just 36% are using or implementing generative AI. However, there is a clear pathway of opportunity being explored. Generative AI is becoming more important to enhance reliability and address sustainability goals, with one in four companies indicating they are implementing the technology. Only 16% said they have no plans at all for implementing generative AI-based solutions. Understanding barriers to generative AI implementation is key for supply chain decision-makers: Human Impact: Of those with no plans to implement generative AI, 51% said that their organization will prioritize a people-led approach over cutting-edge technology. High Cost of Adoption: Organizations with an expected technology budget lower than $500,000 for the next one to five years are significantly less likely to consider implementing generative AI. Different Priorities: Organizations not currently using generative AI aren’t necessarily behind — they’re prioritizing other strategic initiatives, such as automating inventory management to drive efficiency. Businesses that focus on transportation, order management and execution and fulfillment are significantly more likely to be investigating the implementation of generative AI (46%), while those in logistics (16%) are behind the adoption curve with no plans to implement. Intersection of Technology and Sustainability Achieving more sustainable supply chains is top of mind for today’s leaders, with “sustainable” being the number one word used to describe the future of their supply chains by respondents. This rang true for nearly two-thirds (68%) of leaders who agree there is an onus on supply chain operators to help solve problems like waste and climate change. Organizations that chose sustainability as a top three strategic priority are far more optimistic about their business performance. Overall, leaders are initially focusing on tangible efforts to impact sustainability, but many are not yet embracing technology solutions that can provide a combination of cost savings and sustainability benefits: Top opportunities for sustainability in supply chains are tangible investments often bearing a cost: Sustainable packaging (37%), reducing waste across manufacturing (30%), recycling (28%), renewable energy resources/green fuels (28%) and lower emissions from warehouses and facilities (27%). Fewer leaders have embraced technology-related sustainability opportunities: Data analytics for emissions tracking (22%), connected networks for efficient shipping (17%), reducing waste from expiration (13%) and better returns processing (12%). Nevertheless, there is a recognized link between sustainability, technology, and efficiency among one cohort: 26% believe that forecasting technology can improve efficiency and, in turn, sustainability efforts. There is immense opportunity at the intersection of technology and sustainability. Respondents who named sustainability as a top three strategic priority are on the leading edge of technology and AI adoption: 94% say end-to-end data connectivity is fundamental to the success of their business (vs. 85% total), 80% say AI is already changing how they operate (vs. 74% total) and 61% say they are currently investigating generative AI. “This study highlights that companies who have established sustainability as a top priority rate their overall supply chain performance more optimistically,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “The intersection of technology and sustainability presents a promising opportunity. Leaders who prioritize sustainability are leveraging advanced technologies such as AI and data connectivity to enhance efficiencies and reduce environmental impact. By embracing these innovations, we can transform our supply chains into powerful engines of sustainable growth.” Additional Resources: Read the first of the three-part “Supply Chain Compass” report here Methodology The Blue Yonder “Supply Chain Compass” report was fielded by a third-party provider in January 2025. Blue Yonder spoke with nearly 700 senior supply chain leaders across Europe and North America operating in a range of industries within manufacturing, retail and logistics. This report gives detailed insight into the state of the supply chain, what leaders’ priorities are, and their views on sustainability, AI and the future of the industry. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2025 ICONic Customer Awards](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-announces-winners-of-2025-iconic-customer-awards) > To honor its customers who are driving digital transformations of their supply chains, Blue Yonder recognized the most pioneering companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference on May 5, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2025 ICONic Customer Awards Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2025 ICONic Customer Awards NASHVILLE, Tenn., and DALLAS – May 5, 2025 8 minute read To honor its customers who are driving digital transformations of their supply chains, Blue Yonder recognized the most pioneering companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference on May 5, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. The ICONic Customer Awards celebrate organizations that challenge the status quo, accelerate innovation, and push boundaries. The awards acknowledge the success and impact of their efforts. Blue Yonder also celebrates its customers who have gone live with their supply chain solutions during Q1 2025 and will be presenting their digital transformation stories at ICON 2025 , including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Cummins, GXO Logistics, Hewlett Packard, International Paper, Medtronic, and Meijer. Blue Yonder averaged six customer go-lives per business day in Q1 2025. “We are thrilled to honor the transformative impact this year’s winners have achieved through their innovative use of Blue Yonder solutions,” said Brittany Easley, chief customer officer, Blue Yonder . “These winners are committed to transforming their business to drive exceptional results. We are proud to collaborate with them in reaching the significant milestones that have made them winners – congratulations!” The winners of the 2025 ICONic Customer Awards are: The Trendsetter:Bayer Crop Science This award honors a pioneering leader who has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to introduce transformative innovations, improving processes, efficiency and product quality. The winner demonstrates exceptional creativity and progress, setting new industry benchmarks and driving significant advancements in their industry. Why they won: Faced with complex logistical challenges, Bayer Crop Science , the world-leading agriculture enterprise company, implemented Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution and the Blue Yonder Network to enhance operational efficiency and resilience. The initiatives achieved seamless logistics integration, substantial cost savings, and improved end-to-end supply chain visibility. Bayer Crop Science’s strategic deployment across multiple regions, including a rapid rollout in APAC and EMEA, set industry benchmarks for efficiency and innovation. By fostering collaboration and data-driven decision-making, Bayer Crop Science has positioned itself as a leader in supply chain innovation, driving substantial operational and financial benefits. The Groundbreaker: BJ’s Wholesale Club This award honors a company that has leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to break new ground in their industry by challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries. The winner’s groundbreaking approach to utilizing technology sets new standards for operational efficiency and inspires transformative change. Why they won: After buying four cold storage distribution centers and the required private transportation fleet to insource its perishable supply chain, BJ’s Wholesale Club, a leading warehouse club operator, sought to replace the associated planning, warehousing, and transportation systems with a technology solution it could own and manage. BJ’s chose several Blue Yonder solutions, including demand planning , fulfillment, transportation management , and warehouse management , all supported by the Blue Yonder Platform , to optimize its perishables supply chain to ensure product availability and freshness. The company was able to streamline its forecasting, ordering, and logistics processes, achieving and exceeding key performance indicators. The Dynamic Operator: BevChain Logistics This award recognizes a company that demonstrates exceptional agility and adaptability in their operations by swiftly responding to market demands through the strategic use of Blue Yonder solutions. The winner has adopted dynamic strategies that drive sustained growth and competitive advantage, setting a standard for operational excellence. Why they won: To enhance operational efficiency and safety, BevChain Logistics, the leading provider of customized warehousing and reliable ground distribution services across Thailand and beyond, leveraged Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution. The result was improved throughput processing, workload optimization, and operational visibility while also addressing driver safety with advanced fatigue management. BevChain Logistics’ key achievements include significant reductions in manual processing time, improved financial accuracy, and enhanced data accuracy. These advancements have streamlined operations, reduced costs, and positioned BevChain Logistics for growth in the Southeast Asian market. The Game-Changer:DICK’s Sporting Goods This award celebrates the company that has best leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive their future business and meet the changing demands of their customers. The winner has embraced the power of technology to transform their operations, resulting in improved efficiency, customer centricity, and profitability. Why they won: In 2021, DICK’s Sporting Goods introduced a new, experiential retail concept  called House of Sport. The approximately 100,000 square foot stores provide customers with an incredible assortment of products along with in-store experiences including a climbing wall, golf bays, and multi-sport cages. To ensure these stores were properly meeting demand, DICK’s implemented Blue Yonder Category Management to enhance its space planning capabilities. This resulted in the successful addition of seven new House of Sport locations in 2024. The company plans to expand further with approximately 16 new locations in 2025. The Accelerator:Discount Tire The winner of this award has utilized Blue Yonder solutions to accelerate its transformation in order to meet the evolving needs of its business and customers. This winner exemplifies innovative thinking, sets new standards, and inspires excellence within their industry. Why they won: Having expanded to multiple sales channels and multi-echelon distribution, Discount Tire, a leading independent retailer of tires and wheels, needed to upgrade its technology to remain competitive. With Blue Yonder’s demand planning , replenishment, and fulfillment capabilities, Discount Tire was able to digitally transform its business, improving its 90-day purchase forecast accuracy by 600 basis points, increasing vendor fill rates by 1,000 basis points, and reducing out-of-stocks by 40%. This transformation significantly enhanced the company’s operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The Visionary Connector: HEINEKEN This award celebrates a company that excels in fostering collaboration and connectivity through seamless integration using Blue Yonder solutions. The winner’s visionary approach to connectivity demonstrates what is possible with next-generation cognitive supply chains powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud. Why they won: When addressing market dynamics like demand fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and changing consumer habits, HEINEKEN , the world’s most international brewer, leverages Blue Yonder’s cognitive and AI- and ML-driven solution Demand and Supply Planning to enhance forecast accuracy and reduce forecast bias. This initiative involves integrating a unified data cloud and deploying customized ML models, allowing for substantial improvements in forecast performance, reduced write-offs, and enhanced customer service. The Eco-Leader:Martin Brower The winner of this award is leading the charge toward a more sustainable future. The winner has woven sustainability into their operations using Blue Yonder solutions to drive sustainable practices throughout their supply chain, resulting in reduced waste, improved energy efficiency, and a lower carbon footprint. Their commitment to sustainability sets a high bar for the industry and serves as an inspiration for others. Why they won: Martin Brower , a strategic supply chain partner to the world’s leading brands, is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 as part of its Science Based Target initiative . Utilizing Blue Yonder’s supply chain planning solutions , Martin Brower generates more accurate forecasts and optimizes inventory replenishment across distribution centers (DCs) and restaurants in multiple countries. This allows Martin Brower to effectively balance menu availability while minimizing waste, which supports its goal of zero waste in DCs, with 92% of waste diverted from landfills. Martin Brower also collaborates with customers to develop creative solutions for managing downstream waste, exemplifying their commitment to sustainable logistics and helping customers achieve their circularity goals. The Innovator:Micron Technology This award recognizes the company that has successfully leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive innovation and transformation in their operations. By embracing advanced technologies, the winner has enhanced supply chain efficiency, improved service delivery, and optimized logistics processes. The winner demonstrates how digital innovation can revolutionize their industry and inspire excellence across the sector. Why they won: Micron Technology , an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, has collaborated with Blue Yonder to co-innovate AI-driven supply planning and order promising capabilities designed to optimize its supply chain processes and improve resilience and agility. By utilizing these supply planning and order promiser capabilities, along with the development of a new product planning system, Micron enabled improved time to market and inventory management. As a result, Micron achieved a 30-point improvement in customer rankings for supply chain performance and a 15-point increase in efficiently managing customer requests, demonstrating its commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction. The Trailblazer:Penske Logistics This award recognizes a forward-thinking organization that is blazing a trail of innovation by harnessing the latest Blue Yonder solutions and cloud technologies. It celebrates pioneers who not only optimize operations with Blue Yonder solutions but also set a benchmark for industry-wide collaboration, inspiring others to embrace a unified vision for success. Why they won: Looking to address challenges like gate bottlenecks, limited trailer visibility, and manual process inefficiencies, Penske Logistics , a leading provider of innovative supply chain and logistics solutions, deployed Blue Yonder Yard Management to automate and standardize processes, reduce human intervention, and lower operational costs. The initiative eliminated manual trailer entries, reduced quality issues, and improved compliance with real-time data capture. An enhanced warehouse management and yard management integration allowed Penske to increase data accuracy and reduce administrative workload. Penske further anticipates a measurable drop in detention charges and improved gate efficiency, strengthening its position as a logistics technology leader. Top Advocate:Chris Lafaire, chief information officer, Arcadia Cold This award recognizes an individual for their exceptional dedication and unwavering commitment to advocating for our customers. They consistently go above and beyond to provide references and success stories, building meaningful relationships that make a lasting impact. Through their expertise and passion for advocacy, they have set a shining example and truly enriched the customer experience. Why he won: Lafaire demonstrates exceptional leadership and has positively engaged with Blue Yonder and its customers. This includes providing guidance to his industry peers, collaborating with Blue Yonder to pilot new capabilities, and advocating for the benefits of digital supply chain transformation using Blue Yonder’s solutions. Additional Resources: Blue Yonder proudly highlights the achievements of its customers by showcasing their digital transformation journeys through compelling stories. Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are successfully navigating supply chain complexity and uncertainty here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces Partner Award Winners](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-announces-partner-award-winners) > Blue Yonder’s partners play an important role in delivering digital supply chain strategies that transform customer operations. That’s why Blue Yonder is proud to announce the winners of its annual Partner Awards, which recognize exceptional partner success over the past year. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces Partner Award Winners Blue Yonder Announces Partner Award Winners DALLAS – May 7, 2025 2 minute read Blue Yonder ’s partners play an important role in delivering digital supply chain strategies that transform customer operations. That’s why Blue Yonder is proud to announce the winners of its annual Partner Awards, which recognize exceptional partner success over the past year. This year’s winners are: Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner of the Year: Shipium Edge Program Partner of the Year: Renovotec Technology Partner of the Year : Microsoft Industry Partner of the Year : Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company Global LSP Partner of the Year : Netlogistik Global Manufacturing Partner of the Year: Deloitte Global Retail Partner of the Year: Parker Avery Group Transformational Partner of the Year: EY Supply Chain Execution Partner of the Year : Open Sky Group Planning Partner of the Year: Plantensive GTM Partner of the Year: Deloitte APAC Partner of the Year: Lenovo LATAM Partner of the Year: Netlogistik EMEA Partner of the Year : Strategix The winning partners expanded Blue Yonder’s market reach, facilitated the development and delivery of innovation, and accelerated joint customers’ efforts to digitally transform their supply chains. By guiding customers to select, implement, and extend the right Blue Yonder solutions, these partners helped logistics, manufacturing, and retail customers achieve increased operational performance and higher levels of agility. This, in turn, provides them with a greater return on their investment in Blue Yonder solutions, ultimately strengthening their market position. “Our partners offer market leading guidance, deliver cutting-edge technological solutions, and ensure successful implementations, allowing our customers to accelerate time-to-value and enhance their business processes,” said Webb Armentrout, corporate vice president and general manager, Global Partners, Blue Yonder. “The recipients of this year’s Partner Awards leveraged their deep technological expertise and domain knowledge, alongside outstanding delivery capabilities, to help our customers meet their business goals and exceed consumer expectations. Congratulations to all the winners!” To learn more about Blue Yonder’s partners, visit blueyonder.com/partners . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder and Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas Announce Strategic Partnership Around Supply Chain Management Program](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-and-sam-walton-college-of-business-at-the-university-of-arkansas-announce-strategic) > To help prepare the next generation of supply chain leaders, Blue Yonder and the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas are announcing a two-year strategic partnership. Blue Yonder will be the first-ever title sponsor for the Master of Science in Supply Chain Management Program for the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management at the Walton College. The aim is to enrich both the education of Walton College students and Blue Yonder associates. Press Release Blue Yonder and Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas Announce Strategic Partnership Around Supply Chain Management Program Blue Yonder and Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas Announce Strategic Partnership Around Supply Chain Management Program FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., and DALLAS – February 17, 2025 5 minute read Partnership to elevate the next generation of supply chain leaders To help prepare the next generation of supply chain leaders, Blue Yonder and the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas are announcing a two-year strategic partnership. Blue Yonder will be the first-ever title sponsor for the Master of Science in Supply Chain Management Program for the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management at the Walton College. The aim is to enrich both the education of Walton College students and Blue Yonder associates. “We have an opportunity to help impact the pool of supply chain talent by partnering with the University of Arkansas, which is the No. 1 undergraduate and No. 2 graduate supply chain program in North America ( as ranked by Gartner ),” said Nathalie Carruthers, chief associate success officer of Blue Yonder. “This is a great opportunity for us to help infuse early career talent with the supply chain knowledge and real-world expertise they need to power the supply chains of tomorrow. We are excited to see where this partnership goes and how, together, we can impact and mold future talent.” “Blue Yonder is investing heavily in product innovations, so it only makes sense that we invest in the talent that will support these innovations,” Jon Carson, senior vice president of Blue Yonder. “As an innovator, Blue Yonder will be able to steer the future discipline of supply chain management through this partnership. A key part of that will be helping to prepare students for essential roles in sourcing, planning, and logistics, including developing a better understanding of how to work with leading-edge technology like artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, machine learning and more to better understand their impacts on the supply chain. Our combined goal with the University of Arkansas is to lead these students to great career opportunities as supply chains continue to grow in importance within company boardrooms. We couldn’t be more excited for the future of supply chain management with Blue Yonder and the University of Arkansas.” As a result of Blue Yonder’s sponsorship, the Walton College will: Leverage Blue Yonder technology as teaching tools for undergraduate classes Collaborate with Blue Yonder leaders to support various supply chain courses, guest lectures and curriculum Involve Blue Yonder in the University of Arkansas’ Supply Chain Management Research Center Present at Blue Yonder ICON, the premier supply chain event, to companies from across the globe on early talent and internship excellence, research findings, best practices and more “Blue Yonder is creating the supply chain technology of the future, and we are building the supply chain talent of the future. So, this partnership makes a lot of sense when it comes to producing and shaping the supply chain leaders of the future,” said Brian Fugate, associate dean for graduate school programs and research. “Not only will this strategic agreement benefit the students in our master’s program, but through Blue Yonder’s involvement in our Supply Chain Management Research Center, our No. 1-ranked undergraduate students will also be positively impacted through access to the world leader in digital supply chain transformation.” Additionally, Blue Yonder will be leveraging the Master’s in Supply Chain Management program to invest in their global supply chain associates. Over the two years of the agreement, Walton College will be allocating a select number of spots in the 100% online Master’s in Supply Chain Management program for rising stars within Blue Yonder from across the globe. “Being able to welcome high-achieving Blue Yonder global supply chain associates into our program will not only allow these employees to start applying what they learn in the classroom back into their workday but will also help us by elevating the online cohort,” said Fugate. “We are incredibly excited to get this partnership underway!” About the Sam M. Walton College of Business Founded in 1926, the Sam M. Walton College of Business stands as one of the largest colleges at the University of Arkansas, serving over 9,800 students across undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs. The college holds AACSB accreditation and consistently ranks among the top business schools in the United States. Walton College ranks 25th for its undergraduate business program among public colleges in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 national rankings. In addition, its undergraduate supply chain management program is recognized as the #1 program in North America by Gartner. In 2024, The Princeton Review included Walton’s M.B.A. program in its Best Business Schools list for On-Campus M.B.A. Programs. About the University of Arkansas As Arkansas’ flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Acquires Pledge, Expanding Its End-to-End Supply Chain Platform With Accredited Carbon Emissions Reporting](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-acquires-pledge) > The acquisition accelerates Blue Yonder’s sustainability roadmap and gives customers comprehensive insight to reduce carbon footprint and supply chain inefficiencies Press Release Blue Yonder Acquires Pledge, Expanding Its End-to-End Supply Chain Platform With Accredited Carbon Emissions Reporting Blue Yonder Acquires Pledge, Expanding Its End-to-End Supply Chain Platform With Accredited Carbon Emissions Reporting LONDON and DALLAS – May 1, 2025 4 minute read The acquisition accelerates Blue Yonder’s sustainability roadmap and gives customers comprehensive insight to reduce carbon footprint and supply chain inefficiencies Blue Yonder , the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, today announced it acquired the business of Pledge Earth Technologies Ltd. (“Pledge”) , including its global supply chain sustainability solution for beneficial cargo owners (BCOs), enterprise supply chain leaders and logistics service providers (LSPs). Blue Yonder’s already robust platform will now expand to include globally accredited logistics CO2e emissions reporting that allows customers to monitor their own emissions and those of their trading partners and suppliers. Pledge provides software solutions to empower enterprise supply chain teams and LSPs to meet their sustainability goals and Scope 3 emissions reporting requirements. Established in 2021 in the UK, Pledge brings accessibility and transparency to freight emissions measurement and reporting, empowering businesses to confidently measure, manage and help reduce their carbon footprint. Pledge’s capabilities automate the collection and exchange of shipment data from logistics suppliers to facilitate accredited and traceable emissions calculations across all transport modes, including air, inland (e.g., truck, rail, barges), and sea. Blue Yonder customers can extend their applicable Blue Yonder solutions to include this new capability, allowing them to receive emissions reporting that is in conformance with the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) framework, developed by the Smart Freight Center (SFC), and aligned with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14083: Greenhouse gases, demonstrating accuracy and reliability. “The ability to easily and accurately quantify precise emissions is a huge win for our customers’ sustainability initiatives, but it’s also more than that – it’s about what you can do with that information,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder . “By gaining more insight on the environmental impact of their logistics operations, businesses can find ways to reduce cost, improve accountability for logistics service providers’ transportation emissions, and target specific inefficiencies for improvement. Blue Yonder’s aim has always been to give customers much-needed visibility into their end-to-end supply chain; this new capability will pave the way for smarter, more efficient and greener supply chains.” Many carbon tracking tools are built to track single-party data and don’t integrate into the carrier network, hence lacking the network effect and limiting the scope and accuracy of data. By embedding this data into the Blue Yonder Platform , Blue Yonder customers who choose to extend their applicable Blue Yonder solutions to include this new capability will be able to understand the timely and precise emissions impact of their supply chain decisions. This allows them to manage their end-to-end transportation and logistics practices and comply with global regulations and reporting obligations (including CSRD, SBTi and CDP) through proactive audit readiness. “Blue Yonder’s upcoming, strategic acquisition of Pledge’s capabilities will aide in tackling the intricate challenges of modern supply chain and sustainability management,” said Bjoern Stengel, global sustainability research and practice lead, Sustainable Strategies and Technologies, IDC . “In an era where corporate social responsibility and ESG initiatives are non-negotiable, accredited emissions reporting is the gold standard for high-quality data. By seamlessly integrating a proven, successful product into its platform, Blue Yonder will help propel its customers towards smarter, more impactful sustainability management.” Between avoiding empty miles, reducing fuel consumption, and utilizing resources/materials, there are countless areas of the supply chain that could be optimized through quantitative analysis, like carbon emissions tracking. With this new capability, businesses gain data-driven clarity on the carbon emissions and air pollution impacts from their operations and those of their trading partners. “At Pledge, we believe that technology is a powerful catalyst in the fight against climate change,” said David de Picciotto, CEO and co-founder, Pledge . “By joining forces with Blue Yonder, we are multiplying our reach and our impact, giving the largest enterprise supply chains on the planet access to the tools they need to measure, report, and cut carbon.” With a wealth of sustainability and software engineering expertise, the team at Pledge will join Blue Yonder to support its mission to transform global supply chain management. The new capability is now available to all Blue Yonder customers, and existing Pledge customers will continue to be supported by Blue Yonder. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder, Through Its Subsidiary Doddle, Acquires 100% Ownership of Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-acquires-ownership-of-inmar-post-purchase-solutions) > Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, announced today that – through its subsidiary Doddle Inc. – it has acquired Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS), a joint venture between Doddle, a part of Blue Yonder, and Inmar, Inc. Blue Yonder, through its subsidiary Doddle, has now purchased the remaining 51% of IPPS, adding to the 49% that Doddle previously owned as of March 2022. Press Release Blue Yonder, Through Its Subsidiary Doddle, Acquires 100% Ownership of Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions Blue Yonder Acquires Ownership of Inmar Post Purchase Solutions DALLAS – June 18, 2025 3 minute read Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, announced today that – through its subsidiary Doddle Inc. – it has acquired Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS), a joint venture between Doddle, a part of Blue Yonder, and Inmar, Inc. Blue Yonder, through its subsidiary Doddle, has now purchased the remaining 51% of IPPS, adding to the 49% that Doddle previously owned as of March 2022. Renamed Blue Yonder Reverse Retail Operations LLC, the entity will continue to support FedEx Easy Returns, which offers FedEx customers access to a low-cost, package- and label-free returns solution. FedEx Easy Returns is currently available at approximately 3,000 drop-off locations in the trusted returns network of FedEx Office and Kohl’s stores across the U.S., with plans for swift growth. The service offered by Blue Yonder Reverse Retail Operations LLC is powered by the Blue Yonder Returns Management solution , which allows consumers to return their items without needing to print labels or have packaging, enhancing the overall convenience of the returns experience. The solution also helps streamline the returns process for retailers. Returns will be routed through a reverse logistics facility for optimal recovery, helping retailers ensure the accuracy and speed of the return, as well as potentially reducing waste. “According to our Consumer Retail Returns Survey , consumers are more likely to use third-party returns services if they have convenient drop-off locations (60%) and offer faster refund processing (47%), so efficient returns are absolutely critical for improving consumer experiences while optimizing costs for retailers,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder . “The volume of consumer returns is growing exponentially, but the disparate elements of the reverse logistics process make it hard to keep up. Through the acquisition, we will continue making returns convenient and hassle-free for retailers and consumers.” The Blue Yonder Returns Management solution provides retailers, consumers and logistics service providers with the following benefits: Superior visibility: Retailers can track their returns across the end-to-end reverse supply chain, enabling them to make smarter inventory decisions. Reduced costs: Rather than shipping individually returned items from each consumer, returns are merged together and returned in bulk, minimizing logistics costs. Improved consumer experience: Thanks to a returns network with thousands of drop-off locations, consumers have more convenience, and with a more connected returns process, they also gain visibility into the return and speed for their refund. Enhanced sustainability: Since returned items are consolidated and shipped together, this minimizes packaging and reduces empty truck miles, helping to improve waste and carbon emissions, respectively. Improved cycle time: By improving the speed at which a return moves from drop-off, through sorting, back to sellable stock, retailers improve item availability and speed up inventory turns. “The physical movement of returned items is a major supply chain challenge, yet drop-off locations, transport services, downstream processing tasks, and SKU ownership remain siloed,” said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Returns, Blue Yonder . “With Blue Yonder Returns Management, retailers can optimize their returns process, enhancing speed, sustainability and cost effectiveness while simplifying the returns process for consumers.” About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [AA Pharmacy Healthcare Improves Space Planning Strategy With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/aa-pharmacy-healthcare-improves-space-planning-strategy-with-blue-yonder) > Leading Malaysian pharmacy retailer increases productivity and performance with Blue Yonder Category Management. Press Release AA Pharmacy Healthcare Improves Space Planning Strategy With Blue Yonder AA Pharmacy Healthcare Improves Space Planning Strategy With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, and DALLAS – January 22, 2025 3 minute read Leading Malaysian pharmacy retailer increases productivity and performance with Blue Yonder Category Management Having the optimal blend of products in stock and on the best place on the shelf is critical for retail pharmacies, where competition is high and out-of-stocks not only reduce customer satisfaction but also impact their health. That’s why AA Pharmacy Healthcare Sdn Bhd , a leading Malaysian pharmacy retailer, has deployed Blue Yonder Category Management to optimize store-specific product space, inventory and on-shelf availability and drive a better shopping experience. The project was successfully implemented by IOA Solutions Sdn Bhd, a Blue Yonder partner. Committed to providing affordable health care, AA Pharmacy operates 82 locations throughout Malaysia, offering a wide range of medicines and health products that improve the lives of its customers. The company was previously using a different solution that could not keep up with its changing business requirements. With a need to optimize store operations and improve sales data integration and accuracy to understand which products are performing, AA Pharmacy turned to Blue Yonder. Thanks to Blue Yonder Category Management, AA Pharmacy has been able to: Automate planogram generation to increase productivity, drive sales and reduce inventory costs. Identify optimal product assortment, space allocation and shelf placement to meet local consumer demand and minimize out-of-stocks at each store. Leverage customer insights and advanced analytics to improve performance and accuracy and maximize profitability and space utilization. Integrate inbound and outbound data easily to facilitate planogram analysis and optimization, as well as support the downstream ordering and replenishment processes. “The implementation of Blue Yonder’s Category Management has helped enhance and develop the planogram operations of AA Pharmacy,” said Angela Ng, IT manager, AA Pharmacy. “Thanks to this new solution, our planogram team can now centralize the planogram management and product arrangement by categories with great accuracy, speed, and convenience. Thanks to the replacement of semi-manual work with new system automation, data integration and reporting are done much faster and more accurately. This, in turn, supports ordering and replenishment downstream to guarantee that we hold the right stock quantities.” Blue Yonder Category Management allows AA Pharmacy to easily create and manage multiple planograms for an entire category. The solution also offers seamless data integration and automation to minimize manual, redundant tasks and improve accuracy. “Simplifying the design and implementation of planograms enables AA Pharmacy’s planning team to greatly improve productivity and sales performance while also providing a better shopping experience for customers across all of their stores,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We are honored to have been selected to optimize their space planning and category management capabilities and help them drive business growth and customer satisfaction.” “The go-live process was made possible by the commitment and experience of our project partners,” Ng adds. “Their anticipative approach and advice laid a good framework for continuous, effective operations and created a foundation for enhanced, future operating effectiveness and long-term business growth.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Category Management Learn how to achieve smarter category management with Blue Yonder About AA Pharmacy Healthcare Sdn Bhd AA Pharmacy is a leading healthcare provider dedicated to offering high-quality pharmaceutical services and products. Established in 1999, we have been committed to enhancing the health and well-being of our community through exceptional customer service, expert advice, and a wide range of healthcare solutions. Our team of experienced pharmacists and healthcare professionals is passionate about providing personalized care and ensuring that every customer receives the best possible treatment and support. At AA Pharmacy, we believe in making healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Watco Expands Customer Network and Maximizes Freight Capacity With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/watco-expands-customer-network-and-maximizes-freight-capacity-with-blue-yonder) > Leading logistics service provider accelerates growth by offering real-time pricing and booking capabilities to shippers utilizing Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery. Press Release Watco Expands Customer Network and Maximizes Freight Capacity With Blue Yonder Watco Expands Customer Network and Maximizes Freight Capacity With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , PITTSBURG, Kansas, and DALLAS – December 17, 2024 3 minute read From labor shortages to fluctuating demand to rising costs, the transportation industry has experienced a wide range of challenges and disruptions over the last few years. For shippers, this can result in punitive freight rates for last-minute bookings, while carriers and logistics service providers face higher operating costs and inefficiencies due to excess capacity. That’s what drove Watco , a leading transportation service and logistics company, to collaborate with Blue Yonder to expand its services to shippers using the Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery solution. Founded in 1983, Watco provides rail, transloading, terminal and port, and logistics services for customers throughout North America and Australia. With Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery, Watco has been offering real-time market rates to mutual customers using Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions. This has enabled a real-time turnaround of spot quotes with guaranteed capacity to meet and exceed customer requirements. One such shipper achieving high returns through the collaboration between Watco and Blue Yonder is Bayer CropScience LP. As part of its digital transformation efforts, the global agricultural company deployed Blue Yonder transportation management solutions, including Dynamic Price Discovery. After matching with Watco through the solution, over 80% of its loads that Bayer CropScience has booked with Watco in 2024 went through Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery. “At Watco, we’re always looking for ways to better serve our shipper customers, and Bayer CropScience is a perfect example of how we are helping them achieve their business objectives,” said Stephanie Mize, branch manager – Logistics, Watco. “Participating in Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery allows us to help shippers, like Bayer CropScience, overcome disruptions and meet growing customer expectations while also enabling our business to increase operational efficiency.” “By providing real-time visibility and data-driven insights, Dynamic Price Discovery enables shippers, carriers and logistics service providers to benefit from optimal pricing, guaranteed capacity and a streamlined booking process,” said Warren Rojas, corporate vice president, Global Logistics Service Providers, Blue Yonder. “We’re excited to offer this innovative solution to help organizations increase customer service levels and resilience in today’s volatile market.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Dynamic Price Discovery Learn more about Blue Yonder transportation management solutions About Watco Watco is a leading transportation service and logistics company. Meeting customer needs on a day-to-day basis has enabled Watco to continually grow throughout our more than 40-year history. Today, Watco provides customers with rail, transloading, and logistics services. For more information, visit www.watco.com . About Bayer Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2023, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 47.6 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 5.8 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Production Operations](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/shanghai-pepsi-cola-beverage-co-ltd-selects-blue-yonder-to-optimize-production-operations) > Popular beverage and snack food company will implement Blue Yonder Production Planning to handle increasing complexity, enhance efficiency, and improve real-time data and coordination capabilities. Press Release Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Production Operations Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. Selects Blue Yonder to Optimize Production Operations Blue Yonder , SHANGHAI and DALLAS – December 16, 2024 2 minute read Popular beverage and snack food company will implement Blue Yonder Production Planning to handle increasing complexity, enhance efficiency, and improve real-time data and coordination capabilities To better address increasingly complex supply chain challenges, Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. will deploy Blue Yonder Production Planning to improve customer satisfaction, enhance asset utilization, and reduce waste in the supply chain. The project will be implemented by PwC, Blue Yonder’s strategic partner. Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. is one of PepsiCo’s important subsidiaries in China, focusing on the development of the beverage business. The company mainly produces and sells popular beverage brands such as PepsiCo, 7-Up, Mirinda and Gatorade, and provides the Chinese market with high-quality products and innovative marketing strategies. This project will digitally transform production planning for Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. by improving production efficiency and optimizing inventory structure and levels, thereby enabling the company to reduce production, inventory and delivery costs while meeting its business needs. With Blue Yonder Production Planning, Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. will be able to: Reduce operating costs with the ability to factor in complex constraints and faster response times to changing demand and supply conditions. Create an optimized, feasible production plan that balances demand with material, capacity and customer date constraints. Modify rules, assess different scenarios and respond in real-time to any changes on the shop floor. Coordinate schedules across facilities, reduce inventory and work-in-process, and minimize equipment changeovers. Optimize plant operations and scheduling to enable continuous flow production and waste reduction. Meet customer commitments while balancing schedules that respect different option capacities, material constraints, and workload distributions. Blue Yonder Production Planning solutions balance manufacturing objectives, material usage and customer service requirements through an optimized plan with high planner interactivity to accommodate strategic and tactical considerations. This will enable Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. to increase efficiency, improve customer service, and reduce waste and costs across their production operations. “Successfully managing a supply chain the size of Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd.’s requires real-time visibility and coordination,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We’re excited to team up with Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. to help optimize their operations and transform their supply chain into a competitive edge.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Production Planning About Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. Shanghai Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. was established in 1989 and now has its own factory and a number of foundries. The company’s production and business scope includes mineral water, domestic soft drinks and other carbonated beverages, and its sales area covers Shanghai and southern Jiangsu, China. Since it was put into production, the company’s business scale has maintained rapid and sustained growth. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Penske Logistics First To Implement Blue Yonder’s Yard Management Solution](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/penske-logistics-first-to-implement-blue-yonders-yard-management-solution) > Leading North America logistics provider improves yard visibility thanks to camera technology and machine learning-enabled solution from Blue Yonder in partnership with Panasonic Connect. Press Release Penske Logistics First To Implement Blue Yonder’s Yard Management Solution Penske Logistics First To Implement Blue Yonder’s Yard Management Solution Blue Yonder , READING, Pa., and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – February 27, 2024 3 minute read Leading North America logistics provider improves yard visibility thanks to camera technology and machine learning-enabled solution from Blue Yonder in partnership with Panasonic Connect In an effort to gain more visibility and control in the warehouse yard, Penske Logistics , a leading provider of innovative supply chain and logistics solutions, has successfully implemented the Blue Yonder Yard Management solution – the first such implementation of Blue Yonder’s newest Supply Chain Execution solution . Penske Logistics works with shippers and carriers to optimize shipments, reduce miles, cut transportation costs, improve asset utilization, and provide better service. The logistics service provider was looking for an innovative way to track and monitor equipment such as trailers and containers in its yards. Penske has successfully implemented the Yard Management solution at one warehouse site and is looking to expand into further locations in 2024. With Blue Yonder, Penske Logistics has been able to: Utilize camera/computer vision technology and machine learning (ML) tied into the Yard Management solution to automatically check-in and identify trailers to know what shipments are in the yard and where the trailer or container is parked. Automatically check out, enabled by the Yard Management solution, to provide time-stamp details for when tractors and trailers exit the yard, assisting with detention fee mitigation. Connect directly into the Blue Yonder Warehouse Management System (WMS) so that all shipments are automatically logged in the system and tracked. Automate and centralize tasks to return labor to other more productive activities at the yard. Improve throughput in its supply chain by increasing the speed of processing trucks in the yard, thereby lowering costs and improving service. Ramu Pannala, vice president supply chain technology, Penske Logistics: “Thanks to Blue Yonder’s computer vision-based Yard Management solution we have gained greater visibility in our yard, allowing us to know trailer and container location details and status, which has resulted in improved efficiencies. Automating the gate-in, gate-out process has allowed us to make better business decisions that positively benefit our customers. We are looking forward to further implementing this solution in the coming year.” The Blue Yonder Yard Management solution enables automated gate management with significantly reduced errors and offers trailer and container visibility by tracking details for inbound/outbound, drops, hooks, live loads, and status of assets in the yard. The solution also provides critical information including where to drop or hook trailers, assigned docks, equipment status, and load priority and location. In addition, proactive alerts allow staff to quickly respond to constraints or unexpected actions in real-time, and track statuses while monitoring for delays in the yard to avoid detention fees and various expenses due to waiting or lost loads. As a leading third-party logistics company, Penske Logistics invests in innovation that drives value for its customers. In this way Penske has benefited from the collaboration between Blue Yonder and Panasonic Connect. The technology for the Blue Yonder Yard Management solution, including the camera/computer vision and ML, was developed in partnership with Panasonic Connect, Blue Yonder’s parent company. Panasonic Connect has brought deep engineering expertise to the development of this solution and its senior engineering and R&D teams have been actively engaged in deploying the solution. “Penske Logistics has truly shown their innovation by being the first customer to fully implement our new Yard Management solution. As a result, they have seen tremendous benefits that have allowed them to centralize and automate key tasks, which greatly improved their yard and business operations and saved both time and costs. After a successful pilot and implementation at one yard, we are excited to be expanding into other yards this year,” said Warren Rojas, corporate vice president, Global Logistics Service Providers, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about the Blue Yonder Yard Management solution About Penske Logistics Penske Logistics is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. The company is a leading provider of innovative supply chain and logistics solutions. Penske offers solutions including dedicated transportation, distribution center management, lead logistics, freight management, transportation management, freight brokerage, and a comprehensive array of technologies to keep the world moving forward. Visit PenskeLogistics.com to learn more. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2024-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-transportation-management-systems) > Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS)1 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company is positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – April 2, 2024 5 minute read Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering supply chain planning solutions, transportation management systems and warehouse management systems Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) 1 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company is positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision. The company attributes its success to Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions and Luminate® Cognitive Platform , as well as its recent acquisition of Doddle to expand beyond first- to last-mile capabilities to offer returns management and reverse logistics solutions for customers. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader 13 consecutive times in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for TMS 2 . The company’s position as a Leader represents its Strengths and Cautions in the TMS market. In addition, according to the 2024 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems report 3 , Blue Yonder ranked highest for Level 3, 4 and 5 Use Cases and second highest for Levels 1 and 2 Use Cases. “Blue Yonder Transportation Management and Supply Chain Execution solutions, as well as our focus on interoperability, provides our customers with supply chain resiliency and support for their sustainability efforts. The solutions enable them to manage disruptions in an optimal and automated fashion by synchronizing the data and business process workflows across the order, warehouse, transportation, and resource domains,” said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. “Our Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions, powered by Luminate Cognitive Platform, digitally transform our customers transportation operations, from transportation network modeling to planning to execution, carrier collaboration, and last-mile delivery. Customers achieve operational resiliency through real-time situational awareness, allowing them to make decisions that optimize routes and reduce empty miles and emissions per mile. This in turn helps them exceed their customers’ expectations and meet their business goals.” Combined, the Blue Yonder Luminate Cognitive Platform and Transportation Management solutions offer advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), global transportation execution and optimization capabilities, data management, and integration to the logistics ecosystem. The Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions offer customers full visibility, orchestration, and first-to-last mile optimization for Logistics Service Providers (LSPs), transportation operations of manufacturers and retailers, and their carrier networks. In addition, Blue Yonder’s logistics network provides shippers with better out-of-the-box connectivity and modernized service offerings from rate and capacity provisioning to tendering, freight tracking, and financial services. On the sustainability front, the Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions offer route and container load optimization to enable organizations to choose more multi-modal transportation options that are aligned with service level targets, capacity constraints and schedules. These solutions also look for various options to route an order and propose the best solution across all business priorities for optimal results, reducing carbon footprint and empty miles. Paired with Blue Yonder's Doddle returns solution, customers can further avoid transportation miles and correlated emissions by consolidating return shipments and pick-up drop-off locations. “As we grew, manual processes and human planners could no longer manage all the moving parts of our logistics business — including scheduling carriers, assigning trucks, managing docks and monitoring on-time performance. The Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions enable us to automate all our processes and make fact-based decisions that showed in our results,” said Sarawoot Jiemsrisomsuk, digital team lead, Digital Supply Chain Management, Mitr Phol Sugar. With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Blue Yonder is one of only two companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports 4 covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems . Additional Resources: •    Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports at blueyonder.com/MQs •    Learn more about Blue Yonder Transportation Management solution and how it digitalizes transportation •    Learn more about Luminate Cognitive Platform • Read our blog about what we attribute to our recognition as a Leader! Sources: 1 Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems,” Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024. 2 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 3 Gartner, “Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems,” Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Amber Salley, Tim Payne, Janet Suleski, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, et al., 2 May 2023; Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024; Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 8 May 2023. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [AI Magazine: Top 10 AI Platforms for Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/ai-magazine-top-10-ai-platforms-for-supply-chain) > Top 10 AI Platforms for Supply Chain Press Release AI Magazine Top 10 AI Platforms for Supply Chain Blue Yonder , July 23, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Chervon Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Demand Forecasting and Customer Service](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/chervon-selects-blue-yonder-to-elevate-demand-forecasting-and-customer-service) > From global tariff concerns to highly volatile demand, manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. That’s why Chervon, a global leader in power tools and outdoor power equipment, has selected Blue Yonder to transform its planning processes and increase customer satisfaction. Chervon will deploy Blue Yonder’s demand and replenishment capabilities, supported by Shanghai Compass Information and Science Co., Ltd., a Blue Yonder partner. Press Release Chervon Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Demand Forecasting and Customer Service Chervon Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Demand Forecasting and Customer Service NANJING, China, and DALLAS – July 23, 2025 2 minute read Global leader in power tools will deploy Blue Yonder’s demand and replenishment capabilities to optimize its supply chain operations From global tariff concerns to highly volatile demand, manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. That’s why Chervon , a global leader in power tools and outdoor power equipment, has selected Blue Yonder to transform its planning processes and increase customer satisfaction. Chervon will deploy Blue Yonder’s demand and replenishment capabilities, supported by Shanghai Compass Information and Science Co., Ltd., a Blue Yonder partner. Founded in 1993, Chervon designs and manufactures a wide range of tools, including handheld power tools, bench tools and outdoor power equipment. Its products, which include popular brands such as EGO, FLEX and SKIL, are sold in over 100 countries worldwide. With a growing multi-channel sales and distribution network and a constantly changing business landscape, Chervon turned to Blue Yonder to improve its forecasting and increase efficiency across its global operations. With Blue Yonder, Chervon will be able to: •    Increase forecast accuracy to ensure the right products are available in the right place at the right time. •    Automate routine planning tasks to increase efficiency and labor productivity. •    Achieve cross-functional collaboration to improve decision-making across the organization. •    Dynamically adjust inventory to align with actual demand, minimizing stockouts and overstock while increasing customer satisfaction. With Blue Yonder’s cloud-based demand and replenishment capabilities, Chervon will be able to quickly and accurately respond to demand fluctuations and optimize inventory levels. This will allow Chervon to increase customer satisfaction and operational efficiency while also reducing waste and costs across its global network. “In today’s complex, global supply chain environment, speed and precision are crucial for meeting customer expectations and adapting to rapidly changing conditions,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “Our demand and replenishment capabilities will enable Chervon to improve and accelerate decision-making and build a more resilient and efficient supply chain.” About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Consumer Goods Technology: Stanley 1913 Elevates Decision Making & Order Management to Keep Up With Virality](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/consumer-goods-technology-stanley-1913-elevates-decision-making-and-order-management) > With the potential for virality and demand to spike at any time, building a responsive and scalable direct-to-consumer (D2C) infrastructure has never been more important for brands. Press Release Consumer Goods Technology: Stanley 1913 Elevates Decision Making & Order Management to Keep Up With Virality July 15, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Betagro Public Company Limited Selects Blue Yonder to Transform Its Transportation Operations](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/betagro-public-company-limited-selects-blue-yonder-to-transform-its-transportation-operations) > Betagro Public Company Limited Selects Blue Yonder to Transform Its Transportation Operations Press Release Betagro Public Company Limited Selects Blue Yonder to Transform Its Transportation Operations Betagro Public Company Limited Selects Blue Yonder to Transform Its Transportation Operations BANGKOK and DALLAS – February 17, 2025 4 minute read As global supply chains continue to face disruptions and growing customer expectations, the need for digital transformation in logistics has never been more urgent. In response, Betagro Public Company Limited , Thailand’s leading integrated food company, has selected Blue Yonder to lead the digital transformation of its transportation operations. Betagro will implement Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions , which will be carried out by Blue Yonder Professional Services. Betagro, Thailand’s leading integrated food company, operates across the entire food value chain—from animal feed and pharmaceuticals to livestock, poultry, eggs, processed foods, pet food, and food distribution. With production and distribution networks spanning every region of Thailand, Betagro also exports its products to key international markets and neighboring countries across Asia. As part of its Cost Transformation Program, Betagro sought a solution to reduce its logistics and transportation costs. Blue Yonder’s comprehensive expertise in the “farm-to-fork” supply chain and its strong experience in agriculture and food processing made it the ideal choice for Betagro’s needs. With Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions, Betagro will leverage new capabilities and expects to achieve the following benefits: Significantly reduced transportation and logistics costs Near real-time, end-to-end visibility across its operations Greater agility and responsiveness in a dynamic market Improved scalability for future growth “Our primary goal under the Betagro Cost Transformation Program is to achieve significant cost savings across the company,” said Paitoon Jiranantarat, chief operational development & supply chain officer, Betagro. “Transportation is a major cost driver, so we recognized the need to digitally transform our transportation management. We are confident that Blue Yonder’s solution will help optimize our logistics operations, delivering immediate and long-term cost benefits.” “Blue Yonder stood out as our supply chain solutions provider of choice due to their impressive track record in successfully transforming supply chains across Southeast Asia,” said Tependra Lohumi, chief technology and digital officer, Betagro. “Their in-depth knowledge of our industry’s challenges, combined with their innovative transportation management solutions, makes them the perfect supply chain solutions provider for this critical transformation.” With Blue Yonder’s advanced transportation management solutions, Betagro will unlock real-time visibility and leverage predictive analytics to optimize routes, reduce transit times, and improve operational efficiency. This transformation will allow Betagro to better serve its consumers and retail partners with faster, more reliable deliveries. “We are honored to have been appointed by Betagro to help optimize their supply chain operations,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “Betagro operates a highly complex supply chain, and with our solutions, they will achieve full visibility and control over their transportation network, ensuring the right products reach the right customers at the right time, and at the right cost.” Additional Resources: Watch a video of the signing ceremony between Blue Yonder and Betagro Discover more about Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions E-book: Moving On: Transportation Management for a Transformed World About Betagro Public Company Limited Betagro Public Company Limited (“BTG”) is Thailand’s leading integrated food company dedicated to enriching people’s lives with better food. Betagro’s business encompasses the production and distribution of animal feed, animal pharmaceuticals and supplements, livestock, pork products, chicken meat, eggs, fish, and processed food for domestic consumption and export to more than 20 countries worldwide. Betagro is also active in pet food, the distribution of farm equipment, and investment in neighboring countries, including Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. In addition, Betagro operates production and processing facilities with the highest standards and efficiency. The company engages in research and development, focusing on consistent tracking and controlling the quality of products and services through the Betagro Quality Management (BQM) and top-level biosecurity measures that are certified and accepted by international standards. Moreover, Betagro places importance on conducting business in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and operating under the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework to create sustainable growth for all stakeholders. www.betagro.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Vidrí Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Inventory Management and Increase Supply Chain Resilience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/vidri-selects-blue-yonder-to-optimize-inventory-management-and-increase-supply-chain-resilience) > Effectively and accurately managing inventory in today’s dynamic market poses significant challenges for hardware retailers, as seasonal changes, market trends and consumer spending habits all contribute to unpredictable demand fluctuations. That’s why Vidrí, El Salvador’s leading hardware retailer, is digitally transforming its supply chain operations with Blue Yonder’s replenishment capabilities, supported by Softtek, a global IT services provider and Blue Yonder partner. Press Release Vidrí Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Inventory Management and Increase Supply Chain Resilience Vidrí Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Inventory Management and Increase Supply Chain Resilience SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, and DALLAS – July 8, 2025 2 minute read Leading Salvadoran hardware retailer will deploy Blue Yonder’s replenishment capabilities to digitally transform inventory planning and increase customer satisfaction, supported by Softtek Effectively and accurately managing inventory in today’s dynamic market poses significant challenges for hardware retailers, as seasonal changes, market trends and consumer spending habits all contribute to unpredictable demand fluctuations. That’s why Vidrí , El Salvador’s leading hardware retailer, is digitally transforming its supply chain operations with Blue Yonder ’s replenishment capabilities, supported by Softtek , a global IT services provider and Blue Yonder partner. Founded in 1917, Vidrí operates a network of self-service home centers and industrial counter-service stores, offering a wide range of hardware, construction and home improvement products. Looking to improve its inventory management and product availability across its 19 locations, Vidrí turned to Blue Yonder and Softtek to optimize its operations. By modernizing its replenishment system with Blue Yonder’s technology, the hardware retailer aims to improve its demand forecasting, streamline its inventory processes, and ultimately strengthen its operational resilience. “This upgrade marks a key milestone in Vidrí’s digital transformation journey,” said Carlos Viche, replenishment manager, Vidrí. “Blue Yonder’s replenishment capabilities and cloud-based solution will enable us to quickly respond to demand fluctuations, resulting in higher customer satisfaction, significant cost savings, and a more resilient and efficient supply chain.” “With Blue Yonder’s innovative supply chain solutions, and Softtek’s implementation experience, Vidrí will be able to increase speed and accuracy across their supply chain operations,” said Albert Jung, vice president, Retail – LATAM, Blue Yonder. “We are excited to help Vidrí achieve greater supply chain resilience and efficiency and better serve their customers with the right products at the right time.” “We're proud to continue our collaboration with Blue Yonder and Vidrí on this initiative,” said Israel Tavizón, LatAm leader for Blue Yonder solutions, Softtek. “We focus on technology that is simple, smart and reliable, delivering measurable outcomes. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s capabilities, we’ll help Vidrí boost efficiency, improve visibility, and scale operations for the future.” About Vidrí Vidrí is El Salvador’s leading hardware retailer, operating 19 locations across the Metropolitan area of San Salvador, as well as the Paracentral, Western, and Eastern regions of the country. Its stores cater to diverse market needs through self-service home centers and industrial counter-service formats, offering a vast selection of products across 22 departments, including electrical, plumbing, tools, construction materials, and home improvement. About Softtek Softtek is a global software engineering partner, driving businesses forward. For over 40 years, the company has helped clients build, implement and run technology that improves lives. The originators of nearshore, Softtek brings innovation closer to business strategy. We’re not about “reinventing” and "reimagining” the business; we drive results. Learn more at www.softtek.com and connect with @Softtek on social media. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SiliconANGLE: Blueprint for the AI supply chain: Blue Yonder reimagines cognitive automation](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/siliconangle-blueprint-for-the-ai-supply-chain-blue-yonder-reimagines-cognitive-automation) > AI supply chains are no longer a future ambition — they’re a present-tense reality, and Blue Yonder has stepped forward with a clear vision to shape what comes next. Press Release SiliconANGLE: Blueprint for the AI supply chain: Blue Yonder reimagines cognitive automation July 8, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: interview with Andrea Morgan-Vandome](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/diginomica-interview-andrea-morgan-vandome) > From departmental KPIs to business-wide metrics - how end-to-end supply chain AI could drive collaboration: an interview with Andrea Morgan-Vandome Press Release diginomica: interview Andrea Morgan-Vandome July 1, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Dynamic Business: Why ANZ can’t ignore the ripple effects of U.S. tariff talk](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/dynamic-business-why-anz-cant-ignore-the-ripple-effects-of-us-tariff-talk) > As the United States inches closer to implementing a new wave of trade tariffs – changeable though they may end up being – a sense of déjà vu is creeping into boardrooms across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). Press Release Dynamic Business: Why ANZ can’t ignore the ripple effects of U.S. tariff talk June 26, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Brain: Watch: Today's Major Supply Chain Hurdles](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-brain-watch-todays-major-supply-chain-hurdles) > Volatility, latency and inefficiency are the same problems bedeviling supply chains that they always have been, but they are exacerbated today, says Puneet Saxena, corporate vice president, industry strategies, at Blue Yonder. Press Release Supply Chain Brain: Watch: Today's Major Supply Chain Hurdles July 1, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Fast Company: A data-driven approach to addressing fashion waste](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/fast-company-a-data-driven-approach-to-addressing-fashion-waste) > The global fashion industry produces over 2.5 billion excess items each year. But while companies have compelling sustainability and business reasons to address the problem, where do they start? Press Release Fast Company: A data-driven approach to addressing fashion waste June 27, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes: For Clues On AI’s Impact On Jobs, Watch Today’s Tech Jobs](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/forbes-for-clues-on-ais-impact-on-jobs-watch-todays-tech-jobs) > We know artificial intelligence — particularly generative and agentic AI — looms large in the future of jobs. But the exact impact is still a great unknown. But the effects we’re already seeing in tech jobs, many of which are at the forefront of the AI, generative AI and agentic revolution, may provide clues to where things are going — a crucible for the AI-shaped job market of the near future. Press Release Forbes: For Clues On AI’s Impact On Jobs, Watch Today’s Tech Jobs June 23, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Schwab Network: ‘This is the Long-Term’ Normal: Takeaways from Grocery Inflation Survey](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/schwab-network-this-is-the-long-term-normal-takeaways-from-grocery-inflation-survey) > Duncan Angove breaks down the takeaways from Blue Yonder’s 2025 Global Consumer Sentiment on Grocery Inflation survey. He notes that consumers are pulling back “entirely” from some categories and says that they are very deal-driven. He says that blaming it all on tariffs is not “strictly accurate,” as most food in the U.S. grocery stores is “sourced locally.” However, he acknowledges tariff impacts on manufacturing goods like cans. Press Release Schwab Network: ‘This is the Long-Term’ Normal: Takeaways from Grocery Inflation Survey June 24, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Ticker News: AI Transforming Logistics](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/ticker-news-ai-transforming-logistics) > Blue Yonder's Chief Innovation Officer Andrea Morgan-Vandome joined Australia's Ticker News to discuss how AI is transforming logistics. Press Release Ticker News AI Transforming Logistics March 26, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Pros to Know: Blue Yonder’s Tiffany Brewer Talks Importance of Life Sciences Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-and-demand-chain-executive-pros-to-know-blue-yonder-tiffany-brewer) > Tiffany Brewer maintains more than 15 years of experience in supply chain, with focuses on technology, process, and analytics. She has spent a large portion of her career in life sciences and consumer products with companies such as Pfizer, Medtronic, and FedEx. She's passionate about applying technology, data, and processes to solve business problems and has a background in implementing tools and systems in supply chain environments, both on the customer and service provider side. As senior director of global industry strategy for life sciences at Blue Yonder, Brewer plays a pivotal role in driving strategic growth and innovation across the pharmaceutical, medical technology, and oil and gas industries. She leverages her extensive industry and technical expertise to counsel global companies on industry-leading best practices and the latest technology advancements to achieve operational excellence and continuous improvement. Her day-to-day tasks include defining target markets, developing growth plans, and creating go-to-market strategies. She also collaborates with Blue Yonder’s product development and innovation teams to help deliver impactful supply chain solutions for clients. Press Release Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Pros to Know: Blue Yonder’s Tiffany Brewer Talks Importance of Life Sciences Supply Chains April 30, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Truck N' Hustle: You CAN'T Run a SUPPLY CHAIN BUSINESS Without THIS](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/you-cant-run-a-supply-chain-business-without-this) > Ann Marie Jonkman joins Truck N' Hustle to detail how Blue Yonder uses AI to manage your supply chain business from end to end Press Release You CAN'T Run a SUPPLY CHAIN BUSINESS Without THIS!! Blue Yonder , February 12, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [RETHINK Retail: AI, Agility and the Future of Supply Chains with Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/ai-agility-and-the-future-of-supply-chains-with-blue-yonder) > In this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast, Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Chief Innovation Officer at Blue Yonder, shares how AI and digital transformation are shaping the next era of supply chains. Press Release AI, Agility & the Future of Supply Chains with Blue Yonder AI Agility and the Future of Supply Chains with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , February 13, 2025 1 minute read The retail supply chain is more complex than ever. With disruptions ranging from geopolitical challenges to labor shortages, retailers must rethink their approach to logistics, inventory management, and fulfillment. In this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast , Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Chief Innovation Officer at Blue Yonder , shares how AI and digital transformation are shaping the next era of supply chains. AI-powered optimization: How advanced machine learning and generative AI are improving forecasting, demand planning, and returns management. End-to-end visibility: Why real-time supply chain insights are key to speed, efficiency, and cost control. The sustainability factor: How technology can drive both profitability and eco-friendly operations. Omnichannel evolution: Meeting customer expectations with smarter fulfillment and returns strategies. Andrea’s extensive experience at Nike, IBM, and Oracle gives her a unique perspective on what retailers must do to stay ahead in an AI-driven world. Whether you’re navigating supply chain disruptions or looking to future-proof your operations, this episode is a must-listen. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [FreightWaves: LSP strategy in a very different year - Blue Yonder helps plan for tariffs nearshoring trendsPage](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/lsp-strategy-in-a-very-different-year-blue-yonder-helps-plan-for-tariffs-nearshoring-trendspage) > With tariff negotiations underway and industry trends favoring nearshoring and process shifts, logistics service providers (LSPs) must remain flexible and strategic to manage changing costs and supply chain availability. Press Release LSP strategy in a very different year. Blue Yonder helps plan for tariffs, nearshoring trends LSP strategy in a very different year, Blue Yonder helps plan for tariffs nearshoring trendsPage Blue Yonder , February 14, 2025 3 minute read With tariff negotiations underway and industry trends favoring nearshoring and process shifts, logistics service providers (LSPs) must remain flexible and strategic to manage changing costs and supply chain availability. Ann Marie Jonkman, Vice President of Global Industry Strategy at Blue Yonder, sees both challenges and opportunities ahead. Navigating Cost and Efficiency in Logistics Logistics companies are always seeking ways to improve labor costs and efficiency. Now, they are closely watching tariff negotiations to understand how trade policies will impact operations. “If there’s one constant, it’s change,” Jonkman said. “But what’s truly transformative is how technology enables us to adapt quickly. Many of our LSP customers started investing in advanced supply chain solutions last year, anticipating ongoing market shifts.” “They’re asking us, ‘How can we leverage technology to stay competitive and resilient?’” she added. “Whether it’s optimizing transportation routes or improving inventory placement, technology is our greatest asset in navigating these changes.” A Tailored Approach to Supply Chain Strategy Given the uncertainties ahead, Jonkman emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. “Every company has a unique business mix, and that shapes their approach,” she explained. “For example, if you import primarily from Canada or Mexico rather than overseas markets, the impact of tariff changes will differ significantly.” Potential strategies include increasing North American sourcing, adjusting ocean container use, exploring alternative routes, and forming partnerships with other LSPs to expand geographical flexibility. “You need to analyze a vast amount of data to fully understand cost implications,” Jonkman noted. “You can’t simply hope the impact will be minimal or assume business as usual. Today’s technology allows us to assess complex data sets and adjust strategies in real time.” The Role of AI in Logistics Adaptation With advancements in AI and machine learning, waiting weeks or months for critical data is no longer necessary. “I started in operations, and if you’ve worked in that space, you know conditions can change instantly,” Jonkman said. “Success depends on having strategies in place that account for labor, product positioning, final-mile delivery, and manufacturing timelines—aligning all of these factors quickly is what allows businesses to pivot effectively.” Beyond logistics, Blue Yonder serves the retail and manufacturing sectors, where tariff changes and nearshoring trends will have varied impacts. “For some companies, making their supply chain more efficient means keeping operations within the U.S.,” Jonkman explained. “But if your products are sourced from China, Africa, or the Caribbean, tariffs will still apply. The key is optimizing domestic operations to offset those costs.” Potential cost-saving strategies include leveraging less-than-truckload (LTL) and parcel freight, automating processes, and forming partnerships within an LSP network. However, Jonkman cautioned that no single solution guarantees success. “You have to evaluate every component carefully,” she said. “Some costs will be passed on to consumers—but how much? It’s crucial to consider the full end-to-end supply chain rather than relying on a simplistic solution like moving everything to domestic production.” Connecting Data for Greater Visibility Jonkman highlighted the power of AI in guiding both client and internal operations toward better decision-making. “Flexibility starts with visibility,” she said. “Right now, companies often rely on multiple disconnected systems to gather relevant data. I encourage transportation leaders to assess their siloed systems and explore how they can be connected.” Key cost drivers—including shipments, detention charges, capacity, and labor—must be analyzed holistically to prevent unexpected expenses. “You need real-time visibility into every stage of your supply chain,” Jonkman emphasized. “Without it, you’re reacting to reports at the end of the week or month rather than making proactive adjustments.” “When you connect siloed systems and apply AI to extract insights, you can make better, faster decisions,” she added. Even in a typical year, these factors require careful management. But with the additional complexities of 2025, Jonkman underscored the need for expert guidance. “This year will bring a variety of disruptions,” she concluded. “Companies need the right strategic partners in their corner—because that’s exactly what our customers are asking us to help them solve.” About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: Sustainability with Blue Yonders Saskia van Gendt](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/sustainability-with-blue-yonders-saskia-van-gendt) > Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder, joins Shelly Kramer from theCUBE for an enlightening discussion on leveraging sustainable supply chains as a competitive advantage. Press Release Talking Sustainability with Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt Talking Sustainability with Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt Blue Yonder , February 14, 2025 Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder, joins Shelly Kramer from theCUBE for an enlightening discussion on leveraging sustainable supply chains as a competitive advantage. Van Gendt, with her vast expertise, delves into the pressing environmental impacts of global supply chains and highlights the intertwined relationship between sustainability and supply chain resilience. The discussion further explores how embracing sustainable practices can drive efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance brand perceptions. Key insights from the conversation include the importance of integrating sustainability into the core of business operations, aligned with regulatory demands and consumer expectations, according to van Gendt. She discusses how visibility and data in supply chains can influence decision-making, leading to reduced waste and emissions. Notably, she shares that companies using Blue Yonder's solutions have significantly decreased transportation emissions, emphasizing the role of technology in fostering sustainable practices. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: From chaos to clarity - leveraging network power in today’s global supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/from-chaos-to-clarity-leveraging-network-power-in-todays-global-supply-chains) > Modern supply chains are more complex than ever, with businesses navigating global disruptions, evolving technology, and rising customer expectations. Duncan Angove, CEO of Blue Yonder, makes the case for multi-enterprise supply chain networks to help companies stay resilient in an unpredictable world. Press Release From chaos to clarity - leveraging network power in today’s global supply chains Blue Yonder , March 4, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SiliconANGLE: Cognitive agents at work: How Blue Yonder is reshaping the autonomous supply chain with AI](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/cognitive-agents-at-work-how-blue-yonder-is-reshaping-the-autonomous-supply-chain-with-ai) > The global supply chain is undergoing a fundamental shift, driven by the urgent need for resilience and responsiveness. Traditional models are no longer enough in the face of frequent disruptions, rising complexity and shifting demand signals. In their place, cognitive supply chains are emerging — AI-powered systems designed to sense, understand and adapt in real time. Press Release Cognitive agents at work: How Blue Yonder is reshaping the autonomous supply chain with AI Blue Yonder , June 10, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SiliconANGLE: Supply chain gets smart: Blue Yonder’s blueprint for AI-powered resilience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-gets-smart-blue-yonders-blueprint-for-ai-powered-resilience) > Once a behind-the-scenes function, supply chain optimization has become a strategic imperative in today’s volatile business climate. From pandemic fallout to global trade disruptions, enterprises have learned that resilient, automated supply chains are critical to survival — and to long-term competitiveness. Press Release Supply chain gets smart: Blue Yonder’s blueprint for AI-powered resilience Blue Yonder , May 27, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: How design can unlock AI's full potential in supply chain management](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/how-design-can-unlock-ais-full-potential-in-supply-chain-management) > Supply chain solutions are barely scratching the surface of what AI can do for their users, writes Nunzio Esposito of Blue Yonder. Press Release How design can unlock AI’s full potential in supply chain management Blue Yonder , April 1, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: Finding profit in returns - turning a burden into opportunity for retailers](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/finding-profit-in-returns) > Lesley Simmonds, Blue Yonder's VP of Global Retail Industry Strategies, discusses all things returns in our latest piece for diginomica. Press Release Finding Profit in Returns June 17, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Reuters: Peru turns to China as US tariffs squeeze blueberry exports](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/reuters-peru-turns-to-china-as-us-tariffs-squeeze-blueberry-exports) > In Peru's Pisco Desert, rows of blueberry bushes towering as much as two meters high stretch towards the horizon, finally giving way to sand dunes. Traditional blueberries need chilly nights to bring fruit, but genetic innovations have created varieties like Eureka Sunset that can grow in this kind of arid landscape some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Lima. For more than a decade the healthy berries have rolled north to U.S. supermarket shelves, but there is a rival buyer in town: China. Press Release Reuters Peru turns to China as US tariffs squeeze blueberry exports June 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica: Tariffs vs sustainability - data, networks and technology can help companies thread the needle](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/tariffs-vs-sustainability-data-networks-and-technology-can-help-companies-thread-the-needle) > As tariffs reshape global trade, companies face hard choices between cost, carbon, and complexity. Blue Yonder’s Saskia van Gendt explores how data and AI can help align sustainability with shifting supply chains. Press Release Tariffs vs sustainability - data, networks and technology can help companies thread the needle Blue Yonder , May 20, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SilisonANGLE: Blue Yonders intelligent automation vision: Agents, AI and the future of supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonders-intelligent-automation-vision-agents-ai-and-the-future-of-supply-chains) > The autonomous supply chains of the future won’t just respond — they will think, learn and act. At the forefront of this rapid transformation is Blue Yonder Inc., powered by a deep-rooted history in artificial intelligence and a bold vision for gen AI. Press Release Blue Yonder’s intelligent automation vision: Agents, AI and the future of supply chains Blue Yonder , May 13, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Reworked: An AI Roadmap for the Next 5 Years](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/reworked-an-ai-roadmap-for-the-next-5-years) > Developing an AI business plan with clear, practical goals for the one, three and five-year horizons is the key to delivering real-world business results. In The News Reworked: An AI Roadmap for the Next 5 Years May 30, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital: Top 10 Emerging Tech Companies in Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-digital-top-10-emerging-tech-companies-in-supply-chain) > Supply Chain Digital takes a look at the top 10 emerging technology companies in supply chain, including Blue Yonder Press Release Supply Chain Digital Top 10 Emerging Tech Companies in Supply Chain June 19, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Congratulations to the 20 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/gartner-2025-supply-chain-top-25) > Blue Yonder is proud to announce that 20 companies named in the annual “Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25 for 2025” report are using its supply chain management solutions. In addition, 3 out 4 Masters category companies are Blue Yonder customers. Press Release Congratulations to the 20 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25 Congratulations to the 20 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25 DALLAS – June 26, 2025 3 minute read Blue Yonder is proud to announce that 20 companies 1 named in the annual “Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25 for 2025” report 2 are using its supply chain management solutions. In addition, 3 out 4 Masters category companies are Blue Yonder customers. The “Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2025” report 3 uses a methodology that combines business metrics and community opinion to identify the Masters, Top 25, and other leading companies. According to the report2, the Top 25 companies embraced three macro trends: agentic artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous operations, and water stewardship. Blue Yonder believes its AI-powered Blue Yonder Platform and Cognitive Solutions help its customers succeed when it comes to these three trends. During Blue Yonder ICON 2025 , the company highlighted its Cognitive Solutions , which have AI natively built-in and are designed to operate at machine speed, scale and precision. Sitting on the Blue Yonder Platform and Snowflake AI Data Cloud, these solutions allow supply chain teams and AI to seamlessly coordinate decisions and quickly refine workflows across all parts of their supply chain from planning to execution to returns management. In addition, Blue Yonder introduced five critical AI agents that enable businesses to see, analyze, decide, and act with machine speed and precision, even amid disruptions and evolving geopolitical situations. Blue Yonder also introduced its Sustainable Supply Chain Manager , a new sustainability offering that integrates carbon and waste management with supply chain management. This new integration will help Blue Yonder customers reduce waste and pollution while cutting costs – a win-win for the business and the environment. Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant™ reports4 covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems. To learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions, visit blueyonder.com . ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 This number represents Blue Yonder’s independent analysis of the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2025 listing. For the purposes of this list, Blue Yonder considers customers those companies who utilize its solutions either directly or through a logistics service provider. 2 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2025, Simon Bailey, et al., June 17, 2025. 3 Gartner Press Release: Gartner Announces 2025 Rankings of the Global Supply Chain Top 25, June 18, 2025. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 1 May 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Systems, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus TMS Technology Value Matrix 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/nucleus-tms-technology-value-matrix-2025) > This report assesses the market based on how vendors generate significant ROI through automation, visibility and optimized delivery performance. Read the report to learn why we were named a Leader due to the usability, functionality and value delivered from our TMS. Press Release Nucleus TMS Technology Value Matrix 2025 October 16, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/nucleus-control-tower-technology-value-matrix-2025) > For the tenth consecutive year, Blue Yonder has been recognized by Nucleus Research as aLeader in the Control Tower Value Matrix. Press Release Nucleus Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2025 September 2, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Highlights Progress and Opportunities of Sustainable Supply Chains in Inaugural Report](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-highlights-progress-and-opportunities-of-sustainable-supply-chains-in-inaugural-report) > Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, has released its inaugural Sustainability Report. The report showcases how the company is delivering end-to-end capabilities to help its customers reduce carbon emissions and waste and highlights trends in sustainable supply chains across industries. Press Release Blue Yonder Highlights Progress and Opportunities of Sustainable Supply Chains in Inaugural Report Blue Yonder Highlights Progress and Opportunities of Sustainable Supply Chains in Inaugural Report DALLAS – December 10, 2024 3 minute read Global supply chain leader advances new sustainability solutions and sets net zero targets Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, has released its inaugural Sustainability Report . The report showcases how the company is delivering end-to-end capabilities to help its customers reduce carbon emissions and waste and highlights trends in sustainable supply chains across industries. “While today’s most advanced technology is helping supply chains move faster than ever, there is a real opportunity for this technology to play a big role in sustainability,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Many supply chains are inefficient, requiring exorbitant energy usage and producing harmful waste. Blue Yonder is seizing on this opportunity, utilizing the industry’s only true end-to-end cloud platform to bring together all aspects of the supply chain to make it more efficient, robust and sustainable. We are committed to supporting our customers’ sustainability goals by developing new capabilities focused on carbon reduction, traceability and waste reduction.” In its 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey, Blue Yonder found that 44% of organizations increased their sustainability initiatives in the past year. In addition, of the companies that invested in their supply chain, sustainability was the top area of investment (48%). As a provider of supply chain software solutions with more than 3,000 global customers, Blue Yonder is committed to leveraging technology to positively influence the supply chain’s impact on sustainability.  To accomplish this, the company plans to advance four key goals outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , specifically developing new solutions that align with: Goal 2: Zero Hunger: Through its supply chain solutions, Blue Yonder empowers organizations to improve inventory management, reduce waste, and enhance traceability, supporting efforts to eradicate hunger and ensure access to nutritious food for all. Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being: Through its supply chain solutions, Blue Yonder optimizes networks, allowing companies to ensure the availability of critical medical supplies, medications, and equipment, ultimately supporting better health outcomes and well-being for communities worldwide. Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: Through its supply chain solutions, Blue Yonder promotes the circular economy, enabling waste avoidance through improved inventory management and manufacturing planning and facilitating lower carbon and waste returns. Goal 13: Climate Action: Through its supply chain solutions, Blue Yonder empowers organizations to measure, monitor, and mitigate their carbon emissions and environmental impact across planning, transportation, warehousing and returns. The company also set new sustainability goals and has committed to the following actions by 2030: Achieve Net Zero Scope 1 and 2 Emissions: Aligning with the Paris Agreement , achieve net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions, while decreasing the company’s scope 3 emissions. Use 100% Renewable Energy for Operations: Transitioning to renewable energy sources, powering Blue Yonder offices with wind, solar and other renewable power through a combination of onsite renewable energy, direct purchase through the utility, and renewable energy certificates (RECs). “Supply chains play a pivotal role in achieving sustainability goals,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “At Blue Yonder, sustainability is more than a commitment to the planet; it’s also a promise to our customers, partners and associates that we will harness technology to power the future of sustainable supply chains. We couldn’t be more excited for all that we can achieve with our customers.” Download Blue Yonder’s Sustainability Report here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Settles Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Kinaxis](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-settles-intellectual-property-lawsuit-against-kinaxis) > Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, has entered into a settlement agreement with Kinaxis, Inc. and Kinaxis Corp., Inc. to fully resolve all pending litigation matters between the companies. Blue Yonder welcomes the settlement. Press Release Blue Yonder Settles Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Kinaxis Blue Yonder Settles Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Kinaxis DALLAS – February 13, 2025 1 minute read Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, has entered into a settlement agreement with Kinaxis, Inc. and Kinaxis Corp., Inc. to fully resolve all pending litigation matters between the companies. Blue Yonder welcomes the settlement. While the full terms of the agreement are confidential, as part of the settlement, Blue Yonder has agreed to dismiss its patent infringement claims against Kinaxis, and Kinaxis has agreed to dismiss its counterclaims of trade secret misappropriation. The settlement also dismisses Kinaxis’ appeal of two inter partes review (IPR) decisions in Blue Yonder’s favor that were pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail and Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-named-snowflake-retail-and-consumer-goods-data-cloud-product-partner-of-the-year) > Blue Yonder, the leader in end-to-end supply chain digital transformation, today announced at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 2025, that it has been named the 2025 Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year by Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company. This is the fourth year in a row that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Snowflake partner award winner. Press Release Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail and Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail and Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year SAN FRANCISCO and DALLAS – June 4, 2025 2 minute read Blue Yonder , the leader in end-to-end supply chain digital transformation, today announced at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 2025 , that it has been named the 2025 Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year by Snowflake , the AI Data Cloud company. This is the fourth year in a row that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Snowflake partner award winner. Blue Yonder was recognized for its achievements as part of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers unify data across internal and external sources to improve and accelerate decision-making at scale. The partnership allows Blue Yonder to integrate Snowflake’s data capabilities into its Blue Yonder Platform , powered by Snowflake , enabling customers to access real-time data and make faster, higher quality decisions. By facilitating seamless data sharing and collaboration on a single platform and leveraging advanced machine learning (ML) technology, users can execute thousands of supply chain scenarios simultaneously, significantly reducing the cost, complexity and time associated with traditional marketplaces. “By combining our advanced supply chain technology with Snowflake’s robust data management capabilities, we deliver true end-to-end supply chain solutions that enhance performance, scalability and resilience for our shared customers,” said Chris Burchett, senior vice president, Generative AI, Blue Yonder. “We’re honored to receive this prestigious award for the fourth year in a row and are excited to continue our collaboration with Snowflake to provide innovative solutions and transformative results for retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers worldwide.” “We are proud to name Blue Yonder as our Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year," said Kieran Kennedy, VP, Data Cloud Product Partners, Snowflake. "As a leader in supply chain technology, Blue Yonder is expertly leveraging the power of our AI Data Cloud across their platform, driving significant value and innovation for our shared customers. This award recognizes their commitment to data-driven transformation and the remarkable results they are delivering in the supply chain space through our collaborative partnership.” Learn more about the Blue Yonder and Snowflake partnership in the “Supply Chain Management With Blue Yonder and Snowflake” video and the “Using GenAI To Drive Fast, Precise Decisions For Supply Chain Management” video interview of Burchett on Data Cloud Now. Check out keynotes from Snowflake Summit 2025 live or on-demand here and stay on top of the latest news and announcements from Snowflake on LinkedIn and Twitter/X . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for 12th Time in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-supply-chain-planning) > Blue Yonder, the leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2025 Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company is positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for 12th Time in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for 12th Time in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision DALLAS – April 21, 2025 5 minute read Evaluation based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems 1 Blue Yonder , the leader in digital supply chain transformation, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2025 Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 2 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company is positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision. Blue Yonder attributes this recognition to its vision of connecting the supply chain from end-to-end. This approach has been brought to life through interwoven supply chain planning capabilities , built on the Blue Yonder Platform and backed by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and a common data cloud, as well as native connectivity across Blue Yonder’s extensive set of execution and network solutions. Further supported by decades of success serving the world’s leading manufacturers and retailers, Blue Yonder’s solutions, including Demand and Supply Planning , Integrated Business Planning , and Allocation and Replenishment , fully integrate long-term and real-time supply chain planning across demand, procurement, production, and distribution. The end result is Blue Yonder optimizing transportation, warehouse and commerce strategies while simultaneously adjusting planning and inventory based on real-time execution data. This allows customers to be more responsive, agile, and precise in how they plan and execute, delivering a direct connection between planning and Blue Yonder’s global multi-tier, multi-enterprise Blue Yonder Network. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader 12 times in Supply Chain Planning. This includes five consecutive times in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 2 , three times in the previously published Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of Differentiation 3 , and four times in the previously published Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning System of Record report 4 . "In today's rapidly evolving market landscape, businesses need supply chain planning solutions that not only adapt but anticipate change," said Wayne Usie, chief strategy officer, Blue Yonder. "Our cognitive solutions, powered by AI and ML, enable companies to plan smarter and respond faster, helping them stay ahead in a complex world, especially as things like tariffs and disruptions occur. By transforming traditional planning into a proactive, concurrent approach, our supply chain planning solutions empower our customers to have the speed and agility required to achieve greater efficiency, resilience, and alignment with their business and sustainability goals." Blue Yonder transformed the demand and supply planning processes into a single concurrent motion when it launched its Demand and Supply Planning solution in its Q4 2024 product release . This solution simultaneously analyzes changing demand patterns and supply availability to balance all aspects of planning collaboratively – for maximum efficiency, resiliency and service level attainment. With concurrent planning that harmonizes necessary supply, sourcing factors, and capital resource availability, businesses can reduce costs, increase agility, and cut inventory waste. Planners can utilize AI and ML to automate scenario testing and provide insight-driven recommendations to streamline decision-making, optimize inventory, and better serve specific customer segments and regions. This then improves cost efficiency and on-time, in-full delivery. Working in tandem with Demand and Supply Planning, AI-backed Integrated Business Planning provides forecasts that drive alignment across supply chain and financial goals. Businesses can now accelerate planning across supply chain and financial operations, increasing support for custom risk and opportunity scenarios. With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning, Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems 1 . Additional Resources: Download/read a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning report Learn more about Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions and Blue Yonder Platform Sources: 1 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024. 2 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. 3 From 2015-2019, Blue Yonder was recognized as “JDA” or “JDA Software” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of Differentiation. The report was revised and changed names, publishing for the first time in 2021 as the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions. 4 From 2010-2018, Blue Yonder was recognized as “JDA” or “JDA Software” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning System of Record. The report was revised and changed names, publishing for the first time in 2021 as the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital: Interview with Saskia Van Gendt](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/supply-chain-digital-interview-with-saskia-van-gendt) > Supply Chain Digital magazine discusses how AI-driven innovation can drive sustainability across the supply chain with Saskia Van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder. Press Release Supply Chain Digital: Interview with Saskia van Gendt Blue Yonder , June 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/2026-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-warehouse-management-systems) > For the 18th consecutive time, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems report based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Blue Yonder , May 5, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-supply-chain-planning-solutions) > Blue Yonder was named a Leader in the inaugural 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries. Press Release 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Blue Yonder , April 7, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus WFM Technology Value Matrix 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/nucleus-wfm-technology-value-matrix-2025) > Blue Yonder is proud to be recognized as a leader in WFM technology by Nucleus Research for the fourth year in a row. Press Release Nucleus WFM Technology Value Matrix 2025 April 14, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus SCP Technology Value Matrix 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/nucleus-scp-technology-value-matrix-2025) > For the fourth consecutive time, we were named leader in the 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix among 23 vendors due to the better functionality of our solutions. Press Release Nucleus SCP Technology Value Matrix 2025 August 5, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus OMS Technology Value Matrix 2026](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/nucleus-oms-technology-value-matrix-2026) > Blue Yonder is proud to be recognized as a Leader in the inaugural 2026 Nucleus Research Order Management Systems Technology Value Matrix. Press Release Nucleus OMS Technology Value Matrix 2026 April 23, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems](https://blueyonder.com/media/2026/2026-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-transportation-management-systems) > For the 19th time in a row, Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems report based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems Blue Yonder , April 7, 2026 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [IDC MarketScape Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2025 Vendor Assessment](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/idc-marketscape-worldwide-multi-enterprise-supply-chain-commerce-network-2025-vendor-assessment) > Blue Yonder has been named a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2025 Vendor Assessment. Press Release IDC MarketScape Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2025 Vendor Assessment Blue Yonder , November 24, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [IDC MarketScape Worldwide Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling 2025 Vendor Assessment](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/idc-marketscape-worldwide-advanced-production-planning-and-scheduling) > Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling 2025 Vendor Assessment. Press Release IDC MarketScape Worldwide Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling 2025 Vendor Assessment Blue Yonder , November 21, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Verdantix 2025 Buyer’s Guide: Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/verdantix-2025-buyers-guide-supply-chain-sustainability-solutions) > As demand for sustainable supply chain solutions grows, making informed decisions is more critical than ever. This report helps buyers navigate the market by identifying 54 key vendors and analyzing 16 of them in detail. Read the report to discover how Blue Yonder can help you achieve your sustainability goals. Press Release Verdantix 2025 Buyer’s Guide: Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Blue Yonder , November 20, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Nucleus WMS Technology Value Matrix 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/nucleus-wms-technology-value-matrix-2025) > This report evaluates the market by analyzing how vendors address the growing need for improved warehouse efficiency, lower operational costs and enhanced customer service. Discover why Blue Yonder was recognized as a Leader and explore the key advantages of our WMS by reading the full report. Press Release Nucleus WMS Technology Value Matrix 2025 Blue Yonder , November 14, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [theCube: Sustainable supply chains are no longer optional — here’s why](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/ai-agility-and-the-future-of-supply-chains-with-blue-yonder/thecube-sustainable-supply-chains-are-no-longer-optional-heres-why) > Sustainability is no longer an afterthought in supply chain management; it’s a crucial competitive edge. In today’s interconnected world, businesses face mounting pressure from customers, investors and regulators to adopt sustainable supply chains. Press Release theCube: Sustainable supply chains are no longer optional — here’s why March 11, 2025 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Companies Can “Bring on Tomorrow” at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Supply Chain Industry Conference](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/companies-can-bring-on-tomorrow) > Taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, May 4-7, ICON 2025 will showcase how an AI-powered, autonomous, end-to-end supply chain network transforms businesses Press Release Companies Can “Bring on Tomorrow” at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Supply Chain Industry Conference Companies Can “Bring on Tomorrow” at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Supply Chain Industry Conference DALLAS and NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 15, 2025 6 minute read Taking place in Nashville , Tennessee, May 4-7, ICON 2025 will showcase how an AI-powered, autonomous, end-to-end supply chain network transforms businesses Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman will keynote this year’s event As supply chains continue to be challenged by disruptions and uncertainty, businesses need the ability to eliminate delays, connect digital and physical operations, and keep businesses moving at machine speed. That’s why Blue Yonder , the leader in digital supply chain transformation, is inviting supply chain leaders to attend ICON 2025 — the premier conference for supply chain leaders in manufacturing, logistics and retail — taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, May 4-7, 2025. At this year’s event, attendees can learn how Blue Yonder’s solutions help businesses stay ahead of change by powering the fastest, smartest, and most resilient supply chains in the world. With a “Bring on Tomorrow” theme, ICON 2025 features more than 125 educational sessions, including over 60 customer- and partner-led sessions. Conference sponsors include: Microsoft at the Titanium level, and Accenture and Panasonic Connect at theDiamond level. Keynote and Executive Highlights Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove , along with several company leaders, will share the latest product innovations, developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic AI, and customer success stories. Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie , executive vice president, Cloud and AI Group, will be speaking during the opening general session. He will discuss the importance of a resilient and secure cloud and share Microsoft’s recent advancements in these areas and its latest AI innovations. Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman will close out ICON 2025. Kidman’s awards include an Academy Award, several Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award, and an Emmy Award. Kidman will share insights on what it takes to continuously transform, and how leadership and innovation drive success in competitive environments. The invitation-only ICON Executive Exchange presented by Microsoft features a curated program for company executives to network and share perspectives and experiences on driving supply chain sustainability, resilience, and reinvention. This year’s Executive Exchange will feature a keynote by retired U.S. Army Gen. Gustave F. Perna . Gen. Perna previously served as the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, overseeing the logistics of the U.S. federal government’s distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. During his session, “A Call To Lead,” Gen. Perna will discuss how supply chain companies can innovate and transform. In addition, Kathleen Mitford , corporate vice president of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft, will share how business leaders can lean into AI innovations. Customer Speakers GXO Logistics’ Nizar Trigui , chief technology officer, will be the first to join Blue Yonder’s CEO for a mainstage discussion about how an AI-driven, end-to-end supply chain can drive value and increase speed and resiliency. Several customers will join a mainstage panel discussion on the potential of transforming the supply chain with AI and other technological advancements. Panelists include DHL Supply Chain’s Dr. Bastian Schäffer , global head, Operational IT Products & Solutions; Micron Technology’s Spencer Petersen , seniordirector, Digital Supply Chain Solutions; and PepsiCo’s Raghu Narasimhan, strategy director. In addition, Blue Yonder customers presenting breakout sessions at this year’s event include representatives from several leading brands such as: Amazon Web Services, ams OSRAM, APL Logistics, Arcadia Cold, Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Corporation, Bayer Crop Science, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Border States, Brambles, Coke One North America (CONA) Services LLC, Core-Mark, Cummins, DENSO International America, DHL Supply Chain, Dicka Logistics, Discount Tire, Essity, Getinge, GXO Logistics, Hewlett Packard, Intel, International Paper, JELD-WEN, JM Family Enterprises, Johnson & Johnson, Kenco, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, L.L.Bean, Linfox Logistics Australia, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mars Wrigley, Medtronic, Meijer, Mitchells & Butlers, Micron Technology, Mizkan, Nestlé Purina PetCare, Penske Logistics, PepsiCo, Polaris, ReaderLink Distribution Services, REI, Robert Bosch GmbH, SiteOne, Soriana, Southeast Toyota, Texas Tech University, The Container Store, The J.M. Smuckers Company, and Wesco International . Innovation Experience At this year’s Innovation Experience,attendees can: Interact with more than 25 kiosk demonstrations that provide a preview of Blue Yonder’s new and improved SaaS portfolio, ranging from advanced retail and manufacturing planning solutions, like Demand & Supply Planning and Category Management, to our groundbreaking innovations in warehousing and the game-changing Blue Yonder Network. Engage with more than 30 Blue Yonder ecosystem partners and learn how their technology enhances Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions. Join multiple theater sessions happening throughout the conference. Sessions provide attendees with the opportunity to learn more about Blue Yonder’s latest user experience enhancements and explore the services offered by Blue Yonder’s partners. Additional Event Highlights Women in Tech: Join sponsors Accenture and Microsoft for a “Women in Tech” session on May 6 that highlights the power of women in supply chain and technology. According to a report by The World Bank, women held 35% of STEM jobs in the U.S. at the end of 2023. And according to the Skillsoft Women in Tech Report 2024, 60% of women respondents were not yet using AI at work . Both of these stats underscore the need to bring more awareness to the importance of gender diversity in the tech workforce. The session will feature a panel with several speakers, including an Accenture Supply Chain leader; Microsoft’s Lindsay Berg , general manager, Product Marketing at Microsoft; and GXO Logistics ’ Becky Kilduff , vice president, Advanced Logistics Solutions. ICONic Customer Awards: Blue Yonder will announce the winners of this year’s ICONic Customer Awards , which acknowledge the success, impact and results of Blue Yonder’s customers who are embracing innovation, challenging the status quo, and delivering great results. User Group Meetings: Customers can join more than 30 user group meetings to learn about the latest product roadmaps and network with other customers to share best practices. Live Entertainment in Music City: Attendees will enjoy a live performance by Brothers Osborne , an American country music duo. The brothers have won six Academy of Country Music Awards, five Country Music Association Awards, and one Grammy® Award. Additional Resources Register for Blue Yonder ICON 2025, taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, May 4-7, 2025: blueyonder.com/icon About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the world leader in digital supply chain transformation. Retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers worldwide rely on Blue Yonder to optimize and accelerate their supply chain from planning through fulfillment, delivery, and returns. Blue Yonder’s AI-driven supply chain platform and multi-enterprise, multi-tier network enable more accurate forecasting and dynamic management of capacity, inventory and transport. Blue Yonder helps businesses navigate modern supply chain complexity and volatility with more resilient, sustainable supply chains to delight customers, scale profitably, and run flawlessly. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder To Showcase Smarter, Faster and Better Connected Supply Chains at NRF 2025](https://blueyonder.com/media/2025/blue-yonder-to-showcase-smarter-faster-and-better-connected-supply-chains-at-nrf-2025) > Reinvent retail supply chains with an end-to-end AI-driven, multi-enterprise platform that brings together merchandising, planning, logistics, commerce, and returns to deliver exceptional customer experiences Press Release Blue Yonder To Showcase Smarter, Faster and Better Connected Supply Chains at NRF 2025 Blue Yonder To Showcase Smarter, Faster and Better Connected Supply Chains at NRF 2025 Blue Yonder , DALLAS – January 7, 2025 6 minute read Over the past few years, disruptions and disconnected systems have pushed retail supply chains to their limits, exposing the confines of point solutions. Retailers need to transform their operations to seamlessly connect teams, systems and workflows to deliver smarter decisions – from source to shelf and back . At the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2025: Retail’s Big Show Jan. 12-14, 2025, in New York City, Blue Yonder (Booth # 4538) will showcase how the company can empower retailers to enhance supply chain efficiency, reduce cost, and boost speed to continuously deliver the exceptional shopping experiences their customers expect.​ “Retailers today face unprecedented challenges from fluctuating consumer behavior and demand to supply chain volatility, disconnected point solutions, competitive pressures, and rising sustainability expectations,” said Vince Beacom, president, Global Retail, Blue Yonder. “To thrive in this landscape, retailers must transform how they plan and execute to keep customers coming back. Blue Yonder is the only technology partner offering an end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, multi-enterprise platform that seamlessly connects retailers and their teams, vendors, carriers, systems, inventory, and workflows to enable smarter, faster decisions and outcomes. We look forward to showcasing how the Blue Yonder Platform enables retailers to achieve intelligent, sustainable and responsive operations by reducing inventory, transportation expense, and carbon footprint while improving in-stock availability, customer loyalty, and profitability.” Reinventing Retail Supply Chain Retailers need a connected network from supplier to store that optimizes and accelerates their supply chain from planning through fulfillment, delivery, and returns to enhance efficiency, reduce operational costs, and boost speed so they can deliver exceptional customer experiences. With Blue Yonder, retailers can: Make smarter decisions. Retailers can leverage AI to optimize plans and make more intelligent data-driven decisions. With adaptable AI, retailers can focus on outcomes with optimized plans that anticipate needs and drive real-time actions to stay ahead. This includes ensuring optimal stock levels, preventing lost sales, and minimizing markdowns. Respond faster. Retailers can create a single, real-time source of truth to eliminate barriers and latency so they can adjust as conditions change to deliver greater resilience and provide end-to-end visibility to serve their customers. This unparalleled efficiency and agility allows retailers to meet the demands of today while anticipating the needs of tomorrow. Connect outcomes. Retailers can align actions across their teams and functions to shared goals, connecting enterprises, fulfillment, and inventory, so all resources are at their fingertips. By gaining real-time visibility and control, retailers can proactively address disruptions and improve service levels in demand-driven supply chains. At Retail’s Big Show, Blue Yonder will showcase its AI-driven, multi-enterprise platform at its booth and in NRF programming, including: Big Ideas Session: Not to be missed is Blue Yonder’s Big Ideas Session on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, at 2:45 p.m. ET featuring Blue Yonder customers: Rob Bogan, chief technology officer, DXL , and Nik Haggerty, director of Transformation Program Delivery, Chalhoub Group .At the session titled “The Supply Chain Revolution: Can Your Organization Succeed in the Age of AI?” Blue Yonder’s chief innovation officer Andrea Morgan-Vandome will moderate a discussion about how AI and connected data are the driving forces behind a revolutionary shift in supply chain management. As retailers face increasing pressure to stay competitive and drive value and efficiency, the ability to harness these technologies is essential for better planning and execution. The session will explore how AI and unified data are opening new opportunities to create flexible supply chain workflows and how your organization can adapt to thrive in this new era. Expo Booth: Stop by Blue Yonder’s booth (#4538) in the Expo Hall to learn how retailers can reinvent their supply chain. Attendees can schedule a one-on-one meeting and see the latest product innovations from Blue Yonder. At the booth, Blue Yonder will be showcasing the following: Multi-Enterprise Network: Integrate planning and execution end-to-end to allow for near real-time collaboration across all trading partners with Blue Yonder’s multi-enterprise, multi-tier network . Tied into the Blue Yonder Platform , the network ensures a secure common source of truth and complete master data for all trading partners, providing real-time visibility into inventory, movements, purchases, and orders for retailers. Utilizing AI-driven insights, retailers can enable quick understanding, scenario assessment, and informed decision-making to optimize outcomes. In addition, adaptive flows built on AI-powered supply chain agents continuously recommend optimal routings and movements across the network. Cognitive Planning: Retailers can learn how to anticipate needs and drive action to stay ahead of change, create new opportunities, and manage costs with Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning capabilities . These capabilities allow retailers to gain access to industry-focused insights that enable faster decision-making and more precise forecasting. Retailers can optimize plans and decisions based on real-time market factors and supply chain constraints while also aligning actions across functions and enterprises toward a shared goal. In addition, retailers can break down silos between people, data, and enterprises to drive more collaboration and reduce friction. The result is connected customers, inventory, and fulfillment across all channels, putting all their resources at their fingertips Synchronized execution: Learn how Blue Yonder’s synchronized execution capabilities enable superior performance through advanced interoperability across systems and processes. By synchronizing workflows across order, warehouse, transportation, returns management, and resource domains, retailers and logistics service providers can optimize performance across all supply chain nodes and fulfillment services. It also delivers ecosystem extensibility to unify data, suppliers, partners, organizations, and systems while remaining flexible and adaptable to changing business needs. Merchandise Operations: Driveoptimal performance, inventory control, and profitable growth with Blue Yonder Merchandise Operations . The solution integrates a retailer’s merchandise management processes across departments onto a single enterprise-wide information system, seamlessly connecting to Blue Yonder’s multi-enterprise network. With greater visibility and flexibility to adapt to change, retailers can more accurately, intelligently, and profitably control inventory throughout their enterprise while supporting corporate initiatives. Blue Yonder at the Microsoft Booth: In addition to its own booth, Blue Yonder will have two demonstrations inside the Microsoft booth (#4503) . The first will showcase Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solutions . Running on Microsoft Azure, the solution allows companies to have a real-time view of inventory positions, rapidly onboard robotics vendors, and improve visibility across warehouse automation solutions – without vendor lock-in. It also enhances productivity, increases accuracy, and improves inventory management within the supply chain. The second demonstration will showcase Blue Yonder’s generative AI agents for warehouse management and merchandise operations. Booth visitors will learn how they can use a dedicated AI agent to quickly access recommendations, predictive insights, and intelligent decisions to ensure they generate the best outcomes to positively impact their supply chain. Playoff Football Watch Party: Blue Yonder will host a Playoff Football Watch Party on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, from 6-9 p.m. ET for retail supply chain executives. This invite-only event is sponsored by Microsoft and Snowflake. The watch party will include a meet and greet with two former NFL pro football players: two-time Super Bowl champion Phil Simms and NFL MVP and four-time Pro Bowler Boomer Esiason. Women in Retail: Store Takeover: This private, invite-only executive event will take place at a flagship New York City retail store, which will be closed for the occasion. Attendees will enjoy an evening of content, cocktails, and shopping on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, from 5:30-8 p.m. ET. Store and event details will be shared upon registration. Engage with Blue Yonder at NRF: Join Blue Yonder at NRF 2025: Schedule a one-on-one meeting Attend the Big Ideas Session “The Supply Chain Revolution: Can Your Organization Succeed in the Age of AI?” on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, at 2:45 p.m. ET in Expo Level 1, Expo Stage 2. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning and synchronized execution capabilities, multi-enterprise network , and Merchandise Operations . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Modern Materials Handling: Blue Yonder’s Logan Kluth on the Real Value of Cloud WMS](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/modern-materials-handling-blue-yonders-logan-kluth-on-the-real-value-of-cloud-wms) > Blue Yonder’s Logan Kluth shares his insights with Modern Materials Handling on cloud-based warehouse management systems (WMS) and how technology is just one third of the solution for optimizing warehouse operations. Read the full article here. Press Release Modern Materials Handling: Blue Yonder’s Logan Kluth on the Real Value of Cloud WMS Modern Materials Handling: Blue Yonder’s Logan Kluth on the Real Value of Cloud WMS Blue Yonder , November 4, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder’s Logan Kluth shares his insights with Modern Materials Handling on cloud-based warehouse management systems (WMS) and how technology is just one third of the solution for optimizing warehouse operations. Read the full article here . For all of its advantages, cloud WMS does not solve all of any warehouse’s problems, notes Logan Kluth of Blue Yonder . “It is not a silver bullet.” About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [iTWire Australia How Blue Yonder is Applying AI and Innovation To Solve Supply Chain Challenges](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/itwire-australia-how-blue-yonder-is-applying-ai-and-innovation-to-solve-supply-chain-challenges) > Blue Yonder's Chief Innovation Officer, Andrea Morgan-Vandome, was recently in Australia and spoke with iTWire about the company's goals, our customers and their challenges, and how we are using AI to help our customers succeed. Watch her interview with iTWire's David Williams to learn more. Press Release iTWire (Australia): How Blue Yonder is Applying AI and Innovation To Solve Supply Chain Challenges iTWire (Australia): How Blue Yonder is Applying AI and Innovation To Solve Supply Chain Challenges Blue Yonder , November 13, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder's Chief Innovation Officer, Andrea Morgan-Vandome, was recently in Australia and spoke with iTWire about the company's goals, our customers and their challenges, and how we are using AI to help our customers succeed. Watch her interview with iTWire 's David Williams to learn more . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Alnatura Enhances Customer Experience and Sustainability With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/alnatura-enhances-customer-experience-and-sustainability-with-blue-yonder) > Award-winning German organic grocery retailer completes the migration to cloud of Blue Yonder Category Management solutions. Press Release Alnatura Enhances Customer Experience and Sustainability With Blue Yonder Alnatura Enhances Customer Experience and Sustainability With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , KARLSRUHE, Germany, and DALLAS – November 19, 2024 4 minute read Award-winning German organic grocery retailer completes the migration to cloud of Blue Yonder Category Management solutions With rapidly changing consumer behavior, supply chain disruptions and inflation, retailers need to make faster decisions to meet customers’ demand. That’s why Alnatura , a German retailer and producer of organic food, digitally transformed its space management capabilities by upgrading to SaaS with Blue Yonder Category Management solutions to meet the demands of modern commerce and evolving consumer needs. The project was implemented on time and under budget by Strategix , a Blue Yonder partner. Alnatura operates 153 supermarkets in 74 cities in Germany, selling over 1,300 different organic foods under its brand. These products are also sold through Alnatura’ s trading partners in 14 countries across Europe. In the fiscal year 2022/2023, Alnatura had a turnover of 1.149 billion euros net, with a growth of +2.3% compared to the previous fiscal year. In 2024, the company received two awards from the German Sustainability Prize Foundation. Alnatura tackles all aspects of sustainability, including fair partnerships, commitment to greater animal welfare, support for organic farms, and climate protection, with a focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Alnatura made the strategic decision to migrate its Blue Yonder Category Management solutions to the cloud in order to upgrade its cost structure, increase supply chain resilience, and enhance agility. “Excellence in Category Management is crucial for delivering value to our customers, and Blue Yonder provides leading-edge technology, best practices and expertise that we need to excel”, said Tim Pfeiffer, department manager of sales floor optimization, Alnatura . “Additionally, we were very pleased by the methodology and project management applied by Strategix in migrating our existing Blue Yonder solution to the cloud. We look forward to continuing our strategic supply chain transformation journey with Blue Yonder and Strategix.” By upgrading to the SaaS-based Blue Yonder Category Management solutions , Alnatura will leverage new capabilities and expects to achieve the following benefits: Gain greater flexibility all through the category management processes. Achieve service continuity with an always-on, everywhere approach. Reduce total cost of ownership with continual innovation and faster-to-value implementations. Unlock new capabilities as they become available to continue improving its space planning strategy. Improve insight to enhance the customer experience and keep customer satisfaction at the highest standards. "We take pride in supporting Alnatura’s innovation journey. Migrating the Blue Yonder Category Management solutions to the cloud has enabled Alnatura with the necessary agility to keep up with customer demand, market disruptions and constant business change”, said Gael Ramaen, corporate vice president, Retail, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Lean more about Blue Yonder Solutions for Retail Grocery Learn more about Blue Yonder Blue Yonder Solutions for Space Management E-book: Journey to the Cloud: SaaS Migration Checklist About Alnatura Alnatura is a German organic food retailer and producer, founded in 1984 by Götz Rehn, who still manages the company today. In 2021, Götz Rehn was awarded the German Founder's Prize for his life's work. According to Service Barometer AG's 2024 customer monitor, Alnatura has the most satisfied customers in Germany, receiving the top mark in the overall ranking. In 2024, on its fortieth anniversary, the company received two awards from the German Sustainability Prize Foundation. Alnatura was recognized as the most sustainable company in the food and beverage industry and the winner in the Nature Transformation Field category. These awards acknowledge Alnatura’ s special efforts and solutions for the preservation of biodiversity and the regeneration of ecosystems. Alnatura operates 153 supermarkets in 74 cities in Germany, selling over 1,300 different organic foods under its brand. These products are also sold through Alnatura’s trading partners in 14 countries across Europe. The company employs around 3,520 people. In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, Alnatura generated net sales of 1.149 billion euros. www.alnatura.de/de-de/ About Strategix Strategix is a boutique consulting company that has implemented most space and category management solutions and processes within Central and Eastern Europe for the past 20 years. Recognized as the Best Category Management Consulting Firm in 2021, Strategix provides high qualified expertise thanks to its consultants' tenures averaging over ten years. Strategix works closely with 15 of the top 30 retailers in Europe. In addition, its one-stop consulting shop provides customers with technology selection, business process definition, system implementation and integration, training and a helpdesk in local languages. In 2024 Strategix has received the Top Service Award by the German Institute for Digitization and Sustainability. www.strategix.de/en/ About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Car Buyers Demand Personalization While Cost and Delivery Speed Remain Key](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-survey-car-buyers-demand-personalization-while-cost-and-delivery-speed-remain-key) > “Tailored builds are becoming increasingly important to car buyers across the consumers, with this desire growing alongside the demand for speed of delivery and price,” said Salim Shaikh, corporate vice president, Automotive Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder. “For manufacturers, this signals a need to refine their approach to offer a balance between customization, affordability and speed of delivery. To win, manufacturers need technology solutions that allow them to offer this balance." Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Car Buyers Demand Personalization While Cost and Delivery Speed Remain Key Blue Yonder Survey: Car Buyers Demand Personalization While Cost and Delivery Speed Remain Key DALLAS – November 12, 2024 4 minute read Car buyers across the U.S., UK, France and Germany increasingly prioritize personalization while remaining sensitive to high interest rates and delivery times Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today announced the findings of its 2024 Consumer Automotive Personalization Survey, which provides insights into the preferences of prospective car buyers across the U.S., UK, France and Germany. More than 40% of respondents who are looking to buy a car in the next year across the surveyed markets felt personalizing vehicles is important when making a buying decision, marking it a key consideration alongside delivery speed and cost. “Tailored builds are becoming increasingly important to car buyers across the consumers, with this desire growing alongside the demand for speed of delivery and price,” said Salim Shaikh, corporate vice president, Automotive Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder. “For manufacturers, this signals a need to refine their approach to offer a balance between customization, affordability and speed of delivery. To win, manufacturers need technology solutions that allow them to offer this balance." Personalization is Essential Across all markets, 43% of overall respondents feel that having personalization options is extremely or very important. American buyers place a higher emphasis on tailoring their vehicles, with 52% sharing this sentiment as compared to respondents from the UK (41%), France (41%), and Germany (36%). In addition, 92% of overall respondents are willing to pay extra for personalized features in vehicles, with 38% willing to pay 6-10% more and 32% willing to pay up to 5% more. However, despite this willingness, there was a difference by generation. Baby Boomers show less interest in paying extra for features, with 82% of Boomers prepared to pay an additional cost, as compared to 90% of Gen X, 95% of Millennials, and 94% of Gen Z. Manufacturers Have Room to Improve When it comes to personalization options, 57% of overall respondents felt manufacturers are providing good or excellent services in catering to personalization requirements. Still, 40% believe they are only average, below average, or poor in catering to personalization. “Manufacturers still have room to improve given the significant proportion of respondents who answered this question with average or below,” said Shaikh. “The most-demanded personalization features are for color choices, safety features, and driver assistance, but the development of individually configurable technology features will drive increased customer expectation for personalization in the future. Manufacturers who fail to embrace this trend risk jeopardizing their future if they are not agile and responsive to meet customers' dynamically changing needs.” Speed of Delivery Matters The vast majority (85%) of overall respondents feel 1-6 months is an acceptable delivery time for personalized vehicles. Across markets surveyed, the bulk (80%) of respondents also said they would definitely or somewhat compromise on vehicle features or personalization options to shorten car delivery time. “Given we know the demand for personalization is nearing half of all car buyers, the response on compromising personalization for delivery time shows that these two priorities are not mutually exclusive. Consumers shouldn’t have to choose between personalization and speed but rather manufacturers need to offer them personalization at speed – and at an acceptable price point,” noted Shaikh. Sustainability and EV Attitudes Differ Between U.S. and European Consumers Despite the growing emphasis on sustainability across industries, just 25% of overall respondents see sustainability and EV options as a primary factor in their purchase decision. The U.S. is an outlier, with only 19% of respondents in the region saying sustainability and electric vehicle (EV) options are a main factor in their buying decision as compared to the UK (29%), France (28%), and Germany (26%). Interest Rates Influence Buying Decision Interest rates are a critical consideration, with 86% of overall respondents saying they would definitely or are somewhat likely to compromise on personalization options to lower the cost due to high interest rates, demonstrating the financial burden of personalization remains a limiting factor in its adoption. Americans are the most concerned about interest rates, with 38% saying they would delay buying a car due to high interest rates compared to 36% of UK respondents, 25% of German respondents and 23% of French respondents. Interest rates’ influence also varies by generation; Gen Z buyers show the highest sensitivity (90%) followed by Millennials (85%), Generation Xers (75%) and Baby Boomers (57%). “As consumer preferences continue to shift, automotive manufacturers must focus on refining their personalization offerings while addressing profitability at the same time," Shaikh continued. "There are solutions available that can help manufactures strike the right balance between customization, affordability and rapid delivery; these solutions will be key for manufacturers to stay competitive in today’s market." Additional Resources: To learn more about Blue Yonder’s work with automotive companies, including end-to-end capabilities for volume planning, feature and mix planning, forecast order generation, parts requirements planning, order slotting and sequencing, configure-to-order, transportation capacity planning, and logistics fulfillment visit blueyonder.com Check out the infographic on key survey findings Research Methodology The Blue Yonder Consumer Automotive Personalization Survey was fielded by a third-party provider Sept. 18, 2024. Blue Yonder surveyed 1,000+ consumers per market in the U.S., UK, France, and Germany (4,000+ total) to gather insights on how trends in car personalization and concerns about how interest rates were impacting their car buying decision. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they were considering buying a new car in the coming year. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SiliconANGLE The Road to Intelligent Data Apps With Blue Yonders Chief Product Officer Gurdip Singh](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/siliconangle-the-road-to-intelligent-data-apps-with-blue-yonders-chief-product-officer-gurdip-singh) > In the latest The Road to Intelligent Data Apps series, George Gilbert, senior analyst at theCUBE Research, is joined by Gurdip Singh, Chief Product Officer of Blue Yonder. They discuss how Blue Yonder's intelligent data applications are revolutionizing supply chain management by integrating advanced analytics to enhance real-time decision-making and operational efficiency. Press Release SiliconANGLE: The Road to Intelligent Data Apps With Blue Yonder's Chief Product Officer, Gurdip Singh SiliconANGLE: The Road to Intelligent Data Apps With Blue Yonder's Chief Product Officer, Gurdip Singh Blue Yonder , October 21, 2024 1 minute read In the latest The Road to Intelligent Data Apps series, George Gilbert, senior analyst at theCUBE Research, is joined by Gurdip Singh, Chief Product Officer of Blue Yonder. They discuss how Blue Yonder's intelligent data applications are revolutionizing supply chain management by integrating advanced analytics to enhance real-time decision-making and operational efficiency. Watch the full episode here or below. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2024 Company Highlights and Q4 Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-releases-q3-2024-company-highlights-and-q4-industry-insights) > Leading supply chain solutions company helps retailers, logistics service providers and manufacturers end year strong with insights into what Q4 will hold and enhancements to AI-powered forecasting, management and modeling solutions. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2024 Company Highlights and Q4 Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q3 2024 Company Highlights and Q4 Industry Insights Blue Yonder , DALLAS – October 31, 2024 9 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company helps retailers, logistics service providers and manufacturers end year strong with insights into what Q4 will hold and enhancements to AI-powered forecasting, management and modeling solutions Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q3 2024 company highlights, as well as its insights into the industry trends that matter most heading into Q4 2024. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q3 2024, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its end-to-end strength in the market by: Adding31 new customer logos in Q3 2024 . New customers who selected Blue Yonder or existing customers who extended their footprint during the quarter include: Americas: BJ's Wholesale Club, CONA Services LLC, Crate & Barrel Holdings, Inc., PepsiCo LATAM, RealCold, Sheetz, SRC Logistics, Unilever Brazil, US Aid APAC/EMEA: Bunnings, CE.DI. GROS, Kmart Australia Limited, Knauf, Sainsbury’s Completed the acquisition of One Network Enterprises. The acquisition gives Blue Yonder customers the ability to collaborate and share data – from inventory levels to raw and finished goods materials movement – in real time across all trading partners up and down the supply chain. With the addition of One Network’s commercial technology, Blue Yonder can now offer customers a multi-enterprise, multi-tier network ecosystem; artificial intelligence (AI)-powered supply chain assistants to identify, monitor, analyze, and resolve problems; and a simplified process to onboard and work with trading partners. Launching several new product features and enhancements. In September 2024, the company brought to market an array of updates designed to provide customers with cutting-edge solutions and services to optimize their supply chain operations, improve efficiency, and drive sustainable growth. Updated features include: Enhanced operational efficiency and decision-making across the supply chain. In the omni-channel space, Blue Yonder introduced key enhancements: Intelligent Rebalancer is a new capability that provides swift, automatic order execution adjustments in response to supply and demand disruptions. It is designed to quickly ingest new information and, in near real-time, reallocate inventory and fulfillment processes. The capability can adjust order execution based on current data rather than planned needs, as well as prioritize and sequence orders based on configurable rules for each customer. Fulfillment Sourcing Simulator is an add-on SKU to Blue Yonder Commits Service that serves as a digital twin for fulfillment sourcing decision-making. It allows users to simulate order fulfillment scenarios, with and without capacity constraints, by providing precise inventory timelines across the network. The tool enables configuration of rules based on business objectives and helps users understand trade-offs between competing objectives, allowing simulators to apply new rules in real time and test multiple “what-if” scenarios against historical data. Key features include situation room team collaboration tools, KPI roll-up and drill-down capabilities, continuous feedback integration with commerce suite, and a secure digital twin environment for experimentation. Improved operational performance and flexibility. In the warehouse management space, Blue Yonder introduced new capabilities thatstrengthen logistics operations: Blue Yonder Warehouse Tasking is a cloud-native solution that incorporates near real-time information (like due dates, resource capabilities and inventory locations) to intelligently optimize warehouse work and orchestrate tasks based on available resources. A newly added feature reflects the unique access limitations of very narrow aisles, allowing customers with very narrow aisle (VNA) trucks to utilize Warehouse Tasking assignment functionality to determine the optimal task to present VNA operators that request directed work. Blue Yonder Yard Management is a computer-vision-based solution that uses cameras, object recognition and machine learning (ML) to automate gate-check activities. It helps logistics service providers (LSPs), manufacturers, and retailers automate, monitor and centralize yard operations to increase throughput, reduce lost loads and decrease fees. Thanks to a new enhancement, customers can link transportation equipment with shipment information in warehouse management during gate arrival and departure. The in-the-moment connection of Yard Management with Warehouse Management data automatically updates each system and provides flexibility to enable unique workflows, eliminate work hours, and accelerate inbound delivery performance and outbound service levels. Enhanced demand forecasting and planner productivity. Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning intelligently combines extensible ML and statistical techniques to radically re-shape the foundational process of demand planning. This approach generates high-accuracy, high-quality, mix-and-match forecasts that improve planner productivity and reduce supply chain costs. The solution features two new enhancements: The reconcile service simplifies data management and maintenance by enabling planners to maintain values and measures at higher aggregate levels (like product group or product family) and inherit this data to products at lower aggregate levels. In addition, planners can disaggregate demand plans with ease to different granularity levels for use in downstream functions (like production and transportation) without loss of fidelity or plan quality. Planners can now support partial-week demand planning using a newly implemented ML capability that breaks down time series forecasts for full weeks that span two months. The user interface also supports viewing and managing the forecast in this way. Building on its reputation as an industry leader with features in 29 technology industry analyst reports. Blue Yonder was included in publications by Berg Insight, Forrester Research, Gartner, IDC, Nucleus Research, and QKS Group, among others ( see full list below ). Industry Insights Heading into the last quarter of the year, Blue Yonder shares insights into the topics at top of mind for customers, shaped by its industry expertise: Food inflation continues to be a challenge for consumers and grocery retailers. Proteins (beef, poultry, eggs, etc.) and fresh produce prices continue to rise, which has consumers focused onvalue when choosing retailers and brands. Grocery retailers continue to be concerned about flattening sales and profitability as consumers continue to buy based on value. Supply chain costs (input, transportation and inefficiencies) are driving a good portion of grocery’s higher costs/lower margins, so grocery retailers should look for solutions that can help them better manage inventory and shelf placement. Traceability will inform new strategies. Sourcing transparency has been on the minds of consumers, and it is making its way to grocery retailers. With the Food Safety Modernization Act set to take effect in January 2026, grocery retailers must now find ways to address both the impacts of consumer-driven demand and upcoming government mandates. Similarly, regulations in the EU are driving adoption of digital passports within many product categories. Both mandates point toward a need for network visibility and n-tier traceability. U.S. grocery retailers should look to their counterparts across the globe, especially in EMEA, to see what strategies are working best. Labor and peak season challenges look different than previous years. Economic conditions including fluctuating costs, high demand for truck drivers and increased shipping volumes are significantly impacting labor planning and training. To account for this, LSPs are looking to optimize SKUs closer to end-line customers and cross-train employees across brand and customer specifics more so than in prior years. Reshoring and nearshoring are impacting logistics operations. To account for the reshoring and nearshoring happening from Asia to North America, many LSPs are looking to move fulfillment and distribution centers into Mexico and South America. This is happening with high-value goods and consumer packaged goods as companies attempt to optimize their business mixes in pursuit of agile, hybrid strategies that enable quicker responses to market conditions and move them closer to U.S. demand markets. Manufacturers are looking to generative AI tools to improve supply chain insights. Continued disruption across manufacturing supply chains stemming from ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and climate-related events coupled with softer demand globally is leading manufacturers to watch their supply chain operations more closely. This can be seen in the Automotive space with the slowdown in demand for vehicles and in the emergence of higher competition in the CPG space. Manufacturers are eager to learn more about generative AI tools that can help generate meaningful, tactical insights and provide them with opportunities to drive efficiency, improve customer service, and manage costs. Supply chain networks play a big role in manufacturing success. Manufacturers are increasingly coming to the realization that their supply chain-related competitive differentiation comes from not just their own enterprise, but from a collection of trading partners – suppliers, outsourced manufacturers, and carriers – that form their multi-enterprise network. In a global supply chain, success amid constant disruptions hinges on manufacturers’ ability to build efficient, reliable and agile multi-enterprise networks with trading partners collaborating on what’s happening upstream and downstream across their operations. “As consumer paths to purchase become more varied and multi-channel, leading to supply chain complexity, and supply chains become more global and interconnected, end-to-end visibility has never been more important,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Consumers are adept at moving across a complex mix of touchpoints and technologies throughout their shopping journeys, and companies — whether they’re LSPs, retailers, manufacturers, or any other link in the chain — must develop the same level of agility within their increasingly connected operations. As we head into the home stretch of 2024, supply chain leaders can rest assured that Blue Yonder is poised to help their companies use the right technology to meet their business and financial goals.” Customer Highlights: Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are persisting during times of disruption to digitally transform their supply chains and reimagine the consumer experience: Fearless Females of Supply Chain: Altria (video) Bayer’s Digital Logistics Transformation Improves Operational Efficiency, Asset Utilization, and Customer Service Coca-Cola Beverages Florida takes distribution to next level (Sip & Learn podcast) More From Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder was honored with several awards and recognitions in Q3 2024: Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt named a Women in Supply Chain Award winner by Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics magazines Chief Innovation Officer Andrea Morgan-Vandome named to the inaugural Top AI Leaders in Retail by RETHINK Retail 2024 Great Supply Chain Partner winner by SupplyChainBrain 2025 FreightTech 100 by FreightWaves 2024 India's Best Workplaces™ for Millennials by Great Places to Work® Blue Yonder’s 2024 Consumer Retail Returns Survey looked at how consumers in the U.S. and EMEA are experiencing and reacting to increasingly stringent returns policies. Of those surveyed, 91% of U.S. respondents and 61% of those in EMEA (UK, France and Germany) acknowledge that a lenient returns policy influences their buying decision. Glean more insights from the U.S. survey here and the EMEA survey here . Technology industry analyst recognitions in Q3 2024: Gartner Market Guide for Retail Assortment Management Applications: Short Life Cycle ProductsVoice of the Customer for Transportation Management SystemsMarket Guide for Workforce Management Applications Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems Market Share Analysis: Supply Chain Management Software, Worldwide, 2023Market Guide for Retail Assortment Management Applications: Long Life Cycle ProductsCool Vendors in Logistics and Robotics TechnologyMaximize the Value of AI in Supply Chains With “Whole Product” Use CasesMarket Guide for Retail Workforce Management ApplicationsSupply Chain Top 25 for 2024: Industrial ManufacturingHype Cycle for Retail Technologies, 2024Supply Chain Top 25 for 2024: Consumer ProductsHype Cycle for Digital Commerce, 2024 IDC Blue Yonder ICON: Engineering-Centric Strategy with Unified Supply Chain VisionMarket Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Warehouse Management Systems, 2024Market Glance: Retail Last Mile, 3Q24Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Transportation and Logistics, 2024Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning, 2024Marketscape: Worldwide Professional Services Providers for Retailers 2024 Vendor AssessmentIndustry Alliances and Tech Innovations: Highlights from Shoptalk Europe 2024Japan IT Spending Forecast by Vertical Segment, Company Employee Size, and Company Revenue Forecast, 2024–2028Japan 3rd Platform Forecast by Vertical Segment and Company Size, 2024–2028 Nucleus Control Tower Technology Value Matrix 2024 SCP Technology Value Matrix 2024 Forrester The Order Management Systems Landscape, Q3 2024Key Steps to Develop Your Manufacturing Operations Management Vision Berg Insight Real Time Transportation Visibility Platforms – 1 st EditionInsight Transport Management Systems Market – 3 rd Edition QKS Group SPARK Matrix – Warehouse Management System, 2024 About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [FreightWaves Running On Ice Prioritizing The Vaccine Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/freightwaves-running-on-ice-prioritizing-the-vaccine-supply-chain) > Blue Yonder’s Tiffany Brewer joins FreightWaves’ Running On Ice podcast to discuss how vaccine prioritization, temperature control and emerging technologies play a role in medical supply chains. Watch the full episode here. Press Release FreightWaves Running On Ice: Prioritizing The Vaccine Supply Chain FreightWaves Running On Ice: Prioritizing The Vaccine Supply Chain Blue Yonder , October 18, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder’s Tiffany Brewer joins FreightWaves’ Running On Ice podcast to discuss how vaccine prioritization, temperature control and emerging technologies play a role in medical supply chains. Watch the full episode here . Medical supply chains are constantly adapting to address new and existing outbreaks, driving a focus on resiliency and increased visibility across supply chain partners. As the annual flu season begins, alongside a global outbreak of Mpox cases, medical supply chains will need to tap into this resiliency to ensure medical supplies and vaccines are delivered where and when they are needed most. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [RetailME Towards Retail Agility](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/retailme-towards-retail-agility) > Blue Yonder's Chief Revenue Officer Corey Tollefson and Yahyah Pandor, Senior Regional Director, Retail – UAE & Gulf, spoke to RetailME recently about how the retail market is transforming globally and regionally, with a special focus on operational agility, technology, and the MENA market’s distinct challenges and opportunities. Read the story here. Press Release RetailME: Towards Retail Agility RetailME: Towards Retail Agility Blue Yonder , October 3, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder's Chief Revenue Officer Corey Tollefson and Yahyah Pandor, Senior Regional Director, Retail – UAE & Gulf, spoke to RetailME recently about how the retail market is transforming globally and regionally, with a special focus on operational agility, technology, and the MENA market’s distinct challenges and opportunities. Read the story here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [diginomica Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove is on a mission to eradicate siloed supply chain thinking](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/diginomica-blue-yonder-ceo-duncan-angove-is-on-a-mission-to-eradicate-siloed-supply-chain-thinking) > Blue Yonder's Sónia Peres shared her insights into the ways fashion and retail brands are using AI and ML to adapt to consumer behaviors and manage inventories with Sourcing Journal. Read her interview here. Press Release Sourcing Journal: Blue Yonder’s Sónia Peres On AI/ML’s Role in Fashion, Retail Sourcing Journal: Blue Yonder’s Sónia Peres On AI/ML’s Role in Fashion, Retail Blue Yonder , October 17, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder's Sónia Peres shared her insights into the ways fashion and retail brands are using AI and ML to adapt to consumer behaviors and manage inventories with Sourcing Journal. Read her interview here . AI/ML offers clear advantages in fashion retail, such as enhanced customer personalization, optimized supply chains, and better demand forecasting. However, adoption has been significantly slower in this industry. Traditionally, fashion has been driven by intuition and human creativity, with many resistant to adopting technology , fearing it might diminish the creative process. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital Blue Yonders Mission to Create Sustainable Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/supply-chain-digital-blue-yonders-mission-to-create-sustainable-supply-chains) > Check out this Supply Chain Digital article that highlights how Blue Yonder is helping companies achieve sustainability with eco-friendly supply chain practices. Read the article here. Press Release Supply Chain Digital: Blue Yonder’s Mission to Create Sustainable Supply Chains Supply Chain Digital: Blue Yonder’s Mission to Create Sustainable Supply Chains Blue Yonder , October 7, 2024 1 minute read Check out this Supply Chain Digital article that highlights how Blue Yonder is helping companies achieve sustainability with eco-friendly supply chain practices. Read the article here . Led by CEO Duncan Angove, the firm is helping companies achieve sustainability by integrating eco-friendly practices directly into their supply chain management, offering comprehensive tools that not only reduce environmental impact, but improve operational efficiency. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Supply Chain Digital Why Technology is the Key to Transparency and Traceability](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/supply-chain-digital-why-technology-is-the-key-to-transparency-and-traceability) > Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia Van Gendt shares her insights with Supply Chain Digital on how technology benefits transparency and traceability. Read the full article here. Press Release Supply Chain Digital: Why Technology is the Key to Transparency and Traceability Supply Chain Digital: Why Technology is the Key to Transparency and Traceability Blue Yonder , October 7, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia Van Gendt shares her insights with Supply Chain Digital on how technology benefits transparency and traceability. Read the full article here . “Regulations like the CSRD and the underlying European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are mandating and standardising corporate disclosures,” explains Saskia van Gendt, CSO at Blue Yonder, a world leader in digital supply chain transformation. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten European Consumer Spending](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-consumer-retail-returns-survey-tighter-returns-policies-threaten-european-consumer) > Findings show that over half of consumers are deterred by strict returns policies, highlighting increased urgency for retailers to balance cost reduction with customer centricity. Press Release Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten European Consumer Spending Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten European Consumer Spending Blue Yonder , LONDON – October 8, 2024 4 minute read Findings show that over half of consumers are deterred by strict returns policies, highlighting increased urgency for retailers to balance cost reduction with customer centricity Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the findings of its first European Consumer Retail Returns Survey, which examines how consumers across the continent are experiencing and reacting to increasingly stringent returns policies. Notably, the findings reveal the importance that most consumers place on returns policies, with 61% of those surveyed acknowledging that a lenient returns policy significantly or moderately influences their buying decisions. A majority of respondents also stated that tighter returns policies deterred them from making purchases. “Retailers have long acknowledged that they needed to tackle returns to reduce costs,” said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Returns, Blue Yonder. “With tighter returns policies starting to deter consumers from making purchases, the challenge now for retailers is to strike a balance between protecting their margins and maintaining a customer-friendly returns experience." Tighter Returns Policies Deter Buyers Of consumers who are aware of stricter returns policies, 52% state that tighter returns policies are deterring them from making purchases. When asked about the tighter returns policies, 57% of survey respondents felt restrictions on returns are either inconvenient or unfair, with only 27% saying they were fair and understandable. Returns Frequency and Common Causes Over half the survey group (60%) reported making a return only once or twice a year or less. Other responses included 13% who make a return every few months, 4% once a month, and 2% every couple of weeks or more. One fifth (20%) said they have never returned an item. In addition, 51% of respondents cite the most common reason for returns is incorrect sizing. Other reasons cited by respondents include item damage at 42%, followed by receiving the wrong product (27%) and changing one's mind or disliking the item (19%). The Cost of Returns: Who Pays? The returns process from the retailer’s side is costly, and many are now telling consumers to keep unwanted items to avoid the expensive and labor-intensive processes associated with reverse logistics. Almost half of consumers surveyed (40%) have been given this direction by a retailer. The top three categories this occurred in according to respondents were clothing & accessories (34%), electronics (21%) and home & kitchen (18%). Offering a discount or incentive for a future purchase can persuade customers to keep items they might otherwise return. In fact, 47% of respondents said they are likely or very likely to keep a product if given such an offer, highlighting the importance of this strategy for retailers. When asked how much they would be willing to pay to return an item, 39% said €1 – €4.59, 11% said €4.60 - €9.15, 6% said €9.16 - €13.74, 4% said €13.75 - €18.30, while 27% said they would not return an item if there was a fee. Third-Party Returns With convenience and cost a greater consideration than ever, consumers are showing clear interest in third-party returns services (such as a drop-off location, mailing service, etc.). When asked what factors would make them use a third-party returns service, 40% of consumers said lower or no shipping fees, 35% cited the convenience of drop-off locations, 31% said faster refund processing, 31% cited assurance of hassle-free returns, and 29% said reliable tracking and confirmation of returned items. “Where the goal is to mitigate the cost of returns, retailers should be looking for ways to do more than tightening their policies to reduce returns rates,” said Robinson. “Gathering data and automating intelligent decision-making for every return will bring costs down through more efficient transportation and reduced waste without impacting the customer experience. That data is also incredibly valuable to reduce returns rates, helping retailers to see the patterns of which items are returned, by which customer segments and why, and to act accordingly.” Sustainability Plays a Factor in Returns A majority of consumers are dedicated to sustainable returns habits, with 53% saying they are very or somewhat concerned about the environmental impact of returning items. When asked what action they would take if they knew their returned item would go to a landfill, 25% said they would seek an alternative, eco-friendly disposal method, 34% would attempt to resell the item, and 24% would continue with the returns process as planned. Additional Resources: To learn more about how Blue Yonder makes the first and last mile more seamless, visit blueyonder.com Check out the infographic on key survey findings Learn more about Blue Yonder Returns Management Research Methodology The Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey was fielded by a third-party provider on 13-16 August 2024. Blue Yonder surveyed 3,000+ European consumers to gather insights on how returns restrictions are impacting shopping behaviors. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they were aware of increasingly tightened returns policies. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Sourcing Journal Green Gridlock](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/sourcing-journal-green-gridlock) > Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia Van Gendt shares her insights with Sourcing Journal on how AI is impacting sustainability across the supply chain. Read the full article here. Press Release Sourcing Journal: Green Gridlock Sourcing Journal: Green Gridlock Blue Yonder , October 1, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia Van Gendt shares her insights with Sourcing Journal on how AI is impacting sustainability across the supply chain. Read the full article here . “A lot of the AI applications that are the most energy intensive are also the newest, so we probably have yet to realize their full benefit,” says Saskia Van Gendt , chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten U.S. Consumer Spending](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-consumer-retail-returns-survey-tighter-returns-policies-threaten-us-consumer-spending) > Findings show that 3 in 4 Millennial and Gen Z consumers are deterred by strict returns policies, highlighting increased urgency for retailers to balance cost reduction with customer centricity. Press Release Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten U.S. Consumer Spending Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey: Tighter Returns Policies Threaten U.S. Consumer Spending Blue Yonder , DALLAS – September 17, 2024 5 minute read Findings show that 3 in 4 Millennial and Gen Z consumers are deterred by strict returns policies, highlighting increased urgency for retailers to balance cost reduction with customer centricity Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its 2024 Consumer Retail Returns Survey, which examines how U.S. consumers are experiencing and reacting to increasingly stringent returns policies. Notably, the findings reveal the importance that most consumers place on returns policies, with 91% of those surveyed acknowledging that a lenient returns policy influences their buying decisions. Among them, Gen Z and Millennial purchasing decisions were most impacted, with 3 in 4 consumers stating that tighter returns policies deterred them from making purchases. In addition, the survey found significant shifts in consumer behavior compared to the 2023 survey that underscore both challenges and opportunities for retailers in adapting to these changes. “We're seeing that tighter returns policies are starting to deter consumers from making purchases, particularly among the Gen Z and Millennial generations," said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Returns, Blue Yonder. "Retailers have long acknowledged that they needed to tackle returns to reduce costs – the challenge now is to strike a balance between protecting their margins and maintaining a customer-friendly returns experience." Tighter Returns Policies Deter Buyers Of consumers who are aware of stricter returns policies, 69% state that tighter returns policies are deterring them from making purchases, which is up significantly from 59% in 2023. This trend is most pronounced among Gen Z and Millennial respondents. When distinguished as separate generational groups within the survey population, approximately three quarters of respondents from these two generations (Gen Z, 76%; Millennials, 74%) said tighter returns policies deterred them from making a purchase. When asked about the tighter returns policies, 51% of survey respondents felt restrictions on returns are either inconvenient or unfair, with 37% saying they were fair and understandable. Returns Frequency and Common Causes Over half the survey group (56%) reported making a return only once or twice a year or less. Other responses included 22% make a return every few months, 6% once a month, and 6% every couple of weeks or more. Only 10% said they have never returned an item. Moreover, there is a generational divide among consumers who have never returned a purchased item. Of those respondents who hadn’t returned an item, Gen Z was the highest with 39% followed by Gen X at 27%, Millennials at 22% and Baby Boomers at 13%. Consistent with last year’s survey, 75% of respondents cite the most common reason for returns is incorrect sizing. Other reasons cited by respondents include item damage at 68%, followed by changing one's mind or disliking the item (49%), and receiving the wrong product (47%). The Cost of Returns: Who Pays? The returns process from the retailer’s side is costly, and many are now telling consumers to keep unwanted items to avoid the expensive and labor-intensive processes associated with reverse logistics. Almost three out of four consumers surveyed (72%) have been given this direction by a retailer. The top three categories this occurred in according to respondents was clothing & accessories (34%), home & kitchen (17%), and electronics (15%). Offering a discount or incentive for a future purchase can persuade customers to keep items they might otherwise return. In fact, 62% of respondents said they are likely or very likely to keep a product if given such an offer, highlighting the importance of this strategy for retailers. When asked how much they would be willing to pay to return an item, 27% said $1-$5, 10% said $6-$10, 15% said $11-$15, 13% said $16-$20, and 3% said more than $20, while the remaining 32% said they would not return an item if there was a fee. Third-Party Returns With convenience and cost a greater consideration than ever, consumers are showing clear interest in third-party returns services (such as a drop-off location, mailing service, etc.). When asked what factors would make them use a third-party returns service, 62% of consumers said lower or no shipping fees, 60% cited the convenience of drop-off locations, 47% said faster refund processing, 39% cited assurance of hassle-free returns, and 38% said reliable tracking and confirmation of returned items. “Where the goal is to mitigate the cost of returns, retailers should be looking for ways to do more than tightening their policies to reduce returns rates,” said Robinson. “Gathering data and automating intelligent decision-making for every return will bring costs down through more efficient transportation and reduced waste without impacting the customer experience. That data is also incredibly valuable to reduce returns rates, helping retailers to see the patterns of which items are returned, by which customer segments, and why; and to act accordingly.” Sustainability Plays a Factor in Returns A majority of consumers are dedicated to sustainable returns habits, with 55% saying they are very or somewhat concerned about the environmental impact of returning items. When asked what action they would take if they knew their returned item would go to a landfill, 36% said they would seek an alternative, eco-friendly disposal method, 35% would attempt to resell the item, and 27% would continue with the returns process as planned. Additional Resources: To learn more about how Blue Yonder makes the first and last mile more seamless, visit blueyonder.com Check out the infographic on key survey findings Learn more about Blue Yonder Returns Management Research Methodology The Blue Yonder Consumer Retail Returns Survey was fielded by a third-party provider July 12, 2024. Blue Yonder surveyed 1,000+ U.S. consumers to gather insights on how returns restrictions are impacting shopping behaviors. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they were aware of increasingly tightened returns policies. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [HORNBACH Baumarkt Selects Blue Yonder To Accelerate Its Omni-Channel, Customer-Centric Strategy](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/hornbach-baumarkt-selects-blue-yonder-to-accelerate-its-omnichannel-customercentric-strategy) > Leading German DIY retailer will leverage Blue Yonder Commerce microservices to provide customers with innovative “order by, get by” promising and order fulfillment optimization to improve customer satisfaction. Press Release HORNBACH Baumarkt Selects Blue Yonder To Accelerate Its Omni-Channel, Customer-Centric Strategy HORNBACH Baumarkt Selects Blue Yonder To Accelerate Its Omni-Channel, Customer-Centric Strategy Blue Yonder , BORNHEIM, Germany, and DALLAS – September 19, 2024 4 minute read Leading German DIY retailer will leverage Blue Yonder Commerce microservices to provide customers with innovative “order by, get by” promising and order fulfillment optimization to improve customer satisfaction. Today, retail offers a wide range of opportunities. Retailers must consistently focus on the needs of their customers if they want to be successful – even in the future. Tech innovation is accelerating. Consumers want to be free to decide whether they want to shop in the store or via smartphone or computer. Optimally, it should all be connected. Retailers are looking to innovate, add new services, and deliver experiences that consumers love, but they often face a costly and expensive fix because their tech stack was not built for modern experiences with efficiency in mind. That’s why, as a pioneer in innovation and one of the leading DIY retailers in Europe, HORNBACH Baumarkt has selected Blue Yonder Inventory and Commits Services, part of Blue Yonder Order Management solutions. HORNBACH Baumarkt is the largest and most important subsidiary of HORNBACH Holding . HORNBACH Baumarkt operates DIY megastores with garden centers and online stores in nine European countries. The DIY retail segment accounts for around 94% of consolidated sales for the company, with nearly half of these sales generated in Germany. Measured in terms of productivity, HORNBACH Baumarkt is the No. 1 DIY retailer in Germany by sales per square meter of sales area, based on the calculation principles of the BHB branch organization. In addition to its in-store business, the retailer has an online business, including click & collect, which account for around 13% of total sales. The DIY retailer offers an average of 50,000 items at its stationary stores and up to 290,000 items online. Given the strong customer-first culture of the company and the strategic relevance of its online sales, HORNBACH Baumarkt decided to optimize the omni-channel order experience from search through purchase and delivery. By engaging customers with reliable information at the beginning of the shopping journey , HORNBACH Baumarkt will increase conversion and deliver more satisfying shopping experiences. HORNBACH Baumarkt chose Blue Yonder because of its differentiated approach to optimizing omni-channel operations, the deep understanding of the order process, and the unique vision and strategy for the future of the supply chain. Blue Yonder Inventory and Commits Services will allow HORNBACH Baumarkt to: Empower customers with options, knowledge and choice, delivering a consistent and frictionless experience, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Provide accurate, real-time, network-wide inventory visibility and availability across all channels. Optimize order fulfillment, taking into accounts costs, capacity, time, and other business parameters. Drive rapid innovation for customer-facing services, while modernizing the tech stack. “As part of our Interconnected Retail strategy, we prioritize customer satisfaction and continuously evaluate our processes to enhance the customer experience,” said Nils Hornbach, member, Management Board, HORNBACH Baumarkt AG. “Our internal assessment revealed the need for a further development to improve order management across channels and provide a seamless omni-channel purchasing journey. After a thorough vendor evaluation, we selected Blue Yonder for their specialized expertise and market-leading order decisioning capabilities. Their architecture and technology ensure rapid time-to-value, scalability and performance, making Blue Yonder our preferred choice to support our digital transformation journey. This will give us an advantage in inventory availability and fulfillment, that will create high value for our customers. We look forward to collaborating with the Blue Yonder team.” Blue Yonder’s flexible microservices-based solutions approach, embedded with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), will help HORNBACH Baumarkt to optimize the entire omni-channel customer journey, starting with an engaging customer experience through efficient order fulfillment. The retailer will also be able to accelerate its in-store and digital business to gain an advantage through a model that supports rapid implementation. “HORNBACH Baumarkt is leading a game-changing transformation, focused on customer centricity and we are proud to welcome them among our customers,” said Gael Ramaen, vice president, EMEA Retail, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder Order Management solutions are engineered to scale, perform and operate under the highest volumes seen on the market. It can transform order management with an augmentative, composable approach, which delivers rapid time-to-market. We cannot wait to support HORNBACH Baumarkt in speeding their ongoing digital transformation.” Additional Resources: Solution Sheet: Inventory Availability and Order Optimization E-book: Microservices: Your Next Big Move Just Got Smaller Learn more about Blue Yonder Order Management microservices About HORNBACH Holding HORNBACH is an independent, family-run, and publicly listed major company that generated net revenue of 6.2 billion euros in the 2023/24 fiscal year (balance sheet date: 29 February 2024). This makes the HORNBACH group one of the five largest home improvement and garden retailers in Europe. Founded in 1877, HORNBACH is the only company in the home improvement industry with a history spanning six generations. The company currently operates 169 home and garden centers, two specialist stores, and online shops in nine European countries. The sales concept and product range are particularly geared to the needs of project customers and professionals. HORNBACH guarantees its customers permanently low prices, making it the price leader in the industry. The company’s high quality of advice and excellent service have been recognized in numerous independent tests and studies. With pioneering achievements such as the first combined home and garden center (1968), the first megastore (1980), and the first home center with a drive-in facility (2003), HORNBACH is continually at the forefront of innovation. For decades, HORNBACH has been regarded as a job creator, with more than 25,000 employees now contributing to the company’s success. HORNBACH Holding About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [CEO Spotlight Big changes and new links in the supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/ceo-spotlight-big-changes-and-new-links-in-the-supply-chain) > Duncan Angove, CEO,  Blue Yonder joins KRLD's David Johnson for an episode of the "CEO Spotlight" podcast. Listen here. Press Release CEO Spotlight: Big changes and new links in the supply chain CEO Spotlight: Big changes and new links in the supply chain Blue Yonder , September 4, 2024 1 minute read Duncan Angove, CEO,  Blue Yonder joins KRLD's David Johnson for an episode of the "CEO Spotlight" podcast . Listen here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Maxeda DIY Group Digitally Transforms Its Supply Chain With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/maxeda-diy-group-digitally-transforms-its-supply-chain-with-blue-yonder) > Benelux retailer enhances supply chain processes and achieves strategic goals by deploying Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment solutions. Press Release Maxeda DIY Group Digitally Transforms Its Supply Chain With Blue Yonder Maxeda DIY Group Digitally Transforms Its Supply Chain With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , AMSTERDAM and DALLAS – August 27, 2024 3 minute read Benelux retailer enhances supply chain processes and achieves strategic goals by deploying Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment solutions The do-it-yourself (DIY) retail sector contends with unique challenges and constraints, as value-conscious consumers, shifting season patterns and intense competition persist. That’s why Maxeda DIY Group , a leading Benelux retailer in the DIY sector, digitally transformed its strategic supply chain processes by deploying Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment solutions. The project was led by Blue Yonder Global Professional Services. Maxeda DIY Group is a market-leading DIY retailer that operates 334 stores across the Benelux region with over 6,500 employees. It operate s under three brands: Praxis in the Netherlands, Brico in Belgium and Luxembourg, and BricoPlanit in Belgium. Maxeda DIY Group’s “Make it Sustainable” strategy aims to make the company and the life of its customers more sustainable. To achieve their strategic goals, Maxeda DIY Group successfully deployed Blue Yonder Demand an Fulfillment solutions in a SaaS environment, providing a single end-to-end demand and supply planning environment for all three company brands. This transformation significantly improved agility and informed decision-making by integrating processes, resulting in enhanced service levels, optimized stock levels, and reduced manual work that have boosted team motivation and freed up working capital for strategic and high-value tasks. "For years, Maxeda DIY Group has trusted Blue Yonder as a reliable supply chain solutions vendor, so they were a natural choice when it came to deploying our digital transformation journey. The collaboration with Blue Yonder Global Professional Services was exceptional; they helped us prioritize the right business actions, focusing on end-to-end category profitability, and refreshing our view of our supply chain strategy, sustainability and proposition. The teamwork and joint effort between our organizations were instrumental in driving this success. As a result, we successfully achieved both technical and business goals,” said Erik Cuypers, Group CDO and CIO , Maxeda DIY Group. Thanks to Blue Yonder, Maxeda DIY Group has been able to: Develop an end-to-end view of products and categories for all three of its brands. Improve service levels and reduce stock-outs. Create short- and long-term stock visibility to suppliers. Drive change management, including from distribution center to store, as well as in supplier ordering activities. “We are proud of our longstanding collaboration with Maxeda DIY Group and thrilled with the results achieved by their digital transformation thanks to deploying our Blue Yonder Demand and Fulfillment solutions,” said Rudi Boeye, senior vice president, Global Professional Services EMEA, Blue Yonder. “Maxeda DIY Group has gained the necessary supply chain agility to keep pace with the constant changes in the market and business landscape, futureproofing their adoption of technological advancements.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for Commerce Solution Sheet : Drive Profitability with Allocation and Replenishment for Hardline Retailers E-book : Future-Proofing Your Retail Strategies Learn more about the Journey to Cloud About Maxeda DIY Group Maxeda DIY Group is the largest DIY retailer in the Benelux with Praxis stores in the Netherlands and Brico and BricoPlanit stores in Belgium and Luxembourg. These retail chains are represented by 334 stores, both owned and franchised. Most stores have floor areas from 3,000 m ² to 5,000 m ². Maxeda DIY Group has more than 6,500 employees. All stores together have over 1 million m ² of retail space and receive more than 1.5 million customers in-store and online every week. Maxeda's strategy is to make the company and the life of its customers more sustainable. With the strategy 'Make it Sustainable' Maxeda wants to build a sustainable and attractive retail organization through five growth engines: Store, Product, Digital & Data Intelligence, People & Community and Home. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Compañías Cervecerías Unidas To Optimize Evolving Supply Chain Operations With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/compaas-cerveceras-unidas-to-optimize-evolving-supply-chain-operations-with-blue-yonder) > Leading beverage company will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solutions to streamline logistics and distribution processes. Press Release Compañías Cervecerías Unidas To Optimize Evolving Supply Chain Operations With Blue Yonder Compañías Cervecerías Unidas To Optimize Evolving Supply Chain Operations With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , SANTIAGO, Chile, and DALLAS – August 22, 2024 3 minute read Leading beverage company will deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solutions to streamline logistics and distribution processes The food and beverage industry continues to face a myriad of challenges, from maintaining compliance with strict quality, safety and environmental regulations to cost effectively achieving service levels. That’s why Compañías Cervecerías Unidas (CCU), a multi-category beverage company, will implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management across 26 sites to digitally transform its supply chain operations and meet growing demands. Founded in 1902, CCU is a diversified beverage company operating in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The company is involved in the production, sales and distribution of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine, soft drinks, bottled water, and juices. With its current systems unable to keep up with the increasing complexity and scale of its supply chain, CCU turned to Blue Yonder to deploy a SaaS solution with the innovative features and integration capabilities needed to support its expanding operations. With Blue Yonder, CCU will be able to: Gain end-to-end visibility and control to improve inventory management. Utilize real-time tracking to ensure compliance and increase accuracy, efficiency and speed. Optimize tasks to streamline operations, improve productivity and increase throughput. Lower its environmental impact by reducing waste and carbon emissions. "Blue Yonder's solutions are integral to our strategy for modernizing our supply chain operations,” said Matias Rojas, chief information officer, CCU. “The advanced functionalities and flexibility of their Warehouse Management solution will allow us to better manage our diverse product portfolio and streamline our logistics processes, ultimately enhancing our service to customers." “By leveraging Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management, we are placing CCU at the forefront of world-class technology,” said Hans Castillo, Logistics Center of Excellence Director, CCU. “The solution allows us to increase efficiency in our logistics operations, improve picking processes, enhance product traceability and raise service levels for our customers.” Blue Yonder Warehouse Management offers the most comprehensive optimization capabilities, allowing CCU to increase performance, improve customer service and reduce costs. By providing real-time visibility and synchronization across the entire supply chain, the SaaS solution will enable CCU to efficiently manage inventory levels, reduce waste and ensure timely delivery of products. CCU will also utilize Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to optimize the logistics and management of its returnable bottle system, enabling the beverage company to further support its global sustainability goals. “Like many industries, beverage companies are facing increasing demand for efficiency, sustainability and resilience in supply chain operations,” said Terry Turner, president, Manufacturing, Blue Yonder. “Deploying Blue Yonder Warehouse Management will provide CCU with the flexibility, intelligence and responsiveness to overcome these complexities while continuing to meet evolving customer and market demands.” Additional Resources: Watch this video about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Econoparts Selects Blue Yonder To Rev Up Its Supply Chain and Improve Customer Service](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/econoparts-selects-blue-yonder-to-rev-up-its-supply-chain-and-improve-customer-service) > Leading Salvadoran automotive parts retailer to improve planning and replenishment strategy with Blue Yonder. Press Release Econoparts Selects Blue Yonder To Rev Up Its Supply Chain and Improve Customer Service Econoparts Selects Blue Yonder To Rev Up Its Supply Chain and Improve Customer Service Blue Yonder , SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, and DALLAS – August 15, 2024 2 minute read Leading Salvadoran automotive parts retailer to improve planning and replenishment strategy with Blue Yonder With shorter product life cycles, new competitors, and expanding partner-supplier networks, the automotive parts market is highly competitive. As a result, auto parts retailers need more robust supply chains to maintain inventory levels and meet customer demand. That’s why Econoparts , a recognized automotive parts and lubricants distributor in El Salvador, has selected to digitally transform its planning and replenishment strategy with Blue Yonder , the world leader in digital supply chain transformation. Econoparts will implement Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment solution to support its growth and optimize its planning process. By implementing the Blue Yonder solutions, Econoparts will be able to: Establish more collaborative relationships with trading partners based on defined processes and agreements. Optimize inventory management at the store level. Reduce lost sales, inventory carrying costs, and merchandise returns. Improve service levels and increase customer satisfaction. Share key insight into demand projections, stable order patterns, promotional strategies, and inventory levels. “We were seeking a long-term supply chain solutions partner to help grow with us. We selected Blue Yonder because of their vast experience in Latin America meeting demand planning needs at different companies. The flexibility, functionality and scalability of their solutions will allow us to seamlessly integrate with our current and future system landscapes. This will provide us with the ability to navigate through economic fluctuations and their impact on consumer spending,” said Pierre Cohen, executive director, Econoparts. With Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment, Econoparts will be able to optimize forecasting and replenishment performance and inventory levels at its stores. As a result, Econoparts can reduce inventory and labor costs, while increasing sales and decreasing out-of-stocks. “Econoparts’ selection of Blue Yonder reflects their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. Together, we are poised to revolutionize the automotive parts industry in El Salvador,” said Albert Jung, vice president, Retail – LATAM, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder solutions provide insights into a customer’s supply chain to allow smarter and more profitable business decisions. We are looking forward to helping Econoparts with their transformation.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Advanced Replenishment solution About Econoparts Econoparts is the merchandiser company of automotive spare parts and lubricants, leader in world quality brands located in El Salvador. With 22 branches nationwide, and with more than 50 years of experience in the Salvadoran market, they are recognized for being the retailer company of automotive parts and lubricants, a leader in recognized brands. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Pacific Textiles Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Warehouse Strategy](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/pacific-textiles-selects-blue-yonder-to-elevate-warehouse-strategy) > Leading textile manufacturer will implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to meet the increased complexity and volume of its warehouse transactions. Press Release Pacific Textiles Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Warehouse Strategy Pacific Textiles Selects Blue Yonder To Elevate Warehouse Strategy Blue Yonder , HONG KONG and DALLAS – August 13, 2024 3 minute read Leading textile manufacturer will implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to meet the increased complexity and volume of its warehouse transactions One of the critical links in the supply chain for fast fashion is textile manufacturing. Textile manufacturers’ warehouse operations often face challenges of handling massive throughput while also managing fast, slow, and non-moving inventory. These challenges can lead to storage issues, damage to products, and difficulties in managing inventory. That’s why Pacific Textiles has selected to deploy Blue Yonder Warehouse Management to enhance the efficiency, accuracy and agility in its warehouse operations. The project will be implemented by AC2 WAVE , a Blue Yonder partner. Pacific Textiles is a leading manufacturer of textile products, specializing in the production of knitted fabrics. With nearly 30 years of experience in the industry, the company has established a strong reputation for delivering high volumes of high-quality products to clients worldwide. Its focus on developing innovative products and commitment to environmentally sustainable manufacturing has enabled it to become a trusted partner for global brands in the fashion and apparel industry. Pacific Textiles was looking to replace a legacy system that could no longer support the increased complexity and volume of warehouse transactions. Additionally, with the need to integrate with many external systems, the company was seeking a modern warehouse management solution, so it turned to the industry-leader, Blue Yonder. With Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, Pacific Textiles will be able to: Gain real-time visibility into its warehouse inventory to fulfill customer orders quickly and accurately. Make data-driven decisions that improve its bottom line. Streamline supply chain processes, reduce operational costs, and improve service levels to meet the evolving demands of its customers. Easily integrate with external systems, such as material handling equipment (MHE), real-time location systems (RTLS), and transportation management systems (TMS). Gain efficiencies, integration, and scalability of its warehouse operations. “We knew we needed a modern warehouse management solution that can scale with our business. The recent opening of a new factory in Vietnam will increase the complexity of our operations. Additionally, as we seek to gain operational efficiencies through automation, we needed an agile platform that allows for easy integration. We selected Blue Yonder due to their robust, scalable, and integrated Warehouse Management solutions. Blue Yonder's reputation for innovation and its proven track record of successful implementations across various industries were key factors in our decision,” said Hubert Tsang, CIO, Pacific Textiles. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management will allow Pacific Textiles to optimize its warehouse operations to ensure accuracy, timeliness, efficiency, compliance, and the highest customer service level across the logistics and replenishment execution processes. “As a leading textile manufacturer, Pacific Textiles’ supply chain is a critical enabler of the company's future growth, as it will drive operational excellence and support strategic initiatives. With Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, Pacific Textiles will be able to create a strategy that focuses on leveraging advanced technology to create a more agile, efficient, and responsive supply chain that can adapt to market dynamics and customer needs. We are looking forward to working with Pacific Textiles on this and future projects,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Watch this video on Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Watch “The Warehouse of the Future Powered by Blue Yonder” video About Pacific Textiles Pacific Textiles Holdings Limited (SEHK: 01382) is one of the world’s largest fabric mills, providing high-quality customized knitted fabrics to leading apparel brand owners across the globe. Pacific Textiles is headquartered in Hong Kong with production facilities located in China and Vietnam. With billions of garments being created annually from the fabric produced by Pacific Textiles, innovation and sustainability are core values relentlessly pursued by the group to improve product quality and reduce our environmental impact. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Core-Mark Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Category Management Strategy](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/coremark-selects-blue-yonder-to-digitally-transform-its-category-management-strategy) > Leading convenience solutions provider upgrading to SaaS to improve its customer offerings and planner experience. Press Release Core-Mark Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Category Management Strategy Core-Mark Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Category Management Strategy Blue Yonder , WESTLAKE, Texas, and DALLAS – August 8, 2024 2 minute read Leading convenience solutions provider upgrading to SaaS to improve its customer offerings and planner experience Convenience retailers need solutions to better plan their space and floor layouts to determine local assortments that attract and retain customers. That’s why Core-Mark , a leader in fresh solutions for the convenience store industry, is integrating Blue Yonder Category Management solutions entirely to Blue Yonder’s SaaS – completing the digital transformation of its space and floor offerings. The project will be implemented by Blue Yonder Global Professional Services. Core-Mark has utilized Blue Yonder’s SaaS solutions in its operations in the West, Southwest, and Eastern regions and was looking to upgrade its category management capabilities in the Midwest region to the cloud to fully digitalize its space and floor offerings, consolidate its toolset for planning staff, and standardize the services offered to its customer base. “Our goal is to offer intelligent assortment and space planning insights to our small to medium-sized c-store customers to help them succeed,” said Jim Hachtel, director, Category Management, Core-Mark. “To achieve this, we need to offer solutions that automate cumbersome tasks and provide robust recommendations to optimize their sales. Blue Yonder is the leader in category management, so we are leveraging their capabilities to expand our use of their cloud solutions. As a result of this initiative, we expect to extend the benefits we have been experiencing for the last five years with Blue Yonder’s cloud tools to our entire U.S. customer base.” By expanding the utilization of Blue Yonder's SaaS-based Category Management solutions, Core-Mark will unlock several new capabilities, such as enhanced automation through Blue Yonder Planogram Generator and the ability to target strategies based on optimized store groupings through Channel Clustering. “By standardizing and enhancing their merchandising offerings, Core-Mark will improve the speed and intelligence of their services, driving greater sales performance for their customers from coast-to-coast. This will strengthen their market position and enable further business scaling,” said Vince Beacom, president, Global Retail, Blue Yonder. “We are excited to have been chosen to help them on this transformation and look forward to further engagements together.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Category Management solutions Learn how to achieve smarter category management with Blue Yonder About Core-Mark Core-Mark offers a full range of products, marketing programs, and technology solutions to approximately 50,000 customer locations in the U.S. and Canada through 37 distribution centers. It services traditional convenience retailers, drug stores, box or supercenter stores, grocery stores, liquor stores, and other specialty and small format stores that carry convenience products. For more information, please visit www.Core-Mark.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2024 Company Highlights Showcases Q3 Momentum and Offers Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-releases-q2-2024-company-highlights-showcases-q3-momentum-and-offers-industry-insights) > Leading supply chain solutions company continues its forward momentum by strengthening its AI-powered enterprise supply chain platform and acquiring One Network Enterprises. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2024 Company Highlights, Showcases Q3 Momentum and Offers Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q2 2024 Company Highlights, Showcases Q3 Momentum and Offers Industry Insights Blue Yonder , DALLAS – August 6, 2024 8 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company continues its forward momentum by strengthening its AI-powered enterprise supply chain platform and acquiring One Network Enterprises Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), the leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q2 2024 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most heading into Q3 2024. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q2 2024, Blue Yonder continued to showcase its end-to-end strength in the market by: Adding25 new customer logos in Q2 2024 . Some of the customers who selected or extended their footprint with Blue Yonder during the quarter include: Americas: Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU), Core-Mark, Econoparts, Farmazona, REI, Sedano’s Supermarkets, Tractor Supply APAC/EMEA: Compal, Europastry, Manor AG, Sainsbury’s, Sogefi, Tamedia Publikationen Deutschschweiz AG, Viva Energy, WITTE Automotive Strengthening its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered enterprise supply chain platform and industry-specific offerings through new planning and execution capabilities that empower supply chain leaders to meet critical business objectives. These product innovations deliver actionable insights from their supply chain data driving greater cost efficiency and a faster return on investment. Learn more about this product launch in the announcement here . Some of the key capabilities driven by these new products enhancements that organizations will benefit from include: Transform Retail Enterprise Planning: Blue Yonder Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning continues to change the way retailers make decisions by adding new insight visualization, hierarchical planning, attribute-based analysis, and collaboration capabilities that improve cost control and revenue generation from merchandise planning. Enhance Planning Productivity and Collaboration: Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning optimizes the process for forecasting of both new products and transitioning products, as well as provides collaboration across marketing, sales, and operations teams. This allows organizations to offer an enhanced experience for their customers, streamlined inventory management, reduced supply chain costs, and greater control over demand planning processes. Deliver Greater Efficiency from Yard Operations: New ML-integrated, vision-based yard analysis automates and centralizes yard management for increased throughput and decreased costs. Being featured in 35 key technology industry analyst reports in Q2 2024 from ABI Research, ARC Advisory Group, Forrester Research, Gartner, IDC, Nucleus Research, and Ventana Research, building on its industry leadership momentum ( see full list below ). Industry Insights Heading into the second half of the year, Blue Yonder shares insights shaped by its industry expertise that are top of mind for customers and partners: The cumulative effect of inflation over the past several years has led to fundamental changes in consumer buying behavior, with many national consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands facing higher pricing pressure from a steady growth in store brands. Supply and demand are out of balance again, due in part to constraints throughout the manufacturing industry. There is a renewed focus on efficiency and cost control across supply chain operations. Recent supply disruptions (e.g., the Baltimore port bridge and the earthquakes in Taiwan) highlighted the importance of supply chain resilience across global value chains, starting with the need for visibility and collaboration across multiple tiers of supply. Nearshoring and onshoring, catalyzed by current geopolitical events, are driving a resurgence in factory floor planning and scheduling across Automotive, Industrial and High-Tech industries. Labor continues to be the highest priority for logistics service providers (LSPs), many of which are struggling with rising labor costs, shortage of workers and high turnover. While robotics will continue to be an area of investment, LSPs need to also look at the automation of decisioning and supply chain visibility as a path to use resources in high-value activities to improve and expand service offerings. Retailers are expecting superior service levels, with heightened efficiencies and increased innovation offerings that include AI. As a result, LSPs need to look for efficiencies to transform their business. This includes improving utilizing of existing assets in transportation modes and offering more sustainability choices to pick, pack and ship. Building Strong Momentum in Q3 Blue Yonder’s acquisition of One Network Enterprises (One Network) closed on Aug. 1, showcasing the company’s strong momentum heading into Q3. The acquisition gives Blue Yonder customers the ability to collaborate and share data – from inventory levels to raw and finished goods materials movement – in real time across all trading partners up and down the supply chain. With the addition of One Network’s commercial technology, Blue Yonder can now offer customers a multi-enterprise, multi-tier network ecosystem; artificial intelligence (AI)-powered supply chain assistants to identify, monitor, analyze, and resolve problems; and a simplified process to onboard and work with trading partners. This is the third company Blue Yonder has acquired since Q4 2023, marking approximately $1 billion in M&A investments and is emblematic of Blue Yonder’s intent to transform the global supply chain. Learn more in the announcement here . “There is a growing fascination with generative AI among senior executives,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “There’s now a widespread hunger for initiatives that drive productivity across customer experience and supply chain operations to help supplement the talent and labor shortage. With our recent acquisition of One Network and our continuous investment into AI, Blue Yonder is poised to help companies succeed in these endeavors. The addition of One Network’s commercial technology brings AI-powered supply chain assistants that can help customers identify, monitor, analyze, and resolve problems. These value-adds help customers make more accurate cross-functional decisions, eliminate the time gap between order planning and fulfillment, and better meet their business and sustainability goals.” Customer Highlights: Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are persisting during times of disruption to digitally transform their supply chains and reimagine the consumer experience: Fearless Females of Supply Chain: Penske Logistics (video) Supply Chain Digital Disruptors: RaceTrac (video) Visionaries in Tech Took Center Stage at ICON Dole Food & Beverage Group Transforms Its Supply Chain Planning and Visibility Rhenus in Poland Optimizes Its Warehouses for Flexible Management and Omni-Channel Success More From Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder was named the 2024 Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award winner by Snowflake , the AI Data Cloud company, during the annual Snowflake Summit. Blue Yonder was recognized for its achievements as part of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud, helping joint customers unify data across internal and external sources and deliver scalability to power the simultaneous execution of hundreds of supply chain scenarios. The partnership allows Blue Yonder to integrate Snowflake’s data capabilities into its Blue Yonder Platform , Powered by Snowflake. Blue Yonder was named finalist for both the Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards . The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Other awards and recognitions achieved in Q2 2024: 2024 Sainsbury’s TECH Supplier Award Winner Finalist for The SaaS Awards in the "Best SaaS Product for Supply Chain or Warehouse Management" category for Blue Yonder Warehouse Execution System 2024 “Top Food Chain Technology” by Food Shippers of America Listed on the annual Inbound Logistics Top 100 Logistics IT Providers 2024 "Master of App Dev" winner by Hakk?da Technology industry analyst recognitions in Q2 2024: ABI Research, Blue Yonder Enters into Binding Acquisition Agreement with One Network Enterprises: Move Creates Speculation about Company’s Long-Term Strategy ARC Advisory Group, Blue Yonder Shakes Up the Supply Chain Software Market Forrester, Collaborative Supply Networks Landscape, Q2 2024 Forrester, Leverage Predictive and Generative AI For Supply Chain Improvement and Resilience Forrester, Tackle Your Supply Chain Modernization Challenges with Forrester’s Scenario Quick Start Cards Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 1 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 2 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 3 Gartner, Announced Corporate Transaction Notification: Blue Yonder, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems Gartner, Announced Corporate Transaction Notification: One Network Enterprises, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems Gartner, Market Guide for Retail Forecasting, Allocation and Replenishment Solutions Gartner, Market Guide for Retail Unified Price, Promotion and Markdown Optimization Applications — Short Life Cycle Gartner, Market Guide for Retail Unified Price, Promotion and Markdown Optimization Applications — Long Life Cycle Gartner, Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Execution Technologies, 2024 Gartner, Technology Trends Transforming Warehousing — Part 2: Handling Volatility & Complexity Gartner, Technology Trends Transforming Warehousing — Part 3: Labor Challenges Gartner, Market Share: Supply Chain Management Software, Worldwide, 2023 Gartner, Market Share: Enterprise Application Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2023 Gartner, Market Share: All Software Markets, Worldwide, 2023 Gartner, Market Share: Enterprise Application Software, Worldwide, 2023 Gartner, Tool: Identify Multicarrier Parcel Management Solution Vendors Gartner, Tool: Digital Commerce Technology Vendor Guide, 2024 Gartner, Tool: Vendor Identification for Retail Forecasting, Allocation and Replenishment Solutions Gartner, Tool: TMS Implementation Partner Finder Gartner, Vendor Revenue Profiles, 2023 Update IDC, MarketScape: Worldwide Transportation Management Systems Applications 2024 Vendor Assessment IDC, MarketScape: Worldwide Warehouse Management 2024 Vendor Assessment IDC, Worldwide Software Taxonomy, 2024 IDC, The Shoptalk Bridge for Retail Technology 2024 IDC, C2G: Asia/Pacific Supply Chain Warehouse and Inventory Management Applications Market Share, 2023: The Need for Efficiency in Driving the Market Nucleus, TMS Technology Value Matrix 2024 Nucleus, WFM Technology Value Matrix 2024 Nucleus, Blue Yonder enters binding agreement to acquire One Network Nucleus, Blue Yonder ICON 2024 updates Ventana Research, Blue Yonder is Provider of Merit in Workforce Management Basics Buyers Guide Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024 2 Gartner, Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 29 April 2024 3 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024 GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Acquires One Network Enterprises to Unlock an Agile, Interconnected Supply Chain Ecosystem](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-acquires-one-network-enterprises-to-unlock-an-agile-interconnected-supply-chain) > With its third acquisition since Q4 2023, Blue Yonder customers will have the opportunity to collaborate in real time with trading partners both upstream and downstream across all tiers of their supply chain. Press Release Blue Yonder Acquires One Network Enterprises to Unlock an Agile, Interconnected Supply Chain Ecosystem Blue Yonder Acquires One Network Enterprises to Unlock an Agile, Interconnected Supply Chain Ecosystem Blue Yonder , DALLAS – August 1, 2024 4 minute read With its third acquisition since Q4 2023, Blue Yonder customers will have the opportunity to collaborate in real time with trading partners both upstream and downstream across all tiers of their supply chain Blue Yonder , the leader in digital supply chain transformations, today announced the closing of its acquisition of One Network Enterprises (One Network) at an enterprise value of approximately $839 million. The acquisition gives Blue Yonder customers the ability to collaborate and share data – from inventory levels to raw and finished goods materials movement – in real time across all trading partners up and down the supply chain. With increasing volatility and continuous disruptions, retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers (LSPs) need to achieve multi-enterprise transparency with trading partners, unify plans and actions, and conduct business in real time in order to enable more accurate cross-functional decision-making and eliminate the time gap between order planning and fulfillment. It’s no longer sufficient for companies to rely on periodic updates about their inventory, capacity, and resources; true business agility requires real-time information across an entire network. With the addition of One Network’s commercial technology, Blue Yonder can now offer customers a multi-enterprise, multi-tier network ecosystem; artificial intelligence (AI)-powered supply chain assistants to identify, monitor, analyze, and resolve problems; and a simplified process to onboard and work with trading partners. Real-time inventory and capacity views help customers match supply and demand, detect and resolve problems, and orchestrate resources across their network of trading partners. One Network will continue to independently service and provide tailored technology solutions to its government customers. “One Network’s industry-leading commercial technology will seamlessly be integrated into the Blue Yonder Platform . Their supply chain network and intelligent control tower deliver superpowered insights to businesses looking to fortify their supply chains,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Our customers can boost visibility, agility and speed thanks to a single source of truth provided by the Blue Yonder Platform and the digital network, all enhanced by our AI assistants, solvers and predictions. This allows customers to see issues both downstream and upstream in real time, so they can avoid disruptions and make better decisions. From One Network’s capabilities to its forward-looking mission, the company perfectly embodies Blue Yonder’s vision to transform the supply chain.” With this acquisition, Blue Yonder customers will be able to address volatility and disruptions in the market, plan with greater accuracy, meet rising customer expectations, and simplify complexity within their supply chains. Blue Yonder customers will have access to the following benefits: Navigating increasing uncertainty and volatility with real-time visibility across multiple tiers to anticipate risks, assess scenarios, and instantly redirect resources where needed most to deliver the greatest impacts to their business and sustainability goals. Optimizing of resources, from capacity and inventory to workforce and carriers to better serve their business customers, capitalize on new market opportunities, and accelerate revenue growth. Collaborating and orchestrating of their supply chain in real-time across a global network of 150,000 (and counting) trading partners using a shared view and dataset that ensures planning objectives flow into execution and vice versa to optimize critical KPIs. “Blue Yonder is building the supply chain of the future,” said Angove. “To succeed in today’s business environment, planning and logistics teams need to make decisions faster. They need to collaborate with more partners. They need faster responsiveness to disruptions. One Network’s multi-tier and multi-enterprise network has a large role to play here, and we’re proud to join forces with them to make a lasting difference.” This acquisition also catalyzed Blue Yonder’s expanded presence in Dallas, where it has been hiring extensively to support its momentum. Blue Yonder is now designating Dallas as its Global Innovation Center. In May during its annual customer conference, ICON, Blue Yonder announced a new AI Innovation Studio in Dallas where the company is hosting design-led AI Agent workshops with customers. Blue Yonder also plans to add a state-of-the-art Customer Experience Center in Dallas where the company will showcase its latest innovations that are transforming complex global supply chains. One Network is the third company Blue Yonder has acquired since Q4 2023, following Doddle in November 2023 and flexis AG in February. These deals mark approximately $1 billion in M&A investments and are emblematic of Blue Yonder’s intent to transform the global supply chain. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [TPV Technology Selects Blue Yonder To Transform Global Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/tpv-technology-selects-blue-yonder-to-transform-global-supply-chain) > Leading electronics manufacturer selects Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution to optimize supply chain operations and support long-term business growth. Press Release TPV Technology Selects Blue Yonder To Transform Global Supply Chain TPV Technology Selects Blue Yonder To Transform Global Supply Chain Blue Yonder , HONG KONG and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – July 30, 2024 3 minute read Leading electronics manufacturer selects Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution to optimize supply chain operations and support long-term business growth To stay ahead of the competition and delight customers through reliable and timely product availability, electronics manufacturers must transform their supply chains. That’s why TPV Technology , a world leader in display solutions, has selected Blue Yonder to transform its global supply chain operations. TPV will implement Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution to increase supply chain efficiency, visibility and responsiveness, as well as meet growing customer and market demands. The solution will be implemented by Lenovo Solutions and Services Group, a Blue Yonder partner. With annual revenues of more than $6.8 billion USD (RMB 50 billion), 12 manufacturing bases worldwide and 50 million units shipped annually, TPV is the world’s largest manufacturer of monitors and a leading producer of TVs. TPV designs and produces monitors and TVs for many well-known brands, as well as manufactures and distributes products under its own brands, including AOC, AGON, Great Wall, Envision, and Philips. As market demands grew and customer expectations evolved, TPV recognized the need for a more robust, integrated and intelligent solution to overcome complex challenges and remain competitive, so it turned to Blue Yonder. With Blue Yonder, TPV will be able to: Gain near real-time, end-to-end visibility and collaboration across its entire supply chain to improve and accelerate decision-making, while predicting and responding quicker to disruptions. Streamline its inventory and logistics processes to reduce operational costs and improve overall efficiency. Manage its complex, global supply chain with global customers, multiple factories and suppliers and distribution channels. Lower costs thanks to improved efficiencies in inventory management and fulfillment processes. “As TPV continues to grow, transforming our supply chain becomes critical in order to quickly respond to market changes and disruptions, and to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction,” said Martin Ni, SCM Director, TPV Technology. “Leveraging Blue Yonder’s deep domain expertise in electronics manufacturing and advanced supply chain planning capabilities will allow us to create a more agile, efficient and customer-centric supply chain capable of meeting our current and future requirements.” The Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution will allow TPV to stage the right inventory throughout its distribution network to minimize stock-outs and maximize inventory turns. With optimized supply plans designed to meet volatile demand, TPV can gain supply chain agility and save its planners’ time. “The increasing complexity of global supply chains requires companies to rethink their planning and operations and undergo a digital transformation to ensure long-term success,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We are excited to team up with TPV to transform their supply planning capabilities and help them create a resilient and intelligent supply chain.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [MGM Bosco Logistics Transforms Warehousing Capabilities and Improves Customer Service With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/mgm-bosco-logistics-transforms-warehousing-capabilities-and-improves-customer-service-with-blue) > MGM Bosco Logistics, a leader in cold chain logistics, has deployed Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solution to support a more efficient and customer-oriented supply chain. Press Release MGM Bosco Logistics Transforms Warehousing Capabilities and Improves Customer Service With Blue Yonder MGM Bosco Logistics Transforms Warehousing Capabilities and Improves Customer Service With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , JAKARTA, Indonesia, and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – July 25, 2024 4 minute read Leading cold chain logistics service provider deploys Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solution, positively impacting customer service and operations MGM Bosco Logistics , a leader in cold chain logistics, has deployed Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solution to support a more efficient and customer-oriented supply chain. The project was supported by SGV Consulting, a Blue Yonder partner for Indonesia. MGM Bosco Logistics is a leading logistics service provider in Indonesia's rapidly expanding cold chain supply market. With a broad network of cutting-edge facilities, the company is dedicated to serving its customers, who consist of global leaders in the Consumer Goods industry. MGM Bosco Logistics takes great pride in its proficient and dependable teams. Technology plays a crucial role in MGM Bosco Logistics operations, and the company sought a scalable solution to support its customer-driven strategy. With a focus on innovation in warehousing operations, the company aimed to enhance its business capabilities. MGM Bosco Logistics selected Blue Yonder based on the solid references and proven functionality of the warehouse management solution, which effectively meets its customers' demands and enables efficient operations with improved workflow visibility. With Blue Yonder, MGM Bosco Logistics can: Leverage integrated real-time inbound and outbound execution processes to optimize customer service. Enable a digital environment that optimizes every operational step, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and desired service levels. Achieve faster time-to-value with implementation templates it can use with its customers that allow for quick roll outs of services, simplified process changes, improved onboarding, and fast implementations, allowing agile scaling across various operations and needs with great flexibility. Address specific needs of its customers, such as the use of the catch weight feature in inbound activities. Align the company’s vision for long-term business system operations. Leverage a warehouse management solution that supports the company's future growth. "MGM Bosco Logistics serves a diverse range of clients, each with unique requirements for handling their products in our cold storage facility. Our customers not only expect their products to be safe but also demand real-time, accurate insights and data. By leveraging Blue Yonder, we have optimized our business processes, transitioned to digital operations, reduced manual workloads, and facilitated the generation of daily reports,” said M Shah Durani R.Razak, operational & commercial director, MGM Bosco Logistics. The storage and handling of perishable products in cold chain warehousing processes require specific attention to environmental conditions. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solution enables MGM Bosco Logistics to fully digitize its warehouses, optimizing operations and ensuring the highest level of customer service throughout the entire cold chain execution process. This helps to reduce food waste caused by spoilage, positively impacting sustainability. “Blue Yonder has been enabling companies to optimize their distribution networks for close to 40 years. To help our customers deliver the highest level of service and compliance, Blue Yonder has been constantly and actively investing in new digital capabilities. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management solution is positioned to facilitate digital transformation by empowering automation, leveraging an extensibility framework focused on configurability, and encouraging experimentation,” said Antonio Boccalandro, president, APAC, Blue Yonder. “We are proud to see MGM Bosco Logistics successfully delivering value to their customers by leveraging the continuous innovation and guidance of Blue Yonder and our partner, SGV Consulting.” Additional Resources: Learn more from this Warehouse of the Future video and the Warehouse Management solution webpage About MGM Bosco Logistics MGM Bosco Logistics, with over 20 years of experience, is a leading provider of cold-chain logistics services in Indonesia. The company has built a reputation for excellence through its extensive network and state-of-the-art facilities. MGM Bosco Logistics' expertise and reliability in the cold-chain industry highlight its long-standing experience. The company is dedicated to delivering exceptional logistics solutions, fostering mutual growth and success with its customers. mgmbosco.com/en About SGV Consulting PT. Super Globalindo Viktoria (“SGV”) has unparalleled expertise in delivering a successful implementation, on time and on budget, all backed by many years of successful customer engagements in different Warehouse Management Systems.  SGV consultants work to build a customized implementation plan that truly adds value. Based on best practices and proven experience, the company provides a broad range of services and solutions to help organizations facilitate change, achieve their vision and optimize performance and productivity. sgvconsulting.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Witte Automotive Boosts Production Efficiency With Sequencing Solution by flexis, Part of Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/witte-automotive-boosts-production-efficiency-with-sequencing-solution-by-flexis) > WITTE Automotive, a leading company in innovative solutions for locking and actuation systems, has reached a milestone in production optimization with the go-live of the Sequencing solution for job scheduling by flexis, part of Blue Yonder, supporting the company in streamlining production planning and optimizing processes. Press Release Witte Automotive Boosts Production Efficiency With Sequencing Solution by flexis, Part of Blue Yonder Witte Automotive Boosts Production Efficiency With Sequencing Solution by flexis, Part of Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , STUTTGART and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – July 11, 2024 3 minute read Leading supplier in the automotive industry transforms production processes and optimal scheduling of orders, achieving a 50% reduction in planning time and seamless ERP integration WITTE Automotive , a leading company in innovative solutions for locking and actuation systems, has reached a milestone in production optimization with the go-live of the Sequencing solution for job scheduling by flexis, part of Blue Yonder , supporting the company in streamlining production planning and optimizing processes. The Sequencing solution has enabled WITTE Automotive to replace manual planning processes, freeing up valuable time for the planners and unlocking new potential for enhanced productivity. With a focus on transforming production processes, WITTE Automotive has leveraged the Sequencing solution to plan the painting line of door handles at their facility in Ostrov, Czech Republic. "The flexis solution impressed us with its seamless integration into our existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, by enabling an effortless creation of the interface. Thanks to the flexis Sequencing solution, we have already achieved a 50% reduction in planning time," said Alen Sojkic, project manager, WITTE Automotive . According to Joerg Arnold, a consultant for WITTE Automotive and who specializes in production planning processes with a background at the Fraunhofer Institute: "A seamless, paperless process should be established to support the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) in areas such as planning, quality assurance, and maintenance. During a rigorous selection process, only the flexis solution demonstrated the capability to integrate existing customer data into a software demo and meet all necessary constraints for the sequential arrangement of orders in the paint shop as standard."? WITTE Automotive aims to simplify its supply chain processes and strategically leverage the Sequencing solution for: Automated Planning : The Sequencing solution introduces state-of-the-art automation to production planning. By intelligently analyzing production orders, constraints, and available resources, the solution generates optimized production schedules, enabling better decision-making quickly and effortlessly. Seamless Integration : The Sequencing solution integrates seamlessly with WITTE Automotive's existing IT infrastructure, ensuring a smooth transition without disrupting ongoing operations. This cloud-based solution is designed to work harmoniously with other software applications, enhancing overall efficiency and transparency across the production chain. Continuous Improvement :?Dedicated to driving continuous improvement, the Sequencing solution helps WITTE Automotive identify bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and enhance overall operational performance. It fosters an environment of ongoing refinement and optimization. “We are proud of the positive feedback received from the WITTE Automotive project team and the remarkable results they have achieved. This not only validates the strategic value proposition of our solutions but also underscores their key characteristics that enable a future-proof supply chain in terms of scalability. Such scalability ensures seamless expansion to other processes within the current plant or to additional plants. WITTE exemplifies how competitive advantages can be realized in the challenging Automotive supplier industry thanks to cutting-edge technologies that support their strategic objectives," said Philipp Beisswenger, corporate vice president and head of flexis, part of Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Optimized production planning and scheduling for single or multiple plants with Blue Yonder Learn about Blue Yonder's industry-leading, end-to-end platform with AI and data cloud capabilities Learn more about Blue Yonder solutions for Automotive Blog: Driving the future of Automotive - Connected, Autonomous, Electric, Configure to Order About WITTE Automotive Since 1899 WITTE Automotive represents innovative and powerful know-how in technical solutions for locking and actuating Systems and has thus developed into a globally operating company group. Today, WITTE Automotive is among the technological leaders in the field of mechatronic locking systems, and continuously invests in the development of innovative system solutions for doors, hoods, and tailgates, interior and seats. The results of the engineering work are the most sophisticated products that uniquely combine mechanics, electrics, and electronics, and can be found in all well-known vehicle brands. For more information about WITTE Automotive, visit: www.witte-automotive.com. . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Automotive Industries Blue Yonder accelerates automotive innovation with strategic flexis](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/automotive-industries-blue-yonder-accelerates-automotive-innovation-with-strategic-flexis) > In an insightful interview with Automotive Industries, Blue Yonder's Salim Shaikh, Corporate Vice President, Industry Strategy, delves into how this acquisition aligns with the company’s strategic goals and enhances its end-to-end platform capabilities within the automotive supply chain. Read the full article here. Press Release Automotive Industries: Blue Yonder accelerates automotive innovation with strategic flexis acquisition for supply chain transformation Automotive Industries: Blue Yonder accelerates automotive innovation with strategic flexis acquisition for supply chain transformation Blue Yonder , July 1, 2024 1 minute read In an insightful interview with Automotive Industries, Blue Yonder's Salim Shaikh, Corporate Vice President, Industry Strategy, delves into how this acquisition aligns with the company’s strategic goals and enhances its end-to-end platform capabilities within the automotive supply chain. Read the full article here . "The capabilities Blue Yonder acquired from flexis coupled with Blue Yonder’s integrated planning and commerce solutions enable companies with an unprecedented ability to promise and to efficiently fulfill highly configurable products to their customers." says Salim Shaikh , corporate vice president, industry strategy, Blue Yonder . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [eCom Logistics Podcast Modern Logistics Challenges Strategies from Blue Yonders Ann Marie Jonkman](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/ecom-logistics-podcast-modern-logistics-challenges-strategies-from-blue-yonders-ann-marie-jonkman) > In this episode of eCom Logistics Podcast, Blue Yonder's Ann Marie Jonkman, VP, Industry Strategy, shares advice on how Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) can leverage technology and best practices to enhance their business strategies. Listen to the podcast here. Press Release eCom Logistics Podcast: Modern Logistics Challenges: Strategies from Blue Yonder’s Ann Marie Jonkman at Modex 2024 eCom Logistics Podcast: Modern Logistics Challenges: Strategies from Blue Yonder’s Ann Marie Jonkman at Modex 2024 Blue Yonder , June 28, 2024 1 minute read In this episode of eCom Logistics Podcast, Blue Yonder's Ann Marie Jonkman, VP, Industry Strategy, shares advice on how Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) can leverage technology and best practices to enhance their business strategies. Listen to the podcast here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Data Cloud Podcast Building the Worlds Largest Supply Chain Data Cloud with Duncan Angove CEO at](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/data-cloud-podcast-building-the-worlds-largest-supply-chain-data-cloud-with-duncan-angove-ceo-at) > Blue Yonder's CEO Duncan Angove appears on this episode of Snowflake's Data Cloud Podcast to discuss how Blue Yonder is building the supply chain of the future and how Snowflake is helping us to achieve that. Listen to the podcast here. Press Release Data Cloud Podcast: Building the World’s Largest Supply Chain Data Cloud with Duncan Angove, CEO at Blue Yonder Data Cloud Podcast: Building the World’s Largest Supply Chain Data Cloud with Duncan Angove, CEO at Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , July 9, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder's CEO Duncan Angove appears on this episode of Snowflake's Data Cloud Podcast to discuss how Blue Yonder is building the supply chain of the future and how Snowflake is helping us to achieve that. Listen to the podcast here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Forbes Well Never Fully Trust Artificial Intelligence With Our Businesses And Thats Okay](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/forbes-well-never-fully-trust-artificial-intelligence-with-our-businesses--and-thats-okay) > Blue Yonder’s Corporate VP of Generative AI Sudarshan Seshadri shares his insights with Forbes on how implantation of AI is procuring and replenishing inventory across the supply chain. Excerpt from the story is below. Press Release Forbes: We’ll Never Fully Trust Artificial Intelligence With Our Businesses — And That’s Okay Forbes: We’ll Never Fully Trust Artificial Intelligence With Our Businesses — And That’s Okay Blue Yonder , July 8, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder’s Corporate VP of Generative AI Sudarshan Seshadri shares his insights with Forbes on how implantation of AI is procuring and replenishing inventory across the supply chain. Excerpt from the story is below. Read the full article here . Such low-risk use cases may also now include “automatically generating or adjusting purchase requisitions to procure and replenish inventory across the supply chain,” says Sudarshan Seshadri , corporate vice president of Generative AI for Blue Yonder. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Logistics Viewpoints How Can Your Supply Chain Become Even More Resilient](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/logistics-viewpoints-how-can-your-supply-chain-become-even-more-resilient) > This contributed story by Terence Leung, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Blue Yonder, originally appeared in Logistics Viewpoints on June 25, 2024. Excerpts from the story below. Press Release Logistics Viewpoints: How Can Your Supply Chain Become Even More Resilient? Logistics Viewpoints: How Can Your Supply Chain Become Even More Resilient? Blue Yonder , June 25, 2024 1 minute read This contributed story by Terence Leung, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Blue Yonder, originally appeared in Logistics Viewpoints on June 25, 2024. Excerpts from the story below. To read the full article visit logisticsviewpoints.com . As we kick off the summer of 2024, four years past the emergence of COVID-19, we are still seeing the effects of the pandemic on the world’s supply chains. As supply chain professionals, COVID-19 made us recognize that disruption is a given. From production shutdowns and material shortages to blocked shipping lanes, we now accept supply chain uncertainty as an everyday fact. We also know that supply chain uncertainty extends beyond logistics surprises. It also encompasses increasing customer expectations and omnichannel demand shifts, exacerbated by the pandemic as consumers fundamentally changed their shopping behaviors. Supply chain uncertainty has also increased due to the crippling labor shortages that followed the pandemic, as workforce preferences and values also changed radically. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Empowers Organizations to Deliver on Supply Chain Business Objectives With Advanced Planning and Execution Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-empowers-organizations-to-deliver-on-supply-chain-business-objectives-with-advanced) > New supply chain solution innovations deliver deeper insights that enable organizations to cut costs, improve return on investments and maximize the efficiency of operations. Press Release Blue Yonder Empowers Organizations to Deliver on Supply Chain Business Objectives With Advanced Planning and Execution Insights Blue Yonder Empowers Organizations to Deliver on Supply Chain Business Objectives With Advanced Planning and Execution Insights Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – July 9, 2024 3 minute read New supply chain solution innovations deliver deeper insights that enable organizations to cut costs, improve return on investments and maximize the efficiency of operations As it continues to build the supply chain for the future, Blue Yonder today strengthened its enterprise supply chain platform and industry-specific offerings by launching new planning and execution capabilities that empower supply chain leaders to meet critical business objectives. These product innovations are aimed at further supporting organizations by serving actionable insights from their supply chain data that drive greater cost efficiency and a faster return on investment. The Blue Yonder Platform serves as the single source of truth for all supply chain needs, from planning to execution, reducing decision making latency, as well as minimizing the complexity of enabling cross-functional collaboration. With these new product innovations, organizations can better leverage data to forecast demand and supply requirements, improve inventory utilization, and quickly resolve inefficiencies in warehouse and yard operations that could delay deliveries. "These new innovations directly support our customers as they digitally transform their supply chains to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the latest advancements in robotics," said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Our Blue Yonder Platform connects the breadth of our solutions – across planning, execution, labor, e-commerce, and delivery. By supporting simple extensibility for our customers to extend and configure their solutions as needed, the Blue Yonder Platform allows them to increase speed and agility, make data-driven decisions, and pivot around disruptions. The platform offers composability, allowing customers to add on new functionalities as they need them with a faster time to value.” The new product enhancements drive key capabilities across Blue Yonder’s core industries – retail, manufacturing and logistics service providers (LSPs).  Organizations will benefit from the ability to: Transform Retail Enterprise Planning: Blue Yonder Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning continues to change the way retailers make decisions by adding new insight visualization, hierarchical planning, attribute-based analysis, and collaboration capabilities that improve cost control and revenue generation from merchandise planning. Optimize Fulfillment Sourcing Decisions: New Blue Yonder Fulfillment Sourcing Simulator allows omni-channel leaders to assess various scenarios, including capacity constraints to understand trade-offs and select optimal alternatives to ensure on-time, in-full delivery and avoid stockouts. Enhance Planning Productivity and Collaboration: Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning optimizes the process for forecasting of both new products and transitioning products, as well as provides collaboration across marketing, sales, and operations teams. This allows organizations to offer an enhanced experience for their customers, streamlined inventory management, reduced supply chain costs, and greater control over demand planning processes. Deliver Greater Efficiency from Yard Operations: New ML-integrated, vision-based yard analysis automates and centralizes yard management for increased throughput and decreased costs. Improve Speed and Efficiency With AS/RS Technologies: Robotics Hub now enables high-volume automated processes using cutting-edge Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) technologies to minimize latency and facilitate efficient warehouse operations. Enhance the Digital Retail Experience: Blue Yonder Returns Management uses data to handle returns in the best way for each item to improve financial performance, boost customer experience and reduce wastage. With enhanced carrier selection rules and the ability to promote stores as drop-off locations in the returns journey, retailers gain more control over the returns process. Across all industries, Blue Yonder enhances the speed and agility of supply chain execution by enabling warehouse, transportation and order management teams to collaborate from a single set of data and workflows. This enables each to immediately receive notification of issues and opportunities along with suggested solutions to improve efficiency and ensure orders are delivered without cost overruns. With expanded interoperable flows and a composable approach, organizations gain end-to-end visibility and optimization to improve service, profitability, and sustainability. To learn more about this product launch, visit blueyonder.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Avon International Leverages Blue Yonder’s AI Capabilities To Support Its Global Demand Planning, Production and Omni-Channel Strategy](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/avon-international-leverages-blue-yonders-ai-capabilities-to-support-its-global-demand-planning) > Leading global beauty brand works with Blue Yonder to implement a next generation integrated supply chain. Press Release Avon International Leverages Blue Yonder’s AI Capabilities To Support Its Global Demand Planning, Production and Omni-Channel Strategy Avon International Leverages Blue Yonder’s AI Capabilities To Support Its Global Demand Planning, Production and Omni-Channel Strategy Blue Yonder , GARWOLIN, Poland, and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – July 2, 2024 4 minute read Leading global beauty brand works with Blue Yonder to implement a next generation integrated supply chain The cosmetics industry is experiencing continued growth as consumers worldwide increasingly prioritize self-care and wellness. However, this growth has also led to a more competitive landscape, and companies must make strategic choices to differentiate themselves and maintain success in this dynamic market. That is why Avon International chose Blue Yonder Platform with Cognitive Demand Planning , Enterprise Supply Planning and Control Tower solutions to create an end-to-end next generation supply chain and support the company’s strategy and vision. Avon International is a global beauty company operating in over 40 countries across Europe and Asia Pacific. The brand Avon has been in operation for over 135 years and has a business model based on relationship selling. Millions of independent representatives offer personalised beauty advice to their customers through offline and online channels. The brand is also accessed through wholesalers, retail stores and marketplaces. Avon International was seeking to optimize its manufacturing and distribution processes in both Europe and Asia Pacific by establishing a "Planning Hub" for centralized demand and supply planning. To streamline demand planning, respond more quickly to their dynamic market and enhance decision-making, Avon International selected Blue Yonder’s flexible SaaS supply chain solutions, based on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. “Avon International is committed to transforming itself to meet the needs of its customers, Representatives and partners while staying true to its business model and values. To support this global transformation across all channels, Avon International recognized the need for a more integrated approach to demand planning. After a thorough selection process, Blue Yonder was chosen for its comprehensive solutions and innovative capabilities that met all of Avon International’s needs. With Blue Yonder’ s supply chain solutions, powered by leading-edge AI and ML capabilities, Avon International will be empowered to meet the changing needs of its customers, representatives, and partners in a profitable and sustainable way,” said Maciej Kaniowski, COO, Avon International. The need to reduce inventory across the company has made accurate forecasting and efficient demand planning a business imperative. Blue Yonder solutions’ key differentiators include not only the robustness, experience, and scalability of ML forecasting, but also the extensibility and explainability of causal factors, that for Avon include campaigns, price, promotions, catalogue position, and seasonality. These factors train Blue Yonder’s ML models to predict future demand. Blue Yonder’s explainability and scenario composable services help planners understand causal contributions and run simulations based on changes like price or promotions, resulting in superior accuracy, greater explainability, and improved decision-making. Once the Blue Yonder solutions are implemented, Avon International will be able to drive supply chain process simplification and achieve the following benefits: Streamline operations with an integrated, end-to-end planning process for managing trends, demand, supply, inventory, and vendor collaboration. Surpass forecast accuracy and achieve improved planner efficiency with the configuration of Avon’s causal factors. Expand omni-channel capabilities and gain a competitive edge by forecasting and planning for all channels and offer types in one solution. Improve service levels and optimize cash flow with a comprehensive forecasting and planning solution that supports a centralized planning hub. Avon International’s manufacturing supply chain operations in Europe and Asia Pacific are managed by Avon Operations Polska (AOP) and Avon Distribution Polska (ADP), with the backbone of their activities located in Garwolin, Poland. AOP manages the largest and most technologically advanced Avon factory worldwide. Cosmetics manufactured here are distributed to approximately 40 countries on three continents. "We are thrilled to be a part of Avon International’s supply chain digital transformation. It is an honor to work with a company that shares our same commitment to values such as inclusion, women empowerment, and equity. The Blue Yonder solutions will enable Avon International to adapt to changing market conditions and external dynamics, ensuring their supply chain remains agile, sustainable, and competitive," said Terry Turner, president, Manufacturing, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning Video: Next Generation Demand Planning with Cognitive Demand Planning Learn more about: Blue Yonder Solutions for Consumer Industries E-book: Improving the Supply Chain through Predictive Insight About Avon At Avon, we believe a better world for women is a better world for all. We are the beauty brand for women embracing their power, inspiring their confidence and providing opportunities to realise their potential. Millions of independent sales Representatives across the world sell iconic Avon brands through their social networks and more than 20% of every sale helps to create better futures for women*. We stand for progress for women: we believe in listening to women’s needs, speaking out about issues that matter and creating positive change. Through Avon and the Avon Foundation, we have donated over $1.1billion, with a focus on tackling gender violence and breast cancer. Avon is part of the Natura &Co Group . *Learn more at www.avonworldwide.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Recognized as a Finalist of the 2024 Microsoft Global Retail & Consumer Goods and](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-recognized-as-a-finalist-of-the-2024-microsoft-global-retail-amp-consumer-goods-and) > Blue Yonder today announced it has been named a finalist for both the Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Press Release Blue Yonder Recognized as a Finalist of the 2024 Microsoft Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility Partner of the Year Awards Blue Yonder Recognized as a Finalist of the 2024 Microsoft Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility Partner of the Year Awards Blue Yonder , June 26, 2024 3 minute read Blue Yonder today announced it has been named a finalist for both the Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft Cloud applications, services, devices, and AI innovation during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from more than 4,700 nominations from more than 100 countries. Blue Yonder was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility. “ Blue Yonder and Microsoft have been collaborating together for seven years now , and almost each year we have won or been a finalist for the annual Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards,” said Danielle Manning, senior vice president, Global Field Strategy & Solution Sales, Blue Yonder. “This shows our dedication and commitment to aligning our efforts with Microsoft to benefit our joint customers. By choosing Blue Yonder’s end-to-end solutions combined with the cloud-capabilities of Microsoft, our joint customers can enable powerful supply chain capabilities to help their business succeed. We are proud to be a finalist for this year’s Global Retail & Consumer Goods and Global Mobility award categories.” The Blue Yonder Platform – built exclusively on Microsoft Azure – is the industry’s first intelligence-enriched, integrated technology platform that spans supply chain, retail planning, logistics, and delivery in one end-to-end solution. Customers can utilize industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities, prescriptive recommendations, a single data model, and workflow-driven user experiences to optimize their business. “Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards!” said Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft. “The momentum generated by numerous AI and Copilot announcements this year fueled innovation from our partners, enabling groundbreaking services and solutions to customers. I am inspired by the capability and creativity in our partner ecosystem and this year's winners beautifully demonstrate the best of what’s possible with AI and the Microsoft Cloud.” The 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced ahead of MCAPS Start for Partners, our digital event on July 10 and 11, 2024. Partners will receive recognition at MCAPS Start for Partners ahead of in-person celebrations during the week of Microsoft Ignite in November. Additional details on the 2024 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner blog: https://aka.ms/POTYA2024_announcement . The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at https://aka.ms/2024POTYAWinnersFinalists . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [SupplyChainBrain How Can LSPs Help Their Customers To Weather Disruption](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/supplychainbrain-how-can-lsps-help-their-customers-to-weather-disruption) > In this video conversation with SupplyChainBrain, Blue Yonder's Ann Marie Jonkman, Vice President, Global Industry Strategies, frames the key questions that logistics service providers (LSPs) should be asking, as they consider adopting innovative technologies on behalf of customers. Watch the conversation here. Press Release SupplyChainBrain: How Can LSPs Help Their Customers To Weather Disruption? SupplyChainBrain: How Can LSPs Help Their Customers To Weather Disruption? Blue Yonder , June 6, 2024 1 minute read In this video conversation with SupplyChainBrain , Blue Yonder's Ann Marie Jonkman, Vice President, Global Industry Strategies, frames the key questions that logistics service providers (LSPs) should be asking, as they consider adopting innovative technologies on behalf of customers. Watch the conversation here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Conference of Montreal 2024 Surmounting Supply Chain Disruptions](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/conference-of-montreal-2024-surmounting-supply-chain-disruptions) > Blue Yonder's Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt speaks during the 2024 Conference of Montreal on the "Surmounting Supply Chain Disruptions" panel:In the face of recent geopolitical and environmental disruptions, a novel wave of challenges is further straining global supply routes, driving the cost of living to unprecedented magnitudes. How have climate change and ongoing international conflicts changed how the global economy is sourced? Press Release Conference of Montreal 2024: Surmounting Supply Chain Disruptions Conference of Montreal 2024: Surmounting Supply Chain Disruptions Blue Yonder , June 10, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder's Chief Sustainability Officer Saskia van Gendt speaks during the 2024 Conference of Montreal on the "Surmounting Supply Chain Disruptions" panel: In the face of recent geopolitical and environmental disruptions, a novel wave of challenges is further straining global supply routes, driving the cost of living to unprecedented magnitudes. How have climate change and ongoing international conflicts changed how the global economy is sourced? What industries are primarily affected by strained supply routes and how are key players striving towards increasingly regionalized approaches? In what ways can technology and electrification contribute to building more agile and resilient supply chain networks? About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Waitrose Invests in Blue Yonders Industry Leading Demand Forecasting Capability to Further Improve](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/waitrose-invests-in-blue-yonders-industry-leading-demand-forecasting-capability-to-further-improve) > Waitrose is extending its collaboration with Blue Yonder with the addition of the supply chain solution provider’s industry-leading forecasting capability. Press Release Waitrose Invests in Blue Yonder’s Industry Leading Demand Forecasting Capability to Further Improve Customer Satisfaction Waitrose Invests in Blue Yonder’s Industry Leading Demand Forecasting Capability to Further Improve Customer Satisfaction Blue Yonder , LONDON and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – June 20, 2024 3 minute read Waitrose is extending its collaboration with Blue Yonder with the addition of the supply chain solution provider’s industry-leading forecasting capability. The new move will mark the first significant introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into Waitrose’s forecasting – and is designed to improve the already high levels of availability across the retailer’s stores. Rather than relying on historical sales data and human intuition, the AI forecasting capability – part of Blue Yonder Demand Planning – focuses on customer behaviour and analyses ‘why’ customers bought what they did rather than just ‘what’ they bought. The capability understands and learns from the trading environment to provide a better forecast based on customer behaviour. For example, it will learn how customers responded to a variety of influences including weather variations, major sporting and cultural events and promotions. The upgrade is part of a significant investment in technology across Waitrose’s supply chain and is designed to improve availability, which already stands at record levels. It is also expected to: Improve customer satisfaction score by increasing on-shelf availability and refocusing store Partners from manual ordering to more strategic customer-oriented tasks. Leverage AI capabilities to ingest and analyse massive volumes of data without overwhelming users. Assess risks by weighing different forecasting outcomes. Determine stock volumes dynamically to minimise waste. Respond to demand fluctuations automatically, quickly and accurately. Alison Maffin , Waitrose Supply Chain Director , said: “Whether we are planning for a major sporting final or the first cold snap of the winter, there can be multiple factors affecting what our customers buy. The Blue Yonder solution will learn from previous experience and help us predict this more accurately so we can be confident we have the stock our customers want. This will allow us to produce a much more accurate forecast for our suppliers and logistics partners but will also result in less wastage and better availability for our customers.’’ Gael Ramaen, Corporate Vice President, Retail, EMEA, Blue Yonder , said: “A better forecast is crucial for retailers, and we are thrilled and proud to support Waitrose with their goals of enhancing customer experience and meeting sustainability goals. This builds on the already successful deployment of Blue Yonder Fulfilment and Warehouse Management solutions used within their organisation.” Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Demand Planning Solution Sheet : Blue Yonder Demand Planning for Retail Videos : A Smarter More Dynamic Approach to Retail-Forecasting Benefits of Demand Forecasting Accuracy: The Blue Yonder Difference About the John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership ?owns and operates two of Britain's best-loved retail brands - John Lewis and Waitrose. Started as a radical experiment over a century ago, the Partnership is now the largest employee-owned business in the UK, with over 74,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. The Partnership is purpose-driven, existing to create a fairer and more sustainable future for our Partners, customers, suppliers and communities. Our Purpose not only inspires our principles, drives our decisions and acts as our guide to be a force for good, it steers  us to do things differently and better - all in service of creating a happier world for everyone and everything we touch. https://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/ About Waitrose Waitrose & Partners has 331?shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 59 convenience branches, 27 shops at Welcome Break locations, and Waitrose.com - its fast-growing online shopping business, consistently rated highly by independent research. The retailer combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop - dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced, combined with high standards of customer service. As part of an employee-owned business, all Partners have a say in how the business is run.? https://www.waitrose.com/ About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [theCUBE Data Cloud Summit 2024](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/thecube-data-cloud-summit-2024) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove and Snowflake's Tyler Prince, SVP, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, join theCUBE hosts Dave Vellante and Rebecca Knight for this segment at Snowflake's Data Cloud Summit 2024. Watch the podcast episode here. Press Release theCUBE: Data Cloud Summit 2024 theCUBE: Data Cloud Summit 2024 Blue Yonder , June 7, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove and Snowflake's Tyler Prince, SVP, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, join theCUBE hosts Dave Vellante and Rebecca Knight for this segment at Snowflake's Data Cloud Summit 2024. Watch the podcast episode here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-named-snowflake-retail-and-consumer-goods-data-cloud-product-partner-of-the-year-award) > Blue Yonder announced that it has been named the Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award winner by Snowflake, the Data Cloud company. Press Release Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award Winner Blue Yonder Named Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award Winner Blue Yonder , SAN FRANCISCO and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – June 11, 2024 2 minute read Blue Yonder announced that it has been named the Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year Award winner by Snowflake , the Data Cloud company. This is the third year in a row Blue Yonder has won a Snowflake Partner of the Year Award. The award was presented at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Data Cloud Summit 2024 . Blue Yonder was recognized for its achievements as part of the Snowflake Data Cloud, helping joint customers unify data across internal and external sources and deliver scalability to power the simultaneous execution of hundreds of supply chain scenarios. The partnership allows Blue Yonder to integrate Snowflake’s data capabilities into its Blue Yonder Platform , Powered by Snowflake . This enables retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers (LSPs) to leverage Blue Yonder’s data cloud offerings to access, share and consume live governed data, industry-specific datasets, and data services at scale – without the latency, cost and effort required with traditional marketplaces. “Blue Yonder was the first supply chain software company to build an enterprise solution for the supply chain management domain on Snowflake,” said Chris Burchett, senior vice president, Product Development, Blue Yonder. “We’re proud to be a winner for the third year in a row as we continue to showcase our value to the Data Cloud ecosystem. Our game-changing next-generation solutions leveraging the Snowflake Data Cloud enable customers to make end-to-end supply chain decisions quickly so they can pivot to overcome disruptions and meet their consumer expectations.” “Congratulations to Blue Yonder for being named the Snowflake Retail & Consumer Goods Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year,” said Tyler Prince, senior vice president, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, Snowflake. “A strong partner ecosystem is foundational to Snowflake’s mission of enabling every organization to be data-driven. Blue Yonder is core to that mission, and together we’re helping organizations across industries better activate and unlock their data for business value.” Learn more about the Blue Yonder Platform . Learn more about the partnership in this “Supply Chain Management with Blue Yonder and Snowflake” video . Be sure to check out the Snowflake Data Cloud Summit 2024 keynotes live or on-demand here and stay on top of the latest news and announcements from Snowflake on LinkedIn and Twitter /X. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Social Capital Insider The Empathy Emergency Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/social-capital-insider-the-empathy-emergency-successful-business-leaders-need-it-now-more-than-ever) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove shares what empathy means to him as a leader in this Social Capital Insider feature on empathy at work. Read the full article here. Press Release Social Capital Insider: The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever Social Capital Insider: The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever Blue Yonder , June 7, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove shares what empathy means to him as a leader in this Social Capital Insider feature on empathy at work. Read the full article here . "...Empathy is about cultivating compassion and kindness and seeking to understand why someone feels the way they do. This sentiment resonates deeply with me because it highlights the importance of genuine care and consideration for others’ feelings and experiences...." About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Congratulations to the 18 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2024 Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/congratulations-to-the-18-companies-using-blue-yonders-supply-chain-solution-who-were-named-in-the) > Blue Yonder is proud to announce that 18 companies using its solutions1 were recently named in the 20th annual “Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2024: Insights on Leaders” report 2. In addition, 3 out of 4 Masters category companies are Blue Yonder customers. Press Release Congratulations to the 18 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2024 Gartner ® Supply Chain Top 25 Congratulations to the 18 Companies Using Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Solution Who Were Named in the 2024 Gartner® Supply Chain Top 25 Blue Yonder , June 3, 2024 3 minute read Blue Yonder is proud to announce that 18 companies using its solutions 1 were recently named in the 20 th annual “Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2024: Insights on Leaders” report 2 . In addition, 3 out of 4 Masters category companies are Blue Yonder customers. The “ Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 202 4” report 3 identifies, celebrates and profiles the Top 25 companies in supply chain management. According to Gartner ® , “Nearly all of the Top 25 companies have moved to an integrated approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG), which is built-in rather than bolted-on. The Top 25 achieve higher growth and better ESG standing, as well as higher than average ROPA (64% for the Top 25 and Masters compared to 34% for other ranked companies) and better operating margins.” According to the report 2 , the Top 25 companies embraced three macro trends: attracting and engaging talent, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven advances, and antifragile supply chains. Blue Yonder believes its end-to-end digital supply chain platform helps its customers succeed when it comes to these three trends. During Blue Yonder ICON 2024 , the company highlighted how the Blue Yonder Platform powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud are helping companies pivot through disruptions to create a more resilient supply chain. With Blue Yonder, companies can “superpower” their supply chains by leaping across organizational siloes, planning into the future, and moving with the speed of change to meet their digital transformation and sustainability goals. Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant™ reports 4 covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems . To learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions visit blueyonder.com . 1 This number represents Blue Yonder’s independent analysis of the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2024 listing. For the purposes of this list, Blue Yonder considers customers those companies who utilize its solutions either directly or through a third-party logistics provider . 2 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2024 , Simon Bailey, et al., May 22, 2024. 3 Gartner Press Release : Gartner Announces 20th Annual Rankings of the Global Supply Chain Top 25, May 22, 2024. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024; Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024; Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Showcased How Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chain at ICON 2024; Releases Q1 2024 Company Highlights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-showcased-how-companies-can-superpower-their-supply-chain-at-icon-2024-releases-q1) > Blue Yonder reinforces its commitment to product innovations and its customers at annual conference, while unlocking the power of generative AI and building on its platform. Press Release Blue Yonder Showcased How Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chain at ICON 2024; Releases Q1 2024 Company Highlights Blue Yonder Showcased How Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chain at ICON 2024; Releases Q1 2024 Company Highlights Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 14, 2024 9 minute read Blue Yonder reinforces its commitment to product innovations and its customers at annual conference, while unlocking the power of generative AI and building on its platform Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), a leader of digital supply chain transformations, today released its Q1 2024 company highlights and further showcased its vision to build the supply chain of the future at ICON 2024, its annual customer conference. Quarterly Company Highlights In Q1 2024, Blue Yonder showed significant progress in several areas of its business, including: Announced the acquisition of flexis AG and a binding agreement to acquire One Network Enterprises , marking approximately $1 billion in M&A investments covering three acquisitions since Q4 2023. Added 34 new customer logos in Q1 2024. Some of the customers who selected or extended their footprint with Blue Yonder during the quarter include: Americas: Alimentos Prosalud, Corporación Pipsa, Dos Pinos, Driscoll’s, Ferrero, Haleon, Herdez, Newell Brands, R.E. Michel Company, Roma Prince S.A., Sportman’s Warehouse, Umbral, Unilever, Utz, Vinoteca APAC/EMEA: ASDA, BrandSafway, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Specialty Steel, Ferrero, Metro, Panasonic Connect, Pegatron, Posten Bring AS, Rewe Group Featured in 18 key technology industry analyst reports from Gartner and IDC ( see full list below ). Next-Generation Supply Chains During ICON 2024, Blue Yonder leadership unveiled how an end-to-end supply chain platform powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and a unified data cloud are helping companies pivot through disruptions to create a more resilient supply chain. Blue Yonder showcased how attendees can “superpower” their supply chains by leaping across organizational siloes, planning into the future, and moving with the speed of change to meet their digital transformation and sustainability goals. “Imagine a world where businesses have the resiliency to bounce back after every disruption; where flexibility doesn’t come at the expense of efficacy; where technology turns supply chain operators into superheroes,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Not only is this possible, but it is Blue Yonder’s vision. The innovations of the past few years – from the data cloud to generative AI to end-to-end connectivity – are now allowing Blue Yonder to help customers solve larger supply chain problems faster and give them greater visibility. With Blue Yonder’s innovations, businesses will be able to solve challenges quickly to keep their supply chains moving and meet customer demand. The result is that our customers are faster to respond; are more resilient, engaged, and competitive; and can deliver greater value.” Last year at ICON, Blue Yonder announced that it was investing over $1 billion in innovations over the next three years . The company is delivering on its promise, building out its Blue Yonder Platform to be purpose-built for AI to improve data quality and decision speed. Today, the Blue Yonder Platform processes 10 billion predictions a day. The company has also doubled the size of its engineering organization with more than 300 scrum teams working on new capabilities . This growth allowed Blue Yonder to launch its largest product release in the history of the company earlier this year. To showcase the power of the Blue Yonder Platform, the following was highlighted on ICON main stage: Generative AI and Supply Chain Agents: Blue Yonder has been a leader in the AI space, having leaned into predictive AI and developed patented supply chain solvers, allowing its customers to predict demand – to the tune of 10 billion predictions a day – and pivot through disruptions. Over the past 10 years, Blue Yonder has expanded its use of AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities as new AI techniques became available, e.g., probabilistic AI, heuristics, deep meta learning, etc. Blue Yonder is now also driving innovation by bringing together generative AI models that are adept at language, images, and content creation with the company’s patented solvers and predictive AI capabilities to empower businesses to solve supply chain’s biggest challenges. Introduced last year, Blue Yonder Orchestrator is the framework for building generative AI-based supply chain capabilities. Blue Yonder is using Blue Yonder Orchestrator to design intelligent assistants, or AI Agents , to support supply chain professionals. Blue Yonder is partnering with its customers to configure these AI Agents to ensure they meet their needs, helping to automate tasks and enhance decision-making speed, quality and resilience. The AI Agents can proactively identify opportunities and risks, make recommendations, and execute the decisions through a set of APIs. Business users can quickly access recommendations, predictive insights, and intelligent decisions using their dedicated AI Agent to ensure they generate the best outcomes to positively impact their supply chain. As part of this effort, Blue Yonder announced a new AI Innovation Studio at its Dallas office where it can host design-led AI Agent workshops with customers. To further strengthen its AI capabilities, Blue Yonder recently hired Wade Gerten as senior vice president, Generative AI and Andrea Morgan-Vandome as chief innovation officer, while also expanding its already robust team of AI researchers and engineers to include world-class generative AI talent. Leaning Into Cognitive: As part of its largest product release earlier this year , Blue Yonder announced the launch of its cognitive class of solutions, starting with Cognitive Demand Planning . These cognitive solutions are built on a modern SaaS native platform and use AI to reimagine how work is done by harnessing the power of the data cloud. With an adaptable and event-driven framework, these solutions transform how companies tackle uncertainty in their supply chain management. The company is planning to launch more cognitive solutions, including: Cognitive Integrated Business Planning is an innovative approach to a common challenge that automates and intelligently explores supply chain strategies. It assesses multiple scenarios simultaneously, offering intelligent options to meet business objectives. Conventional strategies like what-if planning and simulations often demand considerable manual input from supply chain professionals to comprehend disruptions, collect data, run simulations, and make decisions, particularly when time is limited. This new solution will increase decision speed and accuracy, and significantly reduce manual work. Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning flips the discipline on its head. Today's merchandise planners are over-reliant on sales history and spend a disproportionate amount of time in the low value quest to build the perfect plan, only to see that plan struggle to be achieved when it meets reality, resulting in locked capital and unnecessary discounting. Blue Yonder's advanced AI draws the best out of planners by autonomously constructing data-driven, constraint-aware plans that intuitively recognize the difference between trend and blip. This allows merchandisers to direct their valuable time toward seizing the opportunity present in disruption, aided by AI-driven recommendations that align actions to strategic goals. Cognitive Execution is reimagining operations with an AI-driven solution that looks at the upstream and downstream processes across planning, warehouse, transport, and order management to optimize cost to serve and improve on-time, in-full delivery. By leveraging the Blue Yonder Platform and composable services, companies can eliminate barriers between systems allowing for end-to-end optimization. This in turn enables supply chain leaders to predict disruptions, make intra-day decisions, automate resolutions, and orchestrate actions. Businesses can stay flexible and responsive to changes in demand, supply, or constraints, ensuring more resilient, agile, and autonomous supply chains. Composable Journeys: A Composable Journey enables customers to consume Blue Yonder’s innovations to move to a modern, autonomous end-to-end supply chain. This in turn accelerates transformation, reduces time to value, and lowers cost of ownership. Blue Yonder’s customers are experiencing up to a 12-time return on investment (ROI) from the Composable Journey. Blue Yonder works with customers to review their current and future supply chain vision to build a roadmap that includes optimizing their existing Blue Yonder investments, deploying these solutions seamlessly, integrating microservices, and running these investments on a shared data model to leverage cognitive capabilities. Because the journey is composable, it can be implemented in weeks instead of months at a pace that works for the customer while still leveraging their existing Blue Yonder investments. As part of the process, Blue Yonder offers change management and value realization services that support a customer’s transformation journey, allowing them to maximize business value. “Blue Yonder ICON continues to be the premiere supply chain event thanks to our dedicated customers who show up every year to showcase how they are using our technology to better their supply chains," said Patricia Harris, chief marketing officer, Blue Yonder. "It is also an invaluable event with regards to learning as a result of the countless breakout sessions on various topics and the Innovation Experience where customers can see our innovative technology firsthand. Each year at ICON we highlight the key ways we are innovating to help our customers thrive in the ever-changing world of supply chain. From building resilience into their operations to improving their sustainability practices to meeting consumer demands, our Blue Yonder solutions are pivotal to helping our customers grow their businesses and succeed.” Additional Company Highlights Blue Yonder was highlighted in a recent Microsoft blog written by Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, ahead of Microsoft’s FY24 Q3 earnings. Read the blog post “Leading in the era of AI: How Microsoft’s platform differentiation and Copilot empowerment are driving AI Transformation.” Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are persisting during times of disruption to digitally transform their supply chains and reimagine the consumer experience: Blue Yonder Drives Transportation Optimization at Kimberly-Clark The Source: Supply Chain Digital Disruptors (video) Heading into Q2 2024, Blue Yonder’s Industry Strategy team shares insights shaped by their industry expertise, conversations with customers, and trends that are top of mind for customers and partners. Read their insights in this blog post . Technology industry analyst recognitions in Q1 2024: Gartner®, Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems, 2024 Gartner, Tool: Gartner’s Hype Cycle Builder Gartner, Tool: Forecast and Market Share Data Publication Schedule for 2024, 4Q23 Update Gartner, Market Guide for Cloud Extended Planning and Analysis Solutions, 2024 Gartner, Market Guide for Supply Chain Network Design Tools, 2024 Gartner, Tool: Vendor Identification for Supply Chain Network Design Tools Gartner, Market Opportunity Map: Supply Chain Management Software, Worldwide Gartner, Consult the Board: Databricks and Snowflake Convergence Gartner, Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems, 2024 1 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems, 2024 2 IDC, PeerScape: Practices to Optimize Omni-Channel Order Orchestration and Fulfillment IDC, Market Glance: Transportation and Global Trade, 1Q24 IDC, Planning Smartness: AI in Retail Scenario Planning IDC, Top 5 Views for GenAI and Analytics at NRF 2024 IDC, MarketScape: Worldwide Warehouse Management 2024 Vendor Assessment IDC, Market Glance: European Supply Chain Planning, 1Q24 IDC, Worldwide Retail Industry Spending Guide Taxonomy, 2024 IDC, ProductScape: Worldwide Warehouse Management Systems, 2024 Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024. 2 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2024 ICONic Customer Awards](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-announces-winners-of-2024-iconic-customer-awards) > To honor its customers who are driving digital transformations of their supply chains, Blue Yonder presented several leading companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference on May 14, 2024, in Dallas. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2024 ICONic Customer Awards Blue Yonder Announces Winners of 2024 ICONic Customer Awards Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 14, 2024 7 minute read To honor its customers who are driving digital transformations of their supply chains, Blue Yonder presented several leading companies with the ICONic Customer Awards at the annual Blue Yonder ICON conference on May 14, 2024, in Dallas. The ICONic Customer Awards celebrate organizations and individuals who are making a name for themselves by embracing innovation, challenging the status quo, and delivering great results. The awards acknowledge the success, impact, and results that they are driving. The winning companies for the 2024 ICONic Customer Awards are: Retail Renaissance: Meijer and Woolworths This category celebrates retailers who have best leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to drive the future of retail and meet the changing demands of their customers. Winners have embraced the power of technology to transform their retail operations, resulting in improved efficiency, customer centricity, and profitability. Supply Chain Planning Resiliency: Ingredion and Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC / CONA Services LLC This category recognizes companies who have demonstrated resiliency through digital planning to solve the hardest problems and uncover the most opportunity. Winners have leveraged Blue Yonder’s end-to-end solutions to predict and pivot their supply chain planning capabilities in order to deliver on their promise to partners, suppliers, and – ultimately – customers. Execution Innovator: Alcon and ABINBEV This category honors the best use of innovation and Blue Yonder technology to drive autonomous, sustainable, and predictive logistics solutions. Winners are focused on next-generation ideas that transform the future of how they are optimizing the flow of goods around the globe and reacting to real-time changes in the most efficient manner across first, middle and last mile. Supply Chain Sustainability: Arcadia Cold, LLC This category recognizes customers who are leading the charge towards a more sustainable future. The winner has woven sustainability into their operations using Blue Yonder’s solutions to drive sustainable practices throughout their supply chain, resulting in reduced waste, improved energy efficiency, and a positive impact on the environment. Digital Disruptor: Micron Technology and Postobón This category honors customers who are pushing boundaries and driving change across their organization. Using Blue Yonder solutions, winners have achieved end-to-end transformation and digital disruption. As a result, these companies drive quantifiable impact, challenge traditional norms, and create new and innovative ways of doing business that better meet the needs of their customers and business. Innovation Visionary: Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) This category recognizes a forward-thinking organization that is blazing a trail of innovation by harnessing the latest Blue Yonder solutions and cloud technologies. It celebrates pioneers and harnessing what is possible with next generation cognitive supply chains powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud. “We are thrilled to recognize the ICONic results these companies have achieved leveraging Blue Yonder solutions,” said Susan Beal, chief customer officer, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder ICON is the perfect place to share these success stories, so it is an honor to once again feature our ICONic Customer Award winners at the event. Congratulations to all of the winners! We are proud to work alongside you and are thrilled with what our teams have accomplished together.” More About the Winners: ABINBEV: Our next award goes to Execution Innovator ABINBEV. For years, ABINBEV has relied on the Blue Yonder Transportation Management solution to orchestrate logistics across its production plants, warehouses and suppliers. ABINBEV has integrated the Transportation Management solution with the Blue Yonder Fulfillment Planning and Load Builder solutions to dynamically match weekly distribution plans with the right carrier mix, freight rates, shipment schedule, routes and truck loading plans. Utilizing this ecosystem of Blue Yonder solutions, ABINBEV has reduced its number of light loads by over 80%, while improving load efficiency by almost 10% during re-planning, which lead to significant improvement in business KPIs such as service level, shipper of choice, and touchless. Alcon: Congratulations to Alcon, a 2024 Execution Innovator. Because Alcon’s eye care products are critical to scheduled medical procedures around the world, guaranteed delivery is mandatory. Alcon needed end-to-end visibility and real-time tracking, from the supplier to the end customer. Several Blue Yonder solutions — including Warehouse Management and Transportation Management — have increased transparency, service and sustainability by unifying data and standardizing processes. Lead times have been reduced by 25% and freight costs have decreased by 30%. And Alcon reports that it’s just getting started. Arcadia Cold: Arcadia Cold specializes in providing third-party handling, storage, distribution, and value-added services to the food industry. Notably, Arcadia Cold added 200,000 pallet positions across five new, state-of-the-art energy-efficient facilities in 2023. As it continues to grow its national network, Arcadia Cold has teamed up with Blue Yonder Transportation Management and Warehouse Management solutions to ensure it’s making efficient and sustainable decisions. By design, every process change takes environmental impacts into consideration. Through optimizing routes, reducing energy consumption, minimizing emissions, decreasing waste and enabling better space utilization, Arcadia Cold is leading the cold chain industry in sustainability. Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC and CONA Services LLC: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC (Coke Florida), the sixth largest Coca-Cola bottler and one of the largest Black-owned businesses in the U.S., partnered with CONA Services LLC on a Blue Yonder implementation. CONA Services (Coke One North America) is a Coca-Cola System IT company providing enterprise solutions for the 11 largest bottlers in North America. By leveraging Blue Yonder Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Transportation Management and other solutions, Coke Florida and CONA have created an interoperable platform that drives significant cost, service and efficiency improvements. As just one example, load automation has increased from zero to over 70%, optimizing resources and reducing the number of shipments. Ingredion: Ingredion is a leading global ingredients solutions company. In supplying products to customers in food and beverage, paper and pharmaceuticals manufacturing, Ingredion faced tremendous demand fluctuations. The company’s goal was to align shifting demand with inventory on an agile basis, replanning and re-allocating as needed. Several Blue Yonder solutions, including Demand Planning and Supply Planning, helped Ingredion increase forecast accuracy by 2% and reduce inventory by over 100,000 tons. On-time, in-full deliveries increased by 15%, significantly improving customer satisfaction. Medtronic: Medtronic serves over 74 million patients in 150 countries annually. The company leverages the Blue Yonder Demand Planning solution to drive a standardized, automated forecasting process across its worldwide business, resulting in increased planning accuracy and efficiency. In under a year, statistical forecast accuracy increased by 13 points — improving customer service and inventory positions. Medtronic also optimized planner workload thanks to process standardization and automation. Meijer: Across more than 500 physical locations and its digital shopping channels, Meijer leveraged the latest technology to drive growth via merchandising modernization. Blue Yonder Demand Planning has enabled Meijer to capitalize on AI, ML and advanced algorithms to improve on-shelf availability, optimize inventory levels across the supply chain, increase shopper satisfaction and minimize waste. A rollout of the Blue Yonder Fresh Markdown Optimization solution is also improving real-time price generation via advanced machine learning techniques. Micron Technology: Micron is integrating Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution with the Blue Yonder Order Promising engine for amplified results. Using proprietary algorithms, Order Promising takes inputs from Supply Planning, considers customer allocation priorities, and generates commitments in near real time. Micron has improved its customer conformance metrics like: Sales Order Time to Commit, Original Promise Date performance, Customer Requested Date performance, etc., surpassing best-in-class industry benchmarks and underscoring its commitment to customer service. Postobón: Postobón is the largest nonalcoholic beverage company in Colombia. In serving millions of consumers mainly in Colombia, Postobón faces extreme demand volatility. Forecast inaccuracies were driving up the company’s freight costs and excess inventories. Postobón leveraged the Blue Yonder Demand Planning solution to create more accurate forecasts that consider influencing factors like weather. Advanced statistical forecasting has helped increase service levels to 95%, eliminate $2 million in working capital and capture $4.5 million in lost sales. For some categories, forecast accuracy increased by over 15%. Woolworths: Unlike most grocery retailers who rely on long-life sales, Woolworths derives over 60% of its revenues from fresh foods. This creates a unique forecasting challenge: maximizing the availability of perishable products, while minimizing waste. Blue Yonder Demand Planning has transformed the retailer’s forecasting process from a resource-intensive and manual effort to a more automated process that’s driven by data and fueled by machine learning. Just six months after the software launch, Woolworths has improved its forecast accuracy and is on track to meet its aggressive waste-reduction targets. The company’s vision is to be one of the world’s most responsible retailers, and reducing waste is a big part of the Woolworths sustainability journey. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces 2023 Partner Leadership Award Winners](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-announces-2023-partner-leadership-award-winners) > Blue Yonder’s partners are a key part of driving transformational digital supply chain strategies for customers. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces 2023 Partner Leadership Award Winners Blue Yonder Announces 2023 Partner Leadership Award Winners Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 16, 2024 2 minute read Blue Yonder’s partners are a key part of driving transformational digital supply chain strategies for customers. To recognize exceptional partner success over the course of the past year Blue Yonder is proud to announce the winners of its 2023 Partner Leadership Awards. This year’s winners are: APAC Partner of the Year: Smartlinks Collaborative Partners of the Year: Longbow Advantage Plantensive Edge Partner of the Year: Honeywell Global Logistics Service Provider (LSP) Partner of the Year: Netlogistik Global Manufacturing Partner of the Year: Spinnaker SCA Global Retail Partner of the Year: Deloitte Consulting GTM Partner of the Year: EY Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner of the Year: Opterus Innovation Partner of the Year: Snowflake, the Data Cloud company MVP of the Year : Accenture Platform Partner of the Year: Microsoft The winning partners expanded Blue Yonder’s reach into the market, enabled the development and delivery of innovation, and accelerated joint customers’ efforts to digitally transform their supply chains by guiding them to choose, implement and extend the right Blue Yonder solutions. As a result, customers across logistics, manufacturing and retail gain increased operational performance, higher levels of agility and greater returns on their investment in Blue Yonder solutions, which ultimately makes the customers more competitive in the market. "The winners of this year's Partner Leadership Awards utilized their extensive technological and domain knowledge, as well as their exceptional delivery skills, to ensure our customers achieved their business objectives and surpassed consumer expectations,” said Danielle Manning, senior vice president, Global Field Strategy & Solution Sales, Blue Yonder. “Our partners provide expert guidance to our customers, offer innovative technological solutions, and deliver successful implementations, all while helping our customers accelerate time-to-value and improve their business processes. Congratulations to all the winners!” To learn more about Blue Yonder’s partners visit blueyonder.com/partners . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [HEINEKEN Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Improve Demand Planning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/heineken-teams-up-with-blue-yonder-to-improve-demand-planning) > HEINEKEN, the world’s most international brewer, confirms Blue Yonder as a vendor of trust to further transform its supply chain planning capability. Press Release HEINEKEN Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Improve Demand Planning HEINEKEN Teams Up With Blue Yonder To Improve Demand Planning Blue Yonder , AMSTERDAM and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 15, 2024 4 minute read Global brewer works with Blue Yonder to support its strategic roadmap toward improved customer experience and sustainability HEINEKEN , the world’s most international brewer, confirms Blue Yonder as a vendor of trust to further transform its supply chain planning capability. The global brewer will implement Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning, a next generation cloud-native, microservices-based SaaS solution, that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve forecast accuracy and reduce bias by considering dynamic external and internal variables. HEINEKEN has been implementing Blue Yonder solutions for multiple years unlocking value for its business, especially with the potential to improve forecast accuracy through ML demand forecasting solution. HEINEKEN has selected Blue Yonder, as one of the current major supply chain solution providers, to future proof its demand planning process and leverage AI/ML, autonomous scenario planning, planning process orchestration and solution extensibility. “We want to continuously improve our supply chain processes and adopting Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning is an important step in that ambition. Working together with Blue Yonder will support us in our ambition to become the best-connected brewer and foster functional excellence in demand planning, leading to improved customer experience. And with the right supply response it could generate a positive impact on our sustainability targets as well, for example by reduced write-offs and less goods movements,” said Corneel Hindriks, manager, Digital & Technology - Global Planning, HEINEKEN. Once the Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning solution is implemented, HEINEKEN expects to achieve the following benefits: Make more informed, data-driven decisions: get all the real-world and business data HEINEKEN needs in a unified data cloud and integrate all planning processes to make better decisions – with speed and scale. Manage complexity and boost accuracy: combine the best output from statistical forecasting and extensible ML to deliver higher forecast accuracy and reduce bias. Respond faster: compress the planning cycle and empower planners to drive strategy and respond in the moment, not on a fixed schedule. Create and deploy customized and extended solutions: build, test and confidently deploy customized and extended ML models, workflows, personalized user experiences, and business logic at production scale with minimal effort. Consumer goods companies are currently encountering challenges due to fluctuations in demand caused by inflation, supply chain disruptions, evolving consumer habits, and a growing demand for more sustainable products and processes. These industry dynamics pose a significant challenge for conventional forecasting methods. Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning solution, which sits on Microsoft Azure, addresses these challenges with a new generation of AI-based capabilities, transforming the way companies around the world collaborate, predict, plan and make decisions. “We are proud to bring our contribution as supply chain management leaders in supporting HEINEKEN’s mission to become the best-connected brewer. Blue Yonder’s future-proof solution helps a brewer like HEINEKEN to adapt to new external dynamics and changing market conditions, ensuring their supply chains remain agile, sustainable and competitive. Thanks to Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning, HEINEKEN can optimize its supply chain and ensure that customers can always enjoy their preferred beers and beyond all over the world,” said Terry Turner, President, Manufacturing, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning Video: Next Generation Demand Planning with Cognitive Demand Planning About Heineken HEINEKEN is the world's most international brewer. It is the leading developer and marketer of premium and non-alcoholic beer and cider brands. Led by the Heineken® brand, the Group has a portfolio of more than 350 international, regional, local and specialty beers and ciders. With HEINEKEN’s over 90,000 employees, we brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world. Our dream is to shape the future of beer and beyond to win the hearts of consumers. We are committed to innovation, long-term brand investment, disciplined sales execution and focused cost management. Through "Brew a Better World", sustainability is embedded in the business. HEINEKEN has a well-balanced geographic footprint with leadership positions in both developed and developing markets. We operate breweries, maltings, cider plants and other production facilities in more than 70 countries. The most recent information is available on the Company's website and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. For press inquiries please contact [email protected] . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Executives Invest Millions into their Sustainability and AI-Driven Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-survey-executives-invest-millions-into-their-sustainability-and-aidriven-supply-chains) > New research finds that 91% of global organizations have found generative AI to be effective in optimizing supply chain processes and decision-making. Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Executives Invest Millions into their Sustainability and AI-Driven Supply Chains Blue Yonder Survey: Executives Invest Millions into their Sustainability and AI-Driven Supply Chains Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 13, 2024 5 minute read New research finds that 91% of global organizations have found generative AI to be effective in optimizing supply chain processes and decision-making Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its 2024 Supply Chain Executive survey, which polled global supply chain executives on their businesses’ experiences with supply chain and logistics strategy and operations over the last year. Overall, the overwhelming majority (84%) of global businesses report experiencing supply chain disruptions within the last year. In the U.S., that number was in line at 85%, down slightly from 87% in 2023 and 88% in 2022. “Supply chain disruptions are still a major challenge for businesses,” said Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Chief Innovation Officer, Blue Yonder. “With a majority of global organizations reporting disruptions in the last year, it’s clearer than ever that we need innovative technology solutions to respond to those disruptions and enable businesses to adapt with lasting resiliency.” Companies Still Face Challenges Operating Supply Chains Due to Disruptions and Rising Costs Supply chain disruptions are still impacting businesses around the world. Over the last year, disruptions were driven primarily by the lack of availability of raw materials (48%), extended delivery times from material suppliers (47%), lack of labor (44%) and lack of availability on shipping vessels (41%). Globally, the most common results of supply chain disruptions are delays for customers (42%), stalled production (42%), and loss of compliance with new regulations (39%). Within the U.S., a plurality (43%) of respondents reported that supply chain disruptions resulted in delays for their customers, down from 52% in 2023 and 58% in 2022. Inflation has been a primary concern among supply chain executives in recent years and impacts numerous business areas. This year, 36% of U.S. organizations cited cost of materials as the area most impacted by inflation (down from 43% in 2023). On a global scale, respondents reported transportation (38%) and cost of materials (34%) as the business areas most impacted by rising costs. The combination of disruptions and inflation has resulted in lower profit margins for many businesses. Most organizations (60%) in the U.S. reported decreased profit margins over the last year, the highest percentage of any of the regions surveyed. Globally, 46% of organizations’ profit margins fell amid rising costs. Supply Chain Executives Focus on AI and Sustainability Investments In response to these challenges, many supply chain executives are pursuing strategic investments – particularly in AI and sustainability. Nearly 8 out of 10 global organizations (79%) increased their investments in supply chain operations, and only 4% reduced investments. Globally, 51% of companies invested more than $10 million in supply chain investment. In the U.S., these investments are growing at a quick rate, with 49% of organizations investing more than $10 million in supply chains, compared to 38% in 2023 and 24% in 2022. For 48% of global organizations, sustainability is the key area of investment, followed by AI-based technology (41%), developing new strategy (40%), additional workforce (39%), and digital transformation (37%). The U.S. leads global sustainability investment, with 55% (up from 42% in 2023 and 43% in 2022) of organizations focused on improving efforts in that area. This is compared to 27% for UK companies, 49% for DACH countries, and 46% for France/BENELUX. For U.S. organizations, the key areas of focus for maximizing sustainability throughout the supply chain are improving transportation efficiency (59%), reducing waste and excess (57%), and improving supplier sustainability and reporting (53%). “It’s encouraging to see the upward trend of sustainability investment in the U.S. over the last two years,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder. “This trend is reflective of increased global demand for improved sustainability, especially in the U.S., where sustainability hasn’t been as much of a key focus compared to other regions.” “Only 2% of respondents identified sustainability as their primary role within their company, but sustainability still rose to the top as a key investment,” said van Gendt. “This is likely a signal that supply chain roles are increasingly responsible for driving the sustainability of the overall business.” As the second-most common supply chain investment, AI has been widely adopted by organizations around the world. Over half of global organizations are applying AI to supply chain planning (56%), transportation (53%), and order management (50%). And amid the rise of generative AI, most global organizations (80%) have implemented this technology in their supply chains at some level, whether fully (12%), partially (33%) or piloted (35%). Generative AI is also having an overwhelmingly positive impact: 91% of global organizations find generative AI to be effective in optimizing supply chain processes and decision-making. “Companies are realizing the power of AI and generative AI on their supply chains. This technology is changing the way companies plan their supply, react to changes in demand, and pivot through disruptions. To truly digitally transform your supply chain means incorporating AI to stay ahead and meet your business objectives,” said Morgan-Vandome. Supply chain investments continue to drive efficiencies for businesses. In the U.S., 61% of organizations reported improved efficiencies because of supply chain investments, compared to 54% in 2023. Supply chain investments are also driving expanded market share in the U.S. (39% in 2024, 21% in 2023), increased revenue growth (38% in 2024, 39% in 2023) and fewer disruptions (41% in 2024, 42% in 2023). Blue Yonder executives will discuss these topics and more at ICON 2024, the premier conference for supply chain professionals, May 13 – 16, in Dallas. Click here to register and learn more about the event. Research Methodology Blue Yonder’s 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey was fielded by a third-party provider and conducted from March 1-15, 2024. Responses were collected from more than 600 C-suite and senior executives across manufacturing, retail, third-party logistics, and government, with responsibility for supply chain strategy, planning, logistics and manufacturing operations in the U.S., UK, DACH (which includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland), and France/BENELUX (which includes Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Additional Resources Learn more about the 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey results via the infographic and e-book About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Breaking Analysis theCUBE Research Supply Chain Planning as an Intelligent Data App](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/breaking-analysis-thecube-research-supply-chain-planning-as-an-intelligent-data-app) > In this Breaking Analysis podcast episode and article, Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove and CTO Salil Joshi talk with host Dave Vellante and George Gilbert to discuss supply chain and intelligent data applications. Watch the podcast episode and read the resulting article here. Press Release Breaking Analysis (theCUBE Research): Supply Chain Planning as an Intelligent Data App Breaking Analysis (theCUBE Research): Supply Chain Planning as an Intelligent Data App Blue Yonder , May 4, 2024 1 minute read In this Breaking Analysis podcast episode and article, Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove and CTO Salil Joshi talk with host Dave Vellante and George Gilbert to discuss supply chain and intelligent data applications. Watch the podcast episode and read the resulting article here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Social Capital Insider Remember Empty Shelves and Stockpiled Toilet Paper Blue Yonders AI](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/social-capital-insider-remember-empty-shelves-and-stockpiled-toilet-paper--blue-yonders-ai) > Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove discusses supercharging the supply chain in this Social Capital Insider interview with Chris Benguhe, Founder & President/Publisher of Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital and the Social Capital Insider. Listen to the interview here. Press Release Social Capital Insider: Remember Empty Shelves and Stockpiled Toilet Paper – Blue Yonder’s AI Solution Promises Never Again (podcast) Social Capital Insider: Remember Empty Shelves and Stockpiled Toilet Paper – Blue Yonder’s AI Solution Promises Never Again (podcast) Blue Yonder , May 2, 2024 1 minute read Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove discusses supercharging the supply chain in this Social Capital Insider interview with Chris Benguhe, Founder & President/Publisher of Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital and the Social Capital Insider . Listen to the interview here . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 13th Time in a Row](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2024-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-warehouse-management-systems) > Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain transformations, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2024 Magic Quadrant for WMS based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner ® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 13th Time in a Row Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems Report for 13th Time in a Row Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – May 7, 2024 5 minute read Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems1 Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformations, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2024 Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 2 (WMS) based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Blue Yonder attributes its success to the depth and breadth of its Warehouse Management solutions – powered by the Blue Yonder Platform – offering customers the comprehensive capabilities needed today and the strategic positioning for the future. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader for the 13 th time in a row in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for WMS 3 . “The warehouse plays a critical role in the supply chain, and companies need to build greater resilience across their warehouse, transportation, and planning to better serve their customers,” said Andrea Morgan-Vandome, chief innovation officer, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions offer companies the ability to orchestrate sourcing, production, logistics, and network strategies in a single platform. With this holistic approach, companies can better plan their network, warehouse, and labor capacities from end-to-end. This provides shortened lead times, improved service levels, optimized operational efficiencies, maximized realization of business opportunities, and reduced cost.” Blue Yonder’s warehouse customers span 19 vertical industries, including consumer products, food & beverage (F&B), grocery, automotive, industrial, life-science, and logistics service providers. Blue Yonder has a solid history of delivering its Warehouse Management solutions to its customers through its strong partner ecosystem globally and its Blue Yonder Global Professional Services. “Pegasus Logistics Group's selection of the Blue Yonder’s supply chain cloud platform was an easy decision that delivers value from day one. It’s a perfect fit to combine Pegasus Logistic Group’s best-in-class white glove services with Blue Yonder's industry-leading software solutions. The Pegasus implementation of Blue Yonder’s cloud-enabled Warehouse Management solution provides speed-to-market that delivers turnkey, feature-rich solutions for our clients and internal stakeholders,” said Marc Sherman, CIO, Pegasus Logistics Group. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management’s capabilities are shaped through decades of continuous product development to design the latest cutting-edge technology to meet the intricate needs of the world’s most complex warehouse operations. Examples include the ability to designate comprehensive inventory characteristics, manage temperature zone and shelf-life requirements, direct build-to-stock and build-to-order requirements, and process outbound activities for omni-channel commerce and fulfillment. Blue Yonder empowers businesses to consistently deliver high service at a value-driven cost. Customers drive better performance and customer service with real-time transaction processing, optimized storage and selection strategies, directed task management, configured workflows, integrated labor standards, and more. Extensibility without needing customizations and expensive resources is also a key enabler for many customers as system requirements are rapidly evolving. The Blue Yonder Platform provides real-time scalable performance and allows the company to continually innovate and enhance its warehouse solutions. Blue Yonder’s end-to-end warehouse offerings, including Warehouse Management, Labor Management and Warehouse Execution System (including Warehouse Tasking and Robotics Hub) are powered by the Blue Yonder Platform. These solutions provide optimal performance within the four walls of a central distribution center, regional facility, or local micro-fulfillment center. A key capability within the Warehouse Execution System, Warehouse Tasking has advanced prioritization logic, including automatic escalation and de-escalation of tasks, resource capacity smoothing, and task sequencing that enables the agility and responsiveness desired by today’s demanding warehouse operations. Enhanced prioritization logic in Warehouse Tasking now promotes the priority of loads that fall behind schedule – assessing the capacity of current resources and directing tasks to assure that cut-off times and service level agreements are properly addressed in time constrained environments. With this latest Gartner Warehouse Management System Magic Quadrant, Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems 1 . Additional Resources: Download a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports at blueyonder.com/MQs Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management and Blue Yonder Platform Learn more about Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Execution System Read our blog about why we are a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WMS Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024; Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024; Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. 2 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024. 3 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA because the company rebranded in early 2020. Also, recognitions were in the post-JDA/RedPrairie acquisition timeframe announced in 2012. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for Fourth Year in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2024-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-supply-chain-planning-solutions) > Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain transformations, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2024 Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions1 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Press Release Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for Fourth Year in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions for Fourth Year in a Row, Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – April 29, 2024 5 minute read Blue Yonder is recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Transportation Management Systems and Warehouse Management Systems4 Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformations, has been positioned by Gartner as a Leader in the recently released 2024 Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 1 based on the Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. The company is positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision. Blue Yonder attributes its success to its strong cognitive planning capabilities – built on the Blue Yonder Platform – that offer advanced end-to-end and integrated supply chain planning solutions, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities, and data management. In addition, the company’s recent acquisition of flexis AG , expands the company’s factory planning, scheduling, sequencing, and slotting capabilities. Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader four consecutive times in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions. The company was also named a Leader four times in the previously published Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning System of Record report that was published during 2010, 2014, 2016, and2018 2 . “Our customers are seeking a new approach to supply chain management, one specifically designed to tackle the agility and resilience demands posed by the daily challenges of volatile supply chains,” said Andrea Morgan-Vandome, chief innovation officer, Blue Yonder. “Blue Yonder’s cognitive solutions, powered by predictive and generative AI, ensure that planning and execution work seamlessly in tandem on a large scale. Our planning solutions span every tier of the supply chain, work off a common set of data and are objective led. They are execution aware which means if a disruption or opportunity is sensed, our patented solvers will recommend options for collaborative resolution. This has replaced conventional ‘scenario’ or ‘what if’ planning with objective-led, range-based planning, preparing the enterprise for many possible futures.” In addition, according to the 2024 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions report 3 , Blue Yonder ranked first in Vendors’ Product Scores for Supply Planning Use Case and ranked third in Vendors’ Product Scores for Demand Planning Use Case. Blue Yonder supply chain planning capabilities use AI and ML, along with real-time data across the end-to-end supply chain, from suppliers to consumers, to sense, predict and act based on high-quality and highly-accurate plans. With ML forecasting, inventory and supply optimization, detailed scheduling, network design, transportation load building, large-scale retail deployment, and e-commerce promising all operating seamlessly, customers can reduce the decision cycle times, improve service level and margin, and enable growth. For example, AI scenario planning and real-time ML predictions are shifting planning workflows away from the constraints of overnight batches. In addition, the always-on planning approach allows businesses to quickly identify improvement opportunities and potential challenges, enabling planners to respond appropriately to maximize performance and minimize risk. “Enabling the growth of our innovative and differentiated product portfolio meant that we needed a world-class supply-chain solution that could meet the complex requirements of our business and ‘Digital First’ strategy. After a rigorous evaluation, we selected Blue Yonder as the provider best suited to support our current and future needs,” said Chance Finley, vice president, Global Supply Chain Operations, onsemi. With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning, Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems 4 . Additional Resources: Download/read a copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning report Learn more about Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions and Blue Yonder Platform Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. 2 From 2010-2018, Blue Yonder was recognized as “JDA” or “JDA Software” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning System of Record. The report was revised and changed names, publishing for the first time in 2021 as the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions. 3 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 30 April 2024. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 8 May 2023; Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024; Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chains at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Industry Conference](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/companies-can-superpower-their-supply-chains-at-blue-yonder-icon-the-premier-industry-conference) > Taking place in Dallas, May 13-16, ICON 2024 will showcase how next generation end-to-end solutions and cutting-edge AI can power supply chain resilience. Press Release Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chains at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Industry Conference Companies Can “Superpower” Their Supply Chains at Blue Yonder ICON, the Premier Industry Conference Blue Yonder , DALLAS and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – April 23, 2024 4 minute read Taking place in Dallas, May 13-16, ICON 2024 will showcase how next generation end-to-end solutions and cutting-edge AI can power supply chain resilience Supply chain executives need to be able to see across the enterprise, plan into the future with infinite outcomes, and move with the speed of change. That’s why Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformations, is inviting them to attend ICON 2024 – the premier conference for supply chain leaders in manufacturing, logistics and retail  – taking place in Dallas, May 13-16, 2024. At this year’s event, attendees can learn how next generation cognitive supply chains powered by cutting-edge AI and a unified data cloud are helping companies pivot through disruptions to create a more resilient supply chain. With a theme of “Superpowered Supply Chains,” ICON 2024 features over 170 educational sessions, including over 55 customer presenters and 30 special interest group meetings, along with an Innovation Experience that will feature Blue Yonder’s solutions and 56 ecosystem partners. Diamond partner sponsors at ICON 2024 include: Accenture, Microsoft, and Panasonic Connect. Speaking during the opening general session will be Marci Rossell , an expert economic forecaster, former CNBC chief economist, and co-host of Squawk Box. Rossell will look at the current state of global supply chains and the inflection point that the industry is facing. Rossell will discuss the imperative for change to drive more successful businesses and a more sustainable planet, and how Blue Yonder is positioned to help companies do just that. The invitation-only ICON Executive Exchange, sponsored by Accenture , features a curated program geared toward company executives to network and share perspectives and experiences on driving supply chain sustainability, resilience, and reinvention. This year’s Executive Exchange will feature a keynote by the star of ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond John . Closing out ICON 2024 will be Drew Brees , 2009 Super Bowl MVP and former quarterback of the New Orleans Saints. A thirteen-time Pro Bowl honoree, Brees is recognized for both his on-field performances and off-field community service and business endeavors. Known for his comeback, Brees will inspire business leaders to persevere during times of uncertainty and how they can come out on top. In addition, attendees will enjoy a live performance by Grammy® nominated band ONEREPUBLIC . Blue Yonder customer and industry speakers at this year’s event include representatives from more than 55 leading brands such as: ABB, Alcon, Altria Group, Inc., Anheuser-Busch InBev, Arcadia Cold, Ardagh Group / Ardagh Glass Packaging-North America, Aritzia, Bayer Crop Science, Brenntag SE, Brookshire Grocery Co., Caterpillar Inc., Coca-Cola FEMSA, Coke One North America (CONA) Services, Crate & Barrel, Dawn Foods, DENSO, Federated Co-operatives Limited, Ferrara Candy Company, Harris Teeter, Kohler, Mars, Meijer, Merit Medical, Micron Technology, Nestlé Purina Petcare, ODL, Inc., onsemi, Reckitt, Penske Logistics, Pilot Company, Reliable Transportation Solutions, School Specialty, Solidigm, and Tractor Supply Company . ICON 2024 will also feature an extensive Innovation Experience where attendees can: Interact with the latest SaaS solutions for category management, labor management, order management, retail and merchandise planning, supply chain planning, transportation, and warehouse management. Engage with 56 Blue Yonder ecosystem partners and learn how their technology enhances Blue Yonder’s supply chain and commerce solutions. Meet with the Composable Journey team to understand how to accelerate their route to an autonomous supply chain through Blue Yonder innovation. Network and meet with Blue Yonder and other industry experts. Watch live, 20-minute theater sessions, called Blue Yonder Live, to hear unique, behind-the-scenes perspectives from subject matter experts on generative AI, product design and user experience (UX), new offerings, and more. Other event highlights include: Women in Tech Luncheon: Join sponsors Microsoft and Panasonic Connect for a luncheon that will highlight the power of women in supply chain and technology. According to the WomenTech Network, women held 35% of tech jobs in the U.S. at the end of 2023, underscoring the need to bring more awareness to the importance of gender diversity in the workforce. The event will feature a “Visionaries in Tech: How Women are Shaping the Future of Technology and Supply Chains” panel with several speakers, including Yukiko Yamaguchi, chief marketing officer, Panasonic Connect, and Shanthi Rajagopalan, global head of Strategy, Retail and Consumer Goods, Microsoft. Meet flexis: Earlier this year, Blue Yonder announced it acquired flexis AG , expanding the company’s transportation planning, scheduling, sequencing and slotting capabilities. Members of flexis’ leadership team will be presenting during two breakout sessions alongside key customers, including Coca-Cola FEMSA. flexis will also have a presence in the Innovation Experience where attendees can learn more about its solutions. ICONic Customer Awards: Blue Yonder will announce the winners of this year’s ICONic Customer Awards , which acknowledge the success, impact and results of Blue Yonder’s customers who are embracing innovation, challenging the status quo, and delivering great results. Additional Resources: Register for Blue Yonder ICON 2024, taking place in Dallas from May 13-16, 2024: blueyonder.com/icon About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [RaceTrac Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Warehousing Operations and Transportation Modeling](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/racetrac-selects-blue-yonder-to-digitally-transform-its-warehousing-operations-and-transportation) > Leading convenience store retailer will implement several Blue Yonder Supply Chain Execution solutions to meet company growth plans and improve warehouse capabilities, labor management and network performance, supported by Open Sky Group. Press Release RaceTrac Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Warehousing Operations and Transportation Modeling RaceTrac Selects Blue Yonder To Digitally Transform Its Warehousing Operations and Transportation Modeling Blue Yonder , ATLANTA and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – April 16, 2024 4 minute read Leading convenience store retailer will implement several Blue Yonder Supply Chain Execution solutions to meet company growth plans and improve warehouse capabilities, labor management and network performance, supported by Open Sky Group As consumer expectations continue to evolve, retailers need to synchronize their execution across operations, resulting in faster transit times and reduced cost-to-serve. That’s why RaceTrac , a leading convenience store retailer, has selected Blue Yonder to digitally transform its warehousing operations and transportation modeling capabilities. The retailer will implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management , Labor Management , and Transportation Modeling solutions to support future company expansion. RaceTrac is a family-owned and operated convenience store retailer that operates nearly 800 retail stores, under the RaceTrac® and RaceWay® brands. Today, the retailer’s geographic footprint is concentrated across 13 states. The company has aggressive growth and expansion for new markets, with a focus on its largest travel center format. RaceTrac’s current execution-focused solutions were not able to meet these future growth plans, so the company is turning to Blue Yonder, its supply chain solutions provider for category management. The project will be implemented by Open Sky Group , Blue Yonder’s partner. With Blue Yonder, RaceTrac will be able to: Support store growth and geographic expansion initiatives. Automate supply chain execution processes, synchronize warehouse execution, as well as optimize labor retention. Quickly onboard and seamlessly embed advancements in automation to further streamline operations. Provide early visibility to demand and corresponding labor requirements to realize a more balanced and consistent operational experience, as well as improve labor standards and incentive pay. Enhance the balance between carriers and private fleet, determine the appropriate size and deployment of private fleet, optimize fleet routing, and lay the foundation for continuous optimization while extending its transportation network. “We needed a solution that would allow us to not only improve our basic system functionality but allow us to meet the needs of our growing business,” said Daniel Vasseur, executive director, Merchandise Supply Chain, RaceTrac. “After evaluating several vendors, we knew Blue Yonder was the right supply chain solutions provider as they could truly provide the end-to-end capabilities that we needed to digitally transform our operations and allow us to grow as our business and customer needs changed. Having worked with them for more than 20 years in the category management space, we are looking forward to implementing these – and future – solutions with them.” The Blue Yonder solutions will enable RaceTrac to gain more flexibility, real-time responsiveness, and prescriptive mobile workflows to easily manage complex warehouse operations, as well as unlocking opportunities for greater efficiency, performance, and cost reductions across the warehouse. At the same time, RaceTrac can manage labor to drive employee engagement and performance to enhance business results. With Blue Yonder Transportation Modeling, RaceTrac can effectively reduce transportation costs and minimize distances and carbon footprint by optimizing their carrier-private fleet mix, fleet size, deployment, and routing. “We are excited to assist RaceTrac with their Blue Yonder Warehouse and Labor Management solutions implementation in four warehouses across the southern U.S.,” said Eric McPherson, vice president, Client Services, Open Sky Group. “These solutions are going to increase their warehouse efficiency and give them a competitive advantage in a challenging supply chain landscape.” “Having been a trusted supply chain solutions provider to RaceTrac for more than 20 years, we are excited that they selected us to lead their digital transformation journey. RaceTrac’s warehousing capabilities will be greatly enhanced once they implement Blue Yonder Warehouse Management and with Labor Management and Transportation Modeling their ability to better manage their labor and network performance will greatly improve. We are excited to be on this journey with them now and into the future,” said Vince Beacom, senior vice president, Retail, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management , Labor Management , and Transportation Modeling solutions Watch the “ Warehouse of the Future” video About RaceTrac Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, family-owned RaceTrac is the 22nd largest privately held company in the United States and has been serving guests since 1934. RaceTrac has nearly 800 retail locations representing the RaceTrac® and RaceWay® brands in 13 states offering guests an affordable one-stop-shop featuring competitively priced fuel plus a wide selection of food and beverage favorites, including freshly brewed coffee. RaceTrac employs more than 10,500 team members across RaceTrac, RaceWay and affiliated companies Metroplex Energy and Energy Dispatch. About Open Sky Group Open Sky Group, global specialists in warehouse management, labor management, and transportation management solutions, helps clients lower costs and risks with its proprietary methodology and no-modifications approach to upgrades and implementations. As one of the largest dedicated WMS Implementation Partner and one of the first accredited for WMS, Open Sky Group is committed to client success and strives every day to be the best consulting partner on the planet for supply chain solutions. openskygroup.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Announces Binding Agreement To Acquire One Network Enterprises for Approximately $839 Million To Create Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Ecosystem](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-announces-binding-agreement-to-acquire-one-network-enterprises-for-approximately-839) > The deal will mark approximately $1 billion of investments in acquisitions since Q4 2023 and positions Blue Yonder to provide a unified end-to-end supply chain platform and collaboration ecosystem. Press Release Blue Yonder Announces Binding Agreement To Acquire One Network Enterprises for Approximately $839 Million To Create Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Ecosystem Blue Yonder Announces Binding Agreement To Acquire One Network Enterprises for Approximately $839 Million To Create Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Ecosystem Blue Yonder , DALLAS and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – March 29, 2024 4 minute read The deal will mark approximately $1 billion of investments in acquisitions since Q4 2023 and positions Blue Yonder to provide a unified end-to-end supply chain platform and collaboration ecosystem Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformations, continues its forward momentum to revolutionize the supply chain and has today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire One Network Enterprises (One Network) for approximately $839 million, subject to adjustments. One Network, provider of the Digital Supply Chain Network™, is known for its autonomous and resilience services and is a leading global provider of intelligent control towers. Upon completion, Blue Yonder will be well positioned to serve customers’ needs across planning, execution, commerce, and networks. “Supply chains have become more complex, and as more and more companies reduce risk by diversifying sourcing of products globally, there is an increased demand for the sharing of information and resources across the whole value chain. This, along with increased disruptions and geopolitical risks, have put the pressure on organizations to build more resilient and robust supply chains,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “Combined with One Network’s capabilities, Blue Yonder will establish itself as a leading supply chain solutions company that can offer a unified, end-to-end supply chain ecosystem that is resilient enough to withstand today’s challenges, and synthesized with innovative, future-focused technologies.” The combination of One Network’s Digital Supply Chain Network™ and Blue Yonder’s supply chain capabilities create an ecosystem that: Offers real-time, multi-enterprise optimization, orchestration and collaboration both inside and outside an organization – across multi-tiers from customers to carriers to suppliers to the suppliers’ suppliers. Allows customers to move from the order planning phase to the fulfillment phase instantly, eliminating the time gap that normally occurs from entering the order to beginning the physical fulfillment. Customers can also tap into a more complete and actionable data set across the multi-enterprise ecosystem by setting up alerts, benefitting from automation, and leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI). Provides real-time visibility across the supply chain, allowing customers to take immediate action via upstream and downstream collaboration. Unifies disparate data silos, enabling a holistic, executive-level view into the entire supply chain – resulting in the ability to automatically optimize and execute through prescriptive real-time decision-making technology. In addition, carriers and suppliers will be able to leverage a range of services designed specifically for their needs, including: advanced shipment scheduling management, telematics tracking and predictive insights, real-time visibility to on-time delivery trends (by site, lane, carrier, distribution center), and the ability to manage by exception. “Supply chains continue to be fragmented and overwhelmed with disruptions. What’s needed is a unified platform that enables multi-tier orchestration, planning and collaboration that accelerates processes with autonomous and semi-autonomous decision-making and execution across trading partners. This is the next step to creating a resilient and collaborative supply chain,” said Greg Brady, chairman and founder, One Network. “Blue Yonder offers the most complete portfolio in the industry, spanning from planning to execution. Coupled with our network and multi-enterprise, multi-tier platform, we’re poised to form a backbone of this new supply chain of the future.” By tapping into One Network’s revolutionary platform and multi-party network, leveraged by over 150,000 trading partners, Blue Yonder’s customers will benefit from an ecosystem that: Accelerates end-to-end decision-making, with increased visibility into materials, resources, loads, routes, and capacity. Offers real-time insights and predictions, enabling the ability to take action across the supply chain ecosystem, leading to fewer disruptions and a more resilient supply chain. Shares data seamlessly across the entire multi-tier supply chain, including suppliers and carriers, allowing for streamlined insights into potential disruptions and the ability to mitigate risk. Improves supplier and carrier collaboration processes – from order creation through scheduling and fulfillment – from days to minutes, removing inaccuracies, reducing time, and decreasing cost. Enables the journey to autonomous supply chain management through Smart Prescriptions™, adaptive flows, and interactive visualizations, powered by proprietary AI technology. The closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions precedent in transactions of this type, including necessary regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur in Q2 or Q3 2024. This deal is indicative of Blue Yonder's momentum in the supply chain management space, and when completed, will mark approximately $1 billion in M&A investments covering three acquisitions since Q4 2023. This announcement comes on the heels of Blue Yonder’s acquisition of flexis AG , offering factory planning, sequencing and slotting capabilities, and Doddle , offering returns management and reverse logistics solutions. About One Network Enterprises One Network Enterprises (ONE) is a leading global provider of intelligent control towers and the Digital Supply Chain Network™. Its solutions give supply chain managers and executives end-to-end visibility and control with one data model and one truth, from raw material to last-mile delivery. Powered by NEO, One Network’s machine learning and intelligent agent technology, it enables seamless planning and execution, across inbound supply, outbound order fulfillment, and logistics, matching demand with available supply in real-time. Lead your industry by providing the highest service levels and product quality at the lowest possible cost. Visit: www.onenetwork.com About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Prioritize Sustainability Over Price, Convenience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-survey-consumers-willing-to-prioritize-sustainability-over-price-convenience) > Third annual sustainability survey polled U.S. consumers on sustainable shopping habits, brand credibility, electric vehicles, and more Press Release Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Prioritize Sustainability Over Price, Convenience Blue Yonder Survey: Consumers Willing to Prioritize Sustainability Over Price, Convenience Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – March 18, 2024 5 minute read Third annual sustainability survey polled U.S. consumers on sustainable shopping habits, brand credibility, electric vehicles, and more Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released the results of its third annual Consumer Sustainability Survey, which polled U.S.-based respondents on their habits and preferences for environmentally-friendly shopping. Sustainability remains a top priority for consumers, with 78% of respondents reporting that sustainability concerns are very or somewhat important to them when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer. “We’re encouraged to see that the majority of consumers take sustainability into account when making purchasing decisions,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “It’s especially promising that so many respondents are willing to spend more for sustainable products, given that price concerns, exacerbated by the ongoing challenge of inflation, have marked conversations around consumer behavior over the last year. Their willingness to spend more should send a clear message to brands and retailers that investing in sustainable solutions and practices is worthwhile, not only for the planet but also for maintaining consumer loyalty and trust.” Sustainability Remains a Key Priority for Consumers, Especially Gen Z and Millennials Survey results also showed that consumers not only have a continued interest in sustainable shopping habits, but also they are willing to pay more and opt for greener shipping options. A healthy majority (70%) of consumers indicated that they have shopped at a retailer promoting their products as sustainable at least once or more in the past six months, which closely matches the 74% who reported doing so in 2022 and 2023 . Interest in sustainability is also growing at a steady pace: 47% of consumers reported that their interest in shopping sustainably has greatly or slightly increased in the last year. That interest is underscored by consumers’ willingness to spend more for sustainable products, with 40% of respondents saying they would pay up to an additional 5%, and 25% saying they would pay an additional 10% or more. An impressive 83% of consumers reported that they are willing to delay deliveries if an incentive is given to do so. However, this flexibility has its limits. Only 23% of respondents said they were willing to delay a delivery by a week or more. Nearly half (47%) of consumers also said they would be likely or very likely to pay more for greener shipping options such as lower carbon footprint delivery and sustainable packaging. Sentiments toward sustainable delivery differ slightly by generation 1 . Millennials (85%) are the most likely to delay product delivery, followed by Gen Z (79%), Gen X (76%) and Baby Boomers (67%). More broadly, Gen Z and Millennials are most concerned with sustainability, with 85% and 84%, respectively, reporting that sustainability considerations are important to them. Consumers Prefer Certain Products, Methods For Prioritizing Sustainability The products consumers eat and bring into their homes are top of mind when it comes to sustainability. Over half of consumers reported that they incorporated sustainable food products (60%) and household products (55%) into their shopping habits in the past year. Respondents are also cognizant of the methods brands use to improve sustainability: 61% of consumers said reducing food or inventory waste was the most important environmental practice a retailer or brand should adopt. An equal number (61%) said using recycled content or recycled packaging. “Consumers are looking closely at exactly how brands are executing on their sustainability goals,” said van Gendt. “With more than one-third (35%) of respondents reporting that they don’t trust brands’ sustainability claims, it’s more important than ever for companies to have full visibility into their supply chain operations so they can back up their sustainability claims with tangible data to strengthen consumer trust.” Other Key Findings: Consumers Value Sustainability from Delivery Companies: Consumers are looking at sustainability throughout the entire end-to-end supply chain, including last-mile delivery. More than half (59%) of respondents reported increased purchasing sentiment toward online shopping with delivery companies who invest in electric trucking to deliver orders. Electric Vehicles: Consumers’ sustainable mindsets are extending to their car shopping habits as well, which is important as personalization continues to become a trend in auto manufacturing. When it comes to electric vehicles, 40% of respondents would be likely or very likely to consider purchasing one. Of those who would purchase, 55% were Millennials, 48% Gen Z, 36% Gen X, and 20% Boomers. The top concerns shared by respondents around owning an electric vehicle include range anxiety, i.e., fear of running out of battery charge (62%), limited charging infrastructure (58%), and the initial cost of the vehicle (58%). The top benefits shared by respondents influencing consumers’ interest in EVs include cost savings on fuel (55%), range on a single charge (46%), government incentives (40%), and environmental impact (40%). Skepticism Toward Sustainability Claims: Consumers’ enthusiasm for sustainability isn’t superficial, and they tend to think critically about brands’ claims. Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they can only “sometimes” trust a brand’s sustainability claims, depending on its message, brand reputation and history. More than one-third (35%) of respondents said they do not trust brands’ claims, citing the need for their own additional research (21%) and the belief that brands tout sustainability regardless of whether it aligns with their actions (14%). Blue Yonder will showcase these findings and more at Shoptalk 2024 in Las Vegas from March 17 - 20. Learn more about how AI-enabled supply chains can save the world here . Research Methodology Blue Yonder collected responses between Feb. 21-22, 2024, from more than 1,000 U.S.-based consumers, 18 years and older, via a third-party provider for this Consumer Sustainability Survey. 1 Survey respondents were broken down by the following age groups: 18-28, 29-43, 44-58, and 59-plus. Additional Resources Learn more about the Consumer Sustainability Survey results via the infographic About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Farmacias Peruanas Transforms Category Management and Improves Customer Experience With Blue](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/farmacias-peruanas-transforms-category-management-and-improves-customer-experience-with-blue) > Leading Peruvian pharmacy chain improves assortment, space planning and analytic capabilities with Blue Yonder solutions. Press Release Farmacias Peruanas Transforms Category Management and Improves Customer Experience With Blue Yonder and GOLDCO Farmacias Peruanas Transforms Category Management and Improves Customer Experience With Blue Yonder and GOLDCO Blue Yonder , LIMA, Peru, and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – March 27, 2024 3 minute read Leading Peruvian pharmacy chain improves assortment, space planning and analytic capabilities with Blue Yonder solutions As supply chain disruptions continue, pharmacy retailers must find ways to optimize their stores so consumers can find the critical medication and supplies they need. That’s why Farmacias Peruanas , Peru’s largest pharmacy retail chain, digitally transformed its supply chain with Blue Yonder Category Management solutions to improve its customer experience by reducing stockouts and enhancing store layouts and space. The project was successfully implemented by GOLDCO , a Blue Yonder partner. Farmacias Peruanas, part of the Intercorp Group, is the largest pharmacy retailer in Peru, formed by the union of two brands: Inkafarma and Mifarma. The pharmacy retailer has more than 20,000 employees who work in more than 2,000 locations across Peru. The company’s motto is: "To protect the health and well-being of all Peruvian families." The company wanted to automate and improve its category management capabilities from manual processes, so it turned to the industry leader in category management, Blue Yonder, and a leading implementation partner with extensive experience in retail strategy, GOLDCO. Thanks to Blue Yonder and GOLDCO, Farmacias Peruanas has been able to: Gain better control over the master planogram to allow staff to implement changes quickly and increase its analytic timeline for each category. Improve the customer shopping experience by allocating space strategically, driven by data and analytics, as well as inventory requirements. Optimize layouts across stores, increasing space productivity and reducing out-of-stocks – all to increase customer satisfaction and drive higher sales. “We were looking for the latest category management technology to efficiently communicate information and strategy across the organization. Thanks to the Blue Yonder solution and its capabilities, we have been able to integrate it into our strategic, tactical, and operational processes, greatly improving customer service. And thanks to their partner GOLDCO, the implementation was a success and we are already seeing the benefits,” said Lili Rios, Category Management and New Formats development manager, Farmacias Peruanas. Blue Yonder Category Management solutions have allowed Farmacias Peruanas to deliver consistent store layouts, optimize space to meet peak demand and avoid stockouts, and prioritize space for profitable categories. By leveraging SaaS, Farmacias Peruanas will have unmatched scalability and reliability, as well as the ability to take advantage of new solution innovations as soon as they’re available. "In collaboration with Blue Yonder, we automated category management operations at Farmacias Peruanas, optimizing store layouts and enhancing the shopping experience with data-driven insights. We look forward to continuing to develop this partnership into new levels," said Jorge Mosqueda, director, Category Management Solutions, GOLDCO. “Farmacias Peruanas was looking for a category management strategy that could pivot as customer preference and demand changed. With Blue Yonder Category Management solutions, they can build and maintain store-specific planograms as needed to drive more efficiency for their planners and staff to better meet these changing needs. We are excited to be part of their transformation journey,” said Albert Jung, senior director, Retail - LATAM, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about Blue Yonder Category Management solutions Learn how to achieve smarter category management with Blue Yonder About Farmacias Peruanas Farmacias Peruanas is the largest retailer specialized in pharmacies in Peru. The company manages the two top-of-mind brands in the industry: Inkafarma and Mifarma. It is part of the Intercorp group. The company has more than 20,000 employees who work in more than 2,000 points of sale on the coast, mountains, and Peruvian jungle. Their main goal and reason to exist is: "To protect the health and well-being of all Peruvian families." About GOLDCO We are the consulting firm specializing in assisting in the definition of the appropriate strategic route for our clients, helping to manage it through value practices, supporting its implementation, accompanying the end-to-end process. We have worked with retail companies throughout Latin America in CATMAN implementation projects that led them to achieve their revenue goals and maximize the capabilities of Blue Yonder Category Management Solutions. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Grupo Comercial Control Selects Blue Yonder and GOLDCO To Digitally Transform and Offer Better Shopper Experience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/grupo-comercial-control-selects-blue-yonder-and-goldco-to-digitally-transform-and-offer-better) > Leading Mexican retailer looks to expand its analysis and category understanding capabilities with Blue Yonder Category Management. Press Release Grupo Comercial Control Selects Blue Yonder and GOLDCO To Digitally Transform and Offer Better Shopper Experience Grupo Comercial Control Selects Blue Yonder and GOLDCO To Digitally Transform and Offer Better Shopper Experience Blue Yonder , MEXICO CITY and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – March 7, 2024 4 minute read Leading Mexican retailer looks to expand its analysis and category understanding capabilities with Blue Yonder Category Management In a highly competitive industry, retailers must be able to make decisions quickly and efficiently to meet consumer demands. That’s why Grupo Comercial Control, a leading Mexican retailer, has selected to deploy Blue Yonder Category Management to address a gap in its retail operations and gain the ability to create planograms that offer a better shopper experience by minimizing out-of-stock products. The deployment of the SaaS solution will be managed by GOLDCO , a Blue Yonder partner. Grupo Comercial Control has more than 60 years of department store experience through the Del Sol and Woolworth brands, as well as Noreste Grill restaurants. The retailer has more than 120 stores across 70 cities in 25 Mexican states. Grupo Comercial Control was looking for a solution that would allow it to satisfy its consumers by exceeding purchase expectations, as well as increasing profitability to potentially expand their business. The retailer is turning to its long-time supply chain solutions provider, Blue Yonder, and a leading implementation partner with extensive experience in retail strategy, GOLDCO. Grupo Comercial Control currently utilizes several Blue Yonder solutions as part of its strategy to digitalize and optimize its operations. Once Blue Yonder’s solution is implemented by GOLDCO, Grupo Comercial Control will be better equipped to: Standardize business rules to ensure that the product assortments selected for each category meet the company's defined strategies, as well as the expected performance within the category is performed in an agile and consistent manner. Complement the category analysis with inputs such as: producing market information (make real-time comparisons of positioning versus market categories), including trade agreements or agreements with category captains, and creating dashboards to verify the value/growth of proposed changes. Clear definition of objectives based on measurable KPIs, evolving the portfolio of products offered to its customers. “We were seeking a solution to help us enhance the analysis of our product categories against the industry challenges and changing consumer demand. Blue Yonder’s category management solution allows us to complement and improve our assortment proposal for our different categories and customer segments. We are looking forward to implementing the solution so we can become more agile in our stores and to simplify the processes for our employees in turn improving their work environment and giving them the ability to focus on pleasing our customers,” said Antonio Palos, sub director, Central Office, Grupo Comercial Control. The Blue Yonder Category Management solution offers an assortment optimization capability that takes the product assortment recommendation process to the next level by translating the common principles and priorities of an assortment selection (e.g., consumer decision trees, historical shopper information, etc.) into actionable or assortment tactics, making an ideal assortment recommendation for the business. Assortment optimization brings a consistent approach to the assortment selection process, so different assortment updates (e.g., range reviews, small updates, etc.) have the same principles applied to them. The assortments are planogram specific (multiple planogram sizes and clusters) and space aware, ensuring that the selected assortment will fit into the available planogram space. “As an established partner of Blue Yonder, partnering with Grupo Comercial Control was important given the strategic vision they have. We are excited to see the impact this solution will have on their business. We will continue to support Grupo Comercial Control during this process and look forward to seeing how our partnership can achieve more ambitious goals in the coming years," said Jorge Mosqueda, practice director, GOLDCO. “We are excited to be working with Grupo Comercial Control on their category and assortment transformation journey. Once fully implemented, our Blue Yonder solution will offer them the ability to create and analyze various planogram views, allowing them to calculate before and after recommendations and facilitate a comparison between current and proposed assortments. This will ensure they have the right inventory on the right shelves at the right stores to meet the changing needs of their consumers,” said Albert Jung, senior director, Retail - LATAM, Blue Yonder. About Grupo Comercial Control Founded in 1963, Corporación Control is a Mexican company with more than 50 years of experience in department stores, always offering you the best experiences and services. We have the mission of earning the trust of our customers, we are made up of the Del Sol stores founded in 1963 and Woolworth since 1997. About GOLDCO We are a consulting firm specializing in assisting in the definition of the appropriate strategic route for our clients, helping to manage it through value practices, supporting its implementation, accompanying the end-to-end process. We have worked with retail companies throughout Latin America in CATMAN implementation projects that led them to achieve their revenue goals and maximize the capabilities of Blue Yonder’s Category Management solutions. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Elects 2024-2025 Users Group Officers Elevating the Voice of the Customer](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-elects-20242025-users-group-officers-elevating-the-voice-of-the-customer) > Elected officers charged with leading and growing Blue Yonder Special Interest Groups of more than 3,500 members across 1,200 companies and more than 36 solution areas. Press Release Blue Yonder Elects 2024-2025 Users Group Officers Elevating the Voice of the Customer Blue Yonder Elects 2024-2025 Users Group Officers Elevating the Voice of the Customer Blue Yonder , March 6, 2024 3 minute read Elected officers charged with leading and growing Blue Yonder Special Interest Groups of more than 3,500 members across 1,200 companies and more than 36 solution areas Blue Yonder , the leader in digital supply chain transformations, today announced the election of Users Group Officers for 2024-2025. The Blue Yonder Users Group Officers lead the Blue Yonder Special Interest Groups (SIGs), with a goal of increasing customer engagement and elevating the voice of customers. The Blue Yonder SIGs are designed for and driven by customers, with a unified voice being a powerful tool. Active SIG participation maximizes customers’ investment in Blue Yonder solutions and enables members to grow both personally and professionally through collaboration with other retail and supply chain professionals. Blue Yonder congratulates its Users Group Officers, who include: President: Denise Sabo, Ralph Lauren Corporation: Denise is the senior director of Global Planning Systems at Ralph Lauren. Denise has used Blue Yonder’s solutions for more than 25 years and is an active member of the Enterprise Planning SIG in addition to previously serving as both a SIG Chair and the Blue Yonder Users Group Vice President. Vice Presidents: Eric Liberatore, The Clorox Company: Eric is a capabilities manager and is responsible for the Category Knowledge Base System at The Clorox Company for the last 19 years.  Eric was previously the SIG Chair for the Space Automation SIG and is an active member of the Category Management SIG. Paul Longshaw, Iceland Food Ltd.: Paul is a project and account manager for supply chain at Iceland Foods.  Paul has used Blue Yonder’s solutions for 25 years and is an active member of the Advanced Replenishment SIG. Jonathan (Jon) Mayes, Waitrose Ltd.: Jon is the trading grocery development and operations manager for Waitrose Ltd. Jon has been with Waitrose for over 24 years – most of that within the supply chain area in both warehouse management and product supply using both Blue Yonder’s solutions and third-party software providers. Jon is an active member of the Dispatcher WMS and Warehouse Labor Management SIGs. Administrative Director: Jamie Routman, Penske Logistics: Jamie is a senior manager of Logistics Engineering for Penske Logistics where she leads Transportation and Network Optimization initiatives for a variety of industries. She has used Blue Yonder’s solutions for more than 15 years and is an active member of the Transportation SIG. “Blue Yonder Special Interest Groups are an invaluable forum for participants to network, share and learn from their fellow users and Blue Yonder solution experts. The output of these sessions directly impacts the usability of our solutions and helps to drive improved business results from the shared best practices. We appreciate the time our users give to help us offer industry-leading solutions,” said Jim Prewitt, corporate vice president, Product Management, Blue Yonder. Officer elections are held every two years with voting by all SIG members. The role of the Users Group officers is to oversee the more than 35 SIGs across a range of solutions. Each SIG is managed by a chairperson and a Blue Yonder associate who serves as SIG manager. The User Group officers are responsible for creating goals and objectives, conducting quarterly meetings with the SIG leadership team, and working to ensure SIG members gain the most value from their Blue Yonder investment. Blue Yonder SIGs offer an environment of continuous learning in which customers can maximize their investments in Blue Yonder solutions. SIG members share best practices and have the opportunity to provide vital feedback to Blue Yonder; members are often the first to learn of planned solution enhancements and product direction. To join a SIG meeting, customers can register at the Blue Yonder Customer Support website ( success.blueyonder.com ). About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Prysmian Digitally Transforms Warehousing Capabilities With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/prysmian-digitally-transforms-warehousing-capabilities-with-blue-yonder) > Leading cable producer successfully implements Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System, positively impacting customer service and operations sustainability. Press Release Prysmian Digitally Transforms Warehousing Capabilities With Blue Yonder Prysmian Digitally Transforms Warehousing Capabilities With Blue Yonder Blue Yonder , MILAN, Italy and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – February 29, 2024 4 minute read Leading cable producer successfully implements Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management System, positively impacting customer service and operations sustainability. Prysmian, the world leader in the energy and telecom cable industry, has successfully completed the implementation for its Canadian warehouse of Blue Yonder’s SaaS-based Warehouse Management System (WMS) to support a more sustainable and customer-oriented supply chain. The project was supported by Open Sky Group , a Blue Yonder partner. Prysmian is the largest cable producer in the world, with 30,000 associates and $16 billion in sales, specializing in the production of cable and systems for use in the energy and telecom industries. Prysmian is leading a digital transformation that is positively impacting customer service levels, as well as the sustainability of its supply chain execution. Prysmian was looking for a scalable solution, built for the connected world, as well as for a global supply chain solutions provider able to support warehousing operations across their worldwide differentiated business. Prysmian chose Blue Yonder to cover and improve their warehousing operations starting in North America, with the solution planned to become a standard for all Prysmian distribution centers globally. With Blue Yonder, Prysmian now can: Cover the different needs, from cable cutting to kitting and harnessing, with comprehensive capabilities. Lower the environmental impact of warehouse operations thanks to better management of resources, stocks, materials, and distribution. Have integrated real-time inbound and outbound execution processes, optimizing customer service. Enable a digital environment and optimization of every operation step to ensure accuracy, efficiency, compliance, and desired customer service. Scale across the different kinds of operations and needs with great flexibility. Support complex operations more easily with smart configuration. “The digital transformation of our North America warehouse operations with Blue Yonder has begun, having successfully transitioned the first distribution center (DC).? We consider the project a huge success, shipping ahead of the targeted go-live and exceeding the targeted shipping volume in the first month.?Blue Yonder’s WMS solution has proven to provide the functionality that our DCs require to meet the customer’s demands, providing our operators with efficient operations and better visibility to workflow. As part of our strategy, we are moving from a traditional supply-driven distribution process to a demand-driven and sustainable process, enabled by Blue Yonder’s WMS,” said Brad Cunningham, North America Distribution & Logistics manager, Prysmian. Prysmian warehousing processes are characterized by different complexities and peculiarities related to its business and by the need of custom configurations for each cable-related project. Blue Yonder’s WMS allows Prysmian to fully digitalize its warehouses and gain optimized operations to ensure accuracy, timeliness, efficiency, compliance, and the highest customer service level across the logistics and replenishment execution processes. “By migrating to a SaaS-based WMS, Prysmian has gained the ability to analyze data to make insightful decisions and acquire end-to-end visibility that helps their supply chain efficiency and sustainability. Managing the expectations of all their stakeholders is not an easy task, but Prysmian is doing it successfully with the guidance of the Blue Yonder team. For that, I am extremely proud of the work we are doing and look forward to seeing their implementation expand in their distribution centers all over the world,” said Terry Turner, president of manufacturing, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more from this Warehouse of the Future video and the Warehouse Management Solutions webpage About Prysmian Prysmian is a world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry. With over 150 years of experience, sales of over €16 billion, and about 30,000 employees in over 50 countries and 108 plants, Prysmian is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and offers the widest possible range of products, services, technologies, and know-how. It operates in the businesses of underground and submarine cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, special cables for applications in many different industries, and medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure sectors. For the telecommunications industry, Prysmian manufactures cables and accessories for voice, video, and data transmission, offering a comprehensive range of optical fibers, optical and copper cables, and connectivity systems. Prysmian is a public company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in the FTSE MIB index. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Solutions Review The Technology Transforming the Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/solutions-review-the-technology-transforming-the-supply-chain) > This contributed story by Duncan Angove, CEO at Blue Yonder, originally appeared in Solutions Review on Feb. 26, 2024. Press Release Solutions Review: The Technology Transforming the Supply Chain Solutions Review: The Technology Transforming the Supply Chain Blue Yonder , February 26, 2024 2 minute read This contributed story by Duncan Angove, CEO at Blue Yonder, originally appeared in Solutions Review on Feb. 26, 2024. Excerpts from the byline article below. To read the full article visit solutionsreview.com . Efficient, effective, and resilient supply chains, by their very nature, require the busting of silos. Paradoxically, supply chain planning and execution technologies have historically fallen short of this requirement. In contrast to ERP and CRM tools, which were successfully platformed years ago for the enterprise, supply chain management tools have largely remained as point solutions. Some vendors may claim to have “changed the game” regarding supply chain planning, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way from a customer perspective. Legacy database technologies and computing limitations have compelled supply chain solution providers to settle on aggregating data and applying simplified rules-based algorithms to deliver more responsive and cost-effective solutions to common supply chain problems. Unfortunately, this approach further exacerbated siloed decision-making due to the inevitable latency in communication between systems and the myriad of failed attempts to standardize communication protocols across trading partners. Supply chain technology vendors added fuel to the fire by focusing on “fixing” point solutions rather than going to the source of the problem—the disconnected data and the infrastructure. ... Three critical pieces of technology will upend conventional thinking and catalyze a global supply chain transformation: the data cloud, generative AI, and the underlying, near-infinite intelligence of microservices architecture seen on the platforms of today’s public clouds. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Acquires Flexis a Leader in Manufacturing and Supply Chain Planning Technology](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-acquires-flexis-a-leader-in-manufacturing-and-supply-chain-planning-technology) > By acquiring the German tech provider, Blue Yonder will expand and sharpen its offerings for automotive and industrial customers. Press Release Blue Yonder Acquires Flexis, a Leader in Manufacturing and Supply Chain Planning Technology Blue Yonder Acquires Flexis, a Leader in Manufacturing and Supply Chain Planning Technology Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – February 8, 2024 3 minute read By acquiring the German tech provider, Blue Yonder will expand and sharpen its offerings for automotive and industrial customers Blue Yonder , a leading supply chain solutions provider, today announced its acquisition of flexis AG , a flexible, innovative software technology provider specializing in production optimization and transportation planning and execution. With a robust customer base in the automotive and industrial original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sectors, flexis strengthens Blue Yonder’s capabilities to help companies with highly configurable products and expansive suppliers to plan and optimize their complex production facilities and network structures. “With dynamic planning and flexible order slotting and sequencing, flexis’ capabilities allow businesses to offer exemplary service to their customers, making the solution to modern manufacturing challenges as elegant as they come,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “flexis’ proven solutions are trusted by some of the world’s leading automotive and industrial OEM brands. Their expertise perfectly meets the ever-changing demands of today’s automotive industry which is marked by a boom in electric vehicle production, digital purchasing models, and enhanced configure-to-order customization options. Their vision and offerings will be a remarkable addition to the Blue Yonder portfolio, unlocking new opportunities and adding value through the full cycle of planning and execution, including advanced planning and scheduling – with modules for order slotting, order sequencing and detailed scheduling – sales and operations planning, transportation planning, and scheduling. These capabilities allow customers to dynamically manage numerous constraints at both a strategic and tactical end-to-end level within their unique process.” As companies continue the shift towards personalization, they are looking for ways to provide consumers with increased ability to tailor their product before it is built. flexis equips manufacturers with the ability to flexibly schedule and sequence orders on their assembly lines, as well as integrate with order management systems to balance and optimize production dates based on inventory availability, material constraints, transportation schedules, and production sequences. “IDC has noted Blue Yonder’s growth in Supply Chain Planning in recent years. The combination of their cognitive platform, and flexis’ adaptable, market-proven solvers, offers solutions to manage end-to-end supply chain complexity, and realize rapid ROI at a time when automotive manufacturers are looking to improve their supply chain sophistication, accuracy and efficiency with tools tailored to their unique challenges," said Eric Thompson, Worldwide Supply Chain Planning research director, IDC. "The acquisition of flexis will strengthen Blue Yonder's end-to-end positioning in the market and is a logical and valuable addition to their ecosystem of supply chain management tools.” flexis’ notable solutions include production planning and scheduling, order slotting and sequencing (OSS), transportation capacity planning, vehicle routing and scheduling, all on an API-based microservices architecture. Its offerings are a perfect complement to Blue Yonder’s comprehensive supply chain solution, which includes sales and operations planning, order fulfillment and forecasting, labor management, logistics management, and warehouse management. “Blue Yonder has long been renowned as a leader in supply chain management and consistently pursues the vision of being the largest end-to-end platform in the world. Therefore, we are proud to contribute to this mission with our experienced team and our end-to-end portfolio,” said Philipp Beisswenger, CEO at flexis. “Our combined technologies will deliver tremendous value to customers eager to enhance their customer experience, from individual e-commerce-based order placement, all the way back through the configure to order production process to long range parts and materials planning.” This deal marks Blue Yonder’s second acquisition in the past three months. In November 2023, Blue Yonder acquired Doddle , a leading technology business focused on making the first and last mile more seamless, sustainable and profitable. These strategic investments are indicative of Blue Yonder’s commitment to its mission: transforming supply chain management through a full-scope, end-to-end platform powered by the world’s most advanced technology. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2023 Company Highlights and Q1 2024 Industry Insights](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-releases-q4-2023-company-highlights-and-q1-2024-industry-insights) > Leading supply chain solutions company grows SaaS revenue 17% year-over-year, leans into interoperability and generative AI to support customers with more resilient supply chains. Press Release Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2023 Company Highlights and Q1 2024 Industry Insights Blue Yonder Releases Q4 2023 Company Highlights and Q1 2024 Industry Insights Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – February 2, 2024 7 minute read Leading supply chain solutions company grows SaaS revenue 17% year-over-year, leans into interoperability and generative AI to support customers with more resilient supply chains Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (Blue Yonder), a leader in digital supply chain transformation, today released its Q4 2023 and FY23 company highlights, as well as the industry trends that matter most in these early days of 2024. Annual Company Highlights In FY23, Blue Yonder continued to show its end-to-end strength in the market, including: FY23 company revenue was $1.28 billion, including 17% SaaS revenue growth year-over-year . Gained a total of 167 new customers in FY23. Quarterly Company Highlights Added 41 new customer logos in Q4 2023 . Some of the customers who selected or extended their footprint with Blue Yonder during the quarter include: Americas: BD, Jumex, LCBO, Mars Petcare, Penske Logistics, PVH Corp., The Hershey Company, Unicomer Group APAC/EMEA: Ahold Delhaize, Alfa Laval, ams-OSRAM AG, Audemars Piguet, Avon, bonprix, CEVA Logistics, Croma, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Specialty Steel, Hotayi Electronic (M) Sdn. Bhd., John Lewis Partnership, Manufacture Francaise des Pneumatiques Michelin, Marks and Spencer, Martin Brower, Megamark, Pets at Home, Philips, Sainsbury’s, ShopRite, SICK AG Product innovations this quarter include: Interoperable Solutions: Blue Yonder released its largest product update in the history of the company in late Q4. This includes the first set of interoperable solutions across the entire supply chain – from planning to warehouse, transportation, and commerce. These solutions are delivered on the Blue Yonder Luminate® Cognitive Platform. Leaning into interoperability allows Blue Yonder to provide its customers with increased productivity, reduced waste, and more resilient supply chains?. Learn more about how these interoperable solutions can help customers unlock performance and build supply chain resilience here . Cognitive Planning Solutions: The Blue Yonder cognitive planning solutions support supply chain leaders in achieving higher forecast accuracy, accelerating decision making, and building a more resilient supply chain with fewer resources. These microservice-based solutions run natively on the Luminate Cognitive Platform. The cognitive planning solutions are cloud-native and combine the latest data management technology with Blue Yonder’s proven supply chain planning expertise. Blue Yonder Orchestrator: Blue Yonder launched Blue Yonder Orchestrator , a generative AI capability that allows companies to fuel more intelligent decision-making and faster supply chain orchestration. Blue Yonder Orchestrator synthesizes the natural language capabilities of large language models (LLMs) and the depth of the company’s supply chain IP to accelerate data-driven decision-making. Integrated within the Blue Yonder Luminate ® Cognitive Platform , Blue Yonder Orchestrator will be available to customers using Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning solutions . Learn more here . Blue Yonder acquired Doddle , a leading technology business focused on making the first and last mile more seamless, sustainable and profitable. With this acquisition, Blue Yonder offers a more comprehensive set of logistics solutions designed to build sustainable and profitable end-to-end supply chains. Learn more about how Blue Yonder can help with digital retail and omni-channel shopping journeys here . Showcased in 16 key technology industry analyst reports in Q4 2023, and 128 overall in 2023 – from ABI Research, Forrester Research, Gartner, and IDC, building on its industry leadership momentum ( see full list below ). Industry Insights Heading into 2024, Blue Yonder shares insights shaped by its industry expertise and trends that are top of mind for customers and partners: With a focus on reducing overall costs to the business, retailers will continue to emphasize driving efficiencies, reducing returns , and developing smaller locations along with increased inventory efficiency and on-shelf availability. Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a major impact on the retail industry in 2024 and beyond; it was the hot topic at this year’s NRF Big Show. Retailers who embrace AI and use it responsibly can gain a significant competitive advantage and create a more personalized and efficient shopping experience for their customers. As geopolitical division continues, it will fracture global supply chain networks into regional networks. As an example, North America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia will gain more manufacturing jobs and capacity at the expense of current manufacturing hubs in China. In North America, this is already playing out in increased capacity being planned in the high tech industry, specifically semiconductor and electric vehicle (EC) batteries. Despite the high tech industry seeing renewed manufacturing growth in the U.S., other industries, such as industrial goods, heavy duty equipment, automotive parts, and steel, are not growing as fast on the manufacturing front; however, with new investments in factories those industries may start to pick up next year. . Inflation brings friction between retailers and manufacturers for pricing, which began last year and is anticipated to continue in 2024 even as inflation slows. Warehouse vacancies are rising, which is keeping distribution center rents under control. This may allow some businesses to lease space they were previously priced out of, affording the opportunity to get closer to a highway location or one that is more in-tune with their current business mix and delivery points. And in some instances, companies may be able to negotiate for improvements or additional service, such as using vertical space and automation, and have the landlord support the financing as well, allowing them to improve their service levels and P&L from that location. Managing data will become much more complicated as regulatory mandates appear that prevent data from being shared outside of the region of origin (for example, these mandates are in place in China and EMEA). Global companies will need to operate separate systems by region, which will result in higher costs. “Inflation and geopolitical tension will continue to impact supply chains in the coming year. To manage the resulting disruptions, companies need solutions that can help them process data quicker to make the best decisions that keep their supply chain running optimally. However, unlocking the value in data is a challenge for many companies when it’s spread out across the supply chain. This is where Blue Yonder is changing the game for our customers. Our new offerings will allow our customers to utilize data to quickly make recommendations, predictive insights, and intelligent decisions to build greater resilience and mitigate market volatility in their supply chain,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. Customer Highlights: Learn how Blue Yonder’s customers are persisting during times of disruption to digitally transform their supply chains and reimagine the consumer experience: City Plumbing Optimizes Warehouse Speed & Efficiency with Blue Yonder CPF Relies on Blue Yonder To Support Optimal Decisions (video) Mitchells & Butlers Optimizes Its Workforce Management With Blue Yonder Sainsbury’s Leverages AI and ML for Supply Chain Optimization, Enabled by Blue Yonder (video) Silk Logistics Optimizes Warehouse Service Levels and Costs More From Blue Yonder: Technology Industry Analyst Recognitions: ABI Research, Blue Yonder ICON 2023 Key Takeaways: Advancing the Luminate Platform with Cloud-Native Focus and Returns Management Acquisition Forrester The Store Associate Tools Landscape, Q4 2023 Forrester The Forrester Tech Tide: Smart Supply Chain, Q4 2023 Forrester The Forrester Wave: Retail Planning Platforms, Q4 2023 Gartner® Gartner IT Services Providers’ Performance Snapshot, 2Q23 Gartner® Gartner Planning Solutions Systems Integrators, 2023 Gartner® Voice of the Customer for Warehouse Management Systems Gartner® Market Guide for Retail Store Inventory Management Applications Gartner® Voice of the Customer for Supply Chain Planning Solutions Peer Insights Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Order Management Systems IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Workloads Taxonomy, 2023 IDC's Worldwide Software Taxonomy, 2023: Update IDC Market Glance: Generative AI Applications, 4Q23 IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Operations Improvement Consulting Services 2023–2024 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Merchandise Operations Management Solutions 2023 Vendor Assessment IDC MarketScape: Retail Order Orchestration and Fulfillment 2023 Vendor Assessment “Unleash the Power of Cloud: Accelerate Growth, Build Resilience, Unlock 12X Value” webinar hosted by   Acceleration Economy Blue Yonder Survey: Returns Pose a Significant Challenge For U.S. Retailers About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [DPD UK Selects Blue Yonder To Redefine Profitable and Sustainable Returns Management](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/dpd-uk-selects-blue-yonder-to-redefine-profitable-and-sustainable-returns-management) > DPD UK, an innovative carrier in the express parcels sector, has chosen  Blue Yonder’s SaaS-based Returns Management solution to provide a digital returns portal, that will be made available to all of its retail customers. Press Release DPD UK Selects Blue Yonder To Redefine Profitable and Sustainable Returns Management DPD UK Selects Blue Yonder To Redefine Profitable and Sustainable Returns Management Blue Yonder , LONDON and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – January 30, 2024 3 minute read Innovative carrier to leverage Blue Yonder’s returns management solution to offer retailers a fully digital, branded journey for their consumers DPD UK , an innovative carrier in the express parcels sector, has chosen Blue Yonder ’s SaaS-based Returns Management solution to provide a digital returns portal, that will be made available to all of its retail customers. DPD UK is a member of Geopost, a European leader in parcel delivery and solutions for e-commerce and part of the La Poste Groupe. The company operates more than 10,000 vehicles in the UK from 85 locations and delivers over 400 million parcels a year. With a strong focus on customer service and sustainability, DPD UK was looking for a digital returns management solution that would work alongside its existing capabilities and that could give it a strong competitive advantage in helping its retail customers manage returns efficiently. DPD turned to Blue Yonder and its recently acquired returns management solution from Doddle . Thanks to the Blue Yonder Returns Management solution, a DPD retail customer can get a new portal live within a few hours. This will allow consumers to book a return in seconds and drop off their items at one of over 10,000 DPD pickup locations across the UK. They will experience a fully digital, branded journey to choose which item to return, select a return reason, and either print a label or generate a QR code to use in the drop-off location. They will also receive tracking updates once the parcel is handed over. “We continue to look at ways to innovate and support our retail customers. Blue Yonder’s digital returns portal, combined with our extensive pickup shop network means that 95% of the urban population are under one mile from one of our drop-off locations. As a result, returns for consumers will be quicker, easier and more convenient, giving them added confidence and peace of mind when they shop with our retailer customers,” said Elaine Kerr, CEO, DPD UK. DPD UK and their retail customers will benefit from: A smooth digital experience for its consumers, resulting in higher NPS scores and brand loyalty. Substantial control over what can be returned within the return policy, and in turn reducing out of policy returns. Greater data visibility around the reason and status of the returns, helping reduce future returns and customer service inquiries. Reduced reverse logistics costs and improved inventory turnaround by offering convenient consumer drop off locations in the DPD UK network. “The issue of returns is one that many retailers and carriers are keen to resolve. In our latest research, 68% of merchants across European e-commerce markets reported that return rates have increased in the past 12 months, and 63% confirmed that returns are a ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ problem for their business. DPD UK was looking for a solution that could be a strategic differentiator for them and their retail customers within this market scenario. We are proud to team up with DPD UK in supporting their strategy and vision to achieve customer satisfaction, sustainability and innovation,” said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about the Blue Yonder Returns Management solution About DPD DPD is a member of Geopost, a European leader in parcel delivery and solutions for e-commerce. Part of the La Poste Groupe, Geopost generated a €15.6 billion revenue and delivered 2.1 billion parcels worldwide in 2022. The company operates more than 10,000 vehicles in the UK from 84 locations and delivers over 400 million parcels a year. In 2018, DPD opened the UK’s first all-electric parcel delivery depot in Westminster. DPD currently has over 3,500 EVs in the UK and has announced plans to deliver to 30 of the largest towns and cities in the UK with zero and low-emission final mile delivery vehicles, by the end of 2023. Details of all of DPD’s sustainability initiatives can be found on its dedicated green website: green.dpd.co.uk About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Dixon Technologies Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Its Material and Capacity Planning](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/dixon-technologies-selects-blue-yonder-to-optimize-its-material-and-capacity-planning) > Leading Indian electronics manufacturer will improve planning efficiency, enhance planning accuracy and quality, and effectively scale their business to meet growth needs with Blue Yonder. Press Release Dixon Technologies Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Its Material and Capacity Planning Dixon Technologies Selects Blue Yonder To Optimize Its Material and Capacity Planning Blue Yonder , NEW DELHI, India, and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – January 29, 2024 4 minute read Leading Indian electronics manufacturer will improve planning efficiency, enhance planning accuracy and quality, and effectively scale their business to meet growth needs with Blue Yonder Dixon Technologies (India) Limited , a leader in electronic manufacturing services (EMS) in India, has selected Blue Yonder to digitally transform its supply planning capabilities. The electronics manufacturer will implement the Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution to improve complex material and capacity planning. Dixon Technologies has selected the EY organization to help implement this innovative solution aimed at tackling complex challenges while fostering innovation and streamlining business process. The EY organization has deep knowledge in supply chain planning transformation programs leveraging Blue Yonder’s solutions. Dixon Technologies, one of the leading manufacturers in the consumer electronics sector, delivers design-centric solutions spanning consumer durables, home appliances, lighting, mobile phones, and security devices to a diverse global clientele. The company also excels in repairing and refurbishing a broad spectrum of products, including set-top boxes, mobile phones, and LED TV panels. Renowned for its commitment to quality, Dixon Technologies serves leading global and domestic brands. With a revenue of approximately $1.5 billion USD, the company operates from 21 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India and houses three cutting-edge R&D centers in India and China. Dixon, grappling with substantial challenges arising from manual planning processes, has turned to Blue Yonder for a transformative solution, seeking to overcome these obstacles through advanced technology. Once implemented, Blue Yonder’s solution, supported by the EY organization, will allow Dixon Technologies to: Scale its operations to match growth in its contract manufacturing business. Increase the efficiency and accuracy of supply chain planning, accelerate response speed to changes in demand and supply, and improve inventory turns. Improve efficiency in material and capacity allocation to increase EBIDTA and scale profitably. “Our business has grown over the past few years, so we needed an advance supply chain optimization solution that could meet future growth. The Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution is trusted by many global, electronics manufacturers so we knew it was the right solution for us. We are looking forward to a successful implementation project with Blue Yonder and their collaborator the EY organization, allowing us to improve our planning capabilities to further strengthen our ‘Customer First’ mission,” said Amit Pradhan, CIO, Dixon Technologies. The Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution will provide Dixon Technologies with a holistic and connected view of its supply chain planning processes. In addition, Dixon Technologies will be able to balance global objectives for demand satisfaction, collaborate on planning scenarios in situations of material shortage, and use prescriptive recommendations to make accurate and faster decisions throughout the manufacturing and distribution network. This enables its supply chain operations to minimize stock-outs, maximize inventory turns, increase margins and improve the customer experience. Sharing his views, Sapan Joshi, partner, EY India, said, “As strategic implementation collaborator, our ambition is unwavering — to help resolve complexity, foster innovation, and elevate planning capabilities. We are committed in providing services that address the most pressing issues in the technology landscape and this collaboration is a testament to our vision, values, and capabilities.” “We are proud to have been selected by Dixon Technologies to lead their supply planning transformation as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative , which puts a focus on manufacturing in India. Dixon Technologies has seen significant growth year-over-year so they needed a solution that could help them plan for their supply needs even in the face of disruptions and challenges. One of their values is to offer innovative products and services that meet customer expectation, and by implementing our Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution, they will do just that and more,” said Guru Ananthanarayanan, India country head, Blue Yonder. Additional Resources: Learn more about the Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution About EY EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Returns Pose a Significant Challenge for U.S. Retailers, According to Recent Blue Yonder Survey](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/returns-pose-a-significant-challenge-for-us-retailers-according-to-recent-blue-yonder-survey) > Consumers were undeterred by higher costs and stricter policies, with the rate of returns increasing. Press Release Returns Pose a Significant Challenge for U.S. Retailers, According to Recent Blue Yonder Survey Returns Pose a Significant Challenge for U.S. Retailers, According to Recent Blue Yonder Survey Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – January 15, 2024 6 minute read Consumers were undeterred by higher costs and stricter policies, with the rate of returns increasing Blue Yonder , a leader in digital supply chain transformations, today announced the findings from its new survey indicating that 63% of retailers face significant challenges with the management of returns as customers increasingly turn to online shopping options. Despite the vast majority (89%) of retailers having changed their returns policies in the past 12 months to make them more expensive for consumers, or otherwise tightening the restrictions around returns, more than half (59%) experienced an increase in the rate of returns over that same period, suggesting these changes have not deterred customers from returning orders. Retail product categories that traditionally haven’t experienced high return rates for in-store purchases are now seeing increased return rates online, with significant and somewhat significant return rate increases in Sports & Outdoor Equipment (76%), Cosmetics (73%), Trade Tools/Equipment & DIY (72%), and Children’s Toys (68%). Overall, only 13% of retailers reported a decline in returns over that same 12-month period. “These findings indicate that while retailers have tightened their policies, consumer returns are still increasing,” said Shannon Wu-Lebron, corporate vice president, Retail Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder. “This proves that putting the onus on consumers is not necessarily the solution to control returns. Instead, retailers should be looking at technology to help them find better ways to manage the returns and reverse logistics process to reduce costs, improve inventory resell rates, and protect customer loyalty.” In December 2023, Blue Yonder asked 200+ U.S. retailers to share insights into how they are managing returns. When asked, 80% said that prioritizing improvements around the returns process was either high or very high priority, with 16% saying it was medium priority. To measure their success in returns management, retailers are looking at different KPIs, including return rate (65%), average cost of return (58%), the percentage of returns eventually resold (49%), and customer lifetime value (37%).  Key findings are below, along with recommendations for retailers on how they can best manage the first and last mile of returns. Retailers Make Changes to Returns Policies Of the 89% of the retailers who said they had made some kind of change to their returns policy, those changes have included: 42% reduced the time window during which consumers can make a return 36% made some items non-returnable (e.g., sale items) 30% implemented flexible returns shipping charges or restocking fees (e.g., restocking fee/shipping charge varies by the reason for the return) 24% increased their existing returns shipping fees 23% implemented for the first time a restocking fee 17% increased an existing restocking fee While many are charging fees, 63% say those costs vary always or sometimes depending on the reason for the consumers’ return. The least likely category to charge consumers for returns was Music, TV & Film, where 29% of retailers said they never charged shipping, restocking or other return fees. Retail Profitability Is Taking a Hit Due to Returns Costs Changes to return policies were made by some retailers to help control increasing costs and recoup a portion of the expenses via customer fees. The reverse journey of a returned order incurs a multitude of costs related to shipping and transportation, processing, restocking, and customer service. As return rates increase, these costs impact the profitability of the company since retailers incur these charges without earning revenue. Retailers were surveyed on the cost of returns as a percentage of the product’s original value, with responses ranging from 5-10% (32%), 11-15% (29%), 16-20% (24%), and +21% (14%).  Product categories reporting percentages higher than 21% were Apparel & Fashion; Books; Cosmetics; Music, Film, & TV; Sports & Outdoor Equipment; and Stationery & Crafts. How Retailers Allow Consumers To Make Returns Despite retailers’ clear focus on controlling returns costs, the survey found that many retailers still rely on unsophisticated returns processes, resulting in poor customer experience and inefficiencies. Requiring customers to contact customer support in order to obtain authorization and/or a shipping label, as 29% of retailers do, adds additional manual process for the retailer, increasing cost and adding friction for the customer. This returns initiation method was most prevalent in the following product categories: Stationery & Craft (40%), Consumer Electronics (35%), and Trade Tools/Equipment & DIY (34%). One alternative method, used by 18% of retailers, is to include a returns shipping label in outbound parcels. While this offers a relatively convenient customer experience, retailers with product categories such as Home & Industrial Appliances (22%) and Apparel & Fashion (18%) have little visibility or control over which items are returned and when, and will have to manually copy paper-based data about the reason for return. Less than half of retailers (47%) have any kind of digital solution; just under a quarter (24%) of retailers use a digital solution built in-house, 12% redirect customers to a parcel carrier’s site to obtain a label, and 11% use a third-party digital solution. When it comes to dropping off returns, the most commonly offered options include: 63% offer a drop off in locations provided by a parcel carrier, such as the post office or UPS 40% offer partner locations for drop-offs (e.g., Amazon drop-off counters in Kohl's and Whole Foods stores) 36% offer drop-offs in their own stores 23% offer collection from the consumer's home Almost three fourths (73%) of retailers always provide consumers with tracking updates when making returns and 58% always process refunds automatically. “While once an afterthought, companies are now recognizing the tremendous importance of robust and optimized delivery and returns offerings. Blue Yonder’s solutions – through its recent acquisition of Doddle – offer companies seamless alternatives to reduce costs and inventory waste. The offerings also include self-service kiosks and pick-up, drop-off (PUDO) networks that offer retailers and logistics providers enhanced growth potential and superior experiences for their consumers,” said Tim Robinson, vice president, Blue Yonder. Incentivizing Consumers and Measuring Success Less than half (44%) of retailers always offer consumers marketing or promotional offers as part of the returns process, and another 16% sometimes offer marketing or promotional offers. “When we conducted a consumer returns survey in early 2023, our data found that a majority (74%) of consumers always or sometimes make impulse purchasing decisions when returning items in-store,” said Wu-Lebron. “Offering consumers greater incentive to go into the store to make their returns, such as a coupon code or discount, can be a win/win approach for retailers and consumers. It also allows the retailer to put the item back into stock quicker, which was one of the KPIs retailers were looking at to measure the success of their returns policy, with 30% using time out-of-stock as a measure.” “By looking at the entire return journey from start to finish and capturing data from across those touchpoints, retailers using Blue Yonder’s solutions can start making better strategic decisions around when to charge for returns and how to alter their policies in response to their customers’ needs. We can see that today retailers primarily rely on easy-to-measure metrics like return rate, rather than longer-term profitability indicators like customer lifetime value, or specific indicators of returns efficiency like time out-of-stock. Moving to a digital platform and unifying the disparate elements of a returns process is the only way for retailers to make that strategic shift,” concluded Robinson. Additional Resources: To learn more about how Blue Yonder makes the first and last mile more seamless, visit blueyonder.com Read the full E-Commerce Returns 2024 report Check out the infographic on key survey findings About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Launches Interoperable Solutions To Unlock Performance and Build Supply Chain Resilience](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-launches-interoperable-solutions-to-unlock-performance-and-build-supply-chain-resilience) > Investments in its cognitive platform, composable microservices and Blue Yonder’s Platform Data Cloud, Powered by Snowflake, will offer customers increased productivity, reduced waste, and more resilient supply chains. Press Release Blue Yonder Launches Interoperable Solutions To Unlock Performance and Build Supply Chain Resilience Blue Yonder Launches Interoperable Solutions To Unlock Performance and Build Supply Chain Resilience Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – January 11, 2024 9 minute read Investments in its cognitive platform, composable microservices and Blue Yonder’s Platform Data Cloud, Powered by Snowflake, will offer customers increased productivity, reduced waste, and more resilient supply chains Blue Yonder , a leading supply chain solutions provider, today announced the release of its largest product update in the history of the company, launching the first set of interoperable solutions across the entire supply chain – from planning to warehouse, transportation, and commerce – delivered on the company’s Luminate ® Cognitive Platform. Leaning into interoperability allows Blue Yonder to provide its customers with increased productivity, reduced waste, and more resilient supply chains?. “Today’s supply chains are operated by a fragmented ecosystem of legacy solutions, with many being stitched together over time with custom configurations and code,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “While many supply chain solution providers claim to offer end-to-end capabilities, it is typically confined to planning or execution spaces where they’ve integrated their own product suites. Blue Yonder is changing that. With this release, we are redefining end-to-end supply chains, and establishing a new category of solutions with interoperable capabilities aligned with our vision to create the supply chain operating system for the world.” End-to-End Interoperability As manufacturers, logistics companies, suppliers, and retailers look to build greater resilience and mitigate market volatility in their supply chain, they are often hampered by: siloed business processes and communications breakdowns, lack of visibility, disconnected solutions, and burdensome workflows across planning, transportation, warehouse, e-commerce, and last mile fulfillment. This can lead to inventory waste, high costs, loss of sales, slow responsiveness, lack of resilience and more. Solving these supply chain challenges requires companies to coordinate and streamline planning and execution management across the end-to-end ecosystem. This includes: Orchestrating sourcing, production, logistics and network strategies in a single operating system to shorten lead times, improve service levels, optimize operational efficiencies, maximize demand, and reduce cost. Aligning predicted customer demand, network capacity, warehouse capacity, labor capacity, and transportation scheduling prior to sourcing or allocating goods for seamless inventory flow and reduced overhead. Building logistics loads that factor in real-time, on-shelf inventory to balance customer demand and waste, generating maximum revenue and margin. Blue Yonder’s interoperable solutions answer these challenges by: Connecting processes, systems, and data seamlessly across Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Planning and Execution solutions, providing a smarter, more scalable, real-time digital twin to streamline and accelerate enterprise-wide decision-making. Offering the end-to-end visibility needed to understand how decisions or actions impact adjacent teams so businesses can work synchronously toward a unified goal. Deeply embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) within the systems to drive decisioning, recommendations, and actions to support a future of autonomous supply chains. Ensuring all solutions connect through a single source of data, allowing true real-time collaboration across functions.? The result is more agile, coordinated decision-making that reduces costs, increases revenue, and improves customer loyalty. Interoperability Enabled by Cutting-Edge Technology Innovations Blue Yonder’s interoperable solutions are made possible as a result of three key strategic investments by the company: Cloud Native Architecture on a Cognitive Platform: Blue Yonder’s Luminate ® Cognitive Platform is the industry's premier cloud-native supply chain platform, delivering enterprise-level speed, scale and security with upgrade-safe extensibility across workflows, data models, and functions. The platform offers infinite intelligence with unconstrained computing power, a single source of truth, and a reimagined user experience. Because Blue Yonder’s cloud-native applications all run on this centralized platform, this then allows companies to make faster, higher-quality decisions; eliminate data siloes; uplevel team performance by increasing productivity and accelerated adoption; and unlock capacity by leveraging the power of embedded AI. Composable Microservices: A composable approach enables companies to augment and enhance existing technologies with Blue Yonder’s industry-leading IP and patented solutions — transforming business functions at the speed and scale that’s right for each company’s business. Blue Yonder’s composable microservices are small, deployable components that each offer a discrete set of capabilities, seamlessly integrated on connected workflows to solve specific functional needs, and interoperable with existing Blue Yonder solutions so businesses can innovate without the need to rip and replace existing investments. With Blue Yonder, businesses can start with the application stack they need today knowing they can easily add capabilities they want, when they’re ready. And instead of lengthy monolithic projects, Blue Yonder offers Composable Journeys, which are implementation paths tailored to the specific vision and budget of each customer and rolled out in phases that can provide expedited time to value. Platform Data Cloud, Powered by Snowflake: Blue Yonder is among the first enterprise supply chain solutions companies building applications to natively run on the Snowflake Data Cloud . Blue Yonder’s Platform Data Cloud, Powered by Snowflake , makes it easy to deliver the right data, at the right location, at the right time by bringing together all the required data to run your supply chain in a centralized location. By combining Blue Yonder’s market-leading supply chain technology and IP with the Snowflake Data Cloud’s powerful capabilities, Blue Yonder is changing the game for its customers by reducing the cost, complexity and time required to transform data while enabling interoperability between applications and collaboration across clouds. Learn more here . “For years, the supply chain industry has had a data problem – there’s too much of it, it’s scattered across disparate solutions, and sharing has become so risky that some organizations have simply come to avoid it. By partnering with Blue Yonder, Snowflake is helping joint customers address these challenges by centralizing data into a single source of truth, reducing the latency in decision-making, and making sharing secure, fast and easy,” said Tim Long, Global Head of Manufacturing, Snowflake. “Together, we’re enabling data, system and business process interoperability by connecting Blue Yonder’s entire end-to-end supply chain portfolio to a Blue Yonder’s Platform Data Cloud, Powered by Snowflake. Now, Blue Yonder’s solutions can deliver scale and performance that allow customers to significantly accelerate time to value, unlock team productivity, and drive greater resilience.” Next Generation Planning The first set of microservice-based solutions that bring together all of these interoperable features is Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning solutions . This holistic offering natively runs on the Luminate Cognitive Platform to deliver all the cognitive capabilities needed to support supply chain leaders in achieving higher forecast accuracy, accelerating decision making, and building a more resilient supply chain with fewer resources. Cognitive planning solutions are cloud-native and combine the latest data management technology with Blue Yonder’s proven supply chain planning IP. Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning solutions also leverage the power of Blue Yonder Orchestrator , the company’s generative AI capability that allows businesses to fuel more intelligent decision-making and faster supply chain orchestration. Learn more about this capability here . “Cognitive planning takes business planning accuracy and speed to the next level by empowering companies to realize their performance objectives. It does this by allowing them to be aware of critical events and prescribing solutions to manage risks and opportunities in both demand and supply, improving planner productivity and supply chain resilience,” said Angove. Notably, these advanced solutions empower users to apply hundreds of demand-driving variables and patented ML models to provide unique demand projections, while factoring in business impact and risk. This allows planners to map out various scenarios, set boundaries and objectives, then fire-and-forget. The advanced algorithms autonomously reduce the problem scope to a logical set of scenarios that are realistic and most applicable. Embedded predictive AI evaluates this feasible set of scenarios and recommends the top scenarios that optimize pre-set objectives. This AI/ML-powered scenario planning reduces the average time taken from hours or even days down to minutes and allows planners to focus on more strategic decision-making and actions rather than just collating data. Synchronized Execution Blue Yonder is revolutionizing supply chain execution by enabling seamless, autonomous collaboration across the execution network to drive unprecedented efficiency, resiliency, agility, and better customer experiences.  Synchronized Execution strengthens supply chain resiliency with end-to-end execution interoperability and helps businesses manage disruptions in an optimal and automated fashion by synchronizing the data and business process workflows across the order, warehouse, transportation, and resource domains. Customers will achieve operational resiliency through real-time situational awareness, real-time decision making, and the ability to predict and prevent disruptions. As an example, business process interoperability allows a business to seamlessly reallocate orders in the case of an inbound supply shortage, or create iterative optimization loads to handle warehouse disruptions, or determine the optimal way to fulfill an order, even if it is sourced from multiple nodes. “Retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and logistics service providers will achieve superior performance with intelligent insight and informed decisions to ensure they are ahead of every disruption with complete visibility at every point of execution. With advanced customer insights about buying behavior and preferences, businesses can make informed decisions about inventory allocation, optimized fulfillment, transportation planning and warehouse operations,” shared Angove. Solutions launched in this space include: Analyst Workbench delivers a new, user-friendly experience to explore data, visualize metrics and generate insights. These new, innovative capabilities deliver end-to-end visibility across the network and the ability to mix, match, and analyze data from any digital touch point driving more informed decisions and actions. Unified Commerce Simulator empowers businesses to create, analyze, and refine fulfillment sourcing strategies driving more predictable fulfillment results with less risk to the business. This digital twin environment means businesses can manipulate optimization levers for various scenarios and run simulations against production data to enable comparisons between actual output versus output using the changed levers. Highlights for Retailers As part of the product release, Blue Yonder has built strategically needed functions and capabilities to help retailers grow revenue through improved customer service and demand planning. In addition, these capabilities maximize profitability through optimized resource utilization and seamless execution through enhanced retail planning, order management, and workforce management solutions. Blue Yonder launched a set of cognitive solutions for retailers, including Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning and Cognitive Demand Planning. Other solutions and offerings include Forecasting for Retail, Replenishment for Retail, Intelligent Allocation, Workforce Management, Commerce, Warehouse, Transportation, and Logistics Network, and more are set to be generally available in Q1. Highlights for Manufacturing Blue Yonder’s product release includes solutions and capabilities for manufacturers and wholesale distributors that help them unlock productivity and take problem solving to the next level of speed and performance. Blue Yonder is augmenting its industry-leading supply chain planning optimization capabilities with the launch of its first cognitive planning solution, Cognitive Demand Planning. Other solutions and offerings include Integrated Demand and Supply Planning for Industries, enhancements across Warehousing, Transportation, Logistics Network, Commerce, and Control Tower, and more. Highlights for Logistics Blue Yonder delivers end-to-end visibility and cost savings for fulfillment and logistics operations with its product release. Blue Yonder is enhancing its Warehouse Execution System with advanced resource orchestration services across labor and robots. Also launching in 2024, always-on Warehouse Management builds upon Blue Yonder’s industry-leading warehouse capabilities with upgrade-safe extensibility and zero downtime during upgrades to ensure customer warehouses will stay online. The company is also highlighting strategic capabilities and enhancements in its fulfillment and logistics solutions, including Transportation Optimization, Transportation Manager, Warehouse Labor Management, Adaptive Fulfillment and Warehousing, Yard Management, Billing Management, and more. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Reveals How Retailers Can Change Business Trajectory and Drive Better ROI By Orchestrating Supply Chains from Planning to Execution at NRF 2024](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-reveals-how-retailers-can-change-business-trajectory-and-drive-better-roi-by) > Drive more impactful decisions by breaking down silos between solutions, people and data to unlock exponential value in supply chains with Blue Yonder. Press Release Blue Yonder Reveals How Retailers Can Change Business Trajectory and Drive Better ROI By Orchestrating Supply Chains from Planning to Execution at NRF 2024 Blue Yonder Reveals How Retailers Can Change Business Trajectory and Drive Better ROI By Orchestrating Supply Chains from Planning to Execution at NRF 2024 Blue Yonder , SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – January 4, 2024 6 minute read Drive more impactful decisions by breaking down silos between solutions, people and data to unlock exponential value in supply chains with Blue Yonder As retailers look for ways to improve their supply chains and simultaneously address changing consumer shopping habits, there is an increasing need to synchronize across retail systems from planning to omni-channel execution to generate the real-time insights and actions needed to accelerate business transformation to stay ahead of the market. At the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2024: Retail’s Big Show Jan. 14-16, 2024, in New York City, Blue Yonder (Booth # 4239) will showcase how the company’s latest cognitive capabilities and end-to-end interoperability help retailers drive better, faster and more impactful decisions by breaking down silos between people and data to unlock the hidden value within their supply chain. “The past few years have proven that retail is ever evolving. But one thing remains consistent: the need to meet and manage consumer expectations,” said Vince Beacom, senior vice president, Retail, Blue Yonder. “To this end, retailers need to make decisions faster and with true visibility across their supply chain. That’s why Blue Yonder is excited to showcase our new cognitive planning and execution solutions and Blue Yonder Orchestrator, our generative AI capability, at NRF 2024. Retailers will also have a chance to check out our latest returns management solutions thanks to our recent acquisition of Doddle, which is helping us redefine profitable and sustainable reverse logistics and returns management for our customers. In addition, retailers will also have a chance to hear from our customers PVH and Wegmans about how they are delivering lasting results with Blue Yonder’s solutions.” Exponential Potential Today's retail supply chain is an ecosystem of functional silos and disparate solutions with competing needs. Retailers are making daily tradeoffs between addressing business needs, balancing availability against waste, maintaining customer satisfaction, and delivering omni-channel confidence all while maintaining lean logistics. Blue Yonder’s cognitive platform eliminates legacy constraints and unifies people and technology to serve customers faster and more efficiently, acting as the single comprehensive supply chain solutions partner to drive more sustainable ROI. This helps retailers orchestrate their entire supply chains to accelerate merchandise and supply chains plans, amplify shopping experiences, strengthen consumer trust and confidence, and supercharge fulfillment. At Retail’s Big Show, Blue Yonder will showcase its cognitive and comprehensive platform and innovative and interoperable supply chain solutions at its booth and in NRF programming. Featured Session: Not to be missed is Blue Yonder’s Featured Session on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at 1 p.m. ET featuring Blue Yonder customers David Herridge, executive vice president, Global Value Chain Technology, PVH, and Smita Katakwar, senior vice president, Technology & Data, Wegmans. At the session titled “From Silos to Success: How Leading Retailers Deliver Lasting Results,” Blue Yonder’s Beacom will moderate a discussion about how decisions that drive short-term gains can over time cause contradictions across departments and diminish the overall results. More meetings, loose integrations, and one-way data sharing will only take retailers so far. PVH and Wegmans will share how they achieved lasting business impact through an end-to-end supply chain digital transformation with Blue Yonder. Expo Booth: Stop by Blue Yonder’s booth (#4239) in the Expo Hall to learn how retailers can drive better, faster, and more impactful decisions by breaking down silos between people and data to unlock the hidden value within your supply chain. Attendees can schedule a one-on-one meeting and see the latest product innovations from Blue Yonder. At the booth, Blue Yonder will be showcasing the following: Cognitive Planning: Learn how Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning solutions combine the latest data management technology with Blue Yonder’s proven supply chain planning capabilities to achieve higher forecast accuracy, accelerate decision making, increase productivity, and build a more resilient supply chain with fewer resources. This results in increased revenue, better margins, and higher customer satisfaction. Blue Yonder will be showcasing two of these solutions at its booth: Cognitive Demand Planning and Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning . Cognitive Demand Planning applies hundreds of demand-driving variables and patented machine learning models to provide unique demand projections, while factoring in business impact and risk. Retailers can collate inputs from all key stakeholders to improve visibility and collaboration, resulting in an optimized demand plan, higher planner productivity, better inventory management, and an improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behavior. Cognitive Merchandise Financial Planning is powered with generative AI and establishes consumer-centric, omni-channel financial guidelines to manage inventory profitability and productivity to be aligned with company-wide goals. The new solution is aimed at aligning a retailer’s high-level financial goals with the tactical plans that drive execution and customer satisfaction. Reverse Logistics and Returns: Blue Yonder recently acquired Doddle , a leading technology business focused on making the first and last mile more seamless, sustainable and profitable. Blue Yonder will showcase Doddle’s technology at its booth. Booth visitors are invited to learn how Blue Yonder can help with digital retail and omni-channel shopping journeys. Synchronized Execution: Learn how Blue Yonder’s synchronized execution capabilities enable superior performance through advanced interoperability across systems and processes. By synchronizing workflows across order, warehouse, transportation, and resource domains, retailers and logistics service providers can optimize performance across all supply chain nodes and fulfillment services. It also delivers ecosystem extensibility to unify data, suppliers, partners, organizations, and systems while remaining flexible and adaptable to changing business needs. Blue Yonder at the Microsoft Booth: In addition to its own booth, Blue Yonder will have a presence inside the Microsoft booth (#4503) . Blue Yonder Orchestrator: Stop by to learn how Blue Yonder is revolutionizing retail with Blue Yonder Orchestrator , our latest AI-powered solution, which brings together the power of generative AI and large language models to deliver dynamic decision-making to your fingertips. Integrated within the Luminate® Cognitive Platform and running on Microsoft Azure, Blue Yonder Orchestrator allows users to query in everyday language, then pulls data from all relevant sources and serves up data-driven insights along with guided recommendations to execute decisions across the breadth of Blue Yonder’s retail solutions suite, uplevelling performance and organizational bandwidth. Playoff Football Watch Party: Blue Yonder will host a Playoff Football Watch Party on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, from 5-11 p.m. ET for retail executives. This is an invite only event. The watch party will include a meet and greet with two former pro football players: Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Jerome Bettis and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart. Engage with Blue Yonder at NRF: Join Blue Yonder at NRF 2024: Schedule a one-on-one meeting Attend the Featured Session: “From Silos to Success: How Leading Retailers Deliver Lasting Results,” on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at 1 p.m. ET in Javits North. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s Commerce and the scope of Synchronized Execution, including Order Management (OMS) , Transportation Management (TMS) , Warehouse Management (WMS) , Warehouse Execution System , and Adaptive Fulfillment and Warehousing microservice solutions. About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ### [Blue Yonder Recognized as a Best Place to Work in the IT Sector in both Mexico and India by Great](https://blueyonder.com/media/2024/blue-yonder-recognized-as-a-best-place-to-work-in-the-it-sector-in-both-mexico-and-india-by-great) > Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain and omni-channel commerce fulfillment, has been recognized as a great place for those in the IT sector by both Great Places to Work® India and Great Places to Work® Mexico.  The company received the following honors: Placed #1 in the 50-500 employee category for Great Places To Work Mexico in the Best Places to Work™ – IT multi-sector. Press Release Blue Yonder Recognized as a Best Place to Work in the IT Sector in both Mexico and India by Great Places to Work Blue Yonder Recognized as a Best Place to Work in the IT Sector in both Mexico and India by Great Places to Work Blue Yonder , January 9, 2024 3 minute read Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain and omni-channel commerce fulfillment, has been recognized as a great place for those in the IT sector by both Great Places to Work ® India and Great Places to Work ® Mexico. The company received the following honors: Placed #1 in the 50-500 employee category for Great Places To Work Mexico in the Best Places to Work™ – IT multi-sector. Recognized in the Top 25 by Great Place To Work India among India's Best Workplaces™ in IT & IT-BPM 2023. “These two IT-focused awards showcase that Blue Yonder is a best-in-class employer for those in the IT space. As a technology company, our IT associates are at the center of everything we do – from ensuring our associates have the tools they need to be successful to guaranteeing our customers solutions are up and running 24/7,” said Nathalie Caruthers, chief associate success officer, Blue Yonder. “While these awards are focused on our efforts in India and Mexico, it is a global effort by our IT teams and this award would not be possible without their dedication and teamwork to each other, the company, and our more than 3,000 customers.” As a global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work has been studying employee experience and people practices across organizations for over three decades. Every year, more than 100 million employees from over 150 countries worldwide take the with Great Place To Work for assessment, benchmarking, and planning of actions to strengthen their workplace culture. In both Mexico and India, the ranking was based on a rigorous evaluation methodology. These organizations among other practices particularly excel both on people practices that they have crafted for their employees and proactively acting on the feedback to create a High Trust Culture. In India, where the IT industry contributes 7.5% towards the country's gross domestic product (GDP), the report and the complete list India's Best Workplaces in IT & IT-BPM 2023 can be viewed here . In Mexico, where the award ranking was based on the number of employees in the organization, the complete list for the IT Multi-Sector can be viewed here . Backed by 30 years of data, Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Through its proprietary For All™ Model and Trust Index™ Survey, it gives organizations the recognition and tools to create a consistently positive employee experience. Its mission is to help every place become a great place to work for all, driving business growth, improving lives, and empowering communities. Through globally recognized and coveted Great Place To Work Certification™ and highly competitive Best Workplaces™ Lists, Great Place To Work enables employers to attract and retain talent, benchmark company culture, and increase revenue. Its platform enables leaders to truly capture, analyze and understand the experience of every employee, and compare outcomes with data collected from more than 100 million employees in 150 countries worldwide. To learn more about careers at Blue Yonder visit careers.blueyonder.com . About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain. As the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, Blue Yonder offers a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network that empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers—all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder’s modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. blueyonder.com “Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. ## Blog Articles ### [From siloed to connected—breaking down retail's planning and execution barriers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/from-siloed-to-connected-breaking-down-retails-planning-and-execution-barriers) > AI-driven continuous optimization by Blue Yonder Space Planning Solution enables store-specific layouts at scale, turning localization into a competitive edge. Blog From siloed to connected—breaking down retail's planning and execution barriers From siloed to connected—breaking down retail's planning and execution barriers Kecia Fattor , July 16, 2026 4 minute read Why great retail decisions depend on connected data and collaboration Retailers rarely suffer from a lack of information; in fact, they have never had more data. Yet many still struggle to turn information into action. The problem isn't data availability; it's the inability to connect decisions across merchandising, supply chain, category management, space planning, and store operations. Merchandising teams have valuable insights. Supply chain teams have critical inventory data. Category managers understand assortment performance. Store operations teams know what's happening on the sales floor. Yet many retailers still operate as though each function exists independently. The result is a business where important decisions are made in silos, handoffs occur through spreadsheets and email chains, and execution often drifts away from original planning objectives. Nowhere is this more visible than in space planning. The hidden cost of disconnected planning Space planning does not operate in isolation. Every shelf decision is influenced by demand forecasts, assortment strategies, inventory availability, financial goals, supplier relationships, and store execution realities. When these systems are disconnected, problems emerge quickly. A category manager may update an assortment plan without visibility into shelf constraints. Space planners may create planograms using outdated demand information. Store associates may receive instructions that no longer reflect current priorities. Each team may optimize its own objectives, yet the organization underperforms because decisions are disconnected across the enterprise. The consequence is slower decision-making, reduced productivity, inconsistent execution, and missed revenue opportunities., Many retailers still rely on fragmented systems that prevent shopper data, assortment planning, space planning, and execution from working together as a unified process. Why retail complexity is growing The challenge is becoming more severe because retail itself is becoming more interconnected. Stores are no longer just physical locations. They are fulfillment centers, brand destinations, merchandising showcases, and customer engagement hubs. At the same time, consumers expect consistent experiences across channels. This means retailers must balance more variables than ever before: Omnichannel demand Assortment complexity Inventory constraints Labor availability Supplier collaboration Shopper expectations Trying to manage that complexity with disconnected systems creates delays at every step of the process. Creating a connected decisioning environment The answer is not simply more data. Retailers already have plenty of data. The answer is to create a connected decisioning-environment where information flows across planning and execution functions in real time. Blue Yonder addresses this challenge through a connected platform and intelligent category decisioning layer that links financial plans, insights, demand, assortment, space, and supply. Instead of operating through isolated workflows, retailers gain a shared foundation for decision-making. This creates alignment across: Merchandising Space planning Category management Supply chain Store operations External partners Everyone works from the same version of the truth. Collaboration becomes a competitive advantage For decades, collaboration in space planning has revolved around sending POG files, spreadsheets, screenshots, and emails between teams. The process works—but not fast enough for today’s retail environment. Blue Yonder’s new Space Planning Solution on the Platform has planogram collaboration capabilities that connect planners, merchants, suppliers, and store teams around a shared view of the business in a shared environment, ensuring every stakeholder operates from the same data, the same plan, and the same priorities. This dramatically accelerates planning cycles by allowing stakeholders to: Review and refine planograms simultaneously within a shared environment Share feedback in real time directly in the tool Eliminate version confusion Improve execution alignment Reduce rework Collaboration becomes embedded directly into the planning process instead of existing as a disconnected activity. The result is faster decisions, improved alignment, and fewer delays between planning and execution. Retailers don’t compete on how quickly they exchange files. They compete on how quickly they make decisions and execute those decisions. Connecting planning to store execution Perhaps the most critical connection in retail is the connection between planning and execution. A perfectly optimized planogram delivers no value if it is not executed correctly in stores. Unfortunately, execution gaps remain one of the largest challenges facing retailers today. 93% of retailers report challenges with planogram compliance and in-store execution . Blue Yonder's Space Planning Mobile App directly addresses this issue by linking planning activities to store-level execution. Store associates receive: Step-by-step planogram execution instructions Real-time updates Visual guidance Compliance validation tools Feedback mechanisms for compliance discrepancies and resolution This creates a closed-loop process where execution outcomes are managed quickly and can directly inform future planning decisions. Turning visibility into action Connected planning does more than improve collaboration. It improves visibility. Retailers gain visibility into both planning effectiveness and execution quality, allowing them to understand: Whether stores executed plans as intended Where compliance issues are emerging Which actions are driving measurable performance improvements How execution varies across regions, banners, and store formats This visibility enables continuous refinement and optimization. Decision-makers can quickly identify issues and respond before problems become widespread. The future is connected Retailers cannot optimize what they cannot connect. Retail complexity is not slowing down. Assortments are expanding, fulfillment models are evolving, and consumer expectations continue to rise. Success will depend on a retailer's ability to connect decisions across functions and translate plans into consistent execution. The retailers that outperform in the years ahead will not simply have more data. They will have a more connected operating model; one that unites planning, collaboration, execution, and performance across the enterprise. By moving from siloed processes to connected planning and execution, retailers create faster decisions, stronger alignment, better compliance, and ultimately better business outcomes. The future of space planning isn't standardization. It's scalable localization powered by continuous intelligence. Interested in seeing the solution in action? Learn More Chat Now ### [Competing beyond cost: 4 ways technology helps LSPs differentiate and grow](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/competing-beyond-cost-four-ways-technology-helps-lsps-differentiate-and-grow) > Technology differentiates LSPs: warehouse automation, end-to-end visibility, AI-driven optimization, and dynamic routing to win growth. Blog Competing beyond cost: 4 ways technology helps LSPs differentiate and grow Competing beyond cost: 4 ways technology helps LSPs differentiate and grow Ashley Perillo , July 15, 2026 For logistics service providers (LSPs) , operational excellence is no longer enough to win and retain business. Shippers increasingly expect partners that can help them navigate disruption, improve supply chain performance, provide greater visibility, and support business growth. At the same time, margin pressure, labor shortages, rising customer expectations, and increasing supply chain complexity are making it harder to compete on cost alone. The challenge is clear: according to Blue Yonder's retailer survey , 40% of retailers believe their logistics providers lack the technology capabilities needed to meet their evolving needs. This creates both a risk and an opportunity. LSPs that invest in technology can strengthen customer relationships, deliver greater value, and differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market. Modern technologies such as AI-driven optimization, automation, and real-time visibility are helping providers move beyond traditional transportation and warehousing services. They are enabling LSPs to improve execution, respond faster to change, and create the strategic value customers increasingly expect. The true cost of relying on outdated processes Many supply chain disruptions originate outside an LSP's direct control. Delays from suppliers, carriers, ports, weather events, and changing customer requirements can quickly ripple across operations. When providers rely on disconnected systems, spreadsheets, and manual processes, responding effectively becomes increasingly difficult. These limitations lead to slower decision-making, reduced visibility, and missed opportunities to proactively manage disruptions. More importantly, legacy systems can make it difficult to deliver the responsiveness and transparency that customers expect from strategic logistics partners. As shippers look for providers that can help them navigate uncertainty and improve outcomes, technology is becoming a key enabler of differentiation—not just operational efficiency. Overcoming hurdles with advanced logistics technology 1. Empowering facilities with warehouse automation Warehouse operations continue to face labor constraints while customer expectations for speed and accuracy continue to rise. Automation technologies , including robotics, intelligent workflows, and advanced warehouse management solutions, help improve productivity, increase throughput, and reduce errors. These enable providers to scale operations more efficiently while maintaining service levels during periods of peak demand. Technology also enables LSPs to support value-added services such as omnichannel fulfillment, inventory visibility, and returns management . These capabilities create new opportunities to deepen customer relationships and expand revenue streams beyond traditional logistics services. 2. Gaining network-wide visibility In today's supply chains, visibility extends far beyond tracking individual shipments. Customers increasingly expect a comprehensive, real-time view of inventory, operations, and potential disruptions across their entire supply chain network . Network-wide visibility connects data across partners, systems, and operations to provide a single source of truth. By bringing together data across transportation, warehouse, inventory, and partners, LSPs can identify risks earlier, make faster decisions, and proactively manage exceptions before they impact service levels. With end-to-end visibility and actionable insights, LSPs can move from simply reporting on events to actively orchestrating outcomes. This enables more reliable execution, stronger customer collaboration, and the ability to deliver the transparency and responsiveness that drive long-term customer loyalty and growth. 3. Elevating service delivery for your customers Today's shippers are looking for logistics partners that deliver more than execution. They want providers that can help improve resilience, reduce risk, and support growth initiatives. Technology enables LSPs to evolve from service providers into strategic partners. AI-driven decision-making, automation, and visibility help providers respond faster to disruptions, improve reliability, and deliver a more seamless customer experience . The ability to provide proactive recommendations and greater transparency can strengthen customer relationships, improve retention, and become a meaningful differentiator during competitive bids and contract renewals. 4. Leveraging dynamic route optimization Costs remain one of the largest challenges for logistics providers. Fuel price volatility, driver shortages, and unexpected disruptions can quickly impact service and profitability. Dynamic route optimization helps providers adapt in real-time by continuously evaluating traffic conditions, weather events, delivery windows, and network constraints. Rather than relying solely on historical data, this enables more dynamic decision-making that improves asset utilization and helps maintain service commitments. The benefits extend beyond cost savings. By reducing delays and improving reliability, this enables LSPs to deliver more consistent customer service levels and strengthen their competitive position during renewals. Staying competitive in the evolving logistics landscape Technology is no longer simply a tool for improving efficiency; it is becoming a foundation for growth and differentiation. As customer expectations continue to evolve, LSPs that leverage AI, automation, and visibility to create measurable customer value will be better positioned to win new business and grow existing accounts. The providers that succeed will be those that combine operational excellence with the technology, insights, and agility needed to help customers navigate an increasingly dynamic supply chain landscape. In a market where many shippers believe their providers are falling short on technology capabilities, investing in innovation is becoming a key way to stand out—and win. Blue Yonder helps LSPs win more business Discover how technology differentiates LSPs, drives growth, and enhances client outcomes. Learn more ### [Why Philippine retail can no longer afford fragmented systems](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/why-philippine-retail-can-no-longer-afford-fragmented-systems) > Connect merchandising, inventory, supply chain and stores to boost visibility, speed and cut costs. Blog Why Philippine retail can no longer afford fragmented systems Why Philippine retail can no longer afford fragmented systems Vineet Sharma , July 15, 2026 3 minute read Philippine retailers are operating in an increasingly demanding environment. Demand shifts quickly, supply networks stretch across islands and regions, and pressure on margins leaves little room for inefficiency. Yet while retailers often focus on external challenges, one issue continues to amplify them all: fragmented systems. Across many retail organizations, merchandising, planning, inventory, supply chain and store operations are supported by separate systems and disconnected processes. Information sits in different places, decisions move slowly between teams, and actions are often based on incomplete visibility. According to a Forbes report , globally, data silos cost businesses an estimated $3.1 trillion annually in lost revenue and productivity. As retail operations become more complex, fragmentation is becoming a business challenge that retailers can no longer afford to ignore. Disconnected operations slow down retailers Retail is built on connected decisions. A merchandising decision influences inventory. Inventory affects warehouse activity. Warehouse execution impacts transportation. Transportation determines whether products reach stores when customers need them. The challenge is that many retailers still manage these activities through systems that were never designed to work together. The impact is visible across daily operations. Buyers carry extra inventory to compensate for uncertainty. Store teams spend time validating stock availability. Suppliers react to demand changes after they occur. Teams spend valuable time aligning information instead of acting on it. Fragmented systems create delays that affect how quickly retailers can respond to changing market conditions. What often appears to be an inventory problem, a store execution issue or a supply chain challenge can frequently be traced back to the same root cause: information is not flowing effectively across the business. Towards a more connected retail operation Technology is helping retailers address this challenge by connecting functions that have traditionally operated in isolation. Rather than relying on separate systems for planning, merchandising, inventory, allocation and replenishment, retailers are increasingly adopting integrated platforms that bring together data, decisions and execution. The goal is to create a common foundation that gives teams greater visibility and alignment across the business. Retail planning strategies increasingly focus on interoperable solutions, integrated data and eliminating siloed processes that slow decision-making. The benefits extend beyond efficiency. Better connectivity helps retailers align assortments with demand, improve inventory decisions, coordinate more effectively with suppliers, and respond faster when conditions change. It also reduces the manual effort required to reconcile information across multiple systems. The benefits extend beyond efficiency. Better connectivity helps retailers align assortments with demand, improve inventory decisions, coordinate more effectively with suppliers, and respond faster when conditions change. It also reduces the manual effort required to reconcile information across multiple systems. Artificial intelligence strengthens this approach by helping retailers identify risks, evaluate scenarios and recommend and execute actions. But AI is only as effective as the information it can access. Connected data creates the foundation for faster and more informed decision-making. By shifting to a modern technology stack and a more connected approach to retail planning, Bata, a multinational footwear, apparel, and accessories retailer with more than 6,000 retail locations worldwide, unified merchandising, assortment, demand, and replenishment planning across its business. The first deployment focused on India and Thailand—markets representing nearly a third of Bata's global operations—and delivered up to 9% higher forecast accuracy , 29% lower inventory levels, 31% higher stock turns, and an average in-store availability rate of 72%, helping the retailer respond more effectively to changing consumer demand. The opportunity for Philippine retailers For retailers, the opportunity is not simply to modernize technology but to reduce the friction created when information, decisions and execution operate separately. Connecting merchandising, planning, inventory, supply chain and store operations can help create greater consistency across the business, improve responsiveness to demand and support more confident decision-making across a large retail network. In the years ahead, the retailers that outperform will be the ones that eliminate fragmentation, connect their operations and turn decisions into action faster than competitors. Create better customer experience with connected retail operations Connect merchandising, planning, inventory, supply chain and store operations with a unified foundation for visibility, alignment and AI-powered execution. Learn more ### [Building resilience: 5 ways LSPs can minimize risk and protect profitability during disruption](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/building-resilience-five-ways-lsps-can-minimize-risk-and-protect-profitability-during-disruption) > Discover how logistics service providers can build resilience against disruptions using predictive analytics, connected networks, and strong partnerships. Blog Building resilience: 5 ways LSPs can minimize risk and protect profitability during disruption Building resilience: 5 ways LSPs can minimize risk and protect profitability during disruption Ashley Perillo , July 10, 2026 4 minute read Every logistics service provider (LSP) operates in an environment of constant uncertainty. Extreme weather, economic volatility, geopolitical events, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions are no longer isolated incidents—they are part of everyday business. When a major transit hub closes, a supplier misses production targets, or a tariff changes costs overnight, the effects can quickly spread across entire supply chains. Recent years have highlighted the risks of inflexible supply chains. Stranded containers, inventory shortages, capacity constraints, and rising freight costs have impacted businesses worldwide. At the same time, customer expectations continue to rise. Shippers increasingly expect their logistics partners to provide not just transportation services , but also proactive communication, rapid problem-solving, and strategic guidance when disruptions occur. While LSPs cannot control external events, they can control how prepared they are to respond. Building resilience requires a strategic focus on agility, predictive insights, and stronger collaboration. The cost of operational rigidity For decades, supply chains prioritized efficiency and cost reduction. Lean inventories, supplier consolidation, and highly optimized networks helped improve margins during stable periods but often left organizations vulnerable when disruptions occurred. When a disruption impacts a rigid supply chain , the consequences can be severe. Delayed materials can halt customer production, missed SLAs can damage customer trust, and expedited shipping costs can rapidly erode profitability. In many cases, organizations are forced into reactive decision-making, choosing between higher costs and lower service levels. To thrive in today's environment, LSPs must move beyond reacting to disruptions and instead build operations designed to adapt. 1. Share data across the ecosystem Siloed data, systems, and teams slow decision-making. When transportation, warehouse, customer service, carrier, and supplier information is disconnected, identifying the root cause of a disruption can take valuable time. Organizations that improve data sharing across their ecosystem gain greater visibility into supply chain activity and can identify issues earlier. A connected flow of information enables faster collaboration, more informed decisions, and quicker responses when conditions change. Visibility is no longer just about tracking shipments—it is about creating a shared understanding that helps all parties respond more effectively. 2. Anticipate disruptions before they happen You cannot effectively respond to risks you cannot see. Traditional planning methods often rely heavily on historical data, but today's supply chain environment requires real-time visibility and forward-looking intelligence. Predictive analytics and AI-driven insights can help organizations identify emerging risks before they impact operations. Weather events, port congestion, shifting demand patterns, and transportation bottlenecks often provide early warning signals. By recognizing these patterns sooner, LSPs can evaluate alternatives, communicate proactively with customers, and reduce the impact of disruptions before they escalate. 3. Build stronger collaborative partnerships No supply chain operates in isolation. Resilience depends on the strength of relationships across suppliers, carriers, customers, and logistics partners. Organizations that foster collaboration are often better positioned to navigate uncertainty. Regular communication, shared goals, and coordinated planning help align decision-making when unexpected challenges arise. Partners that work together consistently during normal operations are typically able to respond more quickly and effectively when disruptions occur. 4. Move beyond transactional relationships Strong partnerships create greater flexibility during periods of disruption. Open communication, shared planning, and mutual trust help organizations secure capacity, identify alternatives, and solve challenges faster when unexpected events arise. For LSPs, deeper relationships also create opportunities to become more strategic advisors to customers. Rather than simply executing shipments, resilient providers help customers evaluate trade-offs, identify risks, and make informed decisions that protect service and profitability. This shift from transactional execution to strategic partnership can strengthen customer loyalty and improve long-term retention. 5. Improve optimization Dynamic routing allows transportation teams to adapt quickly when disruptions occur. By evaluating factors such as traffic conditions, delivery windows, fuel consumption, capacity constraints, and driver availability, LSPs can maintain service levels while improving efficiency. Optimization is equally important beyond transportation. The ability to continuously evaluate inventory positioning, warehouse capacity, labor resources, and network performance helps organizations remain agile as conditions change. Resilience is not about eliminating risk—it is about having the operational flexibility to respond effectively when challenges emerge. Take action to  strengthen your operations Supply chain resilience is no longer a competitive advantage, it is a business necessity. Organizations that invest in adaptability today will be better positioned to manage tomorrow's disruptions. Disruption is inevitable, but failure is not. By connecting supply chain networks, leveraging predictive intelligence, strengthening collaboration, and improving operational agility, LSPs can transform uncertainty into opportunity. The result is a more resilient business that protects profitability, improves service performance, and helps customers navigate an increasingly complex supply chain landscape. Blue Yonder for LSPs: Build resilience. Win more business. Discover how ### [5 planning priorities every CPG manufacturer should address in 2026](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/five-planning-priorities-every-cpg-manufacturer-should-address) > Improve forecasting, use probabilistic models, enable continuous demand visibility, align planning, and embed sustainability. Blog 5 planning priorities every CPG manufacturer should address in 2026 5 planning priorities every CPG manufacturer should address in 2026 Chris Shrope , June 25, 2026 4 minute read CPG manufacturers are planning in a tougher environment than they were just a few years ago. Demand is less predictable, retailer expectations are higher, and margins are under pressure. At the same time, many teams still rely on fragmented tools and delayed data. The result is familiar: too much firefighting, too much manual reconciliation, and too many decisions made without a current view of demand and supply. Here are five planning priorities CPG leaders should focus on in 2026. 1. Cost pressure is making better forecasting essential Raw material costs, promotions, shifting consumer behavior, and channel volatility are putting pressure on margins. The headroom is thinning: McKinsey's April 2026 State of Food and Beverage report finds that volume growth for food and beverage companies has stayed below 1% a year, with most recent growth coming from price rather than higher consumption. As price increases reach their limit, more of the margin now depends on how quickly and accurately teams plan. While planners cannot control every cost driver, they can improve how quickly and accurately they respond. Forecasting closer to execution, and with more current data, helps reduce overproduction, markdowns, and avoidable inventory costs. Scenario planning strengthens that advantage by helping teams prepare for likely disruptions before they happen. 2. Single-number forecasts are no longer enough For CPG companies, a single forecast number often hides too much risk. Shelf-life limits, seasonal swings, and promotion activity make demand uncertainty a constant factor, and the gap is widespread: in a 2026 survey of supply chain leaders, close to 47% reported operating with demand forecast accuracy below 70%, or with no formal way to measure it at all. Probabilistic forecasting gives planners a better view by showing a range of possible outcomes, along with the trade-offs tied to each one. That helps teams make smarter inventory and service decisions based on risk, cost, and business priorities. 3. Demand visibility needs to be continuous Many planning teams still work with partial or delayed signals. In the same 2026 survey, 63.5% of companies cited critical problems integrating their systems, which leaves demand data siloed and slow to surface. By the time demand changes show up, the business is already reacting late. Usable visibility means seeing demand continuously, across partners and channels, with minimal lag. That gives planners more time to respond to consumer shifts, improve inventory decisions, and adjust faster when market conditions change. 4. Misalignment across planning functions is slowing performance In many organizations, demand, supply, inventory, and replenishment still happen in separate systems. That creates handoffs, delays, and data loss across the planning process. For CPG manufacturers, that kind of misalignment leads directly to inefficiency, stockouts, excess inventory, and slower decisions. The cost is enormous: IHL Group estimates that stockouts and overstocks together drain about $1.77 trillion from retailers and their suppliers each year, equal to roughly 6.5% of global retail sales. Bringing these functions together in one connected planning environment helps teams collaborate in real time and act on the same picture of the business. 5. Sustainability trade-offs need to happen inside planning Sustainability goals are now part of core business strategy. But many companies still measure carbon, waste, and other impacts after the plan is already set. The cost of that is larger than most plans account for: 2026 research from the World Economic Forum and Avery Dennison puts food waste across the supply chain at about 33% of revenue, or $540 billion this year, with much of it created where forecasting, production, and logistics disconnect. That approach limits good decision-making. Planners need to evaluate cost, service, and sustainability at the same time, using shared, high-quality data. When sustainability is embedded into planning workflows, trade-offs become clearer and decisions become more practical. The path forward for CPG planning These challenges may look different on the surface, but they point to the same issue: fragmented planning is no longer good enough for the speed and complexity of modern CPG supply chains. CPG leaders need planning capabilities that support faster forecasting, better visibility, stronger alignment, and more informed trade-offs. Unified, AI-driven planning helps make that possible. The companies that move now can build a real advantage: faster decisions, better service, lower waste, and more resilient operations. Explore how cognitive solutions at Blue Yonder help CPG manufacturers unify planning, improve forecast accuracy, and turn supply chain complexity into competitive advantage. Learn more Sources (all 2026) Section 1 — F&B volume growth below 1% a year: McKinsey, State of Food and Beverage (April 8, 2026). https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/state-of-food-and-beverage Sections 2 and 3 — 47% with forecast accuracy below 70%; 63.5% with critical system-integration problems: Datup, Supply Chain Trends 2026, survey of 155 supply chain leaders (January 28, 2026). https://datup.ai/en/supply-chain-trends Section 4 — Stockouts and overstocks cost about $1.77 trillion (6.5% of retail sales): IHL Group, Research Findings and Key Statistics (updated April 2026). https://www.ihlservices.com/news/ihl-research-findings/ Section 5 — Food waste at 33% of revenue, $540 billion in 2026: World Economic Forum and Avery Dennison (April 7, 2026). https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/04/why-food-waste-540-billion-business-opportunity-hiding-plain-sight/ ### [Navigating transportation capacity crunches](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/navigating-transportation-capacity-crunches) > Handle transportation capacity crunches with TMS: optimize loads, routes, backhauls and network automation to boost utilization, cut costs, increase resilience. Blog Navigating transportation capacity crunches Navigating transportation capacity crunches Jen McQuiston , June 23, 2026 4 minute read It’s crunch time. The logistics manager index (LMI) for April 2026 showed US trucking capacity at the second-lowest level in the history of the index —and prices at their second-highest level in that time. Additionally, this year in the US and Europe , there are around half a million unfilled driving jobs. Shifting regulations have added more stress to hiring and retention, and it’s not just drivers. Warehouse staff are also hard to hire and retain in 2026, which has an immediate impact on transportation capacity: if nobody is there to load or unload, your truck is bound to be heavily delayed. The labor market isn’t always going to be quite this tight, but this issue rears its head time and time again. It’s something transportation teams need to have a plan for, regardless of whether they’re operating a private/dedicated fleet or utilizing logistics service providers (LSPs) and for-hire carriers. So, what can they do to tackle the capacity crunch? Utility and efficiency Maximum utilization is the maxim for transportation teams when capacity is under strain. Every truck, driver and load has to be as efficient as possible. Running half-full is cost and emissions-heavy, and not financially viable in many cases anyway. With fuel costs rising too, teams are aiming for full truckloads as much of the time as possible. That means finding backhauls, minimizing route distance, optimizing plans, building efficient loads and consolidating moves. To achieve that, transportation optimization and load planning are crucial, optimizing routes, hubs, carriers, modes and consolidation strategies. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to optimization—it needs to account for your specific business and the scenarios your transportation network actually deals with. Straightforward rules-based optimization can’t help you to improve utilization if it generates recommendations and routes that simply aren’t compatible with operational reality. Instead, teams need to be able to carefully configure their optimization engine to reflect that reality, so that the recommendations and decisions aren’t just theoretically sound but also practically achievable. In addition, transportation optimization needs to adapt as those plans and scenarios play out in real time. What was optimal at the start of the day isn’t necessarily still optimal by noon! Being able to adjust on the fly means teams aren’t beholden to out-of-date decisions. But optimizing all this (and juggling service levels and emissions too) across a whole complex network in real time requires a volume of data, and the ability to process and understand it, that no human team can manage. AI is driving higher utilization to counterbalance lower capacity AI is exceptional at the kinds of utility-maximizing calculations that transport managers need to run at scale. A combination of optimization and AI-driven intelligence helps teams with: Finding backhauls for private and dedicated fleet Optimizing load building Optimizing routes and plans Improving consolidation Finding more accurate routing and continuous moves Automating transportation planning, scheduling, exceptions and decision support. It’s essential to note that transportation systems that analyze data and make recommendations or decisions must do so with full awareness of context. That demands interoperability between transportation management and your WMS, OMS, RMS (returns management), and business planning systems (demand & supply planning, forecasting, replenishment et cetera). Extending efficiency through the network Once goods are in motion, transportation teams need to stay on top of shipments across a global multi-mode network, ensuring they avoid additional costs and inefficiencies. When capacity is scarce, making sure that all available capacity is being used effectively and smoothly is critical. Using digital supply chain networks, transportation teams can get advance notice of at-risk shipments to avoid last-minute expedites and costly adjustments. They also receive the benefits of real co-operation with trading partners – not just sharing workarounds or constant quick check-ins, but synchronization through the network, so everyone is working on the same page. Automation across multi-party processes means you don’t just automate within your business, but across the touchpoints in your network – no more mornings spent updating and confirming today’s appointments, or checking that yesterday’s loads were picked up or delivered. That means more time optimizing things that materially reduce costs and improve service, and less time checking where shipments are. It also means that transportation managers have more time for one critically under-appreciated element to capacity crunches: relationship management. Keeping drivers happy is vital when the market is tight, and automating mundane logistical tasks can give transport teams time to build relationships and foster greater retention and resilience. Tackle capacity challenges with Blue Yonder’s TMS Learn how our Transportation Management System helps your transportation team handle capacity constraints and keep shipments moving. Learn more ### [Three new factors to win retail logistics contracts for 2027 onwards](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/three-new-factors-to-win-retail-logistics-contracts-for-2027-onwards) > Flexibility, proactive networked risk management, and AI-driven tech investments—three factors LSPs must show to win retail logistics contracts from 2027. Blog Three new factors to win retail logistics contracts for 2027 onwards Three new factors to win retail logistics contracts for 2027 onwards Ethan Morgan , June 17, 2026 4 minute read Retailers are seeking logistics service providers (LSPs) with more than the traditional set of services, as the retail logistics market evolves and grows in the next 3-5 years, according to new survey data published by Blue Yonder . 71% of retailers pick an LSP primarily for the functions they can perform, rather than for global reach (41%) or regional providers (42%). At the same time, retail logistics as a market is being divided between retailers who see LSPs as strategic enablers (52% describe their LSP this way) and those who don’t. Becoming central to retailers’ strategic plans means greater customer retention and deeper integration in their operations, with opportunities to take over more functions and responsibilities—in short, more revenue, more reliably. But what wins those deals and what makes an LSP into a strategic enabler? Three factors are now more important to retail logistics deals. Flexibility and responsiveness It’s worth stating the obvious: retailers first and foremost need reliability from their LSP partners. It was the top quality sought in LSPs for 26% of retailers, and in the top 3 for 60%. The factors we’re discussing today are about the changing nature of the retail logistics market, and flexibility is a great example. After reliability, you might think cost is the next logical priority—but in fact, flexibility was in more retailers’ top 3 desired qualities than cost-efficiency (56% vs 46%). It turns out that being able to adapt on the fly to disruption, changing patterns of demand and seasonal peaks is more important to more retailers than solely focusing on cost. Missing out on revenue opportunities because of inflexible capacity is costly in and of itself. “Their ability to scale capacity quickly across regions set them apart from other providers during our evaluation. During peak seasonal demand, our LSP was able to secure additional linehaul and last-mile capacity within days, whereas other providers required weeks of lead time.” -Survey respondent Being able to intelligently manage capacity throughout the network and maximize utilization will help LSPs to demonstrate greater flexibility for retail clients. Risk management and disruption proactivity through networks Disruption is the norm, with retailers experiencing supplier issues; economic challenges like strikes and inflation; and operational challenges such as transport delays, like those seen in global shipping bottlenecks like the Suez and Panama canals or the Straits of Hormuz. As a result, retailers are looking for support. They want LSPs who can show them in real time what’s happening, have a plan for risk management, and give prior warnings about disruptions. When we asked retailers what type of support they require from LSPs, the top answer was end-to-end visibility to support risk management, with confidence across all channels, selected by 69% of respondents. More than half of retailers (55%) now expect pre-warning about disruptions, and more (57%) say they expect risk management planning. Pre-warning about disruptions is a big ask and requires LSPs to have a sophisticated digital supply chain network that gives them advance notice of upstream disruptions, which they can then pass on to retailer customers. Once that’s in place, LSPs can employ AI to constantly analyze the network and flag potential disruptions before they actually occur, giving their retail clients true forewarning.  83% of retailers expect their LSP partnerships to evolve through digital network expansion, making this a critical priority for future deal success. Technological investment and improvements When we asked retailers about areas where they believed LSPs were currently underperforming, technology capabilities (including services offered and ability to integrate) was by far the top response, selected by 40% of retailers. That highlights a massive opportunity for improvement and indicates that retailers’ growing needs and demands are at risk of being under-served by LSPs who haven’t invested sufficiently in technology. Retailers are investing in technology upgrades across the board and expect their LSPs to invest alongside them. The most common investments they expect are machine learning/predictive AI (49%) and control tower/digital supply chain networks (40%). When operating across a digital supply chain network, agentic AI can support retailers’ risk management by recommending actions such as reallocating loads for shipments at risk of delays or detention fees. In retail logistics deals going forwards, LSPs who are mature users of these technologies and who can demonstrate tangible results will stand head and shoulders over early adopters and experimenters. Read the full research report here , and discover how Blue Yonder enables LSPs to become more flexible, mitigate risks that affect service levels and win more retail logistics deals . ### [The great retail logistics divide: Are LSPs keeping up or falling behind?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/the-great-retail-logistics-divide-are-lsps-keeping-up-or-falling-behind) > Blue Yonder research: 52% of retailers view LSPs as strategic. LSPs must upgrade tech, AI and end-to-end visibility to win and grow retail business. Blog The great retail logistics divide: Are LSPs keeping up or falling behind? The great retail logistics divide: Are LSPs keeping up or falling behind? Ethan Morgan , June 16, 2026 2 minute read The retail logistics provider market is split in two. Blue Yonder research reveals that 52% of retailers consider their logistics service providers (LSPs) to be strategic enablers. The rest don’t. For LSPs, being in that strategic enablement category is an imperative to avoid commodification. Embedding into retailers’ strategic plans is a great way to retain more business and grow existing accounts. It means more new business too, as they’re able to demonstrate excellence not just in the essential qualities (cost, service levels) but in those value-added services which differentiate them from the market: order and returns management[AP1.1], technological integration and flexibility. So how can LSPs stand out and leap into the strategic enablement category, winning new business and growing existing accounts? The context: Retail is at a pivotal technological moment 54% of retailers say that AI is already changing how they operate (in the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass survey) 87% of retailers are already using or actively implementing a unified data platform ( Blue Yonder LSP research ) 71% are actively implementing or investigating machine learning ( Blue Yonder LSP research ) Retailers are upgrading and upskilling technologically, and they expect their LSPs to follow that curve. In our research, we asked retailers which area they currently see LSPs underperforming in. The most common answer? Technology. 40% of retail leaders told us that LSPs don’t meet their expectations in terms of technology capabilities and integration. This is a huge issue, and an insidious one that might not have an immediate impact on new business, but which quickly limits growth, and which, over time, adds up to falling behind the competition. Getting to a technological level that allows LSPs to invest together with retail clients, rather than patching together a solution, is essential. Without it, LSPs cannot become embedded in retailers’ strategic development and future growth. LSPs are expected to reliably deliver on time, in full, at a competitive low cost. Those are all high priorities for retailers. But when the market is tight and many players can claim to meet those standards, what are the differentiators, and how can LSPs innovate to deliver the essentials even more efficiently and reliably? The key is to understand what else retailers need. In 2026, retailers are dealing with major supply chain disruptions like the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a changing economy, inflation, consumer behavior shifting rapidly, tariff impositions, and more. It’s no wonder that risk management, disruption warnings and post-disruption responses are becoming integral parts of retail logistics RFPs. Above all, retailers want end-to-end visibility that connects to their broader unified data platforms and AI adoption, enabling the kinds of sophisticated disruption pre-warning they’re looking for. For LSPs then, meeting retailers’ needs is about showing excellent reliability and competitive pricing, but also about convincing retailers that they have the technological capabilities to deliver peace of mind through risk management and real-time visibility. It’s becoming harder to achieve this without investing in end-to-end digital networks. These allow LSPs to connect directly with trading partners, enabling disruption pre-warning, intelligent decision-making on the fly, and rapid disruption response coordination. Luckily, those same investments also help LSPs deliver the basics better and to begin their own AI journey towards a cognitive supply chain. Find out how Blue Yonder supports LSPs to grow and win more retail business . ### [Getting ahead of the ripple effects of transport disruption](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/getting-ahead-of-the-ripple-effects-of-transport-disruption) > Anticipate and adapt to global transport disruptions with real-time visibility, AI-driven modeling, and agile procurement to cut costs and maintain service. Blog Getting ahead of the ripple effects of transport disruption Getting ahead of the ripple effects of transport disruption Jen McQuiston , June 15, 2026 4 minute read We live in a world where disruption in a single key transportation lane—the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, or the Red Sea—can cascade around the globe. One major disruption comes with hundreds of further consequences, big and small. A vital lane being closed doesn’t just cause delays in that area. It ties up capacity across the globe, causing prices to rise. Demand for alternative transportation modes can spike, with the potential to overstretch existing capacity in those modes. When these impacts ripple up and downstream, some of the knock-on effects are predictable, but most aren’t immediately obvious. For many transportation managers, knowing how to react is a combination of expertise, data and guesswork. However, due to the size and complexity of modern, global supply chains, human expertise and intuition no longer allow supply chains to react fully or fast enough to get ahead of the market, leaving them vulnerable to the shock waves of additional transportation costs, service failures, and inventory shortages. The role of playbooks Traditionally, many companies with global supply chains relied on playbooks to respond to certain kinds of disruption. Those playbooks were and still are useful in dealing with predictable, even major disruptions and are much better than having to come up with a plan and action it during an emergency—particularly given the often highly manual nature of the responses required in these situations. Even the best playbooks often rely on transportation managers’ ability to monitor their entire network, on their visibility into the event details, and on their ability to manually execute a fast and flexible response. Unfortunately, with manual processes and limited collaboration, transportation managers’ monitoring capabilities, visibility, and response planning are severely constrained. Playbooks can’t help teams understand the situation in real time. Nor can they identify and model adjustments on the fly , taking into account the whole picture of the transportation network, including trading partner capacity and availability. And they certainly can’t autonomously execute those adjustments. Playbooks are a useful solution, and an important one to still have in play. Despite this, they lack real-time visibility across their network and the ability to collaborate and respond quickly with their trading partners as change occurs—regardless of the time of day or time zone. The exclusive reliance on antiquated playbooks leaves even prepared transportation teams behind the outward ripples of major disruptions. As supply chains grow in size and complexity, they must evolve into a solution that allows real-time adaptation, backed by network modeling, advanced planning, and AI agent-powered execution. These agents don’t just flag problems; they analyze potential solutions and can recommend and execute those solutions. Anticipation and proactivity reduces exposure The companies that consistently reduce disruption costs and service-related issues are the ones that don’t wait for impacts—they anticipate them. Moving quickly lets them avoid cascading failures and reroute shipments to more navigable routes. They can build networks with the right mix of carriers, service providers, and modes, quickly plan for and adapt to capacity shortages, and adjust inventory buffers where and when it matters most. Real anticipation requires what traditional, static playbooks lack: true, two-way collaboration, real-time visibility, and real-time modeling of changes and adjustments. Not a notification of disruption, but clarity about its effects on your transportation network and an intelligent solution to the problem—not a generic plan but specific, AI-determined priority actions with explainable benefits, based on machine learning and a digital model of your network . In combination with agentic AI, that means notification of disruption comes with a reasoned, modeled set of recommended actions. After the ripples: the importance of modeling and procurement Once a disruption has hit, sometimes adapting to the new reality is the only way forward. Digitally modeling and optimizing their transportation network allows businesses to use what-if analysis and digital twins to scenario plan. What effects do changing a carrier, or using a different route, or an alternative port, have on the network? This capability is vital for coming up with a strategic solution to major disruptions. Once the short-term ripple effects have been mitigated, enabling businesses to adapt to their new conditions is paramount to their continued success. Similarly, transportation teams need procurement strategies to mitigate the impacts of disruption. As part of their initial response or longer-term repositioning, they may need to find new carriers. One newer option, mini-bids, enables transportation teams to secure capacity in the short term between RFPs and adapt to other ripples from the disruption such as volatile fuel costs.  Pursuing mini-bids allows them to move forward at the best possible rates and contracts, without locking in higher prices for the long-term. This flexibility, and the ability to easily manage mini-bids makes them particularly useful at moments of high price volatility, which are often associated with disruption. See how Blue Yonder customers have reduced logistics costs, increased asset utilization and improved on-time delivery metrics with a digital supply chain network . ### [Achieving AI maturity assessing progress and planning next steps](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/achieving-ai-maturity-assessing-progress-and-planning-next-steps) > AI maturity roadmap for supply chains — assess progress and move from automation to customized agentic AI with clear stages, benefits, and ROI guidance. Blog Achieving AI maturity: Assessing progress and planning next steps Achieving AI maturity assessing progress and planning next steps Mckenna Bailey , June 11, 2026 5 minute read Today’s supply chain leaders are pushing forward with AI, looking to harness groundbreaking technologies to solve complexity, drive efficiency and uncover new sources of value. But while the destination for AI is transformational, the route forward has many twists and turns and the milestones are often undefined. What’s needed is a roadmap—a way for supply chains to assess their progress along the AI maturity curve. Once they know where they are, they can move confidently from planning to execution to ROI in a methodical cadence, with clear objectives in sight. With that goal in mind, we’ve created an AI maturity model that outlines how specific AI technologies can be implemented at each stage of development, the benefits they provide and how they stack to enable the next level of maturity. We focus on answering the following questions: How can we maximize the value of the tech at this particular stage? When have we achieved full implementation? What’s the next move? Let’s get started! Stage 1: Automation Optimizing operations for a turbulent business environment The first step toward AI maturity and the foundation of AI success—is process automation. In this stage, supply chains leverage technologies like digital supply chain management platforms, robotics, and IoT sensors to execute administrative workflows and physical tasks with minimal human intervention. For example, in the warehouse, inventory management systems analyze inventory levels in the context of supply and demand pressures; meanwhile, on the warehouse floor, autonomous shelf loaders and robotic forklifts work alongside human workers. Amid today’s landscape of constant disruption, automated workflows are invaluable. They increase the speed, reliability, accuracy, and efficiency of supply chain operations. The goal of Stage 1 is to maximize the effectiveness of existing processes while crucially, generating a robust set of operational data. This data enables the next stage of the maturity curve because AI requires data to activate. You’ll know that this stage is complete, when targeted automations are up and running effectively—keeping in mind that it may take some time to determine which automation investments deliver a real return . Once the new system has generated a usable data set for AI, you are ready to move to Stage 2. Stage 2: Predictive/Analytic AI Shifting from reactive to proactive supply chain management Once supply chain operations go cloud-native, they can then support an analytic layer that drives proactive decision-making. Analytic or predictive AI uses statistical analysis and machine learning (ML) to comb through operational data, identifying patterns and correlations that are used to anticipate disruptions and prompt swift action to manage risks. For example, AI algorithms can analyze market trends, weather patterns, and social media signals to predict customer demand with a high degree of precision. With predictive AI in place, supply chains are ready for disruptions before they happen. As you can imagine, this revolutionizes demand forecasting, inventory management, logistics optimization, predictive maintenance, risk scoring, and contingency planning. Once AI analytics are humming, supply chains will have achieved deep visibility into operations, breaking down information silos and understanding how actions reverberate across supply chain functions. With Stage 3, it’s time to put this information into action. Stage 3: Generative AI Accelerating execution and making room for strategic decision-making Now, AI moves from analysis to execution. Generative AI synthesizes unstructured data to create new content, automating and streamlining supply chain processes that require communication, summarization, or research. For example, generative AI can play an important role in vendor management. The AI scans lengthy vendor agreements instantly, summarizing legal risks, payment terms, and compliance liabilities. It also works in the other direction, drafting detailed, context-aware emails to vendors based on preset parameters. And when invoicing discrepancies or shipping delays arise, the AI helps you research and resolve them in a fraction of the time it would take with manual processes. Besides the obvious time savings, generative AI relieves staff from the pressure of completing tedious tasks, giving them more room to think strategically. Stage 3 is complete when generative AI has become fully integrated into daily operations—when staff have full confidence in the accuracy of AI and have come to depend on it to maximize their reach. At this point, AI is no longer just suggesting "what" is happening, but is consistently providing the "why" and a viable "how-to" for complex problem-solving. Now you are ready for Stage 4. Stage 4: Agentic AI Capturing value for the enterprise at scale In Stage 4, AI evolves from a human-dependent tool to an autonomous collaborator . AI agents are systems that can plan and execute multi-step tasks independently, without direct human supervision, to achieve high-level goals. For example, a logistics agent might be deployed to anticipate and manage shipping disruptions. When a carrier has a problem, the agent can re-route the shipment, negotiating a spot rate with a different carrier, and update the customer—all without instruction from a human. But these agents are much more than just a robotic “employee.” They actually change the way a business operates, uncovering hidden value by continuously analyzing massive datasets to find operational efficiencies and revenue opportunities at a systems level. At first, AI agents are usually deployed for one-off functions; this stage is complete when agents are deployed across the supply chain. Successful agentic supply chains generate business insights that human managers can use to develop and deploy new value strategies in a continuous feedback loop. Stage 5: Customized AI Widening the moat and taking the lead Once an organization has mastered AI, it becomes part of the business’s DNA—AI becomes truly native. At this stage, supply chains start creating bespoke AI use cases that grow revenue, increase supply chain resilience, and build a competitive moat within their specific sector and regional context. For example, a fashion retailer—whose business model relies on staying ahead of fast-changing tastes among young consumers—builds an AI system that analyzes real-world data to identify fashion trends before they emerge in the mainstream. Their supply chain is built to respond to this analysis in real-time, shifting production in a matter of days, if necessary. With this kind of hyper-customization, the supply chain actually becomes stronger and more profitable during market volatility because AI identifies arbitrage and revenue opportunities that competitors simply cannot see. With Stage 5, the supply chain has fully transitioned from cost center to growth engine, leading the business. The journey to AI maturity starts with a single step The possibilities for AI are dizzying—and that can be overwhelming. For many supply chain leaders, it is hard to know where to start, where technology investments can have the most impact, and how to measure success. But uncertainty should not be an impediment to action. Assess where you are, make a plan, and take action. Every step forward represents more value being unlocked. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Our three takeaways from 2026 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/our-three-takeaways-from-gartner-supply-chain-symposium-xpo) > Connected planning and execution, a common data cloud, a multi-enterprise, and a multi-tier network ecosystem along with scalable AI helps people, AI agents, and automation work together more effectively. Blog Our three takeaways from 2026 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™ Our three takeaways from 2026 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™ Blue Yonder , June 8, 2026 7 minute read The clearest message for supply chain leaders is this: autonomous, AI-native supply chains are moving from vision to real-world execution, a shift that came through clearly at the 2026 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™, held May 18–20 in Barcelona, Spain. The conversation has moved beyond AI as a concept and toward how to make it deliver measurable value in daily operations. That theme showed up across the event’s major focus areas, including AI and emerging technologies, cost optimization, risk and resilience, talent, organization and culture, and transformation. In sessions and side conversations, leaders kept returning to the same challenge: how to make faster, better decisions, protect margins, manage risk, and simplify work instead of adding complexity. At Blue Yonder, we see those needs every day. Leaders need connected planning and execution, a common data cloud, and a multi-enterprise, multi-tier network ecosystem. They also need scalable AI that helps people, AI agents, and automation work together more effectively. Here are three takeaways that stood out most in our view. 1. Agentic AI is moving from promise to practical execution Agentic AI was one of the biggest topics in Barcelona, but the conversation was notably grounded. Leaders were less interested in hype and more focused on where AI can improve real decisions inside real workflows. We think that aligned with Gartner’s framing of AI and emerging technologies, which centered on ROI, scaling what works, and knowing where to pull back. Across the event, leaders pointed to the same barriers: incomplete data, weak governance, outdated workflows, and limited alignment across functions. Many organizations have already tested AI in isolated use cases. The next step is to embed it into workflows that improve speed, precision, and business outcomes across the supply chain. That requires more than adding AI to existing processes. Teams need to understand how decisions move across functions, where delays occur, and which actions can be automated with the right oversight. They also need the right architecture to support connected decisions across the network. Gabriel Werner, VP Supply Chain Advisory, Blue Yonder, addressed that directly in the CSCO boardroom discussion, “From algorithms to EBITDA: Architecting AI in supply chains.” The discussion focused on questions leaders are now asking more urgently: how to connect AI investments to financial outcomes, which use cases are creating real value, and what foundation is required to scale. As the AI company for supply chain, we believe AI creates the most value when it works across planning, execution, and returns. It needs timely data, interoperable workflows, and the ability to connect partners, surface issues early, and support proactive orchestration. The takeaway : Agentic AI can improve supply chain performance, but only when organizations pair it with the right data, governance, architecture, and decision design. Explore Blue Yonder's industry-leading AI innovation . 2. Human roles are evolving toward strategic oversight Another clear theme was the changing role of supply chain teams. The message was consistent: AI will change how work gets done, but it will not reduce the need for experienced people. In many cases, it raises the value of their judgment. Too many teams still spend time reconciling data, managing exceptions manually, and chasing updates across disconnected systems. That slows decisions and limits strategic impact. When AI helps monitor signals, identify exceptions, and recommend actions, people can spend more time weighing trade-offs, shaping strategy, and focusing on business outcomes. That shift does not happen automatically. Leaders need clearer operating models, stronger decision rights, and trust in AI-supported decisions. Explainability, consistency, and auditability all matter if organizations want broader adoption. The Wella Xpo Stage session, “ Future planning with IBP at Wella ,” offered a practical example. Wella shared how it is using Integrated Business Planning to support more sustainable, agile growth. Just as important, the session reinforced a point heard throughout the week: complete, high-quality data is essential to transformation. Wella also highlighted a challenge many leaders know well, transforming planning while continuing to run the business in parallel. This is why unified planning matters. Teams cannot make strong decisions when each function works from a different version of the truth. They need connected data, aligned workflows, and stronger collaboration across internal teams and external partners. Blue Yonder helps enable that with unified planning, multi-tier collaboration, and advanced execution. With stronger visibility across the supply chain, including network partners, organizations can align plans and actions in real time and free teams to focus on higher-value work. The takeaway: AI elevates human roles, but leaders still need to redesign processes, responsibilities, and decision rights to capture the value. Explore Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Planning suite. 3. Cost, risk, and resilience are now board-level priorities If one challenge connected nearly every conversation in Barcelona, it was the need to balance cost, risk, and resilience. Shirell James, VP Supply Chain Advisory, Blue Yonder, addressed that tension in the executive roundtable, “Quantifying the unquantifiable: Supply chain risk and resilience.” The discussion focused on: can we calculate the true cost of supply chain risk, and can we make that case compellingly at board level? The session revealed a striking consensus, most organisations are still operating reactively, lack a formalised framework for quantifying risk cost, and struggle to align finance, procurement, operations, and commercial teams around a common risk language. Four cost levers emerged as the foundation for any quantification approach: inventory buffers, capacity enablement, dual-sourcing premiums, and the cost of activating a risk response; with the last being the hardest to capture and the most frequently absorbed invisibly across functions. Beyond quantification, the conversation surfaced a deeper challenge: sustaining investment in resilience when organisational "pain memory" fades. COVID-era inventory decisions, justified at great cost, are now being cut under EBIT pressure, often without consulting risk or supply chain teams. Participants also pushed back on the assumption that supply chain risk is primarily a logistics problem; energy inflation, raw material escalation, and margin erosion were described as existential threats that don't respond to dual sourcing or safety stock. The roundtable concluded that sustainable resilience requires a shift from reactive heroics to embedded governance with pre-costed scenario playbooks, cross-enterprise risk ownership, and board-ready narratives that connect resilience to competitive survival and share price, not just cost avoidance. At the Carlsberg main stage session, “ From cost insights to network intelligence ,”  Edgars Berzins and Shirell James walked through how Carlsberg turned cost pressure into a structured, data-driven program . Facing year-on-year logistics cost growth and decisions being made without cost visibility, Carlsberg launched a Cost-to-Deliver initiative that defined service elements, built a clean data foundation, and shifted mindset from reactive spend control to proactive cost management. The results were concrete: 8% global logistics cost savings, 40% CO₂ reduction on selected flows, and a country rollout cycle of four to six months across 10+ markets. But the session made clear that Cost-to-Deliver is only the first chapter. Cost-to-Deliver represents roughly one-third of the total prize; the remaining two-thirds sits in Cost-to-Serve and COGS, much of which is driven by unpredictable disruption. The path forward runs from transparency through diagnostic and predictive capability to prescriptive and ultimately autonomous decision-making, enabled by AI-powered supply chain orchestration (powered by the Blue Yonder Network). For companies that want to move beyond logistics optimisation and start reducing total cost across the network, that maturity curve is the roadmap. The takeaway : leaders cannot treat cost and risk as separate decisions. They need connected intelligence that helps them optimize both. Explore Blue Yonder's Transportation Management capabilities and the Blue Yonder Network . How supply chain leaders can move forward The 2026 Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo showed that the autonomous supply chain conversation has matured. Leaders are no longer asking whether AI matters. They are asking how to operationalize it with the right data, workflows, governance, architecture, and people. The path forward starts with practical questions: Which decisions create the most value when made faster? Where do disconnected systems slow down action? Which workflows need redesign before AI can scale? How should human oversight evolve as autonomy increases? How can cost, service, and risk decisions connect across the network? These questions help organizations move from experimentation to execution. They also point to the capabilities that matter most: unified planning, multi-tier collaboration, advanced execution, scalable AI, and a common data cloud. Companies can now tackle all of their supply chain challenges with the only scalable, end-to-end platform that leverages a common data cloud, integrated AI insights and ML forecasting. At Blue Yonder, we help supply chain leaders turn data into action across planning, execution, and returns, so teams can operate with more confidence, agility, and precision. The organizations that will lead next are the ones that make AI part of everyday operations and turn it into a consistent operational advantage. If you want to continue the conversation from Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo, reach out to us today to explore what these priorities mean for your supply chain. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. ### [Blue Yonder’s manifesto: Frictionless Outcomes](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/blue-yonders-manifesto-frictionless-outcomes) > Cognitive Solutions and agentic AI collapse complexity, cut deployment time, and deliver ongoing value—accelerating ROI and driving continuous improvement. Blog Blue Yonder’s manifesto: Frictionless Outcomes Blue Yonder’s manifesto: Frictionless Outcomes Mckenna Bailey , June 5, 2026 5 minute read Back at the Blue Yonder ICON event in May of 2025, CEO Duncan Angove announced the delivery of Cognitive Solutions —a major shift that signaled a new era for the supply chain. At ICON 2026, Angove took the evolution one step further by introducing Frictionless Outcomes, an entirely new way of thinking about solutions implementation and time-to-value. Until recently, enterprise software took anywhere from six months to over a year to deploy. What’s worse: after deployment, companies struggled to realize the value they were promised at the time of purchase. Those timelines aren’t tenable for today’s supply chains that require speed, precision, and agility to respond to market changes. Since the launch of Cognitive Solutions, we’ve seen transformations across every sector and knew there had to be a more efficient way to help our customers reach their goals. Rather than trying to optimize a process that wasn’t working, Blue Yonder reimagined the very foundation. We asked ourselves how deployment could be different, particularly with the help of AI and agentic AI. What are the blockers to maximizing value upfront, sustaining it, and consistently growing that value over time? The old deployment model is organized around work: tasks, plans, and deliverables across an extended timeframe. The new model is organized around outcomes. Achieving Frictionless Outcomes requires letting go of what has always been, focusing on doing what’s best for the customer, and allowing technology to collapse unnecessary complexity. Let’s dig into what all of this means for our customers. What is Frictionless Outcomes? In the simplest terms, the Frictionless Outcomes manifesto is our commitment to speed up time-to-value and enable continuous improvement for our customers through AI agents and other tools across the entire software lifecycle. Currently, human-powered services support these steps. We believe it should be a product feature—purpose-built agents that can support initial deployment through upgrades and continuous business value maximization. Additionally, every major agent deployment at Blue Yonder includes Forward Deployed Engineers. These agents work directly inside customer operations, alongside planners, operators, supervisors, and the logistics team, to turn real operational behavior into agentic intelligence. Each action, each input helps agents learn, not just the workflow, but how the business and the supply chain run. Just as people increase their efficiency as they gain more experience, so too do the agents. And the agents work at machine speed and at scale. Why now? While at ICON, Angove was clear about why Blue Yonder feels comfortable disrupting a $480 billion industry to make system integrations a product feature, rather than a necessary role for companies. Angove’s take on this was refreshingly transparent: “We believe it's going to happen anyway. We'd much rather do this and allow customers to deploy faster and consume more. The biggest barrier to buying software is the cost of deploying it.” Innovation cannot maintain the status quo. Blue Yonder’s obligation to our customers is to anticipate where supply chain technology is going and do whatever it takes to get them there. Right now, that means using agentic AI to ensure customers can deploy as soon as possible. While it might be bold to others, doing the right thing for our customers is an obvious choice. And the results speak for themselves. One customer, for example, saw accuracy double within a 72-hour window, despite working in a notoriously difficult industry to forecast. Less waste, more accuracy, and a better supply chain for everyone. Building a collaborative supply chain with new metrics When the vision for Frictionless Outcomes materialized, we also identified another obstacle. When employees hear about advancements in AI, they tend to assume that it will result in job losses. Angove explained that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the impact agentic AI has on the supply chain. He said, “When it comes to AI and Agents, we believe people are focused on the wrong unit of transformation. The question shouldn’t be ‘How many planners or logistics coordinators can we replace with agents?’ That is the wrong unit. The question should be ‘How can we use AI and Agents to drive better business outcomes? What does it allow us to do that we couldn’t before?” Answers won’t come quickly or easily. Workers and leadership across the supply chain will need to rethink how they interact with supply chain software, agentic AI, and each other. Companies must think beyond silos and at the system level about how to combine human strategy with the speed and efficiency of AI to create a supply chain that hasn’t been possible until now. With this new interface, the human works alongside the agents in the app. They can use the agents in a side-pane conversation or forgo the app entirely and work directly with the agents. Activities such as realm provisioning, data migration, user workflow migration, and others are becoming more automated[PH1.1], cutting time-to-value by 87% in some cases. A note on customer readiness Although these fundamental changes in supply chain technology are necessary to meet today’s market demands, some companies still hesitate to make the shift to Cognitive Solutions. We get it. It’s true that a transformation this comprehensive shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is also true that rethinking everything gives us the opportunity to create something better. For example, planning is a function born from human capabilities and limitations. To keep costs down and reduce waste, we had to figure out a way to plan for the most likely future demand. But with agentic AI, planning becomes something entirely new. The agents are constantly working, collecting and reviewing data, recalling past trends, and taking action. Long lead times vanish. In this new reality, planners can address the bigger picture. Of course, that means the human impact across the supply chain will change. Roles will evolve and new ways of driving value will arise. If it seems a bit overwhelming right now, don’t worry. Blue Yonder has advisors, agents, and partners ready to help you make the transition from the past to a future of Frictionless Outcomes. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions To learn more about Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Solutions and how we can help you increase accuracy, improve performance, and reduce waste, check out our solutions page . Also, check out some of our customers and their proven success strategies . ### [What retailers don't want to do any more in logistics](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/what-retailers-dont-want-to-do-any-more-in-logistics) > Learn how retailers are set to outsource analytics, order management and tech—and how LSPs can become strategic enablers with cloud-native platforms, unified data and AI. Blog What retailers don't want to do any more in logistics What retailers don't want to do any more in logistics Ethan Morgan , June 3, 2026 1 minute read Logistics service providers (LSPs) with retail clients could see demand for new services that were previously relatively unusual for retailers to outsource, according to recently published Blue Yonder research . Today, LSPs are well used to handling warehousing , transportation , inventory management and fulfilment for retailer clients. But when asked about what else they’d consider asking LSPs to do for them in 3-5 years, retail supply chain and logistics leaders had some unexpected answers. The data suggest that across the non-core services (i.e. services other than warehousing/transportation/inventory management/fulfilment), which are currently outsourced to LSPs by less than half of the retailers we spoke to, there is a huge amount of room for growth in coming years. In every function we asked about, at least 21% of retailers were considering outsourcing, and in several areas that figure was significantly higher. Retailer demand for outsourced order management , for example, could be set to nearly double, with 30% of retailers saying they’d consider using LSPs to manage orders in the next 5 years. Analytics services were the most likely to be considered as a future LSP responsibility (by 39% of retail leaders), followed by order management (30%), technology integration (27%) and customs brokerage (26%). The market dynamics behind the shift Our research found that the market in retail logistics is split in two. A little over half of retailers (52%) see their LSPs as strategic enablers. The rest do not. What’s happening is that LSPs who are going beyond the essential requirements of their retailers are winning ground. They’re becoming embedded more deeply in their clients’ businesses, retaining more customers, and winning more new business. That requires consistency and efficiency at the core, of course, but it also comes from the broader variety of services they’re able to offer. Retailers value flexibility and responsiveness even more than cost-efficiency, according to the survey data. Preparing for new opportunities in retail logistics To take advantage of retailers’ willingness to outsource more functions, LSPs need to be sure that their technology is in the right place. Technological capabilities were at the top of the list when we asked retail leaders what, in their experience, LSPs currently underperform in – beating cost efficiency, commercial model flexibility, and sustainability as the key area of underperformance, named by 40% of respondents. This means that to offer a variety of non-core services and adapt them to each customer, LSPs are going to need to prove to retailers that they have a strong technical footing. They’ll need to find solutions that are natively cloud-based , designed for complex multi-client environments, to enable the scaling of differentiated workflows across customers and sites. Mastering the complexity of different services (and maximizing the efficiency of core operations) also requires two fundamentals: an end-to-end approach underpinned by unified data, and a platform that is not just ready for AI, but which actively embeds agents into the whole execution suite . These agents deliver immediately actionable recommendations across labor management, warehousing, transportation, returns and exception management – helping LSPs to deliver improved SLA performance, rapid reactions to disruption, and exception resolution. Discover how LSPs can become strategic enablers for retail clients Read the report ### [Blue Yonder named a leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th consecutive time](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-warehouse-management-systems) > Delivering cloud-native, AI-driven warehouse orchestration on Azure with scalable automation, advanced analytics and enterprise-grade execution. Blog Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th Consecutive Time Blue Yonder named a leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the 18th consecutive time Sarah Hart , June 3, 2026 6 minute read Gartner has recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems.¹ We believe this recognition reflects Blue Yonder’s continued strength in both Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute, particularly for organizations operating complex, high volume, and highly automated warehouse environments. This year’s evaluation places increased emphasis on cloud-native architecture, adaptability, usability, advanced analytics, and support for automation and AI, underscoring the importance of solutions that can evolve with shifting business demands. Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution’s placement as a Leader demonstrates its ability to meet these requirements at enterprise scale, in our opinion. With this latest Magic Quadrant, Blue Yonder remains one of a small number of vendors recognized as a Leader across Gartner Magic Quadrants covering Warehouse Management , Transportation Management , and Supply Chain Planning . Strength in complex, high-performance warehouse operations Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management Solution is purpose-built to support sophisticated operations across a wide range of environments, from regional distribution centers to highly automated fulfillment facilities. The solution enables end-to-end orchestration of warehouse processes through advanced AI-driven workflows, robust inventory management, replenishment and cross-docking capabilities, and optimized execution across labor, processes, and automation. Integrated labor management and real-time performance visibility further support disciplined execution, allowing organizations to maintain consistency across distributed networks while managing diverse fulfillment models at scale. Cloud-native cognitive WMS built on Microsoft Azure Delivered on a modern, cloud-native architecture built on Microsoft Azure, our solution enables scalability, reliability, and continuous innovation. Blue Yonder’s cognitive WMS brings together core warehouse management capabilities with embedded warehouse execution functionality, real-time analytics, native AI and ML optimization, an intelligent warehouse agent.  This unified architecture removes traditional silos across the extended supply chain, allowing organizations to respond more quickly to disruptions, dynamically optimize workflows, and improve operational performance. Advanced analytics, AI, and warehouse intelligence Our Cognitive Solution for Warehouse Management builds on 25 years of customer-driven development and 17 years of leadership and infuses predictive and real-time AI and ML innovation providing the ability for full warehouse orchestration across people, systems, and equipment, elevating the way organizations plan, execute, and optimize work. Powered by the Blue Yonder Platform, this approach unifies data, execution, and intelligence in a single environment, enabling operations to move beyond task based execution to more adaptive, insight driven decision-making. We designed the platform architecture to deliver scalability, resilience, and continuous innovation, while enabling customers to leverage Azure native services for advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI driven optimization across their warehouse operations. Automation, robotics, and warehouse execution As automation becomes an essential part of modern warehouse strategies, Blue Yonder enables organizations to scale confidently. Our WMS integrates seamlessly with material-handling systems, robotics, and  automation providers, enabling coordinated execution across both manual and automated workflows. Through capabilities such as our Robotics Hub and embedded Warehouse Execution System (WES), organizations can onboard new automation technologies with flexibility and extensibility, manage multi-vendor environments, and maintain centralized visibility and control as operations become more complex. Adaptability, usability, and implementation at scale We created the Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution to support adaptability, usability, and execution at scale as organizations modernize operations and expand across increasingly complex warehouse networks. Designed on Blue Yonder Platform, our WMS enables teams to configure and evolve warehouse processes without disrupting day to day operations, using workflow editors, rule driven configuration, and low code tools that allow changes to be made quickly and safely as business requirements shift. Integrated test automation and environment management capabilities further help teams validate changes before deployment, reducing risk while accelerating innovation. At the same time, we place a strong emphasis on usability across roles, from frontline workers and supervisors to operations leaders and IT teams. Intuitive user experiences, role based views, and embedded guidance help reduce training time, improve adoption, and support consistent execution, even in high turnover or high volume environments. For organizations operating at scale, our multisite deployment and environment management capabilities standardize processes across networks while still allowing local flexibility where it matters. Together, these capabilities enable our customers to balance global consistency with local agility, ensuring their warehouse operations can adapt continuously as volume, fulfillment models, labor conditions, and automation strategies evolve. A platform designed for the future of warehouse operations We believe the continued recognition from Gartner of Blue Yonder as a Leader in Warehouse Management Systems reflects our long standing commitment to helping customers manage warehouse challenges while preparing for what comes next. As warehouse operations continue to face pressure from labor constraints, rising costs, and heightened customer expectations, we believe success increasingly depends on solutions that combine deep operational capability with architectural flexibility. At Blue Yonder, we are committed to helping enterprises modernize warehouse execution while preparing for what’s next, supporting AI enabled decision-making, automation at scale, and more complex, interconnected supply chain environments. Our approach reflects our role as a long term partner to customers navigating continuous change, enabling them to operate with greater resilience, intelligence, and confidence as their warehouse networks evolve. Empowering leaders for what comes next As warehouses become more global, dynamic, and interconnected, Blue Yonder remains focused on delivering intelligent, scalable, and future-ready warehouse management solutions. We extend our thanks to our customers and partners whose trust and collaboration continue to shape our innovation journey. If you are exploring how to modernize your warehouse operations or support higher levels of complexity, we invite you to learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution and how it can support your organization’s warehouse strategy. Sources: 1 Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems,” Simon Tunstall, Rishabh Narang, and Federica Stufano, 29 April 2026 2 Gartner, “Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems”, Simon Tunstall, Federica Stufano, 30 April 2026. 3 Blue Yonder was previously listed as i2/i2 Technologies/JDA/JDA Software; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 26 April 2026; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, Buse Aras, Julia von Massow, Eva Dawkins, Jan Snoeckx, 18 March 2026; Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Manav Jain, 27 March 2026. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. ### [How to build a winning Supply Chain Planning transformation business case](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/how-to-build-a-winning-supply-chain-planning-transformation-business-case) > Create a data-driven funding pitch that links capability gains, measurable baselines, and stakeholder alignment to secure executive support. Blog How to build a winning Supply Chain Planning transformation business case How to build a winning Supply Chain Planning transformation business case Lindsey Hiefield , May 27, 2026 4 minute read Supply chain planning leaders like you frequently build your business cases around implementing digital initiatives to improve costs and reduce inefficiencies; however, that approach often falls short. Securing funding for your supply chain technology requires more than a promise of cost savings. A strong business case must include the capability improvements that will enable gains for you in the proposed key performance indicators. We recognize that organizations struggle to calculate and track transformative improvements. It becomes especially difficult when the impacts of technology and capability improvements drive your outcomes. If you fail to capture organizational and process maturity baselines, proving the value of your transformation is nearly impossible. You need a comprehensive strategy to measure progress, engage stakeholders, and secure executive buy-in. If you are looking for guidance, this report from Gartner®, Communicate Business Benefits When Building the Case for SC Planning Transformation , showcases a holistic framework for aligning your investments to organizational objectives. It also details exactly how to map quantitative benefits to qualitative outcomes. The problem with current your business cases Many supply chain leaders believe that technology will solve all their problems. They focus their business cases solely on getting approval for a technology investment. However, technology is simply an enabler. If you do not account for the people and processes involved, you insert significant risk into your project. A major challenge lies in separating technology impacts from capability impacts. When you do not capture current-state baselines for organizational and process maturity, you have no way to measure progress after implementation. You cannot quantitatively track transformative improvements without knowing your starting point. This lack of clear measurement makes it harder to justify funding for future supply chain technology projects. The importance of early stakeholder engagement A successful digital transformation requires an effective communication strategy. You must engage stakeholders early in the digital transformation process. When you involve leadership and cross-functional teams from the beginning, you are more likely to drive positive business impacts. Stakeholders want to know how a transformation aligns with their specific objectives. You can build trust by presenting a data-driven analysis of business challenges. However, to secure full support, you must connect these transformational initiatives directly to the overall corporate strategy. Early engagement allows you to communicate proposed changes clearly, align on business problems, and foster a shared commitment to reaching future-state planning maturity. Building a more effective business case To strengthen executive buy-in, you need to link capability improvements to business objectives and planning goals. You must define clear capability improvements that map to strategic company objectives, relevant key performance indicators, and specific metrics. Establishing baseline metrics for maturity and performance is a critical step. These baselines allow you to track productivity, profitability, service levels, and solution adoption over time. You should establish governance around these metrics, including who is accountable for tracking progress and how frequently reporting occurs. Looking ahead: Drive your digital transformation forward Building a comprehensive business case is the foundational step for any successful supply chain transformation. You must look beyond simple cost efficiencies and build a narrative that encompasses technology, organization, and process improvements. Take the time to assess your current maturity, establish clear baselines, and engage your stakeholders with a compelling, data-driven narrative. This Gartner report will guide you in refining your strategy. Equip yourself with the right metrics and communication tools, and you will be ready to secure the funding you need to modernize your supply chain. The Blue Yonder approach to supply chain digital transformation The Blue Yonder Platform helps you quantify improvements and achieve true digital transformation. We empower organizations like yours to take a holistic approach that balances technology, people, and processes. Our Cognitive Solutions enable supply chain leaders to analyze vast amounts of data, predict disruptions, and automate complex decisions. This intelligent approach ensures that your technology investment directly supports your strategic business goals. If you are interested in establishing a strategic roadmap to modernize your supply chain for present and future success, collaborate with our industry and domain experts to design a blueprint for how your process, architecture, and organization will operate together. Contact us today to leverage our unparalleled expertise and secure the business outcomes and value you seek. Gartner, Communicate Business Benefits When Building the Case for SC Planning Transformation, By Eva Dawkins, Cristina Carvallo, 13 October 2025 GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-supply-chain-planning-solutions) > Analyst-recognized AI platform: demand sensing, inventory optimization, constraint scheduling and partner-network orchestration for complex manufacturers. Blog Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries Celeste White , May 25, 2026 3 minute read At Blue Yonder, our focus on helping customers navigate growing supply chain complexity continues to shape how we innovate and invest in our Supply Chain Planning solutions. We are proud to share that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in the inaugural 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries 1 . We are also proud to have been recognized as a Visionary in the inaugural 2026 Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries 2 . We believe this recognition reflects both our Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision as organizations look for resilient, intelligent planning solutions that can scale with their global operations. As supply chains face ongoing disruption, rising cost pressures, and increasing demands for agility, planning leaders are seeking solutions that go beyond optimization to enable proactive, autonomous decision-making across the enterprise. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning is purpose-built to support these needs across the most complex planning environments. Supply chain planning designed for complexity at scale Supply chain planning requirements vary widely based on an organization’s operational complexity, geographic footprint, and industry demands. Blue Yonder designed our Supply Chain Planning solutions to support the full spectrum of complexity, from foundational demand and inventory management to highly advanced, multi-enterprise planning networks spanning discrete and process manufacturing industries. We believe the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries and Gartner Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries reports 3 underscore the effectiveness of our planning solutions for organizations operating complex environments that require advanced demand planning, supply optimization, end-to-end multi-enterprise coordination, and decision-centric capabilities. High volumes, diverse product portfolios, intricate production constraints, and extended supplier networks often characterize these environments. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning delivers comprehensive core capabilities, including demand sensing, inventory optimization, constraint-based supply planning, and integrated end-to-end visibility. Our solutions also offer a broad set of extended capabilities, including production scheduling, network design, multi-enterprise orchestration, and agentic AI, that enable organizations to move beyond plan-and-execute operations toward more strategic, resilient, and autonomous supply chain management. Strength across demand, supply, multi-enterprise planning, and decision automation As supply chain networks grow in scale and complexity, organizations increasingly need solutions that support advanced planning across all horizons, from strategic network design through operational execution. Our strengths are rooted in comprehensive demand management, constraint-based supply and production planning, multi-enterprise network orchestration, and decision automation capabilities, making our solutions well-suited for organizations operating across industries, regions, and trading partner ecosystems. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning delivers strong capabilities across the areas that matter most in complex planning environments, including: Core demand planning functionality: demand sensing, statistical forecasting, uplift modeling, and market-driven segmentation capabilities that improve forecast accuracy and support more responsive replenishment. Advanced supply and production planning: constraint-based optimization and detailed scheduling, strengthened through our acquisition of flexis AG, enabling precise production sequencing for highly constrained discrete and process manufacturing environments. End-to-end multi-enterprise planning: unified data structures and broad functional coverage spanning all planning layers, extended through the integration of One Network Enterprises to enable real-time coordination across suppliers, partners, and logistics networks. Decision-centric planning: scenario comparison, execution visibility, and analytics capabilities that help organizations shift from reactive planning to proactive, confident decision-making. Together, these capabilities help planning leaders balance cost, service, and resilience while navigating ongoing market volatility and disruption. “Blue Yonder’s cognitive planning platform gives us the visibility and intelligence to make faster, better decisions across our entire supply network. The ability to sense disruptions early and respond with precision has been a game changer for our operations.” -Supply Chain Leader, Global Discrete Manufacturer AI-driven innovation and autonomous planning Artificial intelligence, agentic AI, and tighter ecosystem integration are central to how Blue Yonder continually advances our supply chain planning solutions. Our strategy reflects sustained investment in AI-powered planning execution, optimization, and orchestration to help organizations operate with greater intelligence, agility, and resilience. Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Planning platform serves as the backbone for modern, multi-enterprise planning. Designed to replace fragmented, siloed legacy systems, it enables organizations to coordinate decisions seamlessly across the entire supply chain within a unified environment spanning strategic, tactical, and operational planning horizons. Machine learning, optimization engines, and intelligent agents automate planning tasks to reduce manual effort and enable a more autonomous planning model, critical in high-velocity supply chain environments where speed and precision are paramount. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning is deeply integrated with the Blue Yonder Platform and the Blue Yonder Network, enabling seamless interoperability across planning, execution, and customers’ multi-enterprise networks. This foundation supports ongoing innovation in AI-driven capabilities that help identify risks, surface opportunities, and enable exception-based management. AI-assisted workflows improve the planner experience by surfacing the most critical decisions and automating routine tasks. Network-centric interoperability connects trading partners through a shared data foundation for more coordinated, data-driven supply chain operations. We believe that together, these capabilities help our customers accelerate time to value, strengthen resilience, and operate more connected, intelligent supply chains. Strategic investments expanding ecosystem strength Blue Yonder’s recent strategic investments have significantly expanded our capabilities and ecosystem reach, directly strengthening the platform’s ability to serve complex planning environments: Our acquisition of One Network Enterprises strengthens multi-enterprise network visibility and supply ecosystem orchestration, enabling real-time coordination across trading partners and logistics networks. This capability is central to our leadership in end-to-end multi-enterprise planning and supports the increasingly networked nature of modern supply chains. Our acquisition of flexis AG deepens production scheduling and sequencing capabilities for highly constrained industries, particularly automotive and industrial manufacturing, where operational precision is non-negotiable. This integration reinforces our supply planning depth across both discrete and process manufacturing environments. Our partnership with the Snowflake Data Cloud provides a scalable architectural foundation for a unified data model, ensuring that our customers operate from a single version of the truth across their entire planning environment. This unified data model eliminates the data fragmentation that often undermines execution quality in multi-system architectures and supports real-time planning at enterprise scale. Supporting end-to-end supply chain execution Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning is part of a broader suite of connected supply chain solutions covering transportation management, warehouse management, production management, order management, and returns. We believe this unified approach supports the view that supply chain planning is increasingly central to end-to-end supply chain execution and orchestration. By connecting planning with execution across upstream and downstream processes, Blue Yonder improves service levels, removes silos, reduces costs, and enables organizations to respond faster to disruption without adding operational complexity. Experts predict the supply chain planning market will grow significantly in the coming years, with innovation increasingly driven by agentic AI and autonomous planning frameworks, areas where Blue Yonder continues to invest and lead. Empowering planning leaders for what comes next We believe recognition in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries and Process Industries reflects our long-standing commitment to helping customers manage planning challenges while preparing for what comes next. As supply chains become more global, dynamic, and interconnected, Blue Yonder remains focused on delivering intelligent, scalable, and future-ready planning solutions. We extend our thanks to our customers and partners whose trust and collaboration continue to shape our innovation journey. If you are exploring how to modernize your supply chain planning operations or support higher levels of planning complexity, we invite you to learn more about Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning and how it can support your organization’s planning strategy. Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, Buse Aras, Julia von Massow, Eva Dawkins, Jan Snoeckx, 18 March 2026. 2 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Buse Aras, Jan Snoeckx, Eva Dawkins, Julia von Massow, 17 March 2026. 3 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Discrete Industries, Buse Aras, Julia von Massow, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, Jan Snoeckx, Eva Dawkins, 18 March 2026. Critical Capabilities for Supply Chain Planning Solutions: Process Industries, Julia von Massow, Eva Dawkins, Jan Snoeckx, Buse Aras, Joe Graham, Pia Orup Lund, 18 March 2026 Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. ### [What supply chain leaders can learn from the most confident operators in the industry](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/what-supply-chain-leaders-can-learn-from-the-most-confident-operators-in-the-industry) > High-performing operations teams build connected data platforms, prioritize visibility, and deploy agentic AI to detect disruptions early and boost resilience. Blog What supply chain leaders can learn from the most confident operators in the industry What supply chain leaders can learn from the most confident operators in the industry Mckenna Bailey , May 19, 2026 1 minute read Supply chain leaders are operating under pressure with few recent parallels. Disruptions are arriving faster than most organizations can absorb them, the pace of AI adoption is accelerating, and executives are increasingly being asked to prove what their technology investments are delivering. Against this backdrop, confidence should be hard to come by, but for some leaders, it isn't. The 2026 Supply Chain Compass , a Blue Yonder survey of 678 senior supply chain professionals across retail, manufacturing, and logistics, found that nearly half of respondents (46%) rated their optimism at +4 or +5 on a five-point scale. The remaining 54% were more tentative, and 10% were actively pessimistic. What's striking is that the divergence has nothing to do with industry, region, or company size. Organizations of the same type and scale are arriving at very different conclusions about the future. Understanding what the more confident group has built, and what it took to get there, is helpful for anyone earlier in the journey. Optimistic leaders are 0 x more likely to say they are fully prepared to handle significant disruptions 0 x more likely to say they can effectively manage and recover from unexpected shocks Build connectivity first, because everything else depends on it The most consistent differentiator between optimistic supply chain leaders and the rest is how connected their operations are. The confident leaders have largely built supply chains that automatically share information across functions : shared KPIs, integrated data, and supplier visibility that doesn't require anyone to pick up the phone. When something goes wrong, they tend to know about it quickly and have what they need to act. The practical value of that connectivity shows up most clearly under pressure. Leaders who have invested in end-to-end visibility learn about disruptions sooner and respond faster. For supplier disruptions specifically, more than half of the most optimistic leaders identify the issue within 24 hours. That speed comes from systems that surface problems before they require someone to go looking. For leaders who feel behind on this, the implication is straightforward: connectivity is the foundation, and the other investments, including AI, automation, and scenario planning, don't perform well without it. "I am not convinced our visibility tools give the full picture. I feel they lack end-to-end data integration and clear insights into supplier performance, making it hard to anticipate delays or disruptions." — VP of Logistics, Logistics, Canada Expect AI to reward the foundations you've already built The leaders with the highest confidence are significantly further ahead in AI adoption and they know what makes AI work at a meaningful level. When AI sits atop fragmented data and disconnected systems, it tends to deliver incremental improvements. When it sits on a unified platform with clean, connected data, it can operate at a systemic level to identify patterns across the full supply chain, run scenario plans in minutes, and flag supplier risks before they become disruptions. Walmart's experience illustrates how this plays out over time. The company spent years building the unified data infrastructure that now underpins its AI capabilities. By 2025, they had implemented specialized AI agents making continuous decisions across routing, inventory placement, driver assignment, and demand forecasting, "all coordinated through a single real-time system. Their route optimization work alone eliminated 30 million unnecessary delivery miles and avoided 94 million pounds of CO2 emissions in a single year. This kind of shift takes time. Building the data infrastructure first is what makes the subsequent AI investment perform. Leaders who try to shortcut that sequence tend to find themselves with AI tools that underdeliver and a growing sense that the technology isn't living up to its promise. "The development of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics creates enormous opportunities and allows us to proactively anticipate and mitigate operational disruptions." — VP of Operations, Logistics, Poland Agentic AI is the most open window right now Most supply chain leaders are still early on agentic AI; only 8% of Compass respondents are currently using it. That means the competitive landscape on this technology is still relatively open, and leaders who move on it now are unlikely to be playing catch-up. Agentic AI represents a qualitative shift from earlier forms. Where machine learning surfaces insights and generative AI accelerates tasks, agents act autonomously to scale decision-making across the supply chain in ways that human teams alone could not. The leaders who build the right foundations now and move on to agentic AI early are likely to find themselves significantly ahead of peers who wait . AI agents do change what supply chain roles look like. Tedious, repetitive work is absorbed by technology, freeing up supply chain leaders and their teams to do the more consequential work of making judgment calls that agentic AI can’t and of building the strategies that determine what agents are optimizing for. Leaders who manage this transition well tend to frame it as a shift in where human effort goes. "[We don't know] how to integrate AI and new technologies to serve customers. I am not clear on the people and process impact of pending technology. For example, if algorithms can select product and quantify inventory needs, what does the role of my team become?" — VP Merchandising, Retail, Canada Invest consistently in platforms rather than point solutions Technology investment is another area where the most confident leaders have taken a different approach. They are more likely to be building toward platform-based architecture, where data and decisions flow across functions, rather than running separate tools for each supply chain function. Notably, only about 20% of leaders surveyed report using a single enterprise-wide platform that covers the entire supply chain lifecycle. That means even the most confident leaders have significant room to go further, and that the full competitive advantage of genuine end-to-end integration has not yet been captured by most organizations. The leaders who move toward that architecture now are building the infrastructure that unlocks everything else. What the gap comes down to The confidence reflected in the Compass data is grounded in real operational and financial performance. The most optimistic leaders expect their organizations to significantly outperform their peers financially, and the structural advantages they have built make those expectations credible. For leaders who feel behind, the survey shows they already know they need a new approach, and many are taking steps. The gap is real and closing it takes time. But with agentic AI still early enough that almost no one has a head start, there is a genuine opportunity to move faster than the curve. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Day 1 ICON 2026 Recap](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/day-one-icon-recap) > Blue Yonder unveiled AI supply chain advances: partner wins, less waste, better availability, workforce upskilling, and a NVIDIA Model Training Factory. Blog Announcements, partnerships and customer success: A recap of day 1 at ICON 2026 Day 1 ICON 2026 Recap Mckenna Bailey , May 18, 2026 5 minute read Blue Yonder ICON 2026 is officially in full swing and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The goal of this year’s ICON was clear: to prove that the vision we unveiled last year is more than just an idea. It’s a future-proof framework that has proven results for the supply chain. With the help of our customers and strategic partners, we did just that. To learn more about how end-to-end cognitive solutions are transforming today’s most efficient supply chains, here’s a full recap of highlights and important announcements. Optimizing for holistic business goals, not single steps Blue Yonder CEO, Duncan Angove, took the stage to deliver the opening keynote to the score of Inception, a movie about invention driven by the need to sync various timelines happening simultaneously. The tone was set perfectly. Duncan was joined by Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, to discuss how Blue Yonder’s cognitive solution is an important part of “building our strength and capabilities we’ll need for the future.” Sainsbury’s started with an ambitious goal: to make good food joyful, accessible, and affordable. To accomplish this, the team invested in technology built to reduce waste, improve accuracy and availability, and simplify operations for team members. As Simon said, “Not because using new tech was a goal, but because of the powerful outcomes we wanted to drive. Better availability, lower waste, simpler processes for colleagues, better partnering with suppliers, and, most importantly, to show up brilliantly for our customers every day.” The results showed that Simon and his team made the right call. They saw: Improved availability while reducing stock through more accurate forecasting and replenishment decisions. Reduced waste at scale through accurate ordering and allocation that drove 150,000 fewer disposals and 800,000 fewer markdowns during their peak in 2025. A more resilient supply chain by reducing operational incidents and contingency reliance and embedded simulation to de-risk key trading events like Christmas. A single forecasting and replenishment platform across SKUs on one end-to-end platform. Digitization of category management to improve decision quality, productivity, and alignment between commercial and supply chain execution. If these are the metrics we can all expect in the future of supply chain, we can’t wait. The people are critical to the future of supply chain technology Next, Duncan spoke with Paul Graham, Group CEO and Managing Director of Australia Post about what happens when a company focuses on the customer’s needs and delivering excellence no matter what. The mission for Paul and his team was to completely overhaul a 217-year-old postal operation to meet the demands of a modern Australia. As a critical piece of national infrastructure, the team had a responsibility to prepare logistics, transportation, and warehousing for the future. What’s more, Australia Post needed to prepare their workforce for the shift. Without an engaged, highly-trained workforce, the technology investments weren’t going to create the customer experience they needed to build. As Paul said, “We were transforming from whiteboards and nameplates to AI-powered solutions and robotics. To do that well, you’ve got to take the people with you.” So, his team crafted a program, specifically designed to train their employees see the necessity for change, and get excited about the technologies that would power their everyday tasks. Paul said that he knew they were successful in communicating the urgent need for change when he walked through the facilities and heard associates talk about being ready to turn left towards the future, instead of right towards more of the same. The conversation was an important moment, not only to prove that enthusiastic transformation is possible even for companies that are over a century old, but also to remind everyone in the room that putting people first is the best way to ensure an efficient, AI-powered supply chain. The new frontier of supply chain is AI Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft Commercial Business, joined Duncan next to discuss how the partnership between Microsoft and Blue Yonder is setting the stage for the next decade of the supply chain. Judson said that AI data centers will become defining infrastructure of the next decade. A partnership with Blue Yonder is a strategic investment to get the data center infrastructure online faster. Without a strong, reliable supply chain, that can’t happen. But the partnership is about more than just business strategy. As we’ve learned all day, the right partners need to align on more than just technology. Judson mentioned that the three main values that Microsoft and Blue Yonder share, customer-first, innovation-led, and operating with trust are what make the partnership successful today and into the future. We couldn’t agree more! Announced: The Model Training Factory from Blue Yonder and NVIDIA Towards the closing of an exceptional keynote Duncan noted, “The generic Frontier models, like Claude and Gemini, are incredibly powerful, but supply chain is not a generic reasoning problem. It is a deeply operational environment with hard constraints, real-time execution, physical consequences, extreme scale, and thousands of interconnected decisions happening continuously across warehouses, transportation networks, suppliers, stores, and factories.” A complex, ever-evolving challenge like that requires a sophisticated, ever-evolving solution. Enter: The Model Training Factory. A new class of intelligence that is operationally fluent in supply chain management. Duncan announced that this new initiative in partnership with NVIDIA is aimed to create intelligent AI agents trained to execute at the level of subject matter experts across the supply chain. Built on NVIDIA Nemotron, the Model Training Factory generates AI models that perform high-value tasks at the level of supply chain subject matter experts and are designed to execute complex, multi-step supply chain workflows autonomously. After the models complete the workflows, they are then graded to ensure the highest quality outcomes. These models will power the next generation of Blue Yonder agents across all major domains of the supply chain through a repeatable Model Training Factory designed to continuously produce, evaluate, refine, and orchestrate supply chain intelligence at scale. The first day of Blue Yonder ICON 2026 concluded with this insight that cognitive solutions aren’t the future of supply chain—they are the technology that companies need to be efficient, successful, and sustainable right now. Reflecting on the innovative spirit of our Day 1 speakers, plus the power and potential of the features announced, we can’t wait to see what Day 2 reveals about the future of supply chain. Stay tuned! ### [ICON 2026 Day 2 Wrap Up: Executing the supply chain in the real world](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/day-two-icon-recap) > Customer stories show how AI delivers resilient, visible, and sustainable logistics and operations—practical strategies and outcomes from conference sessions. Blog ICON 2026 Day 2 Wrap Up: Executing the supply chain in the real world ICON 2026 Day 2 Wrap Up: Executing the supply chain in the real world Mckenna Bailey , May 19, 2026 7 minute read It’s one thing to have a vision for what a supply chain of the future could be. It’s an entirely different endeavor to take that idea into the world and prove its value. Now that we’re at the end of day 2 of ICON 2026, we can confidently say the proof is here. As we mentioned in our first recap, the goal of this year’s ICON is to highlight the Blue Yonder customers who are using our AI-powered products to create a resilient, revenue-driving supply chain with end-to-end visibility. Today opened with a keynote that outlined proven success strategies and new technologies to be excited about. These weren’t just ideas, they were practices ready to be implemented across industries. If you couldn’t make it to ICON this year, or just want to remember all the most important details, here’s everything you need to know from day 2: We’re redefining the power of data Data-powered decisions aren't new to anyone working in supply chains. Spreadsheets and real-world experience have kept operations moving for decades now. But, in today’s world, data cannot stay stagnant. Data needs to work for you, as an individual and as an entire company. Siloed, inaccessible data keeps supply chains open to risk and disruption. Dynamic data that can be shared, collaborated on, and updated in real-time is the foundation that companies are building resilient and agile supply chains. What’s more, companies are feeding that data into AI models so decisions and actions can be made, even when employees are busy with other priorities. As Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Chief Innovation Officer, said, “The AI Model Factory with NVIDIA means [Blue Yonder will] have the best-trained agentic models. Ones that can make and act on decisions in the context of your specific supply chain environment.” The specificity of the AI training plus the end-to-end visibility with the Blue Yonder Network means that companies have the necessary data “that turns a plan that looks good in a system into one that actually holds up in the real world. Without the network, you're planning and executing in a bubble. With it, you're planning and executing in reality.” Success in reality. That’s what we all need more of. The supply chain has transformed into a network On the topic of end-to-end visibility on the Blue Yonder Network, Stephen Kaufman, Chief Alliances & Strategy Officer at Syndigo, joined Andrea on stage to discuss the new partnership that can transform planning into a collaborative process across the supply chain. By combining the power of Blue Yonder and Syndigo, retailers never have to worry about an empty shelf, overstock, or any other disruptions to their customers’ experience. As Stephen put it, “One update. Networked product data. Syndicated instantly. No lag, no misalignment, no empty eye-level shelf. That’s the power of product data managed once and available to everyone on the network.” What’s more, the power of the Blue Yonder Network, in partnership with Syndigo, isn’t just helpful in brick-and-mortar locations either. Retailers are seeing an increase in agentic commerce, where purchases are made without a single human shopper. People are asking agents to take their size, event descriptions, and budget considerations to build them an outfit for a big wedding or work conference. Without proper inventory management, a sale can be lost before you even know it’s a possibility. If the agentic shopper doesn’t see a top in stock, it won’t try to buy. It will simply move on. As such, online inventory management and accuracy is critical as agentic commerce starts to rise in popularity. The main thesis everyone in the room walked away with after this conversation was that the end-to-end, comprehensive approach Blue Yonder takes to our products also extends to the results our customers see after implementation. AI for supply chain means your goals stay at the forefront On the topic of implementation, Andrea talked to Jason Booth, Chief Technology Officer at Crate and Barrel, about their adoption and implementation of the end-to-end, AI-powered Blue Yonder platform. As Jason said, their decision wasn’t about finding another solution. Crate and Barrel needed to partner with a solutions company that had a vision for the future. One who knew everything about the supply chain, including where it was headed. He explained, that incremental fixes were not enough to support customer’s expectations. Crate and Barrel needed a modern digital supply chain platform that could support growth, resiliency, and a connected customer experience. AI technology is changing everything at the moment. But not all those changes are relevant to a more resilient and agile supply chain. Adopting AI for the sake of it will not lead the real-world transformations required for today’s customers. Companies need AI focused on the realities of supply chain management and operations. That’s what Blue Yonder is focused on, and what our customers are finding out as they start using more of our product features. Innovation must be integrated into culture The final takeaway from the day 2 keynote came from Kelly Maher, SVP of End-to-End Planning and Global Supply Chain Operations at Under Armour. She joined Andrea on stage to discuss how innovation and transformation in an organization needs to be ingrained into the company culture to be successful. Kelly described the culture of Under Armour by saying, “innovation today isn't just about what we create — it's about how we plan, how we make decisions, and how we show up for one another as a team.” Planning retail for various athletes across continents is neither simple, nor an overnight process. To succeed, Kelly explained, Under Armour had to be disciplined with their data management. But the dedication to new processes and technologies paid off. She said, “that's what really drove the transformation—moving to a single, end‑to‑end planning platform that connects financial intent, demand, and supply into the same ecosystem so we can respond faster and more cohesively.” Kelly also added, “what excites me most is that we're now moving into the phase where we can really accelerate value.” Accelerated value in the real world. Who wouldn’t be excited about that? Sustainability is a business strategy for success Day 2 highlighted another change in philosophy for successful supply chains: sustainability. Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer for Blue Yonder, took the stage to discuss how companies are shifting away from siloed sustainability initiatives to business strategies that have sustainability built into the foundation. In a panel discussion, Saskia talked to Shiva Esturi, Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Micron, about the improvements they saw when they adopted a philosophy of sustainable abundance. At Micron, a single chip travels through hundreds of process steps across multiple countries, over six months. That’s not only incredibly complex, but it’s also a resource-intensive process. For Micron to succeed in today’s world, they had to start asking different questions. Shiva said “we stopped asking, ‘can we afford to be sustainable?’ and started asking, ‘how do we stay competitive while getting sustainable?’ Those are different questions that lead to very different answers.” He continued by saying “The first assumes a trade-off—you’re either fast and profitable, or you’re green. The second recognizes that waste and inefficiency are the same problem.” That change in perspective not only creates a better world for everyone, but it delivered results for Micron. Shiva said, “when we deployed Blue Yonder’s supply planning and order promising, the results came fast: fill rates were up 4% on day 1, customer conformance was up 25%, we became the preferred vendor for an additional 45% of our customers. And we cut greenhouse gas intensity by 56% per unit of production.” Another win for a connected, holistic supply chain! A call for leaders in a time of exponential change In a true moment of inspiration, day 2 also included an incredible speech from Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, CEO of Blue Yonder Defense Solutions. Of course, the success strategies outlined throughout all of ICON are invaluable for attendees. But to zoom out for a few minutes and remember that as leaders of supply chains, we all have an opportunity, and responsibility, to build a more resilient, agile, and accessible world. As Michael put it, “Because in an era of exponential change, control is not centralized it is distributed. And the organizations that win are the ones that can act decisively at every level. At its core, this kind of leadership builds something far more powerful than process. This is leadership that has vision and courage. To build something that is an overmatch for the problem.” He called on all of the leaders in the room to seize the power of the moment. To act now, before the moment forces you to act. And that is a call we can all agree gets more relevant with every passing day. Customers will always matter most Of course, there were plenty more exciting updates and customer wins to celebrate throughout day 2, but the philosophies and success strategies are the most important for us to share right now. If you want to learn more about the products and features that Blue Yonder has added to our product suite in order to help our customers reach these new achievements, check out our latest press release to learn all about it. We can’t wait to see you next year! ### [Finding success in the age of economic uncertainty](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/finding-success-in-the-age-of-economic-uncertainty) > Build resilient, AI-powered supply chains to anticipate disruptions, reduce waste, and protect revenue amid ongoing economic uncertainty. Blog Finding success in the age of economic uncertainty Finding success in the age of economic uncertainty Mckenna Bailey , May 13, 2026 4 minute read Whatever turbulence the wider economy is experiencing, supply chain teams feel a sharper, more immediate version of it. Supply chains are physical and slow to reconfigure, so a shift in policy or conditions in one corner of the economy shows up as an operational problem within days. For most of the supply chain leaders we talk to , the volatility is now the baseline, and they're rebuilding their operations to match in real time. That work centers on anticipation: building systems that pick up disruption signals early and respond before the impact hits. What proactive looks like, and how AI makes it possible Reacting to disruption and anticipating it are meaningfully different capabilities. A supply chain built to react can be very good at it. But even with a strong team and a well-oiled process, the company still absorbs the negative impacts (just more efficiently than the next company over). Anticipation works differently. It starts before the disruption is visible to most of the organization, with signals picked up from across the network, like sudden oil price hikes or a weather pattern that will shift transit times. Anticipatory supply chain systems respond while there's still time to choose the best and cheapest fix. That might mean repositioning inventory ahead of a likely shortage, or qualifying a backup supplier before the primary one fails. The volume of these signals has grown faster than any human (or team of humans) can keep up with, and that gap is where most reactive supply chains lose their margin. AI makes acting earlier practical at the scale modern supply chains require. A planner reviewing forecasts manually can spot a few risks. But when your system can continuously scan for issues across thousands of SKUs and hundreds of nodes, you’ll be able to spot many more. Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Compass 2026 research found that supply chain leaders with fully deployed AI are meaningfully more prepared for geopolitical risk than those without it because they see what’s coming more clearly. Visibility is the foundation A supply chain stitched together from disconnected systems can't act early because the relevant information doesn't reach the right place in time. By the time a tariff shifts or a supplier disruption is visible to the planner who needs to act, the window for the most economical response has already closed. But systems that provide end-to-end visibility not only give you options you wouldn’t have known about before, but also more time to implement them. For example, when early signals suggest a key supplier is about to miss a delivery, the planning team now has time to pull forward inventory from another node or adjust the production schedule to use what's on hand. In traditional low-visibility systems, you only know the issue when the delivery fails to arrive, and by then, the only options left are expedited freight or a missed customer commitment. Less waste, by design Most of the waste in a supply chain is the result of decisions made too late. Consider markdowns. By the time a retailer can see clearly which stores are overstocked and which are running short, the selling season is usually too far along to redistribute inventory between locations and still sell it at full price. Transferring stock at that point costs more in freight and labor than the eventual markdown would, so the cheapest remaining option is to discount the overstocked stores to clear what's there before the season ends. Besides the financial cost, waste creates an environmental cost, too. Take emissions. Air freight emits roughly 40 times more carbon per ton-mile than ocean freight, which means that every shipment moved by plane because it missed its window on the ground carries an emissions cost well beyond the financial one. The same logic applies to overproduced inventory and unplanned reroutes: each one represents physical movement or material that wouldn't have existed if the original decision had been better informed. Resilience is the goal Of course, no one system or one business can eliminate the global economic uncertainties we’re living through right now. And the forces driving today's volatility will keep reshaping the operating environment in ways no model can fully predict. But having a supply chain system that allows you to absorb disruption while finding advantage in those conditions puts you ahead of competitors that are less prepared to navigate these shifts quickly. The good news is that end-to-end, AI-powered systems exist, and many of the leaders we work with are already operating this way. The Compass 2026 report calls these Optimistic supply chain leaders, and they’re the ones investing most heavily in platform-based architectures, unified data, and practical AI. Their confidence is grounded in being better positioned to act proactively in the conditions everyone else is also navigating before the disruption forces their hand. Uncertainty is the environment everyone is operating in now. The companies that build for it are the ones finding success within it. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Driving revenue from supply chain operations](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/driving-revenue-from-supply-chain-operations) > AI-driven visibility and forecasting reduce inventory, free capital, speed fulfillment, and turn supply chain improvements into measurable revenue growth. Blog Driving revenue from supply chain operations Driving revenue from supply chain operations Mckenna Bailey , May 13, 2026 4 minute read If you've spent any time running a supply chain, you know that most of that time is spent trying to reduce costs. Every quarter, you go in looking for the next percentage point on every aspect of your system: inventory, freight, labor. Growing revenue? That’s on sales. That's starting to change. In traditional systems where you can’t see across your operation in real time, it was safer to hedge your bets, carrying more inventory than you needed because the cost of being wrong on the upside was always higher than the cost of leaving a little revenue on the table. But AI-powered supply chain systems have flipped that calculation. With a clear view of what's happening across the network, your team can start making the kind of decisions that grow the top line. You can see a shift in how companies are starting to measure supply chain performance. KPMG's 2026 outlook found that supply chain leaders are increasingly being held accountable for revenue growth, not just cost reduction and risk management. Forecasting that pays for itself McKinsey's research has found that AI-driven forecasting cuts errors by 20 to 50 percent, which translates into something like a 65 percent reduction in lost sales from products being unavailable. AWS, Amazon's cloud computing arm, recently partnered with the global consulting firm Kearney on an AI demand-sensing platform that pulls live external market signals into the forecasting process. Companies using it early have seen forecast accuracy gains of 10 to 20 percent and revenue lifts of up to two percent. The reason these numbers are bigger than what previous forecasting tools could deliver is that the forecast is now connected to inventory, planning, and logistics in real time. A shift in demand moves through your operation in real time, so you can act on it before the next planning cycle. What do you do with the gains When forecasts get sharper, the rest of your operation runs cleaner. The most visible change is usually inventory. You stop carrying the buffer stock that protected you from your own uncertainty, which frees up working capital that was sitting on shelves doing nothing. As a welcome side effect, warehouse space opens, and the team that used to spend its time reconciling mismatched numbers can put their time toward work that actually moves the business. McKinsey puts the warehousing savings somewhere in the 5 to 10 percent range, and the most ambitious supply chain leaders are using these gains to do growth-oriented actions like taking on a major customer they previously couldn't serve at scale. Why visibility shows up in sales numbers Many of the supply chain disruptions you encounter come down to a communication problem. People are working off different versions of the truth, and the information that should be moving across functions in real time is getting lost or arriving too late to matter. By the time the right team has the right data, the window to do something with it has usually closed, and you're left absorbing a cost or a missed opportunity that was avoidable. But when everyone is finally working from the same data at the same moment, everything changes.  Sales is the most obvious beneficiary. They stop building in the conservative buffer they've always added to customer commitments to protect themselves from operational surprises, which means they can quote tighter timelines and close deals before competitors finish qualifying them. What your team could do with the time back The same tools that make your operation more efficient also free your team up to do the more strategic work that directly drives revenue. Take a demand planner. Most spend the bulk of their week pulling data and reconciling it across systems just to get one forecast ready for the next planning meeting. With AI handling that baseline work , the forecast they used to spend three days producing now takes an afternoon, and they can spend the rest of the week doing the kind of scenario analysis that changes what the business is willing to commit to. Multiply that across your entire planning team and it adds up to a meaningful number of revenue decisions getting made with better information. The shift worth making now The supply chain leaders pulling ahead right now have made a deliberate shift in how they think about the work. They're treating the supply chain as something that can grow the business, and they're pointing their AI platforms at revenue questions instead of just cost questions. Most leaders aren't there yet. If you’re still operating in siloed supply chain systems, your next move is the most important you'll make in the next few years. The tools to connect your operation, sharpen your forecasts, and turn supply chain decisions into revenue decisions are already in market. The leaders who move on them now are the ones who will set the pace for everyone else. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Cognitive supply chains are the new standard. Here’s what to expect when making the transition](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/cognitive-supply-chains-are-the-new-standard) > Transition to cognitive supply chains: AI-powered real-time data and decisions for smarter forecasting, inventory, logistics, collaboration, and resilience. Blog Cognitive supply chains are the new standard. Here’s what to expect when making the transition Cognitive supply chains are the new standard. Here’s what to expect when making the transition Mckenna Bailey , May 12, 2026 5 minute read The extreme volatility that erupted during the pandemic has become the new normal, with trade wars, erratic commodity prices, and geopolitical conflict showing no signs of abating. In this new world, pre-pandemic supply chain models—based on just-in-time strategies, predictable demand, and reliable supply—are struggling to adapt. Incremental improvements aren’t enough to keep up. And static processes based on backward-looking data leave companies flat-footed when disruptions hit. In this context of permanent uncertainty, leading businesses have developed a new, more flexible model: the cognitive supply chain. These are agentic, AI-enabled systems that can perceive, interpret, analyze, and respond to the supply chain environment in real time, at scale. They help businesses quickly close the gap between decision and action, increasing flexibility and reducing uncertainty. Operationally, that translates to more accurate demand forecasting, better inventory management, increased efficiency through analysis and modeling, and optimized logistics. This new way of operating changes the game in terms of risk mitigation, organizational agility, and cost savings—but it also has major implications for internal processes. Let’s look at four major ways that supply chains change when they adopt a cognitive model. Data architecture becomes a strategic asset Cognitive supply chains use AI to process large amounts of data in real time, recognizing patterns, reaching conclusions with a high degree of probability, and adapting processes in response to achieve better results. These systems tap into data from a broad range of sources: Internal data: ERP software, inventory systems, fleet management systems, IoT sensors, sales and order records, supplier reports External data: commodity prices and availability, geopolitical events, weather and traffic reports, market intelligence The result is that data becomes fuel that drives the cognitive engine. This data-first model not only streamlines operations but also changes the way decisions are made and processes are structured at every level of the supply chain. Because of the centrality of data, data architecture takes on new importance, which poses several major challenges. The first is data quality —AI outputs are only as good as the data inputs it receives. Internal and external data sources need to be audited to ensure they are sufficient for the new model. Another issue is accessibility. Because data is received from disparate systems, it is common to encounter gaps, errors, and redundancies that hinder AI’s effectiveness. Thus, sources need to be interconnected and standardized. Building a unified data architecture is in many ways as transformative as the data itself. While it requires a significant investment, the ROI should also be transformational. A high-value workforce with an elevated skillset Under an AI-driven cognitive model, the role of workers within the supply chain will shift from transactional work to strategic oversight. Rote tasks will evolve into duties like predictive maintenance, intelligent scheduling, data interpretation, and human-machine collaboration. This change represents a tremendously powerful enhancement of human capability. Not only will the supply chain itself become “cognitive,” workers will also unlock their own cognitive potential. The result will be a supply chain that thrives on a culture of ownership and innovation. The challenge will be change management, especially given the current skeptical media environment toward AI. Employees might be concerned that AI will take their jobs or necessitate onerous retraining. Some will simply be resistant to change, which is common with the advent of any new technology. To ease the transition to AI-augmented processes, transparency is key. AI capabilities should be presented as a means to make work more engaging and satisfying, while also strengthening job security. Good communication should be paired with real commitments to upskilling in areas like data analytics and AI system management. Overall, proactivity in anticipating and addressing employee concerns will soften resistance and build trust. Turbocharged teamwork: hyperconnectivity across the supply chain Cognitive supply chains are both the cause and the effect of tighter collaboration and alignment across the organization, breaking down barriers between siloes and driving radical transparency and end-to-end visibility. Traditional supply chains suffer from a distinct lack of horizontal visibility, which has a negative impact on the ability to mitigate risk, meet business-wide objectives, and satisfy regulatory requirements. Cognitive supply chains are built on the concept that there is transparency in every phase of the supply chain, at all times. This is much more than an oversight story (though it is that); it is also a collaboration story. Suddenly, functions that were operating on an island are now talking to each other and working toward the same goals. All that requires a significant investment to reengineer data-sharing systems. AI must be seamlessly integrated with existing systems, many of which were not designed to support real-time data flows or intelligent agents. Another challenge is security, not just for internal systems, but also suppliers, customers, and other partners. That means investing in capabilities like continuous monitoring, vendor security audits, multi-factor authentication. But the flip side is that these are investments that companies should be making, anyway. From cost center to value generator: Assuming a leadership role When supply chains become cognitive, the least tangible but perhaps most important shift is that their role within the overall business changes. What was once a background function and a cost center now becomes a value driver—taking the lead in decision-making instead of reacting to the decisions of others. This happens for several reasons. One is that disruption—and the ability to adapt to it—has become the most mission critical business challenge in today’s landscape. Cognitive supply chains not only protect the company in this regard, they generate value and competitive advantage—in a world of constant upheaval, resilience is a differentiator. But cognitive supply chains are more than that. The unified, holistic strategy enabled by AI means that supply chains can simultaneously optimize relationships with customers , employees, and partners in one ecosystem. No other function can improve so many aspects of the business at the same time. Recognizing the newfound importance of the supply chain is not always easy for supply chain management professionals. They must have their finger on the pulse of a rapidly changing business environment. But they also need a clear vision of the future that they can articulate and drive the business toward from a leadership position. The future of the supply chain is cognitive While technology is driving these changes, it would be a mistake to think of cognitive supply chains as a tech stack story. This isn’t about adding capabilities—it’s about unlocking value through organizational change (facilitated by technology). In this environment, success will be defined by how well organizations transform disruption into advantage, which then generates value for the business. Companies who prioritize organizational change will position themselves to ride the wave of AI well into the future. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Sustainability is no longer negotiable—it’s a must-have for growth](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/sustainability-is-no-longer-negotiable-its-a-must-have-for-growth) > Turn sustainability into growth - use AI-driven supply chains to cut emissions, reduce costs, and win eco-conscious customers. Blog Sustainability is no longer negotiable—it's a must-have for growth Sustainability is no longer negotiable—it’s a must-have for growth Mckenna Bailey , May 8, 2026 5 minute read Leading companies are leveraging sustainable supply chains to build a better business Has sustainability gone out of style? If you read the headlines, you might come to that conclusion. Governments are rolling back environmental regulations. ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is receiving criticism. And CEOs are saying publicly that sustainability has fallen down their list of priorities. Or it might just be that, amid global supply chain disruptions, volatile commodity markets, and escalating geopolitical risk, sustainability has simply been crowded out of the conversation. But sometimes, actions speak louder than words. The latest Supply Chain Compass research from Blue Yonder reveals that 66% of executives are “actively working to reduce their supply chain’s environmental impact.” Additionally, 56% agree that there is “an onus on supply chain operators to help solve problems like inflation and climate change.” These findings indicate that, despite the narrative, sustainability remains an important priority in the business world; however, what’s even more encouraging is the reason why. Sustainability has become an engine for growth. Leading companies no longer see sustainability as a compliance burden—they recognize it as a business strategy that drives revenue, cuts costs, and builds a competitive advantage. In this blog, we’ll talk about the importance of sustainability from a business perspective, including its impact on revenue, how to operationalize sustainability across functions, and how a dedicated sustainability team keeps the strategy in motion. The emphasis on Scope 3 emissions is driving revenue growth Sustainability has always been a smart business practice that increases efficiency, reduces risk, and makes the supply chain more resilient. Now, it has also become a revenue generator. A recent survey from Bain found that sustainability is having a significant positive business impact on B2B growth leaders. Half of B2B customers actively give more business to sustainable suppliers, and that percentage is projected to increase in the coming years. In other words, supply chain sustainability has become more than just a marketing message—it can now be directly tied to sales. The survey also found that half of the companies prioritize purchases from sustainable suppliers, and nearly 70% plan to accelerate those purchases over the next three years. These buyers said that by 2028, sustainability will be the second-most important purchasing criterion, just after quality. This shift in priorities also enables companies to pursue more aggressive pricing strategies—with many buyers willing to pay a premium for sustainable products. Much of this purchasing behavior is driven by an emphasis on reducing Scope 3 emissions , which are emissions directly embedded in products via their supply chain. Companies that recognize and capitalize on this shift in customer priorities are experiencing revenue growth and increasing market share. Operationalizing sustainability activates the strategy How can supply chain leaders take advantage of this sustainability revolution? Leading companies are leveraging AI and other advanced technologies to integrate sustainable practices at every stage of the supply chain—operationalizing sustainability as a core business process. Inventory optimization . AI tools manage stock proactively and in real time, constantly calculating how much product should be at each warehouse location in response to demand changes. This allows supply chains to run lean, saving energy and other resources while ensuring product availability. Logistics and route planning . By analyzing traffic patterns, weather and road conditions, fuel prices, vehicle capacity, and delivery schedules, AI enables dynamic route planning that avoids delays while reducing emissions. Transparency and visibility. AI platforms pull together data from diverse sources, such as Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, blockchain records, supplier and other external systems, and shipping trackers, into a single, clear view of the supply chain. Companies then use this information to establish and enforce standards, while demonstrating to customers the veracity of sustainability claims. Forecasting, scenario planning, and risk modeling. Supply chain datasets are also used by AI, often in conjunction with digital twins, to game out contingencies for potential disruptions and more accurately predict outcomes, thereby boosting the organization's flexibility and resilience. Product and service design. AI-assisted design practices help companies innovate greener products without compromising on quality or cost. Energy efficiency. AI analyzes operational data to identify and target emissions hotspots, execute predictive maintenance to prevent waste and loss, and improve the load balance of energy networks. Dedicated sustainability roles keep the strategy on track While operationalization across functions is the foundation, if the sustainability strategy becomes too diffuse, there is a risk that sustainability goes adrift, becoming a byproduct or an afterthought. Having specialized sustainability roles embedded across the supply chain will help keep the strategy on track. That’s why leading companies also create dedicated sustainability teams to maintain the organization’s focus. “Large organizations with more than $500 million in revenue are investing in dedicated sustainability teams instead of adding the responsibility to the long list of priorities for a CEO,” explains Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder. Here are some principles to keep in mind when building the sustainability team. Consider a cross-functional team structure . Integrating sustainability roles across diverse functions keeps everyone in the supply chain aligned on the same objectives. For example: Supplier Liaison: These procurement specialists work closely with suppliers on sustainability requirements. Logistics and Distribution Specialist: works with the Warehousing and Transport teams to track emissions and maximize AI capabilities. Circular Economy Advisor: Works closely with Manufacturing and Returns functions to create a closed-loop system where reuse, recycling, and repair are used to source materials. Establish objectives and governance . Sustainability priorities will vary based on the business, but these principles will work for everyone: Identify the most promising opportunities for sustainability improvement—start with the low-hanging fruit to get quick wins and build credibility with customers. Define KPIs that are easy to understand and that can be applied broadly across the supply chain. Create an incentive structure that empowers both internal teams and external suppliers to control their own destiny in terms of sustainability—rather than focusing on compliance or punishment. Sustainability has become a competitive differentiator Leading companies are doing the real work of sustainability because it is the right thing to do for the environment, and for their business. Sustainability is no longer about appeasing regulators or investors—its about building a better world for themselves and their customers. Once sustainability becomes part of a company’s DNA, it is no longer a burden. It’s a dynamic capability that helps to build a better business. Build sustainable supply chains with AI and visibility Reduce emissions, optimize resources, and meet sustainability goals with end-to-end supply chain tech. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Can an end-to-end supply chain platform prepare you for viral demand?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/can-an-end-to-end-supply-chain-platform-prepare-you-for-viral-demand) > Real-time visibility and AI-driven planning let retailers respond to viral demand fast—prevent stockouts, optimize allocation, and protect brand experience. Blog Can an end-to-end supply chain platform prepare you for viral demand? Can an end-to-end supply chain platform prepare you for viral demand? Mckenna Bailey , May 8, 2026 2 minute read Nobody planned for the Stanley tumbler to take off the way it did. The Birkenstock Boston clog and the Dyson Airwrap were no different. Each crossed a threshold that no demand planner predicted, and the supply chains behind them, built for steady forecastable volume, were not ready. Retailers and brands know this story well. A celebrity posts a video of your product on TikTok that gets tens of millions of views overnight, and suddenly you're either scrambling to catch up to demand or, worse, you lose out on sales because you don’t have the stock to capture the viral moment before people move on to the next shiny thing. And though viral demand is unpredictable, the speed and quality of your response should not be. That's what an end-to-end supply chain platform is built for. The problem isn’t the spike itself Demand volatility has always existed. What’s changed is the speed of onset and the asymmetry of the stakes. A viral product moment can generate months of demand in days, then dissipate just as fast. If your supply chain takes weeks to pivot, you have almost no margin to work with. Most retail supply chains weren't designed for this environment. They're built around long planning cycles, category-level forecasting, and siloed teams working from different data sources. And when a product starts moving faster than expected, basic questions about inventory positions, supplier capacity, and allocation priorities suddenly need answers that disconnected systems with stale data can't provide fast enough . “ When demand changes overnight, the supply chain teams that respond fastest are typically the ones who already had a single view of their inventory, capacity, and supplier network. ” What end-to-end visibility enables An end-to-end supply chain platform compresses the time between signal and response, and that shift matters more than any individual planning improvement for retailer success, during viral moments, and beyond. With real-time data flowing across the supply chain, you’ll see a spike in sell-through at one retailer immediately, rather than reading it in a report next week. You’ll have the latest  data on inventory positions across your distribution network, your supplier capacities, and your lead times. This level of transparency lets your teams move from “we think demand is rising” to “here’s what we’re doing about it” in hours rather than days. For retail supply chains in particular, the advantage compounds at the store level. When you can see which SKUs are outpacing the forecast in which markets, replenishment and allocation decisions can follow the actual sell-through signal rather than last week's forecast. This granularity doesn’t exist in systems where regional or category-level aggregates are the best available signal. Customer experience is a supply chain outcome Viral demand moments are often remembered by customers for how they were handled. A product that was hyped and unavailable damages the brand. How a company handles the shortage matters. An end-to-end platform creates the conditions for that second scenario. Knowing when stock will arrive, where it will go first, and how demand is being managed is only possible when the underlying data is clean and up-to-dat. When you integrate your suppliers into the same planning environment, teams have what they need to communicate accurately with customers and retail partners. There’s also a longer-term benefit. Consumer behavior is increasingly shaped by platforms and cultural moments that operate on timescales that don’t map onto traditional planning cycles. Companies that invest in knowing their customers well build a layer of intelligence that improves every demand planning decision that follows. AI accelerates the decisions that can’t wait But visibility alone doesn’t close the gap. During a demand surge, supply chain leaders have to review multiple scenario reports manually from scratch, each built on different assumptions. That eats up time that just isn’t available. This is where AI-powered planning tools shift what’s possible. Rather than asking planners to synthesize data from disparate reports, an integrated platform powered by AI can generate scenario plans in minutes rather than days, running scenarios like: what happens if we accelerate production by 20%? What’s the inventory position in four weeks if current sell-through holds? What’s the cost of expediting freight from a secondary supplier? That means the planner’s job becomes choosing between well-modeled options, and in a fast-moving situation, that shift in where human effort goes is significant. AI-powered planning tools shift where human effort goes during a demand surge. Planners still make the judgment calls, but they’re freed from the manual work of building scenarios from scratch. Agility is the baseline now The supply chain leaders who navigate demand volatility well tend to share a common foundation: a single, real-time view of inventory and network, planning and execution systems that are connected rather than sequential, and suppliers who are integrated into the same environment rather than reached by email. That organizational readiness is what makes fast decisions possible when conditions change. Building it requires the right infrastructure. An end-to-end supply chain platform is what makes it achievable, not just for the viral moments that capture headlines, but for every demand shift that retail supply chains face across every quarter. The Stanley tumbler story is instructive. When the Quencher went viral, the supply chain behind it wasn't ready. Stockouts were widespread and counterfeit products filled the gaps the brand couldn't. The disruption made the case for better infrastructure in a way that no internal planning process could. Most brands would rather not wait for the same lesson. Prepare for viral demand with end-to-end supply chain AI Gain real-time visibility and AI planning to act on viral demand—avoid stockouts and protect brand. Read the Supply Chain Compass Spotlight. Read the report ### [Tomorrow’s supply chain workforce: Upskilled, highly engaged, and optimistic](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/tomorrows-supply-chain-workforce-upskilled-highly-engaged-and-optimistic) > AI and automation upskill and engage supply chain workers, creating resilient, optimistic teams through transparent change, empathy, and continuous learning. Blog Tomorrow’s supply chain workforce: Upskilled, highly engaged, and optimistic Tomorrow’s supply chain workforce: Upskilled, highly engaged, and optimistic Mckenna Bailey , April 30, 2026 5 minute read AI, automation, and robotics are empowering workers to realize their full potential In recent years, there has been a lot of confusion around the potential impact of AI and other advanced technologies on the supply chain workforce. Experienced workers are afraid that AI and robotics will require extensive retraining or perhaps replace their jobs altogether. At the same time, tech savvy young people are avoiding the manufacturing sector because it is perceived as offering boring, dead-end jobs. We think both of these narratives are off-base. In fact, we would go a step further and say that framing technology as a challenge is missing the point entirely. Instead, we see technology as the catalyst for a stronger, more engaged workforce. AI, automation, and robotics, when implemented the right way, can be the means to attract and retain the best talent—and then maximize that talent to boost productivity and achieve business outcomes. This new major workforce transformation will be driven as much by curiosity and imagination as by productivity and efficiency. The result will be a supply chain that is more nimble and resilient—and is also a great place to work. Addressing the elephant in the room To be clear, the negativity surrounding AI is real and shouldn’t be hand-waved away. Ignoring or minimizing employee fears around technology will only serve to increase mistrust. These concerns need to be confronted head-on with transparency and empathy. A good communications strategy around AI prioritizes employees’ concerns over performance metrics or profit margins. Employees already know the importance of business goals; what they need reassurance about is that they still have a place in helping the company get there. The basic story goes like this: AI eliminates many routine, monotonous tasks, which will allow workers to focus on more complex tasks that require human skills like judgment, creativity, and relationship-building. The caveat is that workflows will shift and roles will change. It is important to be transparent when describing these changes: set realistic expectations and timelines and define clear outcomes. And make sure the channels of communication are open. Workforce transformation is a collaborative effort that relies on dialogue. Supporting current employees with smarter upskilling The good news is that employees are ready for AI and trust their leadership to provide a path to success, with an emphasis on training. The key here is a smart upskilling program that goes beyond the tech’s basic functionality. Workers need to learn how to apply their human judgment and critical thinking skills within the context of the new tools. For supply chain workers in functions like manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing, that means integrating technologies (like robotics) into their workflows as much as possible. That way, the upskilling is no longer theoretical—they will see with their own eyes how the training will impact their jobs. The upskilling program does require investments of time and resources. Depending on the technology and the role, on-the-job training may be effective, or it may make more sense to offer paid time outside of normal work hours. Ideally, as workers become more confident with the technology, they will be more empowered to make operational decisions and adjust to disruption. In today’s complex environment, businesses need employees who can think on their feet, deal with ambiguity, and understand the first principles that support supply chain processes. For employees, jobs will be more satisfying and provide more opportunities for growth while relieving them of burdensome work—which is a recipe for increased job satisfaction. Attracting new workers with technology and the right opportunities Younger, tech-native workers are perfectly positioned for the new, technologically sophisticated world of manufacturing and logistics. The challenge is communicating the benefits of a supply chain career and then delivering them once they are hired. Because they don’t realize how tech-driven and innovative the industry has become, the main challenge is showcasing technology and innovation in the supply chain, such as advanced robotics and virtual reality. Younger workers also want to understand a company’s identity, including not only what they produce, but also their culture, mission, and impact on society. Potential hires are going to research employers via AI chatbots, social media channels, and Glassdoor before they make a move. Having a mobile-friendly, multi-faceted, and authentic social media strategy is a must for attracting the best talent. Of course, wages and benefits are always important, but for younger workers, they are not the only concern. These workers prioritize job flexibility and work-life balance, meaningful work, and technological integration. They are also eager to grow and lead as quickly as possible, so continuous learning and development opportunities are a big draw. The takeaway is that young workers are available for hire, but companies have to put in the effort to attract them. Bringing the team together Putting the team in place—dependable veterans, eager new hires, and innovative tech—is an important first step. But ultimately, workforce transformation will be judged based on how well they execute the supply chain vision. Even if experienced employees are on board with the new tech, they may not be sure how to use it, while younger employees who have already mastered the tech may have difficulty identifying what problems to optimize first. Creating mixed teams with complementary skillsets will facilitate knowledge transfer between older and younger generations and create better cohesion. Perhaps most importantly, these unified teams will get the most out of the technology. AI, automation, and robotics will help supply chain teams act with speed and confidence instead of getting bogged down in the day-to-day grind. Instead of worrying about whether technology will replace them, they will be engaged in solving business problems and building their own career paths. The most effective workforces of tomorrow will not be those with the most technology, but those with the best strategy for workforce transformation. When companies pair amazing technology with empathy, ethics, and continuous learning, employees, new and old, will bring their best selves to work and create an amazing business that benefits everyone. ### [Why B2B commerce finally needs the front-end and the back-end to speak the same language](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/why-b2b-commerce-finally-needs-the-front-end-and-the-back-end-to-speak-the-same-language) > Blue Yonder and OroCommerce connect B2B storefronts to OMS for real-time pricing, inventory visibility, and reliable fulfillment. Blog Why B2B commerce finally needs the front-end and the back-end to speak the same language Why B2B commerce finally needs the front-end and the back-end to speak the same language Hiu Wai Loh , April 23, 2026 4 minute read Blue Yonder , the AI company for supply chain, and OroCommerce are partnering to close the gap between what your buyers see at the storefront and what your operations can deliver. Learn why that gap is costing B2B businesses more than they realise, and what a connected approach looks like in practice. Picture this: a regional wholesale buyer logs into your portal, browses your catalog, finds what they need, and places a bulk order. The portal says it's available. The price reflects their contracted tier. The expected ship date looks good. Three days later, your ops team is on the phone explaining a backorder. The storefront said yes. The warehouse wasn't sure. And somewhere between those two systems, trust that is hard-won yet easily lost, just took a hit. This is not a rare edge case. It is the defining friction of B2B digital commerce in 2026. And it persists not because businesses lack technology, but because the technology they have doesn't talk to itself. The B2B complexity problem that is unresolved B2C commerce spent the last decade achieving operational excellence. Real-time inventory, precise delivery promises, one-click re-orders - the consumer experience set a standard that buyers now carry into their professional lives. The problem is that B2B commerce is fundamentally different in ways that B2C tooling was never designed to handle . A B2B order isn't just a quantity and a shipping address. It involves contract-specific pricing that varies by account, volume tier, and sometimes by SKU. It involves corporate account hierarchies where approval workflows determine whether an order can even be submitted. It involves pre-season commitment orders placed months before goods exist, and call-off orders drawn down against those commitments as the season unfolds. It involves split shipments across multiple distribution centers, requested ship dates that can't be moved, and buyer expectations of full visibility into every step. Most digital storefronts were built on B2C foundations and retrofitted for B2B. The result is a front-end that handles the buying experience reasonably well but sits disconnected from the operational reality behind it. Pricing is approximate until someone checks. Availability is a best guess. And the fulfillment layer - the system that actually knows what can be promised , from where, by when, and at what cost- is a different system entirely, updated on a different cadence, speaking a different language. That disconnection has a cost. It shows up in exceptions that require manual intervention. Billing disputes are triggered by the wrong price at checkout. Backorder surprises that damage buyer relationships. Sales teams are spending time on order corrections rather than on customer growth. What a connected architecture looks like Blue Yonder and OroCommerce have announced a strategic partnership that directly addresses this problem by connecting OroCommerce's purpose-built B2B storefront with Blue Yonder's Order Management System (OMS) to create an end-to-end B2B commerce capability built on operational truth rather than optimistic approximations. OroCommerce was founded in 2012 by the original creators of Magento, and unlike platforms that adapted B2C tooling for enterprise buyers, it was built from the ground up for the complexity of B2B commerce: corporate account management, contract-specific pricing, multi-channel workflows, and buyer portals designed for the way procurement works. It is recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape and a Gartner Visionary for three consecutive years. Blue Yonder's OMS brings the operational layer: an AI-driven, agentic fulfillment engine that synchronises multi-enterprise, real-time network inventory visibility, intelligent orders and returns orchestration, and autonomous rebalancing across the full order lifecycle. Together, these two systems close the gap. Three things the joint solution does that disconnected systems cannot 1.  Price accuracy at the moment of order In B2B, the wrong price at checkout is not just an inconvenience. It triggers manual corrections, erodes buyer trust, and creates downstream billing disputes that take days to resolve. The joint solution synchronizes OroCommerce's contract-specific pricing, volume tiers, and account-level rules with the agentic, network-aware Blue Yonder OMS, so the price a buyer sees at the storefront reflects what the business can fulfill, before the order is ever submitted. 2.  Intelligent routing for complex orders Distributors placing high volume orders of up to 10,000 units and more, rarely receive them from a single location. Blue Yonder's fulfillment orchestration determines optimal multi-warehouse sourcing based on real-time inventory position, proximity, and freight logic. OroCommerce surfaces the result, such as order status, split shipment tracking, and delivery ETAs, directly in the buyer portal. Complex orders become transparent rather than opaque, and buyers no longer have to chase their account manager for updates. 3.  Inventory visibility at the catalog level B2B buyers should not discover a backorder three days after they've committed. With Blue Yonder's multi-enterprise, real-time inventory data feeding OroCommerce's catalog and cart, availability, lead times, and substitution options are visible before purchase. Buyers get the information they need to make decisions. Operations teams get fewer exceptions to manage. And the relationship between supplier and buyer is built on accuracy rather than apology. “A commerce platform that understands buying complexity, and a fulfilment engine that can actually execute on it, rarely talk to each other.” -Aaron Sheehan, VP of Strategy, OroCommerce The deeper principle: Best-of-breed, connected There is a persistent argument in enterprise software that the best way to address complexity is to buy it from a single vendor. Integrated suites promise simplicity. And for some use cases, that logic holds. But B2B commerce is a domain where the stakes of getting each component right are high enough that the best-of-breed argument wins. A storefront built specifically for B2B buying, not adapted from consumer commerce, needs to handle corporate account hierarchies, procurement workflows, and contract pricing in ways that generic platforms cannot. An OMS built specifically for high-volume, complex order orchestration - with real inventory intelligence, fulfillment optimization, and the ability to handle enterprise scale, does things that a storefront's built-in fulfillment module was never designed to do. The question is not which component to sacrifice. It's about whether those components can be connected well enough to operate as a coherent whole. That is what this partnership is designed to deliver. “Manufacturers and distributors need their commerce experience and fulfillment operations to work together. Our work with OroCommerce brings those pieces closer together, so customers can place orders with better visibility into availability, timing, and fulfillment options.” – Casey Chroust, General Manager, Commerce, Blue Yonder This matters particularly for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers operating at scale: Businesses where order volumes are high, seasonal patterns are pronounced, customer relationships are long-term, and the cost of operational failure is measured in more than a refund. Who is this built for The Blue Yonder and OroCommerce partnership is designed for enterprise and upper-midmarket businesses that have outgrown their current commerce infrastructure. Specifically, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers who: Run complex B2B buying journeys: Corporate accounts, contract pricing, multi-tier approval workflows, bulk ordering that consumer-grade platforms handle poorly Need accurate order promises that reflect real inventory availability, not cached data or optimistic estimates Manage high order volumes across multiple channels and fulfillment locations, with split shipments, requested ship dates, and visibility requirements Are evaluating or replacing legacy OMS or eCommerce infrastructure, and want components that are proven independently and interoperable by design Operate in sectors where seasonal demand patterns require pre-season commitment orders, call-off mechanisms, and intelligent inventory rebalancing as market conditions shift If any of those scenarios describe your business, this is not a theoretical conversation. Both platforms are in production at enterprise scale, and the integration is designed to be practical rather than aspirational. A promise at the storefront that operations can keep The gap between what a B2B buyer sees and what a B2B operation can deliver is not inevitable. It is an architectural problem, and it has an architectural solution. Connecting a front-end built for B2B buying with a fulfillment layer built for B2B execution is the starting point. Making that connection real-time, accurate, and resilient under scale is what separates a functional integration from one that changes how your business operates. That's what Blue Yonder and OroCommerce are building together. And for businesses that have spent years managing the consequences of disconnected systems, it's worth paying attention to. Learn more about the Blue Yonder and OroCommerce partnership . Visit blueyonder.com to explore how Blue Yonder OMS and OroCommerce work together to unify B2B commerce and fulfillment. Or speak to a Blue Yonder specialist about what a connected architecture looks like for your business. Learn more about the Blue Yonder and OroCommerce partnership. Visit blueyonder.com to explore how Blue Yonder OMS and OroCommerce work together to unify B2B commerce and fulfillment. Or speak to a Blue Yonder specialist about what a connected architecture looks like for your business. Read Press Release Chat Now ### [Order Management has changed. Here's what that means for your business.](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/order-management-has-changed-heres-what-that-means-for-your-business) > AI-driven, real-time commerce platform optimizing fulfillment, returns, and B2B/omnichannel scale—recognized by industry analysts. Blog Order Management has changed. Here's what that means for your business. Order Management has changed heres what that means for your business Hiu Wai Loh , April 24, 2026 3 minute read Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the April 2026 Nucleus Research OMS Value Matrix. Here's what we built to earn it, and where enterprise order management goes from here. Enterprise commerce has moved faster in the last three years than in the decade before it. Retailers and wholesale buyers now expect the same visibility and accuracy that consumers seek in their shopping experiences. Order volumes are scaling. Fulfillment networks are growing more complex. And the pressure to do more across channels, geographies, and customer tiers, while maintaining service levels and protecting margins, is increasing. Yet, most Order Management Systems (OMS) today still only execute orders. While traditional OMS platforms react to disruption after it has already impacted service or margin, Blue Yonder OMS anticipates and resolves change in real time across the entire network, with AI embedded at every decision point. Whether you are an omni-channel retailer balancing store fulfillment with e-commerce, a distributor managing seasonal B2B commitments, a manufacturer orchestrating make to order and make to stock flows, or a 3PL executing against multiple client constraints, the operational demands placed on order management have fundamentally changed. Why Nucleus recognized Blue Yonder Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in the April 2026 Nucleus Research OMS Value Matrix , positioned in the top-right quadrant for both functionality and usability. The recognition reflects something we've been building toward: an order management solution that is genuinely equipped to handle the complexity of modern enterprise commerce. What modern enterprise commerce demands A decade ago, order management was largely a workflow and routing problem. Route the order to the right location, track fulfillment, and handle exceptions when they arise. That model worked when commerce was simpler: Fewer channels, more predictable volumes, customers accustomed to waiting. Today's environment is different in almost every dimension. Retailers are managing inventory across store networks, distribution centers, and e-commerce simultaneously, with customers expecting accurate promises at the point of purchase and same-day or next-day fulfillment as standard. Wholesalers and distributors are running seasonal operations of enormous complexity: commitments made months before goods exist, customer tier prioritization across hundreds of accounts, and the need to rebalance thousands of open orders when supply or demand shifts mid-season. What connects both worlds is the same underlying requirement: an OMS that operates in real time, embeds intelligence at every decision point, and scales without degrading. The platforms that serve this complex environment share a few things in common: they operate in real time rather than batch cycles, they embed intelligence rather than require human intervention at every exception, and they are composable enough to work within the technology landscape a business already has rather than demanding a rip-and-replace project before value can be realized. “The gap between what an OMS promises and what it can operationally deliver at enterprise scale is where implementations stall and operations teams build workarounds that should never have been necessary.” What we built—and why it’s different Nucleus Research describes Blue Yonder OMS as “ an end-to-end, AI-driven system of execution that synchronizes inventory visibility, promise management, fulfillment orchestration, disruption management, and returns into a unified real-time decision fabric ”. This reflects a deliberate architectural choice. Rather than stitching together loosely connected modules, Blue Yonder OMS operates as a single decisioning system, in which every microservice shares context, live data, and embedded intelligence. The result is an OMS that doesn’t simply process orders; it continually improves outcomes , even under volatility. Scale that holds under pressure The most honest test of an order management platform is not a demo environment. It’s what happens during the highest-volume, highest-stress operational period of the year—when every system is under simultaneous load and every failure has a customer consequence. Blue Yonder OMS serves some of the world's largest retailers, manufacturers, and distributors. During the 2025 peak season, the highest-stress operational window across retail and commerce, the platform delivered: + 0 B API calls processed 0 B SKU queries at 16ms response times 0 M real-time SKU reservations in 30 milliseconds For businesses planning significant volume growth, these numbers matter not only as benchmarks but as evidence of what real-time decisioning at scale actually looks like in production. Depth across B2B and omni-channel retail Blue Yonder OMS is designed to handle the full spectrum of enterprise commerce complexity. From omni-channel retail operations managing BOPIS, ship-from-store, and e-commerce fulfillment simultaneously, to wholesale and distribution environments with the structural demands of seasonal B2B. Nucleus specifically highlighted Blue Yonder's strength in enterprise B2B environments - an area where the requirements are genuinely different from B2C commerce and where many platforms show their limits. Blue Yonder OMS handles the structural complexity of seasonal wholesale natively: Time-phased inventory visibility with support for forward-looking commitments - pre-season orders placed months before goods exist, managed against live supply positions, Advanced inventory segmentation (fencing) to prioritize key accounts and channels through configuration, not custom development, Pre-season, call-off, and at-once order types are managed across customer tiers, with priority-based allocation and requested ship date handling. Intelligent Rebalancer: when supply shifts or demand changes mid-season, open orders are automatically resequenced, inventory reallocated across the network, and affected buyers re-promised — in near real time, without manual intervention. For retail operations, the same intelligence applies to omni-channel fulfillment: accurate available-to-promise across store and DC inventory, intelligent sourcing that balances cost, speed, and margin, and real-time re-routing when fulfillment exceptions occur. The platform adapts to the operating model, not the other way around. The Intelligent Rebalancer in particular represents a meaningful operational shift. Rather than a team responding to a disruption after it has already affected fulfillment and service levels, the system responds autonomously, that is, margin-aware, service-level-aligned, and immediate. A cognitive OMS, not AI bolted on Blue Yonder embeds AI and ML natively across every core microservice, powering closed-loop decisioning throughout the order lifecycle. Dynamic safety stock optimization runs on live demand signals. Markdown prediction and stockout avoidance operate within order promising and inventory allocation logic rather than as separate tools. Agentic AI for fulfillment operations and customer service surfaces the right exception to the right person at the right moment, with a recommended action already attached. The Fulfillment Sourcing Simulator , highlighted by Nucleus as a recent product advancement, allows operations teams to model multiple sourcing scenarios in real time - assessing cost, speed, and margin trade-offs before committing to a strategy. It converts what was previously a time-pressured judgment call into a data-informed decision made in seconds. Returns as margin recovery, not cost management The acquisitions of Doddle and Optoro extended Blue Yonder OMS into end-to-end returns management - connecting returns routing, processing, and disposition to warehouse, transportation, and planning systems. ML-powered smart routing optimizes returned item disposition based on transit time, inventory position, and markdown risk. Nucleus noted 30 to 50 percent margin improvement over static rules. The underlying shift in thinking is significant: returns are not the end of a transaction. They are an inventory recovery opportunity. Handled intelligently, they feed back into the supply position and reduce the net cost of the return to the business - whether that return originated from a consumer, a B2B buyer, or a wholesale account. Composable by design Blue Yonder OMS is built on a composable, microservices-based architecture that supports incremental adoption without requiring full-stack replacement. A retailer can deploy intelligent commits management and omni-channel ATP first, then add inventory segmentation and rebalancing as the operation scales. A wholesale distributor can adopt B2B order management and rebalancing immediately, then extend to returns management when the timing is right, without rearchitecting the core system at each step. The platform integrates with any ERP, WMS, or commerce front-end—including partners across both the retail and B2B commerce ecosystem. Customers retain the freedom to build the technology landscape that serves their business, with an OMS that connects to it rather than competing with it. Nucleus highlighted this composability as a key differentiator, specifically noting the acceleration of time-to-value and reduction of implementation risk it enables. For businesses evaluating OMS platforms, this means a shorter path to operational impact and a lower risk profile on the investment. Where Order Management is going The Nucleus recognition reflects where Blue Yonder OMS is today. The more interesting question is where enterprise order management is going, and whether the platform a business adopts now will still be the right one in three to five years. Three shifts are defining the next generation of order management: 1. From reactive to predictive operations . Businesses that absorb disruption without manual scramble will have a structural advantage. In retail, this means fewer missed promises and lower exception-handling costs; in wholesale, it means service levels that hold even when supply doesn't. That requires AI embedded in operations, not overlaid on them. 2. From siloed systems to a unified platform . Enterprise commerce rarely fits a single mode - most businesses run some combination of retail, e-commerce, wholesale, and marketplace simultaneously. The platforms that handle the full spectrum with the same real-time intelligence, without separate modules or different codebases for each channel, reflect the way modern commerce works. 3. From monolithic to composable architecture . The businesses that will get the most from their OMS investment are those that can adopt incrementally, integrate with their existing stack, and expand capability as their operations evolve, without a multi-year replacement project each time. Blue Yonder is building for all three. The Nucleus Leader position reflects the progress made. The roadmap ahead is shaped by where enterprise commerce across retail, wholesale, and distribution is going. Discover Blue Yonder’s AI-powered rebalancing and time-phased inventory at peak scale—1B+ API calls, 18M SKU reservations in 30ms. View the Nucleus findings. Download Now Chat Now Explore more of B2B OMS features Designed to tackle disruptions with dynamic re-allocation of inventory in real-time Learn More ### [Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems for the 19th consecutive year](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-tms) > Recognized by top analyst firm; excellence across global logistics software, AI-driven optimization, sustainability, and complex network orchestration. Blog Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems for the 19th consecutive year Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems for the 19th consecutive year Sarah Hart , April 22, 2026 7 minute read At Blue Yonder, our focus on helping customers navigate growing transportation complexity continues to shape how we innovate and invest in our Transportation Management solutions. We are proud to share that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) report for the 19th consecutive year 2 . We believe this recognition reflects both our Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision as organizations look for resilient, intelligent transportation solutions that can scale with their global operations. As supply chains face ongoing disruption, rising cost pressures and increasing sustainability expectations, transportation leaders are seeking solutions that go beyond execution to enable proactive decision-making and orchestration. Blue Yonder Transportation Management is purpose built to support these needs across the most complex transportation environments. Transportation management designed for complexity at scale Transportation management requirements vary widely based on the operational complexity, geographic footprint, and industry demands of an organization. Blue Yonder designed our Transportation Management solution to support the full spectrum of complexity, from foundational domestic execution to highly advanced, global, multimodal transportation networks. We believe the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems report 3 underscores the effectiveness of our transportation management solutions for organizations operating complex transportation environments that require advanced planning, modeling, optimization, and international capabilities. High shipment volumes, multiple transportation modes, multileg movements and large, diverse carrier networks often characterize these environments. Blue Yonder Transportation Management delivers comprehensive core transportation capabilities, including multimodal planning and execution, freight audit and settlement, and integrated end-to-end visibility. Our TMS solution also offers a broad set of extended capabilities, including transportation modeling, logistics procurement support, and advanced optimization, that enable organizations to move beyond execution centric operations toward more strategic, resilient transportation planning. Strength in advanced planning, optimization, and international capabilities As transportation networks grow in scale and complexity, organizations increasingly need solutions that move beyond execution to support advanced planning, optimization, and global operations. Our strengths are rooted in comprehensive global transportation planning, advanced network modeling, multileg optimization, and robust integration capabilities, making the solution well-suited for organizations operating across regions, modes and trading partners. Blue Yonder Transportation Management delivers strong capabilities across the areas that matter most in higher complexity transportation environments, including core transportation management functionality for planning, execution and settlement across both domestic and international movements. Our solution supports global, multileg shipments and complex transportation networks through advanced international capabilities. Extended functionality includes transportation modeling, scenario analysis, data driven procurement, and tactical decision support, enabling more informed decision-making across the network. Integrated visibility and analytics further help organizations shift from reactive execution to proactive exception management. Together, these capabilities help transportation leaders balance cost, service, and risk while navigating ongoing market volatility and disruption. Blue Yonder Transportation Modeling helped Wegmans analyze and optimize its complex transportation network by simulating alternative fleet and routing strategies, enabling data-driven decisions on how best to utilize assets. Discover more about how Wegman’s drives 4.75% cost savings . AI driven innovation and network enabled collaboration Artificial intelligence, agentic AI and tighter ecosystem integration are central to how Blue Yonder is advancing transportation management. Our strategy reflects sustained investment in AI powered transportation execution, optimization and orchestration to help organizations operate with greater intelligence, agility, and resilience. Included in our AI strategy is our new Logistics Ops Agent, which helps customers stay ahead of change and increase profitability by alerting to and suggesting resolutions to unrouteable loads, backhauls and other critical opportunities. Blue Yonder Transportation Management is deeply integrated with the Blue Yonder Platform and the Blue Yonder Network, enabling seamless interoperability across planning, execution, and customers’ multi-enterprise network. This foundation supports ongoing innovation across AI driven capabilities that help identify risks, surface opportunities and enable exception based management. AI assisted workflows improve the user experience by reducing manual effort for planners and operators. Network centric interoperability further connects shippers, carriers and other trading partners through a shared data foundation, enabling more coordinated and data driven transportation operations including global visibility and digital collaboration. We believe that together, these capabilities help our customers accelerate time to value, strengthen resilience, and operate more connected, intelligent transportation networks. Embedding sustainability into transportation execution Our Transportation Management Solution embeds sustainability directly into day-to-day transportation execution, helping organizations reduce emissions while improving cost and service. Through close connectivity to the Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager our TMS provides visibility into transportation-related CO₂ output across modes, lanes, and carriers, enabling teams to measure, track, and report on environmental impact with greater confidence. Optional connectivity to the Blue Yonder Logistics Emissions calculator provides streamlined emissions data collection and audit ready reporting for detailed emissions analysis. Beyond measurement, Blue Yonder TMS utilizes advanced optimization, network modeling, 3-D load building, and scenario analysis to reduce empty miles, improve load consolidation, and support more sustainable mode and routing decisions. These capabilities enable companies to balance cost, service, and sustainability objectives, turning emissions management from a reporting exercise into an actionable part of transportation strategy. “Our relationship with Blue Yonder drives visibility and value for our clients, equipping them with a sustainability toolkit to measure, reduce, and offset scope 3 supply chain emissions. As sustainability is a priority for supply chain decision-makers, we can drive forward key offsetting and insetting initiatives with clients as a true partner." – James Fry, VP Product, Zencargo. Learn more about how Zencargo makes supply chains more sustainable with Blue Yonder . Supporting end to end supply chain execution Blue Yonder Transportation Management is part of a broader suite of connected supply chain solutions, covering warehouse management, supply chain planning, production management, order management and returns. We believe that this unified approach supports the Gartner view that transportation is increasingly central to end to end supply chain execution and orchestration. By connecting transportation, planning, and execution across upstream and downstream processes, Blue Yonder improves service levels, removes silos, reduces costs, and enables organizations to respond faster to disruption without adding operational complexity. Empowering transportation leaders for what comes next We believe the continued recognition from Gartner of Blue Yonder as a Leader in Transportation Management Systems reflects our long standing commitment to helping customers manage transportation challenges while preparing for what comes next. As transportation networks become more global, dynamic, and interconnected, Blue Yonder remains focused on delivering intelligent, scalable and future ready transportation management solutions. We extend our thanks to our customers and partners whose trust and collaboration continue to shape our innovation journey. If you are exploring how to modernize your transportation operations or support higher levels of complexity, we invite you to learn more about Blue Yonder Transportation Management and how it can support your organization’s transportation strategy. ICON 2026 If you are looking to learn more about the innovations shaping the future of transportation, join us at Blue Yonder ICON, our annual conference for supply chain leaders and practitioners. ICON 2026 brings together customers, partners, and Blue Yonder experts for immersive sessions, hands on learning, and peer-to-peer networking, focusing on the real world challenges and outcomes across the end to end supply chain. For those especially interested in transportation management, be sure to explore the session catalog , which includes dedicated TMS sessions designed to share practical insights on optimizing transportation operations, improving efficiency, and driving measurable cost savings. Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Manav Jain, 30 March 2026. 2 Blue Yonder was previously listed as i2/i2 Technologies/JDA/JDA Software; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 3 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Manav Jain, 30 March 2026. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. ### [Top 5 learnings from the Supply Chain Compass 2026](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/top-5-learnings-from-the-supply-chain-compass-2026) > Visibility builds confidence; unified data, faster decisions, and AI drive resilience and performance—connected operations outperform peers. Blog Top 5 learnings from the Supply Chain Compass 2026 Top 5 learnings from the Supply Chain Compass 2026 Mckenna Bailey , April 21, 2026 1 minute read Every year, Blue Yonder surveys hundreds of senior supply chain professionals to take the industry’s temperature. The 2026 Supply Chain Compass drew on 678 interviews across retail, manufacturing, and logistics, all from organizations with annual revenue over $500 million. This year’s results are some of the most revealing we’ve seen, and here’s what we think supply chain leaders should pay closest attention to. 1. Confidence is falling, but not evenly Overall optimism among supply chain leaders has dipped since last year, with 34% now saying their supply chain isn’t ready for the future, up from 27% in 2025. There was also a 7-point drop in confidence around disruption preparedness in the same period. But these numbers only tell part of the story. The finding we kept coming back to is the polarization underneath. Forty-six percent of respondents rated their optimism at +4 or +5 on a five-point scale, a group the researchers call “The Optimists.” The remaining 54% were notably more tentative, including 10% who were actively pessimistic. The gap between them runs deeper than sentiment. Whose supply chains are ready for the future? 0 % of Optimistic leaders 0 % of Less Optimistic leaders 2. The confidence gap has a clear cause: end-to-end visibility The Optimists’ confidence comes down to how they run their supply chains, not where they operate or what kind of business they are. Optimistic leaders are significantly more likely to have shared KPIs across teams , far less likely to report operating in silos, and much less likely to struggle with slow data sharing or disjointed supplier collaboration. The Less Optimistic group tells the opposite story. More than three-quarters agreed with at least one statement describing fragmentation: slow data sharing, siloed operations, or a supply chain that simply feels disjointed. They were more than twice as likely to report these problems compared to their optimistic peers, and 4x more likely to feel their supply chain is disjointed overall. The common thread is end-to-end visibility. Leaders who have it are more confident, more financially optimistic, and better prepared for disruption. Those who lack it are building that foundation while managing a more volatile operating environment. 3. Decision-making speed has become a top-tier priority One of the sharpest year-over-year shifts in the data is how far decision-making speed has climbed the strategic priority list. In 2025, it ranked seventh. In 2026, it sits second, just behind improving efficiency and productivity. This shift is partly a technology story, but not entirely. As the report notes, implementing point solutions can leave more decisions in the hands of increasingly stretched people, making it harder to move quickly. The leaders making progress here are those who have built coherent platforms and shared data models, so that decisions can be made quickly rather than routed to whoever happens to have access to the right system. The urgency behind this shift is easy to understand. Where supply chain leaders once managed a handful of major disruptions per year, many now face that pace per quarter. Nowhere is this clearer than in the geopolitical disruption data. Geopolitical disruptions are the hardest to respond to Only 20% of leaders can develop and deploy a response to geopolitical disruptions within 24 hours. Another 38% take longer than a week. Given the pace of tariff announcements and trade policy shifts in the current environment, this is the response-time gap that matters most right now. 4. AI adoption is maturing, but unevenly distributed Machine learning and predictive AI are becoming baseline infrastructure for competitive supply chains. These systems are already live in nearly half of the organizations surveyed (45%), with another 29% actively working to implement them. Unified data platforms are deployed by 51% of respondents. Generative AI adoption has doubled in the past year, from 12% to 24%. Agentic AI, where autonomous systems identify and resolve issues without waiting for human instruction, is live in only 8% of organizations today, but 54% are investigating or implementing it. The report sees this as the point at which the next performance gap between leaders and laggards will open up. The Less Optimistic group is more likely to be investigating agentic AI than the Optimists are. If they can move from investigation to implementation, it could help them close the ground faster than incremental improvements to their current infrastructure would allow. “Supply chain leaders are being asked to make more decisions, more frequently and with less time available. In supply chain management, confidence is not simply a mindset. It is built on end-to-end visibility, unified data and practical AI that allows teams to make good decisions quickly and at scale.” Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder 5. The hardest goals are also the most common ones The five most commonly cited strategic goals all hover around 60% confidence, which sounds reasonable until you consider what’s on the list: profitability, cost management, resilience, efficiency, and decision-making speed. For goals this foundational, 60% is worth paying attention to. The report’s explanation is clear about why: After years of wringing gains out of point solutions and siloed architectures, there isn't much left to squeeze. Meaningful improvement on cost and profitability now requires structural change, and that’s a harder sell internally than another round of optimization. You can see this in how the two groups think about their priorities. Optimistic leaders are focused on profitability and growth because they’ve already done the foundational work. Less Optimistic leaders are focused on resilience and visibility because they’re still building that foundation. Same destination, different stages of the journey. Where we go from here The Supply Chain Compass 2026 describes an industry at a structural inflection point. The organizations that started building connected, visible, AI-enabled supply chains earlier are pulling ahead in both measurable financial performance and sentiment. Those still working through that transformation face a more demanding environment than when they started. And the report makes the path forward reasonably clear: connectivity first, then speed, then scale. The organizations closing that gap now are the ones most likely to find themselves on the right side of that confidence gap next year. ### [Merchandising without bottlenecks: How AI is transforming retail decision-making](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/merchandising-without-bottlenecks-how-ai-is-transforming-retail-decision-making) > Discover how AI is reshaping retail decision-making, addressing bottlenecks in merchandising, and enabling faster, more confident decisions. Blog Merchandising without bottlenecks: How AI is transforming retail decision-making Merchandising without bottlenecks: How AI is transforming retail decision-making Brett Egglestone , April 21, 2026 5 minute read Retail organisations across Australia are entering a new phase of AI adoption, one that moves beyond experimentation and into operational reality. At a recent executive roundtable in Melbourne, Blue Yonder brought together leaders from some of the country’s top retailers to discuss how AI is reshaping decision-making across the retail value chain. The room represented a significant portion of the consumer market. Attendees included supply chain executives and retail leaders from Australia's largest department stores, hardware retailers and supermarket chains. What emerged was clear. While AI is accelerating speed and insight, it is also exposing new friction points in the way retail organisations operate in today’s business environment. At the center of this tension sits merchandising. AI is scaling—but so is complexity Retailers are no longer approaching AI as a collection of isolated use cases. Instead, there is a shift toward enterprise-wide adoption, connecting customer engagement, supply chain execution, and store operations. On the front end, AI is driving more personalized and intuitive customer experiences, from guided interfaces for business users to improved online-to-store journeys and conversational engagement. On the back end, it is helping organisations respond faster to disruption. Whether it’s geopolitical instability, weather events such as fires or flooding, or ongoing cost and availability pressures, AI is enabling more dynamic, informed and responsive decision-making. But as these capabilities scale, so too does the volume and complexity of the decisions that retailers are required to make every day. This is where the cracks begin to show. Merchandising: The bottlenecks in a faster system Merchandising sits at the intersection of customer demand, inventory, pricing, and supply chain execution. As such it is the epicenter of where strategy and decision-making turns into action. Yet, many merchandising functions were built for an era that was defined by slower planning cycles, siloed systems, and manual workflows . As AI accelerates decision-making across the business, merchandising teams are increasingly under pressure to keep up . At the roundtable, leaders consistently pointed to the same challenges - reconciling data across multiple systems, managing exceptions, a lack of vision to interoperable process flows and relying heavily on spreadsheets to maintain operational flow. The result is a growing disconnect. While AI can generate insights at speed, the ability to act on those insights is often constrained by legacy processes and tools. In many cases, retailers are responding by adding more people to manage the complexity—an approach that is not scalable, desirable nor sustainable. The real opportunity lies elsewhere. From manual workflows to guided decision-making What we are seeing is the emergence of a new operating model for merchandising, one where AI does not just inform decisions but actively supports how they are made. This is where AI agents will play a critical role. Rather than expecting teams to manually monitor data, identify issues, and determine next steps, AI can take on much of this workload. It can continuously track key metrics, surface anomalies, identify root causes, and guide users toward the right actions. This shift is not about removing humans from the process. It is about reducing friction, improving consistency, and enabling teams to focus on higher-value decisions. In effect, it transforms merchandising from a reactive function into a more proactive, insight-driven capability. Balancing automation with retail reality Despite the enthusiasm for AI, retail leaders are clear on one point; not every decision should be automated. It is evident that there is an ongoing need to balance efficiency with context. With around 76% of retail spend still happening in physical stores, the in-store experience remains critical. AI must enhance this by ensuring optimal product availability and efficient inventory flow, meeting customer expectations for product range and availability. This is particularly relevant in merchandising, where the merchant’s judgement, knowledge, and local context play a critical role. Therefore, the question is no longer about whether to use AI, but when it should be used and how to apply it most effectively. Data trust: The foundation for scale If merchandising is the visible bottleneck, data is the underlying challenge. Across the roundtable, executives highlighted the difficulty of working with fragmented data environments. Information is often spread across multiple systems, requiring integration of data between systems (often nightly batch) and subsequent reconciliation before it can be used with confidence. As a result, the conversation is shifting. It is no longer just about data quality; it is now about data trust as well. Questions at the forefront include things like do teams have full visibility? Can I rely on the data in front of me?  Can I act on it quickly? Does my data balance with data from others? Without this foundation, scaling AI becomes significantly harder. At the same time, a heightened awareness of governance and risk is taking hold. Australia’s regulatory landscape is still evolving, enabling organizations to innovate and experiment rapidly. However, as AI becomes increasingly integrated into core business processes, retail leaders are placing significant emphasis on robust governance and risk management to ensure responsible and sustainable adoption. Rethinking roles, skills, and decision models As AI continues to evolve, so too will its various roles and functions across retail organisations. Merchandising, supply chain, and store operations are already beginning to shift from instinct-led decision-making towards more insight-driven models . This will require new skills, new ways of working, and a rethink of how decisions are owned and executed across the business. More importantly, it will also require a real cultural shift. The retailers leading this transition are those already embracing a test-and-learn mindset – in other words, those challenging established processes, moving quickly, and adapting as they go. Removing bottlenecks in the AI era AI has the potential to unlock significant value across retail, but only if organisations can translate insight into action. That means addressing the bottlenecks that sit between data and execution. For many retailers today, merchandising is where that work begins. Removing these constraints is not just about adding new technology, it is about connecting systems, building trust in the organisation’s data, and enabling teams to make faster, more confident decisions. In an environment defined by speed, complexity, and constant change, those capabilities will be what sets leading retailers apart from the crowd. Want to go deeper on merchandising? To explore how retailers are improving execution across stores visit Blue Yonder’s Merchandise Operations overview. ### [Building supply chain resilience through multi-enterprise visibility and agentic AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/building-supply-chain-resilience-through-multi-enterprise-visibility-and-agentic-ai) > Strengthen supply chains with multi-enterprise visibility and agentic AI for resilience, deeper insights, and autonomous orchestration. Blog Building supply chain resilience through multi-enterprise visibility and agentic AI Building supply chain resilience through multi-enterprise visibility and agentic AI Vineet Sharma , April 15, 2026 4 minute read The twin forces of disruptions and supply chain complexity are battering businesses across the Asia-Pacific region. Geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and labor constraints are putting immense pressure with structural, regulatory, data and systems complexity further pushing supply chains to their limits. Market volatility and shifting consumer demand taught retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers across the region a harsh lesson—build for flexibility or watch your margins evaporate. Rightfully, companies turned towards technology for greater visibility into their supply chain operations. Enter control towers, digital twins, dashboards, real-time tracking and tools promising a panoramic and telescopic vision. But despite companies pouring money into visibility, the rumbles of distant disruptions continue to arrive at their doors as seismic shocks, threatening to upend their supply chain. Greater visibility is no guarantee for supply chain resilience. In these uncertain times, Agentic AI has emerged as an antidote for supply chain troubles. Why tier-1 visibility is no longer enough The modern supply chain is a web of connections stretching across suppliers, carriers, warehouses, transportation, customers, and fulfillment points spread across geographies. Each node generates millions of data points and signals. And when your supply chain has several tiers and touches multiple enterprises, tier 1 visibility alone doesn't cut it. If businesses want to weather the storm of disruption, their processes must be anchored in building resilience. They must invest in solutions that power a deeper view into supply chain operations and go beyond surface-level tier 1, delivering granular, n-tier visibility. The shift towards n-tier visibility has already begun in APAC, with supply chain leaders focusing on adopting technologies that help them see deeper into their operations. According to the latest IDC InfoBrief, by 2028, 50% of enterprise-scale supply chains will use business networks to enable n-tier visibility as a key mechanism for reducing the impact of disruptions and improving response speed by 25%. The intelligence layer your supply chain needs According to Stephanie Krishnan, Associate Vice President at IDC Asia/Pacific, "Modern supply chains must evolve from monitoring events to orchestrating responses. The organizations that succeed will be those that can translate insights into coordinated action across their entire supply ecosystem." The businesses that excel will be the ones that spot risks early and take coordinated action. The idea is to use n-tier visibility to build an intelligent engine that collates, analyzes, contextualizes multi-enterprise data and produces swift, autonomous responses to disruptions. A decision layer that acts as cognitive connective tissue between data and decisions. Antonio Boccalandro, President of Blue Yonder APAC, agrees: "Supply chains are entering a new phase where visibility alone is no longer enough. Organizations need the ability to actually translate insights into coordinated action across suppliers, logistics partners and internal operations. Platforms that combine AI, real-time data and multi-enterprise collaboration are becoming essential to help businesses respond faster to disruption while unlocking new opportunities for growth." In the APAC region, AI is playing a critical role in handling supply chain operations. The IDC InfoBrief points out that more than 42% of supply chain leaders have seen more than 10% improvement in process productivity from AI. Agentic AI as the autonomous orchestrator Supply chain orchestration is synonymous with chaos. A frantic affair with planners thrust into an avalanche of spreadsheets, phone calls, endless email chains, siloed systems and decisions made on data that's already hours old. Even though the intent is efficiency, the reality is far from it. And as the gap between spotting a disruption and reacting to it widens, the bottom line suffers. Agentic AI is rewriting how supply chains respond. It acts as an advisor, coordinates across multiple tiers and stakeholders, and takes action— always guided by human agency. Companies across the APAC region are turning to cognitive solutions powered by agentic AI to transform their supply chain operations. The momentum is already building—the IDC InfoBrief forecasts adoption to grow by almost 60% over the next three years across Asia-Pacific organizations. Steps towards a resilient supply chain and an agentic AI future In an increasingly disruptive world, supply chains need to move beyond the constraints of slow, siloed legacy systems and embrace agentic AI solutions that make them more adaptive and resilient. But getting there requires a robust strategy that incentivizes n-tier visibility across enterprises, redefines human roles for an AI-driven world, and turns security from a barrier into a collaborative accelerator. Companies that sense risk early and take proactive, coordinated action across their supply chain network will pull ahead of their competitors — and stay there. The question is no longer whether to make that shift, but how quickly it can be done. Watch our on-demand webinar - From sight to orchestration: Building the resilient fabric of the modern supply chain—and discover how multi-enterprise visibility and agentic AI can transform your operations from reactive to autonomous. Read the Infobrief *IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Blue Yonder, Integration Execution: From Sight to Orchestration, AP2425541B, 16 March 2026 ### [The CX factor: An untapped source of value for supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/the-cx-factor-an-untapped-source-of-value-for-supply-chains) > Unlock supply chain value by focusing on customer experience. Efficient logistics enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. Embrace strategic agility for growth. Blog The CX factor: An untapped source of value for supply chains The CX factor: An untapped source of value for supply chains Mckenna Bailey , April 15, 2026 5 minute read When supply chains focus on the customer experience, good things happen In today’s tumultuous business environment, supply chain leaders have a lot on their minds. Faced with geopolitical disruption, fluctuating tariffs, and soaring commodity prices, it’s not surprising that many have pivoted to contingency planning and back-to-basics efficiencies. They’re making a strategic calculation to focus on optimizing internal processes—and let their colleagues in Sales and Marketing handle the customers. It sounds reasonable, but we think that trade-off is actually a huge missed opportunity. That’s because supply chains don’t have to choose between internal efficiency and the customer experience (CX). The most effective supply chains accomplish both at the same time, leveraging efficient logistics and production processes to deliver on the company’s value proposition to their customers. The result is a system that increases customer satisfaction, builds brand loyalty—and grows revenue. This is more important in today’s competitive landscape, where CX has become one of the most important differentiators. In fact, McKinsey found that CX leaders achieve a 2X revenue advantage over competitors over time. How can supply chain leaders pivot toward CX? It doesn’t require a radical change in operational capabilities—though AI can help—it’s really a change of strategic mindset. Let’s discuss. Aligning existing processes with customer needs Every supply chain leader is laser-focused on increasing speed and/or reducing costs—both of which are worthy objectives. The challenge is that you can build the most efficient supply chain in the world and still fall short in terms of CX. For example, imagine a U.S. company that has centralized manufacturing in Texas to facilitate economies of scale, which significantly reduced costs. What happens if customer orders spike in Asia, and the existing supply chain is too far away to meet demand in a timely fashion? Orders are delayed, customer trust is broken, and they look for a more reliable option in the market. Suddenly, the “cost-saving” measure is hurting the bottom line. The good news is that to become more customer-centric, supply chains don’t need to reinvent the wheel—they just need a change of perspective. Here are some examples: Planning: Much of supply chain planning is dominated by factors like labor costs, supplier relationships, and external disruptions. The missing input? Customer data. Accurate, real-time information about customer behavior, both qualitative and quantitative, will make sure decisions have the most impact on revenue. Inventory Management: Late deliveries and back orders are major pain points for customers. Real-time inventory data and warehouse automation can help supply chains be nimble enough to manage the increasing demands of customers, who have become accustomed to the incredibly customer-friendly practices of consumer leaders like Amazon. Delivery: Speed is great at any stage of the supply chain, but from a customer’s perspective, the only thing that really matters is the final touchpoint. Targeted investments in route optimization and last-mile delivery capabilities will deliver significant ROI in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Strategic agility to respond to trends in customer behavior Reorienting core processes around the customer is a great baseline, but a CX focus also has strategic implications for supply chains. While some customer demands are perpetual and predictable (like on-time orders), others are driven by market dynamics that ebb and flow. Across every industry, markets are changing quickly and constantly. CX-focused supply chains keep their finger on the pulse of these trends, which include not only demand for current products but also the potential for demand for new or modified products. Agile CX-focused supply chains are able to ramp up or slow down production in response to trends in customer behavior. Modular production processes, diverse partnerships with multiple suppliers, and intelligent inventory management can all contribute to success. The point is not to have a crystal ball—no one does. The play is to make sure that the supply chain is agile enough to respond to consumer demands seamlessly without having to play catch-up. To achieve that, supply chain leaders need to have a seat at the table when strategic decisions are being made. Supply chain is no longer a back office function—it is mission-critical in today’s customer-centered economy. Building a customer-centric culture To maximize CX-driven revenue growth, supply chain leaders should think bigger than operational or even strategic shifts. Instilling customer-first thinking at every level of the supply chain will have a more profound effect than any individual initiative, tactic, or technology. There are a couple of plays here. Internally, customer-centric key performance indicators (KPIs) can be very effective. These KPIs enable the supply chain organization to quantify the CX impact of their processes—which is important, because many commonly used supply chain KPIs mask breakdowns in CX. KPIs that measure service and product quality, supply reliability, timely delivery, accurate shipment information, and appropriate communication levels are all useful here. Adopting these KPIs also helps change the mentality of internal teams, instilling a truly customer-centric philosophy. From an external, customer-facing perspective, CX-focused organizations should pursue end-to-end supply chain transparency. Many companies prioritize supply chain visibility, and rightly so. Being able to track activities throughout the supply chain allows rapid assessment of what is working and what’s not, so adjustments can be made. Supply chain transparency takes much of the same information and makes it available to customers. Real-time order status, delivery tracking, and alerts (across multiple communication channels, including email and text) builds customer trust and makes them feel empowered. When problems do occur, transparency makes them much simpler to resolve because an open, communicative relationship has already been established. But transparency has CX benefits beyond simple transactions. When a customer has visibility into how a supply chain operates—including everything from quality control and raw material sourcing to worker safety and environmental impact—it allows a company to build a narrative and brand identity that resonates with its customer base. That’s how a customer begins to evolve from simply a buyer to a true partner in your business. Efficiency with a purpose: the CX-centered supply chain At the end of the day, we’re in business for one reason: our customers. While it’s easy to lose sight of that fact in the day-to-day grind of the business cycle, organizations that keep the customer as their North Star will maintain their equilibrium—and their primary source of revenue. Put your customer first, and they will return the favor. ### [Stop building custom robotics integrations: The case for WMS first standardization](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/stop-building-custom-robotics-integrations-the-case-for-wms-first-standardization) > Learn how robotics hub standardizes automation to lower costs and future-proof your warehouse. Blog Stop building custom robotics integrations: The case for WMS first standardization Stop building custom robotics integrations: The case for WMS first standardization Tammy Kulesa , April 14, 2026 5 minute read Automation is no longer a luxury in the supply chain; it is a necessity. With a shrinking labor market and e-commerce demand skyrocketing, robots, AMRs, ASRSs, and AGVs are finding their way into warehouses at an unprecedented rate. A recent McKinsey podcast highlights that while robotics and automation tech are accelerating, the bigger obstacle is integrating these systems into operations. Leaders remain “nervous about scaling beyond pilots” because legacy systems and integration complexity hold them back. We see a recurring problem in the industry. Businesses invest heavily in cutting-edge robotics but rely on "old school" integration methods to connect them to their Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). This creates islands of automation—rigid, custom-coded connections that are expensive to maintain and nearly impossible to scale.  Warehouses running older WMSs have used heavy customization for automation and they now face a security risk, as well as upgrade challenges that are wrought with challenges.  Scaling automation is thereby limited by the software and integration layers, not the robots and automation. There is a better way to approach this challenge. It starts by shifting your mindset from building custom connections to mapping standard ones and focusing on the software layer as the warehouse orchestrator. The industry is moving to software-defined, interoperable automation and as hardware becomes more flexible and programmable, the orchestration platform becomes the strategic control point. The hidden cost of point-to-point integration In a traditional setup, integrating a new robotics vendor often means writing custom code. You dig through the WMS source code, create vendor-specific hooks, and build a unique solution for that site. This might work for a single pilot project. But what happens when you want to roll that same robot out to five different distribution centers? In the traditional model, you start over. You pay for a full implementation and customization four or five separate times. We saw this with a large beverage company, which faced the reality of paying for full implementations multiple times with the same vendor across similar WMS versions. This approach is not sustainable. It inflates the total cost of ownership and creates a massive web of technical debt. Furthermore, these custom point-to-point integrations are rarely "upgrade safe." If you upgrade your WMS, you risk breaking the custom code that talks to your robots. If the vendor updates their software, you might have to rewrite your integration. You become locked in, afraid to touch anything for fear of bringing operations to a halt. A new standard: Mapping vs. building The solution lies in decoupling the integration from the core system. This is the core principle of the robotics hub in the Blue Yonder WMS. Instead of building a ground-up integration for every new robot or site, robotics hub provides a set of standard, general-purpose APIs. The WMS becomes the standard connection point. The robotics vendor maps their data to these standard APIs, rather than the WMS customizing its code to fit the vendor. This shift from "building" to "mapping" changes the economic equation of automation: Write once, deploy everywhere : If you implement Locus robots at one site using a robotics hub, you don't need to rebuild that integration for the next four sites. You essentially "copy and paste" the mapping. The hard work is done once. Upgrade safety : Because the APIs are standard, you can upgrade your WMS without worrying about breaking your automation workflows. Vendor neutrality : You are no longer locked into a single vendor. You can run Locus bots in one aisle and a different vendor in another, all orchestrated by the same WMS logic. Real-world lessons in scalability We can look at real-world scenarios to understand why this architectural decision matters. Take the example of another global beverage manufacturer. This customer undertook a massive implementation where the integration wasn't properly decoupled from their core enterprise systems. Because everything was tightly wound together, redoing or fixing parts of the system became a monumental effort. This highlights the importance of a decoupled strategy—where your WMS, your ERP, and your automation layers can evolve independently without toppling the whole structure. On the other hand, we have seen other instances where the pressure to simply "get a project done" can overshadow long-term strategy. It is easy to focus on the trees—getting one specific vendor live at one specific site—and miss the forest. The forest is your long-term ability to upgrade, swap vendors, and maintain a secure, modern software stack. When you bypass standard hubs to "slam in" a custom integration, you might win the short-term deadline, but you lose on long-term flexibility. Unifying the warehouse ecosystem Robotics hub is not just about robots. It is about unified resource management. As warehouse technology evolves, you will likely have a mix of automation: autonomous mobile robots for transport, pick-to-light systems for fulfillment, and voice or vision technology for human workers. Without a central hub, these systems operate in silos. A robot might drop a pallet in a location, but the next machine (or human) doesn't know it's there without a custom message. Robotics Hub acts as the central conductor. It allows the WMS to govern the flow of work across all resources—human and machine. We are actively expanding these capabilities to onboard new automation types, such as ASRS and various voice and vision devices. The goal is a single operational view that lets you balance workloads dynamically across your entire facility, regardless of who—or what—is doing the work. The bottom line on business value For IT teams and leadership, the argument for Robotics Hub comes down to speed and cost. 50% reduction in onboarding time : Standard APIs mean vendors can connect faster. 60% reduced implementation costs : When rolling out existing vendors to new sites, the savings are massive because you reuse proven mappings. This capability is now included in our Warehouse Management Solution. This isn't an upsell; it is a fundamental component of a modern WMS strategy. We are moving away from the days of billable hours for endless customization and toward a future of standardized, scalable, and secure connectivity. Moving forward If you are looking at your three- to five-year automation plan, you cannot afford to ignore an integration strategy. The cost of being on an "island of automation" is too high. By adopting a robotics hub, you protect your business from technical debt and position yourself to adopt new technologies faster than the competition. You stop building the same bridges repeatedly and start focusing on moving traffic across them. ### [Doubling down on sustainability in the supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/doubling-down-on-sustainability-in-the-supply-chain) > Leading companies are making sustainability a core strategy, not just greenwashing. Using AI-driven planning, circular supply chains, and integrated platforms, they enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and drive value. Blog Doubling down on sustainability in the supply chain Doubling down on sustainability in the supply chain Mckenna Bailey , April 10, 2026 5 minute read Leading companies are forgoing greenwashing in favor of real strategies that create value Sustainability in the supply chain may be entering a new stage of maturity. For years, the sustainability narrative was largely driven by external pressures from regulators, investors, and the general public. Now, it has become a core business practice for companies that want to build supply chain resilience while protecting the environment. The refurbished and secondary tech market is a great example. What was once a small-scale, mostly local effort to recycle used cellphones, laptops, and other devices has now exploded to become a $141 billion USD market that is projected to grow to $380.3 billion by 2035. This technology hardware story is a perfect example of the transformation of sustainability in recent years. What was once a niche source of materials now plays a critical role in the global electronics supply chain—demonstrating that sustainability isn’t just good for the planet, it’s also good for business. But to long-time observers in the space, that’s not surprising, because sustainability has always been founded on smart economics: lower costs, less raw materials risk, and greater resilience in the face of supplier disruption. Sustainability, which was once experienced by supply chain leaders as pressure, is now seen as an opportunity to create value. We’ve identified three sustainability strategies that supply chains can pursue right now around planning, products, and processes. Planning: Precise, AI-driven decision-making Supply chains are complex systems with many moving parts, and flaws in orchestrating the different elements lead to inefficiencies that waste money and create waste. Excess inventory caused by inaccurate forecasting results in products sitting in warehouses, consuming electricity and other resources. Logistic delays caused by miscoordination and poor route planning waste fuel and put wear and tear on transportation equipment. And the list goes on. AI technologies have the power to take the guesswork and the waste out of supply chain planning. AI can analyze and learn from large pools of business data, identifying patterns and planning for disruptions. AI agents can even start taking action to optimize the supply chain, with human supervision as needed. AI-driven planning constantly recalculates demand to determine how much of each product should be produced and stored at each location in the network. This precise inventory management means fewer products become obsolete while also ensuring customers don’t encounter experience-killing back orders and delays. AI-powered logistics looks at traffic, weather, road conditions, fuel prices, vehicle load capacity, driver schedules, and more, to maximize efficiency in order fulfillment. Better and shorter routes mean less fuel and fewer emissions. Better packing means shipments go out full instead of half-empty, so fewer trips are needed. Perhaps most importantly, better planning puts supply chains in the driver’s seat in terms of targeting business objectives. Products: Designing waste out of the product life cycle Historically, supply chains prioritize cost-effectiveness and availability when sourcing materials and building products. This short-term thinking overlooks potentially negative impacts downstream: Customer experience : Customers, especially in B2B, expect products that are reliable and meet their needs over a longer time horizon. When those expectations aren’t met, it damages brand reputation and sales. Supply chain resiliency : In a world where sourcing is more volatile and fragile than ever, building a product based on one geographical source or one amazing price is a recipe for disaster. Social and environmental impact : When product life cycles are short (and short-sighted), they produce waste and create disposal needs that have a negative impact on the environment and quality of life. There are several product strategies that address these challenges: Circular supply chain integration. This model replaces raw materials with recycled or renewable inputs, creating a closed-loop system that minimizes waste and resource extraction. This reduces dependence on suppliers—boosting resilience against price volatility and supply disruptions—and significantly shrinks the environmental footprint. Extending the product life cycle. Starting with high-quality products and extending their life through repair and refurbishment reduces waste and unlocks new revenue streams. This also delivers a high-quality customer experience that generates loyalty and repeat sales. Product-as-a-Service (PaaS): Instead of selling products directly, PaaS models deliver usage or outcomes over time, through a subscription model or other alternative pricing structure. It lets companies control the entire product life cycle, creating a powerful incentive to prioritize durability and maintainability—while creating consistent recurring revenue streams. Processes: End-to-end visibility and collaboration with suppliers Often, attempts at supply chain sustainability fail because different teams and partners are operating in siloes with limited transparency. This fragmented approach results in missed opportunities and an inability to create shared sustainability goals for all stakeholders. The play here is to gain end-to-end visibility, implement an integrated sustainability strategy, and then align everyone in the supply chain around the same set of goals and metrics. AI-enabled supply chain platforms can pull together data from multiple sources (IoT sensors, blockchain records, supplier systems, shipping trackers) and create a single, centralized view of operations. This visibility allows companies to identify waste, inefficiency, and lapses in environmental standards—whether they are coming from internal teams, external suppliers, or other partners. Armed with this information, supply chains can then set appropriate standards and KPIs based on real data. KPIs like packaging weight reduction, percentage of recycled materials, and water consumption totals help evaluate current suppliers and create a standard that can be used to screen new suppliers. Sustainability scores can also be amalgamated into an overall sustainability assessment score. But setting sustainability standards is just the beginning. Once they are in place, everyone in the supply chain, from internal teams to partners and suppliers, can begin working toward the same goals. Shared goals will go a long way toward filling the efficiency gaps we discussed earlier. Increased collaboration will promote knowledge sharing of best practices, smarter use of resources, and better transportation coordination. Finally, supply chains can leverage the increased visibility to create transparency with customers, investors, and regulatory bodies, which helps meet sustainability benchmarks and build trust and brand equity. Reimagining the role of sustainability In recent years, the talking points around sustainability have changed; however, the business case for sustainable practices has only grown stronger. Customers are demanding greener practices and rewarding the companies that deliver them. Geopolitical instability is forcing everyone to be more efficient and self-reliant. And technology has enabled sustainable supply chains in ways that were never possible before. Sustainability has never been more important, and the companies that embrace these practices will find themselves riding the momentum in the years to come. ### [What if you could build your supply chain from scratch?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/what-if-you-could-build-your-supply-chain-from-scratch) > Reimagine supply chains from scratch: prioritize sustainability, regional proximity, automation, real-time data, and agility. Legacy systems hinder transformation; now is the time to innovate. Blog What if you could build your supply chain from scratch? What if you could build your supply chain from scratch? Mckenna Bailey , April 9, 2026 5 minute read Supply chain leaders rarely ask themselves how they’d rebuild the supply chain if they could start from scratch. The answer seems too impossible. But if you could start over, without the legacy systems, the long-term contracts signed under irrelevant assumptions, the infrastructure decisions made when the world looked entirely different, what would you build? The pace of change right now has made reimagining how supply chains are built unavoidable. As the economics of global sourcing shift and geopolitical risk reprices distance, the assumptions that shaped most supply chains, about where to source and what customers will accept, have all moved at once. So what would you build, if you were starting fresh? Sustainability would be a core business tenet Most sustainability initiatives exist at the edges of the supply chain. They're layered on top of existing structures, added incrementally to processes that were designed for something else entirely. Like emissions reporting that gets bolted onto logistics systems or recycling programs retrofitted into distribution networks built for one-way movement. That architecture was never meant to carry this. If you were building from scratch, you wouldn't do it that way. You'd design sustainability into the architecture from the start, and not primarily because regulations require it. The practices that generate the most waste are typically the ones that inflate costs, like overproduction, inefficient routing, fragmented networks, and poor returns management. These are environmental problems and financial ones simultaneously. So, a supply chain designed to minimize waste is, almost by definition, more profitable. When sustainability is built into the architecture rather than bolted on, the downstream decisions tend to look different. Packaging gets lighter because it costs less to move, and that same logic ripples into inventory: excess stock has an environmental cost you're now measuring alongside the financial one, so you hold less of it. You'd build closer to the customer The global sourcing model that dominated supply chain strategy for decades was built on a simple premise: labor arbitrage and volume efficiency outweighed the costs of distance. That math still works in some contexts. But it has become significantly more complicated. Tariff volatility, geopolitical tensions, and the growing premium consumers place on speed have all changed the calculation, as has the rising cost of inventory risk. When you're sourcing from the other side of the world, you're committing months in advance to product decisions that may not hold up in a market that can shift in weeks. A supply chain built today, without those historical constraints, would likely be more regional. Proximity gives you something the long-distance model struggles to provide: the ability to respond quickly. Shorter networks mean faster pivots and less exposure when conditions change, which right now they seem to be doing constantly. Global sourcing still makes sense in plenty of contexts. The question worth asking is which parts of your network genuinely benefit from it, and which are simply doing it out of habit. Automation would change where you build, not just how Warehouse robotics has matured well past the experimental stage. Blue Yonder's cloud warehouse execution system now directs more than 3.5 million tasks to the warehouse floor, coordinating human workers and robots at a scale that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. Investment in the category reflects that the global logistics robots market was valued at $15 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $72.6 billion by 2034 . A supply chain designed today would be organized around a different starting question: where does human judgment add the most value? Everything else becomes a candidate for automation. The goal is to deploy people toward the complex, variable work that automation handles poorly, while removing the repetitive and physically demanding tasks that have historically defined warehouse labor. This shift also changes the economics of warehouse location. When labor availability is less of a constraint, you can site facilities closer to customers, which reinforces the regional network logic. The two reinforce each other in ways legacy networks rarely capture. Real-time data would be a priority over historical assumptions Many supply chains still operate with significant information lag. Decisions made today are based on data that reflects what happened last week or last month because the underlying systems were built for a world where change was slower, and forecasting horizons were more reliable. A supply chain built today would start from the assumption that you can have a single, unified view of demand and supply across the entire network, updated continuously, with AI surfacing decisions that need attention rather than waiting for someone to notice a problem in a report. The gap between that description and what's available has closed faster than most organizations have been able to absorb. With that level of visibility, how you make decisions changes. Because when you're holding less inventory, you can respond faster, and decisions that used to happen in silos start happening across the whole network. The supply chain stops being something you're always catching up to. The gap is closeable Every supply chain leader already knows what they'd change. The harder question has always been whether the pressure to change it would ever outweigh the cost and disruption of doing so. Right now, for a lot of organizations, it does. The 'build from scratch' question earns its place because it strips away the comfort of legacy constraints and forces a more honest conversation about where your gaps are. The disruptions of the last several years exposed vulnerabilities and, in doing so, created permission to change things that might otherwise have taken another decade to revisit. That's worth something. The supply chain you'd build from scratch is closer than you think. ### [From visibility to decision advantage: Rethinking AI-driven supply chains in automotive](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/from-visibility-to-decision-advantage-rethinking-ai-driven-supply-chains-in-automotive) > This year's Automotive Logistics event highlighted Europe's evolving auto industry, focusing on AI driving real decisions beyond visibility. Execution, not panic, is key to progress. Blog From visibility to decision advantage: Rethinking AI-driven supply chains in automotive From visibility to decision advantage: Rethinking AI-driven supply chains in automotive Gabriel Werner , March 31, 2026 7 minute read At this year’s Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Europe event in Bonn , one theme cut through the noise: the European automotive industry isn’t standing still – it’s recalibrating to the new reality. Despite persistent narratives about disruption and decline, what I saw — both in conversations and on the Blue Yonder–sponsored panel “Leveraging Data to Build More Visible, Resilient, and AI-Driven Supply Chains” – was something far more constructive. Not denial. Not panic. Execution. Across OEMs , suppliers, logistics and technology partners, the conversation has matured. AI is no longer a distant promise or a side experiment. It’s here. It’s being deployed. And increasingly, it’s being embedded into real processes. The real question is no longer “Where can we use AI?” (solution looking for a problem). It’s rather “Where does it actually improve decisions? Both in speed and in quality?” Moving beyond visibility For years, supply chain visibility was the primary objective. And for good reason — many organizations were operating in the dark. Today, that’s changed. Most companies now have some form of: control tower event tracking freight monitoring supplier visibility But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Visibility is no longer the bottleneck. The bottleneck is what happens next. Can you take that visibility and turn it into fast, consistent, cross-functional decisions? In many cases, the answer is still no. Decisions remain manual, delayed, inconsistent across functions aka siloed, and dependent on individual experience rather than system logic. This is where the real gap sits. Not in data quality and access, but in decision capability. This leads to a simple but important reframing. Most companies don’t have a data problem. They have a decision architecture challenge. The missing element: decision architecture A lot of investment has gone into data platforms, dashboards, and integrations. That’s necessary – but not sufficient. Data alone doesn’t create value. Value is created when high-quality data feeds decision engines in an orchestrated fashion. In supply chain, those engines already exist: forecasting models inventory optimization supply planning optimization routing and transport optimization network simulation production scheduling and sequencing pick wave optimization & task management etc… The issue is that in many organizations, these capabilities are fragmented across systems, inconsistently applied and disconnected from real-time signals. What’s missing is a coherent decision architecture that connects: data → decision engines → workflows → execution Without that, attempts to deploy AI end up as a layer of insight generation sitting on top of the data – i.e. “next to the process”, instead of being embedded into how decisions are made. And that’s where many AI initiatives stall. AI is not one thing! Another theme that came through clearly in the discussion: AI is often misunderstood. It’s talked about as if it were a single capability. It isn’t. In supply chain, AI is better understood as a stack of different capabilities, each playing a specific role. At the foundation, you have predictive AI (Machine Learning): Used for forecasting, ETA prediction, and risk detection. It’s good at answering: What is likely to happen? You also have optimization and decision engines: Used for planning—inventory, production, routing. They answer: What are the best feasible decisions given constraints? And increasingly, Generative AI and agentic workflows: Used for interaction, explanation, and orchestration. They help answer: What should we do next—and how do we execute it? This is where the idea of an “AI layer” often comes in. But in practice, that layer is not replacing planning or optimization. It’s acting as an orchestration layer—connecting signals, triggering decisions, and coordinating workflows across functions. So rather than thinking of AI in Supply Chain as one tool, it’s more accurate to think of it as: prediction + decision engines + insight generation + orchestration working together What generative AI actually adds There’s a lot of hype around generative AI, so it’s worth grounding its role. Generative AI is not a planning engine. It doesn’t optimize complex, constrained systems. It doesn’t replace forecasting models. What it does do very well is: synthesize large amounts of information surface relevant context across functions explain outcomes in a way humans can understand support decision-making in ambiguous situations orchestrate across stakeholders act on behalf of users (within well-defined guardrails and business rules) In simple terms: Machine Learning extrapolates and predicts Generative AI reasons and explains What they have in common is just as important. Both depend entirely on data quality and context. Both need to be grounded in real operational systems to create value. Data: from IT topic to operational discipline Another shift that came through strongly is how organizations think about data. For a long time, data was treated as an IT responsibility. That model doesn’t hold anymore. Because the quality of decisions depends directly on the quality of data - and the people who understand that data best are not in IT. For supply chain they sit in: procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and planning. The organizations making real progress are those that move toward business ownership of data. This is less about governance frameworks and more about accountability at the source. This accountability drives the next important shift: Instead of fixing the output why not invest the effort in fixing the input and rely on the output. In many companies, planning still works like this: run a plan, identify issues, and manually adjust. That approach doesn’t scale. The future model is different. You don’t tweak the output. You improve the inputs to the decision engines. That’s what enables consistency and automation. Control towers: from visibility to action The concept of the supply chain control tower has evolved significantly. Early versions focused on aggregating data and creating visibility. Today, that’s not enough. A control tower only creates value if it: provides contextualized insights connects directly to decision engines triggers actions within workflows Otherwise, it becomes just another dashboard. And this is where many organizations still struggle – not because of technology limitations, but because of operational integration. The challenge is embedding insights into daily processes and workflows including users plus cross-functional decisions and partner collaboration. This requires alignment across systems, teams, and decision logic. It’s harder than building a dashboard – but it’s where the value sits. ERP, data platforms, and the reality of architecture Another topic that came up: cloud transformation and ERP modernization. These are important initiatives. But they’re often misunderstood in the context of AI. ERP systems are designed to record transactions. They are not designed to compute complex decisions or support AI at scale. Even modernized ERPs largely retain that transactional nature. This leads to a key architectural shift: AI and advanced decision-making require a different data foundation. This is where data platforms and data clouds come into play. They allow organizations to: integrate data across functions create a consistent, real-time view of the supply chain make that data accessible to decision engines make that data accessible to AI for insight generation and contextualization This raises an interesting question for the future: What if supply chain applications were natively built on a shared data platform , instead of duplicating data across systems and reconciling different versions of truth? You would have one consistent state, directly accessible to users, decision engines, and AI. This is where things get interesting. A shift in mindset Perhaps the most important takeaway from the panel wasn’t technical. It was about mindset. There’s still a widely held belief of “Let’s get the basics right first—then we can adopt AI.” That sounds reasonable, yet it’s also wrong. AI is not the reward for maturity. It’s one of the fastest ways to achieve it. AI helps organizations: identify data issues standardize processes improve decision consistency scale best practices The companies moving ahead are not waiting for perfection, rather they are picking specific decisions, applying AI where it adds value, and improving step by step, use case by use case. That’s how momentum builds. The road ahead If you step back, a clear pattern emerges. The next phase of supply chain transformation is not about more dashboards, more data collection, and more isolated AI pilots. It’s about building coherent decision systems . That means: treating the supply chain as a unified decision environment connecting data to decision engines embedding AI into end-to-end workflows aligning ownership across functions and executing pragmatically, one use case at a time In today’s environment, resilience isn’t built on bold claims. It’s built on the discipline to turn insight into action – consistently and at scale. Curious to learn more? Visit us here . ### [Key takeaways from 2026 Industrial Connect](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/key-takeaways-from-2026-industrial-connect) > Explore strategies from Blue Yonder's 2026 Industrial Connect. Learn how AI-driven solutions enhance supply chain resilience, sustainability, and efficiency. Blog Key takeaways from 2026 Industrial Connect Key takeaways from 2026 Industrial Connect Sunil Roy , March 26, 2026 4 minute read Industrial manufacturers are navigating unprecedented challenges due to global disruptions, material shortages, and rising costs. To help address these complexities, Blue Yonder recently hosted the Industrial Connect event on March 12, 2026, at the Microsoft Innovation Hub in Chicago. The complimentary half-day gathering brought together industry leaders from organizations like Border States, SiteOne, Novolex, and Wesco to share actionable insights on building resilient, sustainable, and responsive supply chains. The event focused heavily on how companies can transition from traditional, siloed operations to unified, data-driven networks. Attendees discussed real-world use cases detailing how end-to-end AI and Cognitive Solutions capabilities are transforming operations. From navigating complex warehouse implementations to tracking end-to-end carbon emissions, the sessions provided a clear blueprint for companies looking to optimize their supply chain performance in an evolving global market. Driving warehouse efficiencies at Border States using Cognitive Solutions As the sixth-largest electrical distribution company and a 100% employee-owned organization, Border States shared its ambitious journey toward a Cognitive Solutions managed warehouse ecosystem. They are currently building a multi-echelon distribution network designed to fulfill customer needs with a smart, unidirectional flow that seamlessly handles exceptions. Their immediate milestone is a major go-live in Fargo, Minnesota in April 2026, which involves managing 25,000 distinct stock-keeping units. Following this, the rollout will expand to Phoenix, Chantilly Bay, and other large branch locations. The organization highlighted its technological evolution: moving from manual spreadsheets to a standard warehouse management system and ultimately to Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions Warehouse Management, which leverages AI-driven agents. Mastering change management and value transformation during technology adoption Technology is changing rapidly, and organizations must be willing to adopt or test out new solutions to stay competitive. However, technology alone cannot drive success without proper alignment and adoption. A dedicated panel discussion unpacked the realities of supply chain transformation, emphasizing that change management is the critical bridge between vision and execution. Key strategies shared during the panel and value transformation sessions included: Creating a dedicated change management group to increase user adoption by clearly answering the "seven whys" for employees. Engaging an external analyst to ask the right questions and effectively bring internal stakeholders together. Building a value-centric roadmap that aligns business priorities with technological capabilities. Developing a strong business case for initiatives by carefully weighing the opportunity cost and the expected return on investment. Orchestrating the connected supply chain Modern supply chains can no longer operate successfully within their own four walls. Blue Yonder Network sessions demonstrated how organizations must extend their supply chain visibility and collaboration far outside their internal networks. By integrating global risk data, companies can quickly cascade disruption alerts directly into transactional workflows. Global visibility is achieved through Blue Yonder Command Center, which enables multi-tier collaboration with both suppliers and carriers. The sessions highlighted how establishing standard workflows for supplier onboarding and utilizing machine learning to predict shipment delays can significantly reduce operational friction and improve customer service levels. Sustainability as a core driver of supply chain excellence Sustainability has rapidly evolved from a strategic aspiration into a core driver of operational excellence. Today, supply chain activities—spanning procurement, transportation, and facilities—represent a significant portion of a company’s emissions footprint, making them a powerful lever for meaningful impact. This shift is creating new opportunities for organizations to embed sustainability directly into planning and execution in a way that also enhances performance. During the sustainability session, leaders highlighted the positive progression from early-stage environmental efforts to more mature, best-in-class sustainability programs. A key enabler in this journey is the ability to effectively measure and manage end-to-end carbon emissions. With improved data visibility, manufacturers can proactively identify emission-intensive areas within their networks and make smarter sourcing and routing decisions. The result is a more sustainable supply chain that not only reduces environmental impact but also drives efficiency, resilience, and long-term value. Harmonizing planning processes post-merger at Novolex Mergers and acquisitions often introduce significant complexity into supply chain planning, particularly when integrating large, geographically dispersed operations. Following the merger of Pactiv Evergreen and Novolex, the combined organization faced the formidable challenge of aligning processes, systems, and decision-making across more than 100 manufacturing sites. This scale of integration quickly exposed the limitations of traditional supply chain approaches, which lacked the agility and connectivity needed to support a more unified and responsive operation. In response, the organization made a strategic shift toward data-driven forecasting and advanced inventory optimization capabilities. By standardizing and harmonizing planning processes across the enterprise, they were able to break down long-standing silos and foster greater cross-functional collaboration. Teams that once operated independently are now connected through a shared data foundation, enabling more consistent and informed decision-making. This evolution toward a platform-based strategy has significantly enhanced their ability to sense and respond to demand variability, improving both the speed and precision of supply chain execution while positioning the company for continued growth and operational excellence. Seize the moment to innovate your supply chain The insights shared at the Chicago Industrial Connect event made one thing clear: the future of the industrial supply chain relies on connectivity, Cognitive Solutions intelligence, and unified data. Manufacturers and distributors can no longer rely on outdated spreadsheets or fragmented systems to navigate global disruptions. Empower your operations with solutions that enhance efficiency and minimize waste. To learn more about how Blue Yonder solutions can help your organization achieve resilience and responsiveness, visit the Blue Yonder website and explore the next generation of Cognitive Solutions supply chain technology. ### [Investment in people as a sustainability strategy](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/investment-in-people-as-a-sustainability-strategy) > Boost supply chain success by developing talent. Prioritize upskilling, enhance internal mobility, and foster resilience for sustainable growth. Blog Investment in people as a sustainability strategy Investment in people as a sustainability strategy Mckenna Bailey , March 25, 2026 4 minute read Ask most supply chain leaders what their sustainability strategy looks like, and you’ll hear a lot about tactical things like emissions targets, packaging commitments, and supplier standards. Rarely will you hear about the people doing the work. Yet investment in your people’s capability, mobility, and growth is one of the most consistently overlooked advantages available to supply chain leaders. The gap between how leaders think about people and how they think about sustainability is not surprising. The two have traditionally lived in separate parts of the organization, measured by different teams against different metrics. But that separation is becoming harder to justify. Supply chains are growing more complex, which means the capabilities required to run them are changing rapidly. The organizations that develop those capabilities internally will be the ones best positioned to adapt. Why workforce development is a sustainability metric At its core, sustainability is about building capacity for long-term value rather than consuming it. By that definition, a workforce that is being developed is more sustainable than one that is being depleted. High turnover and over-reliance on external hiring are forms of organizational waste. They're expensive, slow, and corrosive to the institutional knowledge that takes years to build. Blue Yonder’s 2025 Supply Chain Compass research offers a revealing data point on this: only 5% of supply chain leaders cite investing in people as a top sustainability priority, placing it last on a list that includes implementing new technology, reducing waste, improving customer centricity, and a dozen other operational concerns. Leaders clearly value their people, but they haven’t yet connected workforce investment to sustainability outcomes in any measurable way. That connection is worth making. The same research found that personal decision drivers, factors like organizational values, learning opportunities, and ethical alignment, now account for 25% of overall influence in B2B purchasing decisions, up from just 14% in 2021. In fact, in 2024, they overtook more traditional drivers like price and quality for the first time. Are you upskilling your people or enabling? Most organizations are better at equipping their teams than developing them. Enablement provides access to technology, platforms, and processes. But upskilling builds the understanding and judgment required to use those tools well, adapt when they change, and solve problems the tools were never designed to handle. Supply chain teams need both, but the emphasis on enablement over upskilling has left many organizations with sophisticated systems but nobody on their teams skilled enough to use them well. That imbalance has a domino effect: technology investments underperform, teams revert to workarounds, and transformation initiatives stall midway through implementation. Giving your teams the ability to interpret and interrogate data rather than simply receive it is increasingly foundational. And understanding how decisions in one part of the network affect outcomes elsewhere is essential in an environment where disruptions cascade quickly. The job has changed considerably, and the development investment needs to reflect that. None of these capabilities can be bought off the shelf or installed through a software update. They require sustained investment in learning, structured development programs, and an organizational willingness to build from within. That's a meaningful commitment to both your business and to the people running it. Internal mobility as a capability-building tool The deliberate movement of people across roles, functions, and geographies is one of the most effective mechanisms for building supply chain capability. When people move across the organization, they develop contextual knowledge that outside specialists rarely acquire. They understand how procurement decisions affect manufacturing, how planning assumptions play out in logistics, how customer-facing teams experience the consequences of upstream choices. Unilever has been particularly deliberate about building internal mobility into its talent strategy. Rather than treating movement across functions as a disruption to manage, the company has invested in tools that help employees identify lateral opportunities, map skills to new roles, and plan development paths that cross traditional function boundaries. The goal is to build the kind of cross-functional understanding that improves decision-making at every level, rather than deepening expertise in narrower and narrower lanes. The sustainability argument for this approach is straightforward. External hiring is expensive and slow. It also depletes the organizational memory that walks out the door when experienced people leave. Organizations that develop and retain talent internally build capability over time rather than drawing it down, and they create the kind of institutional resilience that holds up when conditions change. Putting people on the sustainability agenda Supply chain leaders most likely to close the people-sustainability gap are the ones willing to measure it. That means tracking capability development over time: the rate at which people move into new roles, the skills being built versus bought, the depth of cross-functional knowledge across the organization. It also means recognizing that the capabilities supply chains need now cannot be developed reactively. By the time a skills gap becomes visible in operational performance, it has usually been building for years. Getting ahead of it requires treating workforce development with the same rigor applied to any other long-cycle supply chain investment. Organizations that get this right find that the returns extend well beyond workforce metrics. Teams with stronger capability use technology more effectively, adapt to disruption more quickly, and identify efficiency opportunities the organization would otherwise miss. Workforce development is, in this sense, an investment in the performance of everything else. Sources Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on Sustainability (2024). Unilever workforce and internal mobility programs: Unilever/WIRED Workplace Report at their website (unilever.com) ### [Driving innovation in the automotive industry with AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/driving-innovation-in-the-automotive-industry-with-ai) > Optimize automotive supply chains with AI-driven predictive solutions. Enhance inventory, logistics, and warehouse operations for increased efficiency. Blog Driving innovation in the automotive industry with AI Driving innovation in the automotive industry with AI Bernard Cohen , March 24, 2026 5 minute read The automotive industry operates on a massive scale, with complex global supply chains that move millions of parts to build millions of vehicles. Every disruption, from a component shortage to a logistics delay, can have a significant financial impact. AI is not just an emerging technology; it is a necessary tool for navigating this complexity. By embedding AI into core operations, automotive companies can move from reactive problem-solving to proactive, predictive execution. Addressing the modern automotive supply chain's challenges Automotive supply chains face unique pressures. The "just-in-time" manufacturing model leaves little room for error. A single missing component can halt an entire assembly line, costing thousands of dollars per minute. Meanwhile, the proliferation of vehicle models and customization options has created an explosion in the number of stock keeping units (SKUs) that need to be managed. This complexity extends across the entire value chain: Inventory management: Balancing the need for available parts with the cost of holding excess stock is a constant struggle. Unforeseen demand shifts or supply delays can lead to stockouts or obsolete inventory. Logistics: Transporting raw materials, components, and finished vehicles is a major operational cost. Inefficient routing, underutilized trucks, and transportation bottlenecks eat into profits. Warehouse operations: Inbound receiving, parts picking, and outbound shipping must be synchronized with production schedules. Any inefficiency in the warehouse can create a ripple effect across the entire supply chain. Traditional software and manual processes are no longer sufficient to manage these interconnected challenges. This is where AI-powered agents provide a definitive solution. They go beyond simple automation to see, analyze, decide, and act on your behalf. The challenge lies in making AI practical and actionable. It's one thing to have data; it's another to translate it into decisions that prevent a production line from stopping or ensure the right aftermarket part reaches a service center on time. We are building a future where humans and AI agents form a powerful partnership. While AI handles the relentless work of monitoring data, predicting disruptions, and executing solutions, your teams can focus on the strategic decisions that drive real competitive advantage. Meet your team of AI agents for automotive operations Our AI agents are designed to function as expert partners for your supply chain teams. They are built on a framework we call the SADA loop: See, Analyze, Decide, and Act. They continuously monitor your operations, identify the root cause of issues, determine the best course of action, and either execute it automatically or present a clear recommendation for approval. Here’s how our specialized agents can transform key areas of your automotive supply chain. The Inventory Ops agent: Optimizing parts and materials flow Imagine you arrive Monday morning to find hundreds of orders on hold due to a supply issue. Your dashboard shows the problem, but not the cause. Is it a broken bill of materials, an invalid sourcing rule, or an inaccurate forecast? The Inventory Ops agent eliminates this guesswork. It accelerates planning by proactively scanning for inconsistencies in master data, such as broken bills of materials or invalid sourcing, and flagging at-risk SKUs and orders. It brings together demand and supply insights to highlight high-priority risks, like a critical customer order impacted by a data gap, and recommends corrective actions. For an automotive manufacturer, this means: Higher forecast accuracy: By detecting and correcting data errors before they impact production, you can prevent line-down situations caused by component shortages. Faster root cause resolution : The agent can diagnose the source of an inventory problem in minutes, not hours, allowing your planners to resolve it quickly. Improved service levels : For the aftermarket segment, this means reducing stockouts of critical service parts, improving fill rates, and increasing customer satisfaction at dealerships and repair centers. The Logistics Ops agent: Driving efficiency in transportation Transportation is a significant cost center in the automotive industry. The Logistics Ops agent acts as an expert transportation partner, providing managers with quick insights and surfacing the best options in moments. Picture a sudden storm shutting down a major highway, making a critical shipment of engines un-routable. The Logistics Ops agent proactively flags the issue, analyzes alternative routes, and recommends the optimal solution before the disruption escalates into a costly delay. It also identifies backhaul opportunities to reduce empty miles and automates tedious tasks like validating carrier rates. In the automotive context, the Logistics Ops agent delivers: Smarter routing: It proactively spots un-routable shipments and backhaul opportunities, reducing empty miles for both inbound components and outbound finished vehicles. Greater efficiency: By improving first-time tender success and optimizing carrier mix, it drives down operational costs and ensures timely deliveries. Enhanced agility: With mobile-first alerts, your logistics managers can respond to disruptions from anywhere, keeping parts and vehicles moving. The Warehouse Ops agent: Streamlining facility performance At the start of a shift, a warehouse supervisor needs to know exactly what they are walking into. Are there picking delays? Is labor allocated correctly? Are there inventory issues impacting outbound shipments? The Warehouse Ops agent provides a tailored brief for each supervisor, delivering clarity directly to their mobile device or desktop. The agent monitors fill rates, cycle counts, and associate productivity in real time. It can detect that picking performance is behind due to inefficient product slotting and recommend re-slotting problem SKUs. Or it can identify that on-time fill rates are suffering because of warehouse congestion and pinpoint the specific work zones that need to be addressed. For automotive parts distribution centers and plant-side warehouses, this clarity provides: Improved throughput : By identifying operational root causes and presenting recommendations, actions can be taken faster to mitigate picking shortfalls. Enhanced workload balance: Agent recommendations consider activity across the entire warehouse, preventing operational bottlenecks and keeping activity balanced. Increased inventory productivity: The agent calls out missed inventory picks due to poor accuracy or missed cycle counts that can be corrected by the current shift, improving overall parts availability. The Blue Yonder advantage: A visionary partnership Our AI agents are not just another set of tools. They are built on the Blue Yonder Platform, which processes more than 25 billion predictions each day. This scale proves our agents can handle the variability and complexity of global automotive supply chains, giving your planners and operators tools they can rely on when accuracy matters most. We empower your teams to work with greater speed, scale, and dynamism. By integrating these intelligent systems, your automotive supply chain can become a true driver of profit and business success. The future of intelligent automation is here, and we are ready to be your partner in it. Discover how our AI agents can deliver measurable benefits, streamline your processes, and give you an unparalleled strategic advantage. ### [How supply chains are using AI to maximize human capital—and optimize the human experience](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/how-supply-chains-are-using-ai-to-maximize-human-capital---and-optimize-the-human-experience) > Explore how AI enhances the supply chain by optimizing human skills, elevating empathy, communication, and innovation, while boosting efficiency in operations. Blog How supply chains are using AI to maximize human capital—and optimize the human experience How supply chains are using AI to maximize human capital—and optimize the human experience Mckenna Bailey , March 23, 2026 5 minute read In the world of supply chain, success is often defined by how well we manage the “what”:  everything from manufacturing plants and container ships to raw materials and finished goods. But the true value of the supply chain is derived from the “who”—the humans working hard at every phase of production and logistics, in addition to external partners, and, of course, the end customers. And that’s why artificial intelligence (AI) is such a natural fit for the supply chain. AI is already having a significant impact on supply chain operations in areas like inventory management, warehouse operations, transportation, and customer service. AI-enabled applications are leveraging technologies like machine learning, robotics, and data analytics to boost efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. As a result, businesses can respond more quickly to supply chain disruptions and gain a competitive advantage. However, while the operational benefits of AI are widely understood, the impact on human capital has been underestimated so far. The effect of AI on humans is twofold: on the one hand, AI takes over tedious, complex tasks, freeing up humans to focus on connection and creativity. At the same time, AI actually amplifies human skills, turning them into superpowers. Somewhat counterintuitively, AI creates a supply chain that feels more organic and more human—powered by insight, empathy, and collaboration. Let’s go deeper into how AI amplifies these extremely human capabilities. Cognitive elevation: Developing a self-sufficient, innovative, and nimble workforce AI is already assisting with, or even taking over, routine tasks that previously required intense manual effort. For example, smart cameras, sensors, and AI algorithms in the warehouse can locate items and then guide employees or robots to fulfill orders. In ground transportation, AI can analyze historical data, current traffic patterns, and external factors such as weather to optimize route planning, thereby reducing fuel consumption and improving delivery times. And the list goes on. We can clearly measure how AI is impacting the physical world. But how is it impacting people? By relieving workers of the need to complete rote activities, AI provides them with the psychological availability to focus on higher-level cognitive tasks. These tasks include strategic decision-making and exception handling, allowing them more time to develop critical thinking skills. At the same time, the increased flow of high-quality data from AI enables them to build their knowledge base about the business. This knowledge gain makes them more aware of how their decisions affect other phases of the supply chain, and helps them identify opportunities for innovation and creativity. The result is employees who are more self-sufficient, proactive, and nimble, better able to anticipate challenges and deal with disruptions when they happen. Results-driven empathy: The beating heart of a customer-centric supply chain Humans are naturally empathetic, and empathy is the core capacity that drives customer relationships. When workers are bogged down and distracted by tedious, repetitive tasks, their emotional bandwidth is limited, and their relationships with customers suffer. AI technologies unlock employees' empathy, giving them space to build better relationships. The ultimate goal of every supply chain is to serve the end customer, and AI can play a critical role in building a more customer-centric supply chain. Customer-facing roles within the supply chain can be a great place to start deploying AI. Frontline customer service, claims management, and returns coordination are areas where AI can help resolve issues faster and make responses more personal, as unique customer information is available at your fingertips. This all lays the groundwork and provides emotional space for customer-facing roles to show kindness and respect during customer interactions. However, in a good customer relationship, reactive customer service is the absolute baseline. Where AI really shines is in anticipating customer needs. McKinsey calls this the “next-best customer experience,” in which companies leverage data analytics, AI-powered predictive models, and generative AI to create personalized, proactive interactions with their customer base at scale. Zooming out even further, you could also make the case that the most powerful form of empathy is the product itself. Using AI to orchestrate the supply chain and deliver a frictionless experience shows, perhaps more than anything, how much you value the customer relationship. Collaborative connectivity: Amplifying the power of human communication Supply chains are diverse ecosystems and can often be quite disparate, both within internal teams and among external partners. Often, different teams like Manufacturing, Warehousing, and Sales use specialized systems of record that do not communicate in real time. To make matters worse, communication between teams often does not occur within a centralized system, preventing effective collaboration. In this scenario, the natural human ability to work in teams is being constrained by existing technology. AI has the power to rethink this paradigm and unlock the potential of human collaboration. AI can be used to create a universal data layer that eliminates silos across the supply chain. That ensures that all stakeholders—both internal and external—are operating from a single "source of truth." Not only do AI-powered dashboards analyze patterns, predict trends, and offer actionable recommendations, they can provide this information to all stakeholders in real time, eliminating communication lags and leading to more nimble decision-making. When communication barriers are eliminated by AI, it becomes much easier for leadership to align the entire organization around the same set of business objectives. And with more visibility into cross-functional effects, redundancies, and synergies can be identified from above. This same collaborative logic applies to relationships with suppliers. For example, AI tools can be used to facilitate collaborative demand forecasting with partners, or create dynamic risk scoring algorithms to better understand where weaknesses may occur in case of disruption. We believe humans are the engines of productivity and profitability Many fear that AI will dehumanize the supply chain, but in fact, the opposite is true. AI elevates the most valuable human traits, which no machine can replicate: judgment, creativity, empathy, and communication. The organizations that win in the world of AI will be those best able to maximize the complementary capabilities of humans and machines. By putting humans first, organizations will become nimbler and more resilient, able to anticipate and manage tomorrow's disruptions. ### [From smart to cognitive: The evolution of warehouse automation](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/the-shift-to-cognitive-the-next-evolution-in-warehouse-automation) > Explore the shift from smart to cognitive warehouses. Learn how AI, robotics, and Blue Yonder's robotics hub drive efficiency and speed implementation. Blog The shift to cognitive: The next evolution in warehouse automation From smart to cognitive: The evolution of warehouse automation Tammy Kulesa , March 18, 2026 5 minute read The modern warehouse is under siege. You are facing unprecedented demand volatility, labor shortages that show no sign of easing, and customers who expect speed and precision as a baseline. For years, the industry's answer has been to create a "smart warehouse"—a facility supported by connected devices and automated execution. But being smart is no longer enough. The complexity of today's supply chain requires a system that does more than just execute commands. It requires a system that thinks. This is the dawn of the warehouse with cognitive abilities. It is an evolution that moves beyond reactive execution to proactive, predictive orchestration. It is not just about moving boxes faster; it is about unifying labor, robotics, and inventory into a single, intelligent organism that learns and adapts in real time. Beyond the smart warehouse The idea of a "smart warehouse" was a necessary step forward. It introduced us to the Internet of Things (IoT), basic automation, and the digitization of analog processes. It promised visibility and the ability to see where inventory was and track metrics like throughput and accuracy. However, smart warehouses have a limitation: they are often deterministic. They follow rules. If X happens, do Y. They are excellent at execution but struggle with improvisation. If a disruption occurs—say, a sudden spike in orders or a breakdown in a conveyor belt—a human usually must intervene to redirect resources. The cognitive difference A cognitive warehouse changes this paradigm. It leverages predictive AI, machine learning (ML), and agentic automation to anticipate needs before they become urgent. Predictive vs. reactive : Instead of using guesswork to plan labor, a cognitive system analyzes historical data and real-time signals to forecast demand. It positions inventory and schedules staff days or even weeks in advance. Adaptive vs. static : If your staff calls out, a robotic arm fails or a truck is delayed, the system automatically re-optimizes workflows in real time. It balances the workload across humans and machines without waiting for a manager to notice the bottleneck. Unified vs. siloed : In a smart warehouse, your WMS (Warehouse Management System), WES (Warehouse Execution System), and robotics often operate in silos. A cognitive warehouse dissolves these boundaries. It treats every resource—whether a person, a robot, or a forklift—as part of a single, orchestrated network. The role of robotics and automation Automation is the muscle of the cognitive warehouse. We are seeing an explosion in the types of robotics available, from Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) to sophisticated pick-and-place arms. Many businesses struggle because they implement automation as isolated point solutions. You might have one vendor for AMRs, another for sortation, and a legacy WMS trying to keep up. This creates "islands of automation" that don't talk to each other, leading to data silos and inefficient handoffs. To truly unlock the value of robotics, you need a layer of intelligence that sits above the hardware. This is where maturing the automation footprint often hits a roadblock—integration fatigue. Accelerating the journey with Blue Yonder We understand that you cannot afford a two-year implementation cycle every time you want to add a new type of robot. Agility is the currency of the modern supply chain. This is why Blue Yonder developed a distinct approach with our robotics hub and automation network . We believe your software should not dictate your hardware choices, nor should it slow you down. Flexibility first The robotics hub acts as a universal translator. It allows our Warehouse Management Solution to communicate seamlessly with a vast ecosystem of automation vendors. Whether you are deploying dynamic automation like robots for picking or static automation for conveyance and sortation, the integration workflow standards are pre-built. This gives you the flexibility to choose the "best-of-breed" hardware for your specific needs without worrying about custom code. You are not locked into a single hardware vendor's ecosystem. As new technologies emerge, you can plug them into your operations with minimal friction. Speed to value Traditional robotics integrations can take months of custom coding and testing. By standardizing these connections through the Robotics Hub , we drastically reduce implementation time. 80% faster time-to-value : Our standardized API approach means we configure, not code. Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) : You save on the heavy lifting of initial integration and the ongoing maintenance of custom interfaces. Scalability : Once you map a vendor to the Robotics Hub, rolling that solution out to five or fifty other sites becomes a repeatable, rapid process. The measurable benefits of cognitive operations Moving to a cognitive model is an investment, but the returns are tangible and significant. When you unify your labor and automation under a single cognitive brain, the efficiency gains compound. Resource efficiency : By orchestrating humans and robots together , you ensure that expensive automation isn't sitting idle waiting for work, and humans aren't walking miles to retrieve items that a bot could handle. Resilience : Cognitive systems absorb shocks. When demand spikes, the system can instantly re-prioritize tasks, ensuring service levels are met without blowing the budget on overtime. Productivity : Real-time problem solving means fewer bottlenecks. We have seen operations reduce pick travel time by up to 30% and improve dock productivity by over 20% through intelligent orchestration. Building for the future The journey from manual to smart, and now to cognitive, is about more than just technology. It is about business survival. The pressures on the supply chain will not decrease. Labor will not suddenly become abundant and cheap. The future belongs to those who can make decisions faster. A cognitive warehouse doesn't just work harder; it works smarter, predicting what comes next and adapting instantly. By leveraging tools like the Robotics Hub, you can accelerate this journey and turn your warehouse from a cost center into a competitive advantage. It is time to stop just managing your warehouse and start orchestrating it. ### [Automotive Connect 2026: Navigating disruption and building the resilient automotive supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/automotive-connect-2026-navigating-disruption-and-building-the-resilient-automotive-supply-chain) > Industry leaders explore future automotive supply chains amid transformative changes like electrification and tech integration, emphasizing visibility, agility, and sustainability. Blog Automotive Connect 2026: Navigating disruption and building the resilient automotive supply chain Automotive Connect 2026: Navigating disruption and building the resilient automotive supply chain Salim Shaikh , March 11, 2026 6 minute read The automotive industry is experiencing one of the most transformative periods in its history. At Automotive Connect 2026 , hosted by Blue Yonder , leaders from OEMs , Tier-1 suppliers , and aftermarket organizations came together to discuss the macro forces reshaping the industry and the capabilities required to thrive in this new era. Across presentations, customer panels, and discussions from Ford, General Motors, Bridgestone, Magna International, Polaris, Microsoft and others, one theme stood out clearly: the next decade will bring more change to automotive supply chains than the previous fifty years combined. From the shift toward software-defined vehicles and electrification to geopolitical pressures and sustainability mandates, companies are being forced to rethink how they plan, collaborate, and execute across their supply chains. This blog highlights key industry trends, customer challenges, and the digital capabilities needed to address them—summarizing insights from customers and industry leaders during the event. A period of unprecedented industry transformation The automotive industry is undergoing a structural shift driven by technology, regulation, and changing consumer expectations. Vehicles are increasingly becoming software-defined platforms, equipped with advanced processors, sensors, connectivity, and digital capabilities. By 2030, several industry transformations are expected to reach scale: 100% connected vehicles , enabling real-time data exchange and predictive services. 40–60% of vehicles globally electrified , with faster adoption in China and Europe. Direct-to-consumer sales models are expanding , particularly for electric vehicle brands. Significant progress toward carbon neutrality , driven by regulatory pressure and sustainability commitments. These changes are introducing unprecedented complexity into automotive supply chains . New vehicle architectures, rapidly evolving technology stacks, and growing dependence on semiconductors are forcing manufacturers and suppliers to rethink traditional planning and sourcing models. As one participant noted during the event, modern vehicles are increasingly becoming “data centers on wheels,” dramatically increasing the complexity of design, manufacturing, and supply chain coordination. Volatility and complexity across demand and supply One of the most widely discussed themes at Automotive Connect was volatility across both demand and supply . On the demand side, automakers are managing increasing product complexity driven by multiple powertrain options—internal combustion, hybrid, and electric—along with a proliferation of trims, configurations, and features. At the same time, consumers expect vehicles to deliver both advanced digital experiences and premium quality. This complexity is compounded by affordability challenges. The average vehicle price has increased significantly over the past five years, placing pressure on automakers to balance innovation with cost control. As a result, many companies are rethinking their product portfolios—adjusting model mixes, optimizing trim levels, and focusing on operational efficiency to protect margins. On the supply side, disruption continues to be a defining characteristic of the industry. Tariffs, geopolitical tensions, semiconductor shortages, and logistics constraints are forcing companies to continuously adapt their supply chain strategies. Customers shared that these dynamics create constant shifts in planning assumptions, inventory levels, and supplier coordination. For many organizations, managing this volatility requires new levels of agility and scenario planning. The growing need for multi-tier supply chain visibility As the magnitude and frequency of disruptions continue to increase, another major theme discussed at Automotive Connect was the need for greater visibility across multi-tier supply networks . Automotive supply chains are among the most complex in the world, involving thousands of suppliers across multiple tiers. Historically, many companies have had visibility primarily into Tier-1 suppliers, with limited insight into upstream risks. Recent disruptions have highlighted the limitations of this model. To respond effectively to supply constraints, organizations must now be able to visualize and monitor supply flows across Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers, particularly for critical components such as semiconductors and specialized materials. Customers emphasized that this visibility is essential for: Identifying potential disruptions earlier Assessing the impact of shortages or delays Developing proactive mitigation strategies Collaborating more effectively with suppliers This shift toward n-tier supply chain transparency is becoming a foundational requirement for building resilient automotive supply networks. Sustainability moves to the operational core Sustainability has also evolved from a standalone initiative to an embedded part of day-to-day supply chain operations. From packaging design to transportation strategies, companies are increasingly focused on reducing waste, improving recyclability, and lowering carbon emissions across their networks. Automotive packaging alone represents a multi-billion-dollar industry, and innovations in this area are playing a critical role in improving sustainability outcomes. Companies are exploring bio-based materials, lightweight packaging solutions, and improved returnable container systems to reduce environmental impact. Industry collaborations are also helping define new standards for recyclable packaging materials, enabling organizations to better predict and manage end-of-life outcomes. At the logistics level, organizations are placing greater emphasis on tracking and reducing supply chain emissions—particularly Scope 3 emissions, which represent the majority of a company’s carbon footprint. Operational challenges inside the supply chain Beyond macro trends, customers also shared practical operational challenges they continue to face. One recurring theme was the importance of data quality and master data management. As organizations implement advanced analytics and automation, inaccurate or incomplete data can quickly undermine the value of digital transformation initiatives. Participants noted that issues such as unclear engineering change rules, product supersession complexities, and inconsistent data across systems often create confusion and rework for planning teams. Another challenge is balancing technology with human collaboration. While automation and analytics are critical, strong supplier relationships and cross-functional communication remain essential for resolving issues quickly and maintaining supply continuity. The role of digital capabilities in the future supply chain To address these challenges, organizations are increasingly investing in advanced digital capabilities that enable more responsive and synchronized decision-making. At Automotive Connect, several key technology themes emerged. End-to-end supply chain platforms Many customers are moving away from siloed supply chain systems toward integrated, end-to-end platforms that connect planning, execution, and collaboration. This approach enables organizations to synchronize decisions across functions such as demand planning, supply planning, logistics, and manufacturing scheduling—creating a more unified and responsive supply chain. Scenario planning and digital twins With growing volatility, companies need the ability to quickly evaluate multiple scenarios. Digital supply chain twins enable organizations to simulate different demand mixes, supply disruptions, or tariff scenarios, helping leaders make more informed decisions. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Cognitive Automation AI and machine learning are increasingly being applied across a range of supply chain processes, including: Demand forecasting and predictive analytics Automated segmentation of products and customers Supply chain parameter optimization Disruption prediction and risk sensing These capabilities help organizations move from reactive decision-making toward predictive and autonomous supply chain operations, laying the foundation for a more cognitive supply chain that can continuously learn from data and recommend optimal actions. Generative AI and decision support Generative AI is also transforming how supply chain teams interact with complex systems. Conversational interfaces and AI agents can summarize data, identify exceptions, and recommend actions—helping teams respond more quickly to emerging issues. Building the automotive supply chain of the future The discussions at Automotive Connect 2026 made one thing clear: the automotive supply chain is entering a new era of complexity, volatility, and innovation. To succeed in this environment, companies must move beyond traditional planning models and embrace a more collaborative, intelligent, and cognitive approach to supply chain management where data, AI, and advanced analytics continuously sense changes, evaluate options, and guide decision-making across the network. This includes: Improving visibility across multi-tier supply networks Embedding sustainability into operational decision-making Leveraging AI-driven insights to anticipate disruptions Synchronizing planning and execution across the entire value chain Organizations that invest in these capabilities will be better positioned to navigate disruption, manage complexity, and deliver the agility required in today’s rapidly evolving automotive landscape. Automotive Connect 2026 reinforced that while the industry faces significant challenges, it also has unprecedented opportunities. By combining deep industry expertise with advanced digital technologies, automotive leaders can build supply chains that are not only resilient—but truly future ready. ### [Purposeful sustainability: Why compliance is only the beginning](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/purposeful-sustainability-why-compliance-is-only-the-beginning) > Sustainability transcends compliance by integrating environmental goals with strategic values to drive innovation, efficiency, and financial growth, leading with purpose and impact. Blog Purposeful sustainability: Why compliance is only the beginning Purposeful sustainability: Why compliance is only the beginning Mckenna Bailey , March 5, 2026 4 minute read For most businesses, sustainability became a business requirement due to legal obligations. Regulations required it, auditors measured it, and reporting frameworks gave it structure. A generation of sustainability programs got built around the question “what do we have to do?” rather than “what could we do?” But decisions about sourcing, transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing touch nearly every dimension of a company’s environmental footprint. And with an estimated 60% of global carbon emissions flowing through supply chains, this industry sits at the center of the sustainability conversation, and the approach leaders take to it will shape outcomes well beyond compliance reporting. From checkbox to competitive lever Organizations that treat sustainability as a constraint to manage around rarely spark innovation, and they almost never create competitive advantage. But purposeful sustainability starts from a different premise. Rather than beginning with regulation and working backward, it begins with the organization’s values, long-term goals, and understanding of impact, then asks what’s possible. Consider efficiency. When organizations examine sustainability with genuine curiosity, they often discover that the practices driving emissions and waste are the same ones inflating operational costs. Over-production creates excess inventory. Poor route planning burns fuel. Fragmented supplier networks generate redundancy. Addressing these problems improves both the environmental ledger and the financial one. This shift in perspective is slow in coming, though. The 2025 Supply Chain Compass research surfaces the tension: 68% of supply chain leaders agree that the onus of solving sustainability problems falls on operators like them, yet only 26% rank sustainability as a top-three strategic priority. That sense of responsibility hasn't translated into strategic prioritization. The same research found that only one in five leaders expressed confidence in their ability to achieve sustainability objectives, despite 74% reporting they are actively working to make their supply chains more sustainable. What's missing, for most, is the strategic framework to turn that intent into outcomes. What “purposeful” actually looks like Being purposeful about sustainability means defining what it means for your organization specifically, not adopting a generic framework and working through the boxes. It means identifying your actual areas of impact, the places where your operations interact most significantly with resources, ecosystems, communities, and labor, and making deliberate choices about where to focus investment and effort. For a manufacturer with energy-intensive production, that might mean renewable energy infrastructure and packaging redesign. For a retailer with complex global sourcing, it might mean building supplier standards around materials and labor practices. For a logistics provider, it might mean fleet electrification and load optimization. The specifics differ considerably, but the approach is consistent: connect sustainability to the decisions that actually drive the business. When sustainability is embedded in how you source, plan, and move goods through the world, it shapes decisions across the full leadership team, not just the sustainability function. From waste streams to revenue streams Meaningful constraints tend to surface creative solutions, and companies that have genuinely committed to reducing waste have found new product categories, new business models, and new customer relationships in the process. Circular supply chain models illustrate this well. The shift toward refurbishing, remanufacturing, and recycling creates revenue from materials that would otherwise be written off. Product-as-a-service models generate recurring income while enabling take-back programs that keep materials in circulation. These opportunities are not accessible to organizations still running sustainability as a compliance function. What the most financially optimistic leaders have in common The leaders most committed to sustainability are also the most confident about where their businesses are headed. Our Supply Chain Compass research found that leaders who prioritize sustainability alongside speed and customer centricity (the research calls them Sustainable Accelerators) are the most optimistic about their financial futures. Seventy-three percent describe themselves as very optimistic about future financial performance, compared to 39% among the group most focused on efficiency and productivity alone. Moving sustainability up the agenda Sustainability has long been treated as the CSO’s domain, managed somewhere in the organization while senior leaders focus on margins, operations, and growth. That arrangement made a certain kind of sense when sustainability was primarily a reporting function. As regulatory pressure intensifies globally and stakeholder expectations continue to rise, it makes considerably less sense. The pressure to move faster is already coming from the buyers' side. Millennials and Gen Z now represent nearly two-thirds of global B2B decision-makers, and their expectations around sustainability are shaping purchasing decisions in ways that procurement teams are already feeling: a visible, credible sustainability commitment is increasingly what wins the contract. The organizations pulling ahead share a common trait: senior leadership decided that impact and financial performance belong on the same strategic agenda, alongside growth targets and efficiency initiatives, rather than in separate conversations. The organizations best positioned to navigate an increasingly demanding regulatory environment are the ones that stopped waiting for requirements to define what’s possible and started building toward something more ambitious on their own terms. ### [Discipline, not expertise, will drive the next phase of AI adoption in the supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/discipline-not-expertise-will-drive-the-next-phase-of-ai-adoption-in-the-supply-chain) > Leverage AI in supply chains through disciplined approaches in data management, process execution, and strategic alignment. Ensure your organization is ready. Blog Discipline, not expertise, will drive the next phase of AI adoption in the supply chain Discipline, not expertise, will drive the next phase of AI adoption in the supply chain Mckenna Bailey , February 26, 2026 5 minute read Is your organization disciplined enough to extract real value from AI? Until recently, the story of artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of disruption, as these groundbreaking new technologies promised to transform supply chain operations. Supply chain leaders have responded with a mixture of enthusiasm and caution, looking to implement AI tools where possible, while limiting risk. In this context, it has been natural for organizations to rely on the expertise of early adopters—enthusiasts who were perceived as having the right skill set to maximize the value of AI. But now, the page has turned. AI tools have matured to the point that they no longer require savant-level expertise to implement and use successfully. Going forward, the main ingredient for AI success will be organizational discipline. Companies that deliver diligent, methodical, and consistent execution will be the ones to extract the most value from their AI investments. This is exciting news because it means that supply chain organizations are finally in the driver’s seat when it comes to AI. Global logistics stands on the precipice of transformation, and companies that commit to AI discipline will be well-positioned in the world that comes next. In this blog, we’ve outlined three core competencies where a disciplined approach will enable AI success: data, process, and strategy. Data discipline One of the major advantages of AI is its ability to manage large amounts of data, identifying patterns that allow for better forecasting, and finding solutions to problems and challenges much more quickly than a human could accomplish alone. In the context of a supply chain, these AI models use data to forecast demand, anticipate equipment breakdowns, or reroute shipping to avoid delays. But their performance in these tasks is only as good as the data they’re being fed—the quality of AI outputs relies on the quality of the data inputs. And when dealing with supply chain data, that can be a challenge. Due to the breadth and complexity of modern enterprise supply chains, these networks generate enormous amounts of data. That data is often sourced from disparate, non-standardized systems, which often leads to gaps, errors, and redundancies that slow down the AI and make its outputs much less reliable. In fact, data infrastructure is often the biggest barrier to successful AI implementation. For example, a recent PwC survey found that 44% of tech investments didn’t meet expectations because of data issues. To prepare their data infrastructure for AI, supply chains should start with a data audit to uncover anomalies, duplicates, missing values, and inconsistent formatting. Because supply chain data is often spread across on-premise systems, multiple clouds, and edge locations, adopting a single integration platform for all data can help clear up many of these issues. Once data is assembled in a central hub, good data governance can help maintain data quality over time. Clear ownership of data sources will encourage accountability and better data maintenance and contribute to better data security. Once data discipline is in place, the organization will have confidence in the core functionality of the AI tools, and be ready to move toward process execution. Process discipline Change management is important with the adoption of any new technology, but AI can be particularly challenging. The conversation around AI in the media over the past few years has focused on the idea that it will require extensive retraining or eliminate many jobs altogether. Not surprisingly, this has created an atmosphere of fear, mistrust, and resistance to change among many workers. Even without these psychological challenges, successful adoption of AI into daily operations presents difficulties. AI is not a technology that operates quietly in the background, nor does it automate human tasks wholesale (in most cases). Rather, AI integrates deeply into human-centered workflows, requiring workers to proactively engage with the technology. This human engagement with AI is necessary both to maximize its potential value and to define its limitations. To overcome these challenges, supply chains need to develop processes that allow workers to fully engage with AI while simultaneously creating a feedback loop to continuously manage AI adoption. Continuous training and mentoring programs can help both new and existing employees learn from one another and keep abreast of these rapidly changing technologies. These initiatives should be coupled with an open channel of communication with leadership, as well as other stakeholders, which will encourage a sense of “ownership” of the AI tools among the workforce. Putting in place a disciplined, day-to-day approach to these processes will go a long way toward both keeping morale high while also maximizing the value of AI investments. Strategic discipline AI works best when it is employed to meet company-specific objectives. In other words, AI should not be a solution in search of a problem. Without strategic discipline, AI can become an expensive distraction. This is especially relevant to supply chain organizations, many of which have become (understandably) trapped in crisis mode, jumping from one firestorm to the next. Supply chain leaders could be forgiven for looking at AI as a means to simply make the operation more nimble. The problem is that because AI is such a uniquely customizable tool, it works much better when it is designed with specific strategic objectives in mind. To effectively use AI, supply chain leaders should identify their strategic North Star before they begin using it. The AI implementation process consists of several pivotal decision points; handling those becomes much more straightforward when they are made against a defined strategy. Is your supply chain trying to solve for labor shortages? Gain better visibility into supplier relationships? Improve intelligence and decision-making speed? These are all tasks AI can tackle, but the final solution will differ somewhat depending on the use case. By applying a consistent, disciplined approach to see AI-driven strategies, supply chains can make sure that AI actually has a measurable impact on business goals and truly delivers ROI. Fast and steady wins the race AI is set to revolutionize global logistics, amplifying the powers of supply chain professionals so they can react more quickly to changing conditions and develop deeper knowledge of their operations with more data. None of this requires a PhD in computer science or the genius of a tech founder. It simply requires discipline and a clear plan for data, process, and strategy, centered around your business objectives. This is a case where being steady actually accelerates success—thanks to AI! ### [What are you holding onto that's putting your supply chain at risk in 2026?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/what-are-you-holding-onto-thats-putting-your-supply-chain-at-risk-in-2026) > Legacy systems threaten supply chains in 2026, causing delays and compliance risks. Modernize for real-time data, rapid decision-making, and talent retention. Blog What are you holding onto that's putting your supply chain at risk in 2026? What are you holding onto that's putting your supply chain at risk in 2026? Mckenna Bailey , February 20, 2026 7 minute read Tariff announcements are shifting weekly. Material shortages ripple across industries. Geopolitical tensions are reshaping supply networks. Yet, the biggest threat to your operations in 2026 probably isn't any of these external forces; it’s the technology your company uses every day. Not every legacy system is a liability, and some older platforms still deliver exactly what's needed. But as supply chain complexity continues to accelerate and disruptions multiply, the gap between what worked yesterday and what's required today is widening fast. In fact, industry research shows that executives making decisions based on yesterday's reports face higher rates of system failures, production delays, and compliance breaches. Where hidden costs reveal themselves When a supply chain disruption—like a new round of tariffs or an unexpected spike in demand—strikes, leaders need to see what's happening across their network and make decisions fast. But older ERP and supply chain management platforms often require manual data entry between purchasing, production, logistics, and finance, creating delays when every minute counts. Henry Canut, senior director of industry marketing at Blue Yonder, puts it plainly: "The name of the game here is speed. Speed to sense, analyze, decide and act." And the financial impact of that lack of speed shows up in unexpected places. Those legacy systems require constant patches just to keep running, and finding talent who can maintain outdated infrastructure gets more expensive each year. And when those systems crash? The downtime costs multiply. The delay is only part of the problem. When your systems require manual data entry and reconciliation across disconnected platforms, you're creating inconsistency at every handoff point. By the time information flows from your suppliers through production to your returns process, the data has been re-entered, reformatted, and reconciled so many times that accuracy becomes nearly impossible to guarantee. Incomplete or inconsistent data puts your entire supply chain at risk, particularly in the areas where precision matters most like procurement decisions and returns management. How to know if your systems are keeping up Can your team access real-time data without waiting for overnight batch processes? If your dashboards only refresh once a day, you're managing today's problems with yesterday's information. When you need current inventory levels across all locations, do you get an answer in seconds or hours? If someone has to pull reports from multiple systems and reconcile them manually, the delay itself becomes a competitive disadvantage. How many systems do you need to check to get a complete picture of a single order? If tracking an order from placement to delivery requires logging into three or four different platforms, your visibility is too cloudy to be effective. When your procurement team identifies a critical shortage, how long before that information reaches production planning? If the answer involves emails, spreadsheets, or waiting for the next sync cycle, you're making decisions on information that's already outdated. Compliance risks multiply in volatile markets When trade requirements shift weekly, your ability to adapt quickly becomes a matter of survival. The deluge of tariff announcements of 2025 revealed something many supply chain leaders already suspected: regulatory compliance is no longer a set-it-and-forget-it checkbox. Legacy systems create two distinct compliance risks. The first is obvious: when you can't update your systems fast enough to track new requirements, you face fines and penalties. The second is less visible, but often more costly: the emergency scrambling required to bring outdated systems into compliance after regulations change. Companies running modern supply chain platforms can implement new country-of-origin tracking or tariff calculations within days. Organizations dependent on legacy systems often discover their infrastructure requires weeks of custom development, testing, and implementation just to meet basic regulatory requirements. By the time those systems are updated, the regulatory landscape may have shifted again. The fines hurt. But the complete disruption to your operations while you retrofit systems that were never designed for this level of regulatory volatility is often worse. The innovation gap is widening every quarter Here's a scenario playing out across the industry: When tariffs are announced, one auto parts maker with a modern system can model the complete impact and evaluate alternatives within 90 minutes. Another company with a legacy system takes four days to gather the same information from disconnected systems. The first company secures better pricing, locks in capacity, and adjusts production before the second has even finished their analysis. "You need more than just historical-based forecasting,” says Canut. “You need market-based forecasting to be able to sense the changes that are happening in the market and to adjust inventory positions, manufacturing priorities, and supply orders." This shift reveals a fundamental compatibility challenge, one that's becoming critical in 2026. As agentic AI deployments accelerate across the industry, the gap between modern and legacy systems is widening every quarter. Older systems were built when batch processing overnight was acceptable and when “real-time” meant updates came in once an hour. But advanced forecasting powered by AI requires infrastructure that can process massive data volumes at speed. Organizations with more modern systems are able to analyze social media sentiment for early demand signals and deploy autonomous agents to optimize delivery routes. But legacy systems just can't support these capabilities, which are rapidly becoming standard practice. Use this diagnostic test for your organization When tariffs are announced affecting your key suppliers, how long does it take to analyze the full impact? If your team needs more than a few hours to understand the full cost implications across your supply chain, you're already behind competitors who can run comprehensive impact analyses in real time. Can you model scenarios by region, country, supplier, manufacturing plant, and product within hours, or does the analysis require days of manual work pulling data from multiple systems? Organizations that can run rapid scenario modeling aren't just faster—they can evaluate multiple mitigation strategies before committing resources, turning tariff volatility from a crisis into a manageable business decision. How quickly can you identify and evaluate alternative sourcing options when tariffs change? If your team needs to manually research suppliers, request quotes, and build comparison spreadsheets over several days, your competitors are already securing better-priced alternatives. Once you've decided to shift sourcing or adjust orders, how long does it take to execute those changes across your systems? If implementing a new supplier or adjusting purchase orders requires updating multiple disconnected systems and waiting for approvals to cascade through email chains, the tariff savings get eroded by operational delays. The talent gap widens with every delay Here's a reality that doesn't show up in the quarterly reports: the best supply chain talent doesn't want to work on your legacy systems. When you're competing for skilled analysts, planners, and operations managers, your technology stack matters. The professionals who can transform your supply chain operations are looking for roles where they can work with modern tools, develop relevant skills, and stay at the forefront of their field. Legacy infrastructure sends a clear signal that you're not that place. This puts you in a difficult position. You need experienced professionals who understand your older systems to keep them running, but the pool of people with that expertise keeps shrinking. Younger professionals aren't learning outdated platforms, and experienced ones are retiring or moving on. You're either paying premium rates for a dwindling talent pool or struggling to fill critical roles while your competitors attract the talent you need. The technology gap becomes a talent gap, and both only grow over time. Making the assessment The risks outlined here aren't theoretical. But they're also not universal. Some organizations run perfectly effective operations on older systems. The difference is knowing whether your systems genuinely serve your needs or quietly undermine your competitive position. Talk to your teams on the front lines. The planners manually reconciling your data between systems, and the analysts spending hours preparing reports that should take minutes. Talk to your operations manager who's built elaborate workarounds because the system can't handle what the business needs. They'll tell you what the real costs are. Then assess how to close the gap between what your systems can do and what your business needs. If you're already feeling the constraints, they'll be worse next quarter. If your competitors are implementing capabilities your infrastructure can't support, that gap will keep growing. The decision about when to modernize is specific to your organization. But the decision about whether to assess your current risk honestly is one every supply chain leader needs to make now. ### [Tackling waiting: Strategies to maximize uptime](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/tackling-waiting-strategies-to-maximize-uptime) > Explore strategies to minimize waiting and maximize uptime in supply chain management, utilizing technology and collaboration to boost efficiency and reduce costs. Blog Tackling waiting: Strategies to maximize uptime Tackling waiting: Strategies to maximize uptime Jen McQuiston , February 19, 2026 4 minute read This blog is part four in a series of blogs focused on reducing waste through effective planning and execution. In the dynamic world of supply chain management, efficiency is paramount. Time spent waiting is time wasted. Much like idle minutes on a factory floor, time wasted waiting is an overhead cost and a difficult-to-manage outcome, often driven by systemic challenges in planning and execution. These inefficiencies lead to delays, poor service, underutilized resources, and sluggish movement of materials that impact both operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction. The hidden costs of waiting According to lean principles, waiting is any time spent that does not add direct value to the customer. It represents an invisible overhead that is difficult to quantify and even harder to manage. Several factors contribute to downtime for workers and resources. These range from production bottlenecks and supply shortages to misaligned schedules and processes, insufficient capacity, and transportation delays. In planning and execution processes, planners and logistics teams often suffer from waiting caused by a lack of access to data, the reliance on siloed systems, batch-processing delays, disconnected trading partners, or manual entry of crucial information. Waiting also extends beyond processing delays to those caused by poor decisions. Specifically, it can bleed into poor execution decisions such as bad routing choices that cause extra emissions, warehouse scheduling problems causing team, customer, and carrier delays that hurt critical relationships, or poor planning decisions that lead to production delays caused by a lack of raw materials. Investing in change: A blueprint for efficiency As businesses strive to adapt, identifying and curtailing wasted time becomes imperative. To address these challenges, many businesses are pivoting towards strategic investments. According to Blue Yonder customer insights : 67% are channeling funds into technology to overcome siloed decision-making, enabling more fluid operations. 53% are committed to adapting their business models to accommodate complex changes and enhance efficiency. 49% are aiming to accelerate decision-making processes, minimizing waiting times internally and externally. These investments underscore a proactive approach to reducing waiting-related waste and aligning operations closer to customers’ needs. Diagnosing the root causes of waiting Understanding why waiting occurs is the first step to addressing it. Common causes include: Operational inefficiencies: These often stem from silos that limit agility. When communication falters between vendors, contractors, and service providers, decision-making stalls. Misalignment or excess: Idle time, empty miles, and extra processing steps hurt productivity and inflate costs. Information delays: Whether due to poorly scheduled workflows, manual data inputs, or lack of real-time coordination of labor, resources, and tasks, waiting chokes business agility. These disruptions often lead to slowed production, unsold inventory, increased emissions, and higher customer dissatisfaction—all symptoms of an inefficiently managed supply chain. Overcoming bottlenecks: strategies for efficiency To reduce the waste tied to waiting, companies can adopt several key strategies: Integrated planning: Connect business, supply, demand, and production planning with transportation, warehousing, orders, returns, and your network. This creates efficient and connected factories, partners, inventory, orders, and delivery processes. End-to-end solutions reduce wasted time by enhancing transparency, maintaining required inventory levels, and eliminating redundancy. Leverage technology: Automation and AI can facilitate faster information processing and task prioritization, while improving decision accuracy. By connecting to global networks, businesses can integrate real-time data from trading partners, reducing lead times, errors, and both information and process gaps. Enhance collaboration: Building robust multi-enterprise networks fosters collaboration and monitoring across the supply chain. This transparency aids in quick adaptation to changes, mitigating the repercussions of isolated decision-making. Optimize workflows: Assess processes to identify and bridge gaps. By automating transactions and standardizing tendering procedures, businesses can cut out unnecessary waiting linked to data handling and payment processing. These strategies cultivate agility, enabling businesses to swiftly respond to disruptions and maintain an edge in service delivery. The future of waiting-free operations Agility, defined by a business’s capacity to respond quickly to changes, is the antithesis of waiting. Breaking down silos and streamlining processes, both within the enterprise and across trading partners, can significantly diminish waiting-related inefficiencies. Innovative services that improve staff understanding, speed, and adaptability are crucial to this transformation. The goal is to transition from reactionary processes to predictive strategies where AI- backed operations can foresee disruptions and navigate them proactively. With unified and accurate supply and demand planning, advanced warehouse and transportation management, and near real-time supplier visibility and collaboration, businesses can drastically reduce waiting across their supply chain, enhancing responsiveness, costs, sustainability, and customer service. Incorporating these transformative technologies and strategies across planning and execution signifies the dawn of a waiting-free operational model and brings lean manufacturing to these processes. As companies strive to eliminate waiting, they not only enhance efficiency but also forge stronger, more resilient relationships with their customers and carriers. The future is one where waiting becomes an exception rather than the norm—ushering in an era of unprecedented supply chain excellence. Learn more ways to apply lean manufacturing’s waste reduction principles to your planning and execution programs by checking out our e-book Going Lean: A guide to combat waste in planning and execution. ### [Why the "single number" forecast is dead: 5 shifts redefining supply chain precision](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/why-the-single-number-forecast-is-dead-5-shifts-redefining-supply-chain-precision) > Discover the future of forecasting with 5 key shifts that enhance supply chain precision, using real-time data and probabilistic models to drive strategic agility and resilience. Blog Why the "single number" forecast is dead: 5 shifts redefining supply chain precision Why the "single number" forecast is dead: 5 shifts redefining supply chain precision Chris Shrope , May 26, 2026 4 minute read In the modern global economy, forecasting is no longer a back-office administrative task; it is the high-stakes foundation upon which operational resilience is built. For the modern Chief Supply Chain Officer, the mandate is clear: precision is non-negotiable. Whether predicting store-level replenishment demand or calculating requirements for a specific SKU across a global network, the consequences of a missed prediction are immediate. Inaccurate forecasts manifest as inventory imbalances—either capital-draining overstocks or missed revenue from stockouts—that directly erode the top and bottom lines. To survive the next decade of volatility, organizations must recognize that while algorithms are the engine, the underlying platform and data strategy are the fuel and chassis. The shift from rigid batch processes to real-time intelligence is already underway, like Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning. This evolution is defined by five critical shifts that transform forecasting from a best guess into a strategic competitive advantage. Shift 1: Eliminating the context gap with unified granularity Traditional planning is frequently hamstrung by fragmented data, where different departments waste hours arguing over which snapshot of the truth is current. A modern strategy requires a platform that ingests data once at the lowest available granularity—from the SKU level to product families and higher across every node in the network. By utilizing a centralized reconciliation engine, the data remains consistent regardless of the lens through which it is viewed. A business-unit planner can focus on brand-level performance across a country, while a regional sales planner slices that same data into a monthly view. Because there is no data duplication or reprocessing, the friction of "yesterday’s data" discrepancies is eliminated, ensuring all teams are aligned with business priorities. This unlocks something planners have wanted for years: the ability to work at the level that makes sense for their specific role but with the ‘same’ data. Shift 2: Orchestrating the model for global maturity No single mathematical model can maintain peak performance across all product categories and geographies. Furthermore, a global organization often operates across varying levels of data maturity; a region with decades of history requires a different analytical approach than a newly launched market. To achieve shorter production cycles and profitable decision agility, leaders must adopt a mix-and-match methodology. This approach allows traditional statistical algorithms—including Croston, AVS Graves, and Blue Yonder Lewandowski—to compete against Blue Yonder proprietary DeepMeta ML and innovative open-source models from providers like Google. Through rigorous backtesting, the system identifies the optimal model for each node. This ensures the forecasting model is precisely tuned to the product's unique behavioral profile and the organization’s data readiness in that region. Shift 3: Demystifying the black box via explainable causals The primary barrier to AI adoption in the supply chain is the black box problem. If a planner cannot explain why a forecast has shifted, they will inevitably revert to manual overrides based on gut feeling. Real-time explainability is the bridge to human trust. A fully explainable forecast allows planners to see exactly how different "causals"—such as promotions, price changes, and product launches—contribute to the prediction. This transparency transforms AI from a mysterious output into a collaborative tool. When planners can see the impact of external signals in real-time, they can validate the math against their own expertise, leading to more streamlined forecast reviews and higher adoption rates. Trust and adoption go hand in hand with continuous tracking of forecast value adds and other KPIs, which gives full transparency on the importance of planner judgment. Shift 4: Embracing the probability frontier to hedge against volatility The single number forecast is a relic of a less volatile era. In today’s world, a single data point is an invitation for error. The shift toward probabilistic forecasting is a move toward sophisticated risk management. By generating multiple machine learning (ML) forecasts with different probabilities, organizations gain a range of likely outcomes. This allows planners to move beyond a single plan and develop robust buffer and contingency strategies. Probabilistic forecasting enables what-if impact analysis, allowing the organization to simulate how various disruptions will affect supply and demand before they happen, effectively hedging against uncertainty. Shift 5: Converting static artifacts into real-time sensing mechanisms The era of rigid, batch-based forecasting is ending. Modern precision requires a continuously evolving forecast that functions as a continuous sensing mechanism. With data extensibility, planners can integrate new, real-time signals without rebuilding models from scratch. This adaptive framework enables seamless ingestion of retail partner inventory visibility, IoT sensor data, and environmental factors. These signals are plugged straight into the forecasting pipeline, enriching the existing models with real-time intelligence. This allows Blue Yonder to sense demand shifts and recalibrate in real time, ensuring the organization maintains its agility even as short-term disruptions unfold. Precise forecasting: the strategic imperative of decision agility Precise forecasting is a fundamental driver of business success and competitive advantage. By moving away from static, single-number predictions and embracing explainable, probabilistic, and extensible models, organizations can achieve the speed and precision necessary to lead their markets. As you evaluate your own digital transformation journey, consider this: Is your planning process still a victim of "yesterday’s data" and opaque black box algorithms, or are you equipped to turn real-time signals into profitable decision agility? Ready to experience the future of planning? Check out the precise forecasting demonstration to understand how you can help transform your planning process. Watch now ### [Returns decisioning: The secret hack to higher recovery and improved margins](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/returns-decisioning-the-secret-hack-to-higher-recovery-and-improved-margins) > Leverage returns decisioning for better margins. Optimize return routes with an intelligent engine to enhance recovery, minimize losses, and boost sustainability. Blog Returns decisioning: The secret hack to higher recovery and improved margins Returns decisioning: The secret hack to higher recovery and improved margins Rhea Hall-Spencer , February 18, 2026 2 minute read Over half of retailers said they are looking for ways to improve return recovery, yet few organizations know how to unlock revenue retention. In this article, we look at the power of a returns decisioning engine and how to systematize margin-making decisions. Returns are margin crushers for retailers For years, retailers and brands have considered returns a mere cost of doing business. But as e-commerce continues to gain more ground in overall retail sales and shoppers become more comfortable with returns, the problem has become too costly to ignore—hence why so many finance leaders are asking about returns! But how do retailers, brands, and 3PLs functionally recover more value from returns? What is returns decisioning? In retail, returns decisioning answers the question, “What do I do with this returned item?” It isn’t only about the physical location or movement of returned items through the reverse supply chain—getting this right can have a major impact on financial recovery. Most organizations have minimal decisioning options or “routes”. Usually, there are three basic options for a return: 1. return to stock (for like-new, resalable items) 2. dispose 3. or recycle The lack of options and flexibility for routing returns puts retailers in a precarious position to either risk sending non-new inventory to the next customer and damaging the customer experience and brand perception, or routing too much inventory to low-margin or total-loss channels and losing out on critical revenue. However, to determine the best (aka most profitable) decision for a return, quite a few additional things should be taken into consideration. For example: What condition is the item in? Is it damaged, used, or in sellable condition? Is the item still in season? Where (geographically) is the item being returned? What was the sale price for the item? What is its current value? How much of that item do you still have in stock? If it’s being returned to a store, does that store carry the item or is it online exclusive? What is the item being returned? Is it a relevant category for resale or refurb? What is the shipping cost to return this item? Most often, an associate in a store or warehouse must make these subjective assessments that can lead to error-prone routing or backlogs of returns — not to mention the pressure on the associate to “get it right”. In a recent conversation with a store associate, they said they usually “walk around the store with a return to try and determine if they sell that item or not, and if not, they put it in the ship-to-DC bin.” Optimized returns decisioning is both the art and science behind increasing margins and improving financial recovery. Turn 9.5 billion pounds of waste into a competitive edge Discover how a dedicated Returns Management System can eliminate physical waste and recovers value from every returned item. Discover More Mistakes retailers and 3PLs make with returns decisioning When the pandemic hit supply chains in 2020, many organizations cobbled together “good enough” solutions to survive the changing landscape of higher e-commerce orders… and therefore higher volume of returns. (E-commerce has an average return rate of 17.6%, while store return rates average at 10%). Throw in omni-channel behaviors like buy online, return in-store (BORIS), and you add the complexity of differing product assortment, inventory, and sometimes policies. Most retailers and warehouse operators try to repurpose existing tools to process returns, whether a point-of-sale (POS) system or a warehouse management system (WMS). Yet these systems were built to sell like-new, pristine inventory, not to receive back non-new inventory from a shopper. Therefore, the outcome often involves swivel-chair processes and system switching to process a return effectively. Even worse, these systems lack the returns decisioning capability that helps retailers recoup revenue, which recent research shows is a top priority for retailers in 2025 . Leveraging returns decisioning engine for better margins Now that the dust has settled from major supply chain disruptions, more organizations are seeing the value of investing in purpose-built software for returns, namely a returns management system (RMS) . A modern RMS must be underpinned by an intelligent dispositioning and routing engine that not only helps decide what to do with a return but does so systematically by understanding the highest-margin, next-best home for that item. A modern RMS must be underpinned by an intelligent decisioning engine that not only helps decide what to do with a return but does so systematically by understanding the highest-margin, next-best home for that item. This software functionality is the very thing that helped one national, multi-brand retailer transform a “total loss” category to a net-new revenue stream for the company and keep millions of pounds of waste out of landfills. Decisioning at any touchpoint is key In addition to leveraging the revenue protection of dispositioning, timing is also paramount . The earlier in the process you can assess the best route for a return, the higher the revenue recovery (i.e. fewer touches, transportation costs, etc.) In general, a modern RMS should provide the ability to disposition a return at any of the key touchpoints of the returns lifecycle: Touchpoint 1: decisioning at returns initiation If the cost to ship an item back to a retailer exceeds the value of the item itself, it is better to offer a “just keep it” option (with the caveat that you should monitor potential abusers of this policy). If you have a bathing suit returned in New York in September, consider directing that item to a store in Florida or California to increase the likelihood that it can be resold at full price. Touchpoint 2: decision at return method If you offer in-store returns, having the ability to guide your associates on the next best path, eliminates the friction your shoppers experience when the associate isn’t sure what to do with the item, or you are hiring seasonal temp workers that may not be as familiar with your processes. For omnichannel returns, providing associates with a systematic way to understand cross-channel inventory and avoid instant or excessive markdowns. For mail-back returns, you can intelligently route the item to the closest or best store or warehouse. Touchpoint 3: decision at returns receipt (store or warehouse) For slightly damaged returns received at the warehouse, you can route them to a value-added services team and relist the item at full price in as few as 1 business day. (i.e. remove a scuff from a shoe, relist at full price) For all returns, avoid the binary thinking of returning to stock or disposing/recycling. Unlock the ability to disposition to a variety of resale channels (based on category, condition, likelihood of resale, inventory levels, and more) Unlock better returns decisioning with Smart Disposition A modern returns management system with an intelligent decisioning engine can help retailers systematically determine the most profitable destination for each returned item, increasing revenue recovery and minimizing losses. This can include options such as reselling through recommerce channels, offering “keep it” options for low-value items, or routing items to different locations based on seasonality and demand. Smart Disposition is the decisioning engine that powers Blue Yonder’s returns products . It decides the optimal outcome for every return, so retailers can: Recover maximum resale value from returns Position returns strategically as inventory Optimize costs including transportation and operations Reduce waste and environmental impact Ready to create the ideal journey for every return? Unlock the power of Smart Disposition, the AI-powered decisioning engine that enables you to recover more revenue from your returns. Discover More ### [Recover what peak left behind: Why post-peak is arguably the most critical moment in retail](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/recover-what-peak-left-behind-why-post-peak-is-arguably-the-most-critical-moment-in-retail) > Post-peak is critical for retailers. It's time to assess inventory and returns systems. Resolve visibility issues to adapt dynamically and handle future peaks effectively. Blog Recover what peak left behind: Why post-peak is arguably the most critical moment in retail Recover what peak left behind: Why post-peak is arguably the most critical moment in retail Hiu Wai Loh , February 18, 2026 5 minute read The frenzy of peak season is behind us, but its impact is not. For many retailers, the weeks after peak are where the real operational damage surfaces: returns pile up, inventory disappears into limbo, store teams are stretched thin, and customer promises made during peak quietly unravel. Post-peak isn’t just a moment to breathe. It is one of the most critical moments to reflect and uncover the cracks and gaps within your order management and returns systems. What peak left behind—that KPIs didn’t immediately show Promise accuracy cracks show up late During peak, retailers stretch promises to win conversions. After the peak, customers remember whether those promises were fulfilled. More than 58% of retailers miss peak delivery goals , leading to cancellations, refunds, and lost trust that often surface weeks later in CX metrics and repeat-purchase rates. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: Broken promises are rarely a last-mile problem. They’re usually an inventory and decisioning problem upstream . Inventory visibility gap: when you can’t see it, you can’t sell it At the height of the peak, many teams realized they were effectively flying blind. Common pain points included: Phantom inventory: Systems showing stock that wasn't there, leading to overselling and cancellations. Trapped stock: Inventory sitting in stores that could have fulfilled online orders but was invisible to your Order Management Systems. Return limbo : Returned inventory becomes trapped capital due to inefficient processing, handling and delayed resale. Reactive fulfillment: Scrambling to split shipments or use expensive expedited shipping because the system couldn't identify the optimal fulfillment node in real time. Data shows that over 50% of retailers still lack real-time omni-inventory visibility . This isn't just an operational nuisance; it is a direct hit to your bottom line. When inventory across DCs, stores, in-transit, and returns isn’t visible in real time, retailers are forced to rely on excessive safety stock buffers. This effectively hides sellable inventory from your customers at the exact moment demand is highest. Ask yourself: Did you have to cancel orders due to stockouts? Did you mark down items in one location while rejecting full-price orders in another? If the answer is yes, your inventory visibility engine probably needs an overhaul and review. Returns chaos that lingers far beyond peak Returns don’t end when promotions do - They surge after . In fashion alone, return rates can spike up to 40% post-peak , creating a second operational peak that many teams are unprepared for. As volumes surged, so did the logistics costs associated with bringing those products back. Industry data indicates that logistics costs can surge 2x–3x during peak periods. With e-commerce return rates averaging 16.5% , reverse logistics is no longer a side process; it’s a volume business of its own. Yet many retailers still manage returns with basic capabilities or static “return to warehouse” rules. The result is a massive bottleneck: inventory sits idle, depreciating in value, while processing gets delayed, and by the time it is processed, the peak selling window has often closed. The outcome is familiar: Slow returns processing in-store and in the warehouse, inefficient dispositioning, and inventory stuck in motion with no clear data-driven output to determine maximum value. Store labor strain doesn’t disappear; it shifts to fixing post-peak chaos Peak labor challenges don’t end when order volumes drop - They move. Post-peak, store teams are often tasked with processing high volumes of online returns, handling items they don’t stock, managing queues, refunds, and exceptions, all while trying to reset stores for the next trading cycle. Retailers consistently report 10–40% labor inefficiencies tied to manual returns handling and inconsistent store processes, especially when systems fail to guide staff on what to keep, what to ship, and what to escalate. Why post-peak is the moment that actually matters Peak exposes stress. Post-peak exposes structural gaps. This is the moment when leaders can clearly see where inventory visibility broke down, where returns overwhelmed execution, where manual decisions replaced scalable systems, where disconnected OMS and returns workflows cost real money. It’s also the only window where teams have the space to fix these issues before the next surge, because peak is no longer seasonal. Retailers are now facing multiple peak moments per year , with order volumes spiking up to 68% , logistics costs doubling or tripling, and delivery windows shrinking with zero margin for error. If peak felt like constant firefighting, scrambling to find inventory, reacting to delivery delays, or watching returns pile up in the wrong locations, you were likely battling the limitations of your own systems. Now is the time to ask the hard questions about what actually happened, and more importantly, how you can fix it before the next surge. The post-peak questions leaders should be asking now The most modern retailers aren’t asking, “ Did we survive peak? ” They’re asking: Can our order promises adapt dynamically in real time as conditions change? Do we have real-time visibility into inventory across stores, DCs, in-transit, and returns? Are returned items routed to the best resale location , or just the nearest one? Are store associates guided by systems, or left to make manual decisions under pressure? If these answers are unclear post-peak, they will be painful next peak. Turn reflection into action Do not let the lessons of this peak season fade away. If you struggled with inventory visibility, fulfillment costs, or returns management, those problems will not solve themselves. They will only compound as volatility increases. Now is the moment to review, re-evaluate, and rethink what it truly means to be peak-ready, always—with the intelligence, agility, and scale to perform no matter when demand spikes next. At Blue Yonder, we help retailers build the resilience to handle whatever comes next. From millisecond inventory responses to Smart Disposition of returns, our AI-powered cognitive solutions turn complexity into clarity. Get the details here and be ready for your next peak season. ### [Unlocking efficiency with returns software integrations](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/unlocking-efficiency-with-returns-software-integrations) > Integrating returns software into a complex retail tech stack enhances reverse logistics, avoids data silos, and optimizes profits, streamlining the returns process. Blog Unlocking efficiency with returns software integrations Unlocking efficiency with returns software integrations Hiu Wai Loh , February 12, 2026 1 minute read The retailer tech stack is complex, and folding additional software into the mix can be cumbersome. So, what do retailers and 3PLs need to consider when integrating returns software into their tech stack? Returns management isn’t just about processing returned goods; it’s about optimizing the entire reverse logistics process for maximum profitability. Given the complex tech stack of the retail supply chain, optimization hinges on seamless software integrations. This article outlines critical considerations for successful returns software integrations and pitfalls to avoid that can delay launches and drain budgets. Why integrations are critical for returns management In today’s retail landscape, manual processes for returns are simply unsustainable. They lead to: Data silos: Information resides in disparate systems, hindering visibility into inventory, customer behavior, and the overall health of your returns operation. Inefficient processes : Manual data entry, reconciliation, and communication create bottlenecks, delays, and increased labor costs. Poor customer experience: Delayed refunds, inaccurate tracking, and cumbersome return processes lead to frustrated customers and brand damage. Lost revenue opportunities: Without real-time insights, you miss chances to recover value from returns through resale, refurbishment, or liquidation. Effective integration(s) eliminates these issues.  A unified system provides a holistic view of your entire returns lifecycle , empowering data-driven decision-making and unlocking substantial cost savings. Master returns across every touchpoint Discover how to navigate every touchpoint to boost customer loyalty and transform returns from a cost center into a competitive edge. Learn More Which systems should integrate with your returns software? A truly effective returns management solution must seamlessly connect with other critical applications. You will already have one or more of the following systems powering your consumer shopping and purchase experience: Order Management Systems (OMS) :  Real-time synchronization of order data ensures accurate tracking of returns, automates authorization processes, and facilitates faster processing Point of Sale (POS) Systems : Streamlines the in-store return process, improving customer experience and reducing operational friction Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) :  Provides complete visibility into the location and status of returned items, optimizing inventory management, returns processing, and dispositioning of returned items to improve overall warehouse efficiency Transportation Management Systems (TMS) :  Facilitates efficient reverse shipping, optimizes carrier selection, and tracks shipments in real-time Loyalty Programs :  Integrates returns data with loyalty programs, enhancing customer retention and fostering stronger relationships Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems :  Provides a 360° view of the customer, enabling personalized communication and improved service, while reducing WISMR (where is my refund?) calls ERP Systems :  Connects returns data to your financial systems for accurate reporting and financial analysis. The overall consumer experience and workflow is powered by data and interaction between multiple of these systems and a returns management solution. Best practices for returns software integrations Now more than ever, retailers and 3PLs must build for scalability, extensibility, and flexibility. This is key to a future-proof solution that can adapt to your evolving business needs (and your customer expectations, which often fuel the business requirements).  To improve technical agility, consider software that connects on one unified network that leverages a common data cloud, integrated AI insights, and ML forecasting . This allows you to: Unlock powerful insights: Tackle your supply chain challenges with a scalable, end-to-end platform that allows you to make decisions based on a single source of truth. Accelerate innovation: You need a system that grows with you and enables you to extend and customize solutions across hybrid and SaaS environments, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. Synchronize your network: It is time to move beyond enterprise-centric operations. An integrated network allows you to coordinate seamlessly with trading partners, optimizing goods flow and time-to-market. Overcome disruptions: You need visibility that goes beyond your four walls. Resolve supply chain disruptions by utilizing network-wide visibility, collaboration, and orchestration across your entire ecosystem. Questions to ask before kicking off a returns software integration project Before embarking on an integration project, ask yourself these crucial questions: What are your key business objectives for returns management? (e.g., reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction, speed to stock, increased revenue recovery) What are your current state metrics and KPIs? What are your goals for improvement (i.e. ideal state metrics)? Which systems are critical to integrate for achieving these objectives? This typically includes your OMS and WMS, but depends on your systems of record. What are your current data flows and pain points in the returns process? What is your budget and timeline for the integration project? What level of technical expertise do you have in-house? What tools (Ex: iPaaS) are you already using to build/support your current system integrations ? What human resources do you have available for an integration project, or do you need to consider hiring an external professional services team? What are the vendor’s integration capabilities and support resources? What is the vendor’s track record for successful integrations with similar clients? What are the ongoing maintenance and support costs for operating the integrations? How will success be measured post-implementation? Your partners for supply chain success In the dynamic world of retail, a well-executed returns process can be a powerful tool for increasing efficiency and building customer loyalty. Navigating the complexities of returns management and software integration requires more than just technology; it demands a partner who understands your entire journey. Blue Yonder acts as your trusted advisor, partnering with you from the initial design phase through to implementation and beyond. Our team of data scientists and domain experts serves as your trusted advisor, ensuring your supply chain not only adapts to dynamic market shifts but thrives within them. By collaborating at every stage, we help you maximize the value of your digital transformation, turning potential logistical challenges into opportunities for growth and resilience. To achieve a truly successful returns management system, integration is key. Returns cannot exist in isolation—they must be seamlessly connected to inventory, order management, and customer service systems to provide the visibility and agility needed to respond to market demands. By bridging these systems and integrating returns into your wider ecosystem, you can gain a holistic view of your returns lifecycle and optimize each stage to enhance the customer experience while maximizing profitability. Transform your returns with Blue Yonder as your partners Ready to build a seamless returns process? Let our experts guide your digital transformation from design to implementation and beyond. Explore Our Returns Solutions Get In Touch ### [Why your supply chain plan is already obsolete (and the "GPS" solution that changes everything)](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/why-your-supply-chain-plan-is-already-obsolete) > Embrace dynamic supply chain planning. Shift from static maps to real-time, event-based models for flexibility and antifragility against market volatility. Blog Why your supply chain plan is already obsolete (and the "GPS" solution that changes everything) Why your supply chain plan is already obsolete (and the "GPS" solution that changes everything) Chris Shrope , February 11, 2026 5 minute read The death of the static map In the time it took you to read this article, your current supply chain plan likely became obsolete. For decades, we operated under the illusion of the "single-number plan"—a deterministic, rigid figure for volume or inventory that assumed a level of market stability that no longer exists. Today, that single-number plan is dead. Managing a modern global supply chain with a fixed forecast is like trying to navigate a shifting, volcanic landscape using a paper map printed a decade ago. In a world defined by relentless volatility, the "static map" isn't just outdated; it’s a liability. Stop chasing a single number—embrace the "Corridor" The era of deterministic planning has been replaced by the age of the probabilistic. Instead of placing a single "bet" on one outcome, visionary leaders are moving toward a "corridor of possible outcomes." This isn't about guessing; it’s about acknowledging a weighted range of possibilities where every variable has its own probability. The shift is a fundamental technological evolution. A better analogy for today’s reality is the transition from using a static map and compass to navigating with an autonomous GPS. Planners now operate with constant satellite-like pings—real-time signals on current conditions, potential disruptions, alternate routes, and even shifting destinations. By operating within this digital corridor, your organization stops pretending the future is certain and starts building the flexibility to win regardless of which path the market takes. An "Event" isn't a meeting—it's a data signal In the context of a cognitive planning engine, we must redefine our language. In our world, an "event" isn't a calendar invite or a physical gathering—it’s a heartbeat. It is any data point change—a "satellite ping"—that materially impacts your plan. When you treat every data shift as a planning event, you move beyond being merely "resilient." You become antifragile. A resilient system survives a shock; an antifragile system actually gets stronger and more precise the more volatility it encounters. By feeding real-time signals into your planning loop, the system learns, adapts, and converts chaos into a competitive edge. The price-to-supply cascade (everything is connected) In a modern ecosystem, silos are where strategy goes to die. A single event triggers a "digital pulse" that cascades across your entire enterprise. Consider a simple product price change: Organizational Tension: A price increase might delight your sales team but creates immediate pressure on buyers, potentially depressing demand. Demand & Revenue: The solution must instantly recalculate revenue expectations and margin projections based on this shift. Inventory & Logistics: Planners must determine if the change is global or regional to pivot safety stock levels and replenishment strategies in real-time. Supplier Collaboration: Dropping demand signals an immediate need to adjust input requirements, altering supplier commitments and ordering cycles before excess costs accumulate. In this model, a price change is never "just" a marketing decision; it is a total supply strategy event. Real-time rerouting for supplier disruptions When a critical disruption strikes—such as a sudden delay in semiconductor microcontrollers—the "cognitive GPS" doesn't wait for a monthly batch update. It triggers an immediate scenario rerun. Event-based planning allows planners to maintain strategic vigilance by instantly evaluating alternate suppliers to protect production schedules and prevent delayed product launches. This real-time rerouting provides total transparency into the trade-offs: BOM Economics: Immediate visibility into how alternate sourcing shifts the bill-of-material (BOM) costs. Input Costs: Real-time tracking of shifting material prices. Revenue Projections: Analysis of how the disruption (or the fix) impacts the bottom line. Inventory Strategy: Precision adjustments to buffer stocks to keep the chain lean despite the delay. The “Trinity” of cognitive planning Event-based planning acts as the central nervous system for three core pillars that drive superior decision-making speed and precision. Critically, these pillars no longer operate in batches—they are all real-time: Volume Impact: This utilizes Machine Learning (ML) predictions. However, ML is only useful if it offers explainability—the ability for leaders to "open the black box" and understand why the engine made a prediction. This transparency builds the trust necessary for high-stakes revenue computation. Inventory Optimization: This moves safety stock policy from a static annual review to a real-time adjustment based on the material impact of current events. Supply and Material Planning: This leverages constant scenario comparison and resolution workflows. These workflows allow planners to address disruptions with surgical precision the moment they occur. Visibility from raw materials to the dealer’s door True end-to-end planning requires real-time embedded insights that act as a continuous loop, not a linear chain. This visibility stretches across the entire value chain: Raw Materials → Semiconductor Finished Goods Plants → Factory → Factory Distribution Center → Regional Distribution Center → Local Distribution Center → Dealers This comprehensive view ensures that an event at the raw material level is immediately reflected in the availability at the dealer’s door. By connecting semi-finished goods regional distribution centers into a single cognitive engine, you ensure that every node in the chain is working from the same real-time reality. From reactive to antifragile The era of batch-based data and "good enough" planning is over. To lead in the next decade, businesses must adopt an autonomous, event-based GPS for their supply chains. This shift transforms disruptions from crises into integrated drivers of better decision-making. Ask yourself: Is your current system providing you with the strategic vigilance necessary to navigate today’s volatility, or are you missing the signals entirely? The transition to a cognitive, event-based model is the only way to remain antifragile in an unpredictable world. To learn more about these strategies, explore Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning . ### [Innovation in the supply chain: It’s more than just software](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/innovation-in-the-supply-chain-its-more-than-just-software) > Supply chain innovation transcends software; it requires holistic strategies. Inspire with AI, earn customer trust via transparency, and ensure agility through resilience. Blog Innovation in the supply chain: It’s more than just software Innovation in the supply chain: It’s more than just software Mckenna Bailey , February 11, 2026 5 minute read When supply chain leaders hear the word “innovation,” the first thing that usually comes to mind is a software program—probably a SaaS platform with a polished UI that delivers increased operational efficiency and effectiveness. Which sounds great to us! Software platforms (like Blue Yonder) are ubiquitous in the business world for a reason. They’re great tools that deliver real value. The question is: does implementing great software automatically mean that you have an innovative supply chain organization? As much as it pains us to say it, the answer is no. The reality is that having a great tech stack is now table stakes. And though software certainly has a measurable impact on business objectives, the effect is usually incremental. That’s not enough in today’s business environment. Relentless volatility in global logistics demands deeper innovation Supply chain costs are rising faster than revenue can keep up, driven by the increasing frequency of costly disruptions from natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts, trade policy changes, and more. And still, supply chains are expected to drive revenue and serve as a competitive differentiator. To keep revenue growing—and the bottom line healthy—supply chains need to develop a holistic innovation strategy that goes beyond any one tool or tactic. We’ve outlined three innovation strategies that can help supply chain leaders leverage technology for maximum impact. Inspire your workforce (instead of demoralizing them) AI is a set of transformational technologies, but unfortunately, too much of the conversation around AI has been focused on how it will eliminate jobs—and require extensive retraining for those who remain after the layoffs are complete. For supply chain organizations that want to successfully adopt AI, this is the wrong conversation to have. The right strategy is to build a culture that embraces innovation. This is actually easier than it sounds. AI makes workers more productive and enables them to create greater value. A recent report from PwC found that wages are rising 2X faster in industries with the most AI exposure, and workers with AI skills command a 56% AI premium. Instead of creating anxiety, AI should make workers excited, as it will make them more valuable—and better compensated. But remuneration is not the only factor. AI and automation also eliminate drudgery and enable workers to flex their cognitive skills, making work more engaging and emotionally rewarding. To build this culture, supply chain leaders need to be intentional when rolling out AI, robotics, or any other new technology. Think of this as an “inspiration playbook” that outlines training, mentorship, and dedicated mechanisms for feedback and experimentation. As the workforce becomes comfortable with a new technology and better understands its potential, they will start to become proactive in exploring how it can be used, creating a virtuous loop of innovation that is driven by the workers themselves. Want loyal customers? Earn their trust. Increasingly, supply chains are being asked to take the lead in creating a positive customer experience. This innovation strategy reorients the supply chain around transparency, fair pricing, and seamless execution, three important customer demands that, if met, build trust and strengthen customer relationships. Today’s customers want more information about the goods, services, and data flowing through the supply chains of their suppliers. Having this information not only provides peace of mind, it directly contributes to risk management, compliance, and sustainability efforts. Supply chains that provide transparency reap the benefits. For example, real-time analytics have been shown to increase customer satisfaction by 33% . The key is to make sure that transparency is implemented in a way that resonates with customers. Transparency is more than simply visibility—it is active communication. Technology has also enabled the dynamic pricing models that customers want. AI-driven analytics can optimize prices in real time as market conditions change. While price increases driven by raw materials, labor, energy, tariffs, and other factors are unavoidable, supply chains do have the ability to control how those increases are communicated to customers. This also gives customers an opportunity to negotiate price changes that makes them feel like they have more control—which is key for maintaining a good relationship. Finally, perhaps it should go without saying, but the more seamless the execution within the supply chain, the more trust is gained. Product quality and speed of delivery are of course important. But the customer relationship overall should be as frictionless as possible. In a McKinsey survey , lack of speed in interactions with their suppliers was the #1 pain point, mentioned twice as often as price. AI tools help supply chains respond more quickly and accurately to customer concerns, adjusting execution as needed. If you want to be agile, you’ve got to be resilient While the importance of agility is now well-recognized in the field of logistics, many supply chain leaders continue to approach disruptions with a short-term mentality—contingency planning, if you will. Innovative organizations make resilience a strategy via network redesign, building supply chains that are inherently agile when challenges arise. Reconfiguring for resilience means much more than just building in redundancies and overstocking inventory. A truly strategic approach involves carefully examining every process, driven by an accurate assessment of which disruptions matter, where the supply chain is most vulnerable, and which trade-offs are acceptable when you have to take quick action. Technology can support both the planning and execution of the strategy. For example, advanced AI forecasting models can help determine where disruptions will have the most impact. AI-powered risk monitoring and continuous scenario simulation tools can drive rapid adjustments to operational processes. Resilience also needs to be quantifiable, measured by KPIs that reflect the ability of the company to handle disruptions. Advanced analytics give companies the tools they need to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. Make innovation part of your DNA Innovative supply chain organizations don’t need to chase the latest software. Once they have established their core innovation objectives, it becomes easy to tell which technologies are appropriate for their business. Whether it’s an inspired, cutting-edge workforce; a customer loyalty machine; a resilient, agile organization that can handle any disruption; or something else, innovative supply chains are always ahead of the curve, and the competition. ### [Introducing Orchestrator The Blue Yonder AI App](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/introducing-orchestrator-the-blue-yonder-ai-app) > Transform supply chain operations with Orchestrator. Blue Yonder’s AI-powered app turns complex data into actionable insights, helping your team get to the "why" faster and act with confidence. Blog Introducing Orchestrator: The Blue Yonder AI App for Supply Chain Operations Introducing Orchestrator: The Blue Yonder AI App for Supply Chain Operations Blue Yonder , February 2, 2026 3 minute read Orchestrator shifts supply chain work from hunting for issues to understanding impact and taking action. It’s designed to help teams get to the “why” faster. Orchestrator is Blue Yonder’s AI-powered app designed to help supply chain teams understand what’s happening across their operations and act quickly. This AI-teammate brings together data, context, and recommendations for next steps into a single experience that works alongside human teammates wherever they are. It’s currently being piloted for mobile and desktop experiences before being more widely deployed across the platform. It’s built on a large language model (LLM) designed specifically for supply chain work. It understands the terms, workflows, and decisions teams deal with every day, so it can make sense of information across systems and turn it into clear, useful guidance. Who is it for? Orchestrator is built for supply chain and operations teams who need fast, reliable insights into what is happening and what to do next. It supports roles across planning , warehouse , and transportation operations , helping teams stay aligned and respond quickly to issues. The experience is personalized by role, responsibilities and KPIs, ensuring each user sees the information that is relevant to their work. What can it do? Orchestrator gathers supply chain information from across operations to surface critical events and explain what changed, why it happened, and the potential impact. This information is delivered through a single, structured briefing that is updated regularly and as needed and highlights key takeaways. The briefing itself is designed to replace disconnected alerts, dashboards, and reports with a clear summary of what matters now. Moving from insight to action Orchestrator helps you understand what changed, why, and what to do next. After building awareness, Orchestrator guides users toward next steps and actions that address the root cause. Through a chat-based experience, users can ask questions, explore details, compare scenarios, and run calculations without switching tools. The system checks dependencies and provides recommendations based on supply chain best practices. When ready to act, deep links guide users to the specific views, scenarios, or records scoped to the problem helping teams resolve open issues faster.  Orchestrator also takes action on a user's behalf (while always keeping a human in the loop), able to cover critical workflows from rerouting shipments to updating inventory allocations. How it works Orchestrator brings you the issues;  then you ask; then you act. Start by asking questions in plain language, such as: “What does ‘prebuild’ mean in this planning context? ” to clarify concepts and terminology; “What is the revenue impact of the current storage plan issues?” to better understanding business impact; “Which items are driving the fill rate drop in Calgary?” to investigate operational issues. In response, Orchestrator references relevant data and documentation, including planning guides, operational policies, active plans and supply chain events. Responses are tailored to the user’s role, and provide clear, relevant explanations and recommendations. From there, users can act by: Drilling into root causes and recommended actions Prioritizing and allocating resources to the highest-impact issues Launching targeted reviews or adjusting inventory policies Why it matters Supply chain operations are highly interdependent. Orchestrator reduces the cognitive tax of that interdependence. It’s designed to help teams get to the “why” faster. By not only identifying issues, but understanding the root causes, it saves time in research and report generation, giving teams a head start on addressing them before they escalate. AI responses grounded in supply chain reality Orchestrator runs on a language model being tuned specifically for supply chain operations. It’s trained to understand industry-specific concepts like inventory position, forecast variance, and execution trade-offs, allowing it to respond in the context of real operational decisions. Responses are more precise, actionable, and better aligned with how supply chains actually work. Training will span across all specializations Blue Yonder serves today from warehouse management, logistics operations, planning and more. Get the App Today Blue Yonder Orchestrator is being piloted for and will support IOS and Android devices. Your account determines which capabilities you can access, and additional features can be unlocked through your Blue Yonder sales representative. This ensures a consistent and connected experience across mobile and desktop as your organization expands its use of the platform. Download on Apple store Download on Google Play Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [From pain to profit: Optimizing store returns for the omni-channel era](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/from-pain-to-profit-optimizing-store-returns-for-the-omni-channel-era) > Consumers expect seamless experiences, including returns. NRF data predicts 19.3% of online sales ($849.9B) will be returned in 2025, with online returns 21% higher than overall. Fashion hits 40%. 72% prefer no-box returns, boosting store returns. High return rates hurt profits and reputation; 49% of retailers restock in 6-10 days, needing faster. Strategic returns management can boost loyalty and growth. Blog From pain to profit: Optimizing store returns for the omni-channel era From pain to profit: Optimizing store returns for the omni-channel era Hiu Wai Loh , February 6, 2026 1 minute read Consumers, accustomed to seamless experiences in their digital lives, demand the same level of fluidity in their shopping journeys. This expectation extends beyond the buy button to encompass a critical touchpoint: returns. Latest NRF data suggests that 19.3% of online sales will be returned in 2025, totaling an outstanding $849.9 billion. Online return rates average 21% higher than overall rates and can reach up to 40% in industries like fashion. Shoppers today expect friction-free interactions. 72% of consumers are more likely to shop with retailers that do not require a box or label for returns, leading to more online purchases and in-store returns. Failing to meet these heightened expectations can be costly. High return rates directly impact profitability, while negative store return experiences can erode customer satisfaction and damage brand reputation. While return volumes increase, inventory velocity often lags. About half of retailers (49%) report that it takes 6–10 days to restock returned items, yet 19% say this timeline must accelerate to maintain margins. Retailers cannot afford to let returns erode profitability. By adopting a strategic, data-driven approach to returns management, retailers can close this gap, transforming a potential logistical pain point into a driver of loyalty and growth. 0 % of consumers are more likely to shop with retailers that do not require a box or label for returns 0 % of retailers report that it takes 6–10 days to restock returned items 0 % higher return rates were seen in online channels versus overall averages Building a winning returns strategy A winning returns strategy hinges on four core pillars: Return policies that are flexible and applicable across omnichannel touchpoints Superior customer returns experience Empowering store and warehouse associates to manage returned items A returns process that is integrated across other parts of the supply chain ecosystem and maximizes financial recovery and profitability In other words, managing returns effectively is about people, processes, and technology. 1. “Omni” policy essentials: Clarity, consistency, and flexibility At the heart of any successful returns strategy lies a clear, consistent, and flexible policy. This policy should consider all channels—online, in-store, and marketplaces—to ensure customers enjoy a consistent experience regardless of how they choose to interact with your brand. This consistency instills confidence in customers, fostering trust and loyalty. Flexibility is equally important, offering customers multiple return options, including in-store drop-offs, mail-in returns, and designated drop-off points. 2. Elevating the customer experience: Convenience, transparency, and personalization Beyond a well-defined policy, an exceptional customer experience is paramount . Your return portal can simplify return initiation without adding work for your customer experience team, while various box-free, label-free return methods streamline the return process. In-store returns can be enhanced through QR-code returns, and dedicated self-service kiosks , reducing wait times and freeing up associates to focus on more complex customer interactions.  Amazon has set the bar high when it comes to returns experience expectations, so why not have the same friction-free experience in your own store to take advantage of the foot traffic? Transparency throughout the returns process is equally crucial. Clear tracking of return status and proactive communication about refund processing keep customers informed. Taking customer experience a step further, personalization can make returns feel less transactional and more customer-centric . Leveraging customer preferences and order history, businesses can tailor return solutions and proactively suggest replacements or exchanges. And the best part? Giving consumers a better returns experience in-store will also make them much more likely to browse and purchase something else. Nearly 70% of shoppers report they purchase more from a retail brand after a positive return experience . Getting these customers through the door—even for a return—is a powerful opportunity to drive store traffic and capture additional sales. Master returns across every touchpoint Discover how to navigate every touchpoint to boost customer loyalty and transform returns from a cost center into a competitive edge. Learn More 3. Empowering store and warehouse associates: Training and technology Frontline associates play a critical role in shaping the store returns experience. Equipping them with the right training and technology is essential . Associates should be thoroughly trained on return policies, systems, and troubleshooting procedures, enabling them to handle store returns efficiently and empathetically. Access to real-time customer and inventory data can streamline returns processing, empowering associates to system-driven decisions about inventory disposition —i.e., how to send the item to the next, best, highest-margin channel. 4. Maximizing recovery & profitability: Inventory management, recommerce, and data analysis When managed effectively, omni-channel returns can become a source of revenue retention rather than a drain on profits. Real-time tracking of returned inventory is key to efficient processing and reintegration of goods. Blue Yonder’s Smart Disposition technology, for example, intelligently routes returned merchandise to the most profitable destination, whether that’s back on the shelf, an online storefront, transfer to another store, an outlet, or a distribution center. Recommerce and circularity initiatives offer further opportunities to maximize recovery. Returned items can be refurbished and resold, or businesses can partner with resale marketplaces to tap into the growing secondhand market. Finally, data analysis is essential for continuous improvement . Analyzing return data can reveal valuable insights into customer behavior, product quality, and operational efficiency. These insights can be leveraged to optimize inventory, refine pricing strategies, and elevate customer service. Delivering the best in-store returns experience When evaluating your ability to deliver a friction-free, store returns experience, there are several factors to consider: Your target audience – What are their shopping behaviors across channels? What are their expectations when it comes to omni-channel? How can you increase revenue by encouraging omnichannel behaviors? Your returns trends & insights – What is your average return rate? Return rates by channel? How do they compare to industry benchmarks? Higher rates/volume and added complexity can often justify a dedicated store returns solution. Your current store returns processes – What are you able to do with items returned to a store currently? Do you have instant markdowns or messy piles of salable inventory? How do your store associates feel about processing returns? Your technology & software – What systems do you have in place or perhaps need to have in place? How are they communicating relevant order information to each other so that every shopper and associate has the relevant information they need to avoid frustration (i.e., friction). Evaluate your point-of-sale (POS) system, your order management system (OMS), your returns management system (RMS), and your warehouse management system (WMS) to see if they are working hand in hand to tackle your returns issues. Your CSAT for omni-channel returns – How well are you performing when it comes to creating delightful returns experiences with omnichannel complexity? Your financial recovery for store returns – How much value are you able to recoup from returned inventory? Can you systematically and intelligently route items to the highest-margin channels? Reimagining returns as a strategic opportunity Omni-channel returns are not merely a logistical challenge; they represent a strategic opportunity to build customer loyalty, enhance brand reputation, and drive profitability. By embracing a holistic strategy that encompasses a clear and flexible policy, empowered associates, technology-driven efficiency, and a commitment to customer-centricity, businesses can transform returns from a potential pain point into a source of competitive advantage. Instead of viewing returns as a necessary evil, businesses should embrace them as a valuable touchpoint in the customer journey, one that can foster lasting relationships and contribute to a more sustainable and profitable future. Start profiting from your returns Maximize revenue with an end-to-end returns solution that ensures the right decision for every return, at every touchpoint of the returns journey. Learn More ### [How to reduce waste from returns and keep your profits high](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/how-to-reduce-waste-from-returns-and-keep-your-profits-high) > Returns in supply chains are wasteful and challenging to optimize. In 2022, 9.5B pounds of returns were landfilled, including 2.6M tons of clothing in the U.S. An efficient Returns Management System (RMS) reduces waste, supports sustainability, and boosts revenue. Blog How to reduce waste from returns using TIMWOODS How to reduce waste from returns using TIMWOODS Casey Chroust , January 29, 2026 1 minute read In the world of supply chain, operational excellence hinges on improving efficiency and reducing waste. Yet, one area stands out as inherently challenging to optimize and a significant source of waste: returns. Unmanaged returns can disrupt operations, create cumbersome processes, and generate backlogs, crushing margins and generating significant waste. In 2022, 9.5 billion pounds of returns worldwide were sent straight to landfills. Some experts estimate that one in four returned products is automatically landfilled — and the rate may be even higher for fashion apparel, as 2.6 million tons of returned clothes end up in U.S. landfills every single year. However, with an effective Returns Management System (RMS) , organizations can directly address the returns problem, reducing both operational and physical waste, enabling sustainability and driving revenue. 0 billion pounds of returns were sent to landfills in 2022 0 % of returned products are automatically landfilled 0 tons of returned clothes end up in U.S. landfills Eliminating operational waste from returns to drive sustainability To systematically identify and tackle waste in operations, businesses often turn to frameworks like TIMWOODS. Developed by Lean manufacturing experts at Toyota, TIMWOODS is a powerful tool applicable to any organization or industry , including retail and logistics. It’s an acronym for the seven core types of waste: T ransportation: Unnecessary movement of goods. I nventory: Excess stock or materials. M otion: Unnecessary movement of people or equipment. W aiting: Time spent idle waiting for the next step. O verproduction: Producing more than is needed. O verprocessing: Performing work beyond what is required. D efects: Errors that require rework or lead to unusable products. S kills: Not utilizing the full potential of employees. Identifying these types of waste is essential for improving returns operations. And while many operators have these principles built into their processes for outbound fulfillment, it is often overlooked or returns. By focusing on TIMWOODS-thinking in reverse logistics, retailers, brands, and 3PLs can dramatically reduce their environmental impact while improving profitability. How an RMS empowers TIMWOODS for reverse logistics Managing returns effectively requires strategic, purpose-built technology. An advanced RMS is designed to handle the entire returns lifecycle. By applying the TIMWOODS lens, we can see how an RMS directly addresses key waste areas in reverse logistics: Transportation An RMS orchestrates the most profitable path for a returned item, directing items to the most efficient processing location to reduce unnecessary transit. This can include: Using returns decisioning to route returns at initiation to optimize returns journeys Launching “just keep it” practices for when shipping and processing a return creates more waste than value for the brand Offering shoppers drop-off methods, such as Drop-off Kiosks , for return consolidation Reducing movement within a store or facility through prebuilt decision-making and route optimization — for example, instant relisting of resalable goods versus testing/grading every return Inventory Returns are valuable inventory. And even perhaps more important for brands importing goods that face looming, margin-crushing tariffs to replenish stock from overseas. An RMS accelerates processing speed to restock, resulting in improved resale. This reduces the amount of returned inventory sitting idle, minimizing associated costs and potential devaluation. Retailers using integrated returns management can cut inventory levels by up to 30% and improve promise accuracy by treating returns as inventory-in-waiting, factoring it into available-to-promise from the very start. Motion An RMS leverages configurable pre-built workflows to optimize and streamline processes, which reduce unnecessary manual steps and movement. We know that every move or touch in logistics adds to the cost. An automated system minimizes unnecessary movement by directly dispositioning returns upon receipt and reducing these touches and movements, which ultimately retains the item’s value. Waiting Delays in processing returns create waiting time, and often, the longer returned inventory sits without being processed, the more resale value it loses — often leading to inventory ending up in a landfill. An RMS can reduce the returns processing timeline, reducing “waiting” waste by banishing backlogs and making returned items available to sell quickly, while they can still be purchased at full price . Overproduction To support demand, retailers and brand manufacturers often overproduce or over purchase to avoid stockouts. However, with an RMS, you get resalable inventory back in market faster, reducing the need for the extra inventory padding. Overprocessing This waste involves doing more work than is needed on a return. An RMS automates disposition decisions, which avoids unnecessary touches, inspections, paperwork, and redundant steps. The Blue Yonder Smart Disposition , for example, is an advanced decisioning agent that makes instant decisions about what to do with your returned inventory, based on factors such as: Condition Projected resale value Inventory levels Your custom business rules While it may seem intuitive to test and grade every return, the sooner you can make an automated decision about a return with the information you already know, you can reduce the unnecessary over-processing of a return. Defects Collecting data about why a shopper is returning an item is a key piece of information for returns. For example, if a shopper indicates that an item is damaged or defective when they’re making their return, an RMS that uses data intelligence can automatically direct that item to appropriate channels, such as repair or refurbishment, rather than being improperly handled or immediately scrapped, maximizing value and reducing waste. It also provides better reporting around defects so that you can adjust merchandising strategies if needed. Skills Returns often require a warehouse’s most skilled (and usually highest-paid) operators, and tend to be one of the most labor-intensive operations in a warehouse due to their nuances. With an RMS in place, even the newest employees can be up and running on the software in just a few hours. Plus, by using data intelligence and systems to process returns, warehouse productivity can more than double — which means, in addition to simply processing returns faster, you can utilize your employees to their fullest potential. Reducing physical waste from returns The future of retail is increasingly defined by circularity, driven by business strategies that emphasize reuse, repair, refurbishing, and recycling to move toward zero-waste production. A significant part of this shift in retail is the growing focus on recommerce and resale — in this case, giving returned and excess items a “second life.” This practice has been around for a while and is gaining momentum with younger consumers who value eco-friendly practices. The secondhand market, for instance, is projected to double by 2026 and grow significantly faster than traditional retail clothing sales. In a recent survey, 77% of shoppers stated that they are extremely likely or likely to purchase recommerced goods. Beyond the positive environmental impact, recommerce programs provide significant business advantages for retailers by increasing customer engagement, enabling new revenue streams, and enhancing brand loyalty. However, effectively implementing recommerce and resale strategies relies heavily on efficient returns management and reverse logistics . Unwanted products need to be recovered efficiently and responsibly redirected without creating a ton of waste and loss. This is where an RMS becomes crucial. An RMS streamlines the handling of returned items by using automation, data-driven decision-making, and configurable workflows to identify resellable inventory and instantly direct it to the most profitable resale channel, including: Stock transfer the items back to the retailer’s OMS/WMS, making them available to be purchased through their primary ecommerce channels Stock transfer to a retailer’s owned D2C recommerce site B2B Liquidation or bulk resale Returned to vendor (RTV) Donation This strategic approach transforms returns from a cost and waste center into an opportunity for driving productivity, profitability, and sustainability. By controlling their own resale channels, retailers have been able to grow profits and reduce their reliance on traditional production channels. Some examples we love: Nike’s “ Move to Zero ” refurbished program, where shoppers can find stores that sell refurbished shoes, preventing non-defective shoes from ending up in landfills. H&M’s Garment Collecting Initiative t o “ Close the Loop ”: The company encourages customers to return unwanted clothing for recycling or reuse, offering vouchers as incentives. On Running’s Onward initiative, where runners can trade in and shop gently used premium gear, and their Cyclon™ program, where they sell products meant to be recycled. Steve Madden’s “ Re-booted ” program, where shoppers can buy and sell pre-loved Steve Madden shoes, accessories, and apparel. UPS Supply Chain’s recycling initiative with Nespresso to distinguish single-serve from single-use LEGO’s Replay initiative enables families to pass LEGO bricks to children in need of play. Reduce waste, drive growth and boost sustainability For retailers, brands, and 3PLs navigating today’s market, integrating sustainability into operations is both essential and profitable. The significant volume and cost of returns present a major opportunity to reduce waste and improve efficiency within the reverse supply chain. By adopting the Lean TIMWOODS framework to identify inefficiencies and leveraging an advanced RMS, businesses can systematically combat waste across every touchpoint of the returns process. This strategic approach drives efficiency, reduces costs, maximizes recovery, and ultimately supports the transition towards a more sustainable, circular retail model. Transforming returns from a costly burden into a driver of profit and purpose is achievable with the right strategy and technology. Interested in learning more about optimizing your returns process? Discover how Blue Yonder can help transform your returns and recover maximum value from every return. Learn More ### [Tackling transportation waste: Driving efficiency and innovation in planning and execution](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/tackling-transportation-waste-driving-efficiency-and-innovation-in-planning-and-execution) > Lean Manufacturing streamlines product value by eliminating waste. By mapping life cycles, supply chains optimize processes targeting key waste areas: overproduction, overprocessing, waiting, defects, motion, inventory, and transportation. Enhancing with AI and strategic plans reduces waste. Blogs cover these areas, focusing on unnecessary transportation—causing damage risks, cost hikes, and emission increases due to poor visibility, inventory misplacement, and inefficient transport. Blog Tackling transportation waste: Driving efficiency and innovation in planning and execution Tackling transportation waste: Driving efficiency and innovation in planning and execution Jen McQuiston , February 4, 2026 2 minute read In Lean Manufacturing , eliminating waste is a game-changer for enhancing a product's value stream. By meticulously mapping each stage of a product's life cycle, supply chain teams can pinpoint not only how to optimize processes but also how to cut waste effectively. Waste reduction, which is a central tenet of Lean Manufacturing, targets seven key areas: overproduction, overprocessing, waiting, defects, motion, inventory, and transportation. Shining a spotlight on these areas with strategic planning and execution— bolstered by AI, unified decision-making, and interoperability —enables manufacturers to achieve sharper, value-focused outcomes and significantly reduce organizational waste. Our blogs on waste reduction has delved into these practices and applied them across planning and execution. Today, we turn our attention to waste caused by unnecessary transportation. This waste not only heightens the risk of product and inventory damage but also inflates costs, harms service quality, strains asset utilization, increases emissions, and disrupts the availability of materials for production. These issues often arise from limited visibility, poor inventory placement, and inefficient transportation stemming from mismanaged loads, non-optimized routes, and overproduction . The risks of unmitigated transportation waste Reducing transportation waste curbs unnecessary movement of products or supplies. Common inefficiencies include avoidable miles due to poor routing or unavoidable detours caused by unforeseen challenges such as sudden weather changes or global disruptions. Poor planning and inventory management leave goods where they are not needed, requiring additional or expedited transportation to move them to where they are needed. The concept of transportation waste also extends to data management. Redundant tasks and manual data entry often lead to inefficiencies as risky as those caused by physical transport. For example, when data is manually transferred between siloed solutions to a centralized spreadsheet for analysis, the data transfer (or data transportation) risks data inaccuracy due to poor mapping or manual data entry and delays due that could magnify issues down the line. Examples of potential risks include: Elevated costs and reliance on expedited loads Inventory losses or damage during transport Delayed production and services Compromised customer service Suboptimal asset and resource utilization Overproduction or misplaced goods requiring additional transportation Hampered material availability Increased system errors due to poor data accuracy Delayed decision making due to disconnected systems Stop paying for productivity leaks Discover how leading enterprises are using AI to identify hidden bottlenecks and reclaim thousands of productive hours. Discover More Reducing transportation waste Critical strategies for reducing unnecessary transportation waste range from optimizing transportation routes to better planning and centralized data management: Implementing improved solution connectivity reduces repetitive data transfer and manual data handling to minimize errors and delays. Route optimization identifies the best pathways to move shipments, cutting unnecessary miles and associated costs, emissions, and risks. Shipment consolidation finds compatible shipments to move together, while optimized load-building maximizes container capacity, together reducing total loads, extra miles and related inefficiencies. Improved inventory placement ensures inventory is where and when it’s needed, avoiding needless, risky and costly movement to meet demand. Tight collaboration with trading partners allows manufacturers to better understand inventory, production schedules and capacity across their network, while AI backed monitoring and issue resolution mitigate disruption. Better order management focuses on real product availability and achievable customer expectations rather than rushed movements to fulfill immediate needs. Strategic supply planning helps get the right supplies to the right places at the right time, ensuring continuous production without excess transportation. Controlling overproduction limits unnecessary transportation by minimizing movement excess inventory from location to location. Enabling these above reductions with cognitive solutions from Blue Yonder brings unified decision-making, interoperable solutions and other benefits to connect supply chain processes and data. The result is reduced data movement, enhanced forecasting for more accurate inventory planning and production, and synchronized operations for connected and accurate movement of goods. Embracing AI for leaner transportation Going one step further, adopting AI across transportation, planning and multi-enterprise networks empowers rapid adaptation to changes among trading partners, orders, and warehouses. AI begins by providing planners with a vigilant eye on network fluctuations affecting plans, supplier capacity, inventory, and schedules. This proactive stance keeps manufacturers ahead of disruption, avoiding reactive scenarios like expedited or partial loads. Instead, they benefit from precise planning and near-real-time monitoring, ensuring inventory reaches the right place at the right time without unnecessary moves. Practices like additional, expedited or partial loads to manage change become a thing of the past. Consider AI agents actively surveilling a manufacturer’s multi-enterprise network for disruptions. After detecting issues, the agent escalates them to demand and supply planning solutions, which craft mitigation strategies. Planners can review AI recommended scenarios and uncover the right resolutions to resolve the issue. Connectivity with transportation then aids in rescheduling carriers to efficiently move the loads and minimize additional transportation. Backing this combination with transportation optimization solutions, logistics planners further enhance load consolidation and routing, cutting down miles, costs, and emissions. Additional AI use cases include: Inventory Ops Agent: Ensures optimal inventory placement, aligning inventory availability with demand and virtually eliminating emergency transportation needs. AI enhanced planning : Scenario testing driven by AI fosters accurate planning, reducing sudden transportation requests to meet demand or supply changes. Gen AI assistants : Monitors shipment health with real-time tracking, leveraging AI to respond to real-time events, ensuring seamless movement of goods. Transforming waste into opportunity Lean Manufacturing focuses on waste reduction as a crucial component in optimizing product value streams. Mapping a product's lifecycle allows teams to identify inefficiencies in areas such as overproduction, inventory, motion, and transportation. Cognitive innovations from Blue Yonder elevate these efforts, effectively minimizing unnecessary movements and data redundancies. Addressing transportation waste through route optimization, shipment consolidation, and improved inventory placement helps to reduce risks like product damage, costs, and service delays. By reducing waste, transportation is transformed into a strategic advantage that enables businesses to elevate efficiency while cultivating a pathway to sustainable success and innovation. Scale sustainability like Outokumpu Watch our live session to learn how the global leader in stainless steel uses Blue Yonder’s TMS to balance operational efficiency with ambitious environmental goals. Watch Now ### [Celebrate excellence: Nominations now open for the 2026 ICONic Customer Awards!](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/celebrate-excellence-nominations-now-open-for-the-2026-iconic-customer-awards) > The search for the best is on! Enter the 2026 ICONic Customer Awards to showcase your achievements and celebrate industry excellence. Nominate now! Blog Celebrate excellence: Nominations now open for the 2026 ICONic Customer Awards! Celebrate excellence: Nominations now open for the 2026 ICONic Customer Awards! Brittany Easley , February 3, 2026 1 minute read I’m thrilled to announce that nominations are officially open for the 2026 Blue Yonder ICONic Customer Awards! Every year, we celebrate our customers’ incredible achievements, and this year’s awards promise to be the most exciting to date. Is your team driving innovation, transforming processes, or making a meaningful impact? If so, your time is now to stand out! 2026 ICONic Award categories: The Trendsetter The Groundbreaker The Dynamic Operator The Game-Changer The Accelerator The Visionary Connector The Eco-Leader The Innovator The Trailblazer Get inspired by past winners Looking for inspiration? Watch what it means to be “ICONic.” Check out past ICONic Award winners like Discount Tire , Penske and Martin Brower . Their stories show what’s possible when you dare to dream big and take bold action. These leaders proved that innovation and excellence are within reach for every Blue Yonder customer. Top three reasons to enter: 1. Enjoy a Complimentary Pass: By entering, you have the chance to win one (1) free pass to ICON 2026 in San Diego, California, allowing you to experience the event firsthand and participate in some incredible sessions. 2. Showcase Your Achievements: Participating in the ICONic Customer Awards lets you put your success stories front and center, highlighting the innovative work your team has accomplished. 3. Celebrate and Gain Recognition: Celebrate your team’s dedication and hard work while earning recognition from industry peers and leaders who value excellence, including at a memorable awards reception. Tips for a winning submission Share your unique journey—what challenges did you overcome and how? Highlight measurable results and real impact. Connect your story to this year’s theme: Your Time is Now. Show us how your team seized the moment and made a difference. Be authentic. We want to hear your voice and passion! ICON 2026 Theme: Your Time is Now This year’s theme, Your Time is Now, is all about taking bold steps and embracing new possibilities. We believe every customer has a story worth celebrating, and now is the perfect time to share yours on a global scale. How to Enter 1. Visit the Blue Yonder ICONic Customer Awards page on our website. 2. Review the award categories and select the one that best fits your achievements. 3. Complete the online nomination form —be sure to include details, results, and your connection to the ICON 2026 theme. 4. Submit your entry by March 20, 2026. Key Dates Submission Deadline: March 20, 2026 Winner Notification: April 2, 2026 Winners Announced at ICON 2026 : May 17-20, 2026, San Diego, CA Don’t miss your chance to be recognized as an ICONic leader in our vibrant Blue Yonder community. Your Time is Now— submit your nomination and let your story inspire others! I can’t wait to celebrate your achievements at ICON 2026! Recalibrate your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today ### [Mix and match forecasting: A strategic approach to supply chain accuracy](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/mix-and-match-forecasting-a-strategic-approach-to-supply-chain-accuracy) > Tailor your forecasts to seasonality & promotions with adaptive AI. Automate model selection for accuracy & less workload. Transform planning with Blue Yonder. Blog Mix and match forecasting: A strategic approach to supply chain accuracy Mix and match forecasting: A strategic approach to supply chain accuracy Chris Shrope , February 3, 2026 2 minute read Forecasting in supply chains is notoriously complex and will never be accurate, as predictions inherently are. One size doesn’t fit all use cases, as no single model consistently delivers the best results across all products, locations, and time horizons. Some models excel with seasonality, others handle noisy data better, and advanced deep learning models uncover nonlinear patterns—but only if the data is robust. So, how do businesses choose the right model without endless manual tuning? The answer lies in a mix-and-match forecasting method. Understanding the Concept Mix-and-match forecasting allows planners to adjust model selection and, in some cases, automate it by evaluating multiple algorithms and assigning the best performer to each forecasting run/cycle. Think of it as building a championship team: different players bring different strengths, and the right combination wins. Similarly, mix-and-match is a repository of purpose-built models that lets you select the most suitable one for the job, given business priorities and time horizons. Why and how the mix and match works The stakes for precise forecasting have never been higher. With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) acceleration , deploying an inappropriate model will quickly lead to poor forecast accuracy; a poor forecast can cascade into inventory shortages, misaligned capacity planning and dissatisfied customers. Mix and match addresses this by automating model evaluation, reducing planner workload, and improving accuracy—without requiring specialized data science skills. At its core, mix and match utilizes an intelligent, omnipresent semantic network architecture. This is where forecasting configuration is defined—inputs, outputs, and horizons—in addition to core evaluations of models using KPIs like Mean Squared Error (MSE). For each run, one model is used per node and planning horizon. Then in subsequent forecasting run, models may be reevaluated and chosen differently as data conditions evolve. Is traditional forecasting failing you? Learn how to replace manual spreadsheets with autonomous forecasting that evolves as fast as your customers do. Discover More A portfolio of models Mix and match leverages a diverse set of models, including but not limited to: Levandowski (Statistical) : Strong for seasonality but sensitive to sudden trend shifts. GAM (Generalized Additive Model) : Ideal for incorporating causal factors like promotions and holidays. Deep ML / Meta Learning : Detects hidden nonlinear patterns—provided data quality is high. Additional options such as Temporal Fusion Transformers (TFT) and AVS Graves enhance short-term responsiveness. Mix and match forecasting offers several strategic benefits. It ensures adaptive accuracy by selecting the best-fit model for each node and planning horizon, while automation eliminates the need for manual model switching. Built-in transparency provides explainability, fostering trust in the process. This approach is highly scalable, supporting enterprise-level complexity and offers flexibility by allowing integration of custom machine learning models for a bring-your-own-model strategy. Limitations to consider While powerful, mix and match has constraints. Each forecasting run uses one model per node (no intra-run mixing), deep models require substantial data, and GAM demands some feature engineering. Additionally, certain models have time-bucket restrictions such as Levandowski. Best practices for implementation and scale Start with a core model set, segment by business use case (short-term vs. long-term), and invest in clean causal data such as promotions and pricing which typically come from external systems in your tech stack. Be sure to flag anomalies and monitor KPIs at granular levels for continuous improvement. Its a journey and it takes time to be a master. Bottom line Mix and match forecasting is more than an AI buzzword—its a practical, scalable solution for improving supply chain accuracy. By automating model selection and leveraging both categorical and numerical elements, businesses can align forecasts with operational needs, reduce planner burden, and deliver measurable results. In a market full of lofty AI promises, this approach stands out of the crowd due to credibility and impact. Are you ready to mix and match models? To learn more about how you can start improving forecast accuracy, check out the Blue Yonder Platform and our Demand and Supply Planning solution. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today ### [Supply chain trends to pay attention to according to NRF 2026](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/supply-chain-trends-to-pay-attention-to-according-to-nrf-2026) > Missed NRF 2026? We’ve distilled the key takeaways into a must-read guide on the supply chain innovations and strategies shaping the next 12 months. Blog Supply chain trends to pay attention to according to NRF 2026 Supply chain trends to pay attention to according to NRF 2026 Mckenna Bailey , January 27, 2026 2 minute read There’s no better way to kick off a new year than at Retail’s Big Show. NRF 2026 did not disappoint. With a distinguished lineup of speakers and innovative exhibitors on every floor, everyone left the Javits Center inspired. Every session presented a unique perspective on success in the retail industry, but after three days, it was clear that a few trends are on everyone’s mind for 2026. Here is a list of the major priorities we heard from supply chain companies for the next twelve months. Agentic AI is top of mind for supply chain companies AI solutions have dominated the conversation for a few years now. At previous conferences, though, discussion leaders talked about what would be possible. Now, companies have experience in what works for their supply chain and their customers. And AI agents seem to be working for most companies. During the opening keynote, CEO and Founder of Fanatics, Michael Rubin, discussed how agentic AI tools transformed the website and retail floor. Customers won’t add products to their baskets if they can’t find them. Agentic AI can suggest the most relevant products based on much more than just what’s currently in their cart. They can gather data from previous visits, interests, and location to ensure the best suggestions are shown. Companies will continue to explore the ways various AI tools can add value to their operations. More importantly, they will find specific ways to use AI to address their unique pain points. AI technology is no longer a nice-to-have or an unknown multiplier. Employees are finding new use cases and creating more efficient workflows all the time. 2026 is primed to be an inflection point. Companies that adopt AI technology across their supply chains will start to see rapid growth, while those that remain on legacy systems may experience declines in operations—and possibly, customer loyalty. Is your strategy built for the AI revolution? 2026 marks the year AI becomes the true beating heart of the supply chain. Download our latest ebook to learn more and ensure your strategy is set for 2026 and beyond. Download For Free Partnership is imperative to success Executives across industries are facing more complex problems, many for the first time. To make matters more complicated, the issues are compounding faster than ever. Unfortunately, we didn't get any indication that this trend is going to slow down for 2026. But, one promising solution stood out: partnerships. We saw partnerships working in two important ways. Both were on display during the Blue Yonder Big Ideas session featuring Fabletics and REI. Both companies shared how data transparency had supercharged the functions within their supply chain. By ensuring all workers across the supply chain could access the same data at the same time, both REI and Fabletics unlocked new levels of collaboration, proactive decision-making, and efficiency within their organization. Both companies also leaned on Blue Yonder as a partner throughout the adoption process and as new use cases emerged. This partnership, between solution companies and their customers, isn’t new. However, in 2026 it will likely move from a luxury to a critical part of success. Technology partners who know exactly what matters to your business, who understand the nuances of your daily decisions, and the product features that can make your business more resilient to uncertainty will make a huge difference in performance this year. Technology companies and their customers should look for ways to communicate more openly so their collaboration can add consistent value to both sides. No opportunity is too small for supply chain efficiency If 2025 was the year for big ideas and comprehensive change, 2026 is the year of refining the new processes and operations. Supply chain executives know that we are living in a defining moment where anything can change in an instant. They also know a complete overhaul is impossible if they want to continue to run a profitable business. As such, companies are focused on making small, consistent changes over time. One Chief Merchandising Officer talked about the increasing demands from customers. They needed a way to maintain and exceed customer expectations. They wanted a way to be hyper-reactive and adaptive to their customers, because, ultimately, that’s the only way to win. Rather than thinking big, the company focused on small wins, simple strategies for obvious obstacles, and which choices made the biggest impact. Similar to the expressed focus on agentic AI, this shift to smaller strategies show that everyone agrees that what worked in the past won’t be sustainable in the future. Companies are taking advantage of every opportunity, no matter how small, to update their workflows and build more resilient supply chains. Customer obsession is very real for all companies Finally, the most obvious trend is companies’ continued obsession with their customers. Whether they’re building out more robust omnichannel experiences or finding new ways to increase delivery speeds, almost every speaker emphasized keeping the customers’ needs at the center of all their decisions. The weight of an exceptional customer experience isn’t new, but what is shifting is who is thinking about ways to improve it. In previous decades, only those in executive positions, or employees on the retail floor, considered new ways to serve the customer. Those employees in the middle of the supply chain focused on other priorities. But as silos throughout the supply chain break down and more collaboration happens, more workers will think about how their daily job affects the end customer. Much like the rest of the conference, the main takeaway from discussions surrounding customer experience was: think big, execute with specific actions, and work together to delight customers. It sounds like a winning strategy to us. Stay updated on supply chain trends Want more insights into the state of the industry and how you can build a more efficient supply chain? Subscribe to our newsletter: The Supply Chain Compass. Your true north for supply chain insights Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today ### [Architecting the agentic supply chain: from dashboards to digital workers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/architecting-the-agentic-supply-chain) > Move beyond legacy systems. Learn why 82% of leaders say outdated tech holds them back and how architecting an agentic supply chain turns volatility into a competitive advantage. Blog Architecting the agentic supply chain: from dashboards to digital workers Architecting the agentic supply chain: from dashboards to digital workers Blue Yonder , January 26, 2026 5 minute read It is a scene frequently observed in workshops with supply chain leaders: a moment of quiet realization when an executive finally admits, “We’re doing everything we can… but we’re still falling behind.” The room gets quiet. Everyone knows what they mean. Their teams are working heroically, but the business environment has changed faster than their operating model can adapt. The truth is, our supply chains were built for an era of stability. Today, they operate in an environment defined by constant volatility, omnichannel complexity, and immense time compression. The core problem we face is that our legacy systems and siloed operating models simply cannot deliver the speed and precision required to compete. The system is outmatched. This isn't just a feeling; it's a widely recognized reality. In fact, results from the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass survey revealed that 82% of respondents agreed that outdated technology will hold back their supply chain performance. The scramble to react is no longer a sustainable strategy. We need a new operating model. What an agentic supply chain actually means Let’s be precise. The “agentic supply chain” is not a rebranding of analytics or a collection of disconnected AI pilots. It is a fundamental architectural shift. In technical terms, the definition is this: Agentic supply chain is a closed-loop decisioning and execution system where autonomous agents continuously optimize and act across supply chain domains using unified data, shared constraints, and outcome-driven policies. This moves us from systems that support human decisions to systems that can sense, reason, decide, and execute across the network. Many organizations already use AI for prediction, which answers the question: what will happen? But value is unlocked by decision automation , which answers: what should we do? This is the move from passive dashboards that show you what happened to active "digital workers" that shape what happens next. This is not experimental. Blue Yonder processes 25 billion AI predictions per day , which proves this is operational at scale, not a theoretical concept. The operating model: a closed-loop system for execution At its core, the agentic supply chain operates on a continuous loop designed for execution, not just recommendation. See: This first step involves ingesting a continuous stream of real-time and near-real-time signals from across the network. This includes data on demand, inventory levels, logistics capacity, lead times, disruptions, and active business policies. Analyze: Next, the system evaluates the current system state using forecasting, causal diagnostics, anomaly detection, and constraint reasoning. It identifies deviations from the plan and evaluates potential scenarios to understand the implications of various signals and compute tradeoffs. Decide: Based on the analysis, the system computes the best possible action. It weighs competing objectives—such as cost, service levels, profit margin, and capacity utilization—using a combination of optimization and AI-driven policy logic to determine the optimal path forward. Act: This is the critical differentiator. The system doesn't just generate a recommendation for a human to review. It takes direct action to execute the decision within operational workflows, such as triggering a replenishment order, reallocating inventory, changing a sourcing strategy, or adjusting wave planning in the warehouse. The architectural foundations for autonomy An agentic supply chain isn't an add-on module; it requires a set of foundational, platform-level capabilities to function safely and effectively. Unified data and network visibility Agentic systems cannot operate on conflicting information. They require a single data foundation to eliminate the "phantom inventory" and distorted demand signals that plague siloed environments. This must be a multi-tier network view that provides visibility into suppliers and carriers, reducing the uncertainty that forces companies to carry excess buffer stock. When companies open the supply chain to partners, they can achieve a 30% reduction in inventory. Unified decisioning Unified decisioning is the coordination of decisions across both planning and execution to calculate end-to-end tradeoffs. Instead of a merchandising team optimizing for buying cost while a logistics team optimizes for truckloads—often with conflicting results—the system evaluates decisions based on their impact on the entire network. The supply chain becomes a system of decisions, not a chain of departments. Interoperability for execution Autonomy fails if a decision, no matter how intelligent, cannot be executed. This requires interoperability, which is far more than just integration. The distinction is critical: Integration moves data. Interoperability moves decisions into execution reliably. It is about ensuring workflow continuity across your WMS, TMS, order management, and partner systems. Governance and guardrails To be trusted, autonomy must be controlled. Policy guardrails are the rules that define what autonomous agents are permitted to do. These can include margin thresholds to prevent unprofitable decisions, service tier rules to prioritize key customers, or conditions requiring human approval for certain actions. These guardrails ensure autonomy is both safe and aligned with business strategy. Explainability and observability For any organization to adopt an autonomous system, its actions must be understandable. Explainability provides a traceable rationale for why an action was taken—detailing which signals were used, what constraints applied, and which objectives were optimized. Observability provides the tools to monitor agent behavior and measure its direct impact on key performance indicators, tracking everything from action frequency to the impact of policy changes. Together, they prevent the system from ever becoming an operational "black box." Three concrete use cases in action 1: Inventory availability and waste reduction The cost of inventory distortion—out-of-stocks and overstocks—is estimated to be $1.7 trillion annually . Agentic execution directly addresses this by coordinating demand sensing, allocation, and replenishment in a single, continuous loop. In grocery, for example, it intelligently balances the competing goals of maximizing on-shelf availability and minimizing spoilage. It also fundamentally reframes the flow of returns . For many retailers, returns are one of their biggest "suppliers." An agentic system not only speeds the conversion of returns back into sellable inventory but can also inform strategies like encouraging in-store returns to increase foot traffic. Scaling success: how Sainsbury’s optimizes 1,400+ stores Discover how this €32.9 billion retailer partners with Blue Yonder to harness AI and ML for precision forecasting and enterprise-wide sustainability. Learn More 2: Order promising and fulfillment optimization Delivering an accurate promise date to a customer is a complex, multi-constraint problem that must account for inventory, labor, transportation capacity, and cost-to-serve. Agentic systems compute optimal fulfillment decisions at massive scale, sourcing orders from the ideal node—whether a distribution center or a retail store—to improve delivery accuracy and protect profit margins. This turns precision into a customer-facing capability. 3: Warehouse execution and throughput The modern warehouse is a highly dynamic environment where order profiles, labor availability, and outbound deadlines shift constantly. Agentic execution applies AI and machine learning to continuously optimize warehouse operations . It can dynamically adjust product slotting based on velocity and pick paths, generate store-ready pallet strategies to reduce in-store labor, and adjust wave sequencing to match outbound cutoffs, improving overall throughput and service. Your competitive advantage is now active, not passive The agentic supply chain is the necessary operating model for a world defined by volatility and rising customer expectations. The technical truth is that you cannot deliver speed and precision with siloed systems, batch data, and disconnected decision logic. The future of supply chain isn't a bigger dashboard; it's a system that can think, decide, and act . This frees your people from the daily scramble of manual reconciliations and allows them to do what only people can do: lead, strategize, and grow the business. By embedding intelligence directly into execution, you turn your supply chain from a reactive cost center into your most powerful competitive advantage. Ready to activate your competitive advantage? Start leading with an agentic supply chain that thinks, decides, and acts in real-time. Discover how Blue Yonder’s AI solutions turn reactive cost centers into active competitive advantages across global operations. Discover More ### [Four key touchpoints of the returns lifecycle](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/four-key-touchpoints-of-the-returns-lifecycle) > Discover how effective returns management can transform the customer experience. Explore tips for retailers and brands to navigate the returns lifecycle and mitigate costs. Blog Four key touchpoints of the returns lifecycle Four key touchpoints of the returns lifecycle Rhea Hall-Spencer , January 23, 2026 2 minute read While returns technology has become a must-have in recent years, many retailers and brands make the mistake of only considering one touchpoint of the returns lifecycle, and therefore (inadvertently) shifting the problem to another part of the business. How can retailers, brands, and logistics providers mitigate returns cost? Shopping is something that is both a necessity and a leisurely pastime. But what happens when something we purchase isn’t quite right? We return it. It sounds simple, but returns have become a significant challenge for retailers, brands, and logistics providers over the last decade. Return rates have reached an average of 40% in apparel. Returned merchandise totaled $890 billion in 2024, making this a problem too costly to ignore. But when talking about returns management, it is critical to understand (and assess) the full lifecycle of returns and implement a holistic strategy. In this article, we’ll provide a comprehensive look at the returns lifecycle and how to navigate it to improve the customer experience, boost loyalty, and increase profitability. Why the returns lifecycle matters Many retailers are focused on the buying experience. Yet critical aspects of the customer experience occur beyond the buy button (think: order management , inventory availability, reducing split shipments, the unboxing experience, and returns management). It might seem appealing to avoid returns, but they are inevitable. So rather than ignoring the problem, it’s wise to apply the same strategic approach to curating the best possible returns experience. This is a good time to mention that our 2025 Global Consumer Retail Returns Survey found that 84% of consumers will stop shopping at their favorite retailer if it implements stricter return policies that threaten the returns experience. 0 % average return rates in apparel $ 0 B total cost of returned merchandise in 2024 0 % of consumers will stop shopping at their favorite retailer if it implements stricter return policies What is the returns lifecycle? The returns lifecycle encompasses the entire process of handling returned goods, from the customer's initial request to the product's final destination. There are four stages of the returns lifecycle where software comes into play: 1. Initiation 2. Returns logistics 3. Processing 4. Final disposition Initiation In the initiation stage, a shopper requests a return. This stage can be executed in person at a store, via a returns portal on your ecommerce website, or over the phone via customer service. The initiation touchpoint sets the tone for the returns experience. The easier and simpler this is, the better for the customer. So, instead of having to access printers, contact customer service, or find their own way to ship parcels, using solutions like a self-service digital portal can provide customers with smooth, simple process while giving retailers complete visibility. Additionally, providing shoppers with alternative options to repurchase from you (via exchanges, store credit, or bonus credit to incentivize a future purchase) is a valuable way to save the sale and offset some of the cost of returns. Returns logistics The next touchpoint of the returns lifecycle addresses the question: “where and how do we get this product back”? Again, customer convenience reigns supreme here, and offering a variety of return methods is a great way to streamline the process. By doing so, inventory is returned quickly to the location most likely to resell it, ensuring it’s ready as soon as possible for the next shopper. Some popular return methods: Store returns (BORIS) Third-party drop-offs Doorstep pick-up Mail-back returns It’s worth noting that 71% of shoppers prefer to drop off a return at a physical location versus mailing it back, and 60% of shoppers say their top frustration with returns is paying for shipping, printing, and packaging returns. That’s why solutions like our self-service kiosks have achieved 93% customer satisfaction, allowing customers to return or send parcels in 60 seconds or less: label-free, package-free, and without needing a staff member to help. In addition, using solutions like Blue Yonder’s intelligent reverse fulfillment decisioning will also help retailers route returns to their optimal destination using AI, using data like predicted resale value, carrier costs and more. For example, if a high-value item is returned and a nearby store has a high stock turnover rate for that product, the AI will likely route the return directly to that store. This bypasses the distribution center, gets the product back on the shelf faster, and maximizes its resale value. This intelligent routing minimizes logistics costs, reduces the time an item spends in transit, and ultimately ensures that inventory is positioned where it has the highest probability of a quick and profitable sale. Returns processing The third touchpoint in the returns lifecycle, and perhaps one of the most critical for profitability , is the processing of the return . In this stage, operators want to consider. First, is the returned item the correct item? Returns fraud is a growing problem for retailers , representing nearly $101 billion in returns value for 2023. While most shoppers don’t have malicious intent, they can make mistakes too, like this one shopper that accidentally returned their cat . What is the condition of the item? Should it be available for resale? Does the product need basic re-processing services to reach “new” status, such as removing a scuff, steaming, or reapplying tags? What is the optimal disposition for the item? How can you prioritize outcomes that recover revenue while ensuring much less goes to landfills? This touchpoint of the returns lifecycle can occur either in a store or in a warehouse, but most of the time, associates lack the right software that can help them do this efficiently and effectively— resulting in a backlog of returns, delayed customer refunds, exceptions, or worse, items merely marked for disposal. And it can be a challenging step to get right. That’s why many retailers and 3PLs are switching from using their WMS to process returns to a purpose-built returns management system that they can deploy in a store or a warehouse. Final disposition The final touchpoint of the returns lifecycle is where the item can find a new, next-best home. While the ideal state is that returned inventory is returned to stock and sold at full price, having other high-margin secondary channels is critical for protecting profitability. When evaluating this stage of the returns lifecycle, consider the various resale and secondary channels that you can leverage to not only improve recovery, but to also keep valuable items out of landfills. Tackling returns cross-functionally A challenge of tackling the problem of returns, is that many organizations lack ownership of the problem holistically. Yet recently, returns have jumped to a top priority for organizations looking to reduce their negative impact on profits and have begun to form cross-functional teams focused on returns. While returns technology has become a must-have in recent years, many retailers and brands make the mistake of only considering one touchpoint of the returns lifecycle, and therefore (inadvertently) shifting the problem to another part of the business. The most effective returns software considers data from all four touchpoints in the returns lifecycle to help construct a holistic view of the impact of returns, and how to truly transform retail returns from a disappointment to a delight. Transform retail returns from a disappointment to a delight Maximize revenue with an end-to-end returns solution that ensures the right decision for every return, at every touchpoint of the returns journey. Learn More ### [Three strategies for optimizing your results in “returnuary”](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/three-strategies-for-optimizing-your-results-in-returnuary) > Master "Returnuary" with 3 proven strategies to minimize return costs and protect your bottom line. Learn how to turn post-holiday logistics into a competitive advantage this January. Blog Three strategies for optimizing your results in “returnuary” Three strategies for optimizing your results in “returnuary” Hiu Wai Loh , January 22, 2026 2 minute read January marks the start of a brand new year. That means consumers everywhere are making resolutions, joining gyms, journaling, cutting back on alcohol and calories, and engaging in other self-improvement activities. Unfortunately for the world’s retailers, consumers are also returning products. A lot of products. Whether it’s unwanted Christmas gifts, that dress they never wore to the office party or the holiday punch bowl that wasn’t needed after all, retailers are seeing a veritable blizzard of returns this month — a phenomenon that’s become known in the industry as “Returnuary.” And, since the cost of processing a return averages about 30% of the product’s original price , this storm of product returns is every retailer’s nightmare. As retailers have become more aware of the cost of returns, some consumers will also encounter a nightmare scenario this month: It may not be as easy to return products as it once was . As consumers drop their returned merchandise in the mail, or hand it over to a carrier, they might encounter new, unexpected fees. When they visit the returns desk at a store, they might be informed that they’re outside the new 15- or 30-day return window. A Blue Yonder survey done in partnership with Incisiv shows that 57% of retailers have 5-15% of inventory value held up in returns processing But the retail industry is divided over these tough new tactics, and with good reason. First, they might discourage shoppers from making a purchase, since over two-thirds of consumers say they’re deterred by strict return policies. Second, retailers might offend and drive away loyal, well-intentioned shoppers who would otherwise have a high lifetime value. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 67% of shoppers report that a negative return experience would keep them from shopping with a specific retailer in the future. That moment when a retailer forbids a well-meaning consumer from returning a $39 sweater could have a much, much higher cost in the long run. So what can retailers do to survive Returnuary with their short-term margins intact, while still driving longer-term, loyalty-based revenue? Here are three tips from Blue Yonder. 0 % The average cost of processing a return from the products original value 0 % of retailers have 5-15% of inventory value held up in returns processing 0 % of shoppers report that a negative return experience would keep them shipping with a specific retailer in the future 1. Know who’s returning and act accordingly 49% of retailers say speeding up returns to resale is a top inventory priority. One strategy to accomplish this is to accurately distinguish a valued, repeat shopper from a consumer who engages in returns fraud, serial returning or the growing practice of “wardrobing” — wearing that sparkly sequined dress to the New Year’s Eve party, then returning it this week. Retailers have a surprising amount of data readily available to them that can help make this distinction. Advanced digital solutions can gather this data — including individual customers’ history, purchasing behaviors and returns frequency — to deliver a personalized returns experience based on that data. Retailers can enforce stricter policies in response to today’s fast-growing volumes, but in a smarter, more targeted manner. For instance, retailers can implement shorter returns windows for serial returners, while also flagging shoppers they suspect of returns fraud, wardrobing or other suspicious activity. Even if they choose not to prosecute fraudulent returners, retailers can make it harder for those individuals to commit fraud the next time. Conversely, retailers can deliver faster refunds and incentives to repurchase for loyal shoppers with a high lifetime value — driving future sales. 2. Make the returns process smarter year-round While January has a high volume of returns, the fact remains that returns are a big — and growing — problem all year long. The NRF estimates that 19.3% of online sales will be returned in 2025. Returning merchandise is becoming more commonplace all the time, with 82% of consumers saying free returns are an important consideration when shopping online. About two-thirds of consumers engage in “bracketing,” or buying multiple sizes or colors of apparel items, with the intention of returning those that don’t fit. It’s clear that, while Returnuary is an important event, returns are a year-round problem. That makes it imperative for retailers to minimize the cost and time involved in every single return, every day. They can achieve that by making the process fast and seamless for the consumer with easy, label-less submissions. But they can also increase speed and efficiency by establishing real-time visibility across the returns process. As soon as a return is initiated, retailers can get resources in place to quickly receive and process that return. Imagine if employees in the warehouse were ready with all the information they need when the returned product arrives — such as customer history, order details, complete product information, possible problems with the item’s condition and the return reason. Manual confirmations could be performed quickly, speeding the item back into selling position. Popular or seasonal items could be further fast-tracked, increasing their sell-ability and profitability. While returns are an unavoidable challenge, retailers can do a lot to minimize the time and costs of the end-to-end returns cycle. They can also accelerate the product’s path back to the warehouse aisle or the retail shelf. Again, digital solutions are readily available to help. 3. Partner with an expert before another year passes Returnuary is an annual event, which means retailers have 12 months to prepare for the 2027 post-holiday season. Why try to master the challenge of returns alone, when Blue Yonder has the retail expertise and advanced digital solutions to help? Returns management capabilities from Blue Yonder support retailers in every stage of the reverse logistics journey, from returns initiation and drop-off kiosks through orchestration and processing. With decades of experience and hundreds of retail customers, Blue Yonder understands the complex problem of returns management — and we’ve developed advanced solutions that are custom-tailored to this real-world need. Today’s retailers face incredible challenges in addition to returns, including demand volatility, omni-channel competition, brand differentiation and labor shortages. Why not partner with an expert in returns management who can deliver a specialized solution quickly and cost-effectively — so you can focus on bigger issues? Get ready for a successful Returnuary 2027 Start taking strategic action right now and discover the power of Blue Yonder returns management for yourself. Get In Touch Explore Returns Management ### [Common AI Fears in Supply Chain Management And How to Overcome Them](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/common-ai-fears-in-supply-chain-management-and-how-to-overcome-them) > Implementing organizational change requires buy-in across all departments. Without advocates, even the most necessary changes are at risk of failing. No tool exemplifies this intersection between essential and nerve-wracking quite like AI (Artificial Intelligence). Every company has both avid adopters and hesitant detractors. Common AI fears in supply chain management (and how to overcome them) Common AI Fears in Supply Chain Management And How to Overcome Them Mckenna Bailey , January 22, 2026 3 minute read Implementing organizational change requires buy-in across all departments. Without advocates, even the most necessary changes are at risk of failing. No tool exemplifies this intersection between essential and nerve-wracking quite like AI . Every company has both avid adopters and hesitant detractors. While AI is certainly not a simple tool to implement, many of the most common reservations surrounding it often come down to misunderstandings about its capabilities. To ensure that companies are evaluating AI solutions the right way, we’ve identified four common misconceptions about AI to debunk. Armed with this new understanding, your departments will show much more enthusiasm about integrating AI into their daily workflow. Misconception #1: AI will take human jobs The top concern felt across industries is how AI will impact the jobs of the existing workforce. Warehouse workers across the U.S are expressing a concern that “robots” will “steal” their jobs. AI can, and should, alleviate some responsibilities from jobs throughout the supply chain. Tasks that take too long without the power of machine learning, those that are too monotonous or dangerous to leave to valuable people. All these are perfect for AI. The fear that AI will take over meaningful work that people enjoy comes from watching companies implement AI without a thoughtful strategy. Like every solution, AI must have a purpose and a reason. Manufacturing companies , for example, need AI to highlight insights from infinite data sources. But the final decision should include the perspective and expertise of the people who work in those warehouses. Misconception #2: data quality and management is a nightmare Another common refrain throughout the AI conversation is “garbage in, garbage out.” The warning describes the data used to power various AI solutions. If the data that is used in the various algorithms isn’t accurate, up-to-date, and relevant, the results it suggests won’t be either. Just thinking about cleaning and managing the volume of data required to get valuable insights from AI makes executives and employees alike nervous. While we can’t say this fear is completely unfounded, data cleanliness is not an insurmountable obstacle. If data management is a primary reservation stopping your organization from adopting AI solutions, consider the platforms you partner with. The experts who build the AI tools and the professionals who train your team should give you confidence to use AI effectively. Choose solutions that foster ongoing relationships so data management is easier from day one. Misconception #3: not enough internal expertise to take full advantage of AI Along similar lines, a third common reason companies resist adopting AI tools is because they lack internal expertise. AI is a powerful tool that many people don’t understand. The concern is businesses will invest heavily in a tool that employees abandon in frustration. Much like a new language, learning AI is a never-ending process. Today’s experts encounter new information all the time. Your employees will be no different. But, if we allowed ourselves to ignore anything that wasn’t immediately understood, the supply chain itself likely wouldn’t exist. Definitely not in its modern form. Worrying that your organization doesn’t have enough internal expertise is the most reasonable fear. But it is also the best reason to get started. AI capabilities will only get more complex as time goes on. The best strategy for staying competitive is to start learning everything you can right now. Misconception #4: AI tools open companies to security risks Finally, companies hesitate to adopt AI tools because of data security concerns. Any company dealing with any amount of data should use best practices for data privacy and security. Building a foundation of trust is a non-negotiable for companies and customers alike. But to upgrade best practices to a proactive approach, AI is the very thing that can help a business stay secure. AI tools can automate threat detection and prevention. It can suggest actions for IT teams to take to build better security measures. Learn more about AI and machine learning for the supply chain Find out more about AI, machine learning, and how all of it impacts the supply chain, read our e-book Demystifying AI. Download For Free ### [Insight-driven planning: turning chaos into clarity](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/insight-driven-planning-turning-chaos-into-clarity) > Stop guessing and start growing. Explore how to leverage data and move from chaos to clarity with insight-driven planning. Blog Insight-driven planning: turning chaos into clarity Insight-driven planning: turning chaos into clarity Chris Shrope , January 21, 2026 2 minute read In today's volatile supply chain environment, planners face a relentless wave of disruptions such as shifting demand, order changes, supply shortages, and capacity constraints. Most of their day is spent reacting to problems, assessing impact, and fixing issues one by one. This reactive approach often addresses symptoms rather than root causes, leaving systemic issues unresolved and increasing costs, waste, and lost sales. The planning challenge Supply chains generate massive amounts of data, and planners are overwhelmed by the pace of change. Disconnected systems create data silos, while manual processes slow response times and introduce errors . Planners struggle to identify root causes and trends between cycles, leading to a host of issues such as inefficient resource utilization, missed opportunities and reduced agility. What is it? Insight-driven planning transforms exception management into an intelligent, actionable, and repeatable process. Instead of treating exceptions in isolation, this framework combines three critical components into a single actionable object: 1. Exception: A KPI below target or degraded from a previous plan. Example: projected OTIF falls below 90%. 2. Root cause: Intelligence identifies why the exception occurred. Example: a decommitted purchase order caused a late customer order. 3. Resolution: Guided playbooks recommend standard actions. Example: expediting or reallocating supply. By consolidating these elements, planners gain clarity and can prioritize actions that deliver the greatest supply chain impact. Artificial intelligence amplifies the process by detecting patterns such as multiple exceptions tied to a single supplier, enabling planners to resolve thousands of issues with a single strategic action. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today Why it matters Traditional planning is reactive and fragmented. Insight-driven planning changes the game by enabling: Proactive disruption management: Identify and resolve issues before they escalate. Increased efficiency: Frees planners from manual, time-consuming tasks. Optimized outcomes: Align demand, supply, and inventory for better financial performance and posture. Agility and responsiveness: Quickly adapt to market changes and disruptions. Enhanced visibility: Understand all cycle-to-cycle changes and associated root causes. The result? Reduced operational costs, improved collaboration, and higher-quality plans. How Blue Yonder delivers insight-driven planning Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning goes beyond traditional exception management by capturing disruptions between planning cycles—not just KPI deviations. It surfaces root causes by tracking every cycle-over-cycle change and provides tailored workflows with recommended resolutions. Planners are guided to address issues that deliver maximum value, moving from reactive firefighting to proactive, value-driven planning. If you are looking to compare different insight frameworks, keep a close eye on the following aspects for the best results: Unified planning platform: Eliminates data silos and ensures consistent workflows. Advanced analytics and AI: Transforms raw data into actionable insights. Real-time disruption management: Immediate visibility into unexpected changes. Intelligent workflows: Guided actions to resolve systemic issues efficiently. Bottom line Insight-driven planning empowers planners to make informed decisions with machine speed and precision. By combining exceptions, root causes, and resolutions into actionable insights, organizations can achieve agility, optimize resources, and maintain a competitive edge in an unpredictable world. Ready to experience the future of planning? Check out the insight-driven planning demonstration to understand how it can help transform your planning process. Watch Demo ### [Demystifying AI in supply chain: The enterprise blueprint for AI transformation](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/demystifying-ai-in-supply-chain) > AI is increasingly a must-have in supply chain management, but success demands a strategic, enterprise-wide approach. Here's the framework. Demystifying AI in supply chain: The enterprise blueprint for AI transformation Demystifying AI in supply chain: The enterprise blueprint for AI transformation Danielle Strouther , January 16, 2026 1 minute read Global supply chains are operating in an environment of unprecedented volatility. Pandemic disruptions, geopolitical instability, labor shortages, and inflation have reshaped the way enterprises operate. Meanwhile, data volumes have surged to overwhelming levels. Globally, industrial manufacturing is estimated to generate 4.4 zettabytes of data by 2030, with logistics and retail adding even more complexity. For executives at large enterprises, this creates a paradox: More data than ever before, but less clarity. According to recent research , 85% of leaders report “decision distress,” making 10x more decisions daily than they did a decade ago—often with incomplete or siloed information. This is where enterprise AI software becomes transformative. AI and machine learning (ML) supply chain platforms provide the intelligence and automation needed to cut through the noise, accelerate decision-making and unlock operational resilience. Yet, adopting AI in supply chain requires more than technology—it demands a strategic, enterprise-wide approach. Our ebook, “ Demystifying AI ”, offers a practical framework for integrating artificial intelligence in supply chain operations at scale. 0 ZB of data is estimated to be generated by industrial manufacturing by 2030 0 % of leaders report decision distress 0 % of supply chain working hours can be automated by AI Why AI and ML are now business imperatives AI and ML are no longer experimental—they are reshaping the core functions of the modern supply chain. AI adoption provides ROI across all enterprise functions, driven by measurable cost reductions, revenue gains and improved agility. Here’s how leading organizations are deploying ML supply chain software to impact every phase: Planning and forecasting AI demand planning improves forecast accuracy by leveraging vast datasets. Predictive analytics enables proactive resource alignment and inventory optimization. Scenario modeling with AI shrinks simulation timelines from hours to minutes, improving agility. Sourcing and procurement ML assesses supplier risk and predicts environmental impacts. AI-driven insights help build resilient supplier networks and minimize exposure to disruptions. Production and manufacturing AI in production detects anomalies for quality control, optimizes resource allocation and reduces energy waste. Connected solutions integrate AI to support frontline decision-making and boost throughput. Logistics and distribution AI in logistics and supply chain enables predictive ETA, load risk modeling and route optimization. AI-driven decision engines dynamically reroute shipments in response to real-time disruptions. Returns and sustainability AI optimizes returns workflows and reduces waste through predictive reverse logistics. AI-driven network design improves circular economy initiatives and cost efficiency. The challenges of scaling AI and ML in supply chain While the benefits are clear, integrating AI and ML supply chain software across global enterprises is complex. Many leaders face common hurdles: Siloed pilots that fail to scale: Testing AI in isolated functions without aligning to core business objectives limits ROI. Data fragmentation: Disparate systems and poor data governance hinder the effectiveness of AI models. Change management friction: According to Accenture, generative AI can automate up to 29% of supply chain working hours, requiring workforce transformation and skill development. Integration complexity: Legacy infrastructure often lacks the architecture required for modern AI and ML platforms to operate effectively. Discover how to scale your AI transformation When supply chain leaders approach AI transformation with a strategic mindset, good things happen. Find out more in our free ebook. Download For Free Building the AI-driven enterprise supply chain From our work with global leaders, four critical pillars emerge for success in AI for supply chain adoption: 1. Start with high-impact use cases Focus on AI demand planning, ML supply chain software and predictive analytics in areas tied directly to financial KPIs (inventory turns, OTIF rates, margin improvement). Early wins build momentum for enterprise-wide scaling. 2. Establish a robust data architecture AI thrives on high-quality, unified data. Investing in data labeling platforms and integration layers creates a single source of truth, eliminating blind spots and empowering advanced modeling. 3. Blend AI agents with human expertise AI agents now automate routine tasks—shrinking data analysis from hours to minutes, surfacing insights autonomously and synchronizing workflows across departments. Importantly, AI amplifies human judgment rather than replacing it, with 93% of business leaders believing humans should be involved in AI-driven decisions. 4. Partner for scale and speed Most enterprises lack the internal capacity to build custom supply chain AI from scratch. Modern AI solutions are designed to deliver value faster with out-of-the-box capabilities tailored for supply chain complexity—accelerating time to ROI while enabling long-term scalability. Increasingly, AI tools can also expedite data preparation, software customization and implementation, making it even faster to achieve business impact. The benefits of AI-enabled supply chains Enterprises that fully integrate supply chain AI software realize transformative benefits: Speed: Accelerate decision-making across planning, logistics and operations. Efficiency: Eliminate manual, repetitive tasks, freeing teams for strategic initiatives. Agility: Respond to disruptions proactively, mitigating risk before it impacts KPIs. Visibility: Gain end-to-end insight across functions with a unified AI-driven platform. Sustainability: Use AI to reduce emissions, optimize networks and support circular supply chains. Your path forward: From hype to results AI in supply chain is no longer a “wait and see” opportunity. The enterprise leaders driving competitive advantage today are those embedding ML supply chain platforms into core operations and scaling capabilities across planning, sourcing, logistics, and beyond. Download the ebook “ Demystifying AI ” to learn how to architect an AI roadmap, align internal teams and evaluate platforms purpose-built for enterprise supply chains. By approaching AI with a clear vision, the right architecture and specialized tools, enterprises can finally move beyond hype and achieve the promise of an autonomous, AI-orchestrated supply chain. Recalibrate your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today ### [Blue Yonder Recognized Again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Warehouse Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/blue-yonder-recognized-again-as-a-leader-in-the-nucleus-research-2025-wms) > Blue Yonder leads the 2025 Nucleus Research WMS Value Matrix. Learn how our industry-leading WMS technology optimizes warehouse operations and delivers proven ROI. Blog Blue Yonder Recognized Again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Warehouse Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™ Blue Yonder Recognized Again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Warehouse Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™ Sarah Hart , January 15, 2026 4 minute read Leading the Way in Intelligent Warehouse Management Blue Yonder is proud to announce its position as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Value Matrix. This prominent placement validates our commitment to providing best-in-class solutions that navigate warehouse complexity and deliver substantial, quantifiable returns on investment for our global customers. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the current WMS market, assessing major technology vendors. Blue Yonder’s placement as a Leader highlights our positive momentum on both the “Better Functionality” and “Greater Usability” axes of the Value Matrix assessment, positioned furthest to the right for functionality. This acknowledgment marks our third consecutive recognition as a Leader in this report. Blue Yonder is also a Leader in multiple Nucleus Research Value Matrix reports, including Supply Chain Planning , Transportation Management Systems , Control Towers , and Workforce Management. Why modern WMS matters more than ever In the rapidly evolving world of supply chains and logistics, warehouse management technology is seeing a changing and maturing market. The 2025 Warehouse Management Systems Value Matrix highlights a pivotal shift with WMS solutions moving beyond process execution to intelligent orchestration, helping organizations tackle rising costs, labor shortages, and global trade instability. Warehouses have become strategic control points, connecting sourcing, production, and last-mile delivery in real time. Persistent cost pressures, trade disruptions, and changing customer expectations mean companies must manage smaller, more frequent orders while absorbing higher labor and transportation expenses. Organizations need solutions that optimize workforce performance, balance labor resources, and verify the true return on automation. These challenges have driven a surge in the adoption of modern WMS platforms. Driving the future of intelligent warehousing Modern supply chains demand more than just execution. They require intelligence, agility, and seamless integration. Blue Yonder’s WMS delivers exactly that, combining advanced AI-driven capabilities with a unified operational framework. From predictive planning and continuous optimization to human-robot collaboration and cloud-native flexibility, our solution empowers businesses to stay ahead of shifting demand, labor challenges, and automation complexity. With strategic ecosystem expansions and cutting-edge architecture, Blue Yonder is redefining what it means to run a connected, future-ready warehouse. Unified operations: Blue Yonder connects inbound, outbound, yard, inventory, and labor processes in a single environment, eliminating the need for separate execution systems. AI-driven WMS: Our Cognitive Solution continuously learns and optimizes slotting, fulfillment, and task and workforce deployment, adapting to changing demand and operational conditions. Predictive planning: Embedded machine learning forecasts labor, equipment, and asset requirements days or weeks in advance, helping our customers balance staffing and reduce costs. Continuous optimization: Our dynamic resource orchestration reallocates labor and automation resources in real-time, while predictive task time models improve workload planning. Unified human and robotic collaboration: Blue Yonder’s Robotics Hub provides a vendor-agnostic interface to onboard, monitor, and optimize multiple robotic fleets, balancing workloads between human and robotic resources. Agentic AI user experience: Dedicated AI agents monitor system data, detect patterns, and propose corrective actions, supporting what-if analyses and decision automation for our customers. Cloud-native architecture: Blue Yonder customers benefit from zero-downtime updates, elastic scaling, and modular microservice activation, tailoring deployment to their operational maturity. Unified Platform and AI Data Cloud: Our WMS runs on the industry’s first end‑to‑end supply chain platform, the Blue Yonder Platform. Unifying data in the AI Data Cloud enables our solution, which delivers near real-time visibility, dynamic capacity management, and prescriptive decision-making. Strategic ecosystem expansion: We extended our reach into returns, post-purchase, and sustainability management with the acquisitions of Optoro, Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions, and Pledge. The future: Connected, data-driven warehouses Blue Yonder’s continued recognition as a Leader in the Nucleus Research WMS Value Matrix underscores our unwavering commitment to innovation and customer success. By advancing AI-driven automation, sustainability-focused optimization, and seamless orchestration of planning and execution, we empower businesses to navigate complexity with confidence, speed, and precision. Read the complete Nucleus Research 2025 Warehouse Management Systems Value Matrix We are committed to delivering transformative solutions that support complex, multi-site operations. Our goal is to help global customers across industries, including consumer goods, retail, manufacturing, logistics, and life sciences, achieve new levels of efficiency and measurable productivity. Ready to transform your warehouse? Contact us to learn more about our AI-powered solutions and how we are shaping the future of intelligent warehousing. Talk To Us ### [On the road to Cognitive: Intelligent and agentic Blue Yonder Order Management](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/on-the-road-to-cognitive-intelligent-and-agentic-blue-yonder-order-management) > Move faster and operate smarter with Blue Yonder’s cognitive Order Management. Explore how agentic AI helps retailers navigate demanding peak seasons with ease. Blog On the road to Cognitive: Intelligent and agentic Blue Yonder Order Management On the road to Cognitive: Intelligent and agentic Blue Yonder Order Management Hiu Wai Loh , January 9, 2026 2 minute read After a demanding peak season that underscored the need for speed, accuracy, and resilience, Blue Yonder is introducing the next evolution of Order Management that is designed to help retailers move faster and operate smarter. Blue Yonder Order Management: The future-ready generation of order management solutions - re-imagined, agentic, user-first systems ready for anything tomorrow has in store. At the center of this evolution is a revolutionary UX/UI that employs AI agents, is designed to simplify complexity, increase accountability, and speed – all while providing a personalized experience for each user. Built on Blue Yonder’s existing inventory and order management microservices, the latest release completely reimagines how users interact with solutions and delivers end-to-end order visibility, intelligent prioritization, and transparent sourcing decisions. Smart queues, explainable fulfilment sourcing views, and agentic chat interactions ensure teams can focus on what matters most: identifying risks and preventing problems before they impact customers. Native AI agents that work alongside your teams This release introduces role-based AI agents embedded directly into Blue Yonder Order Management: The Fulfillment Agent explains order sourcing decisions, monitors on-time delivery goals, and enables rapid configuration updates through guided conversations and actionable alerts, helping teams optimize fulfillment costs, SLA adherence, and customer satisfaction. The Customer Service Agent acts as an intelligent ally for frontline teams, helping to capture and modify orders, respond quickly with AI-generated insights, and proactively surface risks such as delays or payment issues—dramatically reducing time to resolution. These agents are designed to augment human expertise, providing clarity, speed, and confidence with every decision. Order-driven demand planning powered by unified inventory As omnichannel fulfillment grows more complex, retailers need a single, accurate view of inventory across all nodes. Enhancements to our OMS now strengthen order-driven demand planning by directly connecting real-time orders with planning and fulfillment decisions. Enhancements to the Fulfillment Sourcing Simulator and Intelligent Rebalancer now allow teams to simulate sourcing strategies across nodes and make better planning decisions —optimizing cost, proximity, and service levels to improve ideal order placement and fill rates. The journey and the destination – AI-powered, interconnected solutions with cognitive intelligence 2026 marks a milestone for Blue Yonder Order Management solutions.  We continue to push the boundaries of innovation, intelligence, and incredible speed and scale with our OMS capabilities and shape the future of Order Management, where AI agents, unified inventory, and intelligent orchestration come together to help retailers execute with confidence, speed, and profitability from click to delivery. Ready to unlock the next evolution of order management? Take your omni-channel commerce to the next level by gaining real-time inventory availability, seamless order services, and operational efficiency to enhance customer satisfaction and profitability with Blue Yonder. Discover More ### [New returns enhancements help retailers capture value as peak returns begin](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/new-returns-enhancements-help-retailers-capture-value-as-peak-returns-begin) > Tackle peak returns with confidence. See how Blue Yonder’s new RMS enhancements empower retailers to make faster decisions and improve efficiency across the reverse journey. Blog New returns enhancements help retailers capture value as peak returns begin New returns enhancements help retailers capture value as peak returns begin Hiu Wai Loh , January 9, 2026 3 minute read As post-holiday sales give way to rising return volumes, retailers face a familiar challenge: how to process returns efficiently without eroding margins. With peak returns season approaching, Blue Yonder is announcing new Returns Management System (RMS) enhancements designed to help retailers make smarter, faster decisions across the reverse journey, turning returns from a cost center into a value-recovery opportunity. What’s new in Returns Management Smart Disposition for intelligent returns routing At the core of this release is an enhanced Smart Disposition engine , which determines the most profitable disposition path for every returned item. By combining business rules with machine learning (ML)-derived insights, retailers can intelligently route returns to the optimal location—whether that’s a store, distribution center, or recommerce channel. This ensures maximum value recovery while reducing unnecessary handling and waste. Warehouse returns: a new era of efficiency There are major enhancements on warehouse returns capabilities , enabling retailers to handle high volumes with greater speed and accuracy—including: Allows for bulk receipt and automated sorting integration to streamline large volumes of returns intake, reducing processing time and labor costs. Mobile returns processing feature adds flexibility and ease for operations, making it ideal for big and bulky items that don’t fit traditional workbench workflows. New recommerce and liquidation workflows are integrated to recover greater value from returned inventory. Returns analytics enhancements transform data captured during the returns process into actionable insights, helping retailers make strategic decisions to reduce returns and improve future buying. These enhancements are natively integrated with Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Warehouse Management System (WMS), ensuring tighter orchestration across orders, warehouses, and Smart Disposition. This cohesive approach accelerates processing speed, improves disposition accuracy, and scales effortlessly across channels and volumes. ML-predicted resale value to maximize recovery New ML capabilities assess the resale potential of returned items, enabling retailers to send products to the destination that offers the highest recovery value. This data-driven approach ensures that every return contributes to revenue recovery while minimizing waste. Configurable refund rules to balance cost and experience Retailers can now implement rules within their returns initiation journey to manage costs associated with serial returners while rewarding valuable customers. For example, targeted return charges can mitigate costs, while instant refunds can enhance the experience for loyal shoppers. Best-in-class returns, strengthened by Optoro These enhancements build on Blue Yonder’s growing returns portfolio following the Optoro acquisition , bringing together advanced decisioning, reverse logistics expertise, and omnichannel execution into a single, integrated offering. By combining Optoro’s trusted returns optimization technology with Blue Yonder’s end-to-end supply chain solutions, retailers benefit from a more cohesive returns strategy that scales across channels and volumes. Rethinking returns as a strategic advantage With these new capabilities, Blue Yonder is empowering retailers to move beyond reactive returns handling. By leveraging Smart Disposition, advanced warehouse returns functionality, and ML-driven insights, retailers can unlock smarter recovery, lower costs, and stronger margins across the reverse supply chain. Capture value during peak returns season and beyond Discover how to unlock smarter recovery, lower costs, and stronger margins across the reverse supply chain with Blue Yonder. Discover More ### [Tackling aftermarket automotive costs and service gaps](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2026/tackling-aftermarket-automotive-costs-and-service-gaps) > Is unpredictable demand tying up your capital? Discover how to eliminate service gaps and avoid obsolete stock while delivering the right automotive parts at the right time. Blog Tackling aftermarket automotive costs and service gaps Tackling aftermarket automotive costs and service gaps Bernard Cohen , January 5, 2026 2 minute read Balancing operational costs and customer satisfaction is tougher than ever. In today’s automotive aftermarket, manufacturers face a growing challenge . Managing thousands of SKUs with unpredictable demand patterns has become increasingly complex, especially when operating under significant cost and resource pressures. The result is often a delicate balance between operational costs and customer satisfaction. Too much stock ties up valuable capital, while too little stock risks customer dissatisfaction and lost revenue. Aftermarket manufacturers must navigate this complexity while delivering the right parts at the right time. Without advanced planning and visibility , inventory planning becomes a guessing game that can lead to excess stock of obsolete parts and critical shortages of high-demand items. Aftermarket chaos leads to inventory bloat One of the most pressing challenges in the aftermarket is inventory bloat caused by erratic demand . A component manufacturer may stock up on parts for a soon-to-be discontinued internal combustion engine model. Without precise demand forecasting, these parts—also known as “dead stock”—sit idle in warehouses, consuming space and capital. Dead stock not only ties up financial resources but also adds ongoing storage costs. Meanwhile, high-demand items may be unavailable when customers need them, harming service levels, and damaging relationships with distributors, repair shops, and end customers. Inventory misalignment has several consequences for aftermarket manufacturers: Reduced cash flow efficiency due to capital tied up in obsolete or slow-moving parts Increased warehouse costs from storing dead stock Lower customer satisfaction when critical parts are unavailable Challenges in maintaining optimal safety stock across thousands of SKUs Key performance indicators, such as parts availability, inventory as a percentage of sales, distressed inventory, and customer satisfaction scores are directly affected by these challenges. Why traditional planning systems fall short Most aftermarket manufacturers rely on legacy planning systems that cannot handle the complexity of modern aftermarket operations . Thousands of SKUs, combined with erratic demand and lifecycle-driven product changes, overwhelm traditional tools. Forecasts based on historical sales alone cannot predict sudden spikes in demand or the effects of discontinuing specific components. Without adaptive, AI-enabled systems, planners are forced to overstock items to avoid shortages or risk stockouts for fast-moving parts. Both outcomes hurt operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today What is needed to solve the problem Aftermarket manufacturers need more than incremental improvements to their planning processes. The solution requires a shift to adaptive inventory management that can respond dynamically to market demand. This includes: AI-driven demand forecasting capable of identifying patterns across thousands of SKUs Real-time simulation to anticipate supply and demand fluctuations Automated segmentation to prioritize high-demand parts while controlling slow-moving or obsolete inventory Integrated planning across demand, supply, and inventory to reduce silos and improve coordination Companies that adopt these capabilities can align inventory levels more closely with real market needs, reducing dead stock while ensuring that high-demand parts are always available. How Blue Yonder helps aftermarket manufacturers Blue Yonder provides AI and machine learning-powered solutions designed to tackle the challenges of aftermarket inventory planning. Our platform connects demand, inventory, and execution data, giving planners a single, unified view of the supply chain. Key capabilities include: Predictive demand planning that identifies erratic patterns and adjusts forecasts accordingly Scenario modeling and forecast reconciliation that give planners clearer insight before making stocking decisions Intelligent SKU classification that helps calibrate inventory levels based on demand behavior and lifecycle stage Integrated Business Planning to connect forecasting, supply planning and execution across the organization For example, Renault, a global automotive manufacturer, emphasizes the importance of responsive spare parts delivery across Europe. Their operations highlight the challenges of meeting service commitments in complex aftermarket networks. With Blue Yonder, Renault can orchestrate parts delivery across markets , reducing dead stock, improving inventory turnover, and maintaining service levels even for hard-to-predict demand. Business benefits and outcomes The adoption of adaptive, AI-driven planning systems delivers tangible results for aftermarket manufacturers: Reduced excess stock and lower carrying costs Improved inventory turnover and better cash flow Enhanced parts availability, reducing stockouts and increasing customer satisfaction Lower safety stock levels while maintaining high service levels Fewer overstocks of slow-moving or obsolete parts By enabling planners to respond quickly to changing demand patterns, Blue Yonder helps aftermarket manufacturers maintain operational efficiency while meeting customer expectations Addressing cost and resource pressures Aftermarket manufacturers operate under significant cost and resource pressures. Storage space is expensive, and capital tied up in inventory reduces flexibility to invest in other areas. In addition, workforce constraints make manual planning and adjustment increasingly difficult. AI-enabled planning solutions free planners from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value activities such as strategy and customer service. Maintaining service levels and customer satisfaction Customer expectations in the aftermarket are evolving rapidly. Mechanics and repair shops require parts quickly to meet service agreements, and delays can impact customer satisfaction. Manufacturers that cannot deliver on these expectations risk losing business to competitors. By providing granular visibility into demand and supply, Blue Yonder enables planners to maintain high service levels across complex aftermarket networks. Key considerations for manufacturers Manufacturers looking to improve their aftermarket operations should consider the following: How have erratic demand patterns influenced your inventory management strategies? What challenges do you face in balancing stock levels with customer demand? How have inventory issues affected your financial and operational outcomes? These questions help identify gaps in current planning processes and highlight opportunities for improvement. Balance operational costs and customer satisfaction in the aftermarket Managing thousands of SKUs with erratic demand patterns requires more than traditional planning tools. By adopting AI-enabled, adaptive inventory management systems, manufacturers can reduce excess stock, improve inventory turnover, and ensure that critical parts are available when customers need them. Blue Yonder provides the technology and expertise to connect demand, inventory, and execution across complex aftermarket networks. Manufacturers that leverage these capabilities gain a competitive edge, improving cash flow, maintaining high service levels, and delivering the parts their customers rely on. With responsive planning and a unified platform, aftermarket manufacturers can finally transform inventory chaos into operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Turn aftermarket uncertainty into opportunity Learn how Blue Yonder can help you seize the moment and make your supply chain not just efficient, but unbeatable. Discover More ### [Why traditional forecasting fails and how AI is fixing it](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-traditional-forecasting-fails-and-how-ai-is-fixing-it) > Stop relying on outdated manual forecasts. Learn how AI transforms data into actionable, high-accuracy supply chain insights. Why traditional forecasting fails and how AI is fixing it Why traditional forecasting fails and how AI is fixing it Why traditional forecasting fails and how AI is fixing it Chris Shrope , December 18, 2025 2 minute read Forecasting has long been the backbone of effective demand operations. But the rules have changed. Traditional models built on historical data and human intuition are no longer enough to handle today’s volatility. Customer demand now shifts in real time, shaped by weather, social sentiment, and market trends. Supply chains are stretched across continents and easily disrupted. The impact is immediate: warehouses filled with excess stock and shelves missing bestsellers. Both point to the same issue—a forecasting process that no longer reflects reality. It’s time to rethink how forecasting works. The limits of traditional demand forecasting Most forecasting methods assume the future will mirror the past. But when markets change overnight, those assumptions collapse. In many organizations, sales, marketing, and supply chain teams each rely on their own data and priorities. These issues result in siloed planning, where each department prioritizes its own KPIs instead of collaborating on a unified, consensus-based forecast. This fragmentation slows decision-making and reduces accuracy. When teams work from conflicting data, planning becomes reactive instead of strategic. From fragmented to unified: The power of data-driven forecasting AI and machine learning (AI/ML) applications now allow retailers to connect data across functions — from sales and promotions to market signals, competitor moves, and even weather forecasts. These systems continuously learn and adapt. Forecasts become living insights rather than static reports, improving accuracy as conditions evolve. Equally important, AI makes the process transparent. Instead of debating “whose numbers are right,” teams align on one version of the truth and focus on execution. What once took weeks of cross-functional debate can now happen in days or even hours. Unified, data-driven forecasting helps organizations plan faster, act confidently, and stay resilient in the face of disruption. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today The economic case for AI-driven planning Skeptics often view AI adoption as an expensive undertaking. Yet the cost of inaction is far greater. Inaccurate forecasts quietly erode profitability through lost sales, excess inventory, and wasted operational effort. Research from McKinsey shows that AI-powered automation can reduce time spent on supply chain planning by up to 50%—time that can instead be used for strategic decision-making and collaboration. Blue Yonder customers are already seeing these benefits in measurable ways. Swire Coca-Cola improved its responsiveness to demand volatility by enhancing planner accuracy and automation through Blue Yonder’s AI-powered planning solutions. Super Retail Group achieved a 20% reduction in inventory holdings by increasing forecast precision, freeing up working capital and reducing markdowns. Honda Trading Asia raised its customer service levels through more accurate forecasting and better visibility into demand. Together, these examples highlight a consistent truth: when businesses modernize forecasting with the right technology, accuracy becomes a direct driver of both efficiency and profitability. Building a demand plan that adapts Modern forecasting doesn’t replace human judgment; it amplifies it. AI-enabled systems handle repetitive tasks — data collection, pattern recognition, and baseline predictions — allowing planners to focus on strategic analysis and decision-making. Flexible platforms support multiple forecasting models, from best-fit to probabilistic, and integrate with existing tools. This ensures that institutional knowledge is preserved while technology enhances capability. A common data model is critical. When all departments operate from the same information, organizations avoid the costly missteps that come from disconnected plans. This shift transforms forecasting from a periodic task into a continuous cycle of learning and optimization. Why Blue Yonder for forecasting? Blue Yonder offers a flexible, scalable solution designed to meet each business where it is. The platform allows companies to mix and match forecasting models—whether best-fit or probabilistic—automatically recommending the most suitable approach for each business context. AI-guided support automates routine forecasting tasks, freeing teams to focus on complex challenges and strategic initiatives. Its orchestrated planning capabilities align demand across the entire organization, enabling informed decision-making at speed and scale. Built on a unified, common data model, Blue Yonder ensures that every decision is based on real-world data—reducing unintended consequences and improving efficiency. For organizations that have already invested in developing proprietary models, the platform integrates seamlessly, preserving existing technology while enhancing performance. This combination of flexibility, scalability, and proven customer success makes Blue Yonder the partner of choice for businesses seeking to strengthen their demand forecasting capabilities and stay ahead of change. Transform your demand and supply planning today Discover the market-leading, all-in-one solution to control supply chain risks, capture missed opportunities and improve production responsiveness and efficiency. Discover More ### [Why one forecast can make all the difference](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-one-forecast-can-make-all-the-difference) > One forecast, total alignment. Explore how a single-forecast approach transforms supply chain planning from a guessing game into a competitive advantage. Why one forecast can make all the difference Why one forecast can make all the difference Chris Shrope , December 18, 2025 3 minute read A supply chain stretching across 1,200 stores and more than a million product placements sounds like a lot to juggle. For one U.S. tire and wheel retailer, it was, until they leaned on advanced forecasting tools to stay ahead instead of just keeping up. Curious how they pulled it off? We’ll get to that soon, but first, let’s uncover the two building blocks of supply chain success: demand forecasting and demand planning. At its core, supply chain management is about connecting the dots between these two processes to keep operations running smoothly. But what do they really mean? What’s the difference between demand forecasting and demand planning? Let’s break it down. Demand Forecasting Demand forecasting is like your crystal ball—it gives you a glimpse into what customers will want tomorrow by analyzing historical data, market trends, and external factors. Today, demand is increasingly driven by pull rather than push forces. Take a laptop manufacturer, for example. In the past, they might have forecasted a million units for the back-to-school season and ramped up production months in advance—a classic push approach. Now, the same manufacturer fine-tunes production every week using real-time e-commerce order data, letting actual demand shape supply. That’s the power of modern forecasting. It turns gut feeling into informed action, helping businesses make smarter decisions about inventory, production schedules, and resource allocation. The more precise the forecast, the fewer stockouts, excess inventory, or wasted resources you’ll face. Demand Planning Once the forecast is in place, planning takes over. This is where strategy meets execution, aligning supply chain operations with the forecasted demand. It’s all about ensuring the right products are in the right place at the right time, while staying flexible enough to adapt to shifts like seasonality or sudden market changes. For example, a consumer electronics company might forecast higher laptop demand during the back-to-school season and proactively adjust production to capture that opportunity. Done well, demand planning bridges the gap between prediction and performance, turning insights into action across the supply chain. In short, forecasting provides the insights, and planning transforms those insights into strategies that keep your supply chain humming. Why one unified forecast is a game changer When different departments—like sales, production, and finance—work from their own forecasts, it creates a ripple effect of misaligned priorities, inefficiencies, and unnecessary costs. A unified forecast eliminates this chaos by providing a single source of truth for the entire organization. With everyone working from the same demand projections, strategies align seamlessly—inventory levels, promotional activities, and production schedules all fall into place, reducing waste and ensuring your business is ready to adapt to market changes. Beyond operational efficiency, a unified forecast builds trust and transparency across teams. When decisions are based on consistent data, collaboration becomes easier, and teams can act with confidence. It creates a shared framework that fosters accountability and ensures everyone is working toward the same goals. How a leading tire retailer boosted forecast accuracy and transformed its supply chain Discount Tire, a leading US-based independent retailer of tires and wheels, operates over 1,200 stores across 39 states, managing more than 1 million product placements. By implementing Blue Yonder’s demand planning and replenishment capabilities, built on Microsoft Azure, the company achieved a 600 basis points increase in forecast accuracy and a 1,000-basis-point improvement in vendor fill-to-order metrics. These advancements optimized inventory levels, reduced out-of-stock occurrences, and ensured customers always found what they needed enabling Discount Tire to stay ahead of customer demand and market changes. Demand more from your forecast Forecasting isn’t just about predicting demand, it’s about empowering your business to act on it. Blue Yonder’s solutions allow businesses to create precise, explainable forecasts that adapt to market volatility, automate routine tasks, and align teams around a single source of truth. By leveraging these tools, companies can enhance collaboration, reduce inefficiencies, and stay ahead of market changes. Ready to transform your supply chain? Discover how a unified forecast can propel your business forward today. Download Free Ebook ### [Why automotive manufacturers need a new planning playbook](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-automotive-manufacturers-need-a-new-planning-playbook) > As the industry shifts to EVs and personalization, legacy strategies won't cut it. Learn how a new planning playbook drives efficiency and reduces inventory waste. Blog Why automotive manufacturers need a new planning playbook Why automotive manufacturers need a new planning playbook Bernard Cohen , December 19, 2025 2 minute read Automotive manufacturers are operating in the most unpredictable demand environment the industry has ever experienced. Shifts between electric vehicles (EVs) , hybrids and traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) models now happen faster than planning cycles can adjust. Incentives change with little notice. Interest rates affect buying behavior in unpredictable ways. Even channel preference has become volatile as consumers move between online configuration tools, dealer lots and direct-to-consumer models. Traditional forecasting processes were not designed for this level of deviation. They rely on historic demand and planned launch calendars, which provide an incomplete picture of what today’s market will actually do. As a result, automakers often commit to production plans that are out of sync with real demand. This gap creates a ripple effect that impacts every corner of the supply chain. The real cost of forecasting failures Missed forecasts do more than reduce accuracy percentages on a dashboard. They create real operational consequences that affect revenue, efficiency and customer satisfaction. A familiar example is a manufacturer that anticipates strong demand for a new hybrid model based on early market indicators. Initial forecasts suggest high volume, but consumer enthusiasm shifts toward EVs after new incentives appear. Inventory begins to build. Dealers start discounting. Production schedulers scramble to adjust. Suppliers struggle to keep up with fluctuating orders. Logistics teams face constant changes in lead times and delivery priorities. Each incorrect assumption amplifies the next. Forecasting failures become production failures, which become logistics failures, which ultimately become financial failures. Automotive leaders know this cycle well. What they often lack is a planning system capable of breaking it. Why forecasting models continue to break down Most forecasting models in automotive organizations are not agile enough to accommodate the speed at which market signals change. Even with better data sources, planners still rely on spreadsheets, manual processes or old planning tools that were never intended to operate in a high-volatility environment. There are three main reasons forecasting continues to fail: 1. Consumer behavior is far too dynamic for static forecasting. Preferences shift rapidly between powertrains, trims and features, which forces constant plan updates. 2. Planning teams are limited by siloed data sources. Market data, dealer insights, supply constraints, and production feasibility are rarely aligned in a single model. 3. Automotive organizations are slow to adopt truly iterative planning processes. Monthly cycles cannot keep pace with weekly or daily changes. To move forward, automakers need a planning approach that responds to market shifts with the same speed at which they occur. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today A new planning playbook built for agility Leading manufacturers are adopting a more dynamic approach that blends predictive intelligence with real-time visibility. The result is a planning environment that senses change sooner, adapts faster and aligns production with the most up-to-date market conditions. Key components of this new planning playbook include: Advanced demand sensing for early signal detection: AI and machine learning identify patterns in consumer behavior, external market factors and historical data. This creates a constantly refreshed view of near-term demand, which improves forecast accuracy and helps planners refine the model mix. Integrated Business Planning (IBP) that connects strategy to execution: IBP links financial goals, production decisions, inventory positions, and demand forecasts in one unified planning workflow. It eliminates the disconnect between what the business wants to achieve and what the supply chain can realistically support. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) for rapid production adjustments: When demand shifts, production schedules need to shift just as quickly. APS helps manufacturers align labor, machines, and materials to new plans, which reduces changeovers, improves throughput, and enables more efficient use of plant capacity. Multi-tier visibility to ensure that suppliers can keep pace: Even perfect forecasts fail if suppliers are not prepared for changes. Multi-tier visibility and collaboration give planners a window into supplier readiness, constraints and risks. This allows automotive companies to detect issues earlier and adjust plans before problems reach the assembly line. The value of getting forecasting right When manufacturers modernize their planning approach, the benefits are immediate and widespread: Faster response to market changes, resulting in improved revenue and profitability Lower inventory and logistics costs, with fewer mismatches between supply and demand Better planner productivity, with more time for decision-making and scenario evaluation Higher supply chain resilience in the face of demand volatility, model mix uncertainty and disruptions Improved service levels and production efficiency across ICE, hybrid and EV programs The transformation is not theoretical. Automotive leaders using AI-driven planning have reported significant increases in forecast accuracy, stronger fill rates and measurable improvements in overall supply chain performance. Why it is time to reinvent automotive planning The era of slow and predictable demand patterns is over. Automakers that continue relying on rigid planning cycles will remain trapped in a cycle of overproduction, excess inventory, change order chaos, and strained supplier relationships. The organizations that excel in the years ahead will be those that adopt planning systems capable of understanding market shifts in real time and acting on them with confidence. AI-enabled planning, integrated workflows and multi-tier visibility are no longer optional tools. They are the foundation for the next generation of automotive supply chains. Forecasting may never be perfect, but it can become a source of competitive advantage. The companies that embrace this new planning playbook will not just respond to market change—they will stay ahead of it. Reinvent your automotive planning today Learn more about how Blue Yonder drives greater performance and helps automotive manufacturers navigate today’s challenges. Discover More ### [Our view of 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit—unlocking end-to-end supply chain value](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/our-view-of-2025-gartner-supply-chain-planning-summit) > Unlock the future of supply chain planning with our view on the 2025 Gartner® Summit. Blog Our view of 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit—unlocking end-to-end supply chain value Our view of 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit—unlocking end-to-end supply chain value Salim Shaikh , December 19, 2025 2 minute read The Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit (Denver, Dec. 1–3, 2025) brought together supply chain leaders, technology innovators, and industry practitioners to explore how transforming planning into execution and enabling a truly end-to-end supply chain platform is no longer optional—we believe it’s essential for competitive advantage in 2026 and beyond. From planning to execution: The integrated reality A central theme we think echoed throughout the Summit was the need to break down planning silos and build fully integrated workflows that span from strategic forecasting to operational execution. In our opinion, Gartner’s® agenda highlighted “End-to-End Supply Chain Decision-Centric Planning”—a shift toward solutions that unify data, systems and decisions across the planning-to-execution lifecycle. Speakers and session tracks emphasized that planning systems must no longer exist in isolation. Instead, they must cohesively integrate with execution systems (S&OP, S&OE, TMS, WMS, OMS, Visibility, Supplier Collaboration) to enable real-time responsiveness, reduce latency in choices and ensure that plans are grounded in operational feasibility. This integration is crucial to turning planning insights into meaningful business outcomes. AI and intelligent automation powering the platform AI and machine learning dominated many discussions—not merely as buzzwords, but as fundamental capabilities embedded within end-to-end platforms that drive faster, more accurate, and autonomous decisions. Case studies and testimonials shared during the event revealed that AI-driven planning systems are increasingly closing the gap between traditional, manual planning cycles and dynamic execution realities on the ground. By infusing intelligence into every layer of the platform, planners can anticipate disruptions, optimize trade-offs and deliver resilient outcomes with greater confidence. Your true north for supply chain insights Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today Bridging human and technical workflows A nuanced but vital theme was the human dimension of platform integration. In our opinion, people, processes and technology must align for a platform to truly deliver value. Organizations that redefined roles—enabling planners to focus on strategic decisions while automation handles repetitive tasks—were shown to achieve faster cycle times and richer insights. This reflects a broader industry trend where the most successful enterprises don’t just adopt technology—they embed it into cross-functional ways of working that support agile planning, execution and continuous improvement. Looking ahead: From insight to impact Blue Yonder’s session, “Stories from the Top: Raising Supply & Demand Planning Confidence,” highlighted how modern supply chain platforms deliver a unified experience with shared data, connected workflows, and integrated financial, commercial, and operational planning. Customers showcased how forecasting, inventory optimization and execution can run on a single architecture, which we believe brought Gartner’s® end-to-end theme to life. Blue Yonder is the only provider delivering a fully connected platform that unifies N-tier parts visibility, supplier collaboration, S&OP, S&OE, production scheduling, inbound and outbound transportation, yard and warehouse operations, order management, end-to-end orchestration, and AI-driven intelligence—all powered by a single source of real-time data on ONE platform. The result: Faster, more confident decisions, whether adjusting a schedule, rerouting a shipment, or updating delivery windows—true real-time, full-network orchestration. The overarching message from Denver was clear: Digital transformation in supply chain planning is inseparable from its execution. Organizations that adopt end-to-end platforms—powered by AI, connected by scalable data architecture and centered around human-machine collaboration—will be best positioned to convert uncertainty into opportunity and deliver sustainable value in a complex global economy. GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and its affiliates. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Agile automotive production for a personalized future](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/agile-automotive-production-for-a-personalized-future) > Legacy automotive production is hitting its limits. Learn how agile strategies enable mass-market OEMs to meet the growing demand for vehicle personalization. Agile automotive production for a personalized future Agile automotive production for a personalized future Bernard Cohen , December 17, 2025 2 minute read The automotive industry is undergoing one of the fastest transformations in its history . Electrification, evolving retail models and the push for sustainability have all accelerated change. Yet, the rise of consumer-driven personalization has had a significant impact on the way automotive manufacturers plan, build and deliver vehicles in recent years. Consumers increasingly expect the ability to “click-to-configure,” track their orders in real time and receive vehicles tailored to their preferences. While many prestige brands in regions like EMEA have long operated with configure-to-order models, mass market manufacturers have traditionally relied on make-to-stock strategies built around standardized trims and dealer allocations. Today, however, even mass market consumers expect higher levels of personalization, more choice and faster delivery. For OEMs and tiered suppliers, this growing appetite for customization has exposed the limits of legacy production models. Traditional make-to-stock and static allocation strategies were created for scale and predictability rather than agility. As a result, manufacturers often struggle to keep pace with real-world demand, leading to mismatched inventory, slower turnover, and costly inefficiencies. When push models push back Many manufacturers still operate using a “push” approach, producing based on dealer allocations or historical averages rather than live consumer demand. This often results in an oversupply of slower-selling models and shortages of the trims and features customers actually want. The problem compounds across the value chain. Suppliers, operating several tiers down, receive outdated forecasts or limited visibility into the latest configuration changes. This lack of synchronization makes it difficult to plan production runs efficiently, optimize resource utilization or meet tight delivery windows. The impact is measurable. Managing the growing number of configuration possibilities creates complexity in production and scheduling. Cars may take longer to build, production costs can rise and customer satisfaction can decline if manufacturers cannot deliver on personalized orders quickly. Agility is the new competitive advantage In today’s market, agility is more than operational efficiency . It is a business model. Manufacturers must adopt production systems that can sense and respond to changing demand in real time. That means shifting from static allocation and make-to-stock production toward configure-to-order and demand-driven manufacturing models. Salim Shaikh, corporate vice president of industry strategy at Blue Yonder, recently explained in a webinar with Ford, Mitsubishi Motors and Polaris that customer expectations are reshaping supply chain strategies in the automotive sector. Consumers want more choice, customization and speed, similar to what they experience with top e-commerce platforms. At the same time, supply disruptions, competition, and margin expectations put OEMs and tiered suppliers in a challenging position. Manufacturers need solutions that allow them to manage both the consumer side and the supply side, maintain service levels, reduce premium freight costs, and protect profitability. Watch Full Webinar Modern production planning and scheduling capabilities make this possible. By integrating production planning and scheduling software with intelligent order management systems , manufacturers can dynamically align production with actual consumer orders. This ensures the right model mix, reduces assembly line changeovers and frees up capital otherwise tied in excess inventory. Technology enables companies to meet consumer expectations, control supply disruptions and maintain margins while improving service levels. The shift to AI-enabled, demand-driven production To achieve true agility, manufacturers need more than incremental improvements. They need advanced planning and scheduling software (APS software) that unifies production planning, scheduling, and execution in one continuous process. Blue Yonder’s manufacturing planning and scheduling solutions empower manufacturers to plan, produce, and deliver with confidence, no matter how volatile the market becomes. By leveraging production planning systems, OEMs and suppliers can translate consumer insights into actionable manufacturing decisions. This allows them to: Optimize model mix and reduce assembly line changeovers Align labor, machines and materials precisely to production goals Shorten lead times and increase throughput Improve operational efficiency while reducing costs and waste Respond faster to changes across hybrid, electric vehicle (EV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) programs A demand-driven approach ensures manufacturers produce what customers actually want while minimizing disruptions, excess inventory and production inefficiencies. Unified planning, execution and visibility One of the biggest challenges in today’s production environment is fragmentation. Disconnected systems and manual processes prevent end-to-end visibility across planning, manufacturing, and logistics limiting the ability to adapt within a shifting configure-to-order environment. Blue Yonder eliminates these silos through a unified platform that connects production planning and scheduling, order management, logistics execution , and the global, multi-enterprise network. This connected approach delivers agility from the shop floor to the showroom. For example, PACCAR leveraged Blue Yonder solutions to enhance global visibility and coordination across plants, improving agility and accelerating response times. This success highlights how digital transformation can translate directly into measurable business value. Why Blue Yonder Blue Yonder was recently listed as a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling. Trusted by over half of global auto manufacturers, Blue Yonder unifies planning and execution by combining order management, scheduling, logistics, and multi-tier visibility in one powerful platform. Our industry-specific templates and microservices accelerate deployment, while proactive AI agents and pioneering machine learning applications maximize operational efficiency. Blue Yonder uniquely integrates Order Slotting , Order Sequencing , and Detailed Scheduling , enabling real-time execution and continuous improvement, enabling automotive manufacturers to successfully meet individual and complex customer demands for customization. Building the foundation for a personalized future As the industry moves toward greater personalization, agility will define who leads and who lags. OEMs and suppliers that embrace data-driven, demand-driven manufacturing will be best positioned to meet evolving consumer expectations while optimizing costs, capacity, and sustainability. In an environment where the pace of change is relentless, the ability to respond with confidence is essential. With Blue Yonder Advanced Planning and Scheduling, the future of agile, personalized production is not only possible but achievable today. Make your supply chain not just efficient. Make it unbeatable Learn more about how Blue Yonder can support automotive OEM and tier supplier production today Discover More ### [The case for a fully synchronized supply chain in India's automotive industry](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-case-for-a-fully-synchronized-supply-chain-in-indias-automotive-industry) > Make the case for a fully synchronized supply chain to eliminate bloat, cut lead times, and drive major cost efficiencies in the automotive industry. The case for a fully synchronized supply chain in India’s automotive industry The case for a fully synchronized supply chain in India's automotive industry Vineet Sharma , December 9, 2025 2 minute read After multiple quarters of muted performance, India’s automotive industry bounced back with a record-breaking October. Festive demand, GST cuts, and improved consumer sentiment brought more footfalls to dealerships. The positive trend flowed into the results as well, with Bajaj, Mahindra, and TVS reporting strong profits. The momentum was not limited to OEMs. India’s auto components industry achieved a strong growth in the past fiscal year, with turnover crossing $80.2 billion , supported by domestic manufacturing initiatives such as ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. Meanwhile, the aftermarket is also shifting gears as EV adoption accelerates—the EV aftermarket alone is projected to reach $14.3 million by 2033 . While companies are taking steps towards Industry 4.0 adoption and local manufacturing capacity has strengthened the outlook, several structural challenges still hinder the automotive ecosystem’s ability to scale efficiently. What challenges are holding the auto industry back? Supply chain disruptions Raw material shortages, geopolitical volatility, and tariff pressures continue to strain operations. TVS Motors recently highlighted the scarcity of rare earth materials , which pushed EV inventory levels below 25 days despite strong demand. For component makers, the newly introduced 8% tariff by the U.S. has intensified pressure on export-dependent suppliers. Mixed demand signals Automakers face a complex balancing act between BEVs, HEVs, and ICE vehicles. Despite growing interest in EVs, 54% of Indian buyers still prefer ICE, according to Deloitte. This split has made demand forecasting increasingly difficult, leading to production delays, misaligned inventory, and higher planning costs. Fragmented systems and poor visibility Most OEMs and suppliers still rely on disconnected ERPs, WMSs, and TMSs. The lack of a unified view across sourcing, production, warehousing, and transportation leads to inefficiencies and slower response times. A NITI Aayog report categorizes these gaps as major barriers to supply chain effectiveness. $ 0 billion in turnover reached by India's auto components industry $ 0 million The EV aftermarket is expected to reach by 2033. 0 % of Indian buyers still prefer ICEs, despite growing EV interest Limited supplier collaboration Blind spots across Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 suppliers prevent OEMs from anticipating disruptions early. Issues at the lower tiers often surface only when production is already affected, resulting in emergency procurement, inflated buffer stocks, and costly downtime. Logistics inefficiencies and regulatory complexity Rising freight costs, poorly coordinated multimodal flows, and limited in-transit visibility create delays across the value chain. At the same time, manufacturers must navigate evolving regulatory requirements—from BS6 Stage 2 standards and CAFÉ norms to E20 ethanol fuel readiness, ADAS requirements, and six-airbag mandates. Sustainability pressures As global and domestic expectations shift toward greener operations, automotive companies are under pressure to reduce emissions, build cleaner logistics networks, and improve resource efficiency. But without strong digital infrastructure to measure and optimize sustainability metrics, progress remains slow. Why does India’s auto supply chain need end-to-end synchronization? Modern automotive manufacturing can no longer rely on isolated pockets of excellence. OEMs and suppliers need total synchronization—where demand planning, production operations, logistics, and supplier collaboration operate as one continuous, intelligent flow. Aniruddh Srivastava, who leads Industry Strategy and Solution Advisory for the Automotive and Aerospace industry verticals within the Europe and Asia Pacific regions at Blue Yonder, says: “Automakers constantly need to know what to make and when to make, based on customer commitments, capacity utilization, and materials availability. Without an end-to-end supply chain planning and execution platform, the material, assembly, and information flows required to sync all internal and external processes continue to be elusive.” How does AI-driven planning and integrated execution help? AI-enabled planning systems allow automotive companies to forecast more accurately, simulate scenarios, and create contingency strategies for supply disruptions or demand fluctuations. By combining forecasting with inventory optimization, companies can minimize working capital while ensuring parts availability. Integrated execution brings logistics, production, and inventory movements onto the same real-time layer. This enables better coordination across plants, warehouses, and transport partners, reduces emissions through optimized routing, and significantly lowers freight costs. What are the benefits of integrated planning? A synchronized planning environment connects demand planning, supply planning, business planning, and advanced scheduling into a single decision-making loop. Manufacturers can align financial goals with operational capabilities, model network scenarios, anticipate constraints, adjust production plans instantly as demand changes, and optimize plant throughput using constraint-based scheduling. How does synchronized execution improve operations? When warehouse, transportation, and order management systems operate together, execution becomes seamless. Automated workflows, intelligent order sourcing, and real-time shipment visibility enable faster fulfillment and fewer delays. Lead times shrink, accuracy improves, and automotive companies can serve multiple markets and channels with greater reliability. How do multimodal logistics and warehouse coordination work together? Synchronizing inbound transportation with warehouse operations ensures that the right parts arrive in the right sequence for production. Coordinated multimodal flows reduce wait times, minimize congestion, and support just-in-time and configure-to-order strategies. This alignment reduces emissions, prevents production stoppages, and ensures vehicles are assembled efficiently and on time. How does multi-tier visibility strengthen the supply chain? End-to-end synchronization extends beyond OEMs to include the entire supplier network. Real-time visibility across Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 suppliers, carriers, forwarders, and customers enables proactive issue resolution before disruptions escalate. A connected, transparent ecosystem helps companies mitigate risk, enhance responsiveness, and maintain supply chain continuity even during volatility. Moving forward India’s automotive industry stands at a decisive moment. Growth is accelerating, innovation is rising, and consumer expectations are evolving rapidly. But to unlock the sector’s full potential, companies must move away from fragmented, reactive operations and embrace synchronized, data-driven supply chains. End-to-end synchronization provides the foundation needed to build resilience, deliver speed and precision, and confidently navigate the complexities ahead. Explore how India-focused automotive innovations can help the industry move beyond boundaries. Discover how your supply chain can get faster and leaner with Blue Yonder Find out how to create a supply chain that adapts with the market, stands strong against disruption, and ensures you remain competitive in a crowded industry. Learn More ### [Compliance and sustainability challenges automotive manufacturers can’t ignore](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/compliance-and-sustainability-challenges-automotive-manufacturers-cant-ignore) > No matter which part of the automotive industry you're from, the message is clear: compliance and sustainability can no longer be treated as separate priorities. Compliance and sustainability challenges automotive manufacturers can’t ignore Compliance and sustainability challenges automotive manufacturers can’t ignore Bernard Cohen , December 12, 2025 2 minute read Across the automotive industry, the race toward electrification , carbon neutrality and circularity is accelerating. But as sustainability becomes a business imperative, compliance is quickly emerging as one of the biggest operational headaches. Whether you’re an OEM managing EV battery traceability, a tiered supplier navigating regional regulations, or an aftermarket manufacturer facing new sourcing rules, the message is clear: Compliance and sustainability can no longer be treated as separate priorities. They are now inextricably linked. The new reality of regulatory pressure Automotive manufacturers are facing a surge in global sustainability mandates and circular economy requirements. From Europe’s Battery Regulation to evolving ESG disclosure standards, compliance today demands end-to-end transparency across every level of the supply chain. Manufacturers must know not only what materials are used, but where they come from, how they were produced, and who handled them along the way. For many, this level of traceability is overwhelming. Many supply chain leaders say they spend more time chasing compliance data than managing suppliers, and they know that even a single gap in EV traceability could jeopardize production timelines or regulatory approval. The reality is that existing systems were never built to handle the depth and complexity of today’s sustainability mandates. The result? Teams are buried in spreadsheets and supplier emails, trying to assemble documentation for audits or product certifications. One missing data point can delay an entire EV launch, expose the company to regulatory penalties or strain relationships with key OEM partners. The circular economy challenge Adding to the complexity is the global shift toward a circular economy. The ability to recover, reuse and recycle materials has become a key measure of sustainability performance. But achieving this level of insight requires collaboration and visibility that extends far beyond a company’s direct suppliers. For instance, consider an EV manufacturer sourcing battery components across multiple tiers of suppliers. If a sub-tier supplier fails to provide traceability documentation for lithium or cobalt, the OEM risks noncompliance, production delays, or reputational damage. Without integrated systems to track sustainability data from raw materials to finished goods, circularity remains more ambition than reality. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today Why traditional systems fall short Many automotive companies still rely on disconnected legacy tools and manual reporting processes. These systems are designed to manage production and logistics, not to track sustainability data across thousands of suppliers and partners. As sustainability reporting becomes more rigorous, the gap between compliance requirements and existing capabilities continues to grow. Automotive leaders need solutions that are purpose-built for sustainability. They need technology that automates compliance data collection, monitors supplier performance and provides real-time visibility into sustainability risks before they become costly problems. The case for built-in compliance and transparency This is where supply chain sustainability software becomes essential. Rather than treating compliance as an afterthought, forward-looking manufacturers are embedding traceability and transparency directly into their operations through sustainable supply chain management software. Blue Yonder delivers this capability through a unified platform that connects OEMs, suppliers and logistics partners into one digital ecosystem. With solutions, such as the Blue Yonder Network , Supply Chain Command Center , and Chain of Custody, manufacturers can track materials, monitor compliance, and act on insights in real time. By integrating sustainable supply chain solutions into daily operations, manufacturers can: Gain end-to-end traceability of materials, components and production steps Automate compliance reporting and ensure audit readiness Identify supplier risks before they disrupt production or lead to noncompliance Collaborate across tiers to accelerate corrective actions and drive shared sustainability goals From reactive to proactive supply chain management AI-driven automation and multi-tier visibility are transforming how compliance and sustainability are managed. Instead of reacting to audits or disruptions, manufacturers can proactively plan, identify issues, predict risks, and make data-driven decisions. Blue Yonder provides scenario optimization for carbon emissions, automating data collection and analysis to reduce manual effort, and streamline decision-making. The result is greater resilience, improved supplier performance and fewer last-minute surprises. When compliance is built into the core of supply chain operations, it no longer slows down innovation—it accelerates it. Teams spend less time chasing data and more time managing performance, optimizing costs, and meeting production goals. The business impact of digital traceability The benefits of integrated compliance extend beyond avoiding fines or meeting regulations. In today’s market, transparency is a competitive advantage. When manufacturers can prove that their sourcing and production practices meet the highest ethical and environmental standards, they build trust not only with regulators, but also with customers and investors. With supply chain sustainability software, companies can turn compliance from a burden into a differentiator. Real-time insights allow for faster, smarter decision-making. Digital traceability strengthens supplier relationships and protects production schedules. And by connecting sustainability metrics to financial outcomes, organizations can link responsible operations directly to profitability. Building the foundation for the future The automotive industry is at an inflection point. As electrification, digitalization, and sustainability converge, the winners will be those who can navigate this complexity with clarity and control. Achieving this requires a connected, intelligent and transparent supply chain. Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain solutions provide the foundation for this transformation. With multi-tier visibility and real-time collaboration across the value chain, automotive manufacturers can move from compliance checklists to strategic sustainability leadership. The future of automotive manufacturing will be defined by transparency, accountability and resilience. The question is no longer whether you can afford to invest in sustainability, it’s whether you can afford not to. Learn how Blue Yonder can help you meet your sustainability goals today. Discover More Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Tackling wasted motion](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/tackling-wasted-motion) > Eliminate inefficiencies and reclaim valuable time. Learn proven wasted motion strategies to identify bottlenecks, maximize your resources, and drive dramatic improvements in operational efficiency. Blog Tackling wasted motion: Strategies to maximize resources and efficiency Tackling wasted motion Jen McQuiston , November 10, 2025 3 minute read This blog post is part three in a series of blogs focused on reducing waste through effective planning and execution . In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, wasted motion in planning and execution is a critical area that businesses must address to optimize their operations and thrive amidst growing product and network complexity, disruption, and labor shortages. The concept of reducing wasted motion is a key aspect of Lean Manufacturing, focusing on reducing or even eliminating unnecessary movement or actions that don't add value to the production process. Uncovering wasted motion in planning and execution While originally focused on reducing waste in production, reducing wasteful motion should not be limited to physical movement on the factory floor. Instead, it spans various departments and includes limiting inefficient processes like: Insufficient and disconnected analysis that require users to centralize data in spreadsheets for analysis Manually entering or transferring data on extended screens and using excessive key-strokes in disconnected software solutions Weak, single variable simulation testing requiring significantly more steps for testing Repeatedly replanning forecasts and production plans Creating and managing one-off integrations Unnecessary data entry in the office, warehouse, yard or beyond Excessive walking within warehouses due to non-optimized tasks Searching digitally or physically for mismanaged inventory Manually phoning, emailing or texting others for updates Like the factory floor, unnecessary motion in the warehouse—such as excessively long picking routes or repetitive manual tasks—is often visible. However, excessive office team motions, like manually searching for information or copying data between systems and teams, are less obvious, but no less wasteful. While it is not a cause of wasted motion, an increasing shortage of labor and office teams is exacerbated by wasted motion. It is currently estimated that 1.9 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled by 2033 if current labor gaps are not closed. Simultaneously, more traditional office opportunities are also impacted, with 26,400 openings projected for logisticians from 2024 to 2024. This 17% growth, cited by the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics , is faster than average for all occupations and “demonstrates the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.” No longer can companies afford wasted movement. Each person’s time must be maximized—both for their satisfaction and retention, and for the company’s long-term success. Employees cannot lose time moving data, searching for inventory or waiting for half empty loads. One significant waste comes in the form of gray work, which is the unproductive, manual, and often ad-hoc tasks that employees do to compensate for outdated technology and processes. This includes reliance on poor integrations, spreadsheets, and manual processes that require duplicate or even triplicate data entry. Gray work arises when technology doesn't effectively support business needs, forcing employees to create makeshift solutions or workarounds. This leads to inefficiencies, collaboration barriers, and frustration, ultimately hindering productivity and performance. Proving this fact, a staggering 59% of working professionals reportedly spend 11+ hours per week chasing information across different platforms and personnel. Meanwhile, workers are overwhelmed by technology with 94% of them reporting feeling overwhelmed by the number of software solutions they need to use every day to get their work done ( up from 87% in 2023 ). Supply chain planning decisions, cannot be made in a vacuum but must instead be made considering data, such as demand forecasts, available network inventory, warehouse and manufacturing capacity, and current inbound logistics constraints and opportunities. Through this, decisions become more accurate, and time is saved by avoiding manual processes, double data entry, and inaccurate plans. 0 Million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled by 2033 if current labor gaps are not closed. 0 % of working professionals spend 11+ hours per week chasing information across different platforms and personnel. 0 % of workers report feeling overwhelmed by the number of software solutions they need to use every day Strategies to combat wasted motion 1. Empowering employees: By reducing motion waste with AI-backed decision-making, companies empower their employees by allowing them to focus on strategic and mission-critical decisions rather than tedious, repetitive tasks. This not only enhances job satisfaction but assists manufacturers in making the most out of their existing workforce amidst current labor gaps. 2. Optimization of routes and processes: In warehouses, optimizing tasks, inventory location, and picking order can significantly reduce the time spent walking and handling goods while edge technology, such as wearables, robotics and RFID limit manual data entry and unnecessary motion within the warehouse. On the transportation side, route optimization can cut down on extra miles and empty loads, saving costs, and enhancing sustainability. 3. Leveraging interoperable systems: Systems that are interoperable, holistically connecting planning, execution and global, multi-enterprise networks on a single data cloud dramatically reduce the time lost to data duplication, sharing data, inaccurate data and manual entry. This connectivity leads to increased accuracy in analysis, timeliness of data and seamless data sharing between teams. 4. Near real-time, incremental updates: Automated system updates fed from a manufacturer’s global network of suppliers provide accurate and near real-time inventory, transactional, tracking, and capacity data—both upstream and downstream from a manufacturer—allowing for accurate planning that keeps production moving, meets demand, and avoids extra costs due to emergency expedites and adjustments. 5. Elimination of gray work: Unproductive tasks that fill the gap left by outdated technology must be minimized. Investing in technology solutions that eliminate the need for repetitive data entry and manual processes helps decrease collaboration barriers and boosts productivity. Reducing motion within planning and execution is pivotal for manufacturers aiming to increase efficiency and decrease costs while maximizing employee potential. Not only does it lead to empowered, happier and more productive employees, not weighed down by tedious gray work and wasted motions, but also drives businesses closer to achieving the goal of lean manufacturing, reducing costs, increasing sustainability, and maximizing the potential of their resources. Learn how Henkel reduced waste with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder’s warehouse management and warehouse labor management solutions have helped Henkel improve the speed, accuracy, efficiency, service level, sustainability and profitability of their operations. Discover More ### [Transform pharmaceutical supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/transform-pharmaceutical-supply-chains) > Discover expert strategies to boost efficiency, ensure compliance, and deliver superior patient outcomes. Blog Transform pharmaceutical supply chains, from cost centers to strategic assets Transform pharmaceutical supply chains Rochelle Brocks-Smith , July 29, 2025 2 minute read In an industry where a single temperature excursion can compromise patient safety and trigger regulatory penalties, or global tariffs can restrict the availability of raw materials causing shortages and raising costs, pharmaceutical companies can no longer afford reactive supply chain management. The stakes? Patient lives, market access and financial risks that impair operations. The pharmaceutical landscape has fundamentally changed. Biological therapies with complex stability requirements, personalized medicine with unpredictable demand patterns and escalating regulatory scrutiny have created a perfect storm. Yesterday's supply chain strategies were built for predictable volume, stable supplier networks and manageable compliance frameworks. Today, those approaches are increasingly inadequate. The evidence is everywhere: According to Simon-Kucher & Partners , only 12% of drugs show forecast accuracy within 25% of actual sales. Fragmented operations waste up to 30% of operational efficiency. Over $10 billion in compliance fines have been levied against U.S. pharmaceutical companies in just two years. These aren't occasional disruptions; they're systemic challenges that require a complete rethinking of how pharmaceutical supply chains function. While many pharma organizations have made heavy technology investments, leaders are realizing that digital tools alone aren’t enough. What separates front-runners is not the size of their tech stack—it’s how they reimagine their supply chain operating model, integrating people, processes, and intelligent systems into a cohesive whole. The gap between investment and impact is revealing. Despite significant technology spending, many pharmaceutical companies still rely on siloed warehousing, outdated logistics models and manual compliance processes. This fragmentation contributes to cold chain failures, inefficient fulfillment and serious regulatory exposure. In fact, fragmented supply chains can reduce a company’s efficiency by up to 30%, according to the Supply Chain Resilience Report . True transformation requires more than adding digital layers to conventional processes. Industry leaders are fundamentally rethinking how their supply chains function. They are moving from reactive planning to AI-driven forecasting, from disconnected operations to synchronized execution and from blind spots to end-to-end visibility across the global network. Only 0 % of drugs show forecast accuracy within 25% of actual sales. 0 % of operational efficiency is wasted by fragmented operations $ 0 B+ in compliance fines have been levied against U.S. pharmaceutical companies in just two years Accelerate pharmaceutical excellence with three critical value pillars According to McKinsey's 2023 report "Rewired Pharma companies will win in the digital age," modernizing pharmaceutical technology infrastructure can free up 30% of IT spending for strategic capabilities like AI-assisted decision-making and automated supply chain workflows. This digital foundation enables three essential value pillars that transform pharmaceutical operations: smarter planning that anticipates market dynamics, connected execution that ensures product quality and comprehensive visibility that simplifies compliance and risk mitigation. In the following sections, we'll explore how each pillar delivers measurable business impact. Anticipate market shifts with AI-powered demand planning Volatile demand, lifecycle-sensitive products and global regulatory fluctuations are making traditional demand planning obsolete. Static models cannot keep pace with market-access delays, raw material shortages, API supply disruptions, or region-specific prescribing trends, especially for biologics and temperature-sensitive therapies. Forward-thinking pharmaceutical companies are deploying AI-driven forecasting that integrates real-time market signals, clinical pipelines and regulatory data. These models enable scenario-based planning to simulate risks like delayed approvals, supplier disruptions or demand surges, so that operations can pivot before disruptions occur. Leader perspective: Our demand planning must factor in lifecycle complexity, shelf-life constraints and rapid regulatory changes. Anything less is a risk to both our bottom line and our reputation. With digital twins and adaptive inventory models, organizations can reduce stockouts, lower excess inventory, and align supply more precisely with market needs, driving availability, speed, and cost efficiency. Synchronize pharmaceutical operations, from production to patient Manual compliance processes are no match for today’s regulatory complexity. From DSCSA to FMD and beyond, pharmaceutical companies face rising requirements for serialization, cold chain monitoring and end-to-end traceability—spanning multiple geographies and tiers of suppliers. Blue Yonder enables pharmaceutical leaders to embed AI-powered compliance workflows into the core of their operations. These systems manage batch-level serialization, automate recall triggers and create a digital chain of custody from production to patient, eliminating blind spots and enabling rapid exception handling. While compliance ensures companies meet regulatory standards, synchronization ensures they deliver with speed, precision and coordination across every node of the supply chain. Leader perspective: Our execution workflows are optimized in isolation, but they don’t talk to each other. What we need is real-time synchronization to ensure product quality, streamline handoffs and reduce escalating costs. With real-time multi-tier visibility, companies can proactively mitigate risk, ensure regulatory readiness and build a foundation of trust, turning compliance into a catalyst for speed, efficiency and market access. The future of life sciences is digital It's time to move beyond traditional methods and embrace the transformative power of digital solutions to innovate faster, operate smarter, and deliver better results. Discover More Automate, monitor and respond in real time As regulatory demands mount globally, manual compliance efforts are becoming a liability. Requirements like DSCSA, FMD and regional cold chain mandates demand continuous, traceable control. Retrospective audits are no longer enough. Pharma leaders are now implementing automated compliance workflows powered by real-time analytics and AI. These systems manage serialization, trigger intelligent recalls and maintain chain-of-custody validation at the batch level across all suppliers, CDMOs and carriers. But the value of end-to-end visibility extends beyond compliance. With real-time network insights, pharmaceutical companies can collaborate more effectively with partners, share data securely across multiple tiers, and make faster, more informed decisions. This improves operational agility, accelerates time-to-market and enhances resilience—turning visibility into a true strategic advantage. Leader perspective: End-to-end compliance used to mean endless paperwork and after-the-fact scrambling. Now, we need real-time traceability and intelligent alerts built into our network, not layered on top. Blue Yonder enables this shift by embedding compliance and visibility directly into execution. This not only protects market access and patient safety but also strengthens brand trust, operational agility, collaboration, and responsiveness across the supply chain. Deploy Blue Yonder's pharmaceutical expertise to drive transformation Blue Yonder's pharmaceutical solutions deliver measurable results by addressing the unique requirements of pharmaceutical supply chains: AI-driven demand planning that captures the complexities of pharmaceutical markets and anticipates demand patterns with unprecedented accuracy End-to-end execution synchronization that ensures temperature-controlled, compliant delivery from manufacturing through distribution Comprehensive visibility and compliance tools that automate serialization, enable rapid recalls and streamline regulatory reporting Global impact: Bayer's digital logistics transformation with Blue Yonder reduced global transportation costs by 4% across 70+ countries while improving operational efficiency, asset utilization and customer service. Operational excellence: Medifast achieved 15%-20% savings in annual shipping costs and an 8-fold reduction in unloading times with Blue Yonder Warehouse Management System while maintaining rigorous compliance standards. Our pharmaceutical industry experts understand both the technological and regulatory dimensions of your challenges, providing solutions that transform your supply chain from a cost center to a strategic asset. It’s time to lead: Build a smarter, safer, stronger pharmaceutical supply chain The pharmaceutical companies pulling ahead are not just investing in technology. They are fundamentally reimagining how their supply chains operate. They are creating agile, intelligent networks that anticipate market shifts, provide end-to-end visibility enabling collaborative action, and ensure product integrity and regulatory compliance. It's time to reimagine your pharmaceutical supply chain Our ebook provides the proven roadmap to turn supply chain complexity into a competitive advantage and ensure better outcomes for patients and your business. Download Now Get In Touch ### [Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Transportation Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-recognized-again-as-a-leader-in-the-nucleus-research-2025-tms-technology-value-matrix) > Blue Yonder maintains its position as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Transportation Management Systems Technology Value Matrix. See why our TMS offers superior value and functionality for complex logistics needs. Blog Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Transportation Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™ Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Transportation Management Systems Technology Value Matrix™ Sarah Hart , November 21, 2025 4 minute read Blue Yonder is proud to announce its position as a Leader in the 2025 Nucleus Research Transportation Management Systems (TMS) Value Matrix. This prominent placement validates our commitment to providing best-in-class solutions that navigate transportation complexity and deliver substantial, quantifiable returns on investment for our global customers. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the current TMS market, assessing major technology vendors. Our placement as a Leader highlights our positive momentum on both the “Better Functionality” and “Greater Usability” axes of the Value Matrix assessment. We are positioned furthest to the right for functionality and closest to the top for usability. Blue Yonder is also a Leader in multiple Nucleus Research Value Matrix reports, which include Supply Chain Planning , Warehouse Management System , Control Towers , and Workforce Management . Key market shifts reshaping transportation management The 2025 Value Matrix reflects a dynamic and maturing market where shippers are urgently seeking digital-first strategies to combat persistent volatility caused by tariffs, labor shortages, and rising costs. Nucleus Research identifies three major trends dominating vendor investment and buyer priorities: the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and automation for execution, the prioritization of sustainability coupled with multimodal optimization, and the need for a unified and connected platform to proactively address challenges. The evolution of AI and Blue Yonder’s optimization strengths AI innovation and adoption in TMS is advancing rapidly, shifting from data visualization to transforming how transportation teams can optimize and execute. Blue Yonder is leading this evolution with its SADA (See, Analyze, Decide, Act) loop, by empowering its Logistics Ops agent to create a stronger bridge between the mathematics and parameters deployed by technical teammates and the business. By directly leveraging our advanced transportation optimization algorithm, the agent dynamically identifies optimal backhaul and route options in real time, working with users to adapt and execute conditions change. This ensures not only smarter decisions but creates a much-needed partner that can match the fluidity of the supply chain, enhancing logistics efficiency to change. Sustainability, multimodal optimization, and holistic reporting Sustainability requirements are expanding, driven by both regulatory demands and corporate strategies, pushing transportation to align with ambitious environmental goals. To meet these needs, our TMS integrates sustainability considerations early in the planning process, embedding carbon-aware objectives directly into optimization algorithms. This enables users to achieve the best balance of service, cost, and sustainability. Furthermore, our TMS connects seamlessly with the broader supply chain through deep platform integration, offering a unified, holistic view of environmental impact and compliance. This interoperability ensures sustainability is prioritized across all supply chain operations, supporting smarter, greener decision-making at every step. Empowering transportation teams with a unified, connected platform With ongoing challenges like market volatility, labor shortages, rising costs, and increasing complexity across global supply chains, companies need smarter ways to stay connected and agile. Blue Yonder’s Transportation Management solutions integrate seamlessly with the Blue Yonder Network, forming a connected, multi-enterprise platform for efficient data sharing and collaboration. This integration streamlines carrier collaboration, appointment scheduling, real-time visibility (including telematics), and inbound shipment optimization, ensuring smooth, coordinated operations. With a unified source of truth through distributed master data management, customers benefit from simplified carrier onboarding and consistent, reliable information across all channels including EDI, API, portal, and mobile. As a result, transportation teams can quickly resolve disruptions, make smarter decisions, and strengthen supply chain connectivity. Driving innovation and leadership in transportation management Our continued recognition as a Leader in the Nucleus Research TMS Value Matrix underscores our unwavering commitment to innovation and customer success. By advancing AI-driven automation, sustainability-focused optimization, and seamless orchestration of planning and execution, we empower businesses to navigate complexity with confidence, speed, and precision. As the transportation landscape evolves, Blue Yonder remains dedicated to delivering transformative solutions that drive resilience, efficiency, and measurable value for our global customers. Read the full Nucleus Research 2025 Transportation Management Systems Value Matrix. Do you want to pave the way for modern transportation that seamlessly responds to change, quickly recovers from the unexpected, and capitalizes on your supply chain network? Visit our website or contact us today to understand how the Blue Yonder TMS can help you achieve your strategic business goals. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Challenges in Supply Chain for Medical Devices Part 2](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/challenges-in-supply-chain-for-medical-devices-part-2) > Dive deeper into the complexities of medical device supply chains in Part 2 of our series. Blog Challenges in supply chain for medical devices: part 2 Challenges in Supply Chain for Medical Devices Part 2 Tiffany Brewer , August 6, 2024 2 minute read Supply chains for medical devices are becoming increasingly complex and face unique challenges. In Part 1 of our series on challenges in supply chain for medical devices, we delved into these complexities and discussed solutions that can help drive these businesses to the next level, meeting company goals and serving the patients whose lives medical device manufacturers seek to improve. In Part 2, we dive in further into five critical areas of this subject including field inventory, customer centricity, regulations, contract manufacturers, and business planning. Field Inventory Field inventory is a category of inventory that is unique to life sciences manufacturers and falls into the following areas: “Trunk stock” is inventory held by sales associates, whether in their vehicles, homes, or storage facilities. Consignment inventory is consigned to medical offices, hospitals, or even patient homes. This inventory is held at the facility until it is consumed or returned to the medical device manufacturer. Field inventory is difficult to manage due to the number of locations in which it sits outside of a controlled warehouse environment. With varied locations and the number of people involved in managing inventory, from sales associates to hospital staff, visibility to inventory is easily lost. Because visibility to this inventory type is imperfect, medical device manufacturers lose the ability to optimize inventory. Optimized inventory involves having enough of the right products to meet customer demand, while not having an oversupply, which can take up valuable warehouse space and cause write-offs. Additionally, demand patterns are not accurate, as consumption is not measured accurately. Further, inventory in various locations can lead to loss, expiration, and damage. As a result, inventory levels increase, the potential for meeting patient demand decreases, logistics costs balloon due to the need for expedites, and write-offs increase. Solution: Blue Yonder offers the capability to manage all aspects of the medical device supply chain, from end-to-end. Field inventory can be optimized and deployed via Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning. Blue Yonder has a unique ability to optimize demand, inventory, and supply across the type of complex network required to support a medical device supply chain. Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions can then optimize transportation within the complex network involved with field inventory. Through the ability to seamlessly connect Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning and Transportation Management, processes can be managed in a continuous manner using one data model. Is your life sciences supply chain ready for the future? True connectivity and collaboration are no longer optional—they're critical for navigating complexity, ensuring compliance, and accelerating innovation. Discover More Customer Centricity Manufacturing is becoming more customer-centric than ever, and medical device manufacturers are no exception. While patient care has always been the top priority for medical device manufacturers, these companies are now finding new ways to serve the patient. Wearable devices are increasing, as is equipment that can be delivered direct to the patient’s home. Both of these trends result in an increase in direct-to-consumer transportation, which can enhance patient care but also increase transportation costs for medical device manufactures. Hence, to control costs and achieve corporate goals, companies must balance patient needs with costs. Solution: Through Blue Yonder synchronized planning and execution solutions, medical device companies can appropriately plan for fluctuating demand. As more distribution channels are served, demand fluctuations increase, requiring Blue Yonder demand segmentation, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This granular level of channel and customer segmentation allows planners to address the unique requirements of each segment without impacting the plans for other segments. Proper demand planning combined with multi-echelon inventory planning can decrease inventory costs and enhance revenue growth. From here, Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions can optimize transportation to the various channels served by medical device companies, such as medical distributors, hospitals, medical offices, field sales, and patient homes. Combined, Blue Yonder synchronized planning and execution solutions decrease costs and improve revenue, thus enhancing profitability. SKU Proliferation and Complex Bills of Material In the previous installment we discussed challenges that result from the complex regulatory environment that impacts the life sciences industry. The regulatory environment affects the medical device industry to such an extent that we mention it again in this installment. Two additional challenges that arise from regulatory requirements are SKU proliferation and complex bills of material (BOMs). Because different countries have unique requirements for labeling and components, SKU proliferation occurs. Each product variation is labeled with a different SKU. For example, a given country may require that a component is manufactured in a specific set of countries. SKU proliferation results in increased inventory levels and write-offs, and ultimately an increased cost-to-serve. These requirements also lead to complex BOMs, with many potential variations for a given set of components. Creating a supply plan for complex BOMs is not possible when given a manual solution or generic linear programming. Solution: These combined challenges require connected Demand, Inventory, and Supply Planning. SKU proliferation requires multi-echelon inventory management (MEIO). Solving for complex BOMs requires supply planning with an industry-specific optimizer that only Blue Yonder can offer. Discover More Is your life sciences business falling behind? Find out why digital transformation is essential for navigating regulations, accelerating research, and optimizing operations - and how digitalization can unlock new levels of efficiency, compliance, and innovation for your business. Discover More Contract Manufacturers and Suppliers On the supply side, medical device manufacturers must collaborate with both Contract Manufacturers (CMOs) and suppliers. When collaborating with these organizations, visibility to inventory can be difficult, and it becomes a challenge to understand when product will arrive and ultimately serve the end customer. On the supplier side, it often becomes necessary to single source, as components may be specialized and only made by one supplier. At times, this single-sourced supplier may not be the manufacturer’s direct supplier but can instead be within another tier of the supply chain. When a company relies on a single source within their supply chain, they are exposed to risk, whether with increased prices that impact cost-to-serve, or through fluctuations in supply, impacting ability to serve the customer. Solution: Through network visibility to inventory, medical device companies can have an understanding for the inventory that exists throughout their entire supply chain, at supplier locations and CMOs, resulting in the ability to make decisions that best serve the patient and corporate goals. Supplier collaboration provides the ability to provide medium- and long-term forecasts to suppliers, allowing for the ability to collaborate with suppliers in order to meet this demand. Business Planning Historically, business planning has occurred in siloes. Supply chain organizations and finance organizations plan separately, often with the supply chain planning based on the number of items and finance planning based on dollarized information. It can be very difficult to align these processes both from a systems perspective and process perspective. While this challenge can impact any manufacturer, medical device companies also must collaborate with marketing organizations on new product launches. There is also an added element of products that are being phased out and associated write-offs. Solution: Blue Yonder Platform, Powered by Snowflake, allows for data to be easily shared between Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance functions. Blue Yonder Business Planning solution enables the business planning process that occurs between these functions, ultimately meeting corporate goals for profitability, customer experience, and market share. Empowering medical device supply chains with Blue Yonder The medical device landscape is complex and challenging. Blue Yonder solutions provide a single supply chain operating system that addresses these challenges. Great opportunity exists to solve challenges in this industry with the ultimate benefit of serving the end patient and enhancing lives across the world. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Introducing your partner the Warehouse Operations Agent](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/introducing-your-partner-the-warehouse-operations-agent) > Meet the Warehouse Operations Agent—your AI-powered partner that uses predictive intelligence and automation to optimize daily tasks and elevate warehouse performance. Blog Introducing your partner: The Warehouse Operations Agent Introducing your partner: The Warehouse Operations Agent Steven Ross , December 5, 2025 3 minute read The shift begins and questions abound The shift is about to start, and each of the warehouse supervisors need to understand how their individual areas are doing before they go to meet their teams for their pre-shift huddle. Each supervisor has a different focus across the warehouse from inbound receiving to outbound shipping and everywhere in-between. But they are all asking a similar question: “What am I walking into?” Did the prior shift complete all their cycle counts as planned? Are we running behind for the day on picking and fill rates? Does the incoming shift have the available labor and in the right roles to handle planned demand and inbound receiving? Are any current inventory issues impacting on time outbound shipments? Today, answering those questions, along with other important ones, requires each supervisor to physically track down their counterpart from the departing shift and get a status update or wade through stacks of dated reports. The result, at best, is a fragmented picture of current status. And that’s often considered a good procedure with typical warehousing software. Meet the Warehouse Operations Agent What if it didn’t need to be like that? What if every manager and supervisor was met at the start of their shift with an agentic AI powered brief tailored specifically to their individual role within the warehouse? A brief that pulled signals from across the warehouse to provide insights on pick and fill rates, cycle counts, inventory and associate productivity, space management and productivity, resource availability, demand and order status, and many more. A brief that provided each supervisor with a clear, understandable picture of their area’s status at that exact moment. Along with explanations, context and recommendations for the supervisor to make actionable decisions going into the shift. And what if that clarity was delivered directly to each supervisor’s mobile device or desktop? Meet the Warehouse Operations Agent. More than just an update The Warehouse Operations Agent doesn’t just provide a status update going into the shift. The agentic brief provides each supervisor with a root cause analysis of any issues found alongside recommended actions for them to approve and implement to keep the warehouse on track. So, instead of doing the analysis to figure out the “why” and the “fix” on their own, the agentic brief can inform supervisors that: Picking performance is running behind due to inefficient product slotting and movements with a recommendation to re-slot the problem SKUs more efficiently Cycle counts are only being partially completed due to low tenure associates struggling with the cycle count’s complexity. And recommends moving higher tenure associates to accomplish the task On time fill rates are behind because of excess travel time and warehouse congestion.  With an explanation identifying the specific work zones that need to be addressed and associates that may need additional training. And the Warehouse Operations Agent provides these tailored updates continually during the workday as the WMS discovers problems to fix or opportunities to exploit. The impact of clarity What’s the real-world impact from that improved level of clarity: Upgraded leadership focus: Instead of wasting time piecing together a fragmented view of status at the start of the shift, the Warehouse Operations Agent provides every supervisor with updates and insights focused on achieving the shift goals. Improved throughput: By identifying operational root causes and presenting them alongside recommendations, actions can be taken faster to mitigate any picking shortfalls or exploit opportunities in near real time. Enhanced workload balance: While an Agent brief may be individually tailored, Agent recommendations consider activity across the warehouse keeping activity balanced to prevent operational bottlenecks and congestion during the shift. Improved labor productivity: With alerts that highlight gaps in worker performance Vs workload complexity, supervisors can swap in better trained resources during the shift to take up any slack and complete the shift’s work on time. Increased inventory productivity: Updates that call out missed inventory picks due to poor inventory accuracy or missed cycle counts that can be corrected by the current shift to improve inventory productivity. With the Warehouse Operations Agent as their partner, the warehouse team can see these improvements start to happen quickly. And with machine learning (ML), the Agent will be able to predict and anticipate challenges faster and more efficiently. How it works The Warehouse Ops Agent follows the SADA loop—see, analyze, decide, and act. See: Monitors fill rates, cycle counts and idle inventory in real time Analyze: Detects root causes like delayed replenishments, misplacements, slow picking routes, or associates needing additional training Decide: Explains and recommends specific actions for improvement Act: Pushes system-directed tasks to worker handhelds so adjustments happen on the spot It responds to today’s disruptions and identifies patterns across shifts, helping managers and supervisors prevent recurring issues before they happen again. Why Blue Yonder The Warehouse Operations Agent is lightweight, scalable, and designed to work seamlessly across mobile and web. Behind the scenes, the Blue Yonder Platform processes more than 25 billion predictions each day, proving that our agents can handle the scale and complexity of the world’s largest supply chains. Get started today The Warehouse Operations Agent is one of several domain-focused AI agents designed to accelerate supply chain action. Learn more about all our AI agents and explore our WMS to see how you can put AI agents to work in your operations. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Don't let missing links break your peak season](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/dont-let-missing-links-break-your-peak-season) > Don't let missing data links shatter your peak season revenue. Discover the critical gaps in your supply chain management that cause stockouts, erode customer confidence, and leave valuable inventory unavailable to meet holiday demand. Blog Don't let missing links break your peak season Don't let missing links break your peak season Ethan Morgan , December 3, 2025 4 minute read It’s the defining moment of the year for many retailers: A few weeks in which success means it’s been a great year, and too many problems can throw annual performance off course. So what kinds of problem do retailers need to prevent? On one level, it’s pretty simple. Don’t run out of the really popular products, on any of your channels. Don’t leave customers uncertain if they can rely on you to deliver. Don’t leave valuable inventory in the wrong place, unavailable to meet demand. Of course, if it were as easy as that, you’d never see an empty shelf in a store during December. But why is it so hard? One reason is that retailers are missing critical links in their supply chain management, with teams doing their best to operate in tandem, but lacking the shared data and visibility that could help them to achieve those crucial goals of availability and customer confidence. That means lost revenue, lower margins, more waste, and more markdowns. Let’s explore where those gaps in the chain are. The problem with months-old plans In 2025, retailers in a Deloitte survey said that they had already placed more than half of all their holiday orders by the end of May , partly to try to get ahead of trade policy changes—which looks like a pretty smart move now, considering the year of trade policy shifts we’ve seen. That decision does come with some risk though. Consumer tastes can shift dramatically in that time, and long lead times mean that only retailers who can find the time to trial products and test the market for them well in advance of the holidays can adjust their orders in enough time to have the inventory available by the time demand peaks. Even though one team might have incredibly useful data—let’s say an influencer campaign has sold far better than expected—the buyer who receives that data faces a battle to reshape forecasts and plans in time to adjust how much they’re going to have of that specific SKU for the holidays. This is a classic instance where seeing the supply chain as a one-way pipeline means missing out on opportunities. Information has barriers to cross at every stage, between systems, workflows and teams, rather than being shared automatically. Before peak, you plan to have a certain amount of stock for a SKU. In the execution phase, valuable demand data surfaces, but it’s not automatically and quickly passed back up the chain to planners, to enable a rapid adjustment to account for that new data. So, your hot seller sells out quickly, and you miss out on much greater demand. At peak, time is money, and legacy siloed supply chains take too long to react. An end-to-end connected supply chain means planners get real-time demand signals automatically, combined with full visibility of orders and lead times. This ensures that if there’s an opportunity to meet demand in the holidays, it can be quickly actioned and it doesn’t get lost in the turmoil of executing at peak. The pitfalls of siloed inventory Another critical missing link is the separation of e-commerce and in-store inventory. Many retailers still manage these channels as distinct business units with separate inventory pools. This creates a situation where an item can be sold out online but abundant in physical stores. Without a single, real-time view of inventory, retailers can't react effectively. Store managers might be marking down excess stock, unaware that the same item is out-of-stock on the company's website and in high demand through that channel. This not only results in lost full-price sales but also frustrates customers who can't find the products they want. We’ve heard from retailers whose teams were calling up individual store managers to identify where they had available inventory to rebalance across their network of stores and DCs. A single real-time source of truth about inventory means retailers can adjust their stock levels and fulfilment options intelligently across channels. It also enables powerful customer promises such as surfacing local store stock information to customers browsing online. This can be especially powerful at peak, when purchases and decisions are often time-critical. Using inventory data and customer data to offer a personalized delivery window, plus the added offer of local stores where inventory is available right now, boosts conversion by giving them the confidence and options they need to get that perfect gift, in time for the holidays. The returns black hole The holiday season also brings a surge in returns. The average e-commerce returns rate can be as high as 30%-50% for apparel and footwear. When returned inventory isn't processed and made available for resale quickly, it becomes a major liability. Don’t let returns ruin your peak season Don't let the post-holiday flood of returns destroy your profits. Learn how a strategic approach to returns management can help you recover revenue and protect your margins. Discover More Many retailers struggle with slow, inefficient returns management, causing products to sit in a processing backlog for weeks. During the tight window of peak season, this delay means returned items miss the opportunity to be sold at full price (or at all) before critical shipping cut-offs. Instead, they are often liquidated at a steep discount after the holidays, or worse, end up in a landfill. Returns are really just supply. Treating them as such requires a holistic view of inventory, but it unlocks the ability to maximize the value of returns, which is critical given that they can make up a significant percentage of retail sales. Returns can be intelligently decisioned so that they are used to replenish inventory in stores or DCs that are out of stock, or directed to a location with particularly high demand for a specific SKU. Returns can actually help retailers to respond to their inventory needs, if their systems are connected and able to intelligently react to the business context. That makes peak operations run much smoother than dumping returns into a warehouse, to be dealt with come January. Peak supply chain performance for the peak season One of the biggest challenges starts well before the holidays. Understanding the potential impacts of different strategies and what-if scenarios is currently a tricky and time-consuming task for retail peak planning. With an end-to-end platform and advanced scenario planning , it’s far easier to determine what will happen when strategic levers get pulled, giving retail planners and executives much more confidence in their peak strategy. The holiday season will always be a demanding time for retailers, but it doesn't have to be a chaotic one. By forging the missing links between your teams, tools, and data, you can build a resilient and profitable supply chain that is ready for the peak season rush. With an end-to-end platform , you can synchronize planning and execution and react quickly, at the pivotal shopping moment of the year. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix™](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-recognized-again-as-a-leader-in-the-nucleus-research) > Discover why Blue Yonder earned a Leader position in the Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix™. Get the full analysis and insights here. Blog Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix™ Blue Yonder recognized again as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix™ Sarah Hart , October 3, 2025 4 minute read Blue Yonder’s Command Center: Leading the future of supply chain orchestration In today’s volatile supply chain environment, Control Tower technology has become a strategic priority. Companies are facing constant disruption, from trade shifts and rising costs to regulatory demands and labor shortages, making real-time visibility and nimble decision-making essential. We are proud to share that Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in analyst Charles Brennan’s 2025 Nucleus Research Control Tower Technology Value Matrix, due to the strength and innovation of our Command Center. Our platform integrates planning and execution within a unified environment, enabling organizations to navigate complexity, respond to disruptions with agility, and build resiliency across their supply networks. Our leadership position reflects our commitment to delivering intelligent, connected, and adaptive supply chain solutions across industries, from consumer goods and retail to life sciences, automotive, high-tech, logistics, defense, and humanitarian aid. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the current control tower technology market, assessing major technology vendors. For the 10th consecutive year, Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader in this report (previously included as One Network Enterprises). Our placement highlights our positive momentum on both the “Better Functionality” and “Greater Usability” axes of the Value Matrix assessment, with Blue Yonder positioned furthest to the right for "Better Functionality" and closest to the top for “Greater Usability.’” Blue Yonder is also a Leader in multiple Nucleus Research Value Matrix reports, which include Supply Chain Planning , Warehouse Management System , Transportation Management System , and Workforce Management . A networked foundation for real-time collaboration At the core of Blue Yonder’s control tower capabilities is our expansive multi-party network, connecting over 150,000 trading partners. This hub-to-hub ecosystem enables seamless collaboration across suppliers, carriers, distributors, and customers. Built on the unified Blue Yonder Platform, our Command Center consolidates data streams from across the supply chain, providing a single, integrated view that spans planning and execution. This foundation empowers organizations to monitor disruptions, simulate scenarios, and make prescriptive decisions in real-time. Intelligence that drives action Blue Yonder’s platform goes beyond visibility to deliver intelligent orchestration. Machine learning algorithms continuously monitor anomalies and automatically adjust plans and tasks. AI agents support functions such as shipment consolidation, inbound supply risk, and logistics optimization. A natural language AI Assistant allows users to interact with the system conversationally, while configurable widgets generate actionable insights and visualizations. These capabilities enable planners to synchronize upstream and downstream activities across multiple tiers with speed and precision. Planning, logistics, and compliance—unified Recent enhancements to the Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Command Center have strengthened its role as a comprehensive orchestration hub. Multi-enterprise ticketing enables cross-company issue tracking and collaboration, while multi-tier planning tools extend visibility into third-party production and capacity constraints. Blue Yonder scaled our logistics capabilities to support over 7.5 million shipments per month, with AI assistants aiding transportation managers in execution and exception handling. The platform also supports automated invoice parsing and 3D trailer load building, further streamlining operations. Built-In resilience and regulatory readiness Blue Yonder has embedded advanced compliance and risk management features into our Command Center workflows. Chain-of-custody tracking, recall alerts, and asset monitoring ensure transparency and trust across the supply chain. Integration with third-party risk data providers allows organizations to visualize disruptions geographically and assign mitigation tasks directly, ensuring businesses can maintain continuity in increasingly complex supply chain environments. A platform designed for the future With a harmonized user interface, enterprise-grade security, and FedRAMP compliance, Blue Yonder built our platform for scalability and trust. Our Developer Network allows organizations to customize applications and apply their own data science, while conversational AI agents and embedded large language models enhance usability and insight generation. These innovations position Blue Yonder as more than a technology provider instead as a strategic partner in building resilient, intelligent, and adaptive supply chains. Leading the future of supply chain Blue Yonder’s continued recognition as a Leader in the Nucleus Research Control Tower Technology Value Matrix underscores our commitment to innovation, usability, and functionality in supply chain orchestration. As disruptions grow more frequent and complex, our Command Center empowers organizations to stay ahead with intelligent, real-time decision-making, seamless collaboration, and built-in resilience. With a future-ready platform that integrates planning, logistics, compliance, and sustainability, Blue Yonder is shaping the evolution of control tower technology; and redefining what is possible in supply chain transformation. Read the full Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Value Matrix. To understand how Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions, including our Command Center, can help you achieve your strategic goals, please visit our website or contact us today. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transforming automotive supply chains: From blind spots to competitive advantage](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/transforming-automotive-supply-chains) > Unlock competitive edge by eliminating automotive supply chain blind spots. Learn how real-time visibility and AI-powered control towers are driving efficiency, agility, and massive savings for auto manufacturers. Blog Transforming automotive supply chains: From blind spots to competitive advantage Transforming automotive supply chains: From blind spots to competitive advantage Bernard Cohen , December 4, 2025 2 minute read Is your supply chain holding you back? For automotive manufacturers, the modern supply chain has never been more complex. Increased customization, shorter lead times and global supply volatility that spans multiple tiers have turned what once was a linear process into a network of interdependent partners. Without integrated systems and visibility across both the enterprise itself and its multi-tier network, suppliers struggle to meet expectations while keeping costs under control. Two major challenges consistently hold automotive manufacturers back: Disjointed logistics that drive up total cost of ownership and blind spots that limit resilience across the supply chain network. Disjointed logistics and high total cost of ownership Fragmented planning, transport and warehousing systems create inefficiencies that ripple through the supply chain. Logistics teams often struggle to coordinate deliveries between multiple suppliers, resulting in missed assembly slots and last-minute expedited shipping. These reactive operations increase labor and transportation costs, reduce on-time delivery performance, and limit visibility across the network. KPIs affected by these gaps include transportation costs as a percentage of revenue, expedite transfer costs, service levels, and total supply chain costs. For n-tier suppliers, these inefficiencies not only hurt margins but also strain relationships with OEMs and other partners in the tiered supplier network. To solve these challenges, manufacturers need unified logistics solutions that integrate planning and execution functions, and connect them with the collaboration and transparency provided by a connected multi-enterprise network. TMS , WMS , OMS , and the Network work together to provide real-time coordination and predictive insights. AI-powered capabilities monitor for delays and optimize routing, trailer prioritization, labor allocation, and appointment scheduling. The result is a supply chain that is not only more cost-efficient but also more responsive to dynamic demand and production schedules. With a Supply Chain Control Tower or Supply Chain Command Center , automotive manufacturers can gain a centralized view of transport, warehousing, and order fulfillment, not only within the enterprise, but across the nth-tier of the supply chain network. This unified platform transforms logistics from a reactive cost center into a competitive advantage. Companies leveraging integrated WMS software and TMS software report improved adherence to delivery dates, reduced expediting costs, and enhanced overall network efficiency. Discover why Blue Yonder is a Leader in the Control Tower Technology Value Matrix Get the full Nucleus Research 2025 Technology Value Matrix report to see the analysis behind our Leader placement. Discover More Blind spots and limited resilience Even with improved logistics, many automotive OEMs and suppliers still operate without end-to-end visibility across the supply chain network. Critical issues, such as part shortages, labor constraints, or supplier delays often only become visible after they impact production or service levels. These blind spots can cause production delays, financial penalties, missed deliveries, and rushed procurement at inflated costs. Key KPIs impacted by limited visibility include on-time, in-full delivery, supplier lead time, production shutdown percentages, and supplier quality metrics. Automotive manufacturers across all levels of the supply chain need solutions that allow them to detect risks across multiple tiers of the network before they affect operations. AI-enhanced supply chain control towers and multi-tier collaboration platforms enable proactive risk sensing. By integrating WMS software, TMS, and OMS, suppliers gain real-time visibility into inventory levels, transportation schedules, disruptions, and supplier performance. Predictive insights and scenario-based simulations allow them to plan contingencies, mitigate risks, and maintain consistent production flow. Suppliers who implement these solutions experience greater resilience and faster response times. A supply chain command center can act as the nerve center, orchestrating transport, warehousing and order fulfillment across the entire network. Predictive, AI-enabled intelligence ensures that suppliers are not only aware of potential risks but also prepared to act on them. Why integrated Blue Yonder solutions matter Blue Yonder provides a unified platform designed to address both logistics inefficiencies and visibility gaps. Our solutions combine WMS software, TMS software, OMS, Demand and Supply Planning , and Network intelligence into a cohesive ecosystem. AI agents optimize labor, inventory, and transportation in real time, ensuring maximum efficiency and agility. With Blue Yonder, suppliers can achieve greater traceability across the supply chain, improve plan adherence, reduce expediting and labor costs, and maximize on-time delivery performance. By leveraging TMS, WMS solutions, and OMS software together, suppliers gain a centralized view of the supply chain network that enables faster, smarter decisions. In an industry where timing, cost and quality determine success, automotive industry players cannot afford to operate in silos. Integrated systems, AI-enhanced insights, and a supply chain control tower approach provide the visibility and coordination required to transform logistics from a challenge into a competitive advantage. With Blue Yonder, suppliers can reduce total cost of ownership, prevent costly disruptions and deliver reliable results to their partners. It's time to eliminate blind spots Disjointed logistics and blind spots in the supply chain network are no longer acceptable risks for automotive manufacturers. Unified TMS software, WMS solutions and OMS software enable coordinated AI-driven operations. Extending transparency with end-to-end visibility, proactive risk mitigation, and predictive insights, suppliers can build resilient, efficient, and cost-effective supply chains that meet the demands of modern automotive production. The time to act is now Discover how Blue Yonder can help you drive greater performance and eliminate blind spots. Learn More ### [The new era of demand and supply planning: Planners become business owners](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-new-era-of-demand-and-supply-planning) > The planning role is evolving. Discover how new technology is empowering demand and supply planners to move beyond tasks and become strategic business owners, driving profit and long-term enterprise growth. Blog The new era of demand and supply planning: Planners become business owners The new era of demand and supply planning: Planners become business owners Chris Shrope , December 3, 2025 3 minute read Supply chain professionals know the reality all too well: Planning is fragmented. Demand lives in one system, supply in another and inventory in yet another. Each function does its best, but the handoffs are messy, time is lost and planners end up spending their days reconciling spreadsheets instead of driving strategy. Dealing with forecast inaccuracies isn’t just inefficient—it’s costly. Stock overages pile up in some markets while others run dry. Promotions underperform. Supplier delays ripple downstream. Executives feel the pain in the form of missed revenue, margin pressure and customer dissatisfaction. But there’s good news. A new paradigm—unified supply chain planning, combining demand and supply planning —is changing the game. Why unified supply chain planning matters Unified supply chain planning brings together demand planning, supply planning and inventory optimization into one planning process. Instead of juggling siloed tools, companies operate from a single, dynamic model of demand, supply, and inventory. Imagine a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brand launching a new product. Traditionally, planners pieced together data from retailers, e-commerce platforms and suppliers manually. Errors were inevitable and response times lagged. In the new demand and supply planning world, all that data flows into one plan. Inventory is staged in the right regions, suppliers are aligned and when a promotion overperforms in one market, planners can reallocate stock in real time. The result? Faster decisions, fewer surprises and stronger outcomes. Tactical planners become business strategists Perhaps the most powerful change lies in how unified demand and supply planning transforms the role of the planner. Historically, planners were tactical problem-solvers—reacting to shortages, correcting bad data and putting out fires. With unified planning, much of that firefighting disappears. AI agents, purpose-built for monitoring inventory surface hotspots, flag risks and recommend fixes. By automating routine tasks, planners gain the bandwidth and insight needed to act swiftly and strategically, leading to improved efficiency of up to 75% . Instead of being operators of process, they become owners of outcomes. They decide where to place inventory, how to prioritize customers, and how to balance cost with service. A planner in a CPG company with an intelligent, AI-driven supply chain isn’t focused on managing spreadsheets—they’re ensuring a product launch succeeds, revenue targets are met and customers get what they expect when they expect it. That’s business ownership. Executive leaders drive long-term advantages Supply chain conditions are always changing, and risks of disruption are ever-present. Companies must be able to adapt with agility and insight-driven certainty that translates into long-term resilience and competitive advantage. Just as the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process unites various departments like sales, operations, and marketing to develop a cohesive strategy, combining demand and supply planning processes enables executive leaders to achieve transformative benefits. CFOs see reduced carrying costs. COOs see better supplier utilization. Commercial leaders see stronger service levels. CEOs gain resilience and agility. When unifying demand and supply planning, it isn’t just a tool—it’s a strategic advantage that drives long-term growth and success. The future is unified Supply chains are too essential to be managed with yesterday’s fragmented systems. Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning provides the visibility, speed and intelligence to turn planning into a growth engine. The companies that embrace this shift will not only weather disruption but thrive in it. The future of supply chain planning is here It’s unified. It’s intelligent. And it turns planners into strategic business owners. Learn More Download White Paper ### [Is shadow inventory affecting your cost optimisation?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/is-shadow-inventory-affecting-your-cost-optimisation) > Shadow inventory might be silently sabotaging your bottom line. Learn how this hidden problem impacts your cost optimization efforts and discover actionable strategies to gain control. Blog Is shadow inventory affecting your cost optimization? Is shadow inventory affecting your cost optimization? Danielle Strouther , October 28, 2025 1 minute read With rising inflation, interest rates, tariff changes, and supply volatility, it’s no surprise that supply chain businesses are facing incredible cost pressures. According to Gartner®, the current outlook is bleak—60% of executive team leaders view the environment as unfavorable to company performance, with reduced demand and accelerated inflation creating the most significant cost pressures. The Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass also revealed that 28% of supply chain leaders are most concerned about rising costs, with 63% of leaders stating that managing costs is a key strategic goal for this year. However, many incurred supply chain costs are structural, making them hard to change in the short term. This intensifies the pressure to find and eliminate waste in areas that can be controlled—particularly hidden drains like shadow inventory. Discover how supply chain leaders are navigating complexity We asked 700 supply chain leaders about their ambitions, fears, goals and strategies. Get the results here, with the key actions leaders are prioritizing to build resilience, implement new technology, and achieve sustainability goals. Download For Free The hidden cost of shadow inventory Shadow inventory isn't excess or forgotten product sitting in a warehouse. It is inventory that seemed profitable at the time of ordering but turns out to be a liability when the real costs are revealed, such as tariff exposures, surprise accessorial fees, and logistics penalties. Although most supply chain companies can accurately track shipments, there is a disconnect between purchase orders, landed costs, and actual inventory profitability in real time. It’s a blind spot, where stock that looks strategic on paper becomes a cash trap when conditions shift. Examples of shifting conditions could be: Tariff volatility: Tariffs, particularly in the US, have changed rapidly over the past few months. Let’s say a retailer accounts for a 25% tariff for aluminum and steel goods and places an order in May. On May 30, President Trump announced an increase from 25% to 50% for these tariffs, which come into effect on June 4. This shipment has already left port, but it now has double the tariff cost associated with it. Disruption fees: Supply chain disruptions can happen at any time. An unexpected storm hits, causing congestion in the port. Shipments are held for two weeks longer than anticipated, resulting in unexpected detention and demurrage charges. Accessorial fees & surcharges: The global price of fuel spikes, leading to increased transportational costs or line-item changes that are added to the final freight bill, which are not included in the original shipping quotation. Integrated supply chains bring shadow inventory into the light The key to solving the shadow inventory problem—and achieving sustainable cost optimization—is having a truly integrated supply chain. Disconnected teams that rely on fragmented data and delayed signals from legacy systems lack a real-time grasp of the financial picture, allowing hidden costs to accumulate after inventory is ordered. Instead, a unified supply chain platform such as Blue Yonder , creates a single source of truth for spend management, inventory disposition, and risk assessment. By leveraging existing operational data—from purchase orders to invoices—and applying AI-powered analytics, the platform consolidates information to optimize every cost driver in real-time. Building a cost-optimized supply chain with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder provides immediate financial clarity by ensuring that planning and execution adjust instantly in the event of a disruption. Tariff volatility: The Blue Yonder Tariff Agent instantly tracks tariff changes and automatically updates cost calculations, allowing procurement and finance teams to adapt to sudden import duty hikes before the goods clear customs. Logistics fees: Transportation Management solutions instantly reconcile planned and actual spending—including port congestion, demurrage, and unexpected accessorial fees—preventing surprises that could derail quarterly results. Omni-channel optimization: Inventory is continuously and automatically routed to the location where it can deliver the maximum margin, effectively freeing up trapped working capital and preventing losses from overstock or missed sales opportunities. Predictive analytics: Advanced analytics pinpoint specific cost leakages, recommend corrective actions, and deliver granular ROI metrics on every process—from freight contracting to final fulfillment. Inventory cost visibility: Merchandise Operations maintains perpetual inventory with actual landed costs, not planned costs, so you can see exactly which products have become less profitable than expected and make decisions about repricing, reallocating, or clearing them before they drain cash. Take control of shadow inventory and drive sustainable, cost-focused supply chain excellence with Blue Yonder. Connect with us today to learn more about our solutions and discover how to achieve true cost optimization. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Transforming logistics with generative AI: Elevate and accelerate transportation optimization and critical decisions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/transforming-logistics-with-generative-ai) > Move beyond traditional optimization. See how Generative AI is shaping the future of transportation, giving logistics managers the tools to elevate precision and accelerate strategic decision-making. Blog Transforming logistics with generative AI: Elevate and accelerate transportation optimization and critical decisions Transforming logistics with generative AI: Elevate and accelerate transportation optimization and critical decisions Caitlin Meaden , November 28, 2025 1 minute read Logistics optimization has traditionally been a complex, almost mysterious process—a "black box" of algorithms understood only by a few technical experts creating parameters and strategy to ensure the optimization stays within the business requirements. This approach creates a gap between the mathematical models and the business professionals who face real-world disruptions daily. But what if we could open that black box, making optimization accessible and explainable to everyone on your team? Generative AI is making this possible. By translating complex data into clear, human-like narratives, generative AI bridges the gap between technical and business users. It elevates your team’s capabilities, turning intricate mathematical solutions into actionable insights that can be understood and leveraged by all. This isn't about replacing optimization; it's about making it approachable, dynamic and collaborative. Say hello to the Logistics Ops Agent Picture this: You've planned every route perfectly, but a sudden storm shuts down a major interstate. A critical shipment is now unroutable, and the pressure is on to find a solution without disrupting the entire network. Simultaneously, carriers are waiting for new rate updates that typically take hours to process. This is where Blue Yonder Logistics Ops Agent steps in. It functions like an expert transportation partner, providing managers with quick insights and surfacing the best options in moments. The agent identifies backhaul opportunities, alerts you when routes need attention and automates time-consuming administrative tasks like uploading rates. Instead of getting bogged down in endless rework, your transportation teams can remain focused on what they do best—keeping goods moving. How it delivers dynamic insights The Logistics Ops Agent operates on the SADA loop—see, analyze, decide, and act—to deliver continuous value: See : It monitors shipments, rates and network activity in real time, providing a constant stream of operational data Analyze : It proactively flags issues, such as unroutable shipments, missed backhaul opportunities and outdated rate data Decide : It recommends optimal routes and corrective actions before minor issues escalate into costly delays Act : It automates processes like uploading and validating carrier rates, applying user preferences, and updating the transportation plan directly By combining conversational alerts, task automation, and adaptive learning, the agent makes transportation decisions faster, smarter, and significantly less manual. What it delivers for your operations Integrating the Logistics Ops Agent provides immediate and measurable benefits that enhance efficiency and agility. Smarter routing : Proactively spots unroutable shipments and backhaul opportunities before they cause delays Less administrative work : Automates tedious tasks like rate ingestion, freeing up your team for strategic activities Greater efficiency : Reduces empty miles and improves first-time tender success, driving down operational costs Mobility built-in : Designed with mobile-first alerts and collaboration tools for managers, whether in the office or on the warehouse floor Why Blue Yonder leads the way The Logistics Ops Agent is lightweight, scalable and built to support the dynamic needs of modern transportation teams. Behind this innovative tool is Blue Yonder's proven platform, which processes more than 25 billion predictions every day. This demonstrates our unparalleled ability to handle the scale, variability and complexity of global supply chains. We don't just provide another optimization tool. We offer a platform that augments your team's skills, enabling them to work with greater speed, scale and dynamism. Put AI agents to work The Logistics Ops Agent is one of several domain-focused AI agents designed to accelerate supply chain action. These agents empower your team to navigate the fluidity of modern logistics, where plans change by the minute. Explore our TMS to see how you can put AI agents to work in your operations and start transforming your supply chain today. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [The real cost of operational inefficiencies](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-real-cost-of-operational-inefficiencies) > Learn how to eliminate supply chain "blind spots" by gaining deep-tier visibility to prevent material shortages, costly production stoppages, and financial penalties. Blog The real cost of operational inefficiencies The real cost of operational inefficiencies Bernard Cohen , November 27, 2025 2 minute read Blind spots that cost more than you think With major industry dynamics like the shift to EVs , tightening regulations, and increasing supply chain complexity, manufacturers throughout the automotive supply chain are under constant pressure to deliver with precision. Yet for many, visibility only reaches the suppliers they work with directly, leaving deeper layers of the chain hidden. It’s a lot like driving with blind spots. In the past, drivers had to crane their necks and hope for the best when changing lanes. Today, cars are equipped with sensors and cameras that eliminate those blind spots, giving drivers a clear, real-time picture of their surroundings and helping them avoid costly accidents. Supply chains work the same way. Without insight into deeper tiers, problems like material shortages, disruptions or quality issues often go unnoticed until they hit the production line. The result? Missed deadlines, costly stoppages, premium freight charges, and financial penalties that ripple through the entire value chain. But with the right visibility “sensors” in place, manufacturers can spot risks earlier, avoid collisions and keep operations running smoothly. The domino effect of one missed alert Imagine a Tier-2 supplier suddenly runs out of a critical semiconductor. By the time the OEM hears about it, the assembly line is already down. Teams scramble to find replacement parts, pay triple for expedited shipping and face angry customers over late deliveries. Hours of downtime become days of backlogs. This isn’t a rare story. It’s a common reality when blind spots exist. Operating without clarity Relying on outdated tools is like driving with fogged-up windows. You may keep moving forward, but you can’t see the hazards ahead until it’s too late. Reacting after the fact drains resources and erodes resilience. A better way forward End-to-end, AI-enhanced visibility changes the game. Instead of waiting for disruptions to hit, manufacturers can: Detect risks early across supplier tiers with AI-powered, multi-tier visibility Run scenario simulations using digital twins to evaluate response options Take prescriptive action through automated workflows and recommendations The difference is moving from firefighting disruptions to steering operations with confidence. Companies making this shift are already reducing transportation and labor costs while boosting on-time delivery performance. Preparing for what’s next As EV adoption accelerates and regulations tighten, supply chains will only grow more complex. The manufacturers who thrive will be those that sense disruptions early, adapt quickly and protect continuity across their networks. The question is: Will you keep reacting to surprises or take control of your operations with the foresight needed to prevent them? Ready to eliminate blind spots and build resistance? Find out how connected visibility can deliver a high-performance, agile, and resilient supply chain. Discover More ### [Key takeaways from the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/key-takeaways-from-the-2025-gartner-supply-chain-planning-summit) > Stay ahead of the curve. We reveal the most critical insights from the Gartner Summit, giving you the actionable planning strategies needed to navigate 2026 and build a more resilient network. Blog Key takeaways from the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit Key takeaways from the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit Simon Bowes , November 26, 2025 4 minute read How do supply chain leaders make disruption less disruptive? How do they stop a tariff change, a raw material shortage, or a weather event from slowing everything down? And beyond all the hype, where is AI actually delivering real value in supply chain planning ? These questions were top of our mind as we headed to the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Planning Summit in London. At the summit, we saw a clear shift toward connected intelligence, more adaptive planning cycles, and a new way of thinking about how people and machines work together inside modern supply chains. AI takes center stage AI has officially moved past pilots and proofs of concept. It’s now creating practical, measurable impact across supply chain planning. Three themes stood out for us. 1. AI is now directly linked to business growth The conversation is no longer only about optimization. It’s about growth, faster decisions, fewer delays, and more stable customer service. That’s becoming the new baseline for AI-enabled supply chain planning. 2. Complexity now needs intelligent automation Today’s supply chains move too fast for manual workarounds. Teams are turning to AI-driven planning recommendations and advanced planning tools to deal with volume changes, shifting constraints, and everyday uncertainty at scale. 3. Trust between humans and intelligent systems is becoming a real differentiator The companies seeing the most impact are redesigning planner roles. Machines take over the repetitive decisions. People focus on the strategic work—scenario analysis, risk sensing, and cross-functional alignment. We also heard consistent proof that AI is cutting decision latency, improving inventory outcomes, speeding up planning cycles, and giving teams more confidence. The overall message is that AI is becoming foundational across the end-to-end supply chain. Bridging the gap between planning and execution Another major takeaway for us was the industry-wide push to reduce the persistent gap between planning and what actually happens on the factory floor. Four ideas stood out: Start with feasibility: Validating capacity upfront leads to more reliable plans. When volume and sequence get set at the same time, downstream volatility increases. Separate commitments from stretch goals: Knowing what’s truly deliverable versus what’s aspirational reduces friction and supports better decisions. Move toward shorter, more integrated cycles: Shifting from weekly cycles to more frequent planning windows improves visibility, speeds up detection of issues, and strengthens coordination across demand, supply, and production. Fix both human and technical communication gaps: Fragmented systems still cause handoff issues. Automated, bi-directional integration supported by consistent S&OE checkpoints is proving essential to turning plans into execution-ready actions. Merck’s transformation journey On day one, Merck, the global healthcare and life sciences company, shared its supply chain transformation from the main stage. Its healthcare business runs 18 manufacturing sites and supplies medicines to nearly 90 million patients worldwide. In the past, Merck’s operations were siloed. Disconnected KPIs slowed decision-making, and limited scenario planning made it difficult to manage their global network. Their goal was clear: build integrated operations planning for faster, data-driven decisions and better collaboration. Merck is partnering with Blue Yonder to modernize its supply chain. Blue Yonder is being embedded into AI-powered planning processes to connect every part of the network and create a single source of truth. This approach gives teams better visibility, more interoperability, and faster decision-making across the board. With stronger connectivity between planning and execution, Merck can reduce silos and move toward true network-wide collaboration. And with machine-learning-powered scenario planning, the company will be able to anticipate operational costs, run predictive margin analysis, and make quicker, fact-based decisions that support both local and global targets. Building supply chains that think, learn, and adapt The biggest takeaway from the summit is that supply chains are shifting from reactive crisis management to proactive, intelligence-led decision-making. And Blue Yonder’s recognition as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning mirrors this industry-wide shift. As companies move away from spreadsheets and towards connected platforms powered by data, automation, and AI, they’re improving planning speed, accuracy, and resilience. For us, the direction is clear, AI-enabled planning is quickly becoming the backbone of resilient, supply chains. Learn more here. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Key takeaways from TFEST25 Berlin: Driving supply chain transformation with AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/key-takeaways-from-tfest25-berlin) > Missed TFEST25 Berlin? Get the key takeaways on how industry leaders are leveraging AI and advanced analytics to drive real supply chain transformation, resilience, and efficiency across the globe. Blog Key takeaways from TFEST25 Berlin: Driving supply chain transformation with AI Key takeaways from TFEST25 Berlin: Driving supply chain transformation with AI Gabriel Werner , November 26, 2025 3 minute read The pace of global change isn’t slowing down—and supply chains can’t afford to do so either. That urgency brought senior supply chain and logistics leaders to Berlin for TFEST25. As a participating sponsor, Blue Yonder joined these discussions, helping leaders explore how AI is reshaping performance across the global value chain. The themes discussed at TFEST25 weren’t theoretical. They reflected real challenges organizations are facing now, and the decisions leaders must make to stay competitive heading into 2026 and beyond. Across sessions, roundtables, and networking, five themes stood out, pointing to where supply chain is moving next and the capabilities organizations need to invest in today to remain competitive. AI is now the engine of supply chain transformation At TFEST25, this shift came to life through real customer examples and a live demonstration. Blue Yonder’s main-stage session brought together Daniel Hickling, director of supply chain visibility and collaboration at Haleon, and Gabriel Werner, global vice president of end-to-end solution advisory at Blue Yonder. Haleon shared how it is applying AI across its global network—from vendor-managed inventory with retailers to tighter collaboration with more than 120 contract manufacturers. Hickling described Haleon’s progression through key stages of AI maturity, including predictive intelligence to assess tariff impacts, automated actions such as purchase order confirmations and follow-ups with suppliers, and early agentic support that guides teams using standardized best-practice prompts. Blue Yonder demonstrated these capabilities with its personal briefing feature—an agentic AI assistant embedded directly in the planning workflow. Instead of beginning the day scanning exception dashboards, planners receive a role-specific briefing that flags priority issues, quantifies risk and financial impact, and recommends next steps. The agent then automates scenario creation, comparisons, and investigation workflows. The takeaway: AI-enabled planning and intelligent execution are quickly becoming the standard for organizations that need faster cycles, sharper decisions and greater confidence. Value chain resilience is now a core requirement What once felt like a rising trend is now the norm: disruption is constant, and supply chains must be built to withstand it. Leaders described this pressure across every part of the value chain — from new trade rules and expanding sanctions to stricter data-sharing and growing expectations for visibility across suppliers, partners, and contract manufacturers. For Haleon, operating at the intersection of fast-moving consumer health and tightly regulated pharmaceutical markets means the company must keep humanitarian supply lines moving while also protecting sensitive data. Striking that balance requires strong controls, including role-based access, secure data foundations, and guardrails that prevent information from crossing regulatory boundaries. The takeaway: Resilience requires more than diversified suppliers or added buffer inventory. It demands real-time intelligence, scenario-based planning, and network strategies tailored to each product, region, and risk profile. Data-driven decision-making is entering a new era Rather than simply pursuing visibility, leaders focused on how to convert interconnected datasets into actionable intelligence at scale. Hickling described how Haleon is linking product-category classifications to tariff data, enabling AI agents to analyze cost exposure, and recommend alternative manufacturing options based on capability, compliance, and market conditions. Across sessions, speakers pointed to the same shift: moving away from reactive analysis toward continuous, cycle-over-cycle intelligence. Digital twins, richer datasets, and autonomous insights are helping teams see patterns before they become problems. Werner emphasized this point during his demo: exception-based planning is no longer enough. Supply chains need tools that surface trends, opportunities, and root causes—not just alerts after something has already gone wrong. The takeaway: Organizations that elevate their data maturity will unlock faster decisions, lower operating costs, and improved resilience across the value chain. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today Cross-functional collaboration defines the modern supply chain Technology alone cannot transform supply chains. Progress depends on collaboration evolving alongside it. Leaders emphasized the need for deeper alignment across planning, procurement, finance, manufacturing, logistics, and every partner in between. Haleon’s experience showed why. By consolidating hundreds of contract manufacturers into a unified collaboration platform, the company created the foundation it needed for AI-driven improvements like automated PO workflows and synchronized planning cycles. With more than 550 global users, Hickling noted that adoption quickly becomes as much a cultural challenge as a technical one. AI-guided prompts accelerate adoption: Hickling likened prompts to quick-service upsells, like small nudges, that help teams make effective, consistent decisions without eliminating human judgment. Communities of practice matter: Peer learning, shared prompts, and standardized behaviors allow AI to scale more quickly and more sustainably. The takeaway: Collaboration, within and beyond the enterprise, has become a strategic advantage, enabling AI to deliver value across the entire network. Future-ready operations hinge on sustainability, digitalization and talent elevation The final theme in Berlin highlighted a shared priority across EMEA: building operations that are more sustainable, more digital and more capable of supporting modern teams. Leaders discussed the growing link between sustainability and growth, from reducing waste and empty miles to meeting rising EU regulatory expectations. Digitalization is accelerating this shift. As autonomous workflows and digital manufacturing mature, teams can move away from manual firefighting toward proactive, higher-value work. A consistent message across sessions: AI isn’t replacing talent; it’s elevating it by giving teams the context and confidence to act faster. The takeaway: Long-term competitiveness will depend on combining sustainable operations, intelligent automation, and workforce enablement into one future-ready operating model. Blue Yonder is the AI company for supply chain TFEST25 made one point unmistakably clear: the supply chains that will lead in 2026 are the ones investing in connected planning, intelligent execution, and real-time logistics. That’s where Blue Yonder excels. As the AI company for supply chain, our platform connects suppliers, contract manufacturers, carriers, and internal teams in one intelligent ecosystem—reducing complexity while improving performance across the entire value chain. Discover what’s possible here. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Don’t let returns ruin your peak season](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/dont-let-returns-ruin-your-peak-season) > Don't let the post-holiday flood of returns destroy your profits. Learn how a strategic approach to returns management can help you recover revenue and protect your margins. Blog Don’t let returns ruin your peak season Don’t let returns ruin your peak season Rhea Hall-Spencer , November 25, 2025 2 minute read The holiday season brings a surge in sales—and an inevitable wave of returns. For many retailers, this post-peak flood of returned merchandise can be a logistical and financial challenge. But with a strategic approach, returns can become a valuable part of your inventory strategy, helping you recover revenue and protect margins. Without an efficient returns management system , large volumes of returned stock ends up liquidated or sold at a fraction of its value—a huge loss of revenue. Shifting your perspective is key: Returns aren’t just a cost; they’re hidden inventory. Properly managing them can turn returns into opportunities. Treat returns as valuable inventory Every return is a potential sale. To unlock this value, integrate returns into your inventory system with real-time visibility. Managing returns with the same precision as new stock allows you to restock and resell items quickly, satisfying demand and capturing missed sales. By rethinking returns as part of your supply chain, you can minimize losses and maximize recovery. Use data and AI for smarter decisions Not all returns are the same. Effective returns strategies rely on real-time data and AI-driven decisions . AI can determine whether an item should be restocked, refurbished, or liquidated, and optimize routing to the channel with the highest resale potential. AI-powered tools help you: Optimize disposition: Decide whether to restock, refurbish or liquidate items based on real-time data Streamline routing: Direct returns to the best location to minimize costs and maximize resale speed Choose smarter shipping: Balance cost and speed for each return using AI-driven recommendations Modernize returns systems Legacy systems and manual processes often fail to handle the fast pace and high volume of returns during peak season. These bottlenecks delay decisions, create inaccurate inventory data and increase costs. Modern, real-time solutions eliminate these issues, enabling quicker, more confident actions during peak periods. Enforce flexible yet clear policies A strong returns policy is essential but must also allow for flexibility during peak season. Systems should be able to handle different returns policies, enforcing them where necessary to reduce out-of-policy returns and prevent fraud. Optimize warehouse returns processing Returns can overwhelm warehouses, especially when already stretched thin during peak times. Efficient returns systems are essential to avoid bottlenecks and recover valuable inventory faster. Key elements include: Streamlined workflows: Simplify inspection, sorting and dispositioning for faster processing Labor optimization: Allocate resources strategically to manage returns without disrupting outbound fulfillment System integration: Connect returns management with warehouse and order systems for end-to-end visibility Peak season success isn’t just about selling more—it’s about keeping more of the revenue you earn. By leveraging real-time visibility, AI and modern systems, you can turn post-peak returns into a strategic advantage, sustaining growth long after the holiday rush. Ready to turn returns into a competitive edge? Discover how Blue Yonder can help you streamline operations, cut processing costs, and recover value from your returns. Discover More ### [Holiday delivery preferences shift globally](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/holiday-delivery-preferences-shift-globally) > 2025 holiday shoppers are changing delivery habits due to inflation and tariffs. Learn how these global shifts impact consumer demand for alternative deliveries, speed, and carrier promises. Blog Holiday delivery preferences shift globally Holiday delivery preferences shift globally Ethan Morgan , November 24, 2025 1 minute read 2025 is a fairly unusual year in terms of the context that surrounds consumers as they make their holiday shopping decisions. Results from the latest Blue Yonder Global Shipping survey show that shoppers around the world are adjusting their online shopping and delivery preferences according to tariff exposure, inflation and sustainability awareness. So what does that mean for posts and parcel carriers in 2025’s peak season and beyond? Today we’ll look at three angles: The changing context and how consumers are reacting Consumer demand for alternative deliveries—if it’s worth their while Speed, and consumer confidence in delivery promises Sustainability drives new willingness 0 % of shoppers are happy to bundle purchases to minimize environmental impacts 0 % will accept delayed or slower shipping if it reduces emissions 0 % will pay a small amount to offset emissions Bundling is great for parcel carriers, allowing them to increase drop density and make routes more efficient. It’s already part of the delivery proposition from some retailers, particularly those which are vertically integrated, owning both the retail experience and the logistics of delivery. (This is also sometimes offered by delivery apps which can coordinate additional stops—e.g., getting groceries added to your pizza delivery.) So consumers clearly already have some appetite for bundling orders together and adding in the sustainability pitch convinces a majority of shoppers. Carriers and postal operators could look to offer this as a delivery option for retail clients or consumers, consolidating packages into a single delivery day. This could occur with multiple packages from one retailer, if pitched to the retailer as a delivery option, or from single packages spread across multiple retailers, if pitched to the consumer. Either way, this kind of proposition works best with a real-time view of orders combined with an accurate and personalized estimate of potential emissions savings. Aside from bundling, consumers also expressed willingness to pay an offsetting price or receive deliveries later, for sustainability reasons. Let’s look at delivery speed first. Slower delivery speeds could be useful to help posts and parcel carriers to smooth out volume spikes and match demand to capacity more efficiently—connecting their own actual emissions data to delivery propositions, combined with real-time network and capacity visibility , they could offer a personalized delivery speed and emissions saving to consumers. Offsetting contributions are perhaps a nice-to-have feature for consumers and might be relatively easy to implement, but they don’t necessarily drive any other efficiencies for parcel logistics. Discover how Royal Mail unlocked the power of their network with Blue Yonder Learn More Tariffs and inflation In the U.S., a majority (60%) of consumers said they expect to shift their purchasing habits in response to additional duties and tariffs. 44% said they’d reduce international purchases, and 10% would shift more purchases to local retailers. Internationally, 46% of consumers said that inflation would drive them to reduce their online shopping purchases, with 9% shifting more purchases to local retailers. Posts and parcel carriers might be anticipating a slowdown in 2025 holiday cross-border e-commerce, thanks to tariffs, but it looks like there may be a broader shift away from online shopping as well, which could impact volumes and capacity planning Broad willingness for alternative delivery methods—if it’s cheaper or faster Generally speaking, lots of consumers say they’re willing to use alternative delivery methods if it makes their deliveries faster or free, with the popularity of lockers being particularly noteworthy from the perspective of parcel carriers and postal operators. If it made deliveries faster, 53% of consumers said they’d be willing to utilize in-store pickup, and 42% would use a locker to pick up a delivery. For free deliveries, 49% would pick up in-store and 38% would use a locker. Locker pickup for faster deliveries was most popular in France (58%), Germany (53%) and the U.K. (49%), and the same three countries topped the ranks of locker preference for free deliveries. Overall, for a faster delivery, just 12% said they wouldn’t consider any alternative to home delivery, and for a free delivery, that number falls to just 10%, showing that massive majorities of consumers are willing to change their holiday shopping delivery behavior if there’s an immediate benefit in cost or speed. Out-of-home deliveries massively increase drop density and delivery reliability, transforming route efficiency. Incentivizing consumer adoption with price is perhaps easier for parcel carriers to achieve and to justify thanks to those improved unit economics, but this survey shows that speed is also a compelling incentive for changing consumer delivery behavior. Speed expectations are high, but confidence is not More than half of global shoppers (53%) expect delivery within 2-4 days of ordering. At the same time, only one-third (34%) are very confident that packages will arrive by the expected date. This reflects the limitations of wide, one-size-fits-all delivery estimates, which tend to be presented to consumers regardless of available capacity, known delays, transportation partner availability and performance, and volume currently in the network. Having a real-time, accurate view of your network allows you to start building in those real on-the-ground factors into your delivery estimates, meaning you can be both more precise and more accurate, giving customers delivery windows that aren’t 3-5 days wide, and giving them confidence in your ability to meet those delivery promises. Find out how Blue Yonder can help postal and parcel carriers to navigate changing consumer expectations and win more business in e-commerce delivery. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [The Shelf Ops Agent takes center stage: Removing hours of manual planogram edits](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-shelf-ops-agent-takes-center-stage) > Meet the Shelf Ops Agent: the critical player transforming in-store execution. Blog The Shelf Ops Agent takes center stage: Removing hours of manual planogram edits The Shelf Ops Agent takes center stage: Removing hours of manual planogram edits Blue Yonder , November 18, 2025 1 minute read Manual planogram edits slow teams down Things change incredibly fast in retail. Global distributions , and micro-market shifts mean products are discontinued, or one-in/one-outs are triggered outside scheduled resets. With rapid changes, even the most “perfect” planogram can become obsolete with the slightest change. In practice, this means that space planners and category managers spend hours performing tedious, repetitive tasks like swapping SKUs, adjusting facings, and fixing overflow errors instead of focusing on strategic layout, pricing, or innovation. What’s worse, the more manual updates they must perform, the greater the risk of incorrect stocking levels or misplaced products. Delayed planogram updates can also introduce phantom inventory, where systems show stock that isn’t physically shelved, or lost sales, where shelves are marked for different, discontinued items rather than the stock actually present. So, what’s the solution for modern-day space planners and category managers? Enter the Shelf Ops Agent The Shelf Ops Agent automates planogram updates across hundreds of planograms at once. It executes rapid product swaps, resolves overflow errors automatically, and introduces seamless planogram versioning. What once took days of manual edits now takes minutes, freeing teams to spend more time on strategy and shopper experience. How it works The Shelf Ops Agent streamlines and orchestrates planogram changes end to end: Swap: Replace discontinued or unavailable items with new SKUs instantly. Balance: Detect and resolve overflow or underflow errors to keep planograms implementable. Version: Create planogram versions and update relevant fields with ease. Report: Generate distribution reports, analyze coverage, and spot gaps. By automating routine planogram maintenance, the agent ensures accuracy and consistency at scale while giving teams more bandwidth for growth-driving work. What it delivers Faster updates: Complex changes across hundreds of planograms completed in minutes. Error reduction: Automated overflow fixes improve accuracy and compliance. Smarter workflows: Versioning and reporting simplify what used to be multi-step processes. More time for strategy: Space planners and category managers focus on innovation, not firefighting. Why Blue Yonder The Shelf Ops Agent is built on decades of Blue Yonder expertise in retail planning and space management. It’s lightweight, scalable, and designed to handle the SKU and planogram complexity of the world’s largest retail operations. Get started today The Shelf Ops Agent is one of several domain-focused AI agents designed to accelerate supply chain action. Learn more about all our AI agents and explore our Category Management solutions to see how you can put AI agents to work in your operations. Discover AI Agents Explore Category Management Solutions ### [2025 in supply chains: A retrospective](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/2025-in-supply-chains-a-retrospective) > Where did supply chains succeed and fail in 2025? Reflect on the year's most significant events and gain critical insight into how geopolitical, economic, and technological factors shaped the industry. Blog 2025 in supply chains: A retrospective 2025 in supply chains: A retrospective Ethan Morgan , November 20, 2025 9 minute read Looking back, this year has really highlighted the i mportance of resilience and reaction time. 2025 served up an ever-changing mix of supply chain disruptions, changes and opportunities. Reflecting on the year allows us to understand how supply chains have been challenged, how to become more resilient and respond most effectively to all these disruptions, and where the focus might be for 2026. It also shows how supply chains are changing with the times, as they are reshaped by events like those of 2025. Let's examine the pivotal stories of 2025 and the lasting impacts they will have on the industry. A new trade landscape It was always going to be top of the list. With the announcement of a new tariff approach , the U.S. made a drastic change of course on trade policy, and this continued to evolve over the course of 2025. The introduction and adjustment of tariffs, both specific and wide-ranging, sent immediate ripples through global supply chains. As they began to be enacted, tariffs increased the cost of goods and materials, forcing many organizations to reevaluate their sourcing decisions , production arrangements, and partnerships. “With all the chaos induced by tariffs, leaders' focus has been wrenched from their most important tasks—business strategy, innovation, driving key initiatives, and making important operational decisions. Now it is redirected to dealing with the bureaucracy, fallout and subsequent uncertainty of tariffs.” Puneet Saxena corporate vice president, industry strategy As the picture continues to shift with new sector-specific and country-specific measures being variously announced, delayed, altered, or implemented, there’s still considerable uncertainty for supply chain operators to navigate. Geopolitical and economic policies have always shaped supply chains, but they are now driving supply chain strategy changes on a much shorter timeframe than we’re used to. Businesses are seeking certainty in order to make the right structural bets in the medium- to long-term. Strategies to mitigate the impacts include supplier and production diversity, nearshoring, and “friendshoring” (i.e., relocating production or fabrication to nations with beneficial tariff and political status). Regulations reverse and sustainability splits A theme across the year has been the shifting regulatory landscape in the U.S., which has seen consequential changes across the board, from bans on specific food ingredients all the way to the full restructuring of governmental departments like Health and Human Services. That shift has been exemplified in sustainability . What’s complex to manage is the sometimes-contrasting directions of travel between state and federal government. Starting the year, the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its emissions reduction goals, once again stepping away from the centerpiece of global climate action collaboration. Following on, departments like the Environmental Protection Agency undid controls on methane emissions. At the state level, however, influential states like New York and California are advancing new sustainability measures like new emissions reporting rules and zero-emission vehicle mandates. It’s not just happening in one or two powerful states though. Alliances between states are also driving climate and sustainability-related actions, with the Climate Alliance between governors of 24 states and territories aiming to introduce policies that reduce emissions, improve air quality, and more. On top of that, Europe and China recommitted in July 2025 to collaborate on low-carbon technologies and the transition toward clean energy, so that while the U.S. diverges, other global powers continue to power forward with sustainability action. “In the U.S., Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws are expanding, with new rules in California targeting textile and apparel waste. “Looking ahead, additional EU measures coming into effect by 2027 will restrict vague green claims and require clear information on product repairability and lifespan. Taken together, these developments reflect a broader regulatory shift: Businesses must now redesign products and processes for sustainability, with full supply chain accountability.” Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer Key global trade chokepoints: Instability and weather In 2024, we saw events like the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore and the Panama Canal placing restrictions on ship numbers due to drought, causing significant disruption to shipping lanes. 2025 brought more global trade disruptions, both to key locations and key materials. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, ongoing conflict stepped up a level in January 2025 with the capture of Goma by rebel forces. This significantly disrupted trade in key minerals used in industries like electronics, automobiles, aerospace, and tool making. Global shipping was again hit by disruption and delay as the Houthi movement in Yemen began a blockade of the straits leading to the Red Sea and the Suez canal, causing massive disruption to the main shipping lane between Asia and Europe. And in the Philippines, South China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Super Typhoon Ragasa saw shipping ports closed and some of the densest manufacturing regions in the world shut down. The storm damaged power supplies and made travel unsafe, resulting in loss of production and shipping delays. “Climate change undeniably affects supply chains. In 2023, the U.S. experienced 28 natural disasters that cost a whopping $1 billion each . Around the world, agriculture is suffering under natural disasters and extreme weather….The realities of today’s business environment introduce an untold number of variables to supply chains. But this doesn’t mean teams have to accept subpar planning frameworks or outcomes. How can they filter out the noise, achieve clarity, and be more agile and resilient? This is where multi-enterprise supply chain networks come into play.” Duncan Angove, chief executive officer The rate of weather and climate-related events like these super-storms (or wildfires, as seen in California in January 2025) is increasing, posing severe risks to supply chains. Having detailed scenario plans in place to respond to these large-scale disruptions is essential for managing supply chains today. The challenge is for supply chain leaders to build in agility in their businesses, so that when the time comes they’re able to quickly enact those scenario plans across their supply chain network. Labor challenges In June 2025 , there were 11 simultaneous strikes in ports, railways, customs, and parcel delivery around the world, causing massive disruption within the directly affected countries and beyond. Domestically, provisional numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that large strikes (defined as work stoppages involving more than 1,000 employees) are happening at an increased rate in 2025, with this year seeing the joint highest rate of labor disruptions for 25 years, matched only by 2023. In supply chains, major strikes like those threatened at the ports of Los Angeles and Rotterdam particularly focused on guarantees that jobs would not be automated. “Today, only 25% of supply-chain leaders see automation as a top priority; just 4% aspire to fully automate their operations; and a mere 1% expect automation to drive headcount reductions. The warehouses of the future, it turns out, will still need people. “The reality is that rigid, mechanistic approaches to warehouse management are too brittle for our complex and volatile world. The supply chains of the future will need to be powered not by clockwork, but by cognition” Gurdip Singh, chief product officer At the same time, in August the U.S. economy added just 22,000 jobs, highlighting a weak labor market, in which hiring and retaining crucial supply chain workers should theoretically be easier. However, with uncertainty around the wider economy as well as tariff rates, businesses may be deferring hiring drives until they have greater clarity. AI overdrive and agents come online This has been the year of AI adoption . Hype around large language models has been around for a few years since the explosive launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, but supply chains were largely restricted to piloting and testing new AI tools and features—until 2025. In the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass spotlight on technology , we learned that almost half of supply chains now run predictive AI or machine learning (ML), and only 16% had no plans to implement AI or ML. 40% of leaders surveyed said that AI is now changing how they operate. It's also been the year in which AI models progressed rapidly, but perhaps the single biggest AI news of the year was the January launch of DeepSeek R-1. Trained at far lower cost and with less computing power than competitor models, but with comparable performance, the Chinese market entrant shook U.S. AI dominance briefly, and showed how quickly the field is still evolving. Within the AI space, agentic has been a contender for word of the year. AI agents allow models to reason on business data and connect to existing tech stacks, giving them the power to not just provide visibility, but also recommend and take actions. That model has proved compelling, as 43% of businesses have fully or broadly adopted AI agents, according to pwc. “As early adopters lean in and bring agentic teammates on board, they’ll make their human counterparts faster, more efficient, and more accurate as they respond to day-to-day needs. Over the next 12- to 24-months, more tasks will be delegated to agents. Eventually, agents will be used more autonomously, increasing the speed of decision-making and resilience of supply chains.” Chris Burchett, senior vice president, generative AI The supply chain paradigm is shifting The events of 2025 were more than just a series of isolated crises and trends; they were interconnected challenges and technological leaps that collectively argue for a fundamental rethinking of supply chain management. As disruption events become more common and more impactful, as supply chains become more and more complex, 2025 showed us that we’re reaching the limits of human ability to respond effectively to the challenges. What it also showed us is that new technologies like agentic AI are not just theoretically capable, but practically tested and proven. Supply chains used to build technology around their teams, giving each of them a tool for a specific job. At first, those software tools lived on the premises, then we lifted them to the cloud, but the shape and nature of the tools didn’t meaningfully change. Each tool still worked to its own ends and in its own world. That has always limited supply chain management as a discipline. As good it sounds in theory to operate close to real time—to share information, to collaborate, to be agile—in practice, there are hard limits to how fast and how far that technological architecture can react and reach. That is why Blue Yonder is building and deploying Cognitive Solutions , a suite of supply chain tools on a shared platform. It’s why there’s now widespread demand for enterprise-wide, platform-based solutions , with 90% of surveyed leaders saying they would benefit from one. We can’t predict the future exactly, but it’s a safe bet that 2026 will see the continuation of many of these trends, and keep us busy with new disruptions too. Meeting the moment requires a new approach to supply chain management, one that gives businesses greater control over their supply chains. Achieving that requires scale, speed and end-to-end connection beyond what’s been traditionally possible—but if there’s one thing 2025 should teach supply chains, it’s that a lot can change very quickly. Your true north for supply chain insights Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today ### [How returns data transforms planning accuracy](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-returns-data-transforms-planning-accuracy) > Stop guessing inventory levels. Discover how integrating real-time returns data transforms your planning accuracy and drives more profitable business decisions. Blog How returns data transforms planning accuracy How returns data transforms planning accuracy Rhea Hall-Spencer , October 14, 2025 3 minute read Returns have rapidly shifted from a routine cost of business to a central factor in accurate retail planning. With return rates averaging 40% in apparel and footwear and returned merchandise totaling $890 billion in 2024, this is no longer an issue retailers can afford to ignore. At any given moment, millions of dollars in inventory are held by customers—blind spots that distort demand signals and inventory decisions. When returned items are processed through disconnected systems, they’re often invisible to planning. This leads to a chain reaction: overbuying to cover “missing” inventory, escalated markdowns to clear overstocks, and stockouts if returned stock isn’t visible. Forward-thinking retailers understand that integrating returns data is essential for precise planning and stronger margins. By harnessing returns trends, seasonality, and predictive analytics, they’re turning an operational cost into a strategic asset. The hidden impact of returns on inventory planning Most retailers monitor returns rates, but few fully integrate these data points with planning and supply chain systems. This disconnect compounds over time, creating forecasting and replenishment errors, and has a significant impact on profitability. Planning without returns visibility leads to costly overbuying If planners don’t know how many returns are heading back into stock, they often over-order. For example, if systems show 100 units sold without accounting for the 30 units in return transit, planners are left chasing “ghost demand.” This results in a repeated pattern: excessive purchases, swelling inventory, and margin drain. Retailers who introduce integrated returns visibility can cut inventory levels by up to 30% and improve promise accuracy. The breakthrough comes from treating every initiated return as inventory-in-waiting—factoring it into available-to-promise from the start. Returns patterns drive better demand forecasting Returns data contains critical signals about true customer demand—details that traditional sales data misses. High returns for certain sizes, colors, or products unmask sizing issues, quality gaps, or misaligned assortment strategies. Feeding these insights back into planning ensures smarter procurement, sharper buys, and reduced waste. For instance, analysis might reveal that 40% of small tops are returned for sizing. Armed with this knowledge, buyers adjust future orders and suppliers address specification gaps—preventing recurring misses driven by historic sales alone. Integrating returns into omnichannel planning Returns should be treated as a strategic inventory stream, not just a reverse logistics headache. By connecting returns data across all systems and channels, retailers unlock smarter forecasting and faster, more precise replenishment. Real-time returns visibility sharpens allocation When returned products are tracked and visible in real-time, they’re immediately eligible for allocation. There’s no reason for a sellable item to languish unseen while customers elsewhere face stockouts. AI-powered routing can redirect returns to the highest-demand locations, skipping inefficiencies of standard hub processing. Say a jacket is returned in Boston, but Philadelphia shows strong demand for that SKU. Smart routing sends the unit where it’s needed most—Philadelphia—speeding up sell-through and maximizing availability. Returns forecasting informs buying Returns, like sales, are seasonal and product dependent. Machine learning models trained on returns behavior—by product, event, or geography—allow buyers to adjust quantities and reduce overstocking well before it builds up. Predictive analytics can flag styles or SKUs that are likely to drive returns, letting planners act before inventory accumulates. Stop treating reverse logistics as an afterthought Transform reverse logistics from a cost center into a profit engine. Discover how to integrate returns into your supply chain to minimize costs and maximize resales here. Learn More Leveraging returns for supply chain optimization Returns data does more than inform inventory planning—it’s foundational for total supply chain optimization. When the insights from returns patterns flow through every operational layer, retailers can act on inefficiencies and capture value more broadly. Supplier performance insights from returns analysis A spike in returns from a specific vendor or product is a flashing warning of quality, sizing, or description issues. Feeding these metrics directly to supplier scorecards elevates conversations from anecdotal to data-backed. Sourcing teams are better equipped to negotiate improvements and choose partners who deliver on quality. Smarter technology, smarter operations Modern technology is crucial. Retailers must ensure seamless movement of data between returns systems and planning tools. With robust AI-powered platforms, the best outcome for each returned item—whether resale, refurbishment, or other disposition—can be determined instantly, increasing recovered value and minimizing cycle time. Analytics do more than look backward; they can anticipate high-return risk prior to launch. Integrating these predictive insights at the planning stage ensures high-risk products are proactively managed, from adjusted order volumes to revised product content and marketing. Measuring the impact Bringing returns integration efforts to life requires a new set of metrics. Basic figures like stockouts or inventory turnover don’t capture the full effect. The leaders in this space track net sales accuracy (after returns), improvements in inventory velocity, markdown reductions, and customer satisfaction. Operationally, the speed with which a return becomes available for resale is a key indicator of retail health. When retailers treat returns as a strategic asset—not a liability—they unlock new margin, performance, and agility. Integrating returns across planning processes is no longer optional; it’s a core enabler for sustained growth and customer success. Steps to get started on returns integration To unlock these benefits, start by implementing a step-by-step strategy for integrating returns data into your workflows. Here’s a quick implementation roadmap: Step 1: Begin by auditing your returns process. Where are inefficiencies in data collection, integration, and decision-making arising? Step 2: Deploy tools that unify inventory and returns data sources. This ensures that systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management systems (WMS) consistently share insights. Step 3: Test small-scale AI models in high-return categories or regions to identify the insights that emerge—and adapt accordingly. Step 4: Train personnel to use new data systems effectively, ensuring cross-department buy-in. Step 5: Track key metrics like forecast accuracy shifts, customer satisfaction improvements, and reduced return rates over time to measure your systems’ full potential. Returns intelligence is retail’s next opportunity Returns don’t have to be the “necessary evil” of retail operations. When paired with advanced analytics and streamlined processes, they unlock extraordinary value—for planning accuracy, margin growth, and customer experience. The winners will be those who act with urgency, prioritize returns visibility, and harness their data for smarter decisions across the value chain. Start transforming your returns journey today. Interested in learning more about optimizing your returns process? Start Now ### [How AI transforms returned inventory into strategic advantage](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-ai-transforms-returned-inventory-into-strategic-advantage) > Unlock the value in your returned inventory. Learn how AI-powered returns data eliminates blind spots and transforms a costly challenge into a strategic competitive advantage for better margins. Blog How AI transforms returned inventory into strategic advantage How AI transforms returned inventory into strategic advantage Rhea Hall-Spencer , October 23, 2025 3 minute read Returns management used to be the retail equivalent of damage control. You processed items as quickly as possible, hoping to recover some value, and moved on. That mindset is costing retailers billions. With return rates reaching an average of 40% in apparel and returned merchandise totaling $890 billion in 2024, these inventory volumes rival your largest suppliers. The retailers who understand this shift are already ahead. They're using artificial intelligence to transform returns from a necessary evil into a competitive advantage. Instead of letting returned inventory disappear into markdown purgatory, they leverage AI to make smarter decisions about where those products go, how they are processed, and what insights they provide for future planning. This transformation requires a fundamental change: returned inventory is not waste. It is untapped potential sitting in your reverse supply chain, ready to drive profitability. The hidden costs of traditional returns management Most retailers handle returns with a "process and forget" mentality that creates enormous hidden costs. When a customer returns a jacket, traditional systems route it to a distribution center where it sits, waiting to be inspected and often marked down for clearance. During those weeks, the demand for that specific style may shift to a different location where you are already out of stock. Meanwhile, you are buying new inventory to fill gaps that your returned items could have addressed. The real cost is not the markdown you take—it is the missed chance to sell that returned jacket at full price by not routing it to the right store at the right time. AI-driven returns management systems can calculate these opportunity costs in real-time, and route returns to locations where they have the highest probability of selling at full price. AI-powered routing makes every return count Smart returns management starts with intelligent routing decisions. When an item is returned, AI analyzes multiple data points simultaneously: current inventory levels across all locations, local demand patterns, seasonality, and even weather forecasts that might influence demand. Instead of defaulting to a central warehouse, the system will route the return directly to a store in a region where similar products are selling well. This is strategic inventory placement that treats returns as fresh stock. Retailers using AI-powered routing report dramatic improvements in how quickly returned items sell again, often at full price. The automation extends beyond routing. AI can determine the optimal disposition for each return based on its condition, demand forecasts, and profitability analysis. Some items may be returned directly to the sales floor, while others will be sent to online channels, and some will be sent to outlet stores. The key is making these decisions automatically and consistently based on data. Returns data reveals hidden planning insights Every return tells a story about customer behavior, product quality, and market demand. AI turns these individual stories into actionable insights that inform your broader planning and buying decisions. When returns data shows that customers consistently return a specific size in a particular style, that is valuable intelligence about sizing inconsistencies. AI can identify these patterns across thousands of products and help adjust future order quantities and size curves. Geographic return patterns also reveal important insights about regional preferences. If certain styles are consistently returned from specific regions, AI can factor that into allocation decisions, sending fewer units to those areas. The most sophisticated systems provide returns insights directly into planning. Just as you forecast forward demand, you can also forecast return rates and timing, allowing you to plan inventory levels more accurately. This is especially valuable for seasonal merchandise. Learn how returns data transforms planning accuracy Stop letting returns blindfold your inventory decisions. Join the forward-thinking retailers who understand that integrating returns data is essential for precise planning and stronger margins. Discover More Streamlined processing reduces cycle time AI does not just determine where returns should go; it also accelerates how quickly they arrive. Traditional returns processing often involves multiple manual steps, from inspection to decision-making. AI-powered processing can automate many of these tasks. Machine learning algorithms can make disposition decisions based on historical data, and integration with warehouse management systems can automatically update inventory availability in real-time. Retailers are significantly reducing returns processing times by utilizing these automated approaches. Returned inventory gets back into circulation much faster, increasing the chance of a full-price resale. This speed becomes particularly important during peak seasons when returns volumes spike. AI-powered systems can handle these surges without proportional increases in labor costs, maintaining processing speed and efficiency. Integration creates a competitive advantage The biggest winners in AI-powered returns management are retailers who integrate returns intelligence end-to-end. This integration creates a feedback loop where returns intelligence continuously improves your forward supply chain decisions. Your merchandising team has visibility of products with higher return rates before placing future orders and your allocation team can factor returns velocity into distribution decisions. The competitive advantage comes from treating returns as part of your core inventory strategy. When you can predict, process, and reposition returned inventory more effectively than competitors, you are essentially accessing an additional inventory source. The financial impact extends beyond recovering value from individual returns. You reduce overall inventory investment, improve inventory turnover, and increase the percentage of inventory that sells at full price. Steps to ensure successful implementation To integrate AI into your returns processes, the key lies in strategic planning, collaboration, and leveraging the right technology solutions. Retailers that take a proactive, phased approach to AI implementation achieve smoother transitions and faster, measurable results. Assess your current systems: Identify gaps and inefficiencies in existing returns workflows. Align cross-functional teams: Provide shared visibility between supply chain, merchandising, and returns departments. Adopt scalable AI platforms: Choose solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing systems while offering room for growth. Test and refine: Pilot projects in select categories or regions to gather insights and make improvements before scaling up. Measure impact continuously: Use performance metrics to identify successes and areas for further innovation. Returns are not just a cost of doing business—they are a key resource waiting to be optimized. With AI, you can reimagine returns management, turning complexity into clarity and challenges into opportunities. Whether improving customer service, driving revenue, or meeting sustainability goals, AI empowers you to recover maximum value from every returned item. The future of retail starts with intelligent, data-driven decisions. It starts with Blue Yonder. Interested in learning more about optimizing your returns process? Start Now ### [Returns as hidden inventory: Unlocking value between demand and supply](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/returns-as-hidden-inventory-unlocking-value-between-demand-and-supply) > Learn how integrating returns insights bridges the gap between demand and supply, eliminates costly blind spots, and unlocks millions in overlooked value for retailers. Blog Returns as hidden inventory: Unlocking value between demand and supply Returns as hidden inventory: Unlocking value between demand and supply Rhea Hall-Spencer , October 24, 2025 3 minute read Returns have always been an unwanted part of retail operations. Most retailers treat them as a necessary evil—a cost of doing business that drains resources and complicates inventory management. But what if returns could become one of your most valuable inventory sources? With return rates averaging around 40% in apparel and returned merchandise totaling $890 billion in 2024, the scale of this untapped opportunity is staggering. Instead of viewing returns as losses, you can transform them into strategic assets that bridge the gap between demand and supply. The traditional approach to returns management often focuses solely on the customer experience, creating digital journeys that satisfy customers but fail to capture the full value of inventory. This reactive mindset leaves millions of dollars in potential revenue sitting in limbo, often ending up as markdowns or waste. The hidden cost of traditional returns management Most retailers approach returns with a "one-size-fits-all" mentality, treating every returned item the same way. This creates several critical problems. Without linking returns to sales and planning, you lose insight into where inventory can be resold most effectively. The longer returned items sit in processing, the more their value decreases. For fashion retailers, who think in terms of “newness” rather than seasons nowadays, items that take weeks to process often miss their selling window entirely. Without intelligent routing, returns often end up in locations where they cannot be sold quickly. Sometimes online returns are sent to the wrong location, such as a store that doesn’t stock the item or a distribution center when a store has a high demand. Traditional returns management also treats each return as an isolated incident, failing to capture and connect valuable data that could inform future buying decisions and supplier negotiations. Reimagining returns as strategic inventory Returns management solutions require a fundamental shift in perspective. Instead of treating returns as disruptions to your supply chain, consider them an integral part of your core inventory strategy. This means expanding your definition of available inventory to include not just what is in stores and distribution centers but also returns currently in process. When you integrate returns data with your broader inventory management system, every returned item becomes immediately visible and available for fulfillment. This real-time visibility allows you to make smarter decisions about where to route returns based on current demand patterns. Advanced algorithms can analyze demand patterns, margin opportunities, and transportation costs to determine the optimal destination and outcome for each returned item. Instead of following predetermined routing rules, AI-driven systems adapt continuously based on real-time market conditions. Returns also provide valuable signals about product quality, sizing issues, and customer preferences. When this data feeds directly into your demand planning and buying processes, you can make more informed decisions about future inventory investments. The technology foundation for returns optimization Successful returns management requires integrated systems that connect reverse logistics with forward supply chain operations. This integration enables several critical capabilities. Real-time inventory updates ensure that returned items become available for sale immediately upon processing, rather than sitting idle in separate systems. Automated decisioning uses machine learning to determine the best outcome for each return—whether that is immediate resale, refurbishment, liquidation, or recycling. Predictive analytics identify patterns in returns data that can inform everything from supplier negotiations to future product development. Guided processing workflows also help store and distribution center staff handle returns consistently and efficiently, reducing cycle times and improving accuracy. Discover how AI transforms returned inventory into strategic advantage Unlock the value in your returned inventory and learn how AI-powered returns data eliminates blind spots, turning a costly challenge into a strategic competitive advantage for better margins. Discover More Measuring success: The returns ROI When returns management becomes strategic rather than reactive, the financial impact can be substantial. Retailers using integrated returns management can achieve up to 30% reduction in overall inventory levels while maintaining service levels, a significant improvement in full-price sell-through rates, and reduced transportation costs through optimized routing. The key is measuring returns not just as a cost center, but as a revenue opportunity. You should track metrics like returned inventory sell-through rates, the time from return to resale, and the percentage of returns that achieve a full-price sale. Beyond the financial advantages, optimized returns management also supports sustainability goals. Intelligent routing reduces transportation emissions, faster processing prevents inventory waste, and better data helps identify the root causes of returns. When returns are managed strategically, fewer items end up in landfills. Instead, they flow back into the sales channel where they can meet customer demand at full value. Building your returns strategy Successfully transforming returns from a liability to an asset requires both technology and process changes. Start by auditing your current returns process to identify bottlenecks and disconnects. Look for opportunities to integrate returns data with your broader inventory and planning systems. Consider implementing branded returns solutions that give you control over the customer experience while capturing valuable data about return reasons and timing. Use this data to identify patterns and opportunities for improvement. Most importantly, ensure your team understands that returns are not failures—they are valuable inventory that deserves the same strategic attention as any other source of product. The retailers who will thrive are ones who stop seeing returns as problems and start treating them as opportunities. With the right technology and strategic approach, your returns can become a source of competitive advantage rather than a drain on resources. The question is not whether you can afford to optimize your returns management—it is whether you can afford not to. Start today with Blue Yonder , your AI company for supply chain. Interested in learning more about optimizing your returns process? Start Now ### [Optimizing inventory operations with generative AI: Turn data into faster, smarter decisions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/optimizing-inventory-operations-with-generative-ai) > Unlock the power of your inventory data. See how Generative AI can be used to simplify complexity, enhance operational control, and drive unprecedented speed and intelligence in your supply chain. Blog Optimizing inventory operations with generative AI: Turn data into faster, smarter decisions Optimizing inventory operations with generative AI: Turn data into faster, smarter decisions Kara Collins , November 19, 2025 1 minute read Hundreds of unmet orders and no clear cause It’s a typical Monday morning: you log into the system and immediately see that hundreds of orders are on hold due to supply issues. Dashboards show a gap, but your software can’t tell you why. Was it a broken bill of materials, invalid sourcing rules or a forecast that didn’t anticipate a surge in demand? Every minute spent calling colleagues and chasing down root causes is another order left unfulfilled, and another customer left waiting. Enter the Inventory Ops Agent The Inventory Ops Agent accelerates planning by streamlining workflows through a conversational interface that generates context-aware plans, surfaces risks and enables fast scenario evaluation. It provides a digest of the current state of operations and identifies anomalies early, explaining root causes, and recommending corrective actions to help teams find issues sooner or even prevent them before they impact service, cost, or margins. With insights unified across demand and supply, planners make smarter, more strategic decisions faster. Over time, the agent learns user preferences, creating a custom view and surfacing key highlights that help reduce fire drills and empower teams to focus more of their time on high-value work. How it works The Inventory Ops Agent follows the SADA loop—see, analyze, decide, and act. It monitors real-time demand, sourcing, and fulfillment signals and analyzes anomalies, such as invalid inputs, forecast errors, or sourcing conflicts. This allows it to decide and advise on corrective actions like reallocation or plan adjustment, and act by applying changes or escalating issues with planner oversight. It takes on the heavy lifting of data validation and root-cause analysis, leaving planners with more time for high-value strategy. The inventory ops agent currently provides four powerful skills: Data quality: Safeguards planning accuracy by proactively scanning for missing or inconsistent master data. It identifies issues like broken bills of materials (BOMs), invalid production methods and sourcing issues, and flags at-risk SKUs and orders with unmet demand or low fill rates. This includes critical customer orders and new product introduction (NPI) forecasts, so planners can quickly prioritize fixes. Plan analysis: Evaluates plan performance against key metrics, such as service levels, inventory positions, and capacity constraints, while highlighting exceptions, risks, and bottlenecks. By surfacing anomalies, comparing scenarios, and recommending adjustments, it helps teams quickly identify issues, make informed trade-offs, and optimize decisions across demand and supply. Insights summary: Brings together key demand and supply insights to support faster, more strategic decisions. It highlights high-priority risks, such as customer orders or NPI forecasts impacted by data quality gaps and ranks them with Pareto analysis (80/20) so planners can focus on what matters most. Personalized, context-rich recommendations help teams quickly understand issues and take action. Root cause analysis: Continuously monitors demand, supply, and fulfillment signals to detect anomalies and data gaps. It traces issues to their source, categorizes them by root cause type, and explains what happened and why. It then recommends corrective actions, helping planners resolve problems faster and prevent future disruptions. Over time, these skills adapt to planner priorities, turning complex plan reviews into faster, more confident actions. And this is only the beginning, richer insights and fully agentic workflows are just ahead. What it delivers Higher forecast accuracy: Detects and corrects errors before they cascade downstream, causing service disruptions, excess inventory, or reactive firefighting. Faster root cause resolution: Cuts diagnosis from hours to minutes Greater planner trust: Provides clear explanations, not black-box answers so you can explain to leadership and other teams exactly why you’re recommending specific actions. Improved service levels: Reduces stockouts and overstocks by addressing issues early, strengthening product availability across the network. Why Blue Yonder The Inventory Ops Agent is built for enterprise scale, drawing on the Blue Yonder Platform that processes more than 25 billion predictions each day. This scale proves our agents can handle the variability and complexity of global supply chains, giving planners tools they can rely on when accuracy matters most. Get started today The Inventory Ops Agent is one of several domain-focused AI agents designed to accelerate supply chain action. See how you can put AI agents to work in your operations today. Learn More About AI Agents Explore Our Inventory Optimization Solutions ### [The key drivers shaping the auto industry and what it takes to build a 2030-ready supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-key-drivers-shaping-the-auto-industry) > Discover the key drivers shaping the market and the essential strategies needed to transform your legacy network into a 2030-ready, resilient supply chain. Blog The key drivers shaping the auto industry and what it takes to build a 2030-ready supply chain The key drivers shaping the auto industry and what it takes to build a 2030-ready supply chain Gabriel Werner , November 17, 2025 4 minute read The mood is somber in the European automotive industry. It’s been another year of steady decline, with the numbers painting a grim picture. Weak demand, rising energy costs, new tariffs, and the disruptive shift to EVs are all taking their toll. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association’s (ACEA) latest report states that Europe’s car production declined by 2.6% in the first half of 2025, while new car registrations were down by 2.4%. Once leading the charts, Europe’s global market share is falling, with Chinese manufacturers whizzing past the Mount Rushmore of iconic car makers. Against this backdrop, Europe’s top auto supply chain leaders gathered in Munich at the Auto Supply Chain Leaders event to discuss the forces reshaping the industry and how supply chains can help manufacturers steer past the uncertainty that comes with technological, regulatory, and economic change. Key drivers shaping the automotive industry Nearshoring offers proximity and peace of mind: Manufacturers continue to bear the brunt of global supply chain disruptions and are moving production lines and procurement closer to their main markets. According to a Capgemini survey , in 2024, 42% of auto executives said their organizations invested in either nearshoring or a combination of reshoring and nearshoring. In 2025, that number increased to 56%. Nearshoring helps OEMs reduce lead times and bring down logistics costs. While de-risking and building a resilient supply chain is the primary objective, nearshoring delivers benefits like better collaboration with suppliers and lower emissions too. Swedish car manufacturer Polestar is building the Polestar 7 in Slovakia, while BMW will produce its iX3 electric model in Hungary. And to bypass European Union (EU) tariffs on Chinese cars, Volvo is manufacturing the electric EX30 at its Belgium plant. EV transition drives a new sustainability mandate: European consumers are slowly beginning to embrace electric vehicles, with battery-electric cars accounting for 15.6% of the EU market share — up from 12.5% in the first half of 2024. The EU’s plan to ban combustion engines by 2035 is also pushing OEMs to make the technology switch, even as the policy itself continues to have a fragmented mandate across the region. According to a McKinsey report , OEMs and major suppliers already spend nearly €150 billion annually to transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The industry is adopting circular economy solutions to reduce the negative impact of manufacturing on the environment. Automotive companies are focusing on using more recycled raw materials and refurbishing or repairing old parts. Nearly 6.5 million vehicles reach their end of life every year. The latest EU circularity rule states that new vehicles must be designed in a way that allows for easy removal of parts so they can be reused. Recently, Renault partnered with SUEZ —a company that provides waste management solutions—to recycle waste metal and recover end-of-life vehicles. AI and digital transformation give carmakers a view they never had: Millions of euros are being spent by the biggest names in the European automotive industry on digital transformation. Mercedes joined forces with NVIDIA to leverage data and build digital twins of its production facilities. At its Rastatt plant, it saved nearly 20% of energy costs by switching to AI-controlled vehicle chassis painting instead of traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Volkswagen is renewing its partnership with Amazon after realizing benefits from AI deployment across 43 of its factories. Stellantis’ European chief, Jean-Philippe Imparato, revealed that the Amsterdam-based car manufacturer plans to invest €6 billion in improving its supply chain operations. Renault uses AI to predict and optimize truck loads, transport routes, and forecast transport costs—helping cut its carbon footprint and become more responsive to disruptions. Aftermarket and customer focus emerge as quiet growth engines: Automakers are stepping up their game when it comes to aftermarket services, seeing them as a key differentiator in a tight market with new entrants. A BCG report states that the €64 billion European aftermarket auto parts business is profitable and growing and predicts that through 2026, the repair and maintenance sales networks exclusively linked to OEMs will enjoy a healthy growth rate of 3% per year. As part of its customer-focused aftersales strategy, Toyota Motor Europe focuses on delivering the right spare parts at the right time to its 3,000-strong dealer network across Europe. Tariffs, energy costs, and volatility force a rethink on scale: China and the Netherlands recently traded blows over Nexperia, a Chinese-owned Dutch company that manufactures chips widely used in cars. The crisis almost halted production lines across Europe. Even though the US reduced its tariff from 25% to 15%, European automakers’ books are in the red. Volkswagen forecasts losses of up to €5 billion due to tariffs , while Mercedes reported that through the first three quarters, tariffs had cut nearly 58% from its year-on-year profit. And if geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and curbs on rare earth materials weren’t enough, volatile demand is forcing the automotive industry to recalibrate its workforce. In September, Ford cut 1,000 jobs at its Cologne factory due to soft EV demand. Learn how to navigate battery demand in an unpredictable EV landscape Demand volatility, high costs, long lead times, and rapid innovation make EV battery planning a critical risk for automakers. Discover how to balance expensive aging inventory and missed sales opportunities in this blog. Discover More Building a supply chain that’s fit for 2030 Heads of supply chain from Europe’s top OEMs agreed that the automotive industry has little control over tariffs, high energy costs, and regulations. That’s why the focus should be on building resilient, flexible supply chains that bend rather than break during disruptions. The group called for a shift toward modern, data-driven, AI-powered technology to create a connected and crisis-ready supply chain. Adopt digital twins for end-to-end visibility: Digital twins are virtual replicas of a company’s operations. Think of them as detailed versions of everything from sourcing to production and logistics. Fed by real-time data, they give automakers a clear view of how materials, parts, and finished vehicles move across suppliers, factories, warehouses, and transportation networks. This end-to-end visibility helps optimize production schedules and manage inventory more effectively. Digital twins also enable scenario planning, allowing companies to anticipate disruptions such as tariff changes or raw material shortages. Toyota, for instance, uses digital twins of its supply chain to respond more swiftly to market changes and reduce the risk of costly delays. Enable AI-driven decision-making: Manual demand forecasts are riddled with human error. AI-driven demand forecasting combines variables like market trends, historical data, dealership orders, and potential disruptions to give an accurate number planners can rely on. Decision-makers can pinpoint how many vehicles to produce in a quarter and how much raw material and how many spare parts they’ll need to meet demand. Foster ecosystem collaboration: A c onnected supply chain network based on a single source of truth will put everyone — from tier-n suppliers and carriers to third-party logistics providers — on the same platform. This will allow automakers to gain deeper visibility, collaborate better, and add more flexibility to their supply chain networks. For example, automakers can quickly identify which supplier may be unable to deliver a specific spare part on time and proactively switch to an alternative supplier to avoid delays. Design for agility and sustainability: A mix of just-in-time practices and strategic buffers is the way forward for supply chain operations . Just-in-time improves efficiency and reduces costs and waste, while maintaining buffers builds flexible capacity that helps companies absorb supply chain shocks without letting disruptions ripple through manufacturing lines, transport, or warehouses. Integrate sustainability into planning: Sustainability shouldn’t be an afterthought. Auto companies should make it an integral part of their supply chain planning. To cut down on their carbon footprint, they must invest in circular economy solutions, focus on optimizing multimodal transport, and build more efficient reverse logistics processes. Many auto companies in Europe are embedding circular economy solutions as a step toward greater sustainability. Instead of building another plant from the ground up, Stellantis upgraded its Ellesmere Port manufacturing facility for EV production. Following Stellantis’ footsteps, BMW expanded capacity at its Steyr plant in Austria and ramped up production for electric vehicles. Outlook AI and digital tools will evolve from operational enablers to strategic co-pilots — harmonizing data, simulating trade-offs, and guiding end-to-end decisions across the entire value chain. The winners of 2030 will be those who treat data, collaboration, and sustainability not as add-ons but as core supply chain design principles. Ready to transform your Automotive supply chain? Find out how to leverage intelligent solutions to build a resilient, predictive network ready to meet future demands. Discover More ### [Carbon accounting 101 for logistics managers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/carbon-accounting-101-for-logistics-managers) > Demystify carbon accounting. This essential guide helps logistics managers understand Scopes 1, 2, and 3 and provides clear steps to accurately report and reduce your transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. Blog Carbon accounting 101 for logistics managers Carbon accounting 101 for logistics managers Blue Yonder , November 14, 2025 3 minute read Carbon accounting might sound complicated, but it’s becoming an essential part of every company’s procurement process. As the push towards sustainability accelerates, understanding your carbon footprint isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore—it’s something your business strategy should be built around. In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of carbon accounting, especially from a logistics manager’s point of view. You’ll get a clear picture of what carbon accounting means, why it matters, and how to put it into practice. We’ll go step by step—from calculating emissions to reporting them—and share practical ways to make the process easier for you, your team, and your logistics partners. By the end, you’ll know how to stay compliant with new regulations and position your company as a sustainability leader—giving you a real edge in today’s competitive market. Section 1 – The basics of carbon accounting What is carbon accounting? Carbon accounting is the process of tracking and managing how much your business contributes to climate change. As companies become more aware of their environmental impact, carbon accounting has become essential for measuring and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By gathering the right data, you can uncover where your emissions come from, find ways to cut them down, and strengthen your company’s sustainability profile, while meeting disclosure and compliance requirements. You can think of carbon accounting a bit like financial accounting. Just as you track income and expenses to understand your financial health, carbon accounting helps you track your emissions to understand your environmental footprint. Ultimately, it’s a powerful way to see where you stand, save costs, and lead the way toward a more sustainable future. What are Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions? When greenhouse gases are released they trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. That trapped heat causes global warming, which gradually makes the planet harder for people to live on. Here are the key greenhouse gases and where they come from: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) — from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and many industrial processes. Methane (CH₄) — from livestock digestion, landfills, and fossil-fuel extraction. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) — from agricultural fertilizers, manufacturing, and fuel combustion. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — from refrigerants, air-conditioning, and aerosol sprays. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) — from aluminum production and electronics manufacturing. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) — from electrical insulation and circuit breakers. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) — from semiconductor and flat-panel display manufacturing. Not all greenhouse gases behave the same way. Some stay in the atmosphere only for a few years, while others hang around for centuries. They also absorb heat differently — which means some have a much bigger impact on the environment than others. That’s why figuring out your company’s total GHG emissions, or carbon footprint, isn’t always straightforward. What is carbon footprint and how is it calculated? A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, either directly or indirectly, by a person, organization, or product. It measures the environmental impact of our everyday activities. Carbon footprint reflects all the GHGs produced through your operations. That includes emissions from things like energy use, transportation, and waste, as well as those tied to the goods and services you purchase from others. And even though it’s called a carbon footprint, it actually covers all types of greenhouse gases. To make it easier to measure, everything is converted into a single unit called carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e)—which helps you compare and track your total impact more clearly. What do supply chain leaders think about sustainability? One thing was clear from the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report: executives are concerned about their sustainability efforts. See how companies are building the business case for long-term sustainability strategies in our spotlight report. Download For Free What is carbon footprint and how is it calculated? A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, either directly or indirectly, by a person, organization, or product. It measures the environmental impact of our everyday activities. Carbon footprint reflects all the GHGs produced through your operations. That includes emissions from things like energy use, transportation, and waste, as well as those tied to the goods and services you purchase from others. And even though it’s called a carbon footprint, it actually covers all types of greenhouse gases. To make it easier to measure, everything is converted into a single unit called carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e)—which helps you compare and track your total impact more clearly. What is CO₂e? While CO₂ (carbon dioxide) is a specific greenhouse gas that naturally exists in the atmosphere, CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent) is a standardized way to measure the total impact of all greenhouse gases combined. It expresses their effect in terms of the amount of CO₂ that would cause the same level of warming. To calculate the CO₂e of any greenhouse gas, you need to know its Global Warming Potential (GWP)—which tells you how much heat that gas traps in the atmosphere compared to CO₂, usually measured over a 100-year period. CO₂e lets you compare and combine different gases on the same scale, making it easier to understand overall climate impact. How do you calculate CO₂e? To calculate the CO₂e of any greenhouse gas, you can use this simple formula: CO₂e = Amount of a particular GHG × Its Global Warming Potential (GWP) Here’s an example: If your operations produce 0.5 tonnes of methane, and methane has a GWP of 28, the calculation would look like this: 0.5 × 28 = 14 tonnes CO₂e This means your methane emissions are equivalent to releasing 14 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To find your total carbon footprint, you’ll need to do this for every greenhouse gas your business produces — multiply each by its GWP, then add them all together to get your overall CO₂e. Keep in mind, some gases have very high GWPs — for example, certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) can have values in the tens of thousands. That means even a small amount can significantly increase your carbon footprint. Understanding sources of carbon emissions in your business What are scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions? According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), a company’s emissions are grouped into three categories, or “scopes.” These help businesses understand where their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from. Whether they’re produced directly or indirectly as part of operations. Here’s a quick breakdown: Scope 1: These are direct emissions from sources that your company owns or controls. Example: Fuel burned by company vehicles or emissions from manufacturing equipment. Scope 2: These are indirect emissions from the energy your company purchases and uses. Example: Emissions from the generation of electricity, steam, heating, or cooling that your business consumes but doesn’t produce directly. Scope 3: This covers all other indirect emissions that happen across your value chain—beyond Scopes 1 and 2. Example: Emissions from suppliers producing materials for your business, transportation of goods, or even the use and disposal of your products by customers. Together, these three scopes give you a full picture of your company’s carbon footprint—from the emissions you control to those connected to your wider network. As a logistics manager, most of your reporting work falls under Scope 3, since it includes transportation, warehousing, and distribution activities. Scope 3 emissions: A deep dive Scope 3 emissions cover all the indirect emissions that happen across your company’s entire value chain. Because it includes so many different activities, Scope 3 can feel a bit overwhelming — it’s not always clear which emissions fall under it. But here’s why it matters: Scope 3 accounts for nearly 60% of all global emissions. That means addressing them offers the biggest opportunity to make a real impact. To make things easier, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) breaks Scope 3 into 15 categories in its Scope 3 Calculation Guidance. These categories are split into two groups.  Upstream (before your operations) and downstream (after your operations): Upstream: 1. Purchased goods and services 2. Capital goods 3. Fuel and energy-related activities not included in Scopes 1 or 2 4. Upstream transportation and distribution 5. Waste generated in operations 6. Business travel 7. Employee commuting 8. Upstream leased assets Downstream: 9. Downstream transportation and distribution 10. Processing of sold products 11. Use of sold products 12. End-of-life treatment of sold products 3. Downstream leased assets 14. Franchises 15. Investments As a logistics manager, your main focus will likely be on categories 4 and 9—the emissions from transportation, storage, and distribution of goods, both upstream and downstream of your company’s operations. Scope 3 calculation methods in carbon accounting Now that you know what carbon accounting involves and which emission sources to look at, the next question is — how do you actually measure your Scope 3 emissions? The answer depends on the kind of data you have and how your value chain is set up. In general, there are three main methods you can use to calculate Scope 3 emissions: 1. Spend-based method 2. Activity-based method 3. Supplier-specific method Spend-based calculation The spend-based method works by taking the financial value of the goods or services you’ve purchased and multiplying it by an emission factor. Basically, the average amount of emissions produced per dollar spent. It’s a simple and quick way to estimate emissions, especially if detailed data isn’t available. However, it’s also less accurate because it uses general averages and doesn’t reflect the specific characteristics of each product. Activity-based calculation Instead of using financial data, this method relies on the physical quantity of materials (like weight) multiplied by the relevant emission factors. It’s generally more accurate than the spend-based method, but since it still uses averages, it may not always provide a high level of precision. Supplier-specific calculation This is the most accurate method, as it uses direct data from suppliers. It involves collecting detailed information such as energy use or raw material sourcing from your suppliers so you can calculate emissions based on actual activities within your supply chain. While this approach provides the most precise insights, it can be time-consuming and complex because of limited transparency across global supply chains. Hybrid approach In practice, companies often start with the spend-based method because it’s easier to implement, then gradually move to more accurate methods as better data becomes available. Many also use a hybrid approach, combining supplier-specific data where possible and filling in the gaps with spend-based or activity-based estimates. Section 2 – Carbon accounting in your logistics supply chain Carbon accounting within your logistics supply chain is about tracking, managing, and reporting the emissions that come from your logistics operations—even when those activities are handled by third parties. It requires close coordination with your logistics partners, such as freight forwarders, who play a key role in providing the emissions data linked to your shipments. In this section, we’ll break down logistics carbon accounting into three main steps to help you understand how it works and where to begin. Step 1: Calculating emissions The first step is to convert your shipment data into GHG emissions data. This is usually handled by your logistics providers, who perform the calculations before sharing the final results with you. Still, it’s important to understand how this process works so you can clearly communicate your requirements and expectations to your suppliers during the calculation phase. Introducing the GLEC Framework The transport and logistics industry follows a well-defined methodology for calculating GHG emissions from freight activities. This framework helps you and your suppliers measure and report your business’s Scope 3, Category 4 and 9 emissions — those linked to transportation and distribution. Developed by the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework offers a comprehensive approach for calculating emissions from both upstream and downstream transport and distribution activities within your value chain. Importantly, the GLEC Framework is the only internationally recognized methodology for measuring and reporting carbon emissions from freight transport. It also forms the foundation for the ISO 14083 standard , which sets out how to quantify and report GHG emissions from transport chain operations. How does the GLEC variFramework work? The GLEC Framework allows for different levels of precision depending on the quality and detail of the data you provide. At the most basic level, it uses only essential shipment details to estimate emissions. At the most advanced level, it draws on actual data from the specific vehicles used to transport and distribute goods. It defines three main data input types for calculating emissions: 1. Default data: This method relies on standard industry averages and assumptions — outlined in the Smart Freight Centre’s End-to-End GHG Reporting Guidance — to estimate emissions when only limited data is available, such as cargo weight, distance traveled, and an emissions intensity factor. Because it accounts for many unknowns, this approach tends to be conservative and often slightly overestimates actual emissions. 2. Modelled data: Modelled data builds on default data but adds more detailed, vehicle- and route-specific information. This type of data is typically available through specialized carbon accounting software. It can include details like vessel IMO numbers, carrier codes, or flight numbers, which allow you to apply emissions factors for the exact vehicle used. It can also factor in road type, route gradient, and traffic conditions — resulting in a more accurate estimate. 3. Primary data: This is the gold standard for Scope 3 carbon accounting in transport and logistics. It uses actual records—such as fuel receipts or digital fuel consumption data—from the vehicles that moved your goods. While it delivers the highest accuracy, it’s often the hardest to obtain due to the complexity and opacity of global supply chains. Understanding these three data input types helps you assess the quality of the emissions calculations your logistics providers share with you—and set a clear minimum data standard when engaging them for tenders or partnerships. Step 2: Supplier data collection and management in logistics carbon accounting Accurately calculating GHG emissions from your logistics supply chain requires strong data management since much of the information you’ll need will come from your suppliers. This adds an extra layer of complexity to collecting and managing your Scope 3 emissions data. Challenges of logistics emissions data collection in carbon accounting Differing levels of carbon reporting awareness: Not all logistics providers have the same level of understanding or capability when it comes to calculating and reporting shipment carbon emissions. This can lead to inconsistencies in data quality. Smaller suppliers, in particular, may not have the resources or expertise needed to provide accurate emissions data. Variability in reporting standards across regions: Because carbon emissions reporting is still a relatively new practice, reporting standards can vary widely from one region to another. This makes it challenging to combine and present your carbon emissions data in a consistent, comparable format. Varying data sources: When different suppliers use different tools or methodologies to calculate and report shipment emissions, it becomes difficult to make accurate comparisons or identify reliable carbon emissions sources. This often results in fragmented or mismatched datasets. Engaging with your suppliers during the carbon accounting process To help address these challenges, engaging closely with your suppliers should be a key part of your carbon accounting process. From the very beginning of any contract, clearly outline your expectations for Scope 3 emissions reporting, including the reporting standards they must follow, how and when reports should be submitted, and any penalties for missing deadlines or failing to comply. It’s also important to ensure that suppliers use a science-based methodology, such as the GLEC Framework when calculating emissions. This gives you confidence in the accuracy of their data and helps maintain consistency during your reporting phase. When working with new suppliers, make sure to vet them thoroughly on their carbon emissions calculation and reporting practices. Ask about the tools and methods they use, confirm that their reports meet your data requirements, and ensure they can deliver information in the right format for your records. Just like financial due diligence, carbon emissions reporting due diligence should become a standard part of your procurement process. This ensures that your suppliers’ reporting capabilities align with your sustainability goals and support your journey toward more transparent, accurate emissions tracking. Your true north for supply chain insights Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today Step 3: Carbon reporting in your logistics supply chain Another key part of the carbon accounting process is carbon reporting. The GHG Protocol outlines clear guidance on how businesses should report their emissions in its Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. According to this guidance, your data must be accurate, transparent, and well-documented to build stakeholder trust and comply with climate disclosure regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Formatting carbon reports Categorizing emissions: Report your emissions by scope and category, and include the total emissions for each. This breakdown helps stakeholders see where your emissions come from and identify opportunities for reduction. Justifying exclusions: If you’ve excluded any categories or activities from your report, clearly explain why. This could be due to missing data or because the excluded activities have an insignificant impact on total emissions. Explaining calculation methods: List and describe the calculation methods and data input types used for each category. Being transparent about your methods allows stakeholders to assess the credibility of your report and understand how your emissions figures were determined. Data quality and documentation An important part of good carbon emissions reporting is showing how reliable your data is. Including a clear data quality indicator (DQI) helps stakeholders understand how accurate your emissions calculations are and how much they can rely on them when planning reduction strategies. Each report should include a DQI that rates the quality of data used in the emissions estimate at a detailed level. Providing a DQI isn’t just best practice — it’s also part of meeting the ISO 14083 standard. Third-party verification Third-party verification is another crucial step in the carbon reporting process. Having your report reviewed by an independent assessor ensures that it meets required standards and is free from errors or bias. The process typically covers: Compliance: Verification bodies check that your report follows the GHG Protocol and any other relevant guidelines. This step is especially important for companies that must meet mandatory climate disclosure requirements such as the CSRD. Credibility: Independent verification strengthens the credibility of your report, giving stakeholders confidence that your emissions data is accurate and trustworthy. Risk mitigation: Verification also helps detect and correct any potential issues before your report is published, lowering the risk of fines or penalties for non-compliance with regulations. Reporting for climate disclosure regulations With climate disclosure regulations now in effect, businesses need to be especially diligent about their carbon accounting practices—particularly during the reporting phase. For instance, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to provide detailed, standardized climate disclosures that include carbon emissions data across all three scopes. Failing to comply or submitting inaccurate reports can lead to significant fines and damage your company’s reputation. To avoid these risks, make sure your reporting process fully aligns with the climate disclosure regulations that apply to your business. Pay close attention to data accuracy, report formatting, and verification requirements to ensure your reports meet the highest standards of compliance and transparency. Section 3 – Carbon accounting software Carbon accounting can feel overwhelming—especially when you’re under pressure to meet climate disclosure requirements or report to stakeholders. Fortunately, there are specialized carbon accounting software solutions available that can make the process much easier. These tools help streamline every stage of carbon accounting, simplifying complex tasks like data collection, calculation, and reporting. The benefits of carbon accounting software Provide accredited carbon emissions calculations Carbon accounting software allows your logistics providers to convert raw shipment data into accurate emissions estimates using industry-recognized methodologies such as the GLEC Framework. When collaborating with logistics partners, make sure they use GLEC-accredited solutions so you can trust the accuracy and consistency of the emissions data they provide. Enhanced data collection Once your suppliers have converted shipment data into emissions data, carbon accounting software can seamlessly transfer that information into your systems, greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of data collection. Instead of relying on manual, time-consuming email exchanges that often lead to errors or missing details, your suppliers can directly upload their data into the platform. Automating this process ensures you have a reliable, complete, and up-to-date dataset. Simplified scope 3 management and analysis Carbon accounting software gives you a complete view of emissions across your entire supply chain, helping you spot trends, patterns, and key areas for improvement through easy-to-use dashboards and analysis tools. Features like the Data Quality Indicator (DQI) ensure that all collected data is standardized and comparable. You can use these insights to identify emissions hotspots within your supply chain, make more informed decisions, and take a more strategic approach to setting and achieving your carbon reduction goals. Streamlined emissions reporting At the final stage of the carbon accounting process, carbon accounting software can simplify and streamline your reporting activities. It allows you to quickly generate reports formatted to meet climate disclosure regulations or your company’s ESG reporting requirements. These tools also make it easier to share reports, reducing administrative workload and minimizing the risk of reporting errors. Section 4 – How logistics managers can get started with carbon accounting If you’ve read this far, you’ve already taken the first step. Here’s how to build a solid foundation for carbon accounting in your organization. 1. Build your knowledge The first step in carbon accounting is understanding the fundamentals. Get familiar with how carbon accounting works and identify what it means for your business specifically. While this blog covers the basics, it’s worth diving deeper into key topics to strengthen your understanding. Here are a few trusted resources to get you started: GHG Protocol Smart Freight Centre (SFC) Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) 2. Explore carbon accounting software tools Once you have a solid grasp of the basics, start exploring different carbon accounting software solutions. There are plenty of options out there — some built specifically for supply chain logistics, others designed for broader business needs. Take time to compare tools and see which ones best fit your operations. If you’re focusing on logistics, make sure the tool you choose is GLEC-accredited and ISO 14083-aligned to ensure data accuracy and compliance. 3. Engage your suppliers Bring your suppliers into the process early. Many freight forwarders and logistics service providers may not yet realize that their shippers will soon be required to manage and report carbon emissions. Let your current providers know about your plans and explain how they can support you. You should also make carbon reporting a core part of your procurement process, so any new suppliers you work with meet your reporting standards right from the start. What’s next once you've established a carbon accounting process? Carbon accounting is just the beginning of your business’s journey toward decarbonization — but it’s a crucial first step that every organization needs to take. Once you’ve established and refined your carbon accounting process, you’ll be in a strong position to pinpoint emissions hotspots and uncover opportunities to reduce emissions across your logistics supply chain. Reduce carbon emissions and waste across your supply chain Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Management provides accredited reporting, real-time insights, and powerful optimization engines to reduce waste and carbon emissions throughout the supply chain. Learn More ### [Celebrating the champions working behind the scenes to deliver the holiday season](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/celebrating-the-champions-working-behind-the-scenes-to-deliver-the-holiday-season) > The holidays don't deliver themselves. Go behind the scenes to meet the dedicated individuals and teams in logistics and warehousing who work tirelessly to ensure your gifts arrive on time. Blog Celebrating the champions working behind the scenes to deliver the holiday season Celebrating the champions working behind the scenes to deliver the holiday season Blue Yonder , November 12, 2025 1 minute read The holiday season is upon us again, a time filled with joy, festivities, and feel-good cheer. But we know that the magic of the holiday season isn’t created by elves; it’s down to the countless supply chain heroes working tirelessly behind the scenes. From the bustling warehouses to the meticulous logistics planning, these unsung heroes of the supply chain ensure that every gift reaches its destination, lights are twinkling on the tree, and food is ready on the table. It really wouldn’t be the holidays without them. So, let’s celebrate the true heroes of the season, who have used Blue Yonder to build smarter, faster supply chains we can count on to deliver the magic year after year. Our supply chain champions Discount Tire: 6% increase in forecast accuracy Discount Tire is a leading independent retailer of tires and wheels. Discount Tire implemented Blue Yonder’s AI-driven demand and replenishment capabilities to streamline its inventory management, achieving a 6% increase in forecast accuracy. This enables the company to align stock levels with real-time demand, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency – all while making sure that everyone can drive home safely for the holidays. Read more here. Bata: 72% in-store availability for all shoes and sizes Bata is one of the world’s leading footwear manufacturers and distributors, selling nearly 150 million pairs of shoes annually. Using Blue Yonder’s cloud-native solutions in merchandising, assortment, demand, and replenishment planning, Bata is able to better understand consumer demand, evaluate product characteristics, and tailor distribution strategies to individual stores ahead of the holiday season. “In India, our in-store availability has increased to 72%, and we’ve been able to shorten product cycles, allowing us to introduce and replenish new collections more quickly. These early wins are just the beginning of our journey to provide the best possible offerings to our customers.” Barbara Franceschetto, Chief Global Product Officer, Bata Group. Read more here. METRO: Achieves record 97% product availability METRO is a leading international food wholesaler, operating a complex supply chain with products sold at physical stores and directly delivered to hotels, restaurants, grocers, and other food-service businesses. Using Blue Yonder supply chain planning solutions, METRO can optimally balance ambitious customer service targets with inventory controls and accurate resource planning, achieving its record high of 97% product availability for its customers. That’s holiday feasts sorted across 16 countries and counting. Read more here. Promart: Increased inventory profitability by 40% Homecenters Peruanos (Promart) is a Peruvian home improvement retail chain with 37 stores nationwide. Using Blue Yonder‘s assortment optimization capabilities, Promart was able to redefine its national portfolio, creating a more precise and regionally tailored allocation strategy while streamlining its inventory management. Overall, they achieved a 40% increase in inventory profitability and a 10% increase in sales, giving consumers the perfect backdrop to make holiday memories. Read more here. XPO Logistics: 99.9% stock accuracy XPO Logistics is a global logistics company, operating across over 215 sites across 14 European countries. Using the Blue Yonder Dispatcher, part of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, to enhance accuracy and productivity, XPO Logistics was able to optimize pick and stock accuracy across multiple sites, reaching a 99.9% stock accuracy rate. "We’ve seen unparalleled improvements in stock accuracy and productivity using Blue Yonder. It's become a key part of our growth and automation strategy." – Nigel Rouch, SVP of Technology - Europe, XPO Logistics. Read more here. Arcadia Cold: 9% boost in warehouse labor productivity Arcadia Cold Storage and Logistics specializes in providing third-party, temperature-controlled handling, storage, distribution and value-added services to the food industry, and aims to become the most customer-centric cold chain organization in the U.S. Using Blue Yonder’s warehouse management, warehouse labor management, and transportation management solutions helped Arcadia Cold gain real-time visibility, improve efficiency, and build resilience and sustainability into its operations from the start. With Blue Yonder, Arcadia Cold not only launched 5 new facilities in just 18 months, but also increased warehouse labor productivity by 9%. Read more here. Lenovo: 5% boost in forecast accuracy Operating 30 manufacturing facilities and serving 180 markets worldwide, Lenovo produces an astonishing three devices every second. Blue Yonder’s solutions have become the backbone of Lenovo’s digital planning initiatives, achieving a 5% boost in forecast accuracy, 10% higher delivery accuracy, 10% reduction in inventory turns and a 4% improvement in on-time delivery ready for the holiday season. Read more here. CPF: 15% reduction in food waste Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) is a $30 billion global food production company that exports to 40 countries where consumers have varying requirements for the size and quality grade of its meats. Blue Yonder’s demand and supply planning solution helps manage supply chain operations from hatchery to production, right through to distribution. “Blue Yonder demand and supply planning software provides near real-time, end-to-end visibility of our incredibly complex supply chain. It has improved our sustainability metrics as we have reduced residual food wastage by 15% through better meat-cutting optimization.” –Birasit Boonnam - Head of Aquatic Operations, CPF Read more here. Core-Mark: 51,000 customer/retailer locations supported by single cloud platform Core-Mark, a Performance Food Group company, is one of North America’s largest distributors to the convenience-retail industry. Blue Yonder space planning, leveraging its planogram generator feature to standardize its planogram process. Analysts can now log in, retrieve store-specific fixture data, and generate shelf-ready planograms within minutes. Core-Mark significantly accelerated its time-to-shelf while ensuring consistency across its diverse retail network, boosting planogram coverage by 40% and supporting over 51,000 customer/retailer locations with a single cloud platform. Read more here. Want to learn more? Dive deeper into the stories of our supply chain heroes. See All Case Studies ### [How to optimize inbound logistics and scale with a unified network](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-to-optimize-inbound-logistics-and-scale) > Stop managing fragmented inbound processes. Discover how integrating your suppliers and carriers into a unified logistics network is the fastest way to drive down costs and achieve sustainable growth. Blog How to optimize inbound logistics and scale with a unified network How to optimize inbound logistics and scale with a unified network Caitlin Meaden , November 13, 2025 2 minute read Imagine knowing the status of every incoming shipment before it leaves your supplier’s dock. Most companies today don’t, but they could. Late deliveries, redundant shipments, and temperature failures contribute to 30-40% of wasted perishables in the U.S. alone, while 84% of organizations report they aren’t fully prepared for market uncertainties. The right method can change that. A network-enabled transportation management solution (TMS) provides pre-shipment visibility, aligns suppliers and internal teams, and helps companies act before delays become costly. What used to be a reactive cost center can now become a strategic advantage, improving productivity, reducing waste, and even limiting emissions. Read on to learn how a digital supply chain network shifts operations from reactive firefighting to proactive, data-driven decision-making. From challenges to capability with a network-enabled TMS Inbound logistics no longer has to be a blind spot. Advanced TMS can connect all stakeholders on a single digital network. A network-enabled TMS offers end-to-end visibility and constant optimization based on changing capacity and lead times. With a unified, embedded network, companies gain these critical capabilities. Early, pre-shipment visibility that enables proactive planning Instead of waiting until shipments are ready to ship or on their way, transportation teams can see orders from suppliers as they are created in the supplier’s ERP or order system (pre-ASN). The initial sight line allows for optimization of routing and dock scheduling even before freight begins to move, reducing expenses. It connects planning and execution to enhance productivity and coordination, resulting in savings on transportation costs. Connected collaboration to eliminate fragmented coordination A centralized data hub aligns suppliers, carriers, and internal teams on a single source of truth. Standardizing shipment status and arrival expectations unifies supply chain partners, enhancing collaboration and resilience. Thanks to real-time alerts about delays, the logistics team can assess the situation promptly, leading to multi-million-dollar savings. Scalable network operations that handle global complexity As supplier networks expand, the platform scales with them. Streamlined onboarding and standardized workflows ensure predictable inbound flows across regions, while end-to-end visibility into shipments enables teams to monitor deliveries in real-time. Proactive exception management strengthens operational resilience, enabling issues to be addressed before they escalate. Some AI-infused supply chain platforms have produced up to 12X ROI. These capabilities convert inbound logistics from a reactive cost center into a controllable lever for efficiency and resilience. 0 -40% of wasted perishables in the U.S. are down to late deliveries, redundant shipments, and temperature failures. 0 % of organizations report they aren’t fully prepared for market uncertainties. 0 X ROI has been produced by AI-infused supply chain platforms. Keep shipments on track with real-time inbound insights Consider the moment when a supplier shipment is unexpectedly delayed. Without early insight, the disruption can cascade through production schedules and delivery windows. With a network-enabled TMS, companies gain the foresight to detect exceptions early. It gets easier to coordinate across stakeholders and keep operations on track. Here’s how it works in practice: Early detection: Achieve end-to-end visibility into your collect shipments through ELD, GPS, and ocean container tracking systems. Proactive response: Based on the alert, the team can communicate with the supplier to understand the cause and explore alternative solutions, such as rescheduling or rerouting. Collaborative coordination: The solution facilitates communication between all stakeholders, including carriers and internal teams, ensuring everyone is aligned and informed. Organizations empowered with a network-enabled TMS gain in full view of inbound shipments, allowing better planning at delivery locations. With earlier lead times on collect freight, they can consolidate loads and optimize routing, driving significant reductions in inbound transportation costs. Make inbound logistics a strategic advantage Inbound logistics should never remain a blind spot or a recurring surprise. With Blue Yonder’s network-enabled transportation management solution, companies break free from the limitations of traditional supply chain connections and dissolve the barriers that have long kept partners in silos. By tapping into a rich, permissioned network of real-time data and seamlessly putting that data into context, leaders gain both clarity and confidence to act decisively. This unified approach ignites collaboration and builds resilience, aligning all stakeholders around a single source of truth. Every shipment becomes visible earlier, and every disruption becomes manageable faster, powered by both precision and agility . The result is a thriving ecosystem where supply chains adapt to uncertainty and scale with confidence–turning inbound logistics into a lasting source of efficiency and growth. Give your business the visibility, agility and intelligence to scale with confidence Explore how Blue Yonder’s network-enabled TMS can help you seamlessly respond to change, quickly recover from the unexpected and make the most of your supply chain network. Discover More ### [Representation, trust, and the next industrial revolution](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/representation-trust-and-the-next-industrial-revolution) > The next industrial revolution isn't just about AI and robots—it's cultural. Learn why manufacturing's future success depends entirely on representation, building trust, and ensuring systems reflect their people. Blog Representation, trust, and the next industrial revolution Representation, trust, and the next industrial revolution Tiffany Brewer , November 11, 2025 3 minute read Manufacturing is in the middle of its next industrial revolution. Robots, AI, and advanced analytics are rewriting how things are made, but the real revolution isn’t technical. It’s cultural. At the Women in Manufacturing Summit, one message cut through every session: progress in this industry will depend less on how we automate and more on who we represent, how we build trust, and whether our systems reflect the people inside them. Visibility is infrastructure Frederique Irwin, CEO of the National Women’s History Museum, captured it bluntly: “Representation is the leak sinking the ship.” When women and other under-represented groups are absent from textbooks, monuments, and company histories, that invisibility becomes structural. It silently rewires ambition, confidence, and opportunity—generation after generation. In manufacturing, visibility is not a branding exercise. Rather, it is part of the foundation that determines who believes they belong on the plant floor, in the control room, or at the strategy table. The stories we tell determine who believes they belong on the plant floor, in the control room, or at the strategy table. If we build systems that only see part of the workforce, we build supply chains that can never reach their full potential. Trust: The hidden currency of transformation Every digital initiative rises or falls on trust – in data, in leadership, in technology, and in each other. Trust is earned in micro-moments: the email that lands well, the operator who feels heard, the meeting where a new idea isn’t dismissed. Those moments accumulate into culture. In my own work, I often use AI tools not to sound smarter, but to communicate my ideas in a way that lands with greater impact based on my audience. I’ll ask them to help me find the tone that makes a message land without softening the intent. In a male-dominated, high-performance environment, that matters. It’s not about editing myself, but about amplifying clarity, so the substance is what gets heard. That’s what trustworthy technology does – it enhances communication when styles are different and allows ideas to flow into effective conversations. Human + AI: Designing systems that see people AI is reshaping every corner of manufacturing, from quality control to workforce scheduling. But the most profound shift is about reflection more than automation. We trust what we understand and what reflects us. When AI helps people feel recognized, when it extends, rather than replaces human judgment, it becomes a bridge between technology and belonging. The factories of the future won’t succeed because their machines are faster. They’ll succeed because their systems are designed to listen to data, to workers, to customers, and then adjust with empathy. Building the future we want to work in The next era of manufacturing leadership will belong to those who can blend precision with humanity. To those who treat representation as a metric of design quality. To those who see trust as a performance indicator. Because the future of manufacturing will not just be automated. It will be represented, trusted, and profoundly human. Discover how Blue Yonder is designing AI that sees people, not just processes. Discover how Blue Yonder is designing AI that sees people, not just processes Empower your supply chain teams to act with machine speed and precision with Blue Yonder AI. Discover More ### [How to fix mean absolute error: Part 2](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/how-to-fix-mean-absolute-error-part-2) > Having learned the MAE issues in Part 1, explore the definitive solution. This post details the mechanics of the Ranked Probability Score and how it accurately measures probabilistic forecast quality. Blog How to fix mean absolute error: Part 2 How to fix mean absolute error: Part 2 Malte Tichy , January 9, 2023 8 minute read In part 1, we challenged the usual way to evaluate Mean Absolute Error by just taking the difference between the predicted mean and the observed outcome. We found that it is necessary to use the correct point estimator, the median, to summarize the distribution by a single number, in line with the operational interpretation of Absolute Error. This entails, however, quite a few unpleasant properties of MAE: It’s coarse-grained, discontinuous, and useless for slow-movers. Clear the stage for the Ranked Probability Score Clearly, the situation I left you with in the first part of this blog post is not satisfactory: MAE is discontinuous, imprecise, and even useless for slow-movers with predicted means below 0.69. Nevertheless, its reasonable business interpretation — cost is proportional to error — remains attractive. Can we fix it? Could we just drop the median and use some other summary, like the much more benevolent mean? Unfortunately, pretending that the median/mean distinction is irrelevant does not make it so. Going that route does not resolve our problems, but introduces new ones: The prediction that would win at an incorrectly evaluated MAE would be biased. What are then our possibilities to improve AE, given that we are tied to the median as a summary? There is one aspect that we can change, namely the order of the two processes “to summarize” and “to compute the error”. Currently, we first summarize (distribution mapped to point estimator), and then compute the error (“point estimator — outcome”). Let’s take a deep breath, and swap the two steps, as illustrated in the plot below (left hand side): Given a predicted distribution (red) and one observed outcome (blue), let’s compute the AE for each predicted outcome (black arrows): The result is a list of AEs, one for each outcome (including for the prediction that matches the actual outcome, for which AE is 0). Since our goal is to replace AE, a single number, we need to summarize those many AEs. Let’s take the mean of the AEs, with the probability that we had assigned to each outcome as a weight in that mean. Geometrically, we are summing the areas enclosed by the error arrows and the x-axis, as illustrated for a few outcomes in the right plot. This prescription is a reasonable definition for the distance between a number and a probability distribution: You weight each distance to a possible outcome by the probability assigned to that outcome. As an edge case, if the distribution were 0 everywhere but for one outcome, for which it is 1 (a deterministic forecast that predicts that this outcome will definitely be realized), we recover the traditional AE: The absolute value of the distance between that deterministically predicted outcome and the observation. Our improved AE becomes the traditional AE for deterministic forecasts! We can express the prescription via this formula: It does look a bit scary, but let’s gently go through it: The AE*, the “corrected AE”, for an observation is the AE for that single observation, but averaged over all possible outcomes (the sum over outcome), with predicted probability P(outcome) as a weight. The second line expresses that this coincides with the expectation value of the absolute distance between observation and outcome, when outcome is distributed according to the probability distribution. What a ride! We are not there yet, but almost: The AE* is not exactly the Ranked Probability Score, and we still haven’t got a clue where that cumbersome name comes from. The above-defined AE* has one undesirable property: When the true distribution is a Poisson distribution with a certain mean value, the lowest, best AE* is not achieved when matching that mean value, but for a slightly smaller one. If your forecast wins at AE*, it is probably biased, and underpredicts. The reason is that the absolute width of the distribution increases with the mean value, which favors smaller mean values (yet again an opportunity to advertise the previous blog posts [links to Forecasting Few is Different 1&2]). This problem is solvable: We need to subtract half of the expected width of the distribution to account for that, that is, the expected distance between two random outcomes taken both from the predicted distribution. Finally, this gives us the Ranked Probability Score : But why is this called Ranked Probability Score (RPS), and why is it so unpopular? The RPS is usually introduced via abstract formulas containing lots of probabilities, step-functions, cumulative probabilities. It is often presented with a purely probability-theoretic interpretation, which makes a lot of sense if you are into probability theory and statistics, but which remains inaccessible to practitioners. It’s truly remarkable that the two formulations — our “improved AE” and the probability-theoretic one — coincide: The ugly duckling (in the eyes of the practitioner) turns out to become a beautiful swan. How Ranked Probability Score solves the shortcomings of Mean Absolute Error I argued in the first part of this post that MAE comes with inconvenient properties: It’s coarse-grained, discontinuous, and useless for slow-movers. Does RPS, the “improved MAE”, solve these problems? Indeed, it does! In the following plot, the RPS (black line) is compared to the AE (blue line), again for an observation of 9 (red dashed line). For predictions that are far from the outcome 9, RPS and AE behave similarly, and RPS just remains slightly below AE. When the predicted mean and the observation coincide at 9, AE hits zero, while RPS is a bit more skeptic: Since RPS is aware of the distribution, it judges that hitting the outcome exactly with the median of the predicted distribution could also be due to chance: Maybe the true selling rate on that day was 7, and we were just a bit lucky that the observed demand was 9. Therefore, RPS never touches 0: No individual outcome unambiguously proves that a probabilistic prediction was correct. When moving away from the outcome 9, AE is strict and immediately penalizes “being off” with the respective cost. RPS is more benevolent here, and does not increase as quickly as AE does, reflecting that “being a bit off” could be due to bad luck, and does not need to be sanctioned immediately. This matches business reality much better: Operations are often planned in a way that slight deviations are tolerable. Everybody wants, but nobody seriously expects a deterministic forecast, and there are safety stocks to account for that. Once deviations are larger, they start to induce real costs. Overall, the Ranked Probability Score does not “jump” between different values, but it is, mathematically speaking, continuous in the predicted mean. For AE, the predictions of 8.7, 9.3 and 9.6 are indistinguishable, for RPS they do become distinguishable: The minimum RPS is reached exactly at a predicted mean of 9. For slow-movers, RPS helps, but it’s not a magic pill: It will always remain hard to distinguish a product that sells once in 100 days from one that sells once in 200 days, even if you use RPS. Nevertheless, RPS does assume different values even for small different predictions like 0.6, 0.06 and 0.006. RPS helps with many of MAE’s problems, but there is one challenge which even RPS does not solve: The unavoidable scaling that makes slow- and fast-sellers behave differently. The methods that make metrics scaling-aware (described in parts in this blog [links to Forecasting Few is different 1&2]) can, however, be applied to RPS in the same way they were applied to AE. When compared to the Relative MAE, the Relative Mean RPS (the Mean RPS divided by the mean observation) has a much smoother shape in this plot showing the best achievable value for both metrics: When should you use MRPS instead of MAE? Meaningful forecasts are never deterministic and certain, but probabilistic and uncertain, which needs to be accounted for in the evaluation. Saying that humans don’t like uncertainty is a great understatement: Humans hate uncertainty. People are willing to jeopardize a lot of expected utility to achieve perfect certainty (which is, when the risk is fatal, a reasonable thing to do). When business stakeholders are told that a forecast “only” provides a probabilistic prediction, they often want a deterministic one instead, and the forecasters need to disappoint them by refusing to build such. But making unavoidable uncertainty explicit is not a sign of weakness, but of trustworthiness. Condensing the entire expressive power of a probability distribution, which contains the probability of each thinkable outcome, into a single number is as simplistic, coarse-grained and crude as it seems — although this is what you have to do operationally when you stock up items. From a conceptual perspective, the Ranked Probability Score therefore gives a much better answer to the question “how far is the outcome from the prediction?” than Absolute Error. Whenever the probabilistic nature of the forecast is irrelevant, the difference between AE and RPS becomes negligible, and AE and RPS can be used interchangeably (the former being simpler to compute than the latter, the latter assuming slightly smaller values). That is, when the width of the probability distribution is much smaller than the typical errors that occur, I, as a forecaster, won’t be able to blame occurring errors to “unavoidable noise against which nothing can be done”. For example, when I forecast certain items to sell 1000 times, and I’m not particularly ambitious and would already be happy when the outcomes are somewhere around 800 to 1200, the difference between using RPS and AE becomes marginal. For simplicity, I should then stick with AE. Whenever we touch the mid- to slow-moving regime, that is, when we forecast mean values like 0.8, 7.2, or 16.8, it makes a difference whether we condense the distribution into a single number to evaluate AE, or go the slightly more involved path using RPS. When predicting “1”, what we mean to say is that the probability to observe “1” is just about 37%, and so is the probability to observe 0. Neglecting the probabilistic nature of forecasts in the mid- to slow-selling regime is therefore dangerous and misleading. But now you know how to account for the probability distribution: By using the Ranked Probability Score, which I hope you now also see as the beautiful swan of the forecast evaluation wildlife, which achieves to make both statisticians and practitioners happy. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [How to fix mean absolute error: Part 1](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/how-to-fix-mean-absolute-error-part-1) > Your model evaluation is likely misleading you. Start here! Part 1 explains the core issues with Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and sets the stage for a complete fix. Blog How to fix mean absolute error: Part 1 How to fix mean absolute error: Part 1 Malte Tichy , November 29, 2022 12 minute read Mean Absolute Error is the first choice for practitioners when it comes to evaluate their model, owing to its simple definition and its intuitive business relevance. The evaluation metric Ranked Probability Score , by contrast, is not really a charming function at first sight: Its deterrent name fits well with its cumbersome formal definition, which explains that almost no supply chain practitioner knows it, let alone uses it. But they are missing out! The Ranked Probability Score is the natural extension of Mean Absolute Error to the realm of probabilistic forecasts , i.e. to forecasts that “know” about their own uncertainty. It comes with an intuitive interpretation and solves several of Mean Absolute Error’s serious problems. The Ranked Probability Score reflects business even better than does Mean Absolute Error, and it accounts for statistical uncertainty, thereby reconciling ivory tower statistical theory with everyday practice. A plausible business standard: Mean Absolute Error “Which metric shall we use to evaluate the demand forecasting model?” That question is typically answered by “Mean Absolute Error,” and on quite solid grounds. Absolute Error (AE) often reasonably reflects the cost of a forecast “being off:” When I forecast 8 baskets of strawberries to be sold, stock up 8 baskets, but the real demand is 9, I have an AE of 1, and 1 unhappy customer turns to competition. When my forecast is 11 baskets for the same demand of 9, the AE is 2, and I have 2 baskets of strawberries to dispose. For that observed outcome 9, the AE is shown by the blue line in the following plot as a function of the prediction: Since the financial impact of a forecasting error is typically proportional to the forecast error itself, the mean of AE across many predictions and outcomes, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), reflects business cost, at least under the assumption that one piece of overstock has the same financial impact as one piece of understock. Mean Squared Error (MSE) would rate that “being off by one” becomes more costly, the larger the error already is – quite unrealistic in business. Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), the mean of the normalized AE, Mean (AE/observed outcome), suffers from serious unexpected pitfalls ( as described in this previous blog post ), and can be safely dismissed for demand forecasting. Therefore, practitioners are well advised to use MAE or its normalized variant Relative MAE, RMAE = MAE / Mean(outcome), as a first simple choice to evaluate their models. The typical values of MAE and RMAE are, however, scale-dependent: The forecast for bottles of milk (fast-sellers) will naturally come with larger MAE and lower RMAE than the forecast for some special batteries (slow-sellers). That’s admittedly not easy to see, which is why the blog contribution dedicated to that issue did not even fit a single post but was split into Forecasting few is different part 1 and part 2 . With MAE being simple, well-known and relevant, why write or read a blog post on an alternative? Well, blindly trusting an evaluation metric is certainly one of the most data-un-scientific things to do. Let’s do a thorough deep dive of MAE to see whether it really behaves like we think it should, and if not, how to fix it. Cutting a long story short: You will encounter some unexpected, nasty complications when evaluating AE, but these are gently resolved by a related but quite underestimated metric, the Ranked Probability Score . Wait, not so fast! How to evaluate Mean Absolute Error for probabilistic forecasts So far, we pretended that “a forecast” is simply a number, just like the forecasted target itself (the number of sold items, which could be the number of strawberry baskets, apples, bottles of milk, or red t-shirts). Computing the difference between such forecast (a number) and the actual observation (another number) is then not a problem at all: I predict 10 apples to be sold, 7 were sold, the AE is 3. No PhD in statistics needed. But there is a subtlety: What if I had predicted 10.4 apples instead of 10 to be sold? What would have been my decision for the stock to keep on hand? Probably I would still have ordered 10 apples, that is, the small difference of 0.4 in the forecast would not have made any operational difference, the business result would have been the same. Nevertheless, the Absolute Error would be slightly larger, 3.4 instead of 3. The smooth behavior of Absolute Error in the prediction in the first figure is misleading: The difference between the prediction and the actual is not the quantity that is relevant for the business, but rather the difference between the number of items that were ordered and the actual. Why would I then ever predict anything else than an integer number, when I know that only integer quantities can occur? The reason for this discrepancy – we forecast non-integer values but only measure integer quantities – is that most forecasts are not “point forecasts” that express a universal, evaluation-independent “best estimate” for the target but provide a probability distribution (no worries: still no PhD in statistics needed). They tell us how likely each possible outcome is: When predicting 10.4, we don’t pretend that some customer will cut an apple into pieces to buy 0.4 of one, but we deem the possible outcomes “11,” “12,” “13” to be more likely than for a prediction of 10.0. Forecasts are thus not just numbers that can be compared to the target, but functions . Even though the discussion applies to any distribution, I’ll assume throughout this blog post that the predicted probability distribution is the Poisson distribution (check out our related blog posts here and here ). See here what probability distribution we implicitly assert when we predict 1.3, 3.8 or 11.7: Back to evaluating Absolute Error: How can we subtract a function from a number ? Subtracting 7 sold items from a probability distribution makes no sense. We need to summarize the predicted probability distribution by a single number to make a comparison possible. This summary number is called the point estimator, which can then be subtracted from the observed actual value to yield the error. Probability distributions can be summarized in many ways: The mean is the most immediate, but distributions can also be summarized by their most probable outcome (their mode), by the outcome that divides the probability distribution into two equal halves (their median), or by other prescriptions. In that zoo of point estimators, some feel more natural than others – can we just choose the summary that we like best? No, the correct point estimator is fixed by the chosen evaluation metric. In other words: You may choose which error metric evaluates my forecast (MAE, MAPE, MSE …), but then I choose how to summarize the forecast for that evaluation. My point estimator for winning at MAE will be different from the one for winning at MSE, let alone MAPE. This choice may sound arbitrary, maybe even dishonest to you, but it reflects the immense expressive power of probabilistic forecasts: They contain much more information than just a single “best guess”. Depending on how they are evaluated, how “best” is actually defined by the error metric, the value that wins for a given evaluation method is chosen accordingly. In other words: The ask “Give me your best forecast” is meaningless as long as it is not clear how “best” is defined. A single probabilistic forecast can produce many different point estimators, or “best guesses,” depending on how the forecast is evaluated. For Squared Error (SE), the point estimator is the mean of the distribution. For Absolute Percentage Error (APE), the point estimator is a really counter-intuitive functional that I won’t trouble you with, which leads to unexpected paradoxes in MAPE-evaluations. Absolute Error requires the distribution median, not the mean, and yes, that matters For AE (Absolute Error), the correct point estimator turns out to be the median. Yes, the median, and not the mean, and no, we can’t just use the mean instead. Let me explain why only the median can be optimal for AE. Let’s take one forecast, that is, one distribution, and let it be the Poisson-distribution with mean 3.8 and median 4. How many items do you stock up when given this forecast? The result is necessarily an integer, it can’t be 3.8. To find the right stock amount, let’s choose the estimate such that the AE that we find on average when observing outcomes from that distribution is as small as possible. We search for the right point estimator that condenses this entire distribution into a single number, the best stock amount operationally. In this figure, I try out three different estimates (3, 4, 5): The probability distribution, visualized by the bars (left scale), is the same in the three panels. The upper panel visualizes the estimate 3, in the middle one, the estimate is 4, in the lower one, it’s 5. The AE between the estimate and the outcomes is shown by the blue dots, connected by the solid line (right scale), the AE with respect to the median 4 is shown by black dots, connected by a dashed line. For example, when the estimate is 3 (upper panel), the error for the outcome 3 vanishes, and the blue solid line hits 0. If the observation is 4 or 2, the error is 1. The color of the bars indicates whether a predicted outcome contributes to the absolute error because it’s smaller (red) or larger (green) than the estimate, the bar height is the probability that it occurs. When an outcome matches the estimate, it contributes zero to the error and is shown in grey. By shifting the estimate up by one unit, we move down by one panel, and all observations under red bars and under the grey bar contribute to one more unit of error for the new, shifted estimate: For the previous estimate 3, the outcome 2 had error 1, but for estimate 4, the same outcome has error 2. On the other hand, all observations that had green bars now contribute to one less unit of error after the shift: For the estimate 3, the outcome 5 had error 2, for the estimate 4, the error decreases to 1. Let’s summarize what happens when the estimate is increased by one unit: The expected value of AE under the distribution increases for those outcomes that are smaller than or equal the estimate (we over-forecast them even more than we did) and decreases for those that are larger than the estimate (we under-forecast them less). The increase is proportional to the total area of the red and grey bars, the decrease is proportional to the area of the green bars. In full analogy, when decreasing the estimate by one unit, observations under green bars or under the grey bar contribute to one more unit of error each, and all observations in the red bars contribute to one less unit of error. For a given distribution, shifting the estimate up and down by one increases or decreases the resulting expected absolute error, and we can search the right point estimate by looking for the minimum. You might have already devised this rule of thumb: If, for the current estimate, most outcomes are under-predictions, decrease the estimate; if most outcomes are over-predictions, increase it. Only when the difference between the probability masses related to over- and under-predictions (the difference between the total areas of “red” and “green” bars) is smaller than the grey bar, one cannot improve the error any further. This is the case in the middle panel: The estimate is such that the probability masses below and above it nearly coincide, such that moving in either direction would increase the total error. This estimate matches the median: When you are given a probability distribution, the point estimator that minimizes absolute error will be higher or lower than the outcomes in half of the cases. I believe it’s worth stressing this point, because it often remains unaccounted: When 7.3 is the best estimate for the mean of a distribution, the correct way to evaluate the absolute error against an observation of, say, 9, is not to subtract 7.3 from 9, but to subtract the median of that distribution (which is 7 for the Poisson distribution), from 9. Operationally, 7 is precisely the number of items that you would stock up, given a prediction of 7.3. Surprisingly, it does not help you to have a precise estimate of the mean value for stock decisions, it does not matter whether the forecast is 7.1 or 7.3: You need to decide for an integer. However, when aggregating forecasts on a higher level for planning, the distinction between 7.1 and 7.3 becomes important. This distinction between mean and median may seem to you like splitting hairs: After all, the value that divides the probability in two equal halves and the mean of that distribution seem very similar, and they are close for most benevolent distributions (such as the Poisson distribution that is pertinent for retail). However, two distributions can have the same mean, but different medians; two other distributions might coincide in median but differ in their mean. Just using the mean and median as synonyms would prevent you from really finding the best forecast. The unexpected shortcomings of Mean Absolute Error We now know to evaluate Absolute Error for probabilistic forecasts: We summarize the distribution by the point estimator median (the number of items that we would stock up), we subtract that median from the observed outcome, and take the absolute value. I’ve tried to visualize this in the following plot: Since the median is always an integer, two quite different distributions can yield the same Absolute Error. For example, the AE for a Poisson-forecast of 8.7 (median=9) and for a Poisson-forecast of 9.6 (median=9) are the same, even though the forecasts are clearly different, as we see in this figure: This makes sense operationally: In both cases, the right thing to do is to have 9 items on stock on a given day. Consequently, a more realistic version of the very first figure, AE as a function of the prediction, is the following. AE is computed using the median of the prediction (black line), and only assumes integer values. I’m being a bit more specific on what the x-axis means: It’s not just “prediction,” but the predicted mean. This stairway shape implies that AE is coarse-grained and imprecise: We can, by eye, distinguish the distributions with mean 8.7 and 9.6, but AE can’t! MAE alone won’t help you improving the precision of a forecast beyond a certain threshold, which is quite dramatic for slowly moving items: The relative difference between 1.7 and 2.6 amounts to 53%, while the AE of a forecast of 1.7 and that of a forecast of 2.6 are the same! That coarse-grained behavior is coming with nasty jumps, discontinuities at the values at which the median of the distribution jumps from one integer value to the next. Operationally, there is no difference in predicting 1.7 or 2.6 for a given day, location and item: The right amount to stock up is 2. Forecasts are, however, also used on higher aggregation levels for planning. On such high level, one does indeed notice the difference between 1.7 and 2.6: For the next 100 days, it makes a huge difference whether one orders 170 or 260 items at the supplier. When the predicted mean is below about 0.69 per prediction time period (a slow-seller), the prediction that gives you the best Absolute Error is 0. Quite dramatically, we have the same Absolute Error for a forecast of 0.6, of 0.06 and 0.006, even though we went through two orders of magnitude! The prediction 0 is quite useless in supply chain, as you enter the vicious circle of perfect 0-forecasts: You stock up 0, you sell 0, and your previous forecasted 0 has been self-fulfillingly correct. Ready for more? Discover How to fix mean absolute error: Part 2 now. Read Part 2 ### [Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) has served its duty and should now retire](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/mean-absolute-percentage-error) > Is it time to finally retire MAPE? We explain why this legacy metric creates bias and instability, detailing the modern, more robust alternatives available for true forecast quality measurement. Blog Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) has served its duty and should now retire Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) has served its duty and should now retire Malte Tichy , August 4, 2022 4 minute read According to Gartner (2018 Gartner Sales & Operations Planning Success Survey), the most popular evaluation metric for forecasts in Sales and Operations Planning is Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). This needs to change. Modern forecasts concern small quantities on a disaggregated level such as product-location-day. For such granular forecasts, MAPE values are extremely hard to judge and thereby disqualify as useful forecast quality indicators. MAPE also deeply misleads users by both exaggerating some problems and disguising others, nudging them to choose forecasts with systematic bias. The situations in which MAPE is suitable become increasingly rare. This is not dry theory: We simulate a supermarket that relies on a MAPE-optimizing forecast value fed into replenishment. The under- and overstocks in the fast- and slow-sellers quickly push the store out of business. When absolute and relative errors contradict — whom should we trust? You predicted a demand of 7.2 apples and 9 were eventually sold. You predicted 91.8 bottles of water and 108 were sold. You predicted 1.9 cans of tuna and one was sold. How do you judge these forecasting errors? A straightforward approach is to compute the absolute deviation of the prediction to the actual and divide by that actual, i.e. the relative absolute error, possibly as a percentage value ( absolute percentage error , APE). That reads much more involved than it is: Coming up with APE as a first shot for “forecast quality evaluation” is quite typical. For the three examples, you obtain APEs of seemingly moderate 20% (=|7.2-9|/7.2), modest 15% (=|91.8-108|/108) and alarming 90% (=|1.9-1|/1), respectively. The MAPE, mean absolute percentage error , is the arithmetic mean of these three percentages, and amounts to 41.67%. These error percentages convey that the forecast on tuna is worse than the one on apples, and the forecast on bottles outperforms the others. But does this truly reflect forecast quality ? Look again at the beginning of this section — the large absolute difference between forecasted and actual water bottles is worrisome, and its small relative error cannot really reassure you. On the other hand, the 90% error on tuna could be due to random (bad) luck — it amounts to only a single item. Should you keep your intuition quiet, and blindly rely on the APEs? Consequently, should you revise the tuna forecast and leave the water forecast as it is? If another forecast is issued, with an overall MAPE of only 30%, is that new forecast necessarily better? Of course, under no circumstance would I ever seriously ask you to ignore your human judgement! This unpleasant paradox is resolved below: MAPE is unsuitable for modern probabilistic forecasts on granular level (i.e. on product-location-day, on which “small” numbers or even “0” can occur), due to several intolerable and unsolvable problems. A forecast’s MAPE doesn’t tell us how good that forecast is, but how oddly APE behaves. Consciously ignoring scale: When percentage errors can make sense Before diving into granular forecasting in retail (on product-location-day level), let’s suppose to predict a much larger quantity: The yearly gross domestic product (GDP) of countries, measured in US$. Such forecast might be used to define policies for entire countries, and these policies should be equally applicable to countries of different sizes. Therefore, it is fair to weight each country equally in this use case: A 5% error on the US GPD (about 25 trillion US$) hurts just as much as a 5% error on the Tuvalu GPD (about 66 million US$, 380,000 times smaller than the US GDP). Here, absolute percentage error (APE) makes sense: The actual GDP is never close to 0 (which would cause a terrible headache when dividing by it, I’ll come to that below), and the forecast aim is not to get the overall GDP of the planet right, but to be close as possible for each individual country, across scales ranging from millions to trillions. Minimizing the total absolute error of the model (i.e. error in US$, not in percentages) puts the largest economies into the spotlight and disregards the small ones. It does not weight each country equally, but by its economic power. A model with a nice 3% error on the US GDP and an unacceptable 200% error on the Tuvalu GDP would appear to be “better” than a model with 4% error on the US GDP and 10% error on Tuvalu GDP in absolute US$ terms. MAPE, on the other hand, points towards using the latter forecast, which sacrifices a lot of absolute GDP accuracy on the US (1% of 25 trillion US$) for a modest absolute improvement of the accuracy on Tuvalu (190% of 66 million US$). The US GPD is much larger than Tuvalu’s, but one would consciously, and for good reasons, decide to treat them equally. Both the US and Tuvalu can be considered “large” in the sense that one can’t expect statistical fluctuations or “bad luck” to be responsible for forecast error — i.e. deviations will typically be statistically significant and point towards model improvement potential. In summary, whenever single instances of a forecast of different values should be treated in an equal way, i.e. whenever we are fine with comparing enormous apples to miniscule oranges, MAPE can make sense. But is an equal treatment always fair? Stable navigation in all conditions Be ready for anything with The Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Sign up today for global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly. Sign Up Today Treat all the same — sounds good in general, but not in probabilistic forecast evaluation Let’s return to our previous example in grocery and talk about apples, tuna cans and bottles. Here, comparing APEs makes little sense, for two reasons. By definition, a slow-seller sells less often than a fast-seller. The business impact of an unreliable slow-seller forecast is, therefore, much less severe that for an equally unreliable fast-seller forecast. A 5% sales loss due to stock-outs in some marginal slow-seller is merely inconvenient for the vendor, while a 5% sales loss on the best-selling item can be quite dramatic. At the end of the day, absolute numbers count for your business. You overpredict the total demand of your main product in the US by 20%? You probably have a problem and need to deal with lots of unsold stock, which might even put your entire business at jeopardy. You overpredict the total demand of that same product by 20% in Tuvalu? Nothing against Tuvalu (no offense, really!), but you can probably relax, since that error won’t sink your business. You can tolerate much larger relative error in petty assortments or markets than in your bread & butter categories. Why promote marginal items or groups of customers to the same importance as the really big fish? Adding to this obvious difference (small is small and large is large), there is a subtle-looking but important statistical effect: Scale-dependence of achievable forecast accuracy. Being 10% off for a product that sells 10 times a day is unavoidable sometimes, even for a perfect forecast (with Poisson uncertainty). Being 10% off on a product that sells 10,000 times a day clearly points towards a problem. Not only is the slow-seller less important business-wise than the fast-seller, but it naturally comes with larger relative errors, as discussed in more detail in the previous blog posts Forecasting few is different part 1 and part 2. For the grocery forecasts above, you probably have just been unlucky regarding the tuna on that day. The 16 additional bottles of water seem less excusable. Therefore, absolute percentage error (APE) does not catch achievable forecast quality well, neither in business terms (it weights unequal things equally) nor in statistical terms (its achievable value needs the context of the forecasted value itself). Governing replenishment by MAPE leads to catastrophic stock levels In other words, MAPE is not a good indicator for forecast quality per se: Whether 20%, 70%, 90% are reached in three different situations has no immediate interpretable meaning. Given a certain MAPE-value, one should not jump at any conclusion. But even accepting that a MAPE-value itself tells you little to nothing about your overall model quality, you might nevertheless expect that, for a given forecasting situation, the MAPE-winning forecast should be the best one. As I’ll work out now, you need to also give up that weaker expectation. Consider a supermarket that offers many different products — from slow-sellers that sell about once per quarter up to fast-sellers that sell 100 times per day. The replenishment of items is done by a system that picks the daily MAPE-optimal forecast and pre-orders according to it. That is, it chooses the forecast value for which the MAPE is lowest. How would that supermarket perform? To keep things simple, focus on 5 exemplary products: Apples, bananas, cashews, dragon fruits and eggplants, with true mean daily selling rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100: The slowest, apples, sells about once per quarter, the fastest, eggplants, sells 100 times per day (you are right if you suspect that numbers were not made up for real-world plausibility, but rather mathematical clarity and simplicity). In this thought experiment, we know these selling rates, and they are the best possible forecast for each product by construction. Using the Poisson distribution, we can simulate what happens, and what is the forecast value with the best MAPE. For each product, the following table shows the true selling rate (which is the unbiased best daily forecast), its simulated MAPE, the optimized MAPE-winning forecast, its simulated MAPE and its resulting bias: Product True daily selling rate, unbiased daily forecast MAPE of true selling rate MAPE-winning daily forecast MAPE of MAPE-winning forecast Forecast bias of MAPE-winning forecast Apples 0.01 99% 1 0.25% +9,900% Bananas 0.1 90% 1 2.5% +900% Cashews 1 23.3% 1 23.3% 0% Dragon fruits 10 31% 9 29% -10% Eggplants 100 8.11% 99 8.05% -1% Remember that the true daily selling rate is inarguably the best possible input to the replenishment system, since it is, by construction, the mean value of expected sales. What happens if replenishment uses the MAPE-winning forecast instead? The supermarket overstocks on the slow-movers: For every day, one apple, one banana and one cashew are replenished — but apples only sell once every 100 days and bananas once every 10 days! Apples and bananas pile up, cashews do fine, while the demand of dragon fruits is not met: On average, one customer who wanted to buy a dragon fruit will leave without having their shopping completed. For the fast-moving eggplants, the 1% error might be excusable — nevertheless, it is striking that the “best” forecast is always biased, unless the true selling rate equates 1. The numbers computed for the table above assume a perfect world in which forecasters enjoy working with a model with minimal Poisson-uncertainty. For a more realistic model in which some moderate additional uncertainty (technically speaking: overdispersion) is present, the situation immediately looks worse: Product True daily selling rate, unbiased daily forecast MAPE of true selling rate MAPE-winning daily forecast MAPE of MAPE-winning forecast Forecast bias of MAPE-winning forecast Apples 0.01 99% 1 0.3% +9,900% Bananas 0.1 90% 1 3% +900% Cashews 1 25% 1 25% 0% Dragon fruits 10 73% 6 53% -40% Eggplants 100 49% 72 40% -28% The gap between the MAPE value computed at the true selling rate and the MAPE value of the MAPE-winning-forecast has increased substantially. In other words, the user might think that the “evidence” that the MAPE-winning forecast is better than the other is even stronger than above. The MAPE-optimal-forecast is, however, more strongly biased than in the ideal situation: The underforecasting in dragon fruits and eggplants now amount to 40% and 28%, respectively — a massive stock-out-situation would be the consequence. Below, we will see why more uncertainty means “we need to play safe” and why that means “we need to play rather low”. Clearly, a supermarket that runs with this strategy will not survive for long! The problems with MAPE thus go beyond the business interpretability (it’s unsuitable to answer the question “how good is the forecast?”) but can potentially lead to severe operational problems (choosing an inarguably worse forecast over a better one). Let’s explore why! MAPE censors zero-count-events, with catastrophic consequences When computing APE, we run into serious trouble when the actual is zero, as we would need to divide by it. The APE is then undefined and does not enter the computation of MAPE (remember, it’s the mean of all APEs). That is, zero-sales-events are simply removed from the data. This data removal as bad as it feels: It leads to a blatant overprediction bias on super-slow-movers (which sell once or less per time period) in a MAPE-optimal prediction: Since 0-events are ignored, the lowest reasonable prediction for any product, location and day is 1 — even for a product that sells once per year! Since the MAPE-optimized forecast can safely ignore the outcome “0”, playing safe is proposing “1” as lowest forecast value. Alternatives to removal (e.g. assign 100% error always instead of removal) do not solve this problem: A prediction of 1.7 with outcome 0 is clearly less problematic than a prediction of 17,000 with outcome 0; assigning those two events the same artificial APE makes no sense. That is, whenever your data could plausibly contain “0” as actual value for any event, MAPE is extremely problematic. Optimizing it will lead to overpredictions in the super-slow-moving items — as we see in the first two rows of the tables. MAPE penalizes under- and overforecasts differently, leading to skewed estimates Predict 1, observe 7: The APE is 6/7, approx. 86%. Does that seem a lot to you? If so, exchange the numbers, predict 7, observe 1: Your APE becomes 6/1, 600%! APE penalizes an overprediction by a certain factor much more heavily than for an underprediction by the same factor. For underpredictions, the worst possible APE is 100%; for overpredictions, it is unbounded. As a result, whenever you are not certain about the outcome (you should never be, and every good model knows about its own uncertainty in a way) playing safe is playing low: Avoid strong overforecasting at (almost) any cost, whereas some massive underforecasting will not break your neck. Therefore, even under minimal forecast uncertainty, which we assumed in the first table, the MAPE-optimal forecast is an underprediction for selling rates above 1 (last two rows). Moreover, the larger the variability of the training data is, the more uncertain the model, and the more will the MAPE-optimal forecast underforecast: Remember, playing safe is playing low, and the more uncertain you are, the safer you want to be, and the lower the MAPE-optimal forecast becomes. This hedging against overpredictions leads to the strong bias in the last two rows of the second table. This asymmetry is tackled by modified MAPEs: For example, the percentage error can be computed with respect to the mean of prediction and actual instead of actual only — but also these amendments don’t fully solve the asymmetry and induce other problems and paradoxes. MAPE exhibits particularly complex scaling behavior, leaving us ignorant on how good a forecast really is Admittedly, the lack of interpretability (is 50% MAPE good or bad?) is not an exclusive feature of MAPE: Every metric has scale-dependence and assumes different values for slow- and for fast-movers. Nevertheless, the scaling of MAPE is especially intricate and complex, due to the combination of the two aforementioned effects: On the one hand, a MAPE-optimal forecast will never output a number smaller than 1 and we just remove the 0-sale-outcomes. On the other hand, relative errors decrease for large selling rates. In this plot, we show “mount MAPE,” the best possible achievable MAPE as a function of selling rate. Take a deep breath and give me a chance to explain what you see: The x-scale is logarithmic so we can observe small selling rates well — the scale goes from 0.1 to 100, super-slow to fast. For small selling rates below around 2, a forecast of 1 is the best possible, it yields the MAPE value given by the orange line that goes from the lower left (where it’s overlayed by the black dashed line) to the upper right. The forecast 2 would lead to large MAPE in the slow-movers (green line), close to 95% for a selling rate of 0.1. The forecast 0 always leads to a constant MAPE of 100% (blue line): For any outcome that is not 0 (and those are removed from evaluation), we have APE=|actual-0|/actual=100%. At a selling rate of around 2.3, the forecast 2 becomes the optimal one, hence the black dashed line, the best possible MAPE, jumps from the orange to the green line. It further takes turns whenever the best forecast jumps from one value to the next (shown for forecast 3 and 4 in red and purple, respectively). The best possible MAPE decreases when we go to very slowly moving items (to the left): Since 0-sales-events are removed from the data, the “surviving” events are mostly 1-sale-events, and even more so the more slowly the item sells. For a selling rate of 0.1, observing 2 items sold on a single day is already highly unlikely, and the forecast “1” is therefore, in most of the non-0-cases, perfect, and the achieved MAPE quite low. In other words, when you know that “0” will be removed from the data and the item is slow, then”1” is a pretty safe bet for the number of sales that occur. For mid-sized values around 1 to 5, we see the “turn-taking” of the best possible MAPE. For large forecasts of 10 or higher (to the right-hand-side of the plot), the achievable MAPE decreases again: the Poisson distribution becomes relatively narrow in the limit of large rates (see our previous blog post on Forecasting Few is Different 1 &2). I really did my best to explain the shape of “mount MAPE”! It took me more than 300 words in two paragraphs, but I fear it might not be entirely successful: Did you understand it in such a way that you’ll be able to intuitively judge MAPEs in the future, in the context of predicted selling rates? If you don’t feel you will — don’t worry: This complexity is yet another modest argument that, even among professionals, it is unlikely that an intuitive correct judgement of MAPE-values ever become wide-spread. MAPE-optimal forecasts are irrelevant to business, jeopardizing potential forecast value The forecast that wins at MAPE is not the unbiased forecast that you would wish in many applications. But what does it then mean to “optimize for MAPE”? Mathematically, the value that minimizes MAPE minimizes a cumbersome-looking expression that I don’t even dare writing down in a blog-post not aimed at statisticians. What you need to know: That expression has no meaningful business interpretation. Whatever you want to achieve with your forecast — ensure availability, reduce waste, plan promotions and markdowns, replenish items, plan workforce… – the business cost of a wrong forecast in your application is certainly not reflected by MAPE! Ideally, choose an evaluation metric that reflects the actual financial cost of “being off”. You don’t want to optimize an abstract mathematical function, but maximize business value. The alternative: Let the metric directly reflect business Apart from situations like predicting GDPs country-wise and under strong assumptions, MAPE is neither suitable to indicate how good a forecasting model is (due to scaling), nor a suitable decision driver to choose among two competing models (MAPE-winning forecasts are biased). What is the alternative? Optimally, the metric that is used directly reflects the business value. Mean Absolute Error (MAE) quantifies situations in which the cost of one overstocked item is the same as the cost of one missing item — a strong assumption, but certainly closer to reality than MAPE. MAE carries the same dimension as the prediction itself (“number of items”), and thereby strongly depends on scale. By dividing MAE by the mean sales, we obtain Relative Mean Absolute Error (RMAE), which is, due to the scaling property of the Poisson distribution, not scale-independent either. Scale-dependence therefore always needs to be addressed explicitly. Just ignoring that optimal MAPE-estimates are biased, however, is not an option: Important strategic decisions hinge on reliable, meaningful, business-relevant forecast evaluation! Shall we go with software vendor A, with software vendor B, or with our in-house solution? On what assortments should we focus our model improvement efforts? Is the forecast in that new category “good enough” for taking an automated system live? Forecast evaluation should provide clear, high-level interpretable, business-reflecting evidence to answer these and many other questions. MAPE can’t help us with that. Discover how to fix Mean Absolute Error Is your Mean Absolute Error (MAE) giving you incomplete performance metrics? Learn why MAE needs fixing and the foundational steps to better model evaluation. Discover More ### [Why supply chain needs a design transformation](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-supply-chain-needs-a-design-transformation) > Global disruption demands resilience, but your supply chain software is stuck in the past. Blog Why supply chain needs a design transformation Why supply chain needs a design transformation Nigel Duckworth , November 7, 2025 2 minute read Supply chains are in the midst of unprecedented disruption . Global volatility—geopolitical shifts, fluctuating tariffs, extreme weather, and unpredictable consumer behavior—has forced leaders to rewire networks for resilience. At the same time, technological breakthroughs in AI, robotics and automation promise new ways of working. Consumers expect more choices, delivered faster, with less friction. Yet, the user experiences in the software powering supply chains have not kept pace. Many tools still rely on design philosophies from the dawn of the web: Cluttered screens, buried KPIs and bolt-on AI widgets that function more like glorified search engines than true intelligence. Users spend too much time wrestling with the interface and not enough time making the decisions that really matter. It’s time for a design transformation. From clunky interfaces to intelligent experiences The future of supply chain design is not just about simplification. Supply chains are inherently complex. The challenge is to transform that complexity into clarity—helping users act with confidence, speed and precision. This is where Blue Yonder Fractal Design leads the change . Our holistic design philosophy draws inspiration from the repeating, self-similar patterns in nature—branching rivers, spiraling shells and crystallized snowflakes. These patterns scale seamlessly from micro to macro, creating systems that are cohesive and balanced regardless of complexity. Applied to software, Blue Yonder Fractal Design creates a common design language to span every role, device and level of detail. From C-suite strategy dashboards to warehouse floor execution, users experience a consistent, intuitive flow. They can zoom in and out of detail fluidly without losing their bearings. More than aesthetics, Blue Yonder Fractal Design is a philosophy that shapes product strategy. It is how Blue Yonder turns its industry-leading mathematics into experiences that are smart, beautiful and scalable. The value of Blue Yonder Fractal Design For the individual user: Blue Yonder Fractal Design reduces cognitive load and decision fatigue by surfacing the right KPIs at the right time. Whether through an always-on Objective Bar or agent-curated daily briefs, users gain clarity at a glance and can act quickly with confidence. For the organization: It breaks down silos by providing a unified experience across functions. Shared design patterns mean colleagues speak the same language, whether in planning, execution or collaboration. This accelerates collaboration and innovation. For the ecosystem: Trading partners, suppliers and customers benefit from a consistent interaction model. New capabilities and solutions are easier to introduce and adopt because they feel familiar and integrate seamlessly. The fractal patterns scale adoption across networks as naturally as patterns unfold in nature. Your true north for supply chain insights Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Subscribe Today How Blue Yonder is leading the design innovation This is not merely polishing the user interface. It is a deep reengineering and strategic transformation in how people experience the autonomous supply chain. We are embedding fractal principles into every aspect of the Blue Yonder platform: Attention to detail: Unified fonts, icons and color palettes ensure a cohesive language across solutions—whether WMS , TMS or Planning . Situating the user: Users always know where they are and what they can do, with intuitive navigation and contextual guidance. Role-relevant content curation: Generative AI powers tailored insights, briefs and alerts, putting the user at the center of every interaction. Objective-first design: KPIs are surfaced instantly through an always-on Objective Bar, ensuring accuracy and performance at every step. Empowering exploration: Interfaces flex to user preference: Reports expand with a click, screens maximize real estate, and collaboration happens seamlessly with inline comments and shared tables. Mobility and continuity: From desktop to mobile to CarPlay, work continues fluidly across devices. A warehouse manager can receive an agentic AI briefing on the commute, arrive prepared and pick up where she left off in the office. Good design delights, great design transforms Supply chain practitioners have demanding jobs made harder by volatility, slim margins and tight timelines. They shouldn’t waste time decoding clunky UIs or outdated templates. They deserve experiences that elevate their expertise, accelerate insights and inspire confidence. Fractal Design delivers this by combining mathematical intelligence with human-centered design, turning complexity into clarity and stress into focus. It enables collaboration at scale, unlocks the full potential of AI, and provides continuity across the ever-moving supply chain. Blue Yonder is not just keeping pace with change—we are designing the future. In embracing and implementing Blue Yonder Fractal Design, we’re uncovering intelligence and beauty in the complexity of global commerce for our customers and end users. Find out more about the future of user experience here. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Calibration and sharpness: The two independent aspects of forecast quality](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/calibration-and-sharpness) > Is your forecast accurate, precise, or neither? Differentiate between the two independent measures of quality: calibration and sharpness. Get the tools to assess and improve your models instantly. Blog Calibration and sharpness: The two independent aspects of forecast quality Calibration and sharpness Malte Tichy , August 22, 2023 3 minute read What is a good forecast? Forecasts are like friends: Trust is the most important factor (you don’t ever want your friends to lie to you), but among your trustable friends, you prefer meeting those that tell you the most interesting stories. What do I mean with this metaphor? We want forecasts to be “good,” “accurate,” and “precise.” But what do we mean by that? Let’s sharpen our thoughts to better articulate and visualize what we want from a forecast. There are two independent ways in which forecast quality can be measured, and you need to consider both – calibration and sharpness – to get a satisfactory understanding of your forecast’s performance. Forecast calibration For simplicity, let’s start with binary classification: The forecasted outcome can only take two values, “true or false,” “0 or 1,” or similar. To be more concrete, let’s consider emails, and whether they will be tagged as spam by the mailbox user. A predictive system produces, for each email, a percentage probability that this email would be considered spam by the user (which we take to be the ground truth). Above a certain threshold, say 95%, the email then ends up in the spam folder. To evaluate this system, you can, in the first place, check the calibration of the forecast: For those emails that are assigned an 80% spam-probability, the fraction of true spam should be around 80% (or at least not differ in a statistically significant way). For those emails that were assigned a 5% spam-probability, the fraction of true spam should be around 5%, and so forth. If this is the case, we can trust the forecast: An alleged 5% probability is indeed a 5% probability. A calibrated forecast allows us to take strategic decisions: For instance, we can set the spam-folder threshold appropriately and we can estimate the number of false positives / false negatives upfront (it’s unavoidable that some spam makes it to the inbox, and some important emails end up in the spam folder). Forecast sharpness Is calibration all there is to forecast quality? Not quite! Imagine a forecast that assigns the overall spam probability – 85% – to every email. That forecast is well calibrated, since 85% of all emails are spam or otherwise malicious. You can trust that forecast; it’s not lying to you – but it is quite useless: You can’t take any useful decision on the trivial repeated statement “the probability that this email is spam is 85%.” A helpful forecast is one that assigns very different probabilities to different emails – 0.1% spam probability for the email from your boss, 99.9% for doubtful pharmaceutical ads, and that remains calibrated. This usefulness property is called sharpness by statisticians, as it refers to the width of the predicted distribution of outcomes, given a forecast: The narrower, the sharper. An unindividualized forecast that always produces the spam probability 85% is maximally unsharp. Maximal sharpness means that the spam-filter assigns only 0% or 100% spam probability to every email. This maximal degree of sharpness – determinism – is desirable, but it’s unrealistic: Such forecast will (very probably) not be calibrated, and some emails marked with 0% spam probability will turn out to be spam, some emails marked with 100% spam probability turn out to be your significant other’s. What’s the best forecast then? We don’t want to give up on trust, so the forecast needs to remain calibrated, but within the calibrated forecasts, we want the sharpest one. This is the paradigm of probabilistic forecasting, which was formulated by Gneiting, Balabdaoui and Raftery in 2007 (J. R. Statist. Soc. B 69, Part 2, pp. 243–268): Maximize sharpness, but don’t jeopardize calibration. Make the strongest possible statement, provided it remains true. As with our friends, tell me the most interesting story, but don’t lie to me. For a spam-filter, the sharpest forecast assigns values like 1% for the quite-clearly-not-spam emails, 99% to the quite-clearly-spam emails, and some intermediate value to the difficult-to-decide cases (of which there should not be too many). Recalibrate your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Sign Up Today An abstract painting of calibration and sharpness Let’s visualize the calibration and sharpness of spam classifiers in the following figure. A spam classifier is depicted by a collection of circles of the same color, such that the size of each circle reflects the number of emails that were tagged with the respective predicted spam-probability. The x-axis is the predicted spam probability, the y-axis the occurring spam frequency. The scaling of the axes is chosen in a way that details out probabilities that are either close to zero (“almost certainly not”) or close to one (“almost certainly”). A circle, a collection of individual spam probability predictions that assume the same value, is calibrated when it lies on the calibration line, the diagonal black line for which the predicted probabilities and the measured frequencies match. The further a circle is off the calibration line , the larger is the discrepancy between prediction and actual, and the more uncalibrated is the forecast. When a circle lies above the calibration line, the associated predictions have underpredicted the true probability; when it is below the calibration line, the predictions are overpredictions. In the lower right and upper left, you would find disastrously bad predictions that assign a very large probability to rare events, or vice versa. Consider now the green circles: The predicted probabilities and actual frequencies nicely match, for all six circles, which reflects a perfectly calibrated and rather sharp forecast. The single blue circle is calibrated (it hits the diagonal line), but it reflects a useless, unsharp forecast that only produces “85%” every time it’s asked what’s an email’s spam probability. That’s a defensive forecast: Not wrong, but useless. The orange circles reflect an overly confident spam filter: It produces 0.2% or 99.8% as spam-forecast – strong statements, which would be useful if they were true! Of the “almost certainly not spam” emails, we find, however, about 5% of spam, much more than the predicted 0.2%. Of the “almost certainly spam” emails (99.8% predicted probability), only about 95% turn out to be actual spam. That orange forecast is sharper than the green one, but it has lost its calibration. The added ostensible certainty is of no use because we cannot trust the forecast. The red circle reflects an unsharp and uncalibrated forecast: This spam filter always assigns the probability “25%” to each email – this is both wrong (the overall probability is about 80%) and unspecific. The paradigm of “maximal sharpness subject to calibration” means that you want to push the circles as far as possible into the “almost certain” areas, to the lower left and upper right, while they remain glued to the calibration line. We aim for strong and actionable statements like “1% spam” or “99% spam,” while these statements should be truthful. Calibration and sharpness in demand forecasts At Blue Yonder, we don’t do spam filtering for a living, but we do produce forecasts, for instance, for customer demand . Our target is not binary (spam/no-spam), but a number. Much of the above argument can be used again: A calibrated but useless forecast assigns the overall average demand (averaged over products, locations, days) to every product-location-day in the future: “That product will sell 1.6 times on average tomorrow,” repeated for every product, day and location, is a true and calibrated statement for a typical supermarket, but no meaningful basis for replenishment or any other business decision. On the other hand, a forecast that pretends to be maximally sharp (“Tomorrow, in store 123, you will sell exactly 17 cucumbers”) is unrealistic and would hinder any meaningful strategic decisions concerning waste and stock-outs. How sharp can retail forecasts become? In retail, we deal with many potential customers (many more than 100 per day), each of which can buy a certain product with small probability: When you enter a supermarket, you only buy from a small fraction of the products that are offered. When we additionally assume that every product enjoys perfect availability (no out-of-stocks ever) and that each customer buys at most one item of a given product, the theoretical maximally possible sharpness is known: It is the Poisson distribution, whose properties we have discussed in my previous blog Forecasting few is different. That is, the distribution of sales around the predicted mean follows a Poisson distribution: A mean prediction of “5” comes with a finite probability that the true demand might be, for example, 3 (14% probability), 4 (18% probability), 5 (18% probability), 6 (15% probability), 7 (10% probability), etc. These predicted probabilities can, just like for our spam-filter, be verified in practice: When we assign the event “13 cucumbers” a probability of 12%, we expect that, on average, 12% of such cases will lead to 13 sold cucumbers. When we have established the calibration, we can use the forecast to take strategic decisions, such as balancing out the cost of out-of-stock and of waste. In practice, the strong assumptions behind the Poisson distribution are often not fulfilled: People buy more items of a given product, items go out of stock, and not all factors that influence demand are known, which makes pretending to know the average buying probability elusive. The Poisson distribution nevertheless remains an approximate, albeit sometimes unreachable, ideal case, which gives great orientation. In our forecasting solutions, we compare the achieved performance in practice to different theoretical boundaries to estimate how close we are to what is possible under given circumstances. This helps us identify the low-hanging fruits for improvement, the already-excellent forecasts, and the anomalies that require further investigation. How good forecasts resemble good friends The paradigm of “maximizing the sharpness of the predictive distributions subject to calibration” (Gneiting, Balabdaoui and Raftery) is, thus, incredibly useful to make forecasting performance tangible, in any field. Eventually, in every forecasting situation, we want to be able to say, with confidence: This is a calibrated forecast that is as sharp as possible. That forecast is just like your most entertaining friend, who tells great stories and gives useful advice, but never lies to you. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Forecasting evaluation pitfalls](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/forecasting-evaluation-pitfalls) > Avoid common mistakes when assessing your forecasts! Learn the top evaluation pitfalls that skew accuracy and discover how to implement a truly robust forecasting review process. Blog Forecasting evaluation pitfalls Forecasting evaluation pitfalls Malte Tichy , June 17, 2024 10 minute read In Part 1 of this blog post , we introduced censored sales probability distributions. Let’s now get our hands dirty and see what finite capacity means in practice. We start by pointing out subtle pitfalls that one might inadvertently fall into in order to then share how we typically solve the situation. Mistaking sales for demand Your manager might ask you to just ignore this blog post entirely to obtain both a “first simple model" and a “rough estimate of the model quality." You might take a deep breath and do so, that is, directly interpret the sales numbers as true demand. What could possibly happen? A naïve comparison of an unbiased predicted demand against the observed sales will typically produce the verdict “the forecast is biased, it’s overforecasting": The finite capacity has pushed down the value of the observed sales. The more often one hits the capacity, the more the sales are affected. In practice, what is especially harmful is that the impact of finite capacity will vary considerably between product groups: Fresh products need to go out of stock every now-and-then to avoid waste and capacity is hit every now-and-then. Non-perishables are often replenished in a never-out-of-stock-fashion, and capacity is almost never hit. A comparison between product groups will suffer immensely from the different impact of different capacity / stock-up strategies. But would we even obtain an unbiased model in the first place? That is unlikely: In training, your model directly learns a biased demand. Of a full demand distribution with a mean of 9.7, the model would only learn the constrained, censored one, which comes with a lower mean value, as can be seen in the figure below: The vicious circle of an under-estimating forecast that leads to a low order, to more stock-outs, to an even more under-estimating forecast is set into perpetually accelerating motion – while the evaluation confirms that “everything is all right" and that the “sales forecast is fine." In other situations, the capacity constraints during training and evaluation phase might vary due to whatever reason, with pernicious consequences on the interpretation of the observed bias (or lack thereof). If you have read this far, you probably understand that sales and demand are not equivalent, and you will be able to convincingly argue with your manager to take the longer, more precise route. Selecting days on which demand was not hit The above pitfall is quite intuitive: Demand and sales are different quantities, and setting them equal when they are not is clearly problematic. The second pitfall that I want you to avoid is a bit more subtle (book a two-hour meeting to explain it to your manager): An idea that typically comes forward in projects is to train or evaluate models on the no-capacity-hit-events alone, i.e., on those days on which the sales have not saturated the capacity. That is, all events for which censoring has taken place (the sales are equal to the stocks) are removed from the training or evaluation, and only sales values that are lower than the capacity are kept. The remaining events are unconstrained ones, which would, that is the hope, make the training and evaluation unbiased. This is, however, not at all the case! By selecting those days on which the capacity was not hit, one naturally selects those negative-fluctuation-events for which the demand happened by chance to be particularly small. That is, one is introducing a selection bias by focusing on those events that are negative outliers. Such a training or evaluation dataset does not reflect the true demand in an unbiased fashion, but produce a negatively biased one. The events for which the capacity was hit are those for which the true demand was, due to random chance, a bit larger than the mean. These events would be necessary to record an unbiased value overall. In the below figure, we see why removing the capacity-hit events can be even worse than training on the entire dataset of sales values (that is, on constrained demand): The mean sales conditioned on not hitting the capacity (green dashed line) are lower than the overall mean sales (red line), because mean sales under capacity hit (black line) contribute to higher values. Remember: What we would like to learn on or what we predicted is the blue dot-dashed mean demand. Statistically speaking, the days on which one did not go out of stock are not representative for all the days, but they are those on which fewer people came into the supermarket. Maybe strawberries were not fresh, or a promo campaign for mangos made people walk away – in any case, we would be selecting outliers and can’t expect those to be unbiased! In case you want to go for the reverse strategy, and select those events for which the capacity was hit, you are biasing your dataset even more strongly: The mean sales have then nothing to do at all with the forecast, since they exactly reproduce the capacity setting strategy – the sales then trivially just match the capacity always. Segregating evaluation data by “capacity was hit" versus “capacity was not hit" also violates one important principle of forecast evaluation: Never split the data by a criterion that was unknown at the moment of the forecast. Such splitting almost always induces a subtle selection bias in the resulting groups. A similar effect is discussed in the blog post You should not have always known better. How to avoid the pitfalls Regarding training, the conclusion is dire: There is no way around “proper" training using methods such as Tobit regression, which accounts that observing 12 when capacity is 12 only sets a lower bound to the true demand on that day. In other words, we need a regression method that “understands" that 12 sold items means “12 or more items in demand." Finite capacity truly deletes information – a model that uses capacity-constrained sales as input, even doing so correctly, will always be less precise than a model that uses unconstrained demand. In model evaluation, one can account for finite capacity explicitly: The expected sales under a given finite capacity can be computed from the censored probability distribution. Again, remember that the expected sales under capacity constraints are not just the smaller value out of “the unconstrained demand forecast" and “the capacity," but the full constrained probability distribution needs to be considered. One then ends with a comparison like the following: Mean uncensored demand prediction Mean censored sales prediction Mean actual sales 17.84 14.35 14.66 In this case, one would confirm that the actual sales (after capacity constraints) match the expectation well. Predicted capacity hit probability and actual capacity hit frequency Although comparing the predicted sales under capacity constraints to the actual sales will help establish the bias (or lack thereof) of the forecast and is a good first step in establishing its quality, one often encounters some skepticism along the following lines: “We acknowledge that the forecast is unbiased overall, but we fear that it’s over-forecasting and under-forecasting in an unfortunate way that leads to both more waste and more out-of-stock than necessary." In other words, forecasting stakeholders are not only interested in the global lack of bias, but in the lack of bias in every possible demand situation. They don’t want to under-forecast the super-selling days and counter-balance that by over-forecasting the low-selling days. In particular, when capacity is hit, stakeholders want to be sure to hit it only slightly (only few customers leave with their demand unsatisfied); when there is waste, there should not be enormous amounts. To address this valid fear (you can easily imagine terrible forecasts that are globally unbiased and leave you with lots of waste and unsatisfied customers), I propose to segregate the data by predicted capacity hit probability . That is, given a forecast and a certain stock level that was installed on that day, you compute the predicted probability that the stock is sold out – the predicted capacity hit probability. That capacity hit probability is close to 0 when the stock level is set to a large value with respect to the forecast (e.g., when the stock level is set at the 0.99-quantile of the demand distribution, we are then certain by 99% to not hit the capacity level). The capacity hit probability is close to 1 when the stock level is small, e.g., when it is set at the 0.01- quantile of the demand distribution. For each prediction, we then have a predicted probability to hit the capacity (e.g., 0.42), and an actual capacity hit (hit or no-hit). Such single hit / no-hit event is merely anecdotical: The mere existence of a few “unlikely" pairs “predicted capacity hit probability = 0.05, but capacity was actually hit" does not mean that the predicted probability is misleading. Only when you have a collection of many probabilistic predictions and associated hit / no-hit events, the predicted probabilities can be verified rigorously. For that, you collect many pairs of capacity hit probabilities (floating-point numbers between 0 and 1) and capacity hits (discrete outcomes, 1 for “is hit" and 0 for “is not hit"). Bin these into buckets of predicted capacity hit of around 0, of around 0.10, of around 0.20, etc. For each bucket, you then compute the mean of the predicted and of the actual capacity hit rate. When a capacity hit is predicted to occur in 0.10 of the cases, we expect that in about 10% of those cases the capacity is actually hit. We call predicted probabilities “calibrated" when we can trust them in the sense that a predicted 0.70 capacity hit occurs in 70% of those cases (learn more about calibration in the blog post Calibration and sharpness: The two independent aspects of forecast quality ). A calibrated forecast allows one to do strategic replenishment decisions: Set the stock level such that you expect to run out of stock in 0.023 of the days – and you truly run out of stock 2.3% of the days. This is risk management: You quantify the risk in a calibrated way, you consciously take those risks that are worth taking. In the figure below, the black circles show individual capacity hit events – capacity was either hit (top of the figure) or not (bottom of the figure). When we group all predictions together, the mean predicted capacity hit rate of 0.82 matches the measured frequency (green circle). When we segregate by capacity hit probability being close to 0, to 0.1, to 0.2, etc., we see that the capacity hit forecast is calibrated: The blue circles are close to the diagonal. Evaluating predicted against actual capacity hit probabilities and frequencies is not sufficient to ensure a good forecast: When you stock-up 1,000 items, there is no difference in capacity hit behavior between a forecast of 5, 10 or 100 – in all cases, the event ends up in the same bucket “capacity will certainly not be hit." Therefore, an analysis of bias across predicted sales should complement the capacity hit rate analysis to verify that the forecast is unbiased both across capacity constraints and velocities. In general, grouping by predicted capacity hit probability or by predicted sales is following the rule “be forward-looking: evaluate what you predict, instead of being backward-looking" to avoid the hindsight bias described in the blog post You should not have always known better. Conclusion: managing risk needs probabilistic tools Point forecasts, which produce a single number as a prediction, are unsuitable to deal with strategic probabilistic questions such as which stock level can assure a stock-out rate below 1%. When you ask a probabilistic question – and all questions about risk are probabilistic – you need probabilistic tools to answer it. You will need to teach your manager at least a basic understanding of “expectation value," “censoring," and “distribution." Whenever capacity has a real-world impact (and it almost always has), we need to take capacity constraints seriously. We should not try to understand events in hindsight (“the capacity was hit on that day, what was the exact cause?") but we should look forward and evaluate the calibration of forecasts by segregating them by predicted sales and predicted capacity hit probability. All the examples in this blog posts were constructed in a sandbox-like environment, assuming a perfect demand forecast that produces a well-behaved distribution. I shielded you from all more complex problems that you’d typically encounter in real-world settings. Still, even in this simple scenario, we see how our intuition is easily fooled. Therefore, it is important to not just follow the very first idea that pops up on how to solve an evaluation problem (“let’s just group by capacity-was-hit versus capacity-was-not-hit"), but to adopt a skeptic perspective and first simulate what the method would do in an ideal setting. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [You should not always have known better: Understand and avoid the hindsight selection bias in probabilistic forecast evaluation](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/you-should-not-have-always-known-better) > We discuss common pitfalls and challenges that arise when evaluating probabilistic forecasts and equip you with the knowledge required to setup and interpret evaluation metrics for reliably judging forecast quality. Blog You should not always have known better: Understand and avoid the hindsight selection bias in probabilistic forecast evaluation You should not always have known better: Understand and avoid the hindsight selection bias in probabilistic forecast evaluation Malte Tichy , January 24, 2022 12 minute read The hindsight selection bias arises when probabilistic forecast predictions and observed actuals are not properly grouped when evaluating forecast accuracy across sales frequencies. On the one hand, the hindsight selection bias is an insidious trap that nudges you towards wrong conclusions about the bias of a given probabilistic forecast — in the worst case, letting you choose a worse model over a better one. On the other hand, its resolution and explanation touch statistical foundations such as sample representativity, probabilistic forecasting, conditional probabilities, regression to the mean and Bayes’ rule. Moreover, it makes us reflect on what we intuitively expect from a forecast, and why that is not always reasonable. Forecasts can concern discrete categories — will there by a thunderstorm tomorrow? — or continuous quantities — what will be the maximum temperature tomorrow? We focus here on a hybrid case: Discrete quantities , which could be, for example, the number of T-shirts that are sold on some day. Such sales number is discrete, it could be 0, 1, 2, 13 or 56; but certainly not -8.5 or 3.4. Our forecast is probabilistic, do not pretend to exactly know how many T-shirts will be sold. A realistic, yet ambitiously narrow (i.e. precise) probability distribution is the Poisson distribution. We therefore assume that our forecast produces the Poisson-rate that we believe drives the actual sales process. A rather mediocre forecast? Assume the forecast was issued, the true sales have been collected, and the forecast is evaluated via such table: Observed sales frequency Mean observed sales Mean prediction Slow 0, 1, 2, pieces/day 0.804 1.373 Medium 3-10 pieces/day 5.119 4.601 Fast >10 pieces/day 13.880 11.041 Data is grouped by the observed sales frequency: We bucket all days into groups in which the T-shirt happened to be sold few (0, 1, or 2), intermediate (3 to 10) or many (more than 10) times. At first sight, this table shouts unambiguously “slow-sellers are over-forecasted, fast-sellers are under-forecasted.” The forecast is so obviously deeply flawed, we would immediately jump to fixing it, or wouldn’t we? In reality, and possibly surprisingly, everything is fine. Yes, slow-sellers are indeed over-forecasted and fast-sellers are under-forecasted, but the forecast behaves just as it should. It is our expectation — that the columns “mean observed sales” and “mean prediction” ought to be the same — that is flawed. We deal with a psychological problem, with our unrealistic expectation , and not with a bad forecast! A probabilistic forecast never promised nor will ever fulfill that for each possible group of outcomes, the mean forecast matches the mean outcome. Let’s explore why that is the case, how to resolve this conundrum satisfactorily, and how to avoid similar biases. What do we actually ask for? Let us step back and express in words what the table reveals. The data are bucketed using the actually observed sales , that is, we filter, or condition , the predictions and the observations on the observations being in a certain range (slow, mid or fast-sellers). The first row contains all days on which the T-shirt was sold 0, 1 or 2 times, its central column provides us with: i.e. the mean of the observations in the bucket into which we grouped all observations that are 2, 1 or 0 — definitely a number between 0 and 2, which happens to be 0.804. The right-hand column contains the expected mean prediction for the same bucket of observations, i.e. for all the observations that are 2 or less, we take the corresponding prediction, and compute the mean over all these predictions. A priori, there is no reason why the first and the second expressions should take the same value — but we intuitively would like them to: Expecting the mean prediction to equate the mean observation does not seem too much to ask, does it? Observed sales frequency Mean observed sales Mean prediction Slow 0, 1, 2, pieces/day E (observation | observation ≤ 2) E (prediction | observation ≤ 2) Medium 3-10 pieces/day E (observation | observation ≤ 3, ≤ 10 ) E (prediction | observation ≤ 3, ≤ 10] ) Fast >10 pieces/day E (observation | observation ≥ 11) E (prediction | observation ≥ 11]) Forward-looking forecast, backward-looking hindsight Consistent with their etymology, forecasts are forward-looking, and provide us with the probabilities to observe future outcomes, which is the conditional probability to observe an outcome k, given that the predicted rate is x. Since we have a conditional probability, we consider the probability distribution for the observations assuming the prediction assumed the value x. For an unbiased forecast, the expectation value of the observation conditioned on a prediction x, that is, the mean observation under the assumption of a prediction of value x, is: That’s what any unbiased forecast promises: Grouping all predictions of the same value x, the mean of the resulting observations should approach this very value x. While the distribution could assume many different shapes, this property is essential. Let’s have a look back at the table: What we do in the left column is not grouping/conditioning by prediction, but by outcome. The right-hand column thus asks the backward-looking “what has been our mean prediction, given a certain outcome k” instead of the forward-looking “what will be the mean outcome, given our prediction x.” To express the backward-looking statement in terms of the forward-looking one, we apply Bayes’ rule, The backward- and forward-looking questions are different, and so are their answers: Other terms appear, P ( prediction = x ) and P ( observation = k ), the unconditional probabilities for a prediction and outcome. Consequently, the expectation value of the mean prediction, given a certain outcome, becomes: Minimalistic example What value does E (prediction | observation = m) assume? Why would it not just simplify to the observation m? In the vast majority of cases, it holds E (prediction | observation = m) ≠ m. Let’s see why! Consider a T-shirt that sells equally well every day, following a Poisson distribution with rate 5. The very same predicted rate, 5, applies for every day. The outcome, however, varies. Clearly, 5 is an overestimate for outcomes 4 and lower, and an underestimate for outcomes 6 and higher. If we group again by outcomes, we encounter: Observed sales frequency Mean observed sales Mean prediction Slow <5 pieces/day 3.0082 5 Medium 5 pieces/day 5 5 Fast >5 pieces/day 7.2844 5 Again, from this table we conclude that the slow-selling days were over-predicted and the fast-selling days were under-predicted, and were indeed. It holds for every observation E (prediction | observation = m) = 5 , since the prediction is always 5. The forecast is still “perfect” — the outcomes behave exactly as predicted, they follow the Poisson distribution with rate 5. The impression of under- and over-forecasting is purely a result of the data selection: By selecting the outcomes above 5, we keep those outcomes that are above the prediction 5 and were under-predicted; by selecting the outcomes below 5, we keep the events below the prediction 5, which were overpredicted. For a probabilistic forecast, it is unavoidable that some outcomes were under-forecasted and some were over-forecasted. By expecting the forecast to be unbiased, we expect the under-forecasting and over-forecasting to balanced for a given prediction m. What we cannot expect is that when we actively select the over-forecasted or under-forecasted observations, that these be not over- or under-forecasted, respectively! In a realistic situation, we will not deal with a forecast that assumes the very same value for every day, but the prediction itself will vary. Still, selecting “rather large” or “rather small” outcomes amounts to keeping the under- or over-forecasted events in the buckets. Therefore, we have E (prediction | observation = m) ≠ m in general. More precisely, whenever m is so large that selecting it is tantamount to selecting under-forecasted events, we’ll have E (prediction | observation = m) < m ; when m is sufficiently small that selecting it is tantamount to selecting over-forecasted events, E (prediction | observation = m) > m. Deterministic forecasts — you should have known, always! Why is this puzzling to us? Why do we feel uncomfortable with that discrepancy between mean observation and mean forecast? Our intuition hinges on the equality of prediction and observation that characterizes deterministic forecasts. In the language of probabilities, a deterministic forecast expresses: P (observation = prediction) = 1 and P (observation ≠ prediction) = 0 The forecaster believes that the observation will exactly match her prediction, i.e. predicted and observed values coincide with probability 1 (or 100%), while all other outcomes are deemed impossible. That’s a self-confident, not to say, a bold statement. Expressed via conditional probabilities, we can summarize: in words, whenever we predict to sell k pieces (the condition after the vertical bar), we will sell k pieces. Since determinism does not only imply that every time we predict k we observe k, but also that every observation k was correctly predicted ex ante to be k, we have: The determinism makes the distinction between the backward-looking and the forward-looking questions obsolete. With a deterministic forecast, we don’t learn anything new by observing the outcome (we already knew!), and we would not update our belief (which was already correct). For such a deterministic forecast, for which all appearing probability distributions collapse to a peak of 100% at the one-and-only-possible outcome, no hindsight selection bias occurs — we pretend to have known exactly beforehand, so we should have known — always and under all circumstances. If the measurement says otherwise, your “deterministic” forecast is wrong. Every serious forecast is probabilistic Probabilistic forecasts make weaker statements than deterministic ones, and for probabilistic forecasts we must abandon the idea that each outcome m was predicted to be m on average — deterministic forecasts thus seem very attractive. But is it realistic to predict daily T-shirt-sales deterministically? Let’s assume you were able to do so and predict tomorrow’s T-shirt-sales to be 5. That means that you can name five people that will, no matter what happens (accident, illness, thunderstorm, sudden change of mind…) buy a red T-shirt tomorrow. How can we expect to reach such a level of certainty? Were you ever that certain that you would buy a red T-shirt on the next day? Even if five friends promised that they would buy one T-shirt tomorrow under all circumstances — how could you exclude that someone else, within all other potential customers, would buy a T-shirt, too? Apart from certain very idiosyncratic edge-cases (very few customers, stock level is much smaller than true demand), predicting the exact number of sales of an item deterministically is out of question. Uncertainty can only be tamed up to a certain degree, and any realistic forecast is probabilistic. Evaluation hygiene There is an alternative way to refute table 1: By setting up the table, we ask a statistical question, namely whether the forecast is biased or not, and into which direction (let’s ignore the question of statistical significance for the moment and assume that every signal we see is statistically significant). Just like any statistical analysis, a forecast analysis can suffer from biases. The way we have selected by the outcomes is a prime example for the selection bias : The events in the group “slow sellers,” “mid sellers,” “fast sellers” are not representative for the entire set of predictions and observations, but we bucketed them into the under- and over-forecasted ones. Also, we used what is called “future information” in the forecast evaluation: the buckets into which we grouped predictions and observations are not yet defined at the moment of the prediction, but they are established ex post. Thus, setting up the table as we did violates basic principles for statistical analyses. Regression to the mean The phenomenon that we just encountered — extreme events were not predicted to be as extreme as they turned out to be — directly relates to the “regression to the mean,” a statistical phenomenon for which we don’t even need a forecast: Suppose you observe a time series of sales of a product that exhibits no seasonality or other time-dependent pattern. When, on a given day, the observed sales are larger than the mean sales, we can be quite sure that the next day’s observation will be smaller than today’s, and vice versa. Again, by selecting a very large or very small value, due to the probabilistic nature of the process, we are likely to select a positive or negative random fluctuation, and the sales will eventually “regress to the mean.” Psychologically, we are prone to causally attributing that regression to the mean — a purely statistical phenomenon — to some active intervention. Resolution: Group by prediction, not by outcome. Remain vigilant against selection biases. What is the way out of this conundrum? By grouping by outcomes, we are selecting “rather large” or “rather small” values with respect to their forecast — we are not obtaining a representative sample, but a biased one. This selection bias leads to buckets that contain outcomes that are naturally “rather under-forecasted” or “rather over-forecasted,” respectively. We suffer from the hindsight selection bias if we believe that mean prediction and mean observation should be the same within the “slow,” “mid” and “fast” moving items. We must live with and accept the discrepancy between the two columns. Luckily, we can use Bayes theorem to obtain the realistic expectation value. One solution is thus another column in the table that contains the theoretically expected value of the mean prediction per bucket, which can be held against the actual mean prediction in that bucket. That is, we can quantify and theoretically reproduce the hindsight selection bias and see whether the aggregated data matches the theoretical expectation. A much simpler solution, however, is to ask different questions to the data, namely questions that are aligned with what the forecast promises us. This allows us to directly check whether these promises are fulfilled, or not: Instead of grouping by outcome buckets , we group by prediction buckets , i.e. by predicted slow-, mid- and fast-sellers. Here, we can check whether the forecast’s promise (the mean sales given a certain prediction matches that prediction) is fulfilled. For our example, we obtain this table: Predicted sales frequency Mean observed sales Mean prediction Slow <3 pieces/day 1.288 1.267 Medium 3 pieces/day 5.247 5.229 Fast >3 pieces/day 12.855 12.950 Accounting for the total number of measurements, a test of statistical significance would be negative, i.e., show no significant different between the mean observed sales and the mean prediction. We would conclude that our forecast is not only globally unbiased, but also unbiased per prediction stratum. In general, you can evaluate a forecast by filtering on any information that is known at prediction time, and the forecast should be unbiased in all tests. However, the filter is not allowed to contain future information such as the random fluctuations that occur in the observations, on which nature decides only in the future of the prediction point in time. What should you take away if you made it to this point? (1) When you select by outcome, you don’t have a representative sample. (2) Be skeptic towards your own expectations — very reasonably-looking intuitive expectations turn out to be flawed. (3) Make your expectations explicit and test them against well-understood cases. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Forecasting few is different: Part 2](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/forecasting-few-is-different-part-2) > Forecasting slow-moving items requires a specialized approach. Learn more in part 2 of this series to forecasting few. Blog Forecasting few is different: Part 2 Forecasting few is different: Part 2 Malte Tichy , June 9, 2022 9 minute read This is a two-part story about dealing with sales forecasts that concern fast-moving as well as slow-moving items. Find Part 1 here. How precise can a sales forecast become? The mechanism of fluctuation cancellation ensures that granular low-scale-forecasts are more imprecise, noisy and uncertain than aggregated, coarse-grained high-scale ones: We are better (in relative terms) at predicting the total number of pretzels for an entire week than for a single day. So far, we have qualitatively argued for this relation, but can we make any quantitative statement about the level of precision that we can ideally expect, for different predicted selling rates? Thankfully, this is indeed possible, in a universal, industry-independent way. We argued in our previous blog post on hindsight bias in forecast evaluation that deterministic , perfectly certain forecasts are unrealistic: Let’s consider our above forecast of 5 pretzels. On the level of individual customers, a deterministic forecast of 5 translates into 5 customers that will, no matter what, buy a pretzel on the forecasted day. But not only would we assume to know these 5 customers extremely well (maybe better than they know themselves, who hasn’t spontaneously decided to grab or not grab a pretzel?), but we also totally exclude the possibility that any other customer would buy a pretzel. Such degree of certainty is clearly impossible. Allowing some uncertainty, say, 6 customers with a probability of 5/6=83.3% each of buying a pretzel, results in what mathematicians call a binomial distribution in the total number of sold pretzels: The probability to sell 6 pretzels is (5/6)^6, the probability to sell none is (1/6)^6, the probability to sell between one and five contains the respective binomial coefficients. However, knowing 6 customers that will buy with high probability is still unrealistic. Even assuming 10 customers with 50% probability to buy a pretzel each is challenging. We can move on and further increase the number of potential customers while decreasing their probability to buy a pretzel, following the path to the limiting Poisson distribution : In the Poisson limit, we assume an unlimited customer base, in which every customer has an infinitesimally tiny probability to buy, while we have control over the product of the number of customers and the probability to buy: the rate of sale. The Poisson distribution scales consistently: If daily sales follow a Poisson distribution of mean 5, then weekly sales follow a Poisson distribution of mean 35. The Poisson distribution is the “gold standard” for sales forecasting: We assume to know all factors that influence the sales of a given product, but have no access to individual-customer-data that would allow us to make stronger statements on the buying behavior of individual customers. When your forecast precision is as good as expected from the Poisson distribution, you have typically reached the limit of what is possible at all. A Poisson distribution only ingests a single parameter, the rate of sale; the distribution width, the spread of likely outcomes around the mean, is fully determined by its functional form, which reflects self-consistency. That is, the achievable degree of precision only depends on the predicted selling rate within the considered time interval: The sales of 5 predicted pretzels per day follow the same distribution as the sales of 5 predicted birthday cakes per week, 5 predicted buns per hour or 5 predicted wedding cakes per quarter. In other words: The best-case-achievable relative error is fully and uniquely determined by the forecasted value itself! Why ultrafresh slow sellers cannot be offered sustainably With this insight on error scaling in mind, let’s return to the question why fresh sea cucumber is not offered everywhere in the world: We show the expected distribution of sales per day for a perfect Poisson forecast of one sea cucumber per day: We will experience 37% of days without any demand, 37% of the days will see one seafood-aficionado wanting to buy one raw sea cucumber, and in 26% of the days, we will see a demand of two or even more. How many sea cucumbers shall we keep on stock, given that we must throw them away at the end of the day if nobody buys them? If we have one piece on stock, we’ll have to throw it away in 37% of the days, while in 26% of the days, we’d have unhappy customers that won’t be able to buy the sea cucumber that they intended to. With two pieces on stock, we need to throw away at least one piece after 74% of the days — what a waste, given that sea cucumbers are protected in many places! Clearly, a business model that aims at fulfilling the tiny demand of raw sea cucumber is not viable, and could only be sustained if the margin were extremely large: The people buying the raw sea cucumber need to subsidize all the days on which no sea cucumber is sold — and these people won’t even be sure to get one if they want one! Under mild assumptions on the margin and the costs of disposal, the right amount of stock for an ultra-fresh super-slow seller is: zero. Again, this is all due to non-proportional scaling: The expected distribution of sales for a forecast of 100 fresh sea cucumbers per day is not just an inflated version of the above one for 1 sea cucumber per day, but it has a different shape – just like an elephant does not look like a large impala: Bad news for anyone who is hoping for getting pretzels in Busan or a wider variety of fruit in northern Europe! There is, however, hope: When demand overcomes a certain threshold because a perishable dish becomes à la mode , that novel food can establish itself in new places — you get good sushi almost everywhere on the planet. Summarizing, due to non-proportional scaling of forecasting error, the occurring over-stocks and under-stocks of a product — even assuming a perfect forecast – increases disproportionally when the sales rate decreases. Consequently, only above a certain sales rate per shelf life can offering a certain perishable food be sustained at all. Assessing forecast error We have now understood why we can’t expect to find foreign fresh delicacies at home, let us now derive some lessons for data scientists and business users in charge of judging forecast quality: For high predicted selling rates, the random fluctuations that drive the true sales value up or down with respect to the forecasted mean cannot be used as an excuse for any substantial deviation, and we can attribute such deviation to an actual error or problem in the forecast. The statistical idiosyncrasies that we discussed above do not matter. If a total demand of 1’000’000 was predicted and total sales amount to 800’000, this 20% error is not due to unavoidable fluctuations, but due to a biased forecast. For small forecasted numbers, we can’t unambiguously attribute observed deviations to a bad forecast anymore: Given a forecast of one, the observation 0 (which is 100% off) is quite likely to occur (with probability 37%), and so is the observation 2 (which is also 100% off). Judging whether a forecast is good or bad becomes much harder, because the natural baseline, the unavoidable noise, is predominant. Shall we then divide our forecasts into “fast sellers”, for which we attribute observed deviations to forecast error, and “slow-sellers”, for which we are more benevolent? We recommend against that: What about the intermediate case, a prediction, of, say 15? Where is the boundary between “slow” and “fast”? If a product becomes slightly more popular, what if it crosses that boundary, and its forecast quality judgement takes a sudden jump? There is a continuous transition between “fast” and “slow” that exhibits no natural boundary, as we can see in this plot of the expected relative error of a forecast as a function of the forecasted value (note the logarithmic scale on the abscissa and that we compute the expected error using the optimal point estimator, which is not the mean but the median of the Poisson distribution): Due to this continuous transition, we recommend a stratified evaluation by predicted rate , which means grouping forecasts into bins of similar forecasted value and evaluating error metrics separately for each bin . Our previous blog post on the hindsight bias explains why this binning should be done by forecasted value and not by observed sales, even though the latter feels more natural than the former. For each of these bins, we judge whether forecast precision is in line with the theoretical expectation (shown in the above plot), or deviates substantially. Our expectations of a forecast should depend on the predicted rate: For extremely small values (smaller than 0.69), most observed actual sales are 0, and we are essentially “always off completely” with an error of 100% — unavoidably. For a predicted sales rate of 10, we will have to live with a frightening relative error of 25% – in the best case! When we forecast 100=10^2, we still expect a relative error of about 8%, for a rate of 1’000=10^3, the error drops to 2.5%. Asking, e.g., for a 10% error threshold across all selling rates is, therefore, counter-productive: The vast majority of slow sellers will violate that threshold and bind resources to find out why “the forecast is off”, while some improvement could still be possible for fast-sellers that obey the threshold and therefore get no attention. In practice, the deviation from the ideal line that we have drawn above will depend on the forecast horizon (is it for tomorrow or for next year?) and on the industry (are we predicting a well-known non-seasonal grocery item, or an unconventional exquisite dress on the thin edge between fashionable and tasteless?). Nevertheless, accounting for the universal non-proportional scaling of forecasting error is the most important aspect that your forecast evaluation methodology should fulfill! Avoid the naïve scaling trap, accept and strategically deal with slow-seller noise Apart putting visits to local restaurants onto your next vacation’s must-do-list, what conclusions should you take out of this blog post? Make sure that the temporal aggregation scale that you set in your evaluation matches the business decision time scale: Since strawberries and sea cucumbers only last for a day, they are planned for a day and an evaluation on daily level is appropriate. You can’t compensate today’s strawberry demand with yesterday’s overstocks or vice-versa. For items that last longer, the scale on which an error in a business decision really materializes is certainly not a day: If a shirt was not bought on Monday, maybe it will be on Tuesday, or two weeks later — not important for the stock of shirts that is ordered every month. If you encounter many items with small forecasted numbers (<5) in your evaluation, double-check that the latter is really the relevant one, on which a buying, replenishing or other decision is taken. Don’t set constant targets for forecast precision across your entire product portfolio, neither in absolute nor in relative terms: Your fast-sellers will easily reach low relative errors, your slow sellers will seemingly struggle. Instead, divide your predictions into buckets of similar forecast value, and judge each bucket separately. Set a realistic, sales-rate-dependent target. For slow-sellers, it is imperative to be aware of the probabilistic nature of forecasts, and strategically account for the large unavoidable noise, be it via safety-stocks-heuristics in the case of non-perishable items, or by produce-upon-order strategies, e.g. for wedding cakes. Although the unavoidability of forecasting error in slow sellers might be irritating, it is encouraging that the limits of forecasting technology can be established quantitatively in a rigorous way, such that we can account for them strategically in our business decisions. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Forecasting few is different: Part 1](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/forecasting-few-is-different-part-1) > Forecasting slow-moving items requires a specialized approach. Learn how to account for the non-proportional scaling of uncertainty with selling rates, ensuring you achieve the achievable precision required for low-volume sales forecasts. Blog Forecasting few is different: Part 1 Forecasting few is different: Part 1 Malte Tichy , June 2, 2022 4 minute read When dealing with sales forecasts that concern fast-moving as well as slow-moving items, we must account for the non-proportional scaling of relative forecast uncertainty with selling rates, which largely determines the achievable level of precision. For the same forecast quality, predictions for slow-moving items unavoidably come with a lower absolute but higher relative error than for fast moving ones. Avoid the naïve scaling trap: If your forecast seems to struggle with slow sellers, assess to which extent the increase in relative error when moving towards low velocities is expected. There is no hard boundary between ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ movers. Don’t categorize items into different evaluation methodologies, but make sure your evaluation treats all predicted selling rates appropriately. Do you encounter many very slow-moving items in your analysis? Challenge that evaluation and make sure your aggregation time scale matches business reality — you don’t take daily business decisions on non-perishable slow-movers. When abroad, try local, fresh and perishable food specialties Traveling, though not easy in pandemic times, is an opportunity to learn about other cultures, landscapes and, of course, enjoy great food. Even in today’s connected and globalized world with multi-national retailers that try to instantaneously fulfill every possible wish everywhere on the planet, certain products are simply not offered at all in some places. You might not expect this piece of advice in a blog post on counting statistics, but a direct consequence of our discussion below will be: To culinarily make the most out of your travel abroad, explore the ultra-perishable, fresh specialties. Try fresh fruit in Rio de Janeiro, oven-hot pretzels in Munich and raw seafood in Busan. Indeed, it’s hard to find traditional Bavarian pretzels in Busan, it’s impossible to buy raw sea cucumber in Rio de Janeiro (as far as we know), and travelers from South America are amused by the restricted choice of fresh fruit in northern European supermarkets. What are the common aspects of these products? They are both perishable and they would be a niche market if sold outside of their original place. Indeed, you get pickled kim chi, exported Oktoberfest beer and cachaça all over the world. But products that retailers would call both ‘ultrafresh’ (very perishable, only good for a day or so) and “slow-selling selling” (likely to not sell on a given day) is never offered, ever, anywhere. Why is that? Why don’t Brazilian supermarkets try to satisfy the admittedly tiny but certainly existing demand for raw sea cucumber? If 100 sea cucumbers are sold each day in a shop in Busan, and the demand is one per day in Rio de Janeiro, why is the former large demand being addressed by Korean retailers, but the latter is not addressed by Brazilian stores? What is so fundamentally different between a fast-selling perishable item — say, a strawberry in Europe — and a slow-selling selling one — say, a raw sea cucumber in Brazil? It turns out that retailers don’t offer items of extremely low demand because they cannot predict the actual demand precisely enough to find a profitable sweet spot in the balance between waste and out-of-stock-situations. Generally, a retailer’s business consists in turning consumer demand into actual sales. To know what and how much to have on stock, they need to estimate future demand as well as possible, be it via traditional, human-intuition based or via modern statistics — or even machine-learning-fueled forecasting. Until a few years ago, forecasts in supply chain have been concerned with large quantities on coarse-grained scales, e.g. the total sales of dairy products in a region during a month. Typical numbers that one dealt with were of the order of at least few hundreds, up to many thousands. Today’s computational resources allow forecasting on much more granular level, predictions refer to individual items on a single day in a given location. On that level, the typical numbers that we deal with are not in the 100,000s, but sometimes as small as 5, 1, or 0.1. Can we just transfer the established tooling for forecast assessment from the ‘large-number-world’ into the ‘small-number-world’? Technically, no problems arise: A computer program written for larger numbers can be run on small numbers. Functionally, however, we need to take care: When moving to the regime of small numbers, statistical idiosyncrasies, which we could safely ignore in the fast-selling regime, become relevant or even dominating. When moving toward slow sellers, we start to experience the limits of forecasting technology: Just like any technology, forecasting has fundamental insuperable bounds. Both the forecast’s precision, the spread of actual demand around the forecasted value, and the forecast accuracy, the absence of bias towards systematically large or small values, cannot consistently overcome certain values, governed by statistical laws. We focus here on lower bound to forecast precision, on the unavoidable level of noise that a forecast of a countable quantity suffers from. This bound turns out to be scale-dependent : The relative uncertainty that we must live with in slow sellers is larger than in fast-sellers. This implies both that our forecast evaluation methodology must be scale-aware, and that you won’t be offered fresh sea cucumber in Rio de Janeiro. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Sign Up Today Scale matters Why do retailers not just scale the stocks on hand with the forecasted demand? If the demand for raw sea cucumber is 1 piece per day instead of 100 per day, just make sure to have 1 piece available instead of 100? If we can reach a 10% error for the fast sellers, we should be able to reach a 10% error on the slow sellers likewise? This reasoning exemplifies the naïve scaling trap . We encounter naïve scaling in different areas of technology and nature: Isn’t a supermarket just a large store, why do I need to run it differently? Isn’t a country just a large village, why do I need a different kind of administration? Since ants can carry about 50 times their own weight, wouldn’t they be much stronger than us if they had human size? Isn’t an elephant just a large impala, why does it look so different? We fall into the naïve scaling trap when ignoring that different properties scale differently , as brilliantly described in“Scale: The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies” by Geoffrey West, Penguin 2018. A factor of 100 applied to one property of a system, say its weight, does not necessarily imply the same factor for other properties, such as size (quite trivially, as weight scales with the third power of length), or strength (less trivially). Let’s compare an impala to an elephant. Look at the legs of the impala: They are tiny, elegant, fragile. The elephant isn’t only much heavier and larger (it weighs about 100 times the impala, and is about five times longer), it also looks different : Elephants are admittedly elegant in their own way, but clearly their legs are neither fragile nor tiny, but much thicker than the imapala’s, even when accounting for the elephant’s overall larger size. Why is that? Strength and weight scale differently : The factor 100 in weight does not translate into a factor 100 in the elephant’s strength with respect to the impala (even accounting for larger overall proportions), requiring it to have much thicker legs to carry its body. This non-proportional scaling is the fundamental biophysical reason that we don’t encounter mammals that are much larger than elephants — scaling up the elephant by a sizeable factor, the legs of the resulting animal would become thicker than its entire body (huge mammals such as whales have no legs and live in the ocean for a reason). Non-proportional scaling also implies that we don’t have to worry if ants became human-sized: They would not be much stronger than us. Non-proportional scaling makes you run a supermarket differently from a small store, and lets the administration of a country organize it differently from a village. Finally, non-proportional scaling implies that the forecast of a small number comes with higher relative imprecision than the forecast of a large number. How uncertainty scales When dealing with predictions, we are especially prone to fall into the naïve scaling trap, because the difference between ‘large’ and ‘small’ are not as obvious as for elephants and impalas: After all, it’s about numbers, which we can easily scale up and down by multiplication and division! An evaluation pipeline ingests numbers of any magnitude, and happily produces evaluation results. Such evaluation setup will technically scale up or down arbitrarily: I can compare a forecast of 1,200,000 against actuals of 1,000,000 using the same tool as for a forecast of 1.2 against an actual of 1. Functionally , however, the 20% error of the large-scale forecast cannot be interpreted in the same way as the 20% error of the latter. While for elephants, ants and countries, non-proportional scaling is due to the structure of the underlying physical and social networks, non-proportional scaling of forecast uncertainty is implied by the cancellation of positive and negative noise fluctuations under aggregation: Assume you have a daily-level forecast for pretzels with a certain degree of noise. You predict to sell 5 pretzels each day, but sometimes you sell only 3 and need to dispose 2 (don’t even think about eating or selling pretzels that are older than a few hours!), sometimes the demand is 8 (and you have unhappy potential customers); on the long term it averages to 5: Positive and negative fluctuations cancel. The mean absolute error between the forecast and the actual quantifies the typical error, which can be divided by the mean sales of 5 to obtain a relative, percentage value. The smaller this percentage error is, the better. The counts of pretzel demand after one year (365 days) could follow this histogram: Only on about 70 days did the daily sales exactly match 5, often the sales were a bit off — but the mean sales match 5. While the decision of the bakery how many pretzels to bake is taken every day, other decisions concern other time scales: Replenishing raw ingredients for the dough doesn’t need to be done daily, but weekly. To evaluate the forecast on weekly level, we aggregate the daily forecast to the entire week, resulting in a prediction of 35 pretzels that can be compared to the total weekly sales. What percentage error do we expect on weekly level? The weekly-level relative error must be smaller than the error on daily level: Days with unusually low sales (4 or less) are balanced out by days with unusually high sales (6 or more). Many individual highly uncertain buying decisions of potential customers add up to a quite certain total sales number. The actual sales in each predicted period of time fluctuate randomly around their predicted value; the more of such fluctuating values we sum up, the more will negative and positive fluctuations cancel. Although the histogram of weekly sales is broader than the above daily one in absolute terms (note that the x-axis changed), it is narrower in relative terms: The width of the distribution, measured by the standard deviation, increases with the square root of the distribution mean, such that the relative width (the standard deviation divided by the mean) decreases with the inverse of the square root of the mean. In other words: A large forecasted value is the result of many uncertain processes, such that positive and negative fluctuations cancel and give rise to an actual that is relatively close to the forecast, while a small forecast value is only fed by few of such uncertain processes, with fluctuations having a larger chance of surviving and dominating the relative difference between forecast and actual. This non-proportional scaling of expected forecast error appears, in the first place, for a given product that is forecasted on different time scales: The number of pretzels sold per hour is very uncertain, the number of pretzels per day is more predictable, the number of pretzels per week even more certain. Non-proportional scaling, however, also governs the behavior of different products with different selling rates on a given timescale: the forecast for the number of buns per day (say, about 50) is more precise than the one for the pretzels (about 5), and the latter is much more precise than the one for wedding cakes (about 0.05). Again, this scaling of precision refers to relative errors, while absolute errors increase with selling rates: We might easily sell 5 buns more or less on a given day, whereas the fluctuations of wedding cakes is at most 1 (we typically sell zero, and every now-and-then we sell one). Just like the strength of an animal does not proportionally scale with its weight, the expected error of a forecast does not proportionally scale with the forecasted value. As a result, elephants don’t look like large impalas and larger forecasted values come with smaller relative error. Ready for part 2? Continue the discussion on why forecasting few is different in part two of this blog. Read Part 2 ### [Why we expect to sell less than we predict](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/why-we-expect-to-sell-less-than-we-predict) > How to account for finite capacity in demand forecasting training and evaluation Blog Why we expect to sell less than we predict Why we expect to sell less than we predict Malte Tichy , June 11, 2024 9 minute read In retail forecasting, the quantity of interest is the customers’ demand for a certain product, e.g., how many baskets of strawberries are being requested. In practice, one observes a slightly but significantly different quantity, namely the registered sales. Sales reflect the demand, but are constrained by the capacity, that is, by the stocks level: When 20 baskets are in demand, but 12 are available, only 12 are sold, and the 8 customers who were willing to also buy was not fulfilled. The distinction between sales and demand may seem like splitting hairs, but this blog post will show you why mistaking sales for demand leads to biased trainings and flawed model evaluations. You’ll learn how finite stocks impacts sales and how to circumvent the most important pitfalls to confidently tackle real-world situations that involve finite stocks. Demand and sales What is the most precise forecast that you can think of, an always-right demand prediction that you can place any bet on? In many situations, the answer is: Simply forecast “0” all the time! In the view of a demand prediction of zero, not a single item will be ordered, no items will be on shelf, no item will be sold. The zero prediction turns out to be right on spot, perfectly matching the observed zero sales. This absolutely accurate prediction is, obviously, not the forecast that will make your manager happy. This extreme example illustrates that one should be careful about what to ask for: The goal of a retailer is not to produce a precise forecast, but to operate a sustainable business. The paradox also exposes one fundamental dilemma in demand forecasting: The forecast itself influences the level of stock that is eventually provided, jeopardizing its evaluation. You might argue that this influence exists for good reasons, it is what the forecast was made for! But the stock level sets an upper bound on the number of items that can be sold, which artificially restricts the sales values that can be observed. This leads to a discrepancy between hypothetical demand (“how much is being asked for”) and observed sales (“how much has been sold”). The observed sales are the true demand or the available stocks, depending on what is lower. In this blog post, I will convince you that there is no way around a rigorous probabilistic treatment of the demand versus sales problem. The distinction between demand and sales, the meticulous treatment of these quantities and of what we exactly predict and observe is key for successful and correct model training and evaluation. To make things tangible (and savory), we consider a retailer that sells baskets of fresh strawberries. The integer-valued number of sold baskets can then be treated as “pieces.” Unfortunately, these ultra-fresh grocery items go to waste when they are not sold during the day. Therefore, over-ordering, that is, having more on stock than is being asked for, is costly and should be avoided. On the other hand, imagine that you are up for strawberries, but they are already out of stock when you look for them in your local supermarket: You become a frustrated customer, whose willingness to pay has not been scooped up. Hence, under-ordering, having less on stock than is being asked for, is also costly, both in terms of customer satisfaction and lost revenue and profit. A retailer should order the right number of strawberry baskets to carefully balance out waste and lost sales. Of course, to solve this ordering problem, a precise demand forecast is necessary that truly predicts how many baskets are being asked for, and not how many are being sold (remember the self-fulfilling “0” prophecy above). How much will we sell? Let’s dive a bit deeper into demand forecasts and dissect their meaning. A demand forecast tells us how many items will be requested. But what does it mean exactly when “9.7 baskets will be requested”? Clearly, one cannot sell a fractional number of strawberry baskets, the literal interpretation is ridiculous. Still, we accept and intuitively understand the forecast, and interpret it as an assertion about the mean expected number of sold baskets, the number of baskets that we sell on average when the same situation were repeated many times (and stocks are always sufficient, which we will assume for now). Therefore, our forecast implicitly hides some probability distribution, that is, some conception of how likely it is to sell 1, 2, 3, … baskets, since it only states the mean expected sales. What those probabilities are, or how close individual observations (that is, actual sales numbers) are found around that mean of 9.7, is left out. Let’s lift the carpet under which the probability distribution has been hidden to see how it should look like. We’ll use the chart below to illustrate our example. A priori, probability distributions with an expectation value of 9.7 can take very different shapes: Think of a 51.5% probability to encounter zero and a 48.5% probability to find 20, shown in the left panel. This results in a mean of 9.7 – even though one never observes anything close to 9.7, such as 9 or 10, but only extremal values such as 0 or 20. The probability distribution of the middle panel assigns a 70% probability to 10 and a 30% probability to 9; it also bears the expectation value 9.7, but the probability mass is much more concentrated among values close to the mean, which thereby becomes a good estimate for the typical number of sales. The set of distributions with a mean of 9.7 is infinitely large, and most of those distributions will be ill-behaved (or “pathological” as mathematicians like to say). Fortunately, we can assume simple and well-behaved probability distributions, such as the Poisson distribution in the right panel (read the blog post Forecasting few is different to know why that is a reasonable choice). Throughout this text, we assume that the forecast produces the mean of a predicted Poisson distribution, and that the demand is truly Poisson-distributed, i.e., that the forecast is correct. Even this idealized scenario will host sufficiently many intricacies to justify a blog post. How finite stocks censor information Let us now welcome finite capacity into the game. Given a demand distribution, we obtain the sales distribution by mapping each possible demand value to the resulting sales value. For all demand values that are below or equate the number of available stocks, demand just translates 1:1 into sales: When there are 12 baskets available, 5 asked-for baskets result in 5 sold, 12 asked-for baskets lead to 12 sold. When demand is larger than the stocks, in other words, when the capacity is not sufficient, the sales are constrained by that stock value: When 13, 25 or 463 baskets are being asked for, only 12 will be sold. When the entire stocks are sold off, we call this a “capacity hit” event. The probability mass associated to the demand of 13, 25, or 463 baskets, however, needs to “go somewhere,” and it is effectively added to the probability that the total stocks are being asked for. The sales probability distributions for a mean demand of 9.7 and different capacities (16, 12, 8) are shown in the next figure. Finite capacity is censoring demand in a way that it removes information: When you put up a capacity of 16 and you observe a capacity hit, that is, 16 sales, you can only infer that the demand was at least 16 – not whether it was 16, 25 or 7,624. The actual demand has some value unknown to you – say, 47 – but you only observe 16. Due to finite capacity, we are truly losing information in an irrevocable way (and not only customer satisfaction). This loss of information both makes it harder to train models under finite capacity and to evaluate them. The plots also show the expected mean sales as vertical red lines. Perhaps surprisingly, finite capacity has an impact on the expectation value of the sales even when the capacity is still larger than the expected demand. That is, when you predict a demand of 9.7, and you supply 12 items on stock, you sell less than 9.7, on average! You need to stock up more than predicted on average to sell just as much as predicted! This might be confusing: For an individual event, the sales are just the minimum of demand and stocks. But the mean of the sales probability distribution is not necessarily the minimum of the expected demand and of the capacity, as the shape of the probability distribution needs to be accounted for. The reason for this possibly surprising behavior is that the value of the mean predicted demand relies on fluctuations around the mean that cancel out on average. That is, the negative fluctuations (sometimes, less items than 9.7 are being sold) are balanced out by the positive ones (sometimes, more items than 9.7 are being sold). When the capacity is finite, those necessary positive fluctuations are suppressed, and the cancellation of positive and negative fluctuations does not occur anymore. This pushes the mean expected sales to lower values, even when the capacity is larger than the mean expected demand. The following plot below shows the expected sales as a function of the capacity, again for an expected demand of 9.7. When the capacity is much larger than the expected demand (say, around 20), events that are affected by the finite capacity are rare. Consequently, the expected number of sales remains unaffected, and close to 9.7. When capacity is small, say, 5, then it is almost inevitable that the capacity is hit, and, on average, a value close to that capacity is sold. Between around 7 and 14, a transition takes place, the capacity has a strong, but not totally determining impact on sales. Training and evaluating models on censored demand Now that we have our workhorse – the probability distribution of sales, aka the capacity-censored demand distribution – under control, let’s understand what we need to be careful about when we train and evaluate models under such circumstances. We need to distinguish different regimes. If the capacity were hit every day, one would never know the true demand, but only learn a lower bound to it (“we sold 5 pieces, so demand has been at least 5”). This is, fortunately, an unrealistic scenario: When the capacity is hit every day, we deal with lots of unhappy customers and lots of unfulfilled demand – no retailer will sustain such mode of operations for long. If they are forced to do so by supply restrictions, they might consider steering demand by increasing prices. On the other extreme, when the capacity is never hit, we enjoy the sweet regime to do data science: We read off the true demand every day, we can essentially neglect all discussions about capacity. But the data scientist’s dream is the sustainability officer’s nightmare: A huge amount of waste would be the consequence of such ordering strategy. Given an expected demand of 9.7, we’d need to keep 21 items on stock to run out of stock only once in 1,000 days. Therefore, one typically encounters a situation in which demand sometimes hits the capacity (and the product is sold out at a given point during a day), and sometimes not (and some stocks remain in the evening). This is reasonable, since a compromise between the competing goals of avoiding waste and avoiding stock-outs is desirable. We ought to acknowledge that building the best-possible model conflicts with running the best-possible business: Under a sustainable business strategy (when waste is not completely “free”, but being avoided at least to a certain extent), it is unavoidable that products go out of stock sometimes. The best data science, however, is done when stock-outs are guaranteed to never happen, and every sales value directly reflects demand. Since we are doing data science in a business context, we will have to live with the intermediate scenario and occasional stock-outs. Ready for more? Find out what finite capacity means in practice in the second part to this blog. You'll also discover subtle pitfalls that one might inadvertently fall into and how we typically solve the situation. Read Part 2 ### [Why zero sales come in at least two kinds](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/why-zero-sales-come-in-at-least-two-kinds) > Are your zero sales a pipeline issue or a value problem? Discover the two critical distinctions between getting no results and understand exactly what to do next. Blog Why zero sales come in (at least) two kinds Why zero sales come in (at least) two kinds Malte Tichy , June 18, 2024 4 minute read In retail forecasting, zero-sales events require special attention when training and applying demand models. It is difficult to find out ex post whether a zero-sales-event truly witnesses vanishing demand on a given day (as in “nobody took that product from the shelf”), or whether the predicted product was simply not available (as in “the product was not even put onto the shelf”). Thankfully, the consistency of the data with the prediction model can be checked by comparing the predicted probability of observing zero to the observed frequency of zero-sales-events. When those do not align well, i.e., one observes zero sales much more or much less often than predicted, one has diagnosed a major but well-defined data problem. Does zero exist, and if so, in how many ways? The number “zero” has evaded the human capability for abstraction for a surprisingly long time. Different ancient cultures treated the “absence of anything at all” in different ways, and historians of science still debate when and how zero as a symbol was invented and became part of the mathematical mainstream. For example, the Roman numerals don’t even contain any symbol for zero, probably because Romans used numbers for accounting, not for arithmetic. Aristotle even rejected the very idea of zero being a number – when you can’t divide by it, what is it good for? In the seventh century AD, the Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta started to use and analyze a written zero, which then found its way into Chinese and Arabic, and, via the latter, into European culture. Of course, you know about zero and feel comfortable using it. So let’s fast forward some centuries of mathematical discussions to the prediction of retail demand using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications . I argue here that one kind of zero is not enough. At least two different concepts of zero are necessary for the proper description of sales in retail. One must be kept in a training dataset, the other one must be removed. On the one hand, a product can be available and be offered to the public: The store is open, the cash register and everything else is working – but simply no customer wants to buy it! In that case, the zero sales event reflects the actual lack of demand and the lack of interest of the consumers in that product. Ideally, our demand prediction model is not “surprised” by that zero in the sense that it predicted a not-microscopic but finite probability to observe zero. Genuine lack of demand leads to a demand-zero , which I’d like to distinguish from the availability-zero . That latter type of zero is induced simply by the unavailability of the product. The customer is not even offered the product, they have no chance to buy it, even if they wanted to (we will never know). I didn’t sell an iPhone for $99 yesterday – but that’s a trivial statement, because I did not even offer any iPhone to anyone. If I had offered it, my moderate price expectation would have induced quite some demand, and probably found a buyer. I did not sell the used stroller that I offered online either – that’s more informative, it’s a demand-zero. While the demand-zero reflects that the item is not particularly popular (to put it mildly), the unavailability-zero has nothing to do with the true demand for an item. Unavailability can have many different causes: Most importantly, stocks might be depleted – there is then simply nothing left to sell. Therefore, it’s great to have the morning stocks value in a well curated column in our data. Then, we can recur to the methods described in this blog post . Often, however, such data quality paradise is not what we encounter: Stocks information are unavailable or at least not entirely trustworthy. But even if reliable stocks values were integrated, we can’t be entirely sure that the product is really offered on the shelf – it might be stored in the backroom, the store manager might have decided that it’s too early or too late in the year to offer it. Unavailability masks genuine demand: To learn about an item’s demand, we need to offer it. I have no idea how much demand a green raincoat with pink sprinkles will induce, unless I put it onto the shelf, put a price tag on it and offer it to customers. If a product is not offered, I can only hypothesize about but not measure demand. Summarizing, my concepts of zero are these two: The well-behaved demand-zero honestly conveys the (perhaps deceiving) information that the product on the shelf is just not very popular (by the way: anyone out there needs a used stroller?), and the availability-zero , which hides all possible information about the true demand – that demand could have been zero, one, 14 or 2,766. Quite clearly, one needs to include the demand-zeros into the model training, but one would suffer enormously from mistaking an availability-zero for a lack of demand. Charting a clear path for your supply chain Global trends and industry insights, delivered monthly with the Supply Chain Compass Newsletter. Sign Up Today How likely is a demand-zero-sale anyway? In retail, we often deal with the Poisson distribution (read more about it in the Forecasting few is different part 1 and part 2 blog posts ). For a Poisson process, the probability to observe 0 decreases exponentially with an increasing mean rate. That is, for a Poisson prediction with a mean rate of 1 (that is, we expect to sell one piece on average), we expect to observe zero in about 37% of the cases – it is, hence, quite likely, and not surprising at all. For a rate of 4, that probability becomes 2% – we expect that to happen every seven weeks or so. For a rate of 10, that probability drops to 0.005%, for a prediction of 20, we are talking about extremely rare events, which would surprise us quite a lot if they occured. The Poisson prediction is, admittedly, an idealization: A realistic demand prediction will be “broader” in the sense that sales values that are far from the mean are more likely in practice than they were predicted by the Poisson distribution. That is, we expect more zero-sales than the numbers above convey. If we only consider high-selling products, which are bought about 20 or more times per day, any appearing zero can safely be interpreted as availability-zero. Look at the following pattern of sold units in time: Quite obviously, something exceptional is going on in that mid-January week, when no sales occur for three consecutive days. It’s unlikely that the genuine demand has plummeted so strongly for three days to then shoot back to the initial level. Clearly, we have availability-zeros, which should be removed from the training. When overall selling rates are not that high, though, it’s not easy to decide whether a given zero is a demand-zero or an availability-zero: Here, it’s much harder to make the call whether a zero-sale event reflects zero demand or zero availability. Which of those zeros should be kept in the training, which of those should be removed? That question is pivotal for an unbiased training: The mean sales including or excluding the zeros differ substantially. The low-sales example shows the necessity to include assignment or listing information that tells us, a priori, whether sales can be expected at all on a given day. When the product was not available, the unsurprising and uninformative zero-sales event is an availability-zero. When the product was available, the zero-sales event is a demand-zero, which reflects low demand. Evaluating consistency via the predicted zero-count probability Let’s assume we have integrated data, including listing and availability information. We’ve trained a model on the observed demand (including demand-zeros but excluding availability-zeros) and generated predictions. How can we find out whether the information on the type of zeros is correct? For a given sales-event of a slowly moving product (behaving like in the second time series plot), it is impossible to state ex post whether a zero is an availability-zero or a demand-zero. We can, however, make a judgement on a set of many predictions and corresponding observations: We can compare the observed frequency of supposedly demand-zeros to the predicted frequency. For that purpose, we plot the expected rate of zeros against the prediction (which is just an exponentially decreasing curve): Note the logarithmic x-axis, which spans four orders of magnitude from 0.01 to 100. Let us now group all predictions and outcomes into buckets characterized by the prediction, e.g., all predictions between 0.8 and 1.2, all between 1.2 and 1.5, and so on. Are you wondering why we group by prediction and not by outcome? The answer is hidden in the You should not have always known better blog post . For each of these buckets, we plot the observed fraction of zeros into the plot as a circle, with the circle size reflecting the number of observations. We did so here for three different sets of predictions and outcomes, which have different data quality: Have a look at the red circles first. For every bucket of predictions, the number of observed zeros in the data matches the predicted fraction of demand-zeros very well. In this case, the data is clean (at least regarding the zeros): Availability-zeros were properly removed, we can trust, on average, that the zeros in the data are truly demand-zeros. We will never know whether the appearing zeros are truly demand-zeros, but there is no evidence to question that assumption. Now take a look at the green dataset: The observed fraction of zeros is always too large. This points to a systematic problem in the data: When the model predicts 30, one expects no zeros, but observes 30% of zeros in the data. Even if that prediction of 30 were very off and biased, we would never expect such many zeros. Hence, quite a few availability-zeros have incorrectly been treated as genuine demand-zeros. The “plateau” at which the circles converge indicates that there is a constant level of availability-zeros that infect the data. One should check the data and include listing information to make sure that only offered products are included in the sales data. In the individual time series of products, we expect to see artifacts like the one in the figure above. The orange dataset is an example for the opposite kind of error: For very small predictions, such as 0.1, we expect to see many zeros in the data, but we observe way less. Apparently, some demand-zeros have been incorrectly interpreted as availability-zeros and removed from the dataset. Again, diving into individual products can then help identify the exact cause for this behavior. In short, a picture like for the red data helps us trust the data, while the green and orange shapes allow us to quickly identify mishandling of demand- and availability-zeros. In our experience, once the zeros-issues are resolved, many other KPIs such as bias also move into the realm of acceptable values. Make your expectation quantifiable and explicit, and compare it to observation We did not do any rocket science here, sorry if I mismanaged expectations! We merely asked our model one simple question (“how often do you expect to see a zero outcome for that prediction, on average?”) and we compared the empirical observation to the theoretical answer. Often, a bias in the model is due to an improper handling of zero-sales events. Checking the state of zeros with a plot like the one here should be a standard step in the diagnosis of data problems in demand forecasting projects. Indeed, the number zero is still often being mistreated in ML applications. The absence of evidence (an availability-zero) should therefore not be interpreted as evidence of absence (a demand-zero). Making this distinction explicit helps us decide on good grounds which datapoint to include in a model training, and which should be removed. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [How to scale your supply chain with Network-Enabled TMS](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-to-scale-your-supply-chain-with-network-enabled-tms) > See how a Network-Enabled TMS drives optimization, enhances collaboration, and future-proofs your logistics operations. Blog How to scale your supply chain with Network-Enabled TMS How to scale your supply chain with Network-Enabled TMS Caitlin Meaden , October 31, 2025 2 minute read While manufacturers and retailers alike continue to invest in digital transformation, they have slowed efforts to strengthen supply chain operations. In fact, operations leaders consider next-gen logistics, including automated warehouses and TMS solutions, the top focus of their supply chain strategy . However, many shippers still lack this capability across their networks. Experts note that visibility gaps exist not just between warehouse and stores but across the entire ecosystem. Against this backdrop, organizations are trying to catch up to a landscape that waits for no one. Specifically, transportation and logistics leaders must constantly juggle the ever-growing and changing ecosystem of suppliers, carriers, and service providers. It requires perfect harmony to drive operational and cost efficiency, as well as service-level. However, most of them are met with limitations due to fragmented visibility and siloed data that stem from TMS . Legacy TMS was designed for an enterprise-centric world, where a single business managed its transportation planning and execution, with light digital connections to only high-volume carriers, and likely no digital approach to supplier orders. But the reality, and what TMS needs to lean into, is that modern supply chains are inherently multiparty and global, with each party bringing its own processes and systems. However, recent innovations and a continued different way of thinking of multi-enterprise interactions have reshaped TMS, offering businesses better control and efficiency across their supply chains. In this blog post, you’ll explore how a digital supply chain network creates the foundation for resilience in complex distribution solutions. Read on to learn how you can start scaling your transportation operations. Scale carrier connections and management Carrier management is one of the most complex aspects when scaling transportation operations. Coordinating hundreds or thousands of siloed entities and the technology they use can create bottlenecks and product inconsistent data. A network-first TMS simplifies this process by providing standardized onboarding and workflows with the flexibility for the carrier to choose how they want to interact. Carriers connect to the platform once and can collaborate with multiple operators, speeding up timelines, and enhancing data accuracy. Here is how a digital supply chain network transforms carrier connections and management from a series of siloed activities into a connected ecosystem: Centralized data hub: Consolidate carrier activities in one place, creating a single version of the truth across all shipments Proactive alerts: Provide early notifications for shipments to prevent delivery disruptions Enhanced flexibility: Enable quick responses to dynamic changes in the supply chain Ready for an agile, intelligent warehouse? See how empowering your team with AI solutions is the key to boosting productivity and efficiency. Discover More Orchestrate the supply chain in real time With a network-enabled TMS, companies can see and act on issues before shipments even leave the supplier’s dock. That kind of early visibility transforms inbound operations from reactive firefighting into a strategic function built for speed and resilience. When a shipment is late, the delay cascades across production schedules and delivery commitments. But with a connected platform, teams can act proactively and gain: Early detection: Achieve end-to-end visibility through ELD, GPS and ocean container tracking systems, even before shipment confirmation. Proactive response: Real-time alerts help teams engage with suppliers and carriers quickly to resolve issues, reroute freight, or reschedule delivery windows. Collaborative coordination: Suppliers, carriers, and internal stakeholders align on a shared platform, keeping everyone informed and accountable. By getting insights into freight collection earlier, companies can combine loads and save money. The result is a supply chain that is not only faster, but also smarter. Future-proof growth with network-enabled TMS The future belongs to organizations that transform logistics from a cost center into a strategic advantage. With Blue Yonder Network layered with our TMS , your teams can turn complexity into clarity, making smarter moves that drive growth and operational excellence. Achieve comprehensive insight into your inventory and purchase orders within an extensive multi-tier network of 150K partners. Explore how Blue Yonder Network-enabled TMS can give your business the visibility, agility and intelligence it needs to scale with confidence. Request a demo or connect with our team today to see how you can future-proof your supply chain. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [A new era of supply chain resiliency and efficiency: Humans & AI agents, powered by Microsoft Teams](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/a-new-era-of-supply-chain-resiliency-and-efficiency) > Learn how the powerful synergy between humans and AI agents, all powered by Microsoft Teams, is driving new levels of efficiency. Blog A new era of supply chain resiliency and efficiency: Humans & AI agents, powered by Microsoft Teams A new era of supply chain resiliency and efficiency: Humans & AI agents, powered by Microsoft Teams Nathan Moffitt , October 30, 2025 2 minute read Storms delay shipments, routes change without warning, and customer expectations keep climbing. Each delay impacts your bottom line and your ability to deliver. But what if your supply chain teams could all instantly know about disruptions, quickly find solutions, and keep logistics running smoothly—all within Microsoft Teams? That’s our vision for harnessing the full potential of humans and AI agents , bringing them together to work smarter for you. Blue Yonder and Microsoft are reimagining collaboration, making it possible for people and intelligent agents across your supply chain to anticipate issues, act decisively, and keep operations on track. A new kind of teamwork To see how that looks, we’ve developed a video, that shows how we are designing for the future of supply chain management. It starts with a severe storm threatening a critical delivery. A truck, loaded with temperature-sensitive perishables, is suddenly at risk. Hundreds of miles away, the transportation manager receives an alert in Microsoft Teams with details of the potential delay and risks to the cargo. With one click, the transportation manager adds a Blue Yonder logistics agent along with the carrier into a Teams channel to collaborate on a solution. The AI agent then proposes an optimal alternate route that adds minimal distance, maintaining roughly the same arrival time while avoiding additional costs. The carrier approves the new route with a single click, and a mobile notification instantly updates the driver’s route. The logistics agent then signals a Blue Yonder warehouse operations agent with details. It analyzes the situation and alerts the warehouse team, providing a recommendation on how to adjust appointment details. The team receives and approves the agent’s recommendation, automatically updating arrival time, while canceling the original slot and securing the earliest appointment available. The warehouse manager, recognizing the load as high-priority, confirms staff availability to ensures smooth unloading. What once required hours of phone calls, emails, and back-and-forth is resolved in minutes. The result: reduced risk of product spoilage, improved efficiency, reduced operational costs and emissions and, most of all, happy customers whose product is received as planned —all achieved through seamless collaboration between humans and their AI agents, inside Microsoft Teams. Our partnership with Microsoft This vision comes to life through our strong partnership with Microsoft. By embedding Blue Yonder’s AI agent access directly into the industry leading Microsoft Teams collaboration platform, we remove barriers between insight and action across every part of your supply chain. There’s no need to toggle between systems or rely on fragmented workflows. Built on Microsoft’s trusted cloud foundation, Blue Yonder agents operate at enterprise scale—secure, reliable, and ready to support the most complex supply chains. The partnership also means organizations can adopt agentic AI with confidence, knowing it’s supported by two leaders in their field: Microsoft, in collaboration and cloud, and Blue Yonder, in responsible AI for supply chain across retail, manufacturing and logistics services. From example to vision The storm scenario above is only one illustration. Agentic AI extends across every corner of supply chain operations. Spanning planning, transportation, warehousing, multi-enterprise collaboration and even returns, Blue Yonder agents are being delivered and continually enhanced to automate supply chain operations and empower staff to increase supply chain resiliency, efficiency and profitability. Agents don’t replace human expertise—they strengthen it. They handle constant monitoring and data processing, while people provide the judgment and context needed for decisive action. The result is a supply chain that adapts more quickly and performs more effectively. Looking ahead As AI becomes a trusted partner is supply chain decision making and automation, planning and execution shift from reactive to proactive. Instead of scrambling to fix problems, companies can anticipate them, adjust instantly, and keep delivering on their promises while eliminating ‘patches’ like safety stocks that drive up cost. With Microsoft Teams as the collaboration hub, the path from insight to action is shorter than ever. This is the future we’re building: humans and AI agents working together, in the flow of everyday work, to redefine what’s possible. Agentic AI is more than technology. It changes how work gets done. With Blue Yonder and Microsoft, this future is already here. Discover more about our trusted approach to AI and why we’ve been a leader in the space for over 20 years. Ready to see agentic supply chain innovation in action? Visit our booth at Microsoft Ignite to connect with our experts and experience the latest solutions firsthand. Don’t miss our exclusive breakout session featuring Chris Burchett, Blue Yonder’s Senior Vice President, Generative AI. Session 8, BRK375: Drive Growth, Profitability and Resilience with Agentic Supply Chains on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, from 9:00 – 9:45 AM for insights and strategies to elevate your supply chain operations. We look forward to seeing you at Ignite! Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Cost-cutting or cost optimization? How supply chain leaders are responding to uncertainty](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/cost-cutting-or-cost-optimization) > Are you simply cutting costs or truly optimizing them? Learn how effective supply chain leaders are strategically responding to market uncertainty with smart, lasting cost strategies. Blog Cost-cutting or cost optimization? How supply chain leaders are responding to uncertainty Cost-cutting or cost optimization? How supply chain leaders are responding to uncertainty Danielle Strouther , October 30, 2025 2 minute read As the transformation of global trade accelerates, it has become clear that uncertainty is the new normal. Technological innovation, frequent changes in tariff policy, geopolitical tensions, inflation, and climate change are forcing companies to regularly reassess and readjust the assumptions that drive their supply chain decisions. At the same time, economic uncertainty is putting pressure on customer demand, revenue forecasts, and profit margins. According to a recent survey from Gartner®, 80% of executives are anticipating a temporary economic contraction or transitory recession, which is likely to bring budget cuts in its wake. For many companies, the go-to response to these twin business challenges is to reduce costs across all business functions, including the supply chain. But cost is more than just a number on the balance sheet. In today’s complex supply chains, any change—including reductions in spend—impacts the entire business, so supply chain leaders should think strategically before acting. Controlling costs in service of business objectives Too often, cutting costs is a reactive move that companies make when they’re under pressure. While these cuts can help reach short-term budget objectives set by the CFO, they can harm the business in the mid- to long-term. Indiscriminate cuts can negatively impact the delivery of goods and services to customers, potentially damaging the company’s value proposition, brand identity, and top-line revenue. Reactive cost-cutting also alarms investors, who view it as a defensive move by a business unable to compete. Instead, the goal should be to balance immediate pressures with long-term strategic objectives, embracing innovation that improves performance and creates value. Redundant or otherwise unnecessary spending should be redirected into investments that enhance performance and ultimately drive more value—and top-line revenue. So, what’s the best way to go about optimizing costs? Can AI help you reduce costs? Find out how AI can identify hidden waste and drive significant supply chain cost optimization. Discover More Supply chain redesign: Low-hanging fruit or a risky bet? Research from Gartner has shown that more than 50% of supply chain costs are driven by strategic design decisions around physical assets like manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, and sources of supply. It’s no surprise that redesigning the physical infrastructure of the supply chain is the most effective way to achieve sustainable long-term cost savings—and many companies are doing just that. A survey of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) found that: 73% of respondents added or removed production locations from their supply chain networks between 2022 and 2024 50% added new supply locations with existing supply partners 48% were pursuing new supply locations with new supply partners But while structural changes represent the greatest potential reward from cost optimization, they also carry the greatest risk. That’s because infrastructure changes are complex and time-consuming. The 2025 Gartner Tariff Volatility Poll found that most companies require at least 12 months to regionalize just 25% of their supply chain capacity, with 39% needing 19 months or more. Those long-time horizons can be a big problem given the volatility and uncertainty in today’s marketplace. By the time changes to the physical network have been implemented, the competitive landscape and the business's needs may have changed significantly. Rethinking supply chain processes: Lower risk, but still high reward Companies seeking to optimize costs without undertaking major infrastructure changes are adopting a different approach. These companies focus on improving their processes—often using technology like AI—to cut costs, while simultaneously increasing efficiency and productivity. This disciplined, forward-looking mindset allows companies to control costs with an eye toward resilience and growth. Here are three strategic moves that companies can make now to cost-optimize their supply chains: #1 Redirect spend away from manual or redundant processes Many supply chain processes grow organically over time as companies mature, often leading to inconsistent rules and redundant workflows where multiple teams or functions have overlapping responsibilities. Many companies have not kept pace with the development of new technology and are still relying on outdated tools and tactics to manage their supply chains. Many processes within the supply chain can now be automated. For example, generative AI can be used to auto-generate and consolidate shipping documents, identify errors, and make corrections that a human would normally need to do. This both frees up workers to focus on other areas and allows the budget to be easily cut or rerouted to more productive areas of the business. Learn how BevChain saved more than 1,000 work hours in one year with automation Beverage logistics company BevChain streamlined its transportation operations by removing duplicate charge codes and eliminating the need for manual adjustments related to double pricing. Discover More #2: Reengineer existing processes to be more efficient, productive, and nimble While technology makes existing workflows more efficient and productive. Instead of working in silos with limited collaboration, technology enables teams to have better communication, visibility, and control. Digital solutions can help track assets, visualize work environments, and enable real-time adjustments in workflows with rapid communication. The result is more efficient processes that can respond quickly to disruptions and deliver significant savings to the bottom line. How Accel improved warehouse productivity by 35% By implementing voice controls and real-time product tracking across 19 regional warehouses, Mexican logistics leader Accel Logistics was able to increase productivity by more than 35% Discover More Stage 3: Reorient the supply chain toward key business objectives Finally, in addition to improving daily operations, cost optimization can directly impact outcomes felt across the business. When companies are under pressure, supply chain teams may get bogged down in managing the day-to-day needs of the business and lose sight of strategic objectives. Technology offers ways to maintain focus on the bigger picture. AI tools enable supply chain leaders to analyze vast amounts of data, identifying patterns and potential problems before they occur. This deep, real-time visibility into the entire supply chain drives faster decision-making, more accurate forecasting, and smoother adaptation to disruptions. Regardless of the company’s specific goals, the supply chain can be adjusted to maximize its impact on those desired outcomes. Smart cost optimization enables supply chain leaders to turn the challenge of budget cuts into an opportunity to improve operations and meet business objectives. By taking a thoughtful approach and implementing the right technology, supply chains can become more resilient and agile. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [New page](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/breaking-boundaries-the-future-of-supply-chains-with-ai-blue-yonder-and-shipium) > Explore the cutting-edge innovations from Blue Yonder and Shipium that are defining the future of logistics and efficiency. Blog Breaking boundaries: The future of supply chains with AI, Blue Yonder and Shipium Breaking boundaries: The future of supply chains with AI, Blue Yonder and Shipium Steven Thorne , and Kris Gosser – October 27, 2025 3 minute read In the ever-evolving landscape of global commerce, supply chain management stands as a critical pillar supporting the vast network of businesses worldwide. As we navigate through the complexities of the twenty-first century, the need for innovative solutions to streamline and enhance supply chain operations has never been more pressing. Enter Blue Yonder and Shipium, two industry leaders at the forefront of revolutionizing supply chain dynamics. Their collaborative ebook, " How Shipium Helps Blue Yonder Move Supply Chains Beyond Boundaries, " offers a compelling exploration of how modern technology, particularly AI, can transcend traditional limitations, propelling supply chains into a new era of efficiency and agility. The relevance of supply chain innovation today Today's supply chain leaders are tasked with navigating a landscape marked by rapid technological advancements, shifting consumer expectations and unprecedented global challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic , geopolitical tensions, and environmental concerns have all underscored the fragility and complexity of global supply chains. In this context, the ability for you to adapt and innovate is not just advantageous—it's essential. Blue Yonder, renowned for its innovative supply chain solutions, and Shipium, a pioneer in logistics technology, have joined forces to address these challenges head-on. Their collaboration is a testament to the power of synergy in driving transformative change. By leveraging their combined expertise, they aim to equip you with the tools and insights needed to navigate this complex landscape with confidence. AI: The game changer in supply chain management A key theme explored in the ebook is the transformative role of AI in enhancing supply chain visibility and agility. AI technologies are revolutionizing the way supply chains operate by providing real-time data analysis, predictive insights and automated decision-making capabilities. In an era where consumer expectations are higher than ever, your ability to deliver products quickly and efficiently is paramount. Blue Yonder and Shipium's AI-driven solutions are designed to provide real-time visibility into supply chain operations, enabling businesses like yours to respond swiftly to changes in demand and supply. AI's ability to process vast amounts of data and generate actionable insights is a game changer for supply chain leaders. It offers you more accurate demand forecasting, optimized inventory management and improved logistics planning. By integrating AI into your operations, you can achieve greater efficiency, reduce costs and enhance customer satisfaction. Collaboration and innovation: The path forward Another critical aspect highlighted in the ebook is the importance of collaboration. In a globalized world, no business operates in isolation. By fostering partnerships and collaboration across the supply chain, companies can unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation. Blue Yonder and Shipium's collaborative approach serves as a model for how businesses can work together to overcome challenges and drive success. The integration of AI into supply chain management is not just about technology—it's about fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. By working together, you can leverage AI to break down traditional boundaries and unlock new levels of efficiency and agility. Your next step For supply chain leaders looking to stay ahead of the curve, the insights and strategies outlined in the ebook are invaluable. By reading " How Shipium Helps Blue Yonder Move Supply Chains Beyond Boundaries," you will gain access to a wealth of knowledge that can help you navigate the complexities of today's supply chain landscape and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Return Fees or Free Returns: Why Not Both?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/return-fees-or-free-returns-why-not-both) > Return fees vs. free returns? Learn how to balance customer satisfaction and profitability by implementing a flexible returns policy. Find out why 'both' might be the answer. Blog Return fees or free returns: Why not both? Return fees or free returns: Why not both? Bob Griffiths , August 22, 2024 2 minute read To cope with rising return rates and shrinking costs, many retailers have opted to start charging for returns. In 2023, the number of retailers charging for returns rose by 31% to 40% in the U.S . Our data shows that 53% of merchants charge for returns , while in the U.K., there is nearly an even split of free versus paid returns, with 48% of retailers charging for returns. In the fashion industry this number rises significantly, as 79% of fashion retailers are now charging for returns. While the debate between free returns versus charging for returns goes on, retailers risk missing the bigger picture. Charging for returns doesn’t address the root causes of returns headaches: slow processing, high restocking costs and frustrated customers. On its own, introducing returns charges (or otherwise tightening returns policies) is a temporary solution that addresses the symptoms of high returns costs without fixing the root cause. Most retailers are still stuck treating every return the same way, with partially digitized systems and unsophisticated processing. They’re leaving value on the table by failing to get returns back in stock quickly, or wasting mileage and time transporting all items to the same locations rather than directing them to the most appropriate place for best management. The rise of paid returns It’s easy to understand the reasoning for implementing returns fees when retailers face rising costs from processing, shipping and restocking returns — all while losing out on potential sales from inventory that cannot be resold. By implementing returns fees, retailers recover some of the cost of a return, and potentially discourage unnecessary purchases and expensive return-related behaviors such as ordering the same item in different sizes to try on. There is plenty of financial upside to introducing fees for retailers. However, paid returns might also turn away new customers and decrease the lifetime value of existing customers. Offering free returns still works as a great incentive — perhaps even more so now it’s a rarer proposition. One study shows nearly 72% of U.S. consumers have a greater loyalty to retailers that provide free returns. In addition, 88% of consumers say they’ve stopped shopping with a retailer because the retailer introduced a paid returns policy, and over half (54%) actively avoid retailers that charge to return items. 0 % of merchants charge for returns. 0 % of fashion retailers are now charging for returns. 0 % of consumers have a greater loyalty to retailers that provide free returns in the U.S. Returns don’t have to be an absolute The biggest issue with looking at paid versus free return approaches is that returns are not equal. Customers are unique, and uniquely valuable. Different products need different outcomes when returned in different conditions, or from different locations. That means a blanket policy on returns fees will be right for some customers, and some products, but wrong for many customers and returns. For example: a small percentage of fraudulent or careless returners can disproportionately inflate costs. For example, a global retailer attributed £ 100m of loss to just 6% of customers with high return rates , and their actual loss over the reported period was only £60m! If they sought to fix this returns problem by introducing flat fees on every return, it would recover significant costs, but it would be an overstep for 94% of customers. Instead, it is now targeting returns fees based on the time taken to make the return. Returns inside of 14 days are free, but customers pay for returns made later than that. That’s still a fairly basic approach, but it’s much more effective than a blanket policy, and incentivizes ideal returns behavior — get the product back quickly, so it’s more likely to resell for full price. Solving the returns crisis isn’t about deciding between free or paid returns. It’s about controlling costs and putting more intelligence in place to recover costs for the most inefficient cases, without negatively impacting the vast majority of shoppers. To achieve this, retailers need returns solutions that connect customer and order data to the returns process, allowing them to create customized rules that control their unprofitable edge cases and reduce returns costs. The time for more intelligent returns is now Our data reveals that 63% of merchants say that returns are a significant or very significant problem for their business, up from 57% the previous year. In addition, 67% of merchants also state that return rates have increased in the last year. There’s no better time than now for retailers to implement smart return solutions that boost customer satisfaction, improve cost savings and speed up inventory turnaround for increased revenue. To find out more about intelligent returns solutions, talk to our team today. Unlock easy and seamless returns with Blue Yonder Drive greater revenue from returns by providing an intuitive customer journey that automatically enables the right decision with every return. Discover More ### [From task management to intelligent resource orchestration: The evolution of warehouse operations](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/from-task-management-to-intelligent-resource-orchestration) > Warehouse operations are evolving. Discover how shifting from basic task management to intelligent resource orchestration unlocks next-level efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Blog From task management to intelligent resource orchestration: The evolution of warehouse operations From task management to intelligent resource orchestration: The evolution of warehouse operations Tammy Kulesa , October 23, 2025 2 minute read The warehouse floor has never been more complex. With e-commerce driving demand volatility, labor shortages straining operations and customer expectations reaching new heights, traditional warehouse management approaches are exposing their limits. Legacy task management relies on manual, batch-driven processes and siloed systems that create delays, inefficiencies, and conflicting priorities. Reliance on the expertise of the warehouse supervisor or task planner to plan and manage everything opens the door for errors and delays. Operating on outdated information and reacting to disruptions drains productivity and undermines performance. Today, we’re witnessing a fundamental shift from reactive task management to proactive, intelligent resource orchestration.  Warehouses that embrace real-time, integrated task management will set the standard for supply chain excellence. The limitations of traditional task management For decades, warehouse management systems have relied on what we call "directed work"—a straightforward approach where the system tells workers exactly what to do, step by step. A picker receives an instruction: "Go to Aisle 7, Location B-22, Pick 5 units of SKU 456." Simple, clear and effective for its time. But traditional task management operates in silos. Receiving teams optimize their own workflows, picking teams chase their metrics, and shipping teams focus on their goals.  While each area is optimizing to meet their own goals, the bigger picture of the goals of the warehouse is easily missed. The result? Multiple separate resource forecasts that warehouse teams must manually "stitch" together. When disruptions hit—equipment breakdowns, worker absences or sudden priority changes—these rigid systems force managers into reactive mode, often pushing unplanned work to the next shift, adding overtime or putting additional strain on equipment. The emergence of intelligent resource orchestration Intelligent resource orchestration represents a paradigm shift. Instead of managing tasks in isolation, it views the entire warehouse as an interconnected ecosystem where every resource decision impacts overall performance. This approach leverages AI, machine learning (ML) and real-time data to create what we call a "resource management virtuous circle." Before each shift, the system reviews available resources and allocates tasks alongside daily briefs with analysis and recommendations. During the shift, management teams receive alerts about whether the resource plan needs real-time adjustments. After the shift, the solution provides recommendations for the next shift while updating leadership on missed KPIs—and the ML algorithms use this data to continuously improve future task and resource assignments. Uncover how Blue Yonder optimized Henkel's global warehouse operations Read the full case study to find out how Blue Yonder's Warehouse Management and Labor solutions enabled Henkel to achieve greater speed, accuracy, efficiency, and profitability. Discover More Three pillars of modern resource orchestration Resource forecasting: Planning weeks ahead Traditional systems look at historical data or outdated forecasts. Intelligent resource orchestration takes in real-time updates, future forecasts, and predictive learning models to continuously optimize warehouse demand and order forecasts. The system doesn't just forecast labor needs—it builds granular, detailed resource plans weeks in advance that forecast the number of needed pickers, slotters, and managers required, along with equipment like forklifts and pallet jacks, and robotic resources like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). This granularity breaks down into 15-minute increments across the day, identifying resource gaps weeks in advance and enabling proactive scheduling that reduces overtime needs. Pre-shift optimization: Real-time readiness The transition from planning to execution is where many traditional systems fail. Intelligent resource orchestration seamlessly bridges this gap by reviewing all current available resources, prioritizing the day's planned tasks and determining optimal task allocation before the shift begins. These recommendations consider skill and permission levels of all available resources, along with configurable priorities like minimizing lateness, maximizing task completion, or reducing travel time. The warehouse team receives a daily brief with analysis and recommendations that empowers them to execute with unprecedented speed and precision. Dynamic resource swapping: Adapting in real time During shifts, change is the only constant. High-priority orders arrive unexpectedly. Equipment fails. Workers call in sick. Traditional systems rely on manual interventions that are slow and error-prone. Intelligent resource orchestration continuously monitors warehouse health and status across the entire facility, enabling seamless resource changes in real time. When urgent orders drop, the system can "swap in" the most efficient pickers or equipment to complete that work while "swapping out" previously scheduled resources to lower-priority tasks. These resource shifts are communicated via mobile devices for warehouse leadership review and approval, ensuring human oversight while enabling rapid response. The role of agentic AI in warehouse operations The complexity of modern warehouse operations generates staggering amounts of data—a single warehouse can processes an average of 100,000 events in a single day.  not including external signals for demand forecasting. No human team can process this information fast enough to make optimal decisions. And teaching new employees to navigate this complexity can be time-consuming requiring the assistance of warehouse experts to help smooth the onboarding process. This is where agentic AI becomes transformative . Warehouse Operations Agents are available 24/7/365 to warehouse teams, with different views for warehouse managers versus warehouse associates. These agents have multiple skills, including daily briefs, resource planning, resource swapping and intraday shift management. The agent distills vast amounts of warehouse data into clear, understandable recommendations that teams can review, question, modify, and approve in real time. When a warehouse leader rejects a recommendation, the agent explains the impact of that decision on warehouse efficiency both today and in the future. Measurable business impact The shift from task management to intelligent resource orchestration delivers concrete results across key performance indicators: Operational efficiency improvements: Resource gaps identified weeks in advance Idle time reduced through dynamic resource allocation Real-time optimization recommendations Significant overtime and overstaffing reduction Top-line revenue growth: Resources focused on highest-priority tasks first Best-qualified personnel assigned to critical orders More orders shipping on-time and in-full Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention Cost optimization: Continuous resource plan updates matching order demand Reduced equipment wear and tear through optimized usage Lower labor costs through efficient scheduling Elimination of inefficient manual resource coordination The competitive imperative We're at an inflection point in warehouse management. The warehouses that embrace intelligent resource orchestration will gain significant competitive advantages, while those that cling to traditional task management approaches will struggle with rising costs, declining efficiency and missed opportunities. The technology exists today to make this transformation. Cloud-native platforms enable effortless scalability and extensibility with no downtime code updates. AI and ML provide immediate access to optimization innovations. The question isn't whether to evolve—it's how quickly you can adapt and how much you can improve. The path forward Intelligent resource orchestration isn't just an incremental improvement—it's a fundamental reimagining of how warehouses operate. By viewing resources holistically, leveraging real-time data, and empowering human decision-makers with AI-driven insights, we can create warehouse operations that are more efficient, more adaptable, and more profitable than ever before. The warehouses that succeed in tomorrow's supply chain environment will be those that make this shift today. The technology is ready. The business case is proven. The only question is whether you're ready to lead this transformation or follow it. Your supply chain's future depends on the choice you make right now. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Tackling overproduction with Lean planning and execution: A strategic approach](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/tackling-overproduction-with-lean-planning-and-execution) > Stop wasting resources. Learn a strategic approach to tackling overproduction using Lean planning and execution principles to drive efficiency and cut costs. Blog Tackling overproduction with Lean planning and execution: A strategic approach Tackling overproduction with Lean planning and execution: A strategic approach Jen McQuiston , October 7, 2025 2 minute read In the realm of Lean manufacturing, overproduction is recognized as one of the seven areas of waste. This occurs when a company produces more goods than necessary or manufactures them earlier than required. Overproduction can be intentional or unintentional, each with its own implications for a business. Intentional overproduction: A double-edged sword Intentional overproduction often aims to create safety stock, ensuring that a company can meet customer demand even in the face of supply chain disruptions or shortages. While this approach can safeguard against understocking, it also presents challenges such as increased storage costs and the risk of inventory obsolescence. The key is finding a balance that allows for flexibility without excessive waste. Unintentional overproduction: A common pitfall Unintentional overproduction arises when demand is not accurately understood, often due to inadequate forecasting methods. This issue is prevalent, with demand forecasting ranking as the fourth most significant concern for supply chain leaders. It typically results from delayed or batch forecasting, siloed decision-making or an inability to process large volumes of data in real time. The consequences include surplus products, inefficient resource allocation and geographic mismatches in product distribution. The ripple effect of unintentional overproduction The impact of unintentional overproduction extends beyond inventory concerns. It can lead to inefficient staff alignment, with teams unable to manage overstocked goods while other staff, assets and storage are left unused. Additionally, inventory that is overproduced in the wrong area can divert supplies from where they are needed, resulting in a deficit in the original region causing regionally unmet customer demand. Other wastes, such as higher transportation costs and increased emissions due to unnecessary relocation of goods and storage fees for excess inventory, are also a potential waste when manufacturers are forced to transport goods to where they are needed. These challenges highlight the need for robust and connected demand and supply planning that enables planners to make accurate decisions in near-real time, avoiding excess inventory. What else is concerning supply chain leaders? Demand forecasting ranks as the fourth most significant concern for supply chain leaders. Get your copy of the Supply Chain Compass report to uncover more key strategies, emerging trends, and actionable insights. Download For Free Strategies for reducing overproduction waste Avoiding overproduction requires a strategic and AI-backed approach to demand and supply planning. Key strategies include: Connecting demand and supply planning: Shorter, more accurate planning cycles, broad and inclusive scenario testing, and insight driven decisions can be achieved by integrating demand and supply processes and data for wholistic forecasting. Leveraging AI-enabled decision-making:  AI-driven insights that automate testing and allow planners to focus their efforts on the best testing options for their business benefit long- and short-term business planning. Ensuring real-time, multi-enterprise visibility and collaboration: Enterprise connections provide near-real-time visibility of not only shipment statuses, but also resources, inventory and capacity across a manufacturer’s multi-enterprise network. The result is informed, near real-time decision-making that incorporates not only enterprise data but critical information from across the network. The role of Cognitive Solutions Cognitive Solutions offer critical tools to mitigate overproduction through: Unified decisioning: Integrates supply chain processes for improved forecasting and synchronized operations, replacing siloed decisions with global trade-offs Intelligent and agentic solutions: Employs scalable machine learning and AI agents for fast, precise predictions and enhanced decision-making Multi-enterprise network: Connects partners in real time for better visibility, collaboration and risk response Interoperable solutions: Provides critical solution connectivity that goes beyond integrations to operate as a single solution for agile decisions and cross-department collaboration AI data cloud: Acts as a unified data platform, reducing integration debt and IT costs, and improving decision efficiency By leveraging these advanced planning, platform and network solutions, organizations can significantly reduce overproduction and its associated waste, leading to a more efficient and resilient supply chain. Embracing these strategies not only addresses overproduction but also enhances overall operational efficiency, positioning companies for success in a competitive market. Explore how Knauf set a new standard for customer fulfillment Discover how Knauf increased demand forecasting accuracy, boosted customer reliability and modernized its demand and supply planning with Blue Yonder. Learn More ### [Tackling inventory waste: Strategies to combat lead times, shortages and constraints](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/tackling-inventory-waste-strategies-to-combat-lead-times-shortages-and-constraints) > Tired of inventory waste? Explore effective strategies to combat long lead times, unexpected shortages, and crippling supply constraints for a resilient supply chain. Blog Tackling inventory waste: Strategies to combat lead times, shortages and constraints Tackling inventory waste: Strategies to combat lead times, shortages and constraints Jen McQuiston , October 22, 2025 2 minute read This blog post is part two in a series of blogs focused on reducing waste through effective planning and execution. In the fast-paced world of industrial manufacturing, inventory waste remains a persistent challenge. Defined as holding more inventory than is necessary to meet current demand , this waste often manifests in the form of excessive raw materials, work-in-progress stock or finished goods. According to Industrial Supply, this waste is estimated to cost a typical industrial distributor up to 25% per year. While safety stock is often considered crucial for mitigating lead times and shortages, excessive inventory frequently leads to high storage costs, inventory damage and shrinkage, or additional, often unplanned fees. Going further, there are the risks and costs of storing inventory that may become obsolete and require disposal. This blog delves into the intricacies of inventory waste, particularly focusing on issues arising when combating issues surrounding shifting supply, demand and regulations and ways to combat this waste through stronger connectivity and advanced technology. The impact of lead times and shortages Inventory waste is frequently caused by an anticipatory response to long supply lead times, demand shifts, material shortages, and inaccurate estimated times of arrival (ETAs). These factors contribute to production delays and an accumulation of inventory or, conversely, stockouts. Not an uncommon problem as according to the “ Census Bureau’s Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QSPC), ” approximately 11% of manufacturing plants in the U.S. identify raw material shortages as a significant barrier to capacity utilization. In the face of these challenges, manufacturers often find themselves in a reactive state, uncertain about when materials will arrive or how much inventory is truly necessary. Instead, inventory waste, along with overproduction waste discussed in a previous blog post , become the norm. Overstocks and safety stock become a frequent backup plan, raising storage and transportation costs, in addition to risks of production shutdowns, unexpected import fees, and inventory obsolescence and disposal. Ready to eliminate overproduction? Get the strategic guide to using Lean planning and execution to reduce waste. Discover More Real-world challenges Consider the following scenarios that highlight the impact of inventory waste: Excessive capital is tied up in safety stock and overstaffing, limiting a manufacturer’s ability to invest in product innovation and seize new market opportunities. An economic shift triggers a sudden spike in demand, yet a leading manufacturer is faced with inventory they produced and stored in a distant country. Relocating it requires expensive expedited shipping, as-well-as unexpected tariffs and regulatory fees, and potential in-transit delays, costs and disruptions. Rising inflation or interest rates directly impact customers’ ability to purchase goods, as-well-as the manufacturer or distributor’s cost of moving and storing those goods. If the manufacturer or distributor later has excess inventory and faces a decreasing willingness for customers to purchase goods or rising transportation and storage costs, they are left with a higher overall cost of goods sold (COGS) that may exceed the actual value they receive for the product. Regulatory or consumer changes force customers to embrace new specifications or configurations for their product, causing the manufacturer’s inventory on hand to now be obsolete and destined for disposal, wasting inventory, increasing costs, and hurting their sustainability efforts. A related inventory waste known as shadow inventory occurs when held inventory that seems beneficial on paper becomes a financial liability due to changing conditions. This can happen when inventory created and held in one country faces unexpected tariffs when moved to another country or unforeseen demurrage or detention fees are incurred due to new port delays. Both situations are caused by moving extra inventory held in another location and increasing inventory costs through unexpected fees attached to held stock. Ghost inventory refers to stock that appears in inventory records but is physically absent or unavailable in the warehouse. While it is the opposite of holding inventory and often the reason for excess inventory, ghost inventory results in inventory related costs for manufacturers and leads to inaccurate stock levels, impacting order fulfillment, customer satisfaction, and financial reporting. Balancing safety stock and inventory waste While safety stock is essential for mitigating lead times and shortages, excessive inventory—whether in raw materials, work-in-progress or finished goods—can lead to high storage costs, inventory damage, and additional fees. Moreover, there is the risk of storing inventory that may become obsolete, necessitating costly disposal. It highlights the importance of accurate inventory tracking and planning, and regular audits to ensure data integrity and operational efficiency. Strategies for optimizing inventory To effectively manage inventory waste, manufacturers must have clear visibility into supply and demand dynamics, as-well-as potential and actual disruptions in the global supplier network. This requires the ability to assess the near-term impact of demand shifts and material shortages and delays and adjust production plans and inventory through intelligent, what-if scenario testing and optimization. Reducing inventory waste involves strategic approaches: Integrating demand and supply planning : Cohesive decision-making is crucial for aligning inventory levels with actual demand and available supply, minimizing waste, and optimizing resources. Optimizing inventory : Ensuring the right mix and placement of inventory is vital for maintaining production and service levels without tying up excessive capital in safety stock. Global supplier and carrier collaboration : Drives needed transparency into inventory and delays allowing shippers, carriers and manufacturers to accurately plan for material availability and capacity and to anticipate or react to changes and delays in productions or transit, thereby limiting the need for excessive inventory. Ensuring connected operations : By integrating orders, transportation, and warehouse management, manufacturers can respond more swiftly to changes and plan resources more accurately. Agentic AI : Inventory focused AI agents leverage advanced analytics and machine learning to optimize inventory levels, improve demand forecasting, and automate replenishment processes by providing real-time insights and recommendations. In conclusion, reducing inventory waste requires a strategic approach that combines visibility and optimization with end-to-end supply chain management. Doing so enables businesses to reduce waste associated with excess stock, minimize stockouts and improve overall inventory turnover. Digging deeper, by addressing the root causes of lead times, shortages, and constraints, manufacturers and distributors can reduce inventory waste and costs, enhance their operational efficiency and better position themselves to capitalize on market opportunities. Tackle your inventory waste today Learn how Blue Yonder’s inventory optimization capabilities can transform your inventory and boost profitability. Discover More ### [Why vehicle logistics can’t afford to drive blind anymore](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-vehicle-logistics-cant-afford-to-drive-blind-anymore) > Learn how to connect your entire ecosystem, gain real-time insights, and build a more resilient, cost-effective transport network. Blog Why vehicle logistics can’t afford to drive blind anymore Why vehicle logistics can’t afford to drive blind anymore Salim Shaikh , October 22, 2025 2 minute read Availability has given way to affordability. Profit margins are shrinking. Production forecasts are being whittled down. Demand is losing steam. From raw material shortages to rising energy prices, the automotive industry is facing an avalanche of disruptions. Beneath the weight of these pressures lies an inflexible legacy logistics system that is creaking, every supply chain disruption threatening to bring everything to a grinding halt. At Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global 2025, top supply chain leaders gathered to discuss how logistics and supply chain teams can build more efficient, resilient, and digitally connected networks that withstand volatility and disruption. Key challenges in vehicle logistics Market volatility Not only is consumer demand for vehicles constantly shifting, but consumer preferences are changing too. With buyers choosing between EVs, hybrids, and ICE vehicles, companies are finding it difficult to predict demand accurately. Complex regulations, shifting trade policies, tariff uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions further exacerbate the turbulence. These rapid changes make it increasingly difficult for automakers to balance production with actual demand, resulting in overstocked yards in some regions and shortages in others. Silos in decision-making Every department is operating in silos and pulling in a different direction, using traditional methods that block collaboration. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) often sit idle for days at distribution centers due to missing parts. Dealers, meanwhile, have little to no visibility into when those VINs will arrive, especially when vessels or trucks face delays. Inbound orders parts without considering that production is operating on a downgraded forecast. Outbound schedules 200 trucks, while production has only completed 150 vehicles due to missing parts. When inbound, outbound, transportation, warehousing, production, and planning each act independently, decisions are made in silos, driving costs, increasing delays, and eroding efficiency across the chain. Operational inefficiency Beyond the silos, inefficiencies run deep within each operation. Many OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers still rely on outdated systems and manual processes, which slow down workflows and increase the likelihood of human error. With every department working on its own timeline and using disconnected tools, even minor bottlenecks can cause ripple effects, delaying deliveries, increasing freight and labor costs, and reducing overall productivity. These inefficiencies ultimately squeeze profit margins further, making it more difficult for automakers to remain agile. Taking steps toward flexible vehicle logistics Strengthening collaboration across the network OEMs are adopting technologies that enable stronger collaboration and information sharing across multi-tier networks. This builds end-to-end visibility across suppliers, 3PLs, logistics providers, and dealers. The earlier disruptions are detected, the more response options become available, helping reduce costs and improve service reliability. Ready to build your resilient transportation network? Find out how to unify your ecosystem to transform complexity into a competitive advantage. Discover More Planning for uncertainty with scenario modeling To manage volatility and global uncertainty—from tariffs to port closures—automakers are investing in scenario and simulation planning capabilities that help them prepare for multiple outcomes. By modeling “what-if” situations such as insourcing half their freight, or a 20% surge in hybrid demand, companies can evaluate the impact on cost, margins, and CO₂ goals. These simulations also surface potential logistics capacity issues in advance, allowing decision-makers to select the strategies that best balance profitability, service, and sustainability. Embedding flexibility across strategic, planning, and execution horizons Flexibility in vehicle logistics isn’t a single initiative; it must be built into every layer of the supply chain. Strategic horizon: Flexibility begins at the network-design level. By combining scenario planning, network modeling, and simulation, manufacturers can anticipate supply disruptions, evaluate alternate routes and carriers, and stress-test their networks against geopolitical or tariff changes. Planning horizon: Flexibility must be built into the planning process itself. By incorporating transportation and warehouse constraints directly into sales and operations, companies can model multiple demand and supply realizations. This ensures plans are executable and aligned with actual capacity, critical when balancing the mix between EV, hybrid, and ICE production. Execution Horizon: When disruptions occur, flexibility depends on real-time visibility and responsiveness. Whether it’s semiconductors delayed in one region or missing components from another, execution-level scenario planning helps teams reroute shipments, expedite orders, or select alternative suppliers and carriers instantly, keeping production on schedule. Connecting planning and execution on a unified platform Leading manufacturers are turning to connected planning and execution platforms that unify inbound, outbound, warehousing, and transportation. This integration enables end-to-end visibility, reduces lead times, and improves agility across the network. For example, if a vessel carrying parts or finished vehicles is delayed, the system can automatically re-slot production, update warehouse work orders, adjust load plans, and retender shipments in real time. The result is accurate ETAs for dealers and customers, improved delivery performance, and a more resilient logistics operation. The role of intelligent agents Data is the foundation of intelligent logistics. A strong data strategy must begin with specific use cases and measurable outcomes that organizations want to achieve. With today’s technology, logistics teams no longer need to choose between speed and accuracy. AI, machine learning, and intelligent agents make it possible to have both. These capabilities are now supporting a wide range of use cases that drive visibility, predictability, and automation across the automotive supply chain. Autonomous tuning: Predicting and dynamically adjusting supply chain parameters such as transportation and lead times. This helps detect issues like broken bills of materials, invalid order quantities, or missing network definitions early. Disruption prediction: Leveraging AI/ML to sense and forecast potential supply chain disruptions—even when future data isn’t available. This includes identifying risks across multiple tiers, whether it’s a truck on the road or a vessel at sea, and mapping the downstream impact all the way to dealers or customers. Collaboration enablement: One of the biggest challenges in working with suppliers, 3PLs, and carriers is onboarding and data sharing. Modern hub-to-hub collaboration frameworks are helping manufacturers and logistics partners connect seamlessly, share information securely, and work from a common source of truth. Beyond these core capabilities, AI agents are redefining daily logistics operations : Inventory Agents identify causes of fulfillment delays and stockouts. Warehouse Agents detect inefficiencies in picking, slotting, and inbound receiving. Logistics Agents optimize routes, reduce empty miles, and improve fleet utilization. Tariff Agents assess duty exposure and model alternative sourcing or routing options. Generative AI Assistants summarize data, highlight exceptions, and support scenario planning through natural-language interaction. Looking ahead Volatility is expected to intensify in the years ahead. The way forward for automotive manufacturers is to invest in technologies that enhance the tensile strength of their supply chains, systems that enable flexibility through connected networks, real-time visibility, and AI-driven decision-making . Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [The network advantage: Building resilient transportation](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-network-advantage-building-resilient-transportation) > Learn how smart design, advanced technology, and strategic planning can create systems that withstand disruptions and keep the world moving. Blog The network advantage: Building resilient transportation The network advantage: Building resilient transportation Caitlin Meaden , October 17, 2025 2 minute read Transportation management has evolved far beyond moving products from point A to point B. Supply chain leaders face an interconnected web of suppliers, carriers, and service providers that must work in perfect harmony to meet customer expectations. Yet most organizations operate with fragmented visibility, reactive responses, and siloed systems that create unnecessary risk and cost. The solution lies not in managing transportation as an isolated function, but in unifying your entire ecosystem through network-enabled collaboration. By connecting suppliers, carriers, and internal teams through a single, intelligent platform , organizations can transform supply chain complexity into competitive advantage. Why traditional transportation management falls short Most transportation management systems (TMS) operate within enterprise boundaries, creating blind spots that become critical vulnerabilities. When disruptions occur—whether from weather events, capacity constraints, or supplier delays—these systems lack the real-time visibility and multi-party coordination needed for swift resolution. The consequences are measurable: 31% of companies take over 120 days to recover from supply chain disruptions, while 84% report being underprepared for current market uncertainties. This reactive approach generates unnecessary costs through expedited shipping, missed delivery windows, and customer dissatisfaction. The power of network-based transportation management Network-enabled TMS represents a fundamental shift from enterprise-centric to ecosystem-centric operations. Rather than managing carriers and suppliers through separate integrations, this approach creates a unified platform where all parties collaborate seamlessly. Real-time visibility across all shipments Traditional systems provide limited tracking capabilities, often missing critical updates until it's too late to take corrective action. Network-enabled solutions deliver continuous visibility from pickup to delivery, integrating with ELD  systems, GPS tracking, and ocean container monitoring to provide comprehensive shipment intelligence. This enhanced visibility enables proactive exception management. Instead of learning about missed deliveries after the fact, transportation managers can identify at-risk shipments early and implement corrective measures before disruptions impact customers. Simplified carrier collaboration Managing hundreds or thousands of carriers through individual integrations creates operational complexity and inconsistent data quality. Network-enabled platforms streamline this process by allowing carriers to connect through their preferred method—whether EDI, API, portal, or mobile application—while maintaining consistent information standards. This centralized approach reduces onboarding time, improves data accuracy, and creates standardized workflows that scale efficiently across your entire carrier network. Enhanced inbound optimization Many organizations struggle to optimize inbound freight due to limited visibility into supplier orders and shipping plans. Network-enabled solutions provide pre-ASN visibility, allowing transportation teams to see orders as soon as they're created in supplier ERP systems. This extended lead time enables consolidation opportunities, route optimization, and appointment coordination that can significantly reduce inbound transportation costs while improving delivery performance. Blue Yonder named a Leader for Transportation Management Systems for the 14th consecutive year Find out why we've been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ 14 years in a row. Discover More Measurable impact on supply chain performance Organizations implementing network-based transportation management report substantial improvements across key performance indicators: Operational Efficiency: Streamlined carrier onboarding and standardized workflows reduce administrative overhead while improving data accuracy and response times. Cost Reduction: Enhanced visibility and optimization capabilities drive down transportation costs through better consolidation, reduced expedited shipments, and fewer accessorial charges. Service Level Improvements: Proactive exception management and real-time coordination help organizations meet on-time, in-full (OTIF) commitments more consistently. Risk Mitigation: Early warning systems and multi-party visibility enable faster response to disruptions, reducing recovery time and minimizing business impact. Building your network advantage The transition to network-based transportation management requires strategic planning and the right technology foundation. Look for solutions that offer: Multi-party connectivity that accommodates different integration preferences Real-time visibility across inbound and outbound shipments Centralized appointment scheduling and coordination Comprehensive carrier onboarding and management capabilities Integration with existing ERP and transportation management systems Success depends on selecting partners who understand the complexity of multi-enterprise operations and can provide the network infrastructure needed to connect your entire ecosystem effectively. Transform transportation into competitive advantage Transportation excellence in the modern supply chain requires more than efficient routing and carrier management. It demands the ability to orchestrate complex, multi-party operations with precision, speed, and agility. Network-enabled transportation management provides the foundation for this transformation, unifying carriers, suppliers, and internal teams into a collaborative ecosystem. Organizations that embrace this approach gain the visibility, control, and responsiveness needed to turn supply chain complexity into sustainable competitive advantage. The question isn't whether to evolve your transportation management capabilities —it's how quickly you can build the network connections that will define success in an increasingly interconnected world. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder recognized as leader in Nucleus Research 2025 Value Matrix](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-recognized-as-leader-in-nucleus-research-2025-value-matrix) > Blue Yonder's recognition as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix™ underscores our pivotal role in shaping the future of supply chain planning. Blog Blue Yonder recognized again as a Supply Chain Planning Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 SCP Value Matrix™ Blue Yonder recognized as a leader in Nucleus Research 2025 Value Matrix Sarah Hart , August 26, 2025 1 minute read In the rapidly evolving global marketplace, supply chain planning has emerged as a critical component for businesses striving to maintain a competitive edge. As companies grapple with unprecedented challenges, ranging from fluctuating demand patterns to geopolitical uncertainties, the need for robust and agile supply chain planning solutions has never been more pronounced. The complexity of modern supply chains, compounded by technological advancements and the increasing demand for sustainability, requires organizations to rethink traditional approaches and embrace innovative solutions. Charles Brennan, Nucleus Research analyst, recently published the 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix™ , which provides an in-depth analysis of the current supply chain planning technology market, assessing major technology vendors. For the fourth consecutive year, Nucleus recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader in this report for our exceptional Supply Chain Planning solutions. Our placement highlights our positive momentum on both the “Better Functionality” and “Greater Usability” axes of the Value Matrix assessment. Additionally, Blue Yonder has shown positive momentum consistently over the last six years. Blue Yonder is also a Leader in multiple Nucleus Research Value Matrix reports, which include Warehouse Management System , Transportation Management System , and Workforce Management . This blog looks at the key trends shaping the industry and our pivotal role as a leader in this domain. Integration of AI and machine learning The report 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix™ highlights the increasing significance of AI and machine learning in supply chain planning, noting their role in improving forecasting accuracy and facilitating real-time decision-making and scenario planning. Blue Yonder solutions allow organizations to collaborate across teams, analyze what-if scenarios, and adjust plans based on over two decades of AI and ML-powered intelligence about supply and demand. By utilizing AI and ML to analyze various data sources, businesses can proactively adapt to market fluctuations and act with machine speed and precision even in complex circumstances. Blue Yonder developed our AI Agents to reduce waste and costs, optimize the entire supply chain, and enable faster, smarter decision-making. They are transforming key functions in the supply chain, setting new benchmarks, and addressing challenges. Unified architectures In this report, Brennan notes that the era of isolated planning tools is coming to an end. Organizations must invest in architectures that connect insight to action, integrating forecasting, scenario modeling, and execution to manage volatility. He underscores Blue Yonder's role in advancing interoperability with the Blue Yonder Platform. Our platform, built on a modern microservices architecture, exemplifies this trend by offering integrated solutions that span demand, supply, inventory, IBP, and manufacturing planning. This integration allows planners to adjust inventory and space KPIs in real-time based on returns trends and forecast updates. The Blue Yonder Platform’s data cloud eliminates integration complexities, refining data management and visualization for faster innovation, improved collaboration, and lower latency among applications. The Blue Yonder Platform enables faster data-driven decisions that enhance productivity. End-to-End supply chain ecosystems This report also highlights the importance of creating comprehensive supply chain ecosystems. Blue Yonder supports a wide range of functionalities, including Control Tower, Transportation Management, Warehouse Management, Workforce Management, Order Management, and Category Management. Integrations between these solutions produce seamless and effective operations across the supply chain, enhancing efficiency and collaboration. Businesses can predict disruptions and course-correct in real-time with end-to-end visibility and AI-enhanced planning and execution, turning supply chains into growth drivers. Real-Time collaboration and visibility With the Blue Yonder Network extending supply chain information and collaboration across 150K+ trading partners and 70+ locations worldwide, the emphasis is on real-time visibility to bring value, allowing customers to know when and where to intervene in their extended supply chain. The Blue Yonder Network equips users with the knowledge needed to evaluate and activate a resolution, with actions flowing across processes, functions, and partners. It includes logistics carriers and suppliers, enabling a new level of collaboration across all levels of the supply chain. “[Blue Yonder’s Network, formerly One Network’s] many-to-many (or hub-to-hub) network core, which enables collaboration, orchestration, and adaptive execution across thousands of suppliers, carriers, distributors, and customers, is what sets it apart." Charles Brennan, Lead Analyst, Nucleus Research, Control Tower Technology Value Matrix, 2024 Blue Yonder's recognition as a Leader in the Nucleus Research 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix™ underscores our pivotal role in shaping the future of supply chain planning. Our leadership in this space, as detailed by Charles Brennan, sets a benchmark for innovation and efficiency, paving the way for a more resilient and responsive supply chain ecosystem. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI and machine learning, Blue Yonder empowers organizations to enhance forecasting accuracy, optimize decision-making, and swiftly adapt to market dynamics. The integration of unified architectures and comprehensive end-to-end ecosystems further solidifies our position as a transformative force in the industry, enabling seamless operations and real-time collaboration across supply chains. As businesses strive to maintain a competitive edge amidst geopolitical uncertainties and fluctuating demand patterns, Blue Yonder's solutions offer the agility and robustness necessary to navigate these challenges effectively. With our commitment to innovation and excellence, we continue to set new benchmarks and drive growth by turning supply chains into strategic assets for our customers. Read the full Nucleus Research 2025 SCP Technology Value Matrix™. To understand how Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions can help you achieve your strategic goals, please visit our website or contact us today. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Have we reached optimal retail supply chains?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/have-we-reached-optimal-retail-supply-chains) > You might have guessed the answer is "no" - but latest research shows the response isn't as clear as you might think. Blog Have we reached optimal retail supply chains? Have we reached optimal retail supply chains? Ethan Morgan , October 16, 2025 2 minute read This might seem like a strange question for a supply chain technology vendor to pose. After all, you can probably infer what our answer would be. (“No.”) But when we asked (in research conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Blue Yonder), the response was less unanimous than you might think. More than one-third (34%) of retailers surveyed believe that their organization’s supply chain is performing excellently today, with little or no room for optimization or improvement. That’s impressive, given the kinds of widespread challenges with which supply chains are dealing. It makes sense that there are leaders who are rightly confident in what they’re achieving, but it did make us think. We know (from the same survey data) that challenges are everywhere for retailers—99% told us they have operational or technological hurdles to face. We know that most supply chains have meaningful technological constraints. Maybe those challenges and constraints now feel almost inevitable for leaders? That might explain why one-third of retailers would see little or no room for improvement, even at the same time that they report increasing technological and operational difficulties—because it’s not easy to imagine how things could be different. However, in the same dataset, there’s a clue to how we can expand what’s possible, and make those challenges feel less inevitable for retail supply chains today. And for the two-thirds (66%) that see more scope for improvement in their supply chains, discovering new possibilities for how supply chains can work is just as valuable, as we’ll see. Increasing challenges demand an increase in scope Almost everyone (99%) acknowledged they faced technological or operational hurdles. Nearly two-thirds admitted that these technological (63%) and operational (62%) challenges have gotten worse over the past 12 months. And there are other gaps between what our respondents would like and what they have today. 90% of respondents in our survey stated that a single enterprise-wide platform for supply chain would benefit their role. Only 22% use one today. A single supply chain platform, connected end-to-end, with real-time visibility and control across the chain, wanted by the vast majority and currently only used by a few—that could be the kind of paradigm shift that removes the constraints retailers experience today, and enables big improvements in key areas. 0 % of retailers said they have operational or technological hurdles to face. 0 % of respondents stated a single enterprise-wide platform would benefit their role Only 0 % of retailers use a single enterprise-wide platform today. Why 90% want a single end-to-end platform Data sharing and integration (35%) and cost management (36%) are two of the top technology challenges faced by retail supply chain leaders. Operationally, the biggest retail supply chain challenges were cost management (41%) and supplier/vendor collaboration (36%). How much time does every team spend waiting for and battling with data from other parts of the business, or from trading partners? Leaders told us about hours wasted while aggregating data from “disjointed” tools and spreadsheets. For most supply chain teams today, that’s just the way the world works. It’s how it’s had to work, because, why should a TMS have data structured in a way that’s perfectly and constantly accessible to a WMS , for example, and why do either of those need to be constantly updating the inventory system? Those are different solutions for different tasks, right? You can integrate them together well enough to make it all work, and one team works in one and the other team works in the other, and they pick up the phone if they need to know what’s going on, or wait for batch processing to share the data from the last day. And that’s just inside the business—external partners (suppliers, vendors, logistics service providers, etc.) are even less connected. That’s not how the world of supply chain management has to work anymore. The single platform model connects supply chain planning to execution, built on a unified data model, and extends that through the network of trading partners and suppliers. This new architecture means that the assumptions about how things “have to” work aren’t true anymore. What an end-to-end retail supply chain fixes Cost management and ROI are critical challenges, as noted. Data sharing is time consuming and collaboration with partners is second only to cost management in terms of operational issues. If retailers can connect their planning and execution together, with a unified data model that allows that end-to-end connection to begin today, with their existing systems, then data begins to flow in real time. They can reduce those critical costs by: Tracking inventory, shipments and sales performance against dynamic demand signals Using real-time inventory decisioning to maximize the value of every last item Fulfilling orders optimally with awareness of inbound shipments and stock levels across the network Minimize out of stocks by intelligently rebalancing inventory Boost margins with fewer markdowns thanks to reduced safety stock required Retail supply chains aren’t quite optimal yet, and leaders know that they have to work within the constraints of the possible. But what’s possible is changing fast, and working in point solutions doesn’t enable these transformational opportunities. Discover how Blue Yonder enables true end-to-end supply chain collaboration Eliminate silos, improve integration and collaboration, and achieve greater speed and scalability with Blue Yonder's end-to-end planning & execution. Learn More ### [How end-to-end supply chain management unlocks retail sustainability](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-end-to-end-supply-chain-management-unlocks-retail-sustainability) > Learn how end-to-end supply chain management provides the visibility needed to drive true retail sustainability and reduce waste. Blog How end-to-end supply chain management unlocks retail sustainability How end-to-end supply chain management unlocks retail sustainability Ethan Morgan , October 15, 2025 2 minute read Sustainability has become a business imperative for retailers. Nearly half of retail leaders (49%) report that sustainability is highly important for their KPIs and public perception, in new research from Vanson Bourne on behalf of Blue Yonder. Yet the path to meaningful environmental impact remains frustratingly unclear. The challenge isn't a lack of commitment. Retailers face mounting pressure from consumers, regulators and investors to reduce their environmental footprint. The problem lies in turning commitment into reality. Traditional supply chain approaches create blind spots that make it nearly impossible to measure progress, engage suppliers effectively or implement changes that work across the entire network. The solution lies in adopting a networked, end-to-end supply chain approach that connects data and trading partners across the entire ecosystem. The sustainability gap retailers can't bridge alone Retailers encounter four critical obstacles when pursuing sustainability goals: 1. Technology and infrastructure limitations plague 30% of retailers Legacy systems weren't designed to track environmental metrics or coordinate sustainability initiatives across multiple partners. Without the right technological foundation, even basic carbon emission accounting becomes very manual and guesswork-driven. 2. Limited data and measurement capabilities affect 31% of retailers You can't improve what you can't measure. Retailers lack the tools to accurately assess their carbon footprint, especially when Scope 3 emissions—those generated by suppliers and partners—account for the majority of their environmental impact, and they lack visibility into their trading partners businesses. 3. Supplier engagement challenges impact 32% of retailers Sustainability requires coordination across every supplier and trading partner, each with different capabilities, priorities, and systems. Aligning these diverse partners around environmental goals proves extremely difficult if they cannot be tied to other business metrics like cost reduction. 4. Operational and logistical complexity increases for 32% of retailers Every environmental initiative—from sustainable packaging to ethical sourcing—introduces new variables that can disrupt established processes, delay production or increase costs. These challenges compound when retailers operate in silos, with sustainability teams disconnected from procurement, logistics and operations. The result? Well-intentioned initiatives that fail to deliver meaningful impact or, worse, create unintended consequences elsewhere in the supply chain network. 0 % of retail leaders report that sustainability is highly important for their KPIs and public perception 0 % of retailers are plagued by technology  and infrastructure limitations 0 % of retailers are affected by limited data and measurement capabilities Why traditional approaches fall short Most retailers approach sustainability through isolated initiatives—switching to eco-friendly packaging here, implementing energy-saving measures there. This fragmented approach creates three fundamental problems. First, it provides an incomplete picture of environmental impact. A retailer might reduce packaging waste while unknowingly increasing carbon emissions through inefficient transportation routes. Without network-wide visibility, these trade-offs remain invisible until it's too late. Second, isolated initiatives can't address Scope 3 emissions, which represent up to 70% of a retailer's total carbon footprint. These emissions occur throughout the supply chain—from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation and disposal. Managing them requires deep collaboration with suppliers and visibility into their operations. Third, disconnected sustainability efforts often conflict with operational goals. A footwear brand might struggle to meet both carbon targets and on-time delivery goals when suppliers implement conflicting practices. Without an end-to-end supply chain platform where teams can collaborate on shared goals rather than competing for limited resources to achieve department-specific objectives, retailers face impossible choices between environmental and business objectives. The networked advantage for sustainability A networked approach transforms sustainability from a series of isolated initiatives into an integrated business strategy. Instead of managing suppliers individually, retailers connect with their entire ecosystem through a single source of truth which enables real-time collaboration, data sharing and coordinated action. This supply chain network approach delivers five critical capabilities that traditional methods can't match. Complete traceability and visibility Networked supply chains provide end-to-end visibility from raw materials to finished products. Retailers can track not just what they buy, but where it comes from, how it's made, and what environmental impact it creates along the way. Advanced track-and-trace capabilities create 100% verifiable and auditable chain-of-custody records. When a retailer sources cotton, they can verify its origin, confirm it meets ethical standards, and track its environmental footprint through every manufacturing step. This visibility enables proactive compliance management and eliminates the risk of costly penalties for untraceable sourcing. Accurate emissions measurement Sophisticated carbon accounting platforms measure emissions across the entire network, not just within the retailer's direct operations. Scope 3 emissions become visible and manageable when suppliers share data through integrated systems. GLEC-accredited measurement tools provide the precision needed for regulatory compliance and meaningful environmental reporting. Rather than relying on estimates or industry averages, retailers can track actual emissions data from their specific suppliers and transportation partners. Enhanced supplier collaboration The Blue Yonder Network helps to turn suppliers into partners, not just transacting but working towards shared goals. Sharing data in real-time allows for real coordination and co-operation, rather than chasing missing handovers or delayed inventory. That translates into more efficient transportation, inventory management and network utilization. Using fewer resources to achieve more—that's a tangible sustainability improvement with bottom line impact too. Reduced operational complexity Rather than adding complexity, networked approaches simplify sustainability management by integrating environmental considerations into existing business processes. Procurement teams can access supplier sustainability data alongside cost and quality metrics. Logistics teams can optimize routes for both efficiency and carbon reduction. Planning teams can balance environmental goals with inventory and service requirements. Upstream connection Crucially, when the network allows you to get visibility of issues and make changes quickly in transportation or order management to improve sustainability, that information doesn’t just flow downwards to enable suppliers to respond. It also flows upstream into your own teams across the business, keeping everyone on the same page in real time about what’s happening. Move beyond your four walls Discover how the Blue Yonder Network drives cross-functional coordination with unmatched visibility by dynamically synchronizing across your complex supply chain network. Learn More Measuring success across the network The true power of networked sustainability becomes clear in the outcomes retailers achieve. Four key benefits demonstrate the value of this integrated approach. Improved product traceability delivers greater visibility, regulatory compliance, efficiency, and risk mitigation. Retailers can confidently respond to regulatory requirements, customer inquiries, and sustainability audits with complete, verifiable data about their products and processes. Enhanced collaboration and communication with suppliers and carriers improves inventory management while advancing sustainability goals. When all partners work from the same data and systems, they can coordinate initiatives that reduce waste, optimize transportation, and minimize environmental impact. Greater consumer transparency provides customers with detailed information about product origins, sources, ethical concerns, and environmental impacts. This transparency supports premium positioning for sustainable products and builds brand trust and equity with consumers who are increasingly aware of greenwashing. Reduced carbon footprint and compliance with sustainability goals becomes measurable and achievable. With accurate data and coordinated action across the network, retailers can set science-based targets and track progress toward meaningful environmental impact. Taking the next step Sustainability success requires more than good intentions—it demands the right tools, data and partnerships to drive coordinated action across your entire supply chain network. The retailers that will lead the green revolution are those who move beyond isolated initiatives to embrace truly networked approaches to environmental stewardship. Ready to transform your sustainability strategy? Find out more about the Blue Yonder Network and our accredited emissions measurement tool to discover how networked supply chains can unlock your environmental goals while strengthening your business performance. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder named a leader across three strategic supply chain areas](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-across-three-strategic-supply-chain-areas) > See the analyst reports: Blue Yonder is recognized as a leader across 3 core supply chain areas. Blog Blue Yonder named a Leader across three strategic supply chain areas by industry analysts Blue Yonder named a Leader across three strategic supply chain areas Lindsey Hiefield , September 30, 2025 2 minute read Blue Yonder – setting the standard in supply chain excellence Throughout the past year, industry analysts recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader across Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Transportation Management Systems (TMS), and Supply Chain Planning (SCP). We believe this recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to creating transformative supply chain solutions and delivering meaningful outcomes for our customers. In 2025, Gartner® named Blue Yonder a Leader in the Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems 1 , Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems 2 , and Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 3 . With the publication of the WMS report, Blue Yonder remains one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in the three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems 4 . Take a closer look at how we believe these recognitions translate into real-world value for our customers. 14 consecutive times: a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems Earlier this year, Gartner recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 1 report for the 14th consecutive time 5 . In the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Solutions report 6 , Blue Yonder ranked second highest for Level 3 and Level 4 Warehouse Operations Use Cases, and among the five highest scoring vendors for the Level 5 Use Case. We believe these acknowledgements reflect our strong vision and consistent execution in delivering advanced, customer-centric warehousing applications. Our cloud-native Warehouse Management solution , built on the Blue Yonder Platform , combines over 25 years of proven functionality with modern architecture, AI-powered analytics , and seamless interoperability—helping customers unlock new levels of efficiency, visibility, and cost savings. With continued investments in AI and slotting optimization, we remain committed to enabling businesses to operate more efficient and adaptive warehouses. After integrating our AI-powered yard management solution with the Blue Yonder WMS already in place, Ramu Pannala, VP of Supply Chain Technology, Penske Logistics , stated: “By replacing manual entries with real-time computer vision technology, we’ve reduced errors, strengthened compliance, and laid the groundwork for scalable optimization of our yard and dock operations. With Blue Yonder, we are seeing a stronger foundation for ongoing expansion and customer satisfaction.” Discover the Penske transformation Find out how Penske Logistics transformed its warehouse and yard operations using BLue Yonder's AI-powered solutions. See The Transformation 14 consecutive times: a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems This spring, we were honored to be named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems report 2 for the 14th consecutive year 5 . In our opinion, this recognition is a testament to our strong vision and proven ability to deliver results for customers navigating complex, global supply chains. Blue Yonder believes our ranking in the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems report 7 reinforces the strength of our solutions in addressing the wide range of operational needs. With our strategic acquisition of One Network Enterprises , we are expanding our capabilities to serve the full spectrum of transportation needs—from foundational to highly complex—while enhancing real-time visibility, collaboration, and optimization. Our continued investment in innovation ensures that Blue Yonder’s transportation solutions deliver end-to-end value, helping customers reduce costs, improve service levels, and make smarter, faster decisions. Blue Yonder TMS solutions are purpose-built to support customers through complex digital transformations, helping them address evolving operational challenges and meet rising expectations for agility, sustainability, and customer-centricity. Reflecting on BevChain’s transportation management initiative with Blue Yonder, Drew Franklin, Managing Director, BevChain, remarked: “BevChain had been actively addressing challenges to optimize delivery routes and provide tracking capabilities, to streamline the transportation process, and lower costs. With Blue Yonder Transportation Management System, BevChain is now better positioned for efficient growth in Southeast Asia and is ready to handle increased demand through greater operational efficiency.” 12 consecutive times: a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning In today’s dynamic supply chain environment, Blue Yonder emerges as a leader in innovation. In the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions 3 report, Blue Yonder is positioned as a Leader, and furthest to the right for Completeness of Vision. Our inclusion in this report marks our 12th consecutive time as a Leader since the report’s inception in 2010 5 . Our cognitive planning solutions , built on the Blue Yonder Platform , offer a robust suite of AI-powered capabilities that support end-to-end, multi-enterprise planning. Through advanced use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, our supply chain planning solutions empower businesses to optimize operations with greater precision, agility, and efficiency. When speaking about its Blue Yonder Supply Planning solution, Gaurav Tyagi, Director, Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Micron , shared: “Micron is pleased with the performance of our Blue Yonder solutions and how they’ve brought innovation into our planning processes, and we reap the benefits every day. We couldn’t ask for more from our partnership, and they are very receptive to our ideas for innovations. For instance, we think AI can make a real impact in the future, taking us towards a more ‘lights off’ scenario where problems get identified and fixed automatically. We truly have a super-powered supply chain, and with that, we are now rated as a preferred vendor for most of our high-tech customers.” The Blue Yonder team is proud to be recognized in the 2025 WMS, TMS, and SCP Gartner Magic Quadrant reports. We credit our acknowledgments to our continued commitment to delivering innovative, end-to-end supply chain solutions. While this recognition is meaningful, our foremost achievement lies in the success of our customers . We extend our sincere thanks to our global customers spanning our Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management, and Warehouse Management solutions. Their collaboration and feedback have played a pivotal role in shaping our solutions and driving our recognition across these key areas. For customers and prospects who have not yet explored the full breadth of our capabilities, we invite you to connect with us. Discover how our integrated solutions—built on the Blue Yonder Platform—can unlock greater efficiency, visibility, and value across your supply chain. Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, and Federica Stufano, 01 May 2025 2 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. 3 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. 4 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 01 May 2025. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. 5 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 6 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 28 May 2025. 7 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 25 March 2025. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Consecutive Time in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WMS](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-for-the-14th-consecutive-time-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-wms) > Discover why Blue Yonder has been recognized as a Leader for the 14th consecutive time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). Blog Blue Yonder named a Leader for the 14th consecutive time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for WMS Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Consecutive Time in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WMS Sarah Hart , May 13, 2025 2 minute read Gartner has recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 1 report for the 14th consecutive time 2 . We believe this recognition highlights the Completeness of our Vision and our Ability to Execute by providing ground-breaking technology to address the complex and evolving needs of our global customers. We continue to solidify our position as a pioneer in the supply chain management space, demonstrating remarkable growth and innovation, underscoring our robust market presence. In addition, according to the 2025 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Solutions report 3 , Blue Yonder ranked second highest in the Level 3 and Level 4 Warehouse Operations Use Cases and in the 5 highest scoring vendors for the Level 5 Use Case. With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Blue Yonder is one of only two evaluated companies recognized as a Leader in the three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems 4 . Depth and Breadth of Features Blue Yonder Warehouse Management is the culmination of decades of customer-centric development. It boasts a rich array of features that cater to the intricate needs of modern warehouses. From system-directed activities to embedded intelligence, we crafted our solution to streamline end-to-end processes, ensuring operations run smoothly and efficiently. Our warehouse management solutions have been instrumental in enhancing operational efficiency and inventory accuracy across various industries by offering real-time visibility and automation capabilities. Our WMS solutions have transformed supply chain operations, significantly reducing order processing times and optimizing warehouse resource utilization. Our solutions streamline logistics processes, resulting in improved productivity and reduced operational costs – game-changers for distribution networks. Additionally, Blue Yonder’s WMS solutions provide businesses with the flexibility and scalability to adapt quickly to changing market demands, achieving new levels of productivity in warehouse operations. These features enable a more efficient, accurate, and high-performing operational environment. According to the Chief Executive officer of Blue Yonder customer Seedcom, “The shift to omni-channel selling has transformed the global retail industry. Seedcom is the first company to implement the ‘new retail’ model in Vietnam by applying breakthrough technologies to our business operations to create great experiences for customers. Implementing Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution is a key component of that strategy. After a rapid implementation, it is helping us streamline our processes, optimize our inventory and other resources, and support fast, efficient daily operations.” Learn how Seedcom is streamlining its processes and optimizing inventory to support its daily operations. Didn't make it to the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™? Get the essential three takeaways from the event to elevate your supply chain strategy and drive future success. Discover More Strategic Acquisitions Enhancing Capabilities Blue Yonder’s strategic acquisitions of Doddle, flexis, and One Network are pivotal in enhancing our WMS solutions. Doddle, known for its expertise in last-mile delivery and returns management, complements our WMS by offering seamless integration of end-to-end supply chain solutions, ensuring efficient and customer-centric delivery processes. flexis, with its advanced planning and scheduling capabilities, enhances Blue Yonder’s ability to optimize warehouse operations, providing more precise inventory management and improved resource allocation. One Network, renowned for its real-time supply chain visibility and network-based platform, further strengthens our WMS by enabling dynamic collaboration and connectivity across the supply chain. Together, these acquisitions expand our capabilities, driving innovation and delivering comprehensive solutions that meet the evolving needs of our global logistics and warehouse management customers. Innovations and Future Focus Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, built natively on the Blue Yonder Platform, combines our proven, trusted, and reliable WMS on a cloud-native architecture and the full power of the Blue Yonder Platform. This unique approach provides customers with the comprehensive functionality established over 25 years, cloud-native operating performance, and enhanced interoperability and holistic insights enabled by the Blue Yonder Platform. By unlocking the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning-enhanced analytics, businesses can achieve breakthrough improvements in service levels and cost efficiencies. Our focus on vision AI-supported activities and improved slotting capabilities underscores our dedication to delivering cutting-edge solutions, ensuring that warehouse operations are efficient, intelligent, and adapting to new patterns and trends. Comprehensive and Scalable Solutions We designed our warehouse management solutions to cater to various warehouse complexities. Whether a business is managing a small warehouse or a multi-site operation, Blue Yonder offers scalable solutions that can grow with the business. This flexibility ensures that companies can adapt their warehouse operations to meet changing demands without overhauling their entire system. Our extensive portfolio addresses the diverse needs of businesses across industries, ensuring efficient and streamlined operations. Enhanced Visibility and Control Blue Yonder’s WMS enhances operational visibility and control by providing real-time access to critical data. Businesses can efficiently monitor inventory levels, track shipments, and manage labor resources. This immediate access facilitates swift, informed decision-making, reducing downtime and boosting productivity. Advanced analytics offer deep insights into warehouse activities, allowing businesses to analyze trends, forecast demands, and identify inefficiencies. With precise inventory tracking, Blue Yonder’s WMS ensures optimal stock management, reducing the risk of overstocking or stockouts, leading to cost savings and improved customer satisfaction. The solution also offers tools for effective labor management, helping businesses allocate resources efficiently and monitor workforce performance, resulting in better resource utilization and reduced labor costs. Our WMS provides enhanced visibility and control and improves operational efficiency, reduces errors, and yields better resource management. As noted by Nigel Rouch, SVP of Technology – Europe, XPO Logistics, “We’ve seen unparalleled improvements in stock accuracy and productivity using Blue Yonder. It’s become a key part of our growth and automation strategy.” Read more about how XPO Logistics is improving stock accuracy and operational efficiency with Blue Yonder. Blue Yonder’s commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in our solution development and deployment methodology. We work closely with our clients to understand their unique challenges and tailor solutions that meet their needs. This customer-centric approach equips businesses with tools that address their pain points and drive success. “Over the last few years, we’ve faced a pandemic, a war, inflation, higher labor costs, growing energy expenses and a shift to e-commerce. Our legacy warehouse management systems were simply not flexible enough to respond to these challenges. We needed a world-class solution that could optimize our warehouse performance in a dynamic environment, enabling us to meet customers’ ever-increasing demands for reliable service and fast delivery. Blue Yonder warehouse management system is that solution” Chief Innovation and Digitization Officer, Rhenus Discover how Rhenus optimizes its warehouses for flexible management and omni-channel success. Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solutions exemplify our commitment to excellence in supply chain management. Blue Yonder empowers businesses worldwide to achieve unprecedented efficiency and adaptability in their warehouse operations. “Based on selecting accurate software and given the features of the warehouse replenishment solution, Blue Yonder was a natural choice for CONAD Adriatico to support our strategic supply chain transformation effort.” Chief Information and Logistics Officer, Conad Adriatico Learn how Conad Adriatico saw 100% ROI on its WMS investment in 12 months through a reduction in inventory costs and new efficiencies. These acknowledgments from industry leaders underscore the tangible benefits and exceptional value that Blue Yonder delivers to our clients. As the supply chain landscape continues to evolve, Blue Yonder remains at the forefront, providing innovative solutions that drive success and set new standards for excellence in warehouse management and the supply chain. To learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management, check out these resources: Warehouse management: Maximize service levels, throughput and efficiency in real-time Warehouse labor management Sources: 1 Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems,” Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, and Federica Stufano, 01 May 2025 2 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 3 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 28 May 2025. 4 Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems,” Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 01 May 2025. Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions,” Pia Orup Lund, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Shane Brett, Eva Dawkins, 14 April 2025. Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems,” Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [AI and Cost Optimization](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/ai-and-cost-optimization) > Cost pressures are rising, and supply chain leaders are using new tools and a new approach to optimize costs. Blog AI and cost optimization AI and cost optimization Ethan Morgan , August 7, 2025 2 minute read Supply chain leaders are facing pressure to reduce costs. All kinds of business are facing headwinds. “60% of executive team leaders do not perceive the environment to be favorable to company performance,” according to Gartner® , with reduced demand from existing customers and accelerated inflation their top two risks. When asked in the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Compass survey about their biggest concerns, 28% of supply chain leaders explicitly mentioned rising costs, with retailers most likely to have this as their main concern (35%). It’s not surprising then that 63% of leaders surveyed said that managing supply chain costs is a key action for achieving their strategic goals this year. However, many of the costs incurred in supply chains are structural and can be hard to change in the short or even medium term. That puts even greater pressure on the areas of supply chain management that can be optimized to become maximally efficient and cost-effective. We know that AI is already changing how supply chains work, and that the scale, precision and speed at which AI can operate should drive efficiency and value across the end-to-end supply chain. So where do supply chain leaders see AI driving costs down, and what role does AI play in cost optimization strategies? Priority differences We can look at how strategic priorities differ between those leaders who told us that managing supply chain costs is a critical action and those who did not. There’s an obvious logic to cost managers prioritizing profitability and efficiency more often than those who are less concerned with cost reduction. Implementing new technology can come with serious upfront costs, so it’s not surprising that this might be a lower priority for those managing costs. However, it seems at first glance that by deprioritizing new tech implementation, sustainability and faster/better decision making, leaders might fall into a trap. The risk is that in an effort to keep costs lower in the short term, supply chain leaders don’t make the right investments to build intelligent, agile supply chains—those which can deliver long-term efficiency and profitability. But that’s a risk these leaders seem very cognizant of. 83% agree that outdated technology will hold their supply chain back , and only 5% are confident in achieving their goals without upgrading their current technology stack. The role of AI With leaders having budgeted to invest in technology to overcome siloed decision making (67%), speed up decision making (49%) and make complex changes to business models (53%), it’s clear that technology investment is firmly on the agenda. To make that compatible with increasing focus on cost, 72% of leaders are seeking ROI quickly, within a year. The advantages they see from AI aren’t directly cost-related. Just 13% of leaders said that lowering operational costs was an advantage of AI. What they’re seeking is a supply chain that becomes faster, more efficient and more resilient, to drive greater value for their business. This is critical in understanding how supply chain leaders are approaching cost optimization and reduction. It is not a flat cost-cutting exercise where technology investment falls in line with reduced budgets across the board. Instead, AI enables supply chains to become more valuable, greater differentiators of success for businesses, with myriad benefits depending on the emphasis leaders place on strategic priorities. Clearly, many of these advantages have an immediate cost implication, even if cost reduction is not the only goal. It’s being adopted not primarily to drive down costs, but to realize the maximum value of supply chain operations. Adoption challenges The biggest barriers to wider AI adoption are data quality and security. For AI to be effective in any given area of supply chain, it needs quality data and strategic alignment across areas—note that a quarter of the sample found AI deployment strategy a barrier to implementation. The deepest machine learning algorithms and most intelligent agentic tools will not be able to transform a business where departments aren’t aligned, where data is inaccessible and out of date, where there are existing conflicts of interest. In addressing this, the need to rationalize costs across a supply chain may offer an opportunity for leaders. To really effectively reduce costs, a business needs a single source of truth. To quickly get the most out of AI and intelligent supply chain technology, a business needs a single source of truth. A unified data model on the cloud enables both. AI is a valuable tool for cost optimization (and much else) In an environment where all the controllable costs have to be minimized, investment in technology seems unlikely. However, supply chain leaders broadly recognize that the point of the exercise is not to simply reduce expenditure, but to maximize value from that expenditure. In that context, investing in AI supply chain solutions becomes more, not less, of a priority. That’s because not only does AI have the potential to reduce costs in the short term, by making better planning decisions and optimizing operations. It is also a necessary transformation for supply chains to be able to withstand future disruptions and offer competitive advantages. Discover how Blue Yonder AI transforms supply chains Built on decades of innovation and AI expertise, our predictive, generative, and agentic AI solutions turn raw data into predictions and guidance built for the supply chain. Get Started With AI ### [Research reveals top retail supply chain priorities](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/research-reveals-top-retail-supply-chain-priorities) > Find out what retail leaders are prioritizing in their 2025 supply chain strategies, and how they're achieving success. Blog Research reveals top retail supply chain priorities Research reveals top retail supply chain priorities Ethan Morgan , August 19, 2025 3 minute read If you’re running a retail supply chain, you’ve got a lot to cover right now, and the conditions that make up “VUCA” (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) have never been more widespread. In uncertain times, it can be useful to understand what the wider market is doing and benchmark your decisions against other retail supply chains. This can bring new ideas and opportunities for differentiation, as well as providing useful context to help validate your own strategy. So, if you want to know what other retail supply chain leaders are focused on, how confident they are and what they’re concerned by: read on. The 2025 Supply Chain Compass report surveyed 671 supply chain leaders about their views on the future of supply chains, their strategic priorities, their technology stack, and more. A little over a quarter of the sample (27%) were retail supply chain leaders. The strategic headlines Implementing new technology is the most common strategic goal for retail supply chain leaders, with over half (53%) selecting it as one of their top three priorities for 2025. The joint second most common strategic priorities were “improving efficiency and productivity” and “becoming more resilient to risks and challenges”, both of which were selected by 43% of the retail leaders surveyed. Increasing profitability was a priority for 26%, and sustainability was a strategic priority chosen by a fifth (20%) of the retailers surveyed. Only 8% aimed to break silos and ensure their supply chain was connected end-to-end, and only 6% said that investing in their people was a key strategic pillar for 2025. Confidence in success Retailers remain broadly confident that they will achieve their top priorities. 91% of those who are implementing new technology are confident or extremely confident of success, and 86% are confident or extremely confident of succeeding at improving efficiency and productivity. By comparison to the other top priorities, retail supply chain leaders are least confident in becoming more resilient to risks and challenges, where only 77% said they felt confident or extremely confident in succeeding, perhaps reflecting the degree to which uncertainty and fears of future disruptions are characterizing retailers’ supply chain strategies. That can be seen too in the increased emphasis retailers are placing on resilience compared to manufacturers and logistics providers. 43% of retailers made it a top three priority, compared to just 24% of manufacturers and 22% of logistics providers. The priorities which retailers were least confident in seeing success were breaking silos to ensure end-to-end supply chain connection, and building a more agile business. Of the respondents who selected these priorities, only 64% were confident of success—by contrast, 94% of those who prioritized improving quality of service were confident that they would succeed. Unlock the full results today Discover how supply chain leaders are navigating complexity by getting your copy of the 2025 Supply Chain Compass. Download For Free Which actions are being taken to achieve these goals? Of retailers who are implementing new technology as a strategic priority, the top two actions are hardware transformation and innovation (taken by 50%) and introducing digital software transformation and innovation (35%). This group was also the most likely group to be taking action to enhance the workforce through acquisition, retention or upskilling, with 23% naming this as a key action. When it comes to improving resilience to risks and challenges, retailers tend to focus on their suppliers. The most common actions toward this priority are diversifying the base of suppliers (32%) and greater collaboration with suppliers (25%). Retailers with this priority are also the most likely to be taking action to improve demand planning (19%), highlighting the critical role of demand planning in becoming more resilient. The top actions for retailers improving efficiency and productivity were managing supply chain costs and reducing waste throughout the supply chain, both of which were taken by 26% of this group. Technology upgrades pave the way for resilience and efficiency The insights from the Supply Chain Compass 2025 report make it clear that retail supply chains are in a period of focused transformation, with leaders doubling down on technology, efficiency and resilience to navigate continued volatility. Find out how Blue Yonder is building cognitive supply chain solutions that enable retail supply chain leaders to transform their supply chain for the challenges of 2025 and beyond. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Meet your AI partners uncovering the real business impact of AI agents](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/meet-your-ai-partners-uncovering-the-real-business-impact-of-ai-agents) > AI agents go beyond automation—analyzing, deciding, and acting to cut warehouse costs, reduce transport spend, and minimize waste while transforming supply chain resilience Blog Meet your AI partners: uncovering the real business impact of AI agents Meet your AI partners uncovering the real business impact of AI agents Danielle Strouther , August 19, 2025 3 minute read We all want a world where business operations run smoothly, efficiently and with pinpoint accuracy. Although a supply chain that is 100% free from disruptions isn’t happening anytime soon, it is possible to achieve efficient and smooth operations thanks to AI agents. Acting as your automated second-in-command, AI agents are systems that not only automate complex tasks but also provide actionable insights and swift resolutions, bringing measurable benefits and streamlining every aspect of supply chain management. On the surface, AI agents might sound like another piece of technology in an already overcrowded market of AI- and machine learning-powered tools. But in reality, they go beyond mere predictions or natural-language responses, offering the distinct capability to independently analyze information and then recommend (and execute!) decisions autonomously. Let’s dive into how they can be used, right now, to optimize and improve your supply chain and deliver real ROI and measurable results. Agents are not your average AI AI agents are built differently from the other AI tools that you will have come across. Fundamentally, they’re made from the five key areas: 1.    A large language model, which gives agents their brainpower. This is what makes them understand complex language, perform reasoning and make informed decisions. 2.    Prompting techniques, which give agents clear instructions to guide all strategic actions. This ensures that all decisions are made within the set goals, operational context, safety guardrails, and overall strategic approach. 3.    Memory capabilities, including both short-term memory for immediate processing and long-term memory to maintain contextual information over its lifetime. 4.    External knowledge integration, which allows the agents to pull data and information from diverse sources, such as external databases, APIs or embedded data sets. 5.    Tool integration, which gives agents the power to act and execute tasks independently. Many AI tools on the market are simply using large language models to run fancy chatbots. Our agents are five steps ahead—they don’t just provide a response, but have the data, refined prompts, knowledge, memory, and tools to fully process, calculate and act just like humans. It’s a unique capability that we call the SADA operational loop: See: AI agents continuously monitor the environment to detect real-time changes or disruptions. Analyze: They apply pattern recognition and causal analysis to understand the significance of these changes within a comprehensive business context. Decide: Leveraging a deep understanding of your business, AI agents evaluate possible courses of action and determine the best strategy to achieve business goals. Act: AI agents will automatically act (within limits you set) or submit the action for your approval. AI agents aren’t a passive tool that can help with your active problems—they’re fully a part of your system, constantly on the lookout for changes, finding the best strategic action for your business, and proactively acting on your behalf. They’re the partner you wish you had by your side sooner. As Wayne Usie, Blue Yonder EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, put it during ICON 2025: The agents “are not just on the same platform and connected—they are conscious. They share one brain, one data model and always have the most up-to-date information.” Meet your AI Agent team We have a whole team of AI agents ready to transform your supply chain. This includes: Inventory Ops agent. Manages stock levels and demands, optimizes transportation and adjusts order fulfillment priorities to prevent waste and maximize stock Logistics Ops agent. Cuts transportation costs and boosts fleet productivity by improving routing, guiding fleet redeployment and capturing backhaul opportunities Warehouse Ops agent. Enhances order fulfillment and reduces carrying costs by optimizing space utilization, resolving fulfillment bottlenecks and forecasting labor needs Shelf Ops agent. Enhances product placement and shelf organization by editing planograms in bulk with natural language and facilitating real-time in-app collaboration Network Ops agent. Prevents disruptions by automatically responding to network events and streamlining operations Tariff agent. Acts early on tariff risks and changes, supporting cost mitigation by evaluating alternative suppliers and adjusting sourcing decisions. The three immediate real business impacts of AI agents AI agents empower businesses to make smarter decisions, enhance operational resilience and achieve sustainable value. These aren’t just abstract benefits; they provide real and measurable impacts to your business, such as: 1.    Lowering warehouse carrying costs The Warehouse Ops agent enhances order fulfillment by analyzing late and skipped picks to identify root causes such as delayed replenishments and pinpoint fulfillment bottlenecks. This speeds up bottleneck resolution, enhances picking reliability and maintains fulfillment on track. The agent also optimizes space utilization by freeing up warehouse space, thus lowering carrying costs and keeping stock active. 2.    Reducing transport costs The Logistics Ops agent reduces transportation costs by eliminating underutilized fleet runs and improves fleet productivity through better routing planning. This agent also captures missed backhaul opportunities and supports smarter carrier mix decisions between in-house and third-party options. 3.    Reduces waste inventory The Inventory Ops agent reduces inventory waste by tackling key issues like stagnant stock and optimizing rotational strategies. It meticulously tracks inventory status to detect expiration risks, ensuring that products move efficiently through outbound fulfillment before becoming unsellable. This proactive approach minimizes unnecessary stock retention, empowering businesses to make informed shipment decisions that prioritize freshness and customer demand. Ready to reach new heights with your AI partner? Blue Yonder's AI agents are more than just another buzzy AI tool. They’re catalysts for smarter decision-making, enhanced resilience and sustainable growth. By integrating these intelligent systems, your supply chain can become a true driver of profit and business success. The future of intelligent automation is here, and Blue Yonder is ready to be your partner. Discover how our AI agents can deliver measurable benefits, streamline your processes and give you an unparalleled strategic advantage. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Beyond Legacy Systems: The Future of Merchandise Operations is Here](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/beyond-legacy-systems-the-future-of-merchandise-operations-is-here) > Legacy systems hold retailers back. Discover how modern merchandise operations platforms deliver real-time data, AI automation, and true cost visibility to boost margins, cut waste, and drive retail growth Blog Beyond legacy systems: The future of Merchandise Operations is here Beyond legacy systems: The future of Merchandise Operations is here Nina Seth , August 20, 2025 1 minute read Retail is changing faster than ever. Customer expectations are skyrocketing. Markets shift overnight. Supply chains face constant disruption. Yet many retailers find themselves held back by merchandise operations systems that were built for a different era. If you're managing thousands of items across multiple channels, you understand the frustration. What should be streamlined processes have become complex workflows requiring constant manual intervention. The promise of integrated operations has given way to fragmented data, disconnected processes, and teams spending more time fixing problems than driving growth. The Cost of Operational Inefficiency The hidden cost of outdated merchandise operations isn't just in technology—it's in lost opportunity. While competitors move at machine speed, legacy systems force retailers into reactive mode. The Real Impact: Data integrity issues: Inventory that can't be trusted leads to stockouts, overstocks, and misaligned orders that cost millions in lost sales and markdowns Manual bottlenecks: Item setup, PO creation, and price changes still handled manually across disconnected tools, multiplying errors and slowing execution Margin erosion: Cost data, vendor allowances, and rebate terms tracked separately—or not at all—making true profitability impossible to see until it's too late Reactive decision-making: Teams hunt for answers instead of acting on them, always one step behind market changes What Modern Retailers Are Moving Toward The retailers winning in today's market share a common thread: they've embraced platforms purpose-built for retail complexity. They're choosing systems designed for their industry and understand how retail actually works. The Modern Approach Delivers: Inventory Integrity as Foundation Real-time, accurate data across every item, cost, and transaction. When teams work from the same trusted information, decisions happen faster and errors disappear. Changes flow seamlessly between systems, and financial discrepancies get caught before they impact margins—not months later during reconciliation. Operational Speed That Scales AI-powered automation handles routine tasks, eliminating friction and freeing teams to focus on strategy. When simple changes don't trigger complex downstream fixes, retailers can act at the speed of opportunity. True Cost Visibility Complete landed cost calculation—base price, freight, vendor charges, allowances, rebates—tied directly to items, orders, and pricing decisions in real time. Merchandising teams see the financial impact of decisions as they make them, identifying missed opportunities and preventing margin destruction before it happens. Unified Operations All foundational data—items, inventory, costs, vendors, pricing—centralized in systems built specifically for retail complexity. When merchandising platforms connect operational decisions to financial outcomes in real time, margin accountability becomes systematic rather than reactive. The Competitive Advantage of Modern Merchandising Retailers using modern merchandise operations platforms typically see: Margin improvements of 10-200 basis points Shrink reduction of 10-25% Inventory reductions of 5-20% Department-specific efficiencies of 10-30% These are measurable outcomes from treating merchandise operations as a strategic asset that demands operational excellence. Building for Tomorrow, Not Yesterday The businesses thriving in today's retail environment understand that merchandise operations isn't just about managing data, it's about enabling intelligent, real-time decision-making across the entire enterprise. Modern platforms provide: Streamlined item setup that captures complete cost data from the start Purchase orders that track costs throughout procurement and life of the item Real-time inventory visibility that enables instant decisions AI-driven insights that surface optimization opportunities automatically The Time for Transformation Retail leaders can no longer afford to be held back by systems built for yesterday's challenges. The market rewards speed, precision, and agility—qualities that legacy merchandise operations struggle to deliver. How quickly can you move to a platform designed for retail's future? Every day spent managing workarounds and manual processes is a day competitors gain ground with systems built for operational excellence. Ready to explore how modern merchandise operations can transform your retail business? Learn how our purpose-built platform delivers the inventory integrity, operational speed, and margin accountability that drive retail success. Get In Touch Learn More ### [Peak season waits for no one: Is your support ready?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/peak-season-waits-for-no-one-is-your-support-ready) > Holiday downtime costs millions in lost sales and trust. Discover how proactive support helps retailers anticipate risks, prevent outages, and protect revenue during peak season. Blog Peak season waits for no one: Is your support ready? Peak season waits for no one: Is your support ready? Neal Jackovitz , August 22, 2025 3 minute read When every second counts, support failures cost more than lost sales—they erode trust, reputation and future loyalty. Imagine this: It's December’s first Monday, your holiday promotions launch and orders spike. Suddenly, checkout slows. Customers leave carts behind, the support queue grows, and by the time the issue is resolved, opportunity and goodwill are already gone. The real-world impact of inadequate support during the holidays is clear—and it carries a massive price tag: A one-hour outage at Amazon can result in an estimated $34 million in lost sales , demonstrating just how unforgiving peak season can be for even the largest players. During Singles’ Day, a 20-minute crash cost Alibaba billions , disrupting what should have been the year’s most profitable sales window. On the global stage, top 2,000 companies average $200 million in annual downtime costs , with nearly half reporting hourly losses exceeding $1 million. In retail specifically, the risk is even sharper—annual downtime costs have soared to an average of $287 million , and 77% of consumers will abandon a site without buying if they encounter errors. Industry-wide, these failures are not rare. In 2022, a major U.S. apparel retailer lost an estimated $5 million in just three hours of checkout downtime on Cyber Monday. The bottleneck led to thousands of abandoned carts and a 14% drop in conversion rate for the week. In the 2019 holiday season, a leading electronics retailer experienced a system outage during Black Friday. Customer complaints erupted on social media, and trust eroded—affecting repeat purchases for the next two quarters. The reality is simple—peak season intensifies every risk. Throughout most of the year, an hour’s delay in support is a minor frustration. During the holidays, it’s a direct hit to your revenue and standing with customers. The stakes are higher: Volumes surge, timelines shrink and even minor glitches can snowball into major problems. Industry data shows that each hour of downtime during peak can cost hundreds of thousands—sometimes millions—in lost revenue alone. You can’t predict every disruption, but you can control your response. That starts with the support model you choose. Moving from reactive to proactive support Most businesses are used to reacting to issues as they arise, fixing problems after they've already started costing time and money. But in peak season, that approach simply isn't fast enough—or safe enough. Proactive support is about anticipating risk, not just responding to it. It’s continuous: Keeping an eye on systems around the clock, identifying small weaknesses before they become major outages and preparing teams to take action ahead of surging demand. The real value comes from a shift in mindset: Treating support not as a last-minute fix, but as part of a broader risk mitigation strategy. When teams invest in readiness—through monitoring, vulnerability assessment and regular review—they're able to reduce the likelihood of crises and limit the damage when something does go wrong. Ultimately, proactive support means fewer surprises, more reliable operations and greater confidence that your business will keep moving even when the pressure is on. What best-in-class support looks like over peak Here’s what separates industry leaders: A dedicated team, focused solely on your business—available day and night Rapid resolution for critical issues, with turnaround measured in hours, not days Preseason health checks and a Peak Preparedness Report to eliminate vulnerabilities before they cost you Proactive monitoring of business and technical KPIs to protect solution stability. This is not your everyday support—it’s an elevated safety net, providing confidence and control when demands are highest. Flexibility is everything during the busiest stretch of the year. A support strategy that adapts to peak demand—scaling up when volumes spike, then right-sizing as things normalize—gives you the agility to protect revenue and maintain customer trust without overcommitting long-term resources. By aligning your support intensity with business cycles, you ensure expertise and rapid response are always on hand, right when they’re needed most. Don’t leave peak to chance The holiday rush is coming—fast. Every aspect of your operation will be tested. Investing in the right support can mean the difference between leading the market or playing catch-up. Blue Yonder offers White Glove–Peak Flex Support to help you navigate peak season with confidence. You can upgrade your coverage for a fixed 12-week period during your busiest stretch—no long-term commitment required. Connect with your account manager today to secure dedicated, specialist support when you need it most. Give your critical operations the protection and focus they deserve—exactly when it matters most. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [How late is too late to adopt AI?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-late-is-too-late-to-adopt-ai) > Delaying AI adoption can cost supply chain leaders agility, efficiency, and competitiveness. Discover why waiting too long creates bigger risks—and how strategic, early adoption unlocks ROI, closes knowledge gaps, and reveals hidden opportunities. Blog How late is too late to adopt AI? How late is too late to adopt AI? Mckenna Bailey , August 26, 2025 1 minute read How long is too long to wait? Adopting AI, like any technology, is a balance. Integrating AI capabilities first can give companies an advantage over their competitors. At the same time, new technology also introduces organizational changes that can be costly. Because of the complexity in supply chains, businesses need to ensure the transitional period is worth the investment. So, they wait until the right moment to invest. There are good reasons to avoid rushing into new solutions without a plan. But there is also a cost to inaction. And as AI technology evolves, that cost gets steeper for supply chain leaders. Costs that may become insurmountable before we know it. Let’s talk about why that is and how to prevent them through strategic action. Wait-and-see is for simple business models Simple business models, those companies that can use solutions out of the box, can afford to wait and see. Supply chains require solutions that can flex to their complexities while also leading them toward agility and efficiency. While powerful AI systems will adapt to the nuances of the supply chain, the sooner a company invests in the technologies, the faster it will start to see the ROI. The benefits don’t only show up in the bottom line, either. Everything from warehouse operations to recruiting top-tier talent will be affected by a company’s attitude toward AI and other emerging technologies. In a global, competitive market, companies need as many advantages as possible. In the best conditions, without disruptions or economic uncertainty, employees feel like they’re playing catch-up with much of their daily work. If that is the baseline everyone is working from, a wait-and-see approach is much more detrimental than helpful. Knowledge gaps are easier to address earlier Despite a growing interest in AI capabilities, leadership teams hesitate to invest without someone in their organization who can be considered an expert in AI. Typically, this philosophy would be prudent and wise. However, when it comes to AI solutions, experience is the easiest way to gain expertise. Using the tools, experimenting with different use cases, and working alongside partners in technology is the best way to close the knowledge gap and feel confident that a company is getting the most out of their investments. What’s more, when employees see that their company is investing in tools that will build their skill set and prepare them for a successful future, they are more likely to stick around. Historical and tacit knowledge from long-time employees means better, more relevant data from which the AI can learn. Of course, no company needs an expert to make AI tools work for them. But investing in current employees to become experts is never a bad investment. Is your business ready for AI? 90% of supply chain leaders are currently executing a reorganization or will do so in the next 12 months. Many are preparing their teams for AI-driven supply chain technology, but how should they adapt, and what considerations should leaders keep in mind as they reorganize for an AI-first future? Read Our Spotlight Paper AI solutions reveal your blind spots Optimizing what already works in your supply chain is one piece of what it takes to be successful. The other piece is discovering what you don’t know or aren’t measuring, and finding ways to improve those blind spots. The issue is very few employees, no matter where they work on the supply chain, have the time to proactively look for blind spots. Everyone is focused on what they know they have to do. AI can work in the background to evaluate what improvements can be made to operations to reach each goal faster. An AI agent can suggest new processes or task assignments that aren’t obvious to busy employees. Taking action on those suggestions will remain in the power of the people. But the small improvements each team needs to make to stay competitive can be highlighted with AI. Every company reaches a point of diminishing returns as they improve their processes and products. Popular soda companies, for example, often get pushback when they try to tweak their popular formulas. But rarely are there negative consequences for improving challenges of which you weren’t even aware. Particularly, because our customers usually can see those blind spots much clearer. And they will appreciate a proactive approach. Agile innovations and faster decisions are critical to success The most important reason to make the switch to AI solutions, even if you don’t feel quite ready, is that slow decision-making is hurting your business. Whether it’s because data changes too quickly or because there is simply too much data to sort through, decisions aren’t being made in a timely manner. But the answer is not to make rushed or incomplete decisions. The answer is to use the tools available to ensure leadership always has a comprehensive view of all the relevant data. AI technology, and specifically AI agents, not only provide that transparency, but they also provide suggestions for what to do with that information based on the goals of your company. Whether a team is chasing internal goals or the competition, not investing in tools to help make everyone more efficient and accurate is making every milestone harder to reach. The cost to adopt AI technology may look expensive, but not investing is an even more expensive mistake. Blue Yonder AI brings machine speed and precision to your supply chain Let AI handle the data and details while you focus on the decisions that count. Our agentic, predictive and generative AI is built on decades of supply chain experience. Learn More ### [U.S. government shutdown reveals the advantage of AI-powered supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/government-shutdown-reveals-the-advantage-of-ai-powered-supply-chains) > Navigate a crisis: See how the latest government shutdown exposed vulnerabilities and how AI-powered supply chains use real-time data to maintain flow, compliance, and resilience. Blog U.S. government shutdown reveals the advantage of AI-powered supply chains U.S. government shutdown reveals the advantage of AI-powered supply chains Mckenna Bailey , October 13, 2025 3 minute read Disruptions, by nature, cannot be planned for. For global disruptions, such as a U.S. government shutdown, nearly all supply chains will face unexpected obstacles. Everything from freight times to inventory backlogs will impact the cost of goods. Add to that the immediate increase in consumer demands for the holiday season, and what might have been a minor disruption becomes a far-reaching one. But there are ways to mitigate the effects of a government shutdown—even as the United States Congress prepares for negotiations to last through October. With end-to-end AI-powered supply chain solutions, companies can adapt to the changing circumstances of the day while proactively building plans for the future. Making big decisions to spend more on new tools as the cost of manufacturing and delivering goods rises can be daunting (if not impossible). But it is an investment that will set companies apart and keep them on track despite disruptions . AI-powered solutions expose the unknowns that hurt supply chains One unique feature of a government shutdown, especially for supply chains, is the fluid nature of every day. Customs agents, for example, are considered essential workers, so ports will continue to stay open. But, as the shutdown extends and support for agents diminishes, ships will experience longer wait times. Companies need to build flexibility into their schedules to account for the fluid nature of these delays. Of course, the shutdown could end with one decision, meaning planning for the worst-case scenario might be an inefficient use of time. AI-powered solutions offer companies the best of both worlds—the confidence to act quickly and the insight to act wisely. By running continuous scenario planning, supply chain leaders can see what’s most likely to occur based on real-time data, making strategic decisions faster, smarter and more effective. The ability to be proactive and make decisions from options, rather than necessity, can make the difference in everything from contract demands to consumer pricing. New technology provides options in supply chain management As the global marketplace becomes increasingly interconnected, disruptions like a government shutdown or new regulations will place new, more pressing demands on supply chain workers. Demands that will only be exacerbated by outdated technology. Currently, for example, supply chain workers are being asked to find solutions for port delays that threaten perishable goods. Employees need to find new suppliers, organize new transportation routes and account for additional costs. All in an environment that changes every day. Without AI-powered solutions, employees are locked into linear options for solving their challenges. They also have less visibility into the upstream and downstream effects of their decisions. Perhaps worst of all, they simply can’t work as fast as competitors who are using AI-powered solutions. In the case of sourcing new suppliers, the options presented on a Monday may already be obsolete by Wednesday, putting managers right back where they started. Support your team—and help mitigate the costs of disruptions—by investing in the most powerful tools available for them . The future will only get more complex Government shutdowns, tariffs and other global events will continue to affect the supply chain. We’re at the point now where instead of trying to get faster at reaction times, supply chain leaders need to start building resilience and agility into their foundation. We may not be able to strategize for the exact disruption on the horizon, but we can ensure we’re ready to handle it with the right tools and strong support for the employees who use them. AI is the future. Unlock its powers today. It's time to demystify AI, learn its true benefits for your supply chain and why your company should prioritize AI solutions now. Download For Free ### [How end to end supply chain managemement is helping Indias CPG giants](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-end-to-end-supply-chain-management-is-helping-indias-cpg-giants) > Discover how leading companies are leveraging technology and strategy to optimize operations, reduce costs, and meet consumer demands. Blog How end-to-end supply chain management is helping India’s CPG giants ride the quick commerce wave How end to end supply chain management is helping Indias CPG giants Vineet Sharma , September 26, 2025 2 minute read “If delivery to customers can happen in eight minutes, why should it take Nestlé two days to refill stocks?” This was the pointed question posed to Suresh Narayanan, Nestlé India’s chairman, by Blinkit, a leading quick commerce platform in India. The remark sums up the new reality. Quick commerce is pushing every consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand to fundamentally rethink its supply chain. The speed and accuracy demanded by today’s instant delivery platforms have made traditional, slow-moving replenishment cycles obsolete. The race is on to create supply chains that are as fast and responsive as the digital marketplaces they now serve. Unpacking the quick commerce puzzle The quick commerce market in India is expected to generate a revenue of $5,384 million in 2025, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6% from 2025 to 2029. According to a BCG report, quick commerce services have scaled to 40+ cities across India, reflecting strong nationwide adoption and positioning the country as a fast-evolving market for “need-it-sooner” retail. Predictably, it’s also keeping India’s CPG leaders up at night. Demand volatility at breakneck speed: Quick commerce means demand can surge unpredictably. Whether prompted by social media trends, weather swings, or a viral promotion, companies need to sense and predict these swings, not react to them days later. Inventory positioning and micro-fulfillment: Gone are the days of central warehouses replenishing sprawling supermarket shelves on a weekly cadence. Now, hundreds of smaller fulfillment centers tucked into urban neighborhoods must be kept stocked—often with little room for error or excess. Distribution bottlenecks: In cities stuffed with traffic and labyrinthine geographies, the last mile is both logistically and computationally complex. Orders must be routed to precise locations, with inventory arriving just before it’s needed—and no sooner. Data, AI, and the future of forecasting: In such a volatile environment, legacy tools quickly reach their limits. Smart companies are turning to artificial intelligence to mine data from countless sales signals, social feeds, weather forecasts, and more. Only with machine-driven insight can companies hope to sense demand fluctuations far enough in advance to take meaningful action. End-to-end supply chain management and the art of keeping up with quick commerce By evening, the shelves overflow with chips; by morning, they’re nearly empty, wiped out by a late-night cricket match frenzy. This is the pulse of quick commerce in India. Sudden spikes, steep drops, and zero margin for error. To stay ahead, CPG companies need forecasting, planning, and inventory systems woven into an end-to-end supply chain management approach that moves as quickly as the customers they serve. “Quick commerce has collapsed replenishment cycles from days to hours. Only end-to-end supply chain management—powered by AI and real-time networks—can give CPG leaders the agility and resilience to keep pace,” Daniel Kohut, Industry Advisor, Blue Yonder Forecasting that keeps pace with trends One week, soft drinks sell out during a heatwave. The next, sales dip as rains cool demand. A demand planning solution powered by AI helps brands sense these shifts early, align inventory with real needs, and avoid the empty-shelf moments that frustrate customers. It gives companies the confidence to plan, not just react when shelves start running dry. Planning that connects functions When demand for packaged snacks suddenly climbs during cricket season, companies can’t afford to wait for lengthy review meetings. An integrated business planning solution connects teams, data, and processes so production, logistics, and sales can respond together — cutting the lag between market signals and business action. Getting stock where it’s needed most Festival season often means soaring demand for chocolates and gift packs. An allocation and replenishment solution ensures those products don’t pile up in the wrong warehouse but flow quickly to stores where shoppers are buying. The right stock in the right place keeps promotions smooth and customers satisfied. A network view of risk A single delayed truck carrying cooking oil can disrupt supplies across multiple cities. Connected supply chain networks provide visibility across suppliers, factories, warehouses, and stores. Disruptions like a single delayed truck can be flagged early, with corrective actions taken before customers feel the impact. ITC reduces cost of goods sold by 1% with Blue Yonder See how ITC turned a network design investment into a 1% COGS reduction and a full return in under 60 days. Read The Case Study Proof in the biscuits: How ITC rewired its supply chain When India’s biscuit giant ITC realized its spreadsheet tools couldn’t keep pace with rising demand volatility and raw material cost swings, it turned to Blue Yonder. Managing more than 120 biscuit SKUs across 17 factories and 50 warehouses, ITC needed more than incremental fixes — it needed a total-cost view of its entire network. Blue Yonder’s network design capabilities gave them that perspective. The results were immediate. As one ITC supply chain manager put it: “We have saved nearly one percent of the cost of goods sold by optimizing our supply network against our business plan, which represents a substantial savings. We achieved this by understanding and leveraging structural cost differences, as well as deploying our resources more effectively against changing market dynamics.” The company also achieved a full return on its investment in less than two months — a remarkable feat in an industry where margins are razor-thin. Beyond cost savings, Blue Yonder helped ITC take the long view. With new planning capabilities, the company built a five-year capacity roadmap, tested what-if scenarios before making decisions, and created seamless collaboration across procurement, production, sales, and logistics. Today, ITC’s biscuit division has become a model for how end-to-end supply chain management, powered by Blue Yonder, can help India’s CPG leaders rise to the demands of quick commerce. Read the full story here. The Strategic Takeaway Quick commerce is more than just a new channel—it’s a catalyst for supply chain reinvention. India’s CPG giants must replace slow, siloed processes with digitally connected AI-powered supply chains that deliver agility, resilience, and speed-to-market. Those who succeed will not only survive the quick commerce wave but harness it for lasting competitive advantage. Ready to reach every corner of India? Discover how a connected CPG supply chain allows you to sense demand early, optimize routes, and expand your network across the entire country without increasing your operational costs. Discover More ### [Unlock your manufacturing supply chain innovation with Blue Yonder and Snowflake](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/unlock-your-manufacturing-supply-chain-innovation-with-blue-yonder-and-snowflake) > Revolutionize your manufacturing supply chain. Discover the power of Blue Yonder and Snowflake data cloud integration for smarter decisions and rapid innovation. Blog Unlock your manufacturing supply chain innovation with Blue Yonder and Snowflake Unlock your manufacturing supply chain innovation with Blue Yonder and Snowflake Steven Thorne , April 25, 2025 3 minute read In today's interconnected world, supply chains are the backbone of global commerce, driving efficiency and innovation across industries. As we look to the future, the resilience and adaptability of your supply chain are paramount. This blog post, along with our supporting joint webinar with Snowflake and customer GXO Logistics , explores the transformative trends shaping supply chains and highlights key strategies to future-ready your operations. You can also learn how Blue Yonder customers can facilitate seamless data integration, using Snowflake, with the Blue Yonder Data Share App . Embracing geopolitical agility The global landscape is marked by geopolitical shifts that demand agile supply chain strategies. Companies must navigate tariffs, trade policies and regional dynamics with precision. Embracing diverse sourcing strategies — such as China Plus One and nearshoring — can mitigate risks and optimize costs. By diversifying supply sources, businesses can enhance their resilience and maintain a competitive edge in a volatile market. Geopolitical agility is not just about reacting to changes but also proactively anticipating them. Companies that succeed in this area are those that leverage external data, incorporating rich information sets that provide visibility outside their enterprise and enable broader scenario planning. By understanding potential geopolitical shifts, businesses can develop contingency plans that allow them to pivot quickly and efficiently. This proactive approach ensures that supply chains remain robust even in the face of unexpected challenges. However, this resilience may come at a cost, so enabling detailed profitability analytics across the supply chain to balance risk and cost are key to scenario planning. Moreover, geopolitical agility involves fostering strong relationships with suppliers and partners across different regions. By building a network of reliable partners, companies can ensure continuity in their supply chains, even when geopolitical tensions arise. This network acts as a buffer, providing alternative routes and sources to maintain operations smoothly. Harnessing the power of automation and AI Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing supply chain operations, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency and innovation. AI-driven tools enable predictive analytics, optimizing inventory levels and streamlining logistics processes. By automating routine tasks, companies can free up human resources for strategic roles, fostering a culture of innovation and growth. The integration of AI into supply chain management is transforming the way businesses operate. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, providing insights and predictions about the future that were previously unattainable or represented human guesswork. These insights enable companies to make informed decisions, optimize processes and reduce costs while maintaining or improving customer service. Furthermore, AI-powered automation enhances operational efficiency by minimizing human error and speeding up processes. For example, automated systems can manage inventory levels in real time, ensuring that stock is replenished promptly and accurately. This reduces the risk of stockouts and overstocking, leading to improved customer satisfaction and reduced waste. Blue Yonder’s Global Field CTO, Gabriel Werner, believes that: "AI and automation are not just tools; they are transformative forces that enable us to reimagine supply chain operations and drive unprecedented efficiency." What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free Addressing labor challenges with technology Labor shortages are a persistent challenge in supply chain and manufacturing sectors. To overcome these hurdles, companies must invest in workforce development and embrace automation. Digital twins, smart sensors and collaborative robots are transforming operations, driving efficiency and reducing reliance on manual labor. By upskilling employees and integrating advanced technologies, businesses can ensure they are equipped to meet future demands. The use of technology to address labor challenges is multifaceted. On one hand, automation can take over repetitive and labor-intensive tasks, freeing up human workers for more complex and strategic roles. On the other hand, technology can enhance the capabilities of human workers, making them more efficient and productive. Upskilling is a critical component of this strategy. By providing employees with training in advanced technologies, companies can ensure that their workforce is prepared to operate and manage automated systems. This not only improves productivity but also enhances job satisfaction, as employees are empowered to take on more meaningful and rewarding roles. Additionally, machine learning (predictive AI) provides the ability to more precisely forecast labor needs. Using their historical data and contextual data about weather, events and more, businesses can better anticipate their true labor needs and plan accordingly. Fostering ecosystem collaboration Collaboration is the cornerstone of resilient supply chains. By fostering data sharing among suppliers, customers and logistics partners, companies can optimize inventory and balance supply and demand. Collaborative platforms facilitate communication and coordination, providing a centralized hub for managing operations. This holistic approach enables businesses to respond swiftly to market changes and enhance overall efficiency. Effective collaboration requires a shift in mindset from competition to cooperation. Companies must recognize that by working together, they can achieve greater efficiency and resilience. This involves sharing data and insights, coordinating efforts, and aligning goals across the supply chain ecosystem. Collaborative platforms play a crucial role in facilitating this cooperation. These platforms provide a centralized hub for sharing information, tracking shipments and managing inventory. By providing real-time visibility into supply chain operations, they enable companies to make informed decisions and respond quickly to changes in demand or supply. In addition, the network can serve as a rich data source for training efforts related to AI use cases. This extends the potential value of your AI models due to a richer dataset to exploit. Of course, this would only apply to data for which you have agreements with your network partners to use for such purposes. Leveraging data for strategic decision-making Data and analytics are central to supply chain optimization. By harnessing the power of data, companies can gain insights into performance metrics and identify areas for improvement. Predictive analytics enable proactive decision-making, allowing businesses to anticipate future trends and challenges. By embracing data-driven strategies, companies can stay ahead of the competition and drive innovation. The use of data in supply chain management is evolving from descriptive to predictive and prescriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics provide insights into past performance, while predictive analytics forecast future events. Prescriptive analytics go a step further, recommending actions to optimize operations and achieve strategic goals. AI can go even a step further, applying its research and reasoning skills to help humans determine the root causes of potential/predicted supply chain problems by making use of the existing software capabilities in the system. In this way, problems can be resolved before they happen. This use of generative AI can be used as a form of upskilling or partnership with AI for less-experienced supply chain team members who would benefit from these insights and support. By leveraging these advanced analytics, companies can gain a competitive edge. They can identify inefficiencies, optimize processes and reduce costs. Moreover, data-driven decision-making enhances agility, enabling companies to respond quickly to changes in market conditions. “The exponential pace at which advancements in AI are being developed and the innovative ways they are being applied to solve supply chain decisions is amazing. Leveraging these capabilities requires a robust, secure, governed data strategy and an organization ready to take advantage of AI.” Greg Sloyer, Ph.D., Snowflake’s Manufacturing Industry Principal Building future-ready supply chains The future of supply chains is marked by innovation, resilience and balancing economics. As companies embrace advancements in technology and data analytics, they can anticipate and adapt to future challenges. By fostering a culture of agility and collaboration, businesses can build robust, future-ready operations that drive efficiency and growth. Building a future-ready supply chain involves a holistic approach that integrates technology, people and processes. Companies must invest in the latest technologies, such as AI, IoT and blockchain, to enhance visibility and control over their supply chains. At the same time, they must focus on developing a skilled workforce that can leverage these technologies effectively. Moreover, future-ready supply chains are characterized by their ability to adapt to changing market conditions. This requires a flexible and agile approach to supply chain management, where companies can quickly pivot their strategies in response to new opportunities or challenges. Future-proof your supply chain today Watch our on-demand webinar with industry leaders Greg Sloyer, Ph.D. (Snowflake), Ramin Rastin (GXO Logistics) and Gabriel Werner (Blue Yonder), or access the new Blue Yonder Data Share App in the Snowflake Marketplace. Watch Now Access The App ### [Tackling today’s top supply chain challenges](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/tackling-todays-top-supply-chain-challenges) > Discover practical, expert-backed strategies to secure your operations and build resilience now. Blog Tackling today’s top supply chain challenges Tackling today’s top supply chain challenges Puneet Saxena , October 9, 2025 3 minute read What are the biggest challenges facing supply chains today? And how do we overcome them? The fundamental challenges in supply chain haven’t changed. They've just been exacerbated. They're more severe than what we've seen in the past. COVID was the last major disruption . Now we're going through tariffs and other changes. Disruptions are leading to more divergence in supply chains between what we thought the plan was going to be and how reality is turning out to be. But the fundamental challenges stay the same, namely volatility, latency and inefficiency. Let’s be clear about what is meant by these terms. Volatility refers to the changes and the extent to which demand and supply are changing. And supply chain professionals are all about trying to deal with volatility, but the extent of volatility that is being introduced now is unprecedented. Latency is about things happening in the supply chain, but supply chain professionals only finding out about it much later. Latency is the time that elapses between an event (e.g., a delayed shipment, a logistics problem, an inventory quality problem) and then somebody knowing about it. Inefficiency, the suboptimal use of time and resources, is rife in supply chains. There has been a concerted effort to reduce inefficiencies in supply chain processes, yet many still remain. And all of these inefficiencies have been exacerbated in light of recent tariffs and geopolitical tensions. Tackling the top three challenges in supply chain Let’s start with volatility. Uncertainty manifests itself in the form of volatility. When you're unsure about which demand will stick or which won't, you're dealing with uncertainty all the time. Companies are dealing with the challenge of volatility by improving their ability to think about the world in terms of scenarios. One of the companies we work with is a major semiconductor manufacturer in Europe. Many years ago, they said, “Look, we cannot predict the future, but we can be prepared for different eventualities.” These are different scenarios, and that is the foundation on which I think modern supply chain management needs to be built. We need to enhance our ability to deal with various scenarios and range-based planning. What if my demand were in this range? Where do I want my revenues to be in that range? Where do I want my margins to be in that range? We need to think about scenarios and have a playbook ready if this turns out to be my reality; much like in football, I see how the defense is lining up, and I have an appropriate game plan. That's what supply chains must do as well. Some companies, especially some in the high-tech sector , have been very good at doing that. The second challenge relates to latency. Ken Chadwick, vice president of research at Gartner®, at a recent conference, discussed the need for advanced visibility, specifically the ability to see what's happening with inventory and shipments, not only within your enterprise but across different tiers of the supply chain. This is where a lot of effort is being invested in supply chain management. We try to understand, “Can I see?”—because if I can't see, then I can't take appropriate action. Thus, it is essential to utilize technology that provides multi-enterprise, cross-tier visibility. And finally, the third challenge, inefficiency. This is the age-old challenge of supply chain management. And what this comes down to is better technology-based algorithms, machine learning and agentic AI . This is helping people do more without adding to the manual burden. Even after all these years of technological development and innovation, a significant amount of manual effort remains involved in supply chains. While it is early, good use of AI techniques, especially generative AI, is helping tremendously. What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free How to deal with tariffs When we work with our clients on tariffs, we ask them to conduct a portfolio assessment. The Pareto principle applies here as well. Likely, around 20% of the parts that are being affected are driving 80% of the pain and the anguish. So first we need to understand our portfolio through a tariff lens. Which parts will create problems for our customers and impact our internal annual operating plans? Once we've identified this critical 20% then we ask, “What is the price elasticity on these products? Tariffs will increase costs, but can I pass these costs on to my customers and consumers?" If I am highly differentiated in the market, most likely I will be able to pass all, or a significant portion, of this onto my customers and consumers, because I have differentiated offerings. Then there is a section of my portfolio where I don't have that luxury, where there is a lot of competition, and others offer their parts as well. So, I need to think about the problem in the context of elasticity of demand, how much or how little demand fluctuates based on price changes. If price increases, what will it do to my demand? This is where scenarios come in. I have to be able to think of the impact of tariffs in the context of scenarios. What if the impact is high? Meaning the price elasticity is high. I raise the prices, the demand drops. What will it do to my overall revenue and margin objectives? What if the elasticity isn't that high? I raise my prices, and the demand barely changes. What will be the impact on business performance? This may lead to decisions around the demand mix that we choose to pursue. Maybe I'm going to change my expectations about what demands I want to satisfy in the United States versus in Europe. In my S&OP process or the integrated business planning process, I have a change in demand mix, which I then strive to attain thereafter. Similarly, there may be questions about the supply side changes. We've all heard about the “China plus one” strategy that companies have been working on. By having an alternative manufacturing location outside of China, they diversify manufacturing operations and reduce their reliance on a single country, giving them an alternative if a disruption hits or if a tariff on Chinese-made materials or parts skyrockets. Some of our clients have a “China plus six” strategy now. These, however, are network changes, and moving factories, distribution centers, and warehouses is not easy. So, we should think about our approach to tariffs in two different horizons. First, what are things that I need to do in the short- to mid-term? And second, what do we think needs to happen in the longer term? Network-related changes, supply-side changes (e.g., manufacturing) will typically take longer. Demand-side changes, such as demand mix adaptation, can be done much faster. Ensuring future success Uncertainty and the accompanying volatility, to some extent, will always be a part of supply chains. In regard to tariffs , a thoughtful evaluation of your portfolio in the light of affected products and demand elasticity is key to controlling costs and protecting profitability. Strategies such as range-based planning and scenario thinking take uncertainty into account and can drive immediate improvements in adaptability and more effective responses to market shifts. However, there are also more fundamental and enduring solutions that you can leverage. A network platform that provides a single unified data source and real-time, multi-tier visibility significantly reduces the latency and uncertainty across both the organization and the extended supply chain. This enhances agility, precision, and speed in all processes across planning and execution, and across trading partners, further improving operational adaptability, effectiveness, and efficiency. Implementing these strategies will help you weather any turbulence, whatever the cause, delivering enduring benefits long into the future. Mircon achieves best in class planning with Blue Yonder Learn how Micron tackled extreme cyclical demand volatility, long lead times, materials shortages and multinational operations, and was able to balance inventory levels, customer service and costs with Blue Yonder. Learn More ### [Empower your workforce to create an agile warehouse with AI solutions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/empower-your-workforce-to-create-an-agile-warehouse-with-ai-solutions) > Ready for an agile, intelligent warehouse? See how empowering your team with AI solutions is the key to boosting productivity and efficiency. Blog Empower your workforce to create an agile warehouse with AI solutions Empower your workforce to create an agile warehouse with AI solutions Mckenna Bailey , October 8, 2025 2 minute read Over the past few weeks, we’ve highlighted the need for updating supply chain warehouses. We’ve outlined the critical technologies to implement and the optimization opportunities that extend beyond the warehouse walls. However, we haven’t discussed the one factor that can supercharge warehouse operations and efficiency: the warehouse workforce. The people who implement and collaborate across the supply chain to make AI solutions and other technologies work seamlessly. AI solutions are powerful on their own, but they won’t revolutionize the way supply chains operate without the expertise and creativity of the workforce, especially those across the warehouse. To ensure that your warehouse can get the best return on the technology solutions your company invests in, start with your workforce. Focus on proactive opportunities to improve workflow Workflow in the warehouse often prioritizes speed over efficiency. Quickly moving from task to task keeps the supply chain running, but it doesn’t always help your company reach its business goals. Opportunities to make proactive choices get overlooked. Strategic decisions about optimizing workflow are postponed until things are less busy. Days will never really slow down. Companies must learn how to complete daily tasks while simultaneously identifying new opportunities. For example, if a piece of equipment fails mid-shift, AI solutions can immediately provide new workflows that can keep the warehouse on track. Or if there is backup in a certain area, managers don’t have to spend time figuring out who should work where. AI solutions will identify the most efficient way for your workforce to complete all necessary tasks. The result is efficiency throughout the warehouse, of course. But it also allows each individual to do the work that matters most to them. They can focus on tasks that move the needle, rather than wasting time. And they can see the business impact of their time rather than feel like they spent an entire day falling behind.  If the goal of your company is longevity in business and in your workforce, AI tools provide the necessary support. What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free Upskill your workforce for more creative problem-solving 47% of supply chain leaders say they already use AI solutions for faster decision-making. To be sure, efficiency and accuracy are immediate value-adds from AI tools. But the future of what warehouse workers can do when empowered by cognitive solutions will include so much more. Investing in the skills of your workforce now, particularly in navigating AI technology, will add exponential value to your company in the years to come. Workers who master training AI tools to your specific business goals can start to find creative solutions to new and existing problems. We know that consumer behavior will continue to evolve as tighter return policies, higher tariffs, and other economic factors influence their purchasing decisions. The exact impact on your business can’t be predicted, but workers can model probable situations based on their experience and the data available. Armed with both, they can create proactive strategies for mitigating the consequences of these changes. Moreover, the more familiar the workforce is with AI solutions, the more quickly they can identify new use cases that can add more value to the company. All of these benefits don’t happen unless your company commits to upskilling workers with the tools of tomorrow. Refine and define new business goals Finally, it’s imperative to recognize that as AI technology grows in capability and popularity, the work done inside the warehouse might also develop into something new. Companies may identify new goals and metrics to measure. Executives and workers don’t need to fear that future. In fact, it should excite everyone to be part of shaping the future of warehouse operations. With new tools come new opportunities, new procedures, and new challenges to overcome. What’s more, no one will need to start from scratch. AI technology will give everyone a preview into what the future could look like and empower workers to shift that picture if it doesn’t align with the business goals. Or they can identify new paths their careers can take given the new landscape of the warehouse and its technologies. The possibilities are vast. But without the creativity, vision, and expertise of the workforce using AI tools, the opportunities won’t be nearly as great. Ready to transform your operations? Discover everything you need to shape tomorrow's warehouse with today's AI solutions. Learn More ### [How to integrate AI agents into your supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-to-integrate-ai-agents-into-your-supply-chain) > AI agents are powerful tools that aren't fully understood by many supply chain executives. Here's everything you need to know in a single blog. Blog What does it look like when you integrate AI agents into your supply chain? How to integrate AI agents into your supply chain Mckenna Bailey , September 2, 2025 1 minute read Executives know their supply chain requires AI technology to compete globally. When asked, a majority said they plan to invest even more resources into the implementation of AI in the next year. However, while there is enthusiasm for the new opportunities, companies still struggle with strategies for getting the most out of their investments. Without a clear vision for how, and why, companies should adopt AI tools, the solutions can often be treated as an afterthought rather than mission critical. To avoid remaining unaware of the powerful benefits of AI agents, supply chain leaders must arm themselves with information about exactly what they will get from their solutions. To understand the most helpful agent capabilities, we’ve put together a list of what to expect and how to get the most value out of your AI agents. To decide the best way to leverage AI agents for a more resilient and agile supply chain, we’ve put together a list of the most helpful applications based on your goals. Agents for decision-making Leaders across all supply chains feel a sense of decision fatigue ( 7 in 10 mention experiencing it on a daily basis ).  From one hour to the next, one person might need to consider dozens of variables for a single choice. The time and energy required to digest all necessary data and communicate a plan to all necessary parties is too much to do manually. When used for decision-making, AI agents allow leaders to see the entire picture at one time. Using comprehensive data, they can suggest the best course of action, plus the impact that choice will have on future decisions. Rather than make decisions without human oversight, like many executives tend to believe, AI agents present the best options to consider so no time is wasted. After confirming the right decision, agents can then carry out those plans independently. Perhaps more importantly, AI agents collect and incorporate data into their suggestions in real time. In the past, companies were forced to pick a strategy based on old data. An incomplete delivery, an unexpected weather event, a manufacturing recall can all happen in an instant. A report compiled only an hour earlier can be rendered useless for decision-making amid disruptions. But AI agents ensure that no matter when you look at the data, you are getting the most accurate and complete picture. The result is better decisions with a bigger impact on business goals. Agents for operational efficiency A major benefit of AI agents is their proactive capabilities. Because of operational complexity, supply chain professionals spend much of their daily lives reacting to the unexpected. Leadership feels pressure to proactively support and improve operational strategies but find it difficult to account for every disruption. AI agents can improve workflow immediately with those small decisions like picking schedule, warehouse organization and other tasks. AI agents work constantly in the background to collect relevant information, understand what small changes can be made to get companies closer to their business goals and put those strategies forward, without needing prompting. While leadership works on overall strategies and workers fulfill the needs of the supply chain, AI agents can work to improve the process for everyone. Companies no longer need to make expensive investments that don’t serve their bigger goals. Instead, they will know, with granularity, which optimizations to make to every detail from warehouse layout to labor needs and more. Agents for data management Decision fatigue may be the most reported pain point by executives, but data management is an obstacle for everyone, no matter where they sit in the supply chain. Legacy systems rarely talk directly to each other, making sharing information a tedious process that often involves reorganizing data from multiple sources. AI agents are purpose-built to organize data and maintain its integrity in real time. Of course, that means the data manually inputted into the system. But more importantly, AI can scan documents and organize the data without extra effort from workers . The AI agents can instantly use that information to update any planning or daily operations. From busy warehouses that need to digitize stacks of paperwork to logistics professionals who need to know, down to the minute, what the best routes are for their various vehicles, AI-powered data management is a major upgrade to operations. What’s more, end-to-end data management means a better idea of the overall impact of every decision and procedure. Companies don’t have to wait to see the impact of updates. They can see predictions and recommended actions based on comprehensive data almost instantly. Agents for collaboration Ultimately, the benefit of AI agents across the supply chain is the opportunity for collaboration. No action in the supply chain happens independently. A web of consequences and options opens with every completed task. As important as it is for individuals to focus on their specialties, knowing how they affect others and how they can work better together, makes a world of difference in performance. AI agents can introduce new ways to collaborate and remind employees of procedures and strategies they may be too busy to remember in a critical moment. While that may seem like a small change to the overall supply chain operations, having a tool that ensures everyone knows their next right task is invaluable. It builds resiliency because employees are never without options. The tacit knowledge of each individual is made available to everyone, even if a worker is on vacation. AI agents provide a safety net, and a path forward no matter what new expectations or challenges arise. It's time to make a plan for your investment in AI agents. It is a way to guarantee the future success of your supply chain. What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free ### [Shape tomorrow's warehouse with today's solutions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/shape-tomorrows-warehouse-with-todays-ai-solutions) > Supply chain warehouses need of a transformation. Today's AI tools are how companies can get there. Blog Shape tomorrow's warehouse with today's AI solutions Shape tomorrow's warehouse with today's solutions Mckenna Bailey , September 3, 2025 3 minute read The crux of the issue comes down to time. Demands from customers put pressure on warehouse managers to find solutions quickly. Simultaneously, executives require accurate decisions to avoid future disruptions—a standard that takes time to meet. Rather than making concessions on critical metrics, warehouse managers can use new strategies and technologies to execute their operations more intelligently. In other words, they can start managing a warehouse of tomorrow. Comprehensive change like this can be complicated, especially in the mission-critical warehouses. However, we’ve reached an inflection point where the cost of inaction is detrimental to companies. The benefits far outweigh the costs, particularly as demands from customers and executives continue to grow stronger. To ensure a successful, and effective, evolution of your warehouse, we’ve put together the most important philosophies a company can adopt before making any decisions on technology. In the 2025 Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on technology , better planning and predictability and better/faster decision-making were the most frequently noted advantages of AI at 37% and 36%, respectively. However, we believe this indicates a deficit of awareness of the vast impact of AI on supply chains. The tacit knowledge and trust that already exists throughout the warehouse is seen as much more valuable than unfamiliar technology. Tacit knowledge must be universal However, tacit knowledge in a handful of individuals won’t scale, not to mention leaves with the worker when they move on. And strategies built on one-dimensional reports can’t improve; they can only be repeated. To operate in a way that consistently improves, stays resilient in the face of disruptions and allows everyone across the supply chain access to the expertise of warehouse leadership, companies need the right technology. They need AI and AI agents to predict with precision and convert masses of raw data into timely, actionable insights. The future of warehouses requires quick decisions made from all relevant data. The goal of AI solutions is not to make human strategies and problem-solving obsolete. Rather, the purpose is to make people more effective and more strategic in their impact . For example, rather than relying on an average picking time to plan daily operations, leaders can know the predicted time for specific items based on warehouse placement, time of day and other nuances that would be extremely difficult for a person to consider in a timely fashion. Accurate predictions based on all the important context, not just averages from reports of the past, will provide companies with greater accuracy and insight to make more impactful decisions based on the current circumstances. Companies no longer need to rely on crude averages to act as their guide. The difference is subtle, but in a competitive marketplace, with unexpected disruptions happening more and more, that difference separates winners and losers. What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free Create a culture of trust in technology Despite over 70% of AI adoption efforts being focused on action-based AI agents, there is still a level of trust companies are looking to gain with the technology before treating it as a main driver of strategy. In other surveys, 78% of executives have stated that they don’t trust AI agents to make the right decisions or work by themselves. The desire to use the available tools to improve warehouse operations is there for many leaders. But to ensure its success, a culture of trust in AI and intelligent solutions needs to be built, from the top down. As mentioned, the benefit of AI tools is to make human workers more responsive and effective. They are designed to digest all the data warehouse managers know is important and make suggestions based on specific goals. The final decision can always be made by the person with expertise.  The change is how each warehouse manager is presented with their options, and how well they can communicate their decisions across the supply chain. Defining goals and benchmarks this way will help clarify to workers and executives what the technology will be used for and tie it to business priorities. AI technology can also help distribute information instantly, allowing others to make their operations more efficient. Outlining exactly how AI implementation should improve workflow and increase impact for each warehouse will create interest in AI tools, which will turn into trust that transforms your warehouse into a more agile and resilient organization. Establish new standards of operation The final philosophy to adopt before successfully evolving warehouse operations for the future supply chain is to rewrite processes to include as much data as possible. Take, for example, documentation across the warehouse. It is a critical component for making a warehouse run efficiently, and it can introduce errors and delays into daily operations. Generative AI can go beyond alleviating a warehouse worker’s tedious reporting tasks and make the entire process more accurate, efficient and accessible. With end-to-end visibility and a common data resource, AI can swiftly access and use extensive data for more informed insights and decision-making. And that's just one example of one form of AI. The possibilities for improving efficiencies, mitigating errors and avoiding employee burnout are endless with AI implementation. The transformation from yesterday’s warehouse operations to the future of warehouse management has already started. Every year companies don’t take steps to implement AI and other necessary technology is another year of added costs. Take the right step for your company and your workers. Invest in AI for your warehouse. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Thinking beyond the walls of the warehouse](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/thinking-beyond-the-walls-of-the-warehouse) > Warehouse optimization requires leaders to think beyond the four walls. End-to-end transparency helps efficiency and agility for all supply chains. Blog Thinking beyond the walls of the warehouse Thinking beyond the walls of the warehouse Mckenna Bailey , September 12, 2025 1 minute read Supply chain leaders are constantly asked to do more with less. Particularly for warehouse workers, who are pushed to work more efficiently, with fewer mistakes and a higher task volume, the pressure builds every day. Today’s leaders understand that in order to meet the demands of the future, they need operations strategies that go beyond the walls of the warehouse. They must look for ways to connect tasks seamlessly, support workers, and invest in new technologies designed to make the supply chain more agile and resilient. The order in which each company makes these changes will depend on its most pressing demands and its goals. However, all organizations looking to make their warehouse operations future-proof will need to adopt all these strategies sooner rather than later. Execute existing operations faster, with more impact According to The Supply Chain Compass , 89% of executives confirm that the decision-makers in their companies plan to invest in new technologies. The dream scenario would be for those investments to revolutionize the way the entire supply chain functions from end to end. But, practically speaking, executives need to see results quickly. In fact, 73% said they expect to see the impact of their investments within one year. For those kinds of results, companies need to improve what already works in their warehouse operations. For example, current warehouse workers rely on their experience and what’s available to them in the moment to pack trucks. The priority is packing on time to avoid disruptions. It’s also impossible to expect one person to know everything about what’s in the warehouse now and what’s coming. Companies don’t need to use cumbersome, manual processes to move pallets in and out of the warehouse. Instead, they need technology that can do the organizing for them in an instant. AI technology that considers the different variables, like stops, weather, and transportation time, so that each truck is packed with optimization in mind. A small change in how the warehouse prepares the products can make an incredible difference in efficiency. Similar optimizations can be made throughout warehouse operations to make a measurable, immediate impact. Discover how supply chain leaders are navigating complexity Get your copy of the 2025 Supply Chain Compass to uncover key strategies, emerging trends, and actionable insights to help you steer through complexity and achieve your strategic goals. Download For Free Optimize for supporting workers across the supply chain Much of the pressure to make the warehouse more efficient falls on the workers. From task management to real-time adjustments to picking schedules, workers need as much support as possible if they are to improve year over year. Tools that support workers with their daily tasks are the ones that will make the biggest impact, both immediately and in the future. Tasks like checking in a truck can be automated, with inventory and all necessary information uploaded in real-time as soon as the tires cross the gate. Not only is it one less thing for workers to worry about, but it also solves for the small mistakes that can cause major disruptions further down the line. A warehouse powered by AI-solutions can also be organized so that every task is completed intuitively. Eliminate wasteful paths through daily slotting optimization,  get the most out of robotics, and ensure that every truck is packed (and unpacked) in the most streamlined way possible. The improvements won’t just show up on performance metrics. Workers will also feel more knowledgeable and effective with each of their daily tasks. Understanding the new opportunities available with technology is the first step towards gaining their enthusiasm for the tools. And enthusiasm is mandatory for getting the most out of your investments. Give your workers (and executives) what they want by optimizing your warehouse to support workers first. Solve for blind spots without slowing down operations Finally, to build an agile and resilient warehouse for the future, use tools that can identify blind spots in operations and suggest strategies for improving them. There will always be progress to be made with existing operations. Unexpected returns, sourced materials that aren’t up to standards, and other disruptions will create problems to be solved every day. But to really thrive in the next few years, companies need to be proactive about improving their supply chain. For example, working towards organized, transparent data sharing between the warehouse, transportation, and planning will highlight where teams aren’t communicating efficiently, where updates are lagging, and what opportunities there are to reach goals faster. Companies plan to make these adjustments, but time slips away. There is too much data and too many shifting factors to efficiently deploy relevant strategies in a timely fashion. With AI-powered solutions, data can be organized, analyzed, and used to build better strategies across the various teams. In truth, to stay competitive, supply chain executives will need to make progress in all these areas. Investing now puts companies on the path to seeing immediate, and long-term, ROI, plus sets them up for scalable growth in the future. Ready to optimize your warehouse? Discover how to shape tomorrrow's warehouse with today's AI solutions. Discover More ### [End to end SCM emerges for ANZ CPGs](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/end-to-end-supply-chain-management-playbook-emerges-for-anz-cpgs) > ANZ CPGs are tackling long supply chains and high costs with an end-to-end approach to unify decision-making. Blog End-to-end supply chain management emerges as the new playbook for ANZ CPGs End-to-end supply chain management emerges as the new playbook for ANZ CPGs Vineet Sharma , September 14, 2025 4 minute read Aldi Australia hit the sweet spot in October last year. The supermarket chain, which also sells goods produced by third-party brands under its own name, launched a new chocolate range that was not only $4 but also billed as “the fairest, most responsibly sourced chocolate bar Aldi has ever launched.” Stacks of bars vanished from shelves within weeks as Aldi nailed the two things Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) consumers look for when they stroll past the aisles of food and grocery in a supermarket store: a good deal and a product that is sourced responsibly. In a survey of 8,000 shoppers across six countries, Australians emerged as the most price-sensitive. In another report, nearly half said sustainability is an important factor when making a purchase. Delivering products that are both affordable and responsibly produced is the tightrope CPG companies in ANZ must walk on if they want to keep winning consumer trust. Cost inflation squeezes margins as global giants count the price of operating in Australia In a submission to a Senate inquiry last year, Mars, the global confectionery and food giant, noted that its Australian site is among the most expensive in its global network, driven by high wages, costly local raw supplies, and long supply chains required to import materials and ingredients. Unilever, the parent company of brands such as Dove, Lynx, Surf, Hellmann’s, Rexona, and Ben & Jerry’s, echoed similar concerns in its own senate submission, pointing to steep cost surges since 2019. CPG companies in Australia are struggling with rising energy bills, spikes in raw material prices, and increases in labor and freight expenses. Many are now looking for ways to drive efficiencies without compromising on cost or customer value. AI-driven end-to-end supply chain management offers a lifeline in a high-cost market As Australian CPG companies face their Mount Everest in balancing spiraling costs and customer satisfaction, many of them are banking on AI-based end-to-end supply chain management to help them edge past their competitors in a tight market. A recent IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Blue Yonder, has found that organizations in Australia and New Zealand are increasing their investment in artificial intelligence supply chain technologies to strengthen resilience, increase productivity, and address changing customer expectations. How AI helps CPG companies drive more customer value and stay profitable So, how does AI-based, end-to-end supply chain management work on the ground and help CPG companies control costs and stay profitable without compromising on customer experience? How can businesses keep the shelves of their retail partners filled with what the shoppers want and, more importantly, in the case of ANZ, at the price that they want? Smarter planning means fewer wasted goods: Using tools like Demand and Supply Planning , CPG companies can determine how much to produce so they don’t end up with stock sitting idle in the warehouse instead of on retailers’ shelves. Such tools use AI and ML to forecast demand and then quickly adjust supply to match changes in consumer demand. Warehouses run faster when AI takes charge: Harnessing AI-based Warehouse Management software, CPG companies can optimize picking, packing, sorting, and task assignment more efficiently than manual operations ever could. This leads to faster, smoother warehouse operations with fewer delays. Warehouse Management software also helps businesses gain insights into employee performance and use them to further improve processes. Inventory that adapts to shifting markets: Inventory Optimization solution helps businesses manage stock in a way that boosts financial performance. CPG companies manufacture different product lines — for example, one product might perform well in urban areas, while another may be seasonal. Rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach, inventory optimization uses AI and ML to redistribute stock between locations, channels, or customer segments. Connecting every player in the supply chain: A connected supply chain is an efficient supply chain. Solutions like the Blue Yonder Network bring together suppliers, manufacturers, carriers, warehouses, and retailers on a single platform. With a unified, multi-tier view powered by AI, CPG companies gain deeper visibility into their entire network and can make smarter, faster decisions to keep goods moving efficiently. How AI is powering Electrolux’s smarter, faster supply chain Electrolux is transforming its supply chain with AI agents from Blue Yonder, making operations faster, smarter, and more adaptable. By streamlining everything from planning to delivery, they’re ensuring appliances are always available when and where customers need them. It’s a game-changer in building a more efficient and customer-focused supply chain. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Climate Week provides sustainability strategies](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/climate-week-provides-sustainability-strategies) > Today's sustainability strategies can't be simple greenwashing initiatives. They have to make a meaningful difference to the business, consumers, and the environment. Climate Week highlights the strategies that do it all for supply chain leaders. Blog In a time of rapid change, Climate Week gives supply chain leaders sustainability strategies they can use Climate Week provides sustainability strategies Mckenna Bailey , September 15, 2025 4 minute read Every year, Climate Week offers companies the opportunity to reframe how they think about their sustainability efforts. With discussions of new technology and proven strategies, sustainability leaders find new ways to advocate for increased resources and new initiatives. This year, the event runs from Sept. 21–28, and features Blue Yonder’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Saskia van Gendt, who will speak on the intersection of AI and sustainability, among other topics. For full details of appearances, scroll to the bottom of this blog. We put together some highlights that van Gendt is looking forward to discussing with fellow attendees. These are what we think are the most important ideas for executives to incorporate into their operations strategies to improve resilience, profitability, and long-term sustainability. Sustainability is non-negotiable The clock has run out on taking half-measures towards more sustainable supply chains. Consumers are smarter at differentiating between greenwashing and carefully crafted sustainability efforts. 65% of all consumers, and 75% of Millennials , consider sustainability when considering a purchase. Despite a direct consumer preference, only 41% of companies reported emissions metrics on at least one Scope 3 category. While quick wins satisfied customers (and regulators) in the past, today’s standards are much higher. Sustainable strategies must represent a holistic view of the entire supply chain, including the way each company engages with vendors. End-to-end visibility into sustainable efforts does more than just make a company compliant. It is an advantage over competitors. Consumers want to support companies that operate transparently with traceable actions. To that end, companies that can pull together comprehensive reports with data from throughout the supply chain will have a more compelling and fuller story to tell about their sustainability strategies. AI integration and sustainable operations aren’t mutually exclusive The impact of data, both on business goals and sustainability efforts, requires AI solutions. While there are some concerns about the energy required to sustain data centers, the efficiency benefits of AI solutions can offset the energy costs in three important ways. First, AI can monitor and adjust energy use in real-time. Inside warehouses and within logistics, AI agents can assess baseline energy use, identify places where excess energy can be saved, and optimize for performance and sustainability over time. Next, AI helps companies manage and reduce waste. More intelligent and accurate demand forecasting means less waste for the supply chain overall. AI can reduce waste from returns by quickly assessing return quality and routing it back into inventory or for recommerce. Lastly, scenario planning reveals root causes for wasteful operations and offers solutions without requiring oversight from leadership or other workers. In terms of efficiency and informed decision-making, adopting AI will continue to add ROI in key sustainability metrics in the future. Collaboration among executives keeps business goals on track Perhaps the most important message to come out of Climate Week is an emphasis on collaboration and solidarity from executives. The risks of ignoring sustainability goals become more costly every day. To really make a difference in climate-related goals, both domestic and international, leaders must work together. That includes sharing success strategies, participating in events like Climate Week that facilitate important conversations, and imagining use cases that can improve the future for everyone. It also means cultivating a sustainable mindset throughout your company. Innovation can come from anywhere. But workers won’t prioritize sustainable efforts if they don’t believe it’s valued at the organization. Communicate your goals and outline expectations so that everyone can be part of the changes we want to make. To participate in van Gendt's appearances, check out: Building the Future Summit : Co-hosted by Nasdaq and New System Ventures, this exclusive experience brings together brilliant minds from the climate ecosystem and beyond for an opening bell ceremony and half-day summit. This year's theme, Investing in Future Systems, will look at systems innovation across several lenses, from finance and energy to agriculture and nature. Event Details : Date : September 22, 2025 Time : 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location : Nasdaq MarketSite Address : 4 Times Square, New York, NY Sustainability Live : The CSO Strategy Summit panel hosted by Sustainability Magazine. The panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities CSOs face in driving sustainability strategies, engaging stakeholders, and integrating sustainability into core business operations. Event Details : Date : September 22, 2025 Time : 3:50 PM - 4:30 PM Location : Convene Address : 360 Madison Avenue, New York, NY If you're not in New York, make sure to follow Blue Yonder's LinkedIn for all important Climate Week updates. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Five myths about adopting AI and technology for your supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/five-myths-about-adopting-ai-and-technology-for-your-supply-chain) > Stop letting AI myths stall your progress. We debunk 5 common misconceptions about adopting AI and technology to transform your supply chain. Blog Five myths about adopting AI and technology for your supply chain Five myths about adopting AI and technology for your supply chain Mckenna Bailey , October 1, 2025 2 minute read The biggest hurdle for adopting new technologies, especially at an enterprise level, isn’t finding one that works with that company’s specific workflow. It isn’t even finding the funds in the budget. Rather, companies often fail to move beyond the pilot phase because they cannot foster widespread adoption. Right now, we’re seeing this cycle with AI solutions. Companies understand the power and value of AI. They invest in platforms. But only 5% of enterprise companies report successfully deploying custom AI solutions. At first glance, it’s easy to assume employees don’t find the technology valuable. Then you consider that 90% of employees regularly use LLMs , and the theory falls apart. So, what is it about AI technology that is difficult to incorporate into enterprise operations? And can anything be done to improve implementation and adoption? We’re answering those questions while debunking the five most popular myths about adopting AI for the supply chain. 1. Companies need an AI expert to succeed. In the Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on AI and Technology , supply chain executives listed “insufficient skills among workforce to use and develop AI” as the main challenge to implementing AI in their organization. There is a common belief that to get the most value, employees need a deep understanding of how AI technology works. Of course, familiarity helps. That isn’t what prevents companies from moving past the pilot stage, however. Purpose-built technology accounts for all skill levels. More often, the understanding that helps employees is how the tool will help them and which of their workflows will be improved by using AI. Help employees understand why their daily processes are being updated, and they’ll learn the necessary skills to make it happen. What do experts really think about technology and AI? Discover what supply chain leaders are excited about, what concerns them and what their plans are for implementing powerful AI-driven solutions in the 2025 Supply Chain Compass report. Download For Free 2. ROI is about the solution, not the people who use it. The reason to push for adoption within your company brings us to the second myth: ROI comes from the solution and not the people who use it. Certainly, no tool can provide value if it isn’t used at all. More than that, though, if tools are used incorrectly, even if they are used daily, they can’t deliver optimal ROI. Invest in solutions that align with your company’s goals, as well as the way your workforce operates. Ask questions about how the new tools can integrate with existing systems, and what changes will be needed. Dive into your standard processes and discuss with your employees the changes that can be implemented immediately and those that will require more time. The time you spend preparing your team will ensure that you get value out of your new technology right away, and that it grows over time. 3. Adoption works like an on/off switch. Adoption, much like growth, takes time. While most executives ( 73% ) expect to see the impact of their technology investments within a year, full adoption and integration rarely happen on day one. The more employees explore the platform, uncover new use cases, and share knowledge with colleagues, the more valuable the solution becomes. This is especially true for AI, where algorithms improve predictions and outcomes with each interaction. The tools you invest in can begin delivering value quickly, but their long-term impact depends on consistent, effective use. That requires a well-planned adoption strategy supported by strong organizational change management. Leaders who view adoption as an ongoing relationship between employees and technology will see the greatest returns in both workforce skills and operational efficiency. 4. AI implementation means a smaller impact made by your workforce. The fourth myth about AI technology is perhaps the most harmful. Many believe that AI implementation means less work for the people who work at these enterprises. If the value of AI is that it works faster with fewer errors, the theory goes, how can humans compete? In truth, AI is just another tool to help people do the creative, strategic, impactful work they are best at. The goal of AI, whether agentic or generative, is to provide the options most aligned with a person’s stated goals. The employee is then empowered to take that information and make the best decision, incorporating their own expertise. The result is more effective decision-making using more comprehensive data and fewer errors. All attributed to the people who make your supply chain run. Of course, some jobs may look different. New skillsets may be required. But that is a reality of our current market, whether companies invest in AI technologies or not. The benefit of investing in intelligent solutions is that companies can foster a bigger impact from employees without requiring more work. 5. Successful deployment is an inside job. The final myth is an assumption that many enterprise companies make. Unlike the other myths on this list, though, few ask their solution partner about. Companies assume their team will be solely responsible for ensuring the successful deployment of their new AI tools. We’re here to fully debunk this myth. Organizations should view their solution providers as partners, extending beyond. Whether companies lean on consultants and advisors within the solution’s team or the community of other customers, there are always people willing to help you be successful. Buying an AI solution for your supply chain is a serious investment. It should be a major success for your business. And it can be. By utilizing the resources available to you and exercising patience with each step, you can change what’s possible for your supply chain. Stop the myths and unlock the true power of AI Discover how Blue Yonder AI can enhance speed, agility and efficiency for your business. Discover More ### [Celebrating Blue Yonder’s CSD Certification for MAICPP: A Milestone in AI-Driven Warehouse Management](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/celebrating-blue-yonders-csd-certification-for-maicpp) > Learn how this milestone validates our commitment to ethical, high-quality AI-driven Warehouse Management and sets a new standard for intelligent supply chains. Blog Celebrating Blue Yonder’s CSD Certification for MAICPP: A Milestone in AI-Driven Warehouse Management Celebrating Blue Yonder’s CSD Certification for MAICPP: A Milestone in AI-Driven Warehouse Management Chris Burchett , September 26, 2025 2 minute read We are thrilled to announce that Blue Yonder Warehouse Management has achieved the prestigious Certified Software Designation (CSD) from the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP). This exclusive accreditation is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence, placing us among an elite group of a limited amount of partners globally who have earned this distinction. The certification process, which culminated in August, involved a rigorous technical audit to ensure our software meets the highest standards of quality and performance. This achievement underscores our dedication to delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive customer success across various industries. At Blue Yonder, we are proud to integrate advanced AI agents within Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution. These AI agents enhance operational efficiency, streamline processes, and provide actionable insights, empowering businesses to optimize their supply chain operations. Our focus on AI-driven innovation is complemented by our commitment to Responsible AI initiatives, ensuring that our technology is used ethically and responsibly. Chris Burchett, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Blue Yonder expressed his gratitude for the certification, stating, "Achieving the CSD for MAICPP is a significant milestone for Blue Yonder. It reflects our relentless pursuit of excellence and our dedication to leveraging AI responsibly. We are committed to developing solutions that not only meet the needs of our customers but also adhere to the highest ethical standards." As we celebrate this accomplishment, we are excited to announce the launch of the Microsoft Marketplace, live as of September 25, 2025. This new platform will further enhance our ability to deliver innovative AI solutions, providing customers with access to a wide range of AI agents tailored to their specific needs. We invite you to explore our Microsoft Marketplace listing to learn more about Blue Yonder Warehouse Management Solution and discover how our AI-driven solutions can transform your business operations. Thank you for joining us on this journey toward a smarter, more efficient future. Together, we are redefining the possibilities of AI in warehouse management. Blue Yonder is your AI company for supply chain. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Navigating global complexity by embracing multi-enterprise networks](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-global-complexity-by-embracing-multi-enterprise-networks) > Discover how a connected ecosystem can help you optimize operations, enhance collaboration, and gain end-to-end visibility. Blog Navigating global complexity by embracing multi-enterprise networks Navigating global complexity by embracing multi-enterprise networks Jen McQuiston , September 24, 2025 2 minute read This blog first appeared on Logistics Viewpoints. Complexity in the global supply chain In many cases, including our global supply chain, the word “complex” is simply inadequate. Built on multi-enterprise networks that include suppliers, contractor manufacturers, carriers, and service providers, these networks are not only intricate but also increasingly volatile, particularly when disruptions occur. This volatility transforms the network into a nearly unmanageable web of data, updates and trading partners, all burdened by countless transactions and outdated technology and manual methods, such as EDI, phone calls and siloed software solutions. The old ways are obsolete The global supply chain is rapidly evolving, now relying on dynamic, distributed multi-enterprise networks, each comprising dozens, if not hundreds, of suppliers, carriers and contractors. These networks are constantly impacted by geopolitical disruptions, changing weather patterns and increasing regulations. The traditional, linear supply chain model—where products move from supplier to plant to customer—is an outdated illusion. It is that same illusion that elevates EDI and phone calls, and leans on solutions designed for single enterprises connected through simplistic, one-way integrations. Relying on these point-to-point connections and siloed solutions is no longer sufficient. Evolving software solutions Software solutions must adapt to this complexity, not by reducing it—an impossible task—but by embracing superior processes that allow us to thrive within it. Today's supply chain leaders recognize this shift. According to Blue Yonder’s 2025 Compass Report , leaders are seeking "better technology/software to manage supply chain risk, suppliers, compliance." They are looking forward to the "growth of AI, automation of scenarios and ease of access to information," which will simplify purchasing processes, provide clearer answers, build risk scenarios, and offer procurement recommendations that adjust automatically based on real-time data. Discover how supply chain leaders are navigating complexity Get your copy of the 2025 Supply Chain Compass to uncover key strategies, emerging trends, and actionable insights to help you steer through complexity and achieve your strategic goals Download For Free Achieving true collaboration True collaboration requires seamless connectivity and orchestration across the multi-enterprise network, enabled by technology that supports real-time, two-way communication and data sharing globally, regardless of tier. Demonstrating this need, Blue Yonder’s 2025 Compass Report highlights that nearly one-third of supply chain leaders (32%) prioritize supplier and partner collaboration to achieve strategic goals. As complexity grows, leaders seek greater visibility not only within their operations but also across their partners' activities. But what truly is collaboration in this case? Working together, yes, but it is also so much more. Supply chain collaboration extends further. It involves sharing demand, order, and production status information across all suppliers and contractors, as well as shipment status and delays with carriers, regardless of location or network tier. This real-time, two-way data sharing enables joint decision-making and allows enterprises to proactively address issues across multiple tiers in the network, ensuring each network participant has accurate, up-to-date information. When supported by AI-enabled and agentic technology, this network fosters resilience by identifying challenges and opportunities, redistributing tasks, and optimizing inventory across network-wide production and transportation trading partners. The path forward: Multi-enterprise network collaboration Multi-enterprise network collaboration refers to the cooperative interaction among independent organizations, or trading partners, working to achieve common business objectives across the supply chain. It is these interconnected businesses that create and move the goods shaping our global economy. This digital collaboration, necessary for competitiveness, involves sharing information across enterprises about resources, inventory, capacity, shortages, and delays to optimize efficiency and innovation. It also streamlines critical processes, such as purchase orders, communication, transaction management, and traditional tracking between various enterprises to help eliminate repetitive tasks and inaccuracies between businesses. Key features and outcomes of multi-enterprise network collaboration include: 1. Information sharing: Partners in the network exchange data and insights to improve decision-making and streamline operations resulting in more agile decision-making and greater responsiveness to changes in capacity, delays or needed inventory. 2. Resource optimization: When connected, enterprises can reduce costs, increase capacity and leverage each other's strengths enabling them to maximize their existing inventory, physical plants, labor, and other resources. 3. Supply chain efficiency: Improved coordination and better communication among partners can lead to more efficient supply chain operations, which means more promises kept, reduced lead times and more accurate planning. 4. Risk management: Sharing risks among network partners can lead to more robust strategies and greater network visibility enabling all players to stay ahead of uncertainties and maintain production schedules. 5. Technology integration: Utilizing shared technology platforms can facilitate seamless communication and process integration among enterprises and provide visibility across the multi-enterprise network enabling users to stay a step ahead. Multi-enterprise network collaboration creates a more agile, responsive, and competitive business ecosystem by leveraging the collective capabilities and capacity of all participants. By optimizing these networks, companies mitigate and manage their inherent complexity, collaborate effectively through shared data and communication, and enhance visibility across the global network. Master your supply chain with an AI-powered digital supply chain network Traditional supply chains often become trapped in outdated, siloed models. Discover how the Blue Yonder Network offers real-time visibility, transforming disruptions into opportunities and turning every partner into a hub of collaboration and agility. Discover More ### [Whats breaking Southeast Asias CPG supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/whats-breaking-southeast-asias-cpg-supply-chains) > Discover the key challenges and actionable solutions to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and build a more resilient supply chain. Blog What’s breaking Southeast Asia’s CPG supply chains and how to fix them What's breaking Southeast Asias CPG supply chains Vineet Sharma , September 23, 2025 2 minute read Volatility is the new baseline. A coconut shortage in Indonesia pushed prices higher and left CPG businesses scrambling for supply. In Vietnam, new traffic rules forced mandatory driver rest breaks and stricter fines, slowing long-haul transport and pushing logistics costs up by nearly 20%. And in Thailand, border closures with Cambodia forced companies to reroute shipments, safeguard staff and absorb mounting transport costs. Different flashpoints, same outcome: Disruptions striking without warning, operational costs mounting and Southeast Asia’s CPG supply chains stretched to the edge. Why CPG supply chains are struggling to keep pace Fragile sourcing: Behind every empty shelf or sudden surcharge lies more than one weak link. On one end, sourcing is fragile. CPG manufacturers rely on fragmented supplier networks that struggle with raw material shortages, shifting export policies and climate-driven volatility. A single disruption in coconut, palm oil or dairy supply can ripple through production instantly. An effective supply chain planning solution is critical to mitigating these risks. Stronger supply chain management practices ensure materials flow smoothly across suppliers, factories and distributors, reducing the risk of bottlenecks. Demand whiplash: Consumer demand is rewriting itself at lightning speed. A TikTok trend can send instant noodle sales surging in Jakarta overnight, while a flash sale can clear beverage stocks in Bangkok in hours. The combination of fragile sourcing, manual distribution, and unpredictable demand creates blind spots that make high costs and lost sales almost inevitable. Smarter retail planning and category management helps businesses align assortments and promotions to demand swings, ensuring fast movers are always available without overloading shelves. Piecemeal tech: Point solutions and siloed data limit response. Without a network of connected systems, even small disruptions snowball, eating into margins and eroding consumer trust. End-to-end supply chain management to the rescue No company can reset fuel prices or rewrite transport laws. But with end-to-end supply chain management, CPG businesses can do more than just absorb shocks. They can protect margins, sustain growth and deliver consistently to consumers even in volatile markets. Daniel Kohut, Industry Strategy at Blue Yonder, explains, "Resilience in Southeast Asia’s CPG won’t come from bigger safety stocks—it comes from an end-to-end, connected network that senses demand daily, reroutes supply in hours and turns volatility into a planning advantage." As BCG points out, many companies begin with a piecemeal approach, tackling only isolated parts of the supply chain. But to overcome the shortcomings of such fragmentation, they must ultimately embark on a full end-to-end transformation. How Dole achieved fill rates over 95% and reduced inventory by 40% with Blue Yonder Read the case study to learn how Dole Food & Beverages Group transformed its supply chain capabilities to add leading-edge visualization and data analytics. Read Case Study What end-to-end management looks like in practice A single version of the truth: Disconnected reports and siloed systems don’t cut it anymore. CPG leaders need platforms that connect sourcing data from suppliers, production schedules from factories, logistics flows, and retail demand into one clear view. That’s how a manufacturer knows not just how much detergent sits in a Bangkok warehouse, but also how raw material shipments are tracking, how many cartons are on trucks to Hanoi and which shelves in a department store in Manila are about to run dry. Smarter demand sensing and response: Traditional forecasts can’t keep pace when a viral video or sudden promotion flips the market overnight. AI tools detect these signals early and rebalance inventory across channels before shelves sit empty. For CPGs, that means popular items like soft drinks and instant noodles stay in stock during festival peaks, while slow movers don’t clog warehouses or retail aisles. Warehousing as the engine of execution: Modern warehouses are execution hubs. Automation helps accelerate picking, reduce errors and keep replenishment on track. A warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City, for example, can reprioritize tasks when an online flash sale drives a sudden surge in orders, while still meeting regular store deliveries. This orchestration shortens lead times, improves on-shelf availability and ensures every mile from production to retail runs smoothly. With the right warehouse software , businesses can optimize these processes and turn their warehouses into strategic assets. Scenario modeling for resilience and agility: What if palm oil shipments are delayed by export restrictions? What if trucking slows in Manila or demand spikes in Vietnam during a holiday? End-to-end management tools let companies simulate these scenarios, adjust sourcing, reroute logistics, or reallocate production before problems escalate. This foresight safeguards margins and ensures products keep flowing—no matter the disruption. The proof is in the performance Some CPG companies are already showing the way. Blue Yonder, the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation, helped Dole Food & Beverages Group , a global leader in fruit and healthy snacks, retool its supply chain to respond more dynamically to market volatility. With manufacturing facilities in the Philippines and Thailand, Dole integrated advanced supply chain planning and data-driven decision-making across its operations. Plants in the Philippines and Thailand moved from static planning to a tighter cadence—cutting inventory by ~40% while holding >95% fill rates within 18 months. That’s the end-to-end playbook in practice: Visibility, sensing and weekly execution rhythms that hold up under volatility. As Dinesh Vyas, Senior Director of Supply Chain Solutions at Dole, shared, "Our multiple Blue Yonder solutions support end-to-end, integrated planning with a centralized view of information, shared access to data analytics, and near real-time decision support. We not only have complete visualization of the supply chain for improved disruption management, but we can also make data-driven decisions and minimize risk. That's led to a range of benefits that include lower costs, higher service and increased productivity." By strengthening supply chain management, Dole improved visibility, boosted responsiveness and ensured its products—from fruit to juices to healthy snacks—reached consumers across Asia, the U.S. and Europe without delay. Keeping Southeast Asia’s CPG consumers loyal starts with AI-driven visibility From real-time insights to resilient operations, AI provides Southeast Asia’s CPG leaders with the visibility they need to earn consumer trust and keep them coming back. Learn More ### [AI agents are poised to revolutionize logistics networks](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/ai-agents-are-poised-to-revolutionize-logistics-networks) > The future of logistics is intelligent. Learn how AI agents are poised to transform complex networks, solving challenges and optimizing operations for peak performance. Blog AI agents are poised to revolutionize logistics networks AI agents are poised to revolutionize logistics networks Terence Leung , July 1, 2025 2 minute read An earlier blog post looked at the value artificial intelligence (AI) agents can deliver in warehouse applications. But that’s just the beginning of the value proposition of agentic AI for logistics teams and logistics service providers (LSPs). Specialized, autonomous AI agents drive incredible results at the network level, by enabling smarter decisions and more connected outcomes across all trading partners. Think of the dozens of disruptions and surprises that occur across logistics networks every day. When unexpected events occur, AI agents optimize outcomes across multiple enterprises by making and executing the right decisions immediately. This connected approach only makes sense, given today’s level of logistics complexity and volatility. After all, a disruption at one node affects every node of today’s fast-moving end-to-end logistics networks. Because they’re built and trained to focus on specific problem-solving tasks—and they greatly exceed human cognition—AI agents quickly discern the effect of a disruption on every function, node and partner. They arrive at an optimal resolution and roll it out across multiple teams and enterprises, in real time. Let’s say there’s a late inbound truckload delivery from a supplier to the warehouse. A dedicated, multi-enterprise AI agent will look for an alternate supplier who has immediate product availability. It will consider postponing customer delivery dates. It will reschedule warehouse resources devoted to unloading the truck, stocking the warehouse, picking the affected products and shipping orders. It weighs positive and negative outcomes, silently making intelligent tradeoffs among cost, service, resource utilization, sustainability and other factors. In conducting its network-wide analysis, it considers the optimal outcome for all participants—then the AI agent pulls the right execution levers, with minimal or no human intervention. Logistics teams always remain in control, because they’ve defined the rules, objectives and constraints in advance. The AI agent crunches the numbers and chooses the right path in just seconds. Uncover how AI agents enable warehouses to work smarter, not harder Learn how cutting-edge AI agents are revolutionizing warehouse management, driving unprecedented levels of efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. Discover More Imagine the possibilities: Blue Yonder’s agentic AI If this sounds futuristic and out-of-reach for most logistics operations, rest assured that agentic AI is here—and already adding value for both LSPs and corporate teams. Blue Yonder offers an out-of-the box Network Ops Agent, which provides continuous network monitoring based on predictive issue detection and impact analysis, to help logistics teams and their partners stay ahead of disruptions. Sitting on top of Blue Yonder Platform, integrated with Snowflake AI Data Cloud and connected with trading partners, the Network Ops Agent is highly trained. It monitors conditions in real time, delivers predictions and alerts, automates carrier management and order management, and resolves disruptions according to predefined guardrails. The Blue Yonder Network Ops Agent delivers deep task-specific functionality. And, through our partnership with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry , as well as our AI Advisory program , Blue Yonder also builds customized Network AI agents to meet an array of customer-specific applications. Here are just a few targeted capabilities of our Network Ops Agent for LSPs and logistics teams: Predict arrival times for every stop, first mile to last. Today’s logistics networks are complex, with multiple routes and multiple stops. Now logistics teams can see accurate arrival times across multi-leg, multi-stop transportation operations—updated in real time as conditions change. Cluster shipments intelligently. Margins are thinner than ever. Drivers are scarce. Sustainability pressures are growing. Shipment clustering is an effective way to address all these concerns. Blue Yonder’s agentic AI reveals the candidates for consolidation, as well as the cost and service impacts. Calculate order lead times. Customers want accurate lead times and delivery dates at the time of order. Network-level AI agents provide the solution, ingesting data from multiple trading partners—and analyzing factors like inventory and carrier availability—to make an accurate promise in seconds. Predict and resolve stockouts. A stockout doesn’t happen without warning. Blue Yonder’s agentic AI recognizes the warning signs—and proactively drives a solution, before revenues and satisfaction levels are impacted. Define safety stock levels. There’s a lot of complex math involved in calculating the right inventory level to avoid both stockouts and overstocks. Logistics teams must consider demand, supply, transportation variability, lead times, service-level agreements (SLAs) and other factors. For AI agents, these calculations are easy and automatic. Maximize capacities and utilization. Across the supply chain network, there are hundreds of moving parts, from inventory and labor to trucks and warehouse space. The Blue Yonder Network Ops Agent is purpose-built to maximize capacities and resources, for the highest return on network investments. AI masters volatility, network-wide, for more optimal outcomes There’s never been a better time for logistics teams and LSPs to leverage Blue Yonder’s advanced intelligence for optimal decision-making. Tariffs, extreme weather, geopolitical conflicts and other external forces have made logistics networks more vulnerable to risk than ever. Rising costs and labor shortages constrain networks in their ability to respond both quickly and profitably. For LSPs who are increasing their managed services business, these challenges are amplified exponentially. Today’s 4PLs are solving problems not just in one supply chain, but in many supply chains simultaneously. The resolution path that works for one managed services customer may not work for another. Clearly, advanced intelligence and decision automation are required, not optional, for LSPs to accomplish network optimization at scale. Agentic AI quickly delivers the best possible response across end-to-end logistics operations, while minimizing costs and other negative impacts. As a result, logistics teams can achieve more predictable outcomes across the network, even as that network is subjected to unpredictable events and disruptions. Always on, always engaged. Discover the value for yourself. The real beauty of Blue Yonder’s agentic AI? It’s always on. It’s always monitoring network-wide conditions, no matter how complex the logistics network. It provides 24-7 visibility, alerts users to any issues, and provides smart, constraint-aware recommendations that are aligned with operating goals. Via machine learning, AI agents learn from past resolutions. They just get better and better at making recommendations over time. Are you ready to leverage advanced AI capabilities? Don't wait for another disruption to impact your network. Find out how Blue Yonder's advanced AI capabilities, including AI agents, to detect disruptions early, trigger automated recovery across partners, provide shared visibility to carriers and customers, and deliver consistent SLA performance. Find Out More Get In Touch ### [Taking an agentic approach to tariffs](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/taking-an-agentic-approach-to-tariffs) > Discover how the new Tariff Agent from Blue Yonder intelligently automates tariff exposure reduction and management. Blog Taking an agentic approach to tariffs Taking an agentic approach to tariffs Susan Sivek , August 8, 2025 3 minute read Keeping up with the pace of new U.S. import tariffs (and their fluctuating rates as nations make or fail to make trade deals) is a challenging job. New information emerges frequently, and a single day’s updates can change the tariff rates for swaths of countries at once—and this is before accounting for sector-specific tariffs affecting goods like steel or aluminum, for example. There are also many nuances to each new tariff. Some imports from Canada and Mexico are protected by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Many are not. Some trade policies are industry specific. Suffice it to say that, on any given day, it might not be immediately clear which of your products, orders and suppliers are actually subject to tariffs. It’s tough, if not impossible, to procure components and products, manage supplier networks, and move inventory—with consistent profitability—under these conditions. The fast-changing, dynamic and highly nuanced nature of tariffs in 2025 exceeds human cognition, manual analysis and static planning cycles. And it’s not enough to merely flag a new tariff. Your organization must also figure out all the impacts, upstream and downstream, and choose the right response. Over the longer term, if the current tariffs stick, you may want to rethink your network model, shift to nearshoring, rationalize your suppliers, and take other strategic actions. But for now, two central questions are top-of-mind: How are tariffs affecting my business today? And what can I do about it today? Meet Blue Yonder Tariff Agent, your new in-house expert At Blue Yonder, we’re constantly listening to customers, observing their supply chain challenges and arriving at groundbreaking innovations in response. That’s why we’ve developed our new agentic AI application, Tariff Agent. What’s an AI agent? It’s software infused with AI that can pursue a goal on its user’s behalf, gathering information, analyzing it, providing recommendations, and even making decisions and executing them. At Blue Yonder, our AI agents are built to focus on very specific supply chain challenges—like tariffs. While Blue Yonder has broad, proven AI capabilities that span just about every supply chain capability, our AI agents are focused, hands-on and task-oriented. Tariff Agent is a highly trained specialist with a single mission: It applies AI, analytics, and the latest tariff information to help you achieve the best possible supply chain outcomes, based on how tariffs are affecting your company right now. Think of the Tariff Agent as a new expert on your team that sits beside your human planners and analysts, but far exceeds their cognitive capabilities and speed. Unlike traditional trade compliance tools, the Tariff Agent doesn't just track tariffs. It autonomously ingests huge volumes of policy and supply chain data and translates them into actionable sourcing and fulfillment strategies across your supply chain—all in mere seconds. Our Tariff Agent won’t replace your team, but it will make their work more confident and more accurate. You’ll achieve more certain, more predictable outcomes, even in the face of tariffs that are here today, gone tomorrow. Practical, actionable recommendations, based on current data How exactly does the Tariff Agent work? It sources current tariff data from the United States International Trade Commission , including the Harmonized Tariff Schedule , which defines duty rates and statistical categories for all merchandise imported into the U.S. Based on your supply chain data, it then calculates your specific tariff exposure by item, supplier, order, commodity, and country of origin in near real time. It scans your transaction data—including in-transit shipments, pre-transit shipments and planned purchase orders—highlighting critical tariff risks such as single-sourced products. It also intelligently defines those products that are protected from tariffs by USMCA and other agreements. In just seconds, the Tariff Agent makes practical recommendations that actively reduce tariff impacts. These recommendations might include: •    Switching to alternate sources of supply •    Moving out of high-tariff trade lanes and countries of origin •    Reprioritizing purchase orders and otherwise rethinking sourcing plans Tariff Agent focuses on short-term, actionable insights. But it also prepares your planners and financial analysts to think about longer-term strategies, by providing granular details on your tariff exposure by supplier, product category or country. Across sourcing, manufacturing, inventory optimization, and logistics, your planners and analysts can query the Tariff Agent and receive on-demand insights and recommendations that are relevant to their own function. This powerful AI agent provides you with an always-on, 24-7 source of facts and guidance related specifically to tariffs. It’s fast to launch and far more cost-effective than hiring internal staff or external consultants, while delivering more rapid, higher-quality insights. In all its analysis and recommendations, the Tariff Agent is trained to balance strict compliance with cost mitigation and high service levels. In seconds, it makes sophisticated trade-offs that would take human analysts weeks—and it’s likely that tariff details would change by then. As tariff patterns and sourcing behaviors evolve, the agent learns from decisions and planner feedback, refining its recommendations over time. Why it works: Built on a future-ready AI platform The Tariff Agent is more than just a smart assistant—it’s part of a broader ecosystem of intelligent, adaptive solutions built on the Blue Yonder Platform. It benefits from the same powerful foundation that underpins all our agentic AI innovations: •    Grounded on unified data across planning, execution, and network, seamlessly integrated through Snowflake •    Built on Azure AI Foundry, using both foundation and fine-tuned language models alongside advanced ML models •    Designed for trust, with embedded ethical AI, role-based access controls, and transparent decisioning •    Collaborative, context-aware, and memory-enabled, allowing agents to learn, adapt, and improve continuously Because it’s part of the Blue Yonder agentic ecosystem, the Tariff Agent can be connected to other agents such as Inventory Ops, Warehouse Ops or Logistics Ops. This means tariff insights can trigger real-time sourcing shifts, inform supplier scorecards, reprioritize POs, or re-optimize inbound routing in sync with your broader supply chain goals. Don’t scramble to keep up. Stay ahead with Tariff Agent. As supply chain professionals, we all know the frustration of ongoing tariff announcements and updates. Blue Yonder has developed the Tariff Agent to help you stay ahead of these constant changes—and proactively protect your cost and service results as conditions shift, and shift again. But Tariff Agent is just one solution in Blue Yonder’s growing family of agentic AI capabilities. If you have a supply chain challenge, there’s probably a Blue Yonder AI solution for it. We also work with customers on custom-tailored AI agents through our AI Advisor y. Don’t wait to be blindsided by the next tariff announcement. Reach out to the AI Advisory to learn more about the Blue Yonder Tariff Agent, or contact us to learn more about how always-on AI agents can help you optimize your supply chain performance, no matter what the future holds. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Moving Beyond Boundaries ICON 2025 Kicks Off with Groundbreaking Cognitive Solutions Launch](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/moving-beyond-boundaries-icon-2025-kicks-off-with-groundbreaking-cognitive-solutions-launch) > Explore the key announcements from ICON 2025 Day 1, as Blue Yonder unveils groundbreaking cognitive solutions designed to help businesses move beyond traditional boundaries and revolutionize their supply chains. Blog Moving beyond boundaries: ICON 2025 kicks off with groundbreaking Cognitive Solutions launch Moving Beyond Boundaries ICON 2025 Kicks Off with Groundbreaking Cognitive Solutions Launch Blue Yonder , May 5, 2025 6 minute read It’s been an energizing first day of ICON 2025. Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove took the Main Stage in Nashville by storm, introducing a new era in supply chain management, characterized by unparalleled speed and precision. In case you missed it, these are the key takeaways and announcements from the ICON 2025 Main Stage. Ushering in a new dawn of technology Move beyond boundaries. It’s not just Blue Yonder’s new tagline – it’s a promise fulfilled with the announcement of the Next Generation Cognitive Solutions. As Duncan explained, Cognitive Solutions are intelligent systems that bring together separate workflows into a single unified decision framework. They make the process more intelligent and precise, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions natively built in , they unlock machine speed, greater precision and unmatched intelligence in your supply chain, transforming how we approach supply chain management. It’s not about upgrading technology. It’s not just having faster, more efficient and precise processes – it’s about changing how we think about supply chain management and having solutions that think and work alongside us. "We believe that combining GXO’s global scale and logistics expertise coupled with Blue Yonder’s state-of-the-art supply chain technology stack will provide unmatched services and capabilities to our customers and support the growth of both of our companies.” Nizar Trigui, Chief Technology Officer at GXO Introducing the 7 design pillars shaping Cognitive Solutions After three years of innovation, $2 billion investment, the hard work of 1000s of first-class engineers and 100s of patents, and a vast array of strategic development partnerships, the new Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions are here. Going into a little more detail behind the groundbreaking work, Duncan introduced the 7 design pillars that shaped the Cognitive solutions. 1. Cloud native: Cognitive solutions are modern, meaning they’re built on the latest technology and designed natively for the cloud, making them infinitely scalable, highly secure, more resilient, and always current with the latest functionality. 2. AI Data Cloud & Blue Yonder Platform: Cognitive Solutions are built on the Snowflake data cloud, and the Blue Yonder Platform. This only has to ingest data once and can accurately run dozens of scenarios concurrently in minutes. By making data easier to find, faster to connect to, smarter to query, and more consistent across the organization, our new Cognitive Solutions can generate insights and answer complex questions at 100x machine speed and precision. Even better, the cloud model also enables any new capabilities to be deployed in all applications automatically. 3. Interoperable Solutions: Fundamental to agility is a cohesive set of supply chain management capabilities deployed on a common Blue Yonder platform and AI data cloud with end-to-end interoperability and orchestration. Enabling real-time visibility to disruption and opportunity, our interoperable solutions better manage dependencies and provide the agility to orchestrate multiple business functions simultaneously for faster and better decision making. 4. Multi-enterprise Network: The Blue Yonder Network connects every trading partner—manufacturer, retailer, and carrier—on a single, real-time platform. This means one single version of the truth for supply chain which means no more silos, no more lag.  All capabilities are extended across multiple enterprises and tiers in a supply chain for better visibility, more precise decisions, and faster coordination and collaboration. 5. Unified Decisioning: Unified decision-making doesn’t just connect these separate systems, but also orchestrates decisions across the entirety. Every single decision is made with complete, real-time information across the entire supply chain, serving the business as a whole. Blue Yonder was able to unify 28 different planning applications, all on different data silos and architectures and rewrote them into one cohesive solution on one, single data model and platform. 6. Intelligent & Agentic: Connected to Blue Yonder’s Generative AI-powered BY Orchestrator, the Cognitive solutions have digital intelligence trained on the supply chain that can see, analyze, decide, and act at machine speed and precision. 7. Reimagined Experiences: Blue Yonder have undergone a complete overhaul to the user experience. Starting from the bottom up, the new Blue Yonder platform accounts for the complexities of what you do and gives you the ability to navigate and use dense data in a clean, easy to use design. Introducing the first-ever planogram model and Agentic AI Agents “Today we’re entering the next chapter, where we automate not just tasks, but decisions, and outcomes.” Duncan Angove, Blue Yonder CEO Chris Burchett, Blue Yonder’s SVP of Generative AI, joined Duncan on stage to look in-depth into the Agentic AI behind the cognitive solutions. To start, he pointed out that Blue Yonder currently operates over 25 billion supply chain intelligence operations every day. To put it in perspective, every day Google runs about 8.5 billion searches worldwide.  That means Blue Yonder is running 3 times as many Supply Chain intelligence operations as Google runs searches. And now Blue Yonder is changing the game, with the launch of the Industry’s First Fine Tuned Supply Chain Model, the first ever large planogram model. The announcements didn’t stop there. As well as the planogram model, Chris also announced a team of Agentic Agents, including: Shelf Ops Agent, which will enable leveraging our new Large Planogram Model a whole new level of speed and precision for Category Management. Warehouse Ops Agent, which will fully brief you on the challenges for the day across picking, labor and inventory. Inventory Ops Agent, which will quickly explain unmet demands and identify broken Bill Of Materials (BOM)s or other data quality issues. Network Ops Agent, which provides continuous network monitoring based on predictive issue detection and impact analysis to stay ahead of disruptions. Logistics Ops Agent , which is an intelligent analyst that provides deep, actionable insights into your transportation plans to unlock hidden bottom-line improvements. We announced our AI Advisory, designed to get customers successfully running agents for their organization in 6-12 weeks, ensuring customers maximize the benefits, speed, and precision of the Blue Yonder Platform and Cognitive Solutions. The AI Advisory will also work with the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs to co-innovate groundbreaking AI supply chain solutions to tackle the world’s most challenging supply chain issues. Blue Yonder has reimagined User Experience Nunzio Esposito, Chief Design Officer at Blue Yonder, joined Duncan on the Main Stage to talk about how Blue Yonder has reimagined user experience . We have improved the overall UX, but also included more and better collaboration ability. And all of Blue Yonder solutions will be native on the desktop – Mac and Windows OS – as well as native on mobile, which will be further integrated into Co-pilot and Apple Intelligence. In addition, Nunzio also announced an entirely new class of Cognitive Mobile Apps, including apps for Replenishment, Warehouse Management, MerchOps, Manufacturing, and Space Planning. The apps will also be extensible, meaning that you can also add to and even make your own for a truly human first experience. We launched Supply Chain Manager to advance our journey to Sustainable Abundance Finally, Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Blue Yonder also joined Duncan on stage to talk about the mission to usher in the age of sustainable abundance. “We believe that when you bring together the right people, technology, and expertise—you can change the world.” Duncan Angove, Blue Yonder CEO Our products help customers reduce waste and emissions every day. But there was a gap that needed filling. Customers need highly accurate and accredited reporting to meet the growing pressures they’re facing to meet their sustainability goals and regulatory pressures. This brings us to the last announcement of the day – the launch of Blue Yonder Sustainable Supply Chain Manager which integrates ESG Datasets into the Blue Yonder data model so you can measure, manage and optimize carbon and waste alongside cost and service levels. The acquisition of Pledge Earth Technologies , a sustainable tech company helping businesses measure and meet their emission reduction goals, helps us move faster. Don't miss the game-changing release from ICON day 2! You've seen the highlights from Day 1. Now, get ready for even more innovation. Dive into our Day 2 recap to discover the groundbreaking product unveilings and strategic advisory service launched at ICON 2025! Explore Day 2 ### [AI agents enable warehouses to work smarter, not harder](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/ai-agents-enable-warehouses-to-work-smarter-not-harder) > Discover how AI agents are revolutionizing warehouse operations, enabling businesses to work smarter, boost efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance employee engagement, transforming the future of logistics. Blog AI agents enable warehouses to work smarter, not harder AI Agents Enable Warehouses To Work Smarter Not Harder Terence Leung , June 19, 2025 2 minute read Agentic AI has become a catchphrase and discussion point for logistics teams in just about every industry today, as well as logistics service providers (LSPs) . But what does it really mean? Artificial intelligence is a broad concept—and Blue Yonder has proven AI capabilities that span everything from top-level strategic planning to returns management. But it’s helpful to think of agentic AI as more focused, hands-on and task-oriented when compared to these wide-ranging AI capabilities. AI agents , including those offered by Blue Yonder, are specialists. They’re autonomous, intelligent software applications that are built and trained to execute specific supply chain tasks with minimal human intervention. AI agents observe events and ingest data, recognize patterns, develop contextual insights and execute an optimal action, based on predefined rules and parameters. Even better? They learn and continuously improve, based on the results of their previous actions. As corporate logistics teams and LSPs grow their physical footprints and expand their distribution capabilities, AI agents are becoming a critical solution. Even when operating in very complex conditions—including extreme demand shifts, seasonal peaks and evolving trade regulations—AI agents help logistics teams act intelligently, with machine speed and precision. In mere seconds, they recognize changes across the supply chain network and pivot the execution of tasks accordingly. They’re continuously acting to maximize profits, service, sustainability and other positive outcomes, while also minimizing waste and other negative impacts. Because AI agents exceed the ability of humans to ingest data and make rapid decisions, they help logistics teams make faster, more accurate decisions when compared with manual analysis. They also guide human workers in prioritizing and executing tasks most efficiently. In today’s environment of labor shortages, AI agents are an ideal complement to the human logistics workforce, amplifying their efforts and ensuring scarce resources are maximized. Agentic AI has applications across logistics operations, but let’s focus first on its potential to optimize the warehouse. Blue Yonder’s dedicated Warehouse Ops Agent is purpose-built to deliver value in the warehouse, building on the power of Blue Yonder Warehouse Management , Warehouse Execution , Warehouse Labor Management and other solutions. Let’s explore some examples for corporate logistics teams and LSPs. Meet your new AI agents Blue Yonder launched groundbreaking cognitive solutions, including powerful new AI agents, at ICON 2025. See the recap to discover how they will revolutionize supply chains and help your business move beyond traditional boundaries. Discover More Capitalizing on agentic AI in the warehouse As LSPs expand their managed distributions business and companies grow their order volumes, warehouses are becoming busier, faster-paced, more packed with associates and inventory, and more cost-intensive. The stakes are higher, as more and more decisions must be made—and more tasks must be completed—with lightning speed and accuracy. Success depends on the ability of logistics teams to adapt to real-time changes and make informed decisions at both the strategic and operational levels. Inventory and labor must be managed optimally at a high level, while every order needs to be picked, packed and shipped with precision and cost control. The Blue Yonder Warehouse Ops Agent manages both strategic and tactical considerations with ease. It’s been developed based on our decades of warehouse experience and our hundreds of customer success stories in distribution optimization. Just a few of its capabilities—developed to address logistics teams’ most pressing challenges—include: Dynamically reallocating labor in response to shifting priorities Optimizing warehouse layouts based on predictive demand and supply insights Identifying outbound risks early to prevent customer delays Streamlining trailer unloading, according to content urgency and staffing levels Proactively mitigating risks associated with on-time in-full (OTIF) compliance By intelligently coordinating highly interdependent tasks, the Warehouse Ops Agent enables faster, more confident decision-making. For example, late inbound delivery affects many downstream activities such as unloading and order fulfillment. Blue Yonder’s smart AI agent considers all these impacts and adjusts downstream tasks accordingly. While the Warehouse Ops Agent is powerful and sophisticated, Blue Yonder has designed a simple, accessible user experience (UX) that makes it easy for warehouse employees at all levels to apply. Distribution teams can take action from anywhere, at any time, thanks to a mobile interface. And real-time push notifications and alerts from the agent provide a quick overview of developments, allowing teams to prioritize actions effectively and promptly address urgent matters. Warehouse data, activities and statuses are presented in a highly visual manner that simplifies the complexity of the modern distribution center. A case in point: Managing product expiration Product shelf life and freshness are key considerations for many warehousing and distribution teams today. From packaged consumer goods to fresh produce and pharmaceuticals, distribution success often depends on observing shelf-life constraints and expiration dates with exacting precision. In the case of managed distribution, product waste not only means lost sales for the warehousing customer but could cause irreversible relationship damage for the LSP that was trusted to manage expiration carefully. Product expiration is just one practical problem that can be solved with speed and accuracy by the Blue Yonder Warehouse Ops Agent. The agent is trained to ingest and analyze volumes of data on product freshness, shelf life and stock movements. Then it provides intelligent stock rotation recommendations that minimize waste and shrinkage. The Blue Yonder Warehouse Ops Agent handles complicated challenges like product perishability with speed and ease, providing targeted analysis and specific corrective actions. The agent also identifies inventory with an incorrect status or location, locked stock and incorrect units of measure (UOMs) to prevent spoilage. It flags products at risk, alerts key stakeholders and prescribes specific corrective actions. Days or weeks of manual analysis focused on product expiration are replaced by rapid, AI-enabled optimization and continuous improvement via machine learning. Whatever your challenge, we’ve got an AI agent to address it This is just one small example of the incredible power and scope of the Blue Yonder Warehouse Ops Agent, which can be quickly launched and adding value for LSPs and corporate logistics teams, right out of the box. Through our AI Advisory program , as well as our partnership with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry , Blue Yonder also builds customized AI agents to meet targeted customer needs. Worldwide, over 3,000 companies across industries and 175 LSPs leverage Blue Yonder software every day. That provides us with a deep understanding of the challenges you’re facing—and enables us to address those challenges with innovative, value-added digital solutions. Don’t be intimidated by the buzz and hype around agentic AI. It’s a practical, accessible tool that delivers tactical execution support for your managed warehousing business. Revolutionize your supply chain with Blue Yonder AI The value of agentic AI is there. Don’t miss your chance to capitalize on it. Explore AI & ML Contact Us ### [NRF 2025 Europe Maxeda Sainsburys Morrisons](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/nrf-2025-europe-maxeda-sainsburys-morrisons) > Discover how leading retailers are using Blue Yonder to become supply chain leaders at NRF 2025 Europe in Paris this September. Blog NRF 2025 Europe: Maxeda, Sainsbury's & Morissons point of view on the latest retail challenges NRF 2025 Europe: Maxeda, Sainsbury's & Morrisons point of view on the latest retail challenges Justine Lacombe , August 28, 2025 2 minute read This September, the retail world turns its attention to Paris for NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show Europe. For the first time, NRF brings its flagship event to Europe—and Blue Yonder will be there in full force. As retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers across EMEA face growing complexity, one theme keeps surfacing: AI readiness. From optimizing grocery assortments to streamlining DIY supply chains, leaders are asking the same question: How can we get AI ready today to meet tomorrow’s challenges? At Blue Yonder, we believe the answer starts with a connected, cognitive supply chain—one that unites data, decisions and execution. By connecting teams, systems, and workflows, businesses can make smarter decisions from source to shelf and back. The result? Greater efficiency, lower costs, faster execution, and shopping experiences that keep customers coming back. What to expect from Blue Yonder at NRF Europe We’re bringing our best thinking and real-world customer stories to Paris. Don’t miss: Big Ideas session with Maxeda & Sainsbury’s: From grocery aisles to DIY shelves—how retailers get AI ready Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025: 16:15–16:45, Room 4 In this exclusive customer panel, leaders from Maxeda DIY Group and Sainsbury’s will share how they’ve harnessed AI-powered supply chain and retail solutions to drive measurable business outcomes. Discover how they’re navigating market volatility, transforming planning processes and delivering exceptional customer experiences while improving operational efficiency. Big Ideas session with Morrisons: Driving forecast accuracy and reducing waste Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025: 11:00–11:30, Room 2 Hear how Morrisons is improving forecast accuracy and minimizing waste with AI-driven insights. Live demos at our booth See the innovations we unveiled at ICON 2025 brought to life in Paris. From AI-powered agents that help you make smarter, faster decisions, to reimagined user experiences that simplify the complex, to connected execution across planning, logistics, and order management—we’re showing how sustainability and efficiency can go hand in hand. Let's connect in Paris NRF Europe is your chance to explore the future of retail with the people who are building it. We’d love to meet with you in Paris. Schedule time with our experts to talk through your challenges, see our latest solutions and discover how to get AI ready. Book a meeting with us at NRF Europe here . ### [Moving beyond visibility: mastering automotive logistics with end-to-end orchestration](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/moving-beyond-visibility-mastering-automotive-logistics-with-end-to-end-orchestration) > The product has evolved, but has the supply chain kept pace with automotive complexity? Discover end-to-end networked orchestration for automotive logistics. Blog Moving beyond visibility: Mastering automotive logistics with end-to-end orchestration Moving beyond visibility: Mastering automotive logistics with end-to-end orchestration Salim Shaikh , August 27, 2025 3 minute read From semiconductors and magnets to software-defined components, the modern vehicle is more high-tech than ever before. And while the product has evolved, many supply chains haven’t caught up. Finished vehicle logistics is no longer just about getting units from point A to point B. It’s about understanding what’s happening across every tier of your network, from inbound parts shipments stuck at port to the moment a vehicle is ready to hand off to the dealer or direct to customer. Traditional visibility falls short here. That’s where orchestration becomes essential. Beyond moving metal Automotive supply chains used to be about moving metal. Today, they’re defined by complexity. Electric drivetrains, connected features, advanced safety systems—all of it depends on a web of specialized parts sourced across multiple tiers. Semiconductors from one region. Rare earth magnets from another. And if even one component gets held up? The entire schedule starts to slip. You’ve probably lived that scenario more than once in the past few years. That’s why so many in the industry are rethinking how finished vehicle logistics should operate. Visibility alone won't deliver your vehicles Knowing where a vehicle is in transit isn’t enough anymore. You need to know: Where’s the container of parts that’s holding up production? Is there a completed vehicle sitting in a yard when it could’ve shipped? Can your team commit to a delivery date and actually hit it? These aren’t just visibility challenges. They’re orchestration challenges. If your systems are siloed—if planning doesn’t talk to execution, and inbound doesn’t inform outbound—you’re stuck reacting. At many OEMs, planning, scheduling, transportation, and warehousing decisions are made in silos by separate teams using homegrown legacy systems. This fragmented approach creates delays in decision-making, parts shortages, higher transportation and labor costs, reduced throughput, increased use of premium freight, and labor inefficiencies. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) scheduling often takes place without visibility into parts availability, leading to vehicles arriving at vehicle processing or distribution centers missing required parts. This triggers manual rescheduling and expedited parts procurement. Furthermore, reliance on disparate systems creates operational risk, including the potential loss of critical expertise tied to system-specific knowledge. That approach isn’t sustainable. You need real-time, end-to-end coordination that helps your teams act before problems escalate. Connect it all: Planning, parts, yard and delivery This is where the shift happens. From disconnected functions to a single, unified platform. Blue Yonder is the only supply chain solutions provider offering a truly connected platform for finished vehicle logistics. In our case, “truly connected” means fully integrating N-tier parts visibility, production scheduling, inbound and outbound transportation, yard management, warehouse operations, and predictive ETA intelligence—all on one platform, sharing the same real-time data. That means your teams can make faster, more confident decisions, whether it’s adjusting a schedule, rerouting a shipment, or updating a delivery window. It’s full-network orchestration, in real time. This approach mirrors the process in our portfolio: From tracking parts in containers overseas, to monitoring availability at the parts distribution center, to moving VINs into the yard and through the vehicle distribution center and finally staging them for outbound delivery to dealers. Each step works from one plan, aligned to capacity, labor, and demand. Watch the video to see how Blue Yonder is revolutionizing automotive supply chains with AI: Can you tell me when it will arrive? Dealers, customers and internal teams are all asking the same question. And if your answer is “we’re not sure yet,” you’ve already lost trust. People expect precision. They don’t care whether the delay came from a port issue, a yard bottleneck or a missed part delivery. They just want to know when their vehicle will arrive. Orchestration makes it possible to give them that answer, with confidence. When your supply chain is working from a shared source of truth, you’re not just estimating ETAs—you’re delivering on them. This capability isn’t just about communication. Accurate, real-time ETAs help production planners adjust build schedules, allow yard teams to prepare for incoming volume, enable warehouse managers to optimize space and labor, and give transportation planners the lead time to allocate capacity efficiently. The result is a supply chain that’s proactive instead of reactive, meeting OTIF goals while controlling costs. We've been talking about this for years At past conferences, in earlier posts, in conversations with automotive leaders, we’ve all said the same thing: The complexity is real, and it’s not going away. But it’s also not unmanageable. We’re at a point now where the tools exist. The tech is ready. Now it’s a choice: Keep stitching together siloed systems, or take the leap to something smarter, more connected and ready for what’s next. Long-, medium-, and short-term demand and supply plans for VINs can now be shared with Yard Management Systems (YMS), Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Transportation Management Systems (TMS) to improve planning for parts, labor, space, yard and warehouse storage, handling, and transportation capacity. These plans can also factor in labor and transportation capacity constraints to create executable supply plans. This approach improves plan adherence, reduces expedite and labor costs, and maximizes on-time, in-full (OTIF) performance and employee productivity. Let's solve it together From N-tier supplier visibility to delivery orchestration, we help you see more, plan better and act faster. Blue Yonder’s end-to-end integrated planning and execution finished vehicle logistics platform can provide comprehensive visibility across the entire parts and VIN journey—covering container transit, parts availability at the PDC, VIN movement into the yard, processing at the VDC, and outbound staging to the dealer. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [U.S. tariffs: what’s happening, and what does it mean?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/us-tariffs-whats-happening-and-what-does-it-mean) > U.S. tariffs explained: This blog breaks down the recent changes in U.S. trade tariffs, their implications for various industries, and what you need to know now. Blog U.S. tariffs: what’s happening, and what does it mean? US Tariffs Whats happening and what does it mean Ethan Morgan , July 14, 2025 4 minute read On Wednesday April 2nd, President Trump announced a broad expansion of tariffs to apply to 185 countries and territories. Prior to this, new tariffs were announced to apply to China, Canada and Mexico, as well as sector-specific tariffs on aluminum, steel and automobiles. In this explainer, we’ll cover what has changed in U.S. trade policy and tariffs during 2025, how and when those changes are being applied, what’s covered, and what it means for businesses. What are the goals of the changes in trade policy? Tariffs on Mexico and Canada were introduced with the aim of pressuring the United States’ neighbors to do more to tackle alleged fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration, as well as to protect domestic industry. The stated aim of the reciprocal tariffs according to The Office of the United States Trade Representative is “to balance bilateral trade deficits between the U.S. and each of our trading partners.” What it means for businesses The tariffs have been extensively re-negotiated, 'reciprocal' rates have changed, and deadlines have been extended to allow continued discussions. That uncertainty has left supply chains in a quandary: how to adapt to the unknown? And this unknown is not a far-off future change that cannot be forecasted, but a relatively short term and very impactful unknown that leaves supply chain leaders asking: how much will it cost to make, move and sell our products in a few months, or a few weeks from now? Which nations and suppliers are is best placed to serve our needs in a new world of tariff-affected trade? The common fears for supply chains are  of increased cost of goods sold (COGS), reduced margins, already-committed orders and inventory becoming unprofitable, and the concern that price increases will drive consumer behavior change and reduced demand. Manufacturers and suppliers are likely to push increased costs on to end-users, and retail brands are likely to also increase prices to protect margins. How can you react? Disruption at this scale and speed is challenging in the best of circumstances, but many supply chain organizations are still struggling with slow decision-making, manual scenario planning and limited insight into their trading partners. The implications of the changing trade policies are potentially enormous and require supply chain leaders to be able to collaborate effectively across functions and with partners—something that’s not possible to do when data is siloed, slow to update and slow to communicate. To create a playbook for handling this type of uncertainty and disruption at speed and scale requires supply chain managers to be able to see in real time what's happening in their network. They need to be able to see what's happening not just in their own business, but in their trading partners. Connecting these businesses in a digital supply chain network like the Blue Yonder Network does more than enabling better scenario planning and more agile responses to major shifts like tariff impositions. It also helps supply chains react rapidly to any kind of disruption, helping leaders see issues as they develop rather than once their downstream effects are felt, and allowing them to make the kinds of on-the-fly adaptations and changes that true scenario planning calls for. Timeline July 31: President Trump signs an executive order formalizing many of the deals announced prior, as well as confirming new reciprocal rates on countries which have not made a deal with the U.S. The order specifies rates for more than 60 countries, and delays the implementation of these rates from August 1 to August 7. July 27: The European Union and U.S. negotiate a trade deal which sees 15% tariffs on EU exports to the U.S., as well as an opening up of EU markets to certain American products, with no tariffs. July 22: Japan and the U.S. agree terms on a trade deal setting 15% tariffs on Japanese exports, alongside a range of investment and purchases by Japan. July 15: Indonesia and the U.S. come to terms, with the U.S. set to levy 19% tariffs on Indonesian exports, lower than the 32% figure previously slated to come into effect August 1. July 8: President Trump makes remarks at a cabinet meeting signalling intent to put 50% tariffs on copper imports, and 'very high rate, like 200%' levies on pharmaceuticals. July 7: President Trump announces new tariff rates on 14 countries, and announces that reciprocal rates first revealed back in April will come back into effect for all countries without a trade deal on August 1, as well as adjusting some of the initially-promised reciprocal rates. July 4: The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" is signed into law, which includes a stipulation that the 'de minimis' exemption will be removed entirely as of July 1 2027. July 2: The United States and Vietnam reach a trade deal which sees 20% tariffs on Vietnamese exports to the US, and no tariffs on US exports to Vietnam. June 11: A 'trade framework' is reached between the United States and China to ease technology restrictions and open up trade of rare-earth metals. May 30: President Trump announces that aluminum and steel tariffs are set to increase from 25% to 50% as of Wednesday June 4. May 29: A federal appeals court grants an administrative stay on the injunctions while the case is appealed—meaning tariffs can continue to be collected until the appeals court makes a ruling. The plaintiffs in the original case have until June 5 to file a response. May 28: The Court of International Trade issues an injunction halting the executive orders by which President Trump enacted many of the new tariffs, particularly those on Canada, Mexico, China, the 10% global tariff, and the reciprocal tariffs. May 12: U.S. and China announce deal to cut tariffs for the next 90 days. The U.S. cut back extra tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, and Chinese tariffs on U.S. imports reduced to 10% from 125%, until a deal is reached or August 10. April 9: Hours after reciprocal tariffs began, President Trump authorized a 10% tariff rate across the board, with the exception of China—essentially pausing the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days as negotiations with many countries continued. However, China is now the target of 125% tariffs. April 5: 10% baseline tariffs enacted. April 3: Automotive tariffs come into effect. April 2: President Trump announces ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on 185 nations and territories due to come into effect on April 9, alongside a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports coming into effect on April 5, with many countries being subject to much higher percentages. The tariffs are described as reciprocal, though they are not correlated to tariffs that each country levies on US imports. Instead, a White House official quoted by the BBC explains that they are based on a calculation of the trade deficit the US has with each nation/territory, divided by imports. In a separate executive order, President Trump abolished the ‘de minimis’ exemption for goods from China and Hong Kong. This exemption, widely used by businesses like Temu, Shein and others, previously meant that imports under the value of $800 would not incur duties. March 26: President Trump announces 25% tariffs on automotive imports, due to start collection on April 3 for fully imported cars and expanding over the following weeks to include more imported car parts, up until May 3. March 12: Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect. March 6: Tariffs are delayed for goods compliant with the United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement (USMCA), initially for a month and now indefinitely. March 4: Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports come into effect. Tariffs on Chinese imports are increased from 10% to 20%. February 10: President Trump modifies steel and aluminum tariffs to remove exceptions, raise the rate from 10% to 25%, and add more steel and aluminum products to be covered by the tariffs. February 4: The 10% tariff on Chinese imports comes into effect. February 3: One-month delays are negotiated for these tariffs in the cases of Mexico and Canada. February 1: President Trump signs executive orders enacting tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico entering the United States, to be enforced from February 4. This order directs 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, and 25% on all non-energy/oil imports from Canada. Canadian oil and energy imports are subject to 10% tariffs. Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Discover More Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [How economic uncertainty is transforming supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-economic-uncertainty-is-transforming-supply-chains) > Learn how global economic shifts are fundamentally reshaping supply chains. Discover key strategies for building resilience and adapting to uncertainty. Blog How economic uncertainty is transforming supply chains How economic uncertainty is transforming supply chains Ethan Morgan , July 31, 2025 1 minute read Economic uncertainty has become a permanent fixture of the retail landscape and a massive challenge for supply chain leaders. The numbers tell the story: Food prices have surged 31% since 2019. Energy costs climbed 3.3% in just the past year. And shipping costs? They've gone completely wild. Container rates that clocked in at $1,342 for a 40-foot container in October 2023 skyrocketed to more than $5,900 by July 2024 on the global composite index , which tracks freight rates across eight major shipping routes including Shanghai to Rotterdam, Shanghai to Los Angeles, and Shanghai to New York. That's a staggering 340% increase in less than a year. Rates have come back down since those 2024 peaks but are still more than twice the prices seen in 2023. As of March 2025, global rates averaged $2,264 per 40-foot container, compared to the pre-pandemic average of $1,420 in 2019. Add shifting tariff policies that are causing headaches to keep track of and anxious consumer sentiments to the mix, and you've got a perfect storm of volatility. But here's the thing: The most successful retailers aren't just trying to survive this uncertainty; they're using it as a competitive advantage. Economic ripple effects hit every link in the chain Economic pressures like the ones we’re experiencing now create a domino effect that touches every aspect of supply chain operations. Consumer behavior goes sideways Shoppers are drastically changing their purchasing patterns. Recent data shows consumers are spending 10% of their clothing budgets on secondhand platforms like Poshmark and ThredUp, while trading down from premium to value brands across the board. These rapid changes are leaving retailers with the wrong inventory in the wrong places. The cost squeeze Rising costs at every stage—raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, labor—are squeezing margins while consumers become increasingly price-sensitive. Retailers face an impossible choice: Absorb costs and hurt profitability, or pass them along and risk losing customers. Forecasting becomes a guessing game When consumer preferences shift dramatically within weeks, annual planning cycles become obsolete. And traditional forecasting models built on historical patterns struggle when those patterns become useless at predicting future behavior. Supplier vulnerabilities multiply Economic pressures extend beyond retailers to their suppliers and manufacturers, creating cascading risks of disruption, financial instability and production challenges. The painful reality for traditional supply chains These challenges are hitting companies with traditional, siloed supply chain operations particularly hard. When departments operate from different data sources and systems that don't talk to each other, the organization's ability to respond cohesively to rapid changes is severely compromised. Traditional retailers find themselves constantly reactive—adjusting to changes after they've already impacted operations. Their planning teams work in isolation from inventory management, pricing teams make decisions without visibility into supply constraints and nobody has a complete picture of what's actually happening across the business. The result? Stockouts of trending products while slow-movers pile up in warehouses. Price adjustments that come weeks too late. Manual coordination efforts that eat up valuable time while competitors move faster. In an environment where consumer preferences can shift dramatically within days, these delays become devastating. But while some retailers struggle with these mounting pressures, others are taking a completely different approach. Navigate the future with confidence Discover the industry's direction, the state-of-the-art in supply chain management, and the key actions leaders are prioritizing to build resilience, implement new technology, and achieve sustainability goals. Download Now Supply chain leaders are fighting back The most successful retailers have discovered that thriving in uncertain conditions demands that they have the right data at the right time and the capability to act on it immediately. That means implementing a new supply chain model that focuses on “precision at speed” to sense demand changes in real time and respond with accuracy, eliminating the need for costly buffers while actually improving customer service. And according to the latest Supply Chain Compass 2025 report, supply chain leaders are taking action. Respondents identified better demand planning (46%) and quickly obtaining and analyzing data on performance (46%) as the two most essential actions for success, followed by investing in tracking and visibility solutions (45%), digital software transformation and innovation (41%), and managing supply chain costs (33%). A fundamental shift in supply chain strategy According to the Supply Chain Compass 2025 report , smart retailers are shifting from optimizing for efficiency in stable conditions to building resilience in volatile ones. 0 % of leaders agree that outdated technology will hinder their supply chain’s potential 0 % of leaders are urgently prioritizing implementation and adoption of new technology 0 % How much food prices have surged by since 2019. In addition: 40% are looking to improve efficiency and productivity 29% want to build more resilient supply chains What it takes to thrive The retailers that will succeed through continued economic uncertainty aren't those hoping for a return to stability. They're the ones learning to navigate skillfully through volatility. This requires five key capabilities: 1. Real-time visibility into demand patterns and supply chain operations Leading retailers are ditching disconnected systems for solutions built on common data foundations. That means when consumer behavior shifts, these systems can adjust planograms and inventory levels in days rather than weeks. 2. Rapid responsiveness to changing conditions Machine learning systems excel in uncertain conditions because they instantly adapt to new patterns rather than relying solely on historical data. For example, these types of systems optimize routes to reduce fuel costs, adjust pricing dynamically, detect anomalies that might indicate emerging risks, and sense demand changes before they become obvious. 3. End-to-end integration that enables coordinated action When all teams work from the same data foundation, the organization can respond cohesively rather than having departments work at cross-purposes. Connected platforms break down silos between functions, so companies are able to coordinate responses to disruption more easily and quickly. 4. Advanced analytics and AI that transform data into actionable insights The new supply chain technologies process vast amounts of data to identify not just what's happening, but why, and what actions will produce the best outcomes. For example, instead of simply noting declining sales in a category, these systems can identify specific factors driving the change and recommend precisely targeted interventions. 5. Automated processes that enhance efficiency while reducing costs Automation enables retailers to anticipate disruptions before they impact operations, adjust quickly to changing market conditions, reallocate resources more effectively, optimize inventory levels across the network, and reduce waste and unnecessary costs. The bottom line Economic uncertainty is here to stay and your supply chain can be your greatest asset. But only if you have the right tools. Retailers that invest in digital supply chain technologies now can turn potential crises into competitive opportunities, emerging stronger when conditions eventually stabilize—or succeed where others fail, if conditions continue to be volatile. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [DIY returns are tough](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/diy-returns-are-tough) > Ditch the DIY returns struggle. Learn how AI-powered supply chains can transform your returns process, making it tougher and more efficient. Blog DIY returns are tough. But, powered by AI, your supply chain is tougher. DIY returns are tough Mike Richmond , July 28, 2025 3 minute read The problem of product returns is growing across every retail segment. Last year, the total value of returned merchandise was $890 billion, representing almost 20% growth compared to 2023. Clearly retailers need to master this challenge, by minimizing the time and costs involved in processing returned goods and getting them back into sellable inventory. Honestly? Most retailers aren’t doing very well. The average cost of processing a return is 30% of a product’s original price. And less than half of returned goods are resold at full price. About 12% of returned goods are never resold at all. Big products, big costs, big problems These negative impacts are only amplified for do-it-yourself (DIY) retailers, whose products tend to be large, hard to handle, value-dense, operationally complex and otherwise challenging from a reverse logistics perspective. From fragile porcelain bathroom fixtures and marble tiles to bulky major appliances and lawn equipment, DIY products are sold and shipped in carefully packed boxes, cushioned with protective materials. But they often arrive back in a very different condition: broken, used or dirty. They may be missing the original packaging or not packed well, leading to damage in transit. Even when large, bulky DIY products are returned in like-new condition, in the original package, they still represent a logistics challenge. Often, they require large amounts of warehouse space, high freight costs, two-person lifting or other special handling, as well as forklifts and other specialized transport equipment. Depending on their condition, current inventory levels and market demand, they may follow a winding path from stores or warehouses to open-box consolidation centers, liquidators or landfills. How big is the reverse logistics cost impact for DIY retailers? It’s been estimated that, for bulky items like a toilet or refrigerator, retailers only recover 10% of the product’s original value on average. The reality is that returns in DIY retail are rarely simple. The business is defined by bulky products, high freight and handling costs, fragile or finish-sensitive materials, and complex SKUs with components, accessories and warranty implications. Product delivery and installation are often a process of trial-and-error, and product mismatches are all too common. If you think the answer is implementing ever-stricter return policies, think again. Fashion retailers are learning the hard way that enforcing over-restrictive return timelines, or always requiring a receipt, even if an item is defective, quickly generates consumer dissatisfaction—and potentially negative reviews and viral videos on social media that damage their brand image. A Blue Yonder survey found that, after retailers tightened their return rules, 59% actually saw an increase in product returns . And when Blue Yonder surveyed consumers, we found that 59% of shoppers are deterred by a restrictive returns policy. $ 0 B The total value of returned merchandise last year. 0 % the average cost of processing a return, based on a product's original price. 0 % The average amount of the product's original value recovered for bulky items. The solution? An intelligent supply chain, built to master returns Consider the alternative: Make returns easier for shoppers, because 70% will purchase more from your brand following a positive returns experience. By streamlining the returns process for your shoppers, you can turn a cost into an asset. Easy, low-friction returns are a proven way to earn shoppers’ trust and increase their lifetime value. You also need to optimize your internal processes for handling the large, and growing, volume of returns that has become a retail reality. Skyrocketing returns are already transforming DIY retail. Now it’s your turn to transform your reverse logistics operations in response. The great news is that Blue Yonder has all the returns management capabilities you need to accomplish this quickly, seamlessly and cost-effectively. Trust us, your overworked retail employees and customer service staff don’t want to deal with frustrated shoppers, product condition issues, missing receipts, open boxes, complicated pricing structures and trade discounts. And, given the complexity of reverse logistics costs, special handling needs and twisting product pathways, they lack the cognitive abilities to calculate the best, most profitable resolution for every product return. That’s where Blue Yonder comes in. From the moment your shopper initiates a return through an online portal, our advanced artificial intelligence (AI) is hard at work, optimizing the result of that return. Blue Yonder returns management software is purpose-built to integrate the reverse logistics process into your larger supply chain, applying the same logic and discipline used to plan forward logistics. It encompasses forecasting, inventory routing and intelligent disposition, planning with the same degree of effort and precision used for outbound product shipments. And it’s designed to accommodate the complexities of retail categories like DIY and home improvement. Optimize your returns with Blue Yonder consumer data Are changing return policies impacting your customers? Discover key consumer insights from Blue Yonder's 2024 Consumer Retail Returns Survey to create a return strategy that benefits both your business and your customers. Download The Results How does it work? At the moment of returns initiation, Blue Yonder gathers and analyzes data on the channel and store where the product was sold, its price, its condition and the consumer’s history with your brand. After all, there’s a big difference between a fraudulent, serial returner and a loyal, high-value consumer who made a rare purchasing misstep. But that’s just the start. Blue Yonder AI is also doing some major calculations related to the probability of the product being resold through various stores and channels. After all, every return represents a multi-variable optimization problem, aimed at maximizing the likelihood and value of a resell. Product condition, customer history, demand and sales history, inventory levels, product location, shipping and handling costs, and fraud risk—these and other data points must be considered quickly. While that challenge exceeds human cognition, especially at speed and scale, Blue Yonder’s AI-enabled decision engines reach an optimal solution in seconds. AI determines the best disposition, the best return method and the right incentives. Blue Yonder optimization engines also can define a specialized course of action for each consumer, ranging from VIP treatment to preventing the return based on suspected fraud. With Blue Yonder, your organization is actively, intelligently and quickly making the best possible choice for every return. Your options include: Having the consumer print a label and drop-ship the product, whether to your warehouse, a liquidator or the original vendor—making accommodations, as needed, for heavy or oversized products Providing the consumer with a QR code and directing them to your store, where they might make additional purchases Issuing a refund without a product return, because the logistics costs exceed the product’s resale value Combining the return with an incentive to exchange it, or buy another product at a discount Barring the return based on your stated policies or the potential of fraud Whatever the resolution that’s determined for each returned product, you’re in complete control, because Blue Yonder AI is trained to follow your rules and maximize your outcomes. Its proprietary algorithms consider all your objectives, including profitability, sustainability and customer service. You can stop dealing directly with damaged products, fraudulent returns and angry consumers. And you can have 100% confidence that the right returns path is always selected, based on data and predefined decision parameters, not flawed human judgment. Transform your returns from margin drain to loyalty driver If your organization views returns as a liability, or worse yet, doesn’t focus much attention on them at all, you need to change your mindset. If you’re a DIY retailer with $5 billion in sales, and half of them made online, you have a $750 million annual returns problem. Don’t you think it’s worth addressing that problem head-on? Instead of seeing returns as a broad strategic challenge, you need to view each return as a tactical opportunity to build long-term loyalty, encourage an additional sale with the consumer, and resell the returned product to another shopper. Yes, you’ll be investing in reverse logistics. But Blue Yonder helps minimize your logistics costs, while also unlocking new revenue and profit streams to offset them. It’s time to flex your supply chain muscle and gain greater control over the returns process, by using the same AI-enabled solutions and best practices you apply to the rest of your supply chain. Why not contact Blue Yonder —and start increasing your power and control today? Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Automakers Its Time to Check Under the Hood of Your Demand Planning Solution](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/automakers-its-time-to-check-under-the-hood-of-your-demand-planning-solution) > Automotive industry: Is your demand planning solution up to speed? Learn why it's crucial to examine your system for optimal performance and supply chain resilience. Blog Automakers, it’s time to check under the hood of your demand planning solution Automakers Its Time to Check Under the Hood of Your Demand Planning Solution Salim Shaikh , September 17, 2024 2 minute read The global automotive industry is undergoing a revolution, as manufacturers and consumers make the switch from internal combustion engine (ICE) models to electric vehicles (EVs). While this fundamental shift will produce enormous benefits for the environment, it’s creating challenges and complexity for the world’s automotive demand planning teams. It’s difficult to get the product mix right — across EVs, ICEs and hybrids — by channel and region. To add to this complexity, today’s consumers are demanding and craving product customization. As smart features, electric powertrains and hybrid models continue to emerge, and as new options constantly become available, this trend is expected to grow. For automakers, the abundance of choices makes it challenging to predict the exact configurations that will align with market demand. This often leads to overproduction of vehicles and options, resulting in an inventory of slow-selling models that sit unsold at dealerships and force profit-eroding discounts. In addition, consumer preferences and demand vary greatly across global markets. Getting the mix wrong can lead to excessive, aging inventory on the one hand and missed sales opportunities on the other. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that can accurately assess consumer needs and adapt their supply chains accordingly will be the ones to remain profitable. Meanwhile, automakers need to make high capital investments in new technologies, plants and delivery channels to support diverse models and consumer needs, with no guarantee that these investments will pay off.  And, while the global chip shortage is firmly in the rearview mirror, automakers still face supply shortages, in part due to the large component inventories needed to simultaneously produce EVs, ICEs and hybrid models. When production is stalled because of parts shortages, manufacturers lose margins, sales and customer loyalty. Perhaps the biggest challenge? Automakers are trying to navigate this chaotic, complex market environment with outdated solutions that simply weren’t built for the task. Supply chain planning teams are unable to predict comprehensive demand across all models, regions and channels — or sense demand changes quickly enough to avert losses. They can’t anticipate, rigorously analyze or optimally resolve disruptions. And, too often, they can’t share real-time data throughout the organization and collaborate across functional siloes. Optimize your Production with APS Component shortages? Logistical nightmares?Overcome today's production challenges with Advanced Production Scheduling solutions. Discover More What’s needed? A solution that runs on all cylinders To keep pace with all the changes in the marketplace, while also identifying and managing disruptions, automotive planners need an advanced solution, enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). The ideal solution would go beyond human cognition and manual analysis, to ingest large volumes of near real-time demand data — as well as consider key economic data like the consumer price index (CPI), inflation, the gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, fuel prices and housing starts. Then it would leverage advanced data science and predictive analytics to arrive at accurate demand forecasts. The resulting forecasts would also be dynamic, not static, in nature to stay aligned with actual market needs even as conditions shift. This AI-enabled solution would manage demand complexity across all models, channels and regions, to ensure that the right product is always at the right place at the right time. Even the complex product mix that currently characterizes the global auto market would be more easily managed. Finally, the ideal solution would not only leverage advanced AI and data science, but also machine learning (ML), cloud computing and predictive analytics to compress the time horizon between planning and decisions from days to minutes. In defining forecasts, it would run hundreds of what-if simulations quickly, to understand and predict the impact of real-world demand-driving variables. This powerful solution would autonomously make optimal recommendations, enabling an unprecedented level of decision-making speed, responsiveness and agility. Rev up your results with Blue Yonder Demand Planning If this idealized solution sounds too good to be true, meet Blue Yonder Demand Planning . Fueled by AI, this innovative planning solution allows automotive demand planners to benefit from: Near real-time data analysis. Demand Planning uses advanced statistical and ML models to accurately forecast demand across different time horizons, regions, channels and products — dynamically adjusting these granular forecasts as conditions change. This Blue Yonder solution ingests hundreds of causal factors and demand-driving variables — such as CPI, GDP, inflation, interest rates and fuel prices — to produce accurate forecasts. It also collates risk and demand assumptions. A unified planning process. Demand Planning replaces siloed decision tools and processes with integrated, collaborative planning and scenario modeling across functions. By increasing visibility to the supply chain, it intelligently aligns production with demand across global markets. Users leverage a single, shared data model that ensures they’re connected to the newest, most relevant insights. Decisions are made based on a single version of the truth. Supercharged scenario planning. Blue Yonder’s AI-powered solution enables the demand planning team to digitally embed, track and improve its assumptions, as well as accurately identify the variables that impact demand outcomes. Planners can create, run and test multiple scenarios to arrive at actionable plans much faster — as well as update plans much more dynamically. Planning becomes continuous, not static, as cycles are compressed from weeks, days or hours to mere minutes. A platform-based approach. Demand Planning is delivered on Blue Yonder  Platform, which provides standard services that are configurable — enabling all planning and execution processes to be mapped and orchestrated in a flexible way. By using AI on Blue Yonder Platform, insights can be identified and shared, and planning can be optimized and automated across functions. Planning and execution can be managed not in siloes, but as part of a joint approach, minimizing response times to demand changes and other disruptions. Start your (optimization) engines If you’re a demand planner, it’s time to make a change. Just as EVs are revolutionizing the global automotive industry, AI-enabled Blue Yonder Demand Planning is revolutionizing the forecasting process. Leading automakers are already leveraging Blue Yonder’s powerful optimization engines to get the product mix right across models, channels and regions — driving increased sales, margins, customer satisfaction and asset utilization. Think of this blog post as a green flag that starts your own race to improved results. Predict the road ahead with Cognitive Demand Planning Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Demand Planning offers advanced analytics, real-time causal simulation, and integrated collaboration to address these challenges. Discover More ### [6 Steps for Retailers to Optimize Marketplace Returns and Protect Their Brand](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/6-steps-for-retailers-to-optimize-marketplace-returns-and-protect-their-brand) > Optimize your marketplace returns strategy. Learn 6 proven methods to reduce returns, protect your brand image, and improve your bottom line. Blog 6 steps for retailers to optimize marketplace returns and protect their brand 6 Steps for Retailers to Optimize Marketplace Returns and Protect Their Brand Mike Richmond , October 18, 2024 2 minute read We previously covered why many retailers are establishing marketplaces for third-party sellers to offer their products through. The opportunities for growth are undeniable, but there are challenges to overcome to maximize the marketplace approach. Foremost among them is the question of returns, and how they’ll be managed. In this piece, we’ll cover the six key steps that retailers can take to prevent third-party marketplace returns becoming a major headache and drain on their bottom line. 1.      Protect the brand Customers expect clarity. They want to know what your policy is and how it applies to their specific purchase. 86% of shoppers say they check returns policies before purchasing. Make it easy for them with an easy-to-understand policy that incorporates the rules for your third-party vendors too. It may even be worth adding key returns messages to the product page itself, saving customers extra clicks to find out what they need to know. Then, when it’s time for customers to actually make a return, they need a convenient returns journey, accessible from your site and retaining your branding throughout. Here, depending on the item they’re returning, you can tailor the options available for sending the item back, or dropping it off in a store. What’s important is that the customer has an easily accessible, digital experience with your branding that makes the process easy for them — just like the purchasing journey on your marketplace. Avoid the hidden pitfalls of retailer marketplaces Retailer-owned marketplaces are booming. Discover the growth potential and the critical pitfalls you must avoid. Learn how to capitalize on this trend without jeopardizing your success. Discover More 2.      Digitize One way that some retailers running marketplaces currently handle returns is to use their existing customer support function to take returns inquiries and issue authorizations — or point customers back to the seller and their customer support. Leaving aside the customer experience implications of making shoppers pick up the phone when something has gone wrong with their purchase, this is an unnecessary burden on your valuable resource. A digital journey that allows customers to start the return themselves ensures that the right data is captured and only valid returns are authorized. So, if the retailer isn’t accepting marketplace returns from third-party sales, the customer can be routed to the right returns process immediately without a customer service contact. Digitizing this initiation of the return also prevents “blind” returns, as happens in the case where retailers ship items with return labels preprinted in the package. These labels allow customers to return easily but give retailers no warning and little data about the return, with extra confusion added when the retailer is dealing with returns from multiple vendors. 3.      Empower store associates Some retailers operating marketplaces have found it hard to manage an influx of marketplace purchases being returned to their stores. One way to ensure that all returns get treated efficiently and go through the same validation process is to give store staff access to a version of the same digital journey that customers use to initiate returns online. This means staff can easily log a return, capturing essential data quickly and allowing for intelligent processing to happen as part of the store process — or, in the case where third-party returns aren’t accepted, they can immediately tell the customer what to do next and why. 4.      Orchestrate intelligently Wherever a return comes from, a retailer operating a marketplace needs to be able to quickly decide what will happen with it, and how to most efficiently and profitably execute that decision. Straight away, intelligently identifying the origin of the return and tailoring the right options for drop-off and shipping makes a big difference. If the retailer is accepting third-party returns, flagging that an item is from a specific vendor and intelligently directing it back directly to that vendor (automatically changing the return address based on the SKU, for example) means that the retailer doesn’t have to manually check and separate out third-party returns from its own stocked inventory. Alternatively, if the item is a SKU stocked in store and the return was made in store, it might be simpler and quicker for the retailer to issue the refund directly and simply replenish store stock with the return. Adapting intelligently to the specific circumstances of each return enables significant cost reductions and can make the end-to-end process much simpler, ensuring that more returned goods end up resold. 5.      Process consistently and quickly Whatever the decision, ensuring that returns are processed efficiently and consistently should be a major area of focus for a retailer looking to operate a marketplace. Both store staff and warehouse staff need a digitized system that makes their decision-making process clear and easy. This process starts with the decision of whether or not to deal directly with third-party returns. With the ability to differentiate between different types of return and orchestrate based on custom rules, marketplace operators can opt to redirect third-party returns straight back to the seller. That can avoid some severe processing challenges both in stores and in warehouses with associates unprepared to deal with unfamiliar products, leading to delays, wasted warehouse and store space to store these items, and additional costs to transport them to the proper place. Once the decision has been made as to whether or not to process marketplace returns from third-party sellers, it’s still essential that retailers have a digitized and efficient system for returns processing. That should include information about the incoming returns, to enable efficient resource management and planning, i.e., determining the right number of warehouse staff to be dedicated to returns in a given day based on the forecast volume. It also includes the specific return details, giving store or warehouse associates clarity about what’s supposed to be in the package and in what condition (drawn from the digital initiation of the return). The next step is moving through a guided checklist (which can change depending on the type of item, e.g., to include checking clothing for stains or signs of wear) to determine that the expected condition and item are both accurate and that the return is valid. After those checks, the process culminates in a decision about the next step, based on the orchestration rules configured by the retailer, which is immediately communicated to the staff member. 6.      Communicate Both customers and third-party sellers need to be kept informed about the status of their returns. Blue Yonder’s 2024 Returns Report found that 27% of U.S. retailers do not always give customers basic tracking updates about their return, and fewer than half (44%) always include marketing or promotional messages in their communications around returns. Automating returns communications and tying them to critical events in the return journey helps to reassure customers (and third-party sellers awaiting the return of their products) that their return is being processed, and gives clarity about when to expect a refund, reducing customer support contacts, particularly so-called “WISMR” (where is my refund) calls. Marketplace operations can complicate the already difficult elements of returns management, but sophisticated technology already exists to make the end-to-end journey of returns much more effective. Find out how Blue Yonder can help to support your marketplace operations and reduce returns complexities with our new eBook on Marketplace Returns. Get all the benefits of marketplaces, without the logistical headaches Find out more in our free eBook 'Managing Marketplace Returns: Avoid the Operational Nightmare'. Download For Free ### [DIY marketplaces build your sales but complicate product returns](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/diy-marketplaces-build-your-sales-but-complicate-product-returns) > Learn how to simplify complex product returns and keep your customers happy. Blog DIY marketplaces build your sales—but complicate product returns DIY marketplaces build your sales but complicate product returns Mike Richmond , July 28, 2025 2 minute read Third-party marketplaces are the largest and fastest-growing retail channel globally, expected to account for nearly two-thirds of all online sales by 2027. Third-party marketplaces are an easy way for sellers to grow their SKU depth, attract new shoppers and boost site traffic, all without the capital outlays associated with owned inventory. It’s easy to see how the expanded third-party product offerings of B&Q, Home Depot, Lowes and other do-it-yourself (DIY) retail giants create a win-win for both buyers and sellers. Shoppers can browse today’s third-party DIY marketplaces, with their hundreds of thousands of SKUs, from the comfort of their home and enjoy one-stop shopping. By purchasing products from an established DIY retailer who now functions as a third-party marketplace, consumers can combine the lowest online price, the exact product they’re seeking, and the brand strength and logistics capabilities of a retail powerhouse. DIY retailers who embrace the marketplace model can sell more, hold less, gain strategic insights and build relationships. The proven benefits include: Unlimited aisle expansion. Retailers can add products without the burden of inventory ownership, warehousing and fulfillment overhead. Search-powered sales growth. Marketplace participants capture high-intent traffic from long-tail product searches that would otherwise go elsewhere. Brand halo effect. DIY sellers can grow revenues by offering new brands and niche solutions under the trusted umbrella of their retail name and infrastructure. Cost efficiency. Marketplaces enable DIY retailers to offload labor, logistics and customer service for non-core SKUs to third-party sellers. Behavioral insights at scale. Shopper data captured from third-party traffic and purchases drive segmentation, personalized offers and future assortment optimization. While third-party marketplaces represent an enormous opportunity for DIY retailers, they do have one significant drawback. As product returns volumes skyrocket—accounting for $890 billion in merchandise in 2024 —the addition of a third-party seller can add exponentially to the complexity of product returns. Stop struggling with DIY returns Discover how an AI-powered supply chain can revolutionize your process, making it more efficient, resilient, and profitable. Discover More DIY returns challenges are only amplified by marketplaces DIY returns are notoriously operationally expensive. Why? They often consist of bulky and oversized goods that exceed small-parcel norms. Hazardous or regulated items, including paint, power tools and chemicals. Kits and bundled items with non-uniform repackaging rules. They have low refurbishment viability due to wear, installation or damage risk. Two-man handling or scheduled pickup are required for certain categories. Now layer in a third-party marketplace and the complexity multiplies, including: Disjointed seller policies, with no uniformity in timelines, channels or resolutions Fragmented reverse logistics , where returns may need to go to the seller, not you Blurry shopper expectations because consumers bought “from you” and expect you to resolve the issue Store associates who are in the dark, forced to turn away marketplace returns they can’t process Hidden costs associated with sorting, restocking and disposing of unrecognized SKUs erode margins Reputational risks because consumers blame your brand, not the seller, for a failed returns experience Even if your organization is a leader and innovator that’s already invested in digitized processes, clear rules and policies, early visibility of returned products, and other best practices, you may still face challenges in running a third-party marketplace. How well do your own internal policies and processes mesh with dozens or hundreds of third-party sellers—who each have their own standards and practices? Inconsistency leaves consumers confused—and, when they can’t easily find an answer, they’ll likely default to your brand. Imagine the all-around frustration when a consumer shows up in-store with a large, unwieldy product—and your employees have to turn them away. The twisting, inconsistent and poorly defined path returns take through a third-party marketplace often represents a losing proposition for DIY retailers. Consumer satisfaction is not in your control, so shopper loyalty and your brand reputation might be damaged. Reverse logistics drives up costs quickly, especially when large products and third parties are involved—erasing the benefits of making a sale in the first place. From a sustainability standpoint, third-party product returns are less likely to make it back into sellable inventory quickly, and more likely to end up in a landfill. Take complete control as you take back products How can DIY retailers capture the advantages of participating in a third-party marketplace, while minimizing the negative impacts of returns? It’s simple. They must achieve the same level of visibility and control over every product return, regardless of where it originates. They need to establish consistent returns practices, policies, timelines and consumer experiences across every channel and every product, including third-party offerings. Instead of differentiating returns by channel, the answer is creating a universal returns gateway for all products, across all channels. That’s a challenging proposition. But Blue Yonder’s industry-leading returns management capabilities make it much easier. Blue Yonder helps DIY retailers create an online returns portal where every buyer can initiate a product return, regardless of where the product sale originated. Detailed insights are created during this initiation process: Where did the sale originate? Who is the seller? What is the product’s condition? Where is the consumer located? At what location, and through what channel, is the product most likely to be resold? Because this is a complex set of questions, artificial intelligence (AI) is applied to determine how to quickly and cost-effectively get each returned item back into sellable inventory, whether in your warehouse or a third-party warehouse. Then Blue Yonder AI optimizes the journey, step by step. DIY marketplace consumers might receive a digital QR code to launch the process. They might drop the product off at a carrier, return it to store or drop it off in an in-store kiosk. Whatever the optimal route determined by Blue Yonder—and guided by your rules governing third-party marketplace sales—the consumer receives an intuitive map showing where to drop off the product. And just like that, the return is on its way. Blue Yonder gives you complete control over DIY marketplace returns. Don’t want to touch third-party products? You’ll never have to. Send consumers to a carrier or a drop box that’s managed by your seller. Want to drive shoppers into your store, where they might make an additional purchase? Send them to your local customer service counter or an in-store kiosk. From the shopper’s perspective, the returns experience remains the same, whether they’ve purchased your product directly from you or a third-party seller. You remain in control of the shopper relationship and can protect your brand image. Intelligently and automatically identifying the origin of every return, and mapping the right path, also makes a huge impact on your speed and cost outcomes. By having Blue Yonder AI flag third-party products and send returns directly to the right vendor, you’ll eliminate the need for your employees to manually sort third-party returns from your own inventory. With early visibility of the return, its timing and the product’s condition, both you and your third-party sellers can get the right resources in place to get sellable merchandise back into inventory, fast. Master your marketplace returns Protect your brand and boost your bottom line with our 6 expert steps. Discover More Master the returns path of every product, in every channel The problem of product returns is growing, and it’s only getting more complicated with the rise of new channels like third-party marketplaces. But don’t overlook the significant revenue opportunity promised by these newer channels. Blue Yonder can help you maximize your results from a third-party marketplace, while also optimizing the journey of inevitable product returns. It’s all about applying AI and decision science, maximizing speed, and integrating returns into your end-to-end supply chain—even for products that originate outside that supply chain. Want to learn more? Watch our new video on Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions, or reach out to us to talk about your own specific marketplace returns challenges. We’re here to help! Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Automation vs manual workforce](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/automation-vs-manual-workforce) > Discover the true costs and benefits of automation vs. manual labor in your workforce, including financial implications, efficiency gains, and long-term strategic advantages Blog Automation vs. manual workforce: What’s the cost? Automation vs manual workforce Mckenna Bailey , July 22, 2025 1 minute read Up to 70% of a company’s costs are related to labor. Between paychecks, benefits, recruiting, and training, maintaining a healthy workforce requires major investments. Investments which continue to increase. The rising costs have led many supply chain businesses to look into how they can support their workforce in a scalable way. And the answer for many companies is AI and automation. AI and automation are built to make workers’ daily lives smoother, more efficient and full of more meaningful work. However, implementing AI does not come cheap. Beyond the price of technology, companies need to navigate the challenges brought on by the new workplace, including employee reticence. In the United States, this reticence has led to threats of strikes—an outcome all supply chain executives want to avoid. The delicate balance of doing what the future requires of the supply chain and what’s best for the workforce today means most companies hesitate to make any big changes. The assumption is that inaction won’t cost money. But even if the costs aren’t showing up on a single line item, companies can still incur them. To help identify the hidden costs of labor and the potential savings of a hybrid workforce, here’s a few risks, and more importantly, rewards to consider. What are supply chain leaders saying about technology and AI? We spoke to 671 senior supply chain leaders across Europe and North America to uncover their hopes, fears, current operations, future priorities, and visions for supply chain evolution over the next five years. Find out what they had to say in our latest ebook. Download Now Costs to look out for 1. Cost to close the skills gap 67% of companies said that the skills gap in their workforce is a barrier to adopting AI. But as AI continues to evolve, that gap will only widen. The costs for not moving to train your team now will only be compounded. Don’t wait to begin training your workforce on the technology of the future. Get them up to speed as you evaluate the AI solutions your company will invest in so the transition is more efficient and less costly. 2. Cost of what’s always been done Workers, particularly in warehouses, are up against strict schedules and constant changes. To ensure they meet their timelines, workers will often fix issues the way things have always been done, regardless of whether it is the most efficient decision. Disruptions are not only unexpected, but their very nature continues to change (from pandemics to tariffs). The cost of not having structured plans for a given scenario, including delays in production and transportation, is half-full trucks, rescheduled manufacturing and excess spend. Create a plan and standard operating procedures for teams to follow so they don’t default to what’s always been done. 3. Cost of competition Quality workers are difficult to find. In 2025, 76% of supply chains reported being affected by workforce shortages. Without proper training, advancement opportunities and benefits, no company will be able to compete in recruiting the top candidates. Companies will face the negative impact in their existing workforce, plus the growth opportunities in the future, without a strong pipeline of top talent. Like closing the skills gap, closing the gap between what warehouse workers want from their career and what your company can offer will help build a more effective and profitable supply chain. Up to 0 % of a company’s costs are related to labor 0 % of companies said that the skills gap in their workforce is a barrier to adopting AI 0 % of supply chains reported being affected by workforce shortages in 2025 Savings with a hybrid workforce 1. Use more accurate forecasting Although 83% of companies use automation in their workforce, only 36% use generative AI as a tool for making their supply chain more efficient. What may have been considered a hybrid workforce in earlier decades is now the standard. To stay agile in today’s market, supply chains need to employ generative AI tools as a way of creating a hybrid workforce. That means manual labor and automation, of course. But it also means leveraging generative AI to build reports, forecast and make decisions faster. In terms of making an impact to working conditions in warehouses and transportation teams, these updates can make a world of difference in efficiency and overall job satisfaction. 2. Build clear plans and expectations Making a plan isn’t enough, especially when anything can change from one moment to the next. Supply chains need options for how to pivot based on the challenges of any given day. AI-powered solutions offer real-time insights that can help a workforce make the most efficient and cost-conscious decisions in the moment. Avoid losing money and time reacting to changes that could have been incorporated into planning if you had access to all your company’s data. Lowering costs is much easier when a workforce knows how to be proactive. 3. Ensure sustainable growth through uncertainty The biggest cost savings from a hybrid workforce don’t come from cutting down on wages or eliminating positions. In fact, the evolution of the workforce may introduce new positions that require even more employees. The point is to create a resilient supply chain with a strong enough foundation to shift with whatever the global economy throws at it. Setting up your supply chain to move with the market, rather than buckle under unforeseen pressures, is the only way to ensure sustainable growth of both your workforce and your profit. Find out how Americold cut labor costs by 10% with Blue Yonder Americold, the world's largest temperature-controlled warehousing provider, cut labor costs by 10% across 150 locations using Blue Yonder's Warehouse and Labor Management systems. Download Case Study ### [Navigating uncertainty how CPG companies can respond to regulations](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-uncertainty-how-cpg-companies-can-respond-to-regulations) > New regulations banning synthetic food dyes pose a challenge for CPG. Learn how your company can adapt, innovate, and turn this into a powerful competitive advantage. Blog Navigating uncertainty: How CPG companies can respond to regulations banning synthetic food dyes and turn it into a competitive advantage Navigating uncertainty how CPG companies can respond to regulations Kara Collins , July 17, 2025 2 minute read In the U.S. food and beverage market, regulatory changes are becoming more common, and they profoundly impact industry practices from supplier and sourcing considerations to pricing, positioning and claims. The recent ban on Red No. 3, and discussions at the state and federal level to eliminate six additional synthetic food dyes presents both a challenge and an opportunity for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies. While the removal of these additives disrupts traditional product formulations and supply chains, forward-thinking companies have a chance to innovate, connect more deeply with their consumers, and redefine product quality. In addition to complying with a quickly changing regulatory landscape, innovative CPG companies will monitor consumer sentiment and ensure their products have positive perceptions and meet evolving consumer needs. Beyond meeting regulations, understanding consumer concerns In January 2025, the FDA revoked authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs. Most prominently used in candy, cakes, cookies, frozen desserts, and frostings, as well as some ingested drugs, the synthetic colorant has been linked to cancer in rats. While there is debate that studies in humans didn’t show the same link and the amount consumed is far less, the legislation stands with food and beverage manufacturers given until January 2027, and drug companies until January 2028 to reformulate their products. Equally important as regulatory compliance, synthetic food dyes have been raised in public awareness for their associations not just with cancer, but also ADHD and hyperactivity in children. In the first quarter of 2025, 20 states introduced nearly 40 bills to ban artificial food dyes and other additives. In West Virginia, lawmakers have already passed a ban on seven artificial food dyes, including Red No. 40 and Green No. 3. Companies will need to stop using them by 2028 if the bans are signed into law by the governor. This regulatory shift mirrors a broader consumer trend toward cleaner ingredients. It’s an opportunity for companies to reposition their products as innovative options that align with modern consumer values. The news about the proposed legislation has heightened consumer awareness of the issue, making them more attentive to product ingredients, looking for safer and more natural options. Why you need a network to master today’s CPG challenges Today's CPG landscape is complex, but you don't have to navigate it alone. Discover how a truly connected supply chain network can help you overcome disruption, optimize operations, and gain a competitive edge. Discover More Embrace innovation in product development with cross-functional collaboration Success can only be achieved through collaboration both internally and externally. Reformulating successful legacy products is more than just a supply chain challenge, it takes scenario planning and collaboration between Brand Management, Consumer Insights, R&D, Supply Planning, Manufacturing, Demand Planning and Sales in tightly bound integrated business planning solution to deliver a product with the right COGs to be priced competitively and meet consumer demand. A key to maintaining visual appeal, which is tightly linked with the perception of taste, lies in the development of new formulations using natural dyes. Ingredients like beet juice, turmeric, spirulina, and paprika extracts offer a vibrant palette while appealing to health-conscious consumers. Keep in mind that getting ahead of the curve will be important because every company will seek natural colors and locking in preferred suppliers early and maintaining good relationships will lead to a competitive advantage. Engage with current and new ingredient suppliers, proactively discuss your needs and create partnerships so the suppliers can evolve their portfolios to meet changing regulatory and consumer needs. Strengthening those relationships and locking in pricing for innovative new ingredients can ensure stability and avoid increased COGS and reduce the need a price increase for the consumer. Embrace advanced food science and biotechnology to create innovative, stable natural dyes without compromising product quality. Technologies such as microencapsulation can improve the stability of natural colorants, ensuring products retain their appeal over time. This partnership can drive research and development of scalable solutions. Partner with marketing to rethink the brand story and marketing strategy It can be very tricky to reformulate legacy products with a loyal consumer base. There are ingrained expectations for appearance and the level of perceived flavor strength or spiciness is tightly tied to the visual appearance. Ensure a strong partnership with marketing to conduct robust consumer acceptance testing to mitigate the risk of declining volumes. While natural colorants came with increased costs in the past, close partnerships and collaborative workflows with ingredient suppliers can keep costs in check. Strategic bulk buying and long-term contracts can help stabilize prices and maintain profit margins. Engage in transparent communication and build trust with retailers and consumers. By moving early, you can not only secure the supply but position the brand at the forefront of innovation. By aligning product reformulation with the broader cultural movement toward clean eating, brands can set the stage for long-term customer loyalty and enhance their competitive edge. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and agile response The ban on synthetic food dyes is more than a regulatory hurdle—it is an invitation for CPG companies to reinvent their brands and meet shifting market dynamics. By investing in research and development, realigning marketing narratives, and transforming supply chains, companies can turn this challenge into a strategic advantage. Embracing this change with thoughtful planning and agile strategies will not only ensure regulatory compliance but also pave the way for long-term brand success and consumer trust in an evolving marketplace. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Are you serving todays shoppers on yesterdays technology](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/are-you-serving-todays-shoppers-on-yesterdays-technology) > Stop losing customers to outdated systems. Learn how modernizing your retail technology can enhance the shopper experience and drive sales. Blog Are you serving today’s shoppers on yesterday’s technology? Are you serving todays shoppers on yesterdays technology Michael Orr , October 8, 2024 2 minute read Category management has reached an inflection point. In a volatile context characterized by rapidly shifting customer demands and expectations, rising prices, strained margins, ongoing supply chain instability, and increasing fulfillment complexity, getting the right product into the right place at exactly the right time is more difficult than ever. But is applying Band-Aid point solutions to aging tech stacks the way forward for this critical discipline? Or is category management in need of a reset? Category managers are under pressure Category managers today are operating amidst a host of complex market forces. Customer shopping patterns are changing. Shopping frequency, basket size, basket composition, and shopping channels are dynamic and ever shifting. The rising cost of living means consumers are trading down to private-label products to save costs, with over 95% of consumers planning to change their shopping behavior if inflation continues. Shopping channels are changing, too. Last year, 75% of global retail executives surveyed moved to invest in hybrid shopping experiences, which means stores are now required to support online and hybrid shoppers through in-store picks while maintaining enough stock to serve in-person shoppers. Adding to the challenge, an ongoing skills crisis means labor is scarce and more difficult to retain. According to research by McKinsey , retailers continue to see a higher-than-average attrition rate within frontline forces. According to 2024 statistics from the United States Chamber of Commerce , the retail industry experiences the third-highest quit rate of all major sectors surveyed. A recent report found that 64% of hourly workers planned to quit their jobs between October 2023 and October 2024. This skills crunch is impacting in-store execution rates, with some statistics placing planogram compliance at less than 50% at a cost of billions across the retail sector. Without good execution, all the manual effort required by category managers to design, optimize, and load planograms is reduced to nothing short of “busy work.” Additionally, elevated pressure to meet the need for go-to-market speed, localization, and cluster-based category management requirements is spreading an already thin labor force even thinner. Category managers are forced to navigate these complexities and a chronically disconnected category review process with yesterday’s tools: labor-intensive manual effort, and lightly integrated category management processes and tools often deployed through a best-of-breed approach. While category management is the heart of any retail business, it remains one of the most technologically underserved areas of operations. The situation is fast becoming untenable. Something has to change — but what? 0 % of consumers planning to change their shopping behavior if inflation continues 0 % of global retail executives surveyed moved to invest in hybrid shopping experiences 0 % of hourly workers planned to quit their jobs between October 2023 and October 2024. What’s the path forward? To solve these issues and bring category management up to date with the level of efficiency and accuracy currently being achieved in other (often less critical) operational areas, there are three primary options open to the retail industry. The first is to compile a patchwork quilt of add-ons and customizations to connect key capabilities, applying metaphorical Band-Aids to ever-aging tech stacks. While this approach may deliver some of the desired results in the short term, it’s difficult to maintain, risky to deploy, and not guaranteed as a long-term fix. The second option is to move toward the growing base of startups offering attractive, seemingly cutting-edge category management solutions. These solutions apply exciting levels of innovation to the function, and as such they hold a strong appeal. However, the inevitable outcome is that retailers end up relying on point solutions more and more, making it increasingly difficult to connect the entire supply chain successfully. Instead of a consolidated portfolio of technologies working together in unison, retailers find themselves managing more and executing less, and the outcome is the opposite of innovation. The third (and most effective) option is to start with a solid tech foundation, and make it significantly better by deploying the right tools in the right places to create a connected, automated category management system. By injecting AI into core adaptive workflows, sharing data, not files, and deploying automation, an integrated category management solution can help retailers move from the siloed, bunkered systems that are currently compromising the retail experience to the seamless, optimized world of continuous category management. A case for continuous category management Successful category management is a constant trade-off between space and assortment, speed to market, and accuracy. To get it right, category management needs to be more tightly integrated with demand and replenishment functions to deliver faster, more effective, customer-focused category management decisions. Historically, the category review process has been disconnected, with siloed, non-responsive data passing from one function to the next, from the insights team along to the supply chain department, with little to no feedback or opportunity for optimization. How Dr Pepper Snapple Group hit 99% accuracy & cut labor by 15x Dr Pepper Snapple Group highlights the power of optimized space planning with Blue Yonder, achieving 99% planogram accuracy and reducing labor hours by a staggering 15 times. Read The Case Study Blue Yonder’s approach Blue Yonder’s vision is continuous category management, where intelligent automation, shared data and seamless connectivity between stakeholders deliver more agile, more responsive category management decisioning and comprehensive optimization of both space and assortment from unique store to unique store. Imagine a world where category managers can ensure total consistency, efficiency, and agility across their entire product range, where layouts can be quickly adapted to local market needs with absolute precision, and where complex workflows and fragmented tools are a thing of the past. This is the world that Blue Yonder has built for category managers, and it’s a world that some of the biggest retailers are already living in. Building upon a solid, tried-and-tested foundation, Blue Yonder’s live suite of category management solutions allows retailers to simplify and centralize category management processes and achieve local precision at speed, while growing at a tailored pace. The tech is tried and proven, and the results speak for themselves: Dr Pepper Snapple Group, for example, achieved a 99% improvement in category management accuracy, and a 15X reduction in labor hours required to maintain and update planograms. Campbell’s Snacks division deployed Blue Yonder’s planogram generator to decrease new planogram generation time by 20%. Across the board, Blue Yonder’s category management model improves category manager efficiency by up to 50%, increases sales by up to 5%, reduces out-of-stocks by up to 25%, and increases profits by up to 20%. By investing in the next generation of innovative category management tools, Blue Yonder is reshaping workflows and changing the way category management decisions are made. The result is a shift from managing the process to meeting the customer — where they are, wherever they are. Today’s shopper demands more. Yesterday’s tools cannot deliver it. It’s time to bring category management into today, unlocking unprecedented efficiency, increased profits, and exceptional customer experiences in the process. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [The state of order management commerce and order management strategies to drive success](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-state-of-order-management-commerce-and-order-management-strategies-to-drive-success) > Dive into the state of order management and uncover key commerce strategies designed to enhance efficiency and fuel business success. Blog The state of order management: commerce and order management strategies to drive success The state of order management commerce and order management strategies to drive success Nina Seth , co-written with Hiu Wai Loh – January 25, 2025 1 minute read The retail landscape continues to evolve. Every retailer must create customer-centric experiences from click to deliver and back, leverage stores as fulfillment hubs and keep an eye on sustainability to meet the needs of sustainability conscious shoppers. Trends such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), new selling channels and store fulfillment are having an outsized impact on retailers’ commerce and order management strategy. Between May 2024 and October 2024, Gatepoint Research invited a select group of retailers to participate in a survey called, “Commerce and Order Management Strategies.” One hundred and twenty respondents from retail companies participated in the survey: The survey reveals that AI and ML significantly influenced commerce and order management strategies (57%), new customer channels impact strategy decisions (52%) and store fulfillment also played an equally important role at (47%). The data also showed a desire to align tech stacks with evolving business priorities with 77% of respondents replacing legacy systems, 48% migrating to the cloud, and 48% increasing AL and ML. Surveyed organizations also highlighted the need for real-time, inventory data with nearly 70% stating that they were concerned with out stocks, overstocks and markdowns. This survey asked respondents to report: Which trends are impacting your commerce and order management strategy? What are your top inventory availability concerns? What capabilities do you need to add for customer and employee engagement excellence? Which trends are impacting your commerce and order management strategy? How are you adjusting your tech stack to meet evolving business priorities? What are your top three inventory availability concerns? In what areas are your omni-channel software solutions failing to meet your current or future needs? What new or updated capabilities would improve customer engagement for you? What are your top two challenges balancing cost and experience in order fulfillment? Key takeaways The survey results were quite insightful and highlight critical trends and priorities shaping the future of omni-channel commerce and order management. AI and ML revolutionizing commerce​ AI and ML are increasingly pivotal, enabling real-time decision-making and personalized customer interactions. Companies leverage these technologies to optimize inventory, enhance order orchestration and improve demand forecasting accuracy. AI’s role is not just a differentiator but an essential element of a competitive strategy.​ Dynamic and expanding omni-channel ecosystem​ Retailers and brands are navigating an ever-changing omni-channel environment, with the emergence of new sales platforms and customer touchpoints. The shift requires a unified view of inventory and seamless integration across diverse channels, including social commerce, marketplaces, and brick-and-mortar locations.​ Customer-centric supply chain priorities​ Delivering exceptional customer experiences remains a top priority. More than 50% of surveyed executives are prioritizing 1) accurate, real-time inventory visibility and 2) agile fulfillment strategies to help minimize stockouts, reduce overstocks and prevent markdowns. Survey respondents emphasized the importance of aligning supply chain operations with customer expectations for speed, transparency and convenience.​ Speed and minimal disruption: the ROI imperative​ The need for rapid implementation of advanced OMS solutions with minimal operational disruption is paramount. Companies prioritize scalable systems that ensure quick time-to-value while maximizing ROI. The emphasis is on achieving operational efficiency without sacrificing flexibility or customer satisfaction.​ Commerce and order management: delivering on every promise, profitably At Blue Yonder, we specialize in transforming your digital commerce and order management processes into a seamless, efficient and customer-centric experience. In today’s competitive landscape, where customer expectations are high, our solutions ensure you can make only the promises you can keep and keep the promises you have made — profitably. By uniting supply chain planning and execution with intelligent decision-making tools, we enable businesses to elevate customer satisfaction, optimize fulfillment and drive sustainable growth. Learn how Blue Yonder empowers organizations with seamless omnichannel solutions. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Driving Responsiveness and Profitability via Flexible Production Planning](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/driving-responsiveness-and-profitability-via-flexible-production-planning) > Discover the tangible benefits of flexible production planning. Three customer case studies illustrate how it leads to increased responsiveness and a stronger bottom line. Blog Driving responsiveness and profitability via flexible production planning: three customer case studies Driving Responsiveness and Profitability via Flexible Production Planning Salim Shaikh , November 21, 2024 4 minute read Many of the challenges faced by the world’s automotive and equipment manufacturers can be mitigated via flexible production planning. By digitalizing and automating their production planning processes, manufacturers can respond faster and more profitably when confronted with demand variability, materials shortages, logistics roadblocks and other supply chain issues. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), modern planning solutions enable manufacturers to create smart, flexible production plans that are continuously updated in response to real-time data. Unlike traditional, static planning cycles, driven by outdated systems and organizational structures, digitalization ushers in a new era of planning speed, accuracy and responsiveness. The right planning and scheduling decisions can be made in seconds, powered by AI, based on achieving predefined cost, service, utilization, sustainability and other targets. All of this sounds great in theory. But what practical benefits does advanced production planning software deliver? The Blue Yonder Platform — which spans production planning, scheduling, sequencing and slotting — has been proven to drive enormous benefits, including improved profitability, increased asset utilization and a more accurate demand-supply match. Take a few minutes to review these real-world customer success stories, and imagine where Blue Yonder production planning solutions can take your own business. Dynamically replanning as demand shifts A manufacturer of light trucks that produces commercial vehicles for the European market needed to optimize planning across several production lines. The manufacturer needed to respond quickly to fluctuations in market demand, while optimally scheduling orders to eliminate any loss of productivity or production bottlenecks. Agile planning capabilities from Blue Yonder provided the answer. The Blue Yonder Platform ensures that all production lines are optimally utilized, and that dependent upstream assembly lines are also perfectly coordinated. The intuitive Blue Yonder Platform creates transparency and clearly displays the status of all production lines and components — while also tracking the availability of necessary components in real time. Order changes can be made based on assured material availability. Orders that cannot be built, based on a lack of materials or components, are rescheduled with sufficient lead time. Today the truck manufacturer can adapt to changing demand, while still optimizing capacities and service levels. Planners have real-time visibility to any supply bottlenecks, so they can agilely manage constraints. The customer reports there are no additional costs caused by last-minute rescheduling, since the Blue Yonder solution supports fact-based, profitable decisions. Combining standardization with flexibility A manufacturer of forklift trucks, warehouse equipment and automation technology was relying on traditional, static planning processes and legacy solutions that were not built for today’s demand and supply volatility. Across six European plants, the company needed to optimize sequence planning and production control to increase responsiveness to variability — taking into account production orders with varied characteristics and four-week lead times. Planners also needed to consider constraints on capacities, deadlines, and workloads. The complexity of this planning challenge, and the need to replan dynamically, exceeded manual analysis and human cognition. Enter agile, automated planning and sequencing capabilities from Blue Yonder. By integrating its production planning solutions directly with the customer’s SAP, Blue Yonder enabled its sequencing solution to access the operations lists for each production order — as well as all operations required to manufacture a product. For each operation, the Blue Yonder Platform displays the planned production orders for each work center, along with the standard values used to determine the dates or the workload. Production planners have a real-time view of the best possible sequence, taking into consideration all assembly and procurement restrictions. The agile Blue Yonder planning and sequencing solution enables the truck and equipment manufacturer to manage complex processes in a standardized way, reliably meeting production targets while maximizing capacities and minimizing costs. Additional time and resource savings are achieved because planning productivity is significantly improved. Planners can customize and interact with flexible Blue Yonder solutions to easily, quickly and efficiently replan as conditions change. Increasing planning speed, responsiveness via the cloud A sports car manufacturer with an order horizon of several months was looking for an automated software solution for daily planning. Its legacy planning software was outdated and not very user-friendly — with long run times and a complex approval process. The company needed a solution that supported process standardization, but was also flexible enough to accommodate seven different plants with different planning requirements. To maximize launch speed and daily planning speed, the manufacturer was looking for a cloud-native solution. A software-as-a-service (SaaS) sequencing solution from Blue Yonder was the perfect fit. This solution enables the manufacturer to more easily accomplish short-term, dynamic planning, as well as planning over longer horizons of up to one year. The cloud-based sequencing solution was deployed across all seven plants quickly and seamlessly. As a result, the manufacturer reports that run times have been reduced from several minutes to a few seconds. This has increased real-time transparency, response times and overall production stability. What does your Blue Yonder success story look like? No matter what your primary production planning challenges are — from demand variability to supply bottlenecks — Blue Yonder can help you combine flexible manufacturing with process standardization and cost control. Download our Guide to Production Planning in Manufacturing , or contact Blue Yonder to start writing your own success story. Tired of production headaches? Our guide to production planning in manufacturing reveals how to boost efficiency, optimize resources, and manage precise order timing despite today's complex manufacturing landscape. Download For Free ### [Dont Just Survive Peak Season](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/dont-just-survive-peak-season) > Go beyond survival this peak season! Discover 5 actionable planning strategies to help your business thrive, increase efficiency, and boost your bottom line. Blog Don’t just survive peak season – thrive with these 5 planning strategies Dont Just Survive Peak Season Rhea Hall-Spencer , August 20, 2024 2 minute read Peak season is a make-or-break period for retailers. With heightened customer expectations and increased order volume, delivering exceptional experiences while maintaining efficiency is paramount. Unfortunately, the pressure to meet demand often leads to reactive strategies that can damage the brand reputation and the bottom line. A staggering 76% of customers would stop doing business with a company after just one bad customer experience. No matter the time of year, customers expect the same service they’ve been accustomed to. They want their orders to be fulfilled on time and in full, and their returns to be free. These expectations don’t change at peak season. If you don’t have the systems to deliver on these expectations during peak season, customers will go elsewhere. Strategic planning is the key to thriving, rather than surviving, peak season. By anticipating and accounting for peak seasons, you can shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, helping you meet omni-channel demands while balancing speed and cost during high-pressure times. Five strategies to win during peak season Regardless of when your peak season is — whether it’s during the Christmas period, summer holidays or big sales — there are five core capabilities your peak strategy should include. 1.    Seamless omni-ch  annel experiences Today’s customers expect flexibility in how they purchase and return items, including both online and offline channels. Forbes data shows that 73% of consumers shop  seamlessly across multiple channels. These omni-channel shoppers want the freedom to research products online, compare prices, and even make purchases before heading to a physical store to try on or pick up their items. Omni-channel shoppers also want to discover a product in-store and complete the purchase online, or through a mobile app. Delivering a seamless omni-channel experience requires a high degree of integration between each channel. Retailers must ensure that product information, pricing, inventory levels and returns processes are consistent across all platforms. The future of omni-channel customer experience is here Blue Yonder's latest launch is transforming how businesses connect with customers across all channels, creating truly seamless interactions. Discover More 2.    Inventory visibility and control Real-time inventory visibility is an essential cornerstone of peak season success. Knowing exactly what inventory is available, and where, is critical to optimize fulfillment, reduce stockouts and mee customer expectations by communicating what stock is available to purchase, from where. Without a real-time capability, retailers will lose sales through stockouts, delayed orders and canceled orders, as well as erode customer trust and loyalty. If a product is out of stock, 40% of customers will either make a purchase elsewhere or refuse to purchase entirely. 3.    Efficient fulfillment During peak season, fast and efficient fulfillment is more important than ever. Retailer need to make reliable promises and establish trust; 56% of abandoned carts are due to concerns about shipping and delivery — with most customers concerned that orders will not arrive fast enough. By optimizing picking, packing and shipping operations to manage peak demand, retailers can reduce order fulfillment delays, improve customer satisfaction and reduce return rates from orders that arrive too late. 4.    Effective returns management An efficient returns management system is also integral for all retailers, and its impact is seen most during peak seasons. Retailers must deal with high order and return volumes without losing profits or missing inventory — all while keeping customer satisfaction high. Because product returns are the consumer’s last touchpoint with a retail brand, it’s even more important to get the customer experience right. A full 81% of consumers will shift to a competitor following a bad returns experience. During holiday seasons, 68% of shoppers say they’re more likely to check the return policy before they buy , making the return journey a key decision factor for shopping with your brand in the first place. 0 % of customers turn to a competitor following a bad returns experience. 0 % of shoppers are more likely to check returns policies before buying in holiday seasons. 0 % of abandoned carts are due to concerns about shipping and delivery. 5.    Optimal labor costs and availability With a tight labor market and rising wages, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for retailers to access and secure the seasonal workforce they need to meet peak season demands. This is emerging as a core competency to provide the customer service shoppers are looking for, no matter what the season. By using effective planning and advanced digital technology, retailers can implement more efficient operations to ensure that they have the systems in place to handle peak volumes with the workforce available. Retailers can also leverage technology to lower their labor costs by accelerating tasks and increasing their accuracy. Transform from reactive t  o proactive Tackling the challenges of peak season requires the best technology and systems. Retailers who rely on legacy systems often struggle to achieve the real-time visibility and dynamic flexibility necessary to optimize operations during peak periods. Instead, retailers need modern, scalable systems that offer a network-wide view of operations, enabling them to anticipate and respond to fluctuations in demand. These solutions provide the foundation for dynamic fulfillment, allowing businesses to implement the most efficient strategies based on real-time data. The true power of advanced digital systems is unleashed when they are fully integrated across the supply chain. End-to-end orchestration ensures that every department, from procurement to shipping, is aligned and working toward common goals — optimizing inventory levels, reducing the risk of stockouts, providing more efficient fulfillment and returns journeys, and reducing costs. By embracing advanced technology and intelligent systems, retailers can transform peak season from a period of chaos to one of opportunity. Proactive planning and execution, driven by data-driven insights, not only helps retailers meet customer expectations, but also build a stronger foundation for year-round success. Always in stock and on time, in peak season and beyond Stand out from retail competitors with an agile, AI-enabled supply chain Discover More Delight customers and thrive in Peak season with Blue Yonder Peak season doesn’t have to be a dreaded period of uncertainty. By adopting a proactive approach and leveraging the right technology, retailers can transform this challenge into an opportunity for growth. At Blue Yonder, our commerce and returns solutions help you thrive not only during peak season but all year round. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s composable architecture, retailers can pick and choose the services they need to optimize their operations. This includes: Real-time, 360° inventory visibility services that provide insights into accurate stock levels, item locations and shopper demand — enabling informed decisions about replenishment, allocation and promotions Industry-leading Commits services that leverage advanced algorithms to determine the best sourcing and fulfillment options for each order, considering factors like cost, speed and capacity Commerce insights and action services that empower data-driven decisions using advanced analytics and machine learning to identify trends, patterns, opportunities and anomalies Fulfillment sourcing simulations, which allow you to model and test different scenarios and their impact on costs, delivery times and customer satisfaction — without disrupting live operations Returns initiation and orchestration services that provide consumers with easy returns journeys, while capturing returns data to optimize the return process by intelligently routing returns to the most appropriate location for processing, restocking or disposal — based on factors like product condition, return reason and inventory levels Why not contact Blue Yonder to learn more about transforming your peak season performance? We’re ready to help you thrive, not just survive. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Demand and Supply Planning Is Key for Consumer Products Manufacturers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/demand-and-supply-planning-is-key-for-consumer-products-manufacturers) > Discover why robust demand and supply planning is absolutely critical for consumer products manufacturers to navigate market fluctuations, optimize inventory, and ensure consistent profitability. Blog Demand and supply planning is key for consumer products manufacturers Demand and Supply Planning Is Key for Consumer Products Manufacturers Shri Hariharan , March 12, 2024 3 minute read Manufacturers of consumer products — including packaged goods, food and beverages, and life sciences — face both opportunities and challenges. Product sales figures are on the rise, with the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector realizing 10% growth in 2023 . But much of this growth can be attributed to price increases. Consumer companies also need to achieve volume growth. However, several challenges stand in their way. First among these challenges is supply chain disruption. Whether caused by more frequent extreme weather events , blocked shipping routes and geopolitical events , or labor shortages , disruptions have the power to throw the most carefully defined demand and supply plans into disarray. We all know the frustration of knowing demand is out there — but simply being unable to move products from point A to point B to capture that revenue. Equally frustrating for consumer products companies? Market volatility. Continuing inflation, unyielding interest rates and other economic trends affect consumers’ buying behaviors and preferences, sometimes in surprising ways. While some shoppers switch to private labels, others indulge in “little luxuries” during tough times. Adding to the confusion, robust job growth means many consumers have increased spending power. Consumer products manufacturers want nothing more than to accurately predict future demand. But the incredibly unpredictable nature of today’s business landscape, coupled with dynamic consumer behaviors, represent significant obstacles. When market volatility and other disruptive forces cause consumer products companies to get the delicate demand-supply balance wrong, the costs are high. They can include product shortages, excess inventory, lost sales, markdowns, and damage to both retailer and consumer relationships. It’s never been more important to achieve accurate demand and supply plans, but it’s likely never been more difficult. What can consumer products manufacturers do to achieve more certain supply chain performance — and financial results — amid all this uncertainty? The answer lies in achieving a more dynamic match of demand and supply via planning processes, enabled by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). At Blue Yonder, we call this approach Demand and Supply Planning , and we’ve seen it create truly transformative results for our customers in consumer packaged goods, food and beverages, and life sciences. Transformed planning, for transformative results What exactly is Demand and Supply Planning? It’s an approach that involves aligning supply chain functions across the value chain seamlessly with changes in market conditions, as well as eliminating functional siloes and replacing them with end-to-end planning orchestration. Achieving a unified demand and supply plan across the entire value network is at odds with the traditional siloed approach to supply chain management. But this more fluid, dynamic approach is quickly becoming imperative for manufacturers who want to weather the storm of constant disruptions and ongoing market volatility. Processing demand information in near real time, at high levels of granularity — then dynamically and fluidly re-planning across the supply chain — requires a complete digital transformation. It demands the most advanced AI, ML, analytics and a technology architecture that works in real time and can support massive computational needs. Is your demand planning reaching its full potential? Are you leveraging Artificial Intelligence to its maximum potential in your demand forecasting? We delve into the ways AI is reshaping the future of supply chains, including increasing resilience, boost planner productivity, and bring agility to critical decision making. Discover More The great news is that Blue Yonder delivers all these capabilities, and we know exactly how to help your organization achieve this ambitious vision based on our work with consumer products companies. How can you quickly digitize your demand and supply planning processes — while tightly integrating them for improved speed, agility and responsiveness? Blue Yonder offers three key advantages that drive a rapid transformation and an early return on investment: Industry expertise. Many of the world’s leading consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, and life sciences companies rely on Blue Yonder solutions to power their demand and supply planning processes. Blue Yonder understands consumer products manufacturers’ real-world challenges, daily processes, and opportunities for revenue and margin growth. That means Blue Yonder can jump right in and start adding value, without a lengthy learning curve. Preconfigured workflows for consumer products companies. Based on that deep industry experience, Blue Yonder has developed preconfigured workflows that not only result in a rapid solution launch, but also enable customers to capitalize on the full capabilities of our demand and supply planning solutions. We know the best practices that have enabled our customers to achieve a more accurate demand-supply match, even amid disruptions and volatility — and we can help customers enable those best practices in their own planning organization. By leveraging these preconfigured roles, workflows, analytics and decision insights, customers can significantly reduce time to value (TTV) and implementation errors. A composable architecture for a dramatic, but achievable, transformation. The days of investing in monolithic, disconnected, on-premises point solutions are over. Blue Yonder’s software architecture is based on cloud-native, composable solutions that deliver the robust power of advanced AI and ML in a way that’s easy and seamless to consume. Blue Yonder’s interoperable demand planning and supply planning solutions , residing on Blue Yonder Platform and fed by the same data, create the ideal environment for Demand and Supply Planning. But they also become part of an extensible, flexible ecosystem that easily connects with other Blue Yonder solutions, third-party software, internal systems and trading partner networks. For many customers, Demand and Supply Planning is the first step in a more far-reaching supply chain transformation. Traditional planning approaches no longer apply At Blue Yonder, the most common challenge we see in consumer products companies is that planners are still relying on outdated processes that are manual and slow-moving — which makes them ill-suited to today’s fast-moving, volatile market environment. They’re also using consumer-grade technology tools that aren’t built for the complexity of today’s supply chains — or the size, scale and real-time nature of modern data streams. And their planners are working in disconnected functional siloes that don’t enable shared real-time awareness and responsiveness. Building resilience to today’s ever-changing, disruptive business landscape means integrating demand and supply planning at an unprecedented level. As market conditions shift in real time, supply planning and execution activities need to respond immediately. Static plans are no longer relevant. Neither are functional siloes, where planners focus myopically on their own priorities without seeing the bigger picture. It might sound impossible to create a connected, real-time planning environment where demand and supply are seamlessly and dynamically matched, maximizing both cost and service outcomes. But Blue Yonder has already helped leading consumer products manufacturers achieve this vision, leading to improved forecast accuracy, on-time delivery, inventory turns, revenues and margins. The time is now to adapt your planning approach for today’s transformed world. Ready to learn more about the promise of Demand and Supply Planning? Reach out to us today. Leap ahead with supply chain planning Boost performance, agility and resilience with a unified supply chain planning suite that connects your entire value chain and empowers real-time decision making. Discover More ### [Creating a Culture That Engages and Retains Warehouse Employees](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/creating-a-culture-that-engages-and-retains-warehouse-employees) > Discover how to build a positive culture in your warehouse that actively engages employees, boosts morale, and significantly improves retention rates. Blog Creating a culture that engages and retains warehouse employees Creating a Culture That Engages and Retains Warehouse Employees Terence Leung , February 15, 2024 4 minute read The labor market has become extremely competitive. Between high turnover and the Great Resignation , businesses are challenged not only to find workers, but also retain them. Many workers are moving from other industries to warehousing , creating an opportunity for employers in this space. The cost and time required to hire and train these new employees can be high, but losing workers drives up costs. In an environment of low employee availability and high demand, job seekers are looking for the best opportunity. While interest is high for warehousing roles, the challenge of retention exists. According to various surveys, individuals are changing roles due to a lack of recognition and growth opportunities, as well as a desire to have the business invest in them through skills development and training. Work in the warehouse can be demanding. Management needs to create a structure that gets the most from employees, while showing them how invested the business is in their success. In addition, management must navigate the complexities of generational differences, as well as large variances in staff tenure. Most warehouses have either long-term, tenured staff or new employees, with not many others falling in between that range. How can businesses achieve lower employee turnover? The answer is taking advantage of strategies that prioritize employees, challenge workers, recognize success and offer opportunities to grow. Building the culture It can appear challenging to engage employees at the warehouse. The position involves repetition, as well as a cultural dynamic where some employees simply want to do the job, while others strive for career growth and advancement. Unlike other roles where working remotely is an option, warehouse work happens on site. A key priority for warehouse operators is establishing a culture that emphasizes the employee. This starts during the onboarding process, with the establishment of clear goals and measurement systems. Explicitly identified standards, processes and goals streamline the onboarding process, reduce the time-to-value of the new hire, and give them an understanding of how their performance will be assessed. Following the onboarding process, communication, continuous feedback, coaching and development are critical to driving retention. It’s not just about measurement — it’s about employee investment Businesses invest in warehouse management system (WMS) and labor management solutions to drive productivity gains in the warehouse. These technologies automate processes and simplify work for the warehouse staff. When leveraged as part of a broader strategy, these technologies can offer a conduit to deeper employee engagement and, ultimately, higher retention. Consider a busy forward pack area with multiple lines. With WMS and labor management solutions, the supervisor has a clear view to the work being performed, as well as productivity levels. Like any coach, this supervisor can walk the floor to engage with the packers, letting them know how they are doing and providing encouragement. What may seem like a simple action shows the staff that the company has made an investment in them — through technology — to help them be successful. Measure more than units per hour Warehouses that have yet to leverage advanced labor management solutions still measure employee productivity. Typically, this is accomplished via some calculation such as units per hour. Unfortunately, in larger warehouses with complex activities that involve varying distances and weights, these types of simple computations can lead to frustration on the part of the warehouse worker. Measurements such as units per hour don’t consider variables such as weights, cube and distance traveled. In addition, this type of measurement encourages staff to prioritize the easier tasks that will drive up their units per hour. New labor laws are being passed, such as the California Labor Law AB 701 , to help ensure employees’ required work does not interfere with meals, limit rest periods or violate occupational health and safety standards. A labor management solution supports compliance with these laws by creating a safe work environment. Employers can leverage discrete standards for granular work assignments with defined methods for each task, including proper allowances for breaks. Investment in a labor management solution shows that the business understands the complexity and different types of work to be performed, and that the company cares about accurately measuring employee performance. Digital solutions ensure that more complicated tasks are accounted for in productivity measurements, which means these tasks are less likely to be avoided or delayed. In addition, digital solutions help set realistic expectations about how to perform tasks safely, accurately and at a high quality. Be an active, inspirational coach Any list of effective employee retention strategies will include continuous feedback, training and key areas of focus. Why? Employees want to know that the business is invested in their performance and success. Labor management solutions offer the ability to identify those individuals that may need more help. In some cases, they  may uncover training issues — such as going to unnecessary screens —  as well as identify process issues that need to be addressed such as bottlenecks in the aisle and machinery issues. In each of these cases, taking action via digitalization shows a commitment to continuous improvement and a clear feedback loop. Employees want to be coached so they can improve in their current roles, opening doors to advancement and growth opportunities within the organization. Encourage employee growth As mentioned previously, some workers are content to perform their day-to-day activities, while others want to be challenged with new assignments and growth opportunities. Labor management solutions offer an avenue to uncovering those advancement-minded employees and expanding their toolset through cross-training. With the ability to establish learning curves, the successful picker can move to forklift operation without putting their incentives at risk. Reward and incentivize workers Rewards and recognition are among the top strategies used by companies focused on employee retention. With clear, equitable evaluation criteria, businesses can establish reward and incentive programs to recognize workers for their success. By regularly rewarding good work, the business establishes incentives for workers to engage and improve. Labor management solutions help drive employee retention Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Labor Management solution complements a culture built on people. By establishing standards and measurement that comply with regulations, Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Labor Management solution makes it easy for warehouse operators to onboard, engage and retain workers. Boost engagement and retention in your warehouse Learn how implementing Warehouse Labor Management and Workforce Management solutions can create a more engaged and stable warehouse workforce. Discover More ### [Can Production Be Both Flexible and Stable? The Answer Is “Yes!”](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/can-production-be-both-flexible-and-stable) > Can flexible and stable production coexist? Yes! This blog explores how manufacturers can achieve both agility and reliability. Blog Can production be both flexible and stable? The answer is “yes!” Can Production Be Both Flexible and Stable V2 Philipp Beisswenger , August 27, 2024 2 minute read The global automotive industry has experienced many foundational changes over the past several decades. One of the biggest is a shift from an emphasis on lean manufacturing principles — which emphasize production efficiency, stability and profitability — to today’s increasing focus on flexibility and customer-centricity. There’s no question that operational flexibility is the new competitive imperative for car and truck manufacturers, for a number of reasons. Worldwide, consumers are embracing electric vehicles (EVs) more slowly than expected, while remaining loyal to internal combustion engines. This is creating complex capacity issues, including production slowdowns at some plants, coupled with a high volume of orders at other plants. In addition, automakers increasingly need to produce more personalized products to meet growing customer expectations. And, while the global chip shortage is clearly behind us, manufacturers are still experiencing material shortages and other supply chain disruptions. As they navigate this volatile environment, automotive manufacturers still need to optimize lead times and delivery reliability. And let’s not forget their central mission: Earning a profit. Enter the concept of operational flexibility. Innovative, dynamic planning solutions, such as Blue Yonder Production Planning , enable automakers to create flexible production plans that are continuously updated in response to real-time data. By supporting flexible production on an immense scale, these solutions enable car and truck makers to increase their productivity and asset utilization, achieve greater operational stability, and improve their ability to personalize products — while still delivering high levels of customer service and demand responsiveness. At the same time, manufacturers can significantly strengthen their financial position by reducing their capital investments, decreasing their resource costs, optimizing their transportation expenses and minimizing their IT costs. But what about auto manufacturers’ traditional focus on lean, predictable operations? Today’s new flexible approach may seem at odds with lean production, which emphasizes stability and efficiency. Read on to see how these solutions enabled one of the world’s leading truck manufacturers to successfully combine both principles — with a rapid and substantial return on the technology investment. Turn disruption into opportunity in manufacturing Don't just react – thrive! Explore the challenges and opportunities within the evolving supply chain, offering strategies to transform your manufacturing processes for a competitive edge. Download For Free Combining flexibility and stability: A real-world success story A leading European automotive manufacturer with annual revenue of more than $14 billion was using a process called pearl chain to manage its truck production processes. This traditional lean manufacturing principle is aimed at creating a stable order sequence in production planning — with a clear, pre-defined chain of actions involved in producing the end product. Pearl chain logic maps the production sequence both for complete vehicles — such as trucks, cars and buses — as well as the associated components like chassis, cabins, axles and engines. The challenge is to place the orders in an optimal sequence that balances multiple possible configurations in the orders on the one hand, and numerous constraints within the production processes on the other hand. No deviations are allowed in this perfect chain — and the production team, not the sales team, determines customer order priorities. While stability and flexibility might seem to be at odds, Blue Yonder Production Planning proved the perfect solution for combining the strict discipline of the pearl chain with the pull-based nature of flexibility and demand centricity. This world-leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles has utilized Blue Yonder Advanced Production Scheduling (APS) to ensure the optimal scheduling and management of all its orders. The truck maker can operate with maximum flexibility in a networked production system that still closely maps both final assembly and component production. As market conditions shift, both component manufacturing and final assembly are planned and re-planned dynamically and synchronously, based on real-time data that’s ingested by the solution’s optimization engines. The Blue Yonder APS solution accommodates the pearl chain process by allowing users to create their own rules and constraints to govern production. Then it autonomously applies these rules as it makes optimal production decisions. In making order sequencing choices, the solution empowers planners to weigh trade-offs by simulating the results of different production schemes in advance. Planners can make sequencing decisions that optimally balance service, cost, waste and other outcomes. By launching APS and other Production Planning capabilities on Blue Yonder Platform, auto manufacturers can orchestrate all their supply chain processes, including demand and supply planning, directly with production. Using AI on Platform enables them to generate and share insights, optimize workflows and automate planning across functional siloes. The result? 100% production stability and a rapid ROI Blue Yonder Production Planning allows this leading truck manufacturer to constantly measure and improve production stability, a key objective of the pearl chain principle. By flagging and resolving any violations of the predefined production process, Blue Yonder software has helped the automotive customer achieve nearly 100% production stability. While vehicle production is flexible, customer-centric and responsive to changing conditions, it’s also predictable and efficient. Because Blue Yonder helped this auto industry leader achieve the best of both worlds, they have now achieved significant cost savings and improved profitability. The company’s investment in the solution was repaid quickly, and many times over. To learn more about this case study or other customer results — or to start creating your own success story — reach out to Blue Yonder today. Eliminate production bottlenecks with agile planning Balance demand with material, capacity, and due date constraints to develop production plans that maximize efficiency and adapt to change. Discover More ### [Can ChatGPT Pass the Supply Chain Test](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/can-chatgpt-pass-the-supply-chain-test) > Can ChatGPT handle the complexities of the supply chain? Blue Yonder's study puts the AI chatbot to the test and reveals surprising results. Find out now! Blog Can ChatGPT pass the supply chain test? Blue Yonder reveals study results Can ChatGPT Pass the Supply Chain Test Matt Ellsworth , December 13, 2024 6 minute read There’s been a lot of talk about how generative AI will change working in the supply chain. At Blue Yonder, we wanted to examine those impacts via a benchmarking study. In our research experiment, we explored how capable large language models (LLMs) are out-of-the-box — and if they can be effectively applied to supply chain analysis to address the real issues faced in supply chain management. LLMs, including ChatGPT, are a type of artificial intelligence trained on massive amounts of data, which allows them to learn the patterns, grammar and semantics of language. Over the past few years, LLMs have exploded in growth and are used in a range of applications worldwide, including content creation, customer service and market research. IDC data reveals that the software and information services, banking and retail industries are projected to allocate approximately $89.6 billion to AI in 2024 , with generative AI accounting for more than 19% of the total investment. This rapidly evolving technology offers businesses increased creativity, efficiency and decision-making capabilities — which have the power to revolutionize industries and processes. So how do LLMs currently handle supply chain situations? About Blue Yonder’s generative AI benchmark study Our generative AI supply chain test is based loosely on the viral ChatGPT experiment called the Uniform Bar Examination.  In this study, the latest version of ChatGBT passed the bar exam with a high combined score of 297, approaching the 90th percentile of all test takers. By passing the bar with a nearly top 10% score, LLMs demonstrate the capacity for generative AI to comprehend and apply legal principles and regulations. This groundbreaking study sparked global conversation and highlighted the transformative potential of AI. Blue Yonder decided to take this conversation a step further by studying how leading LLM systems could do on supply chain industry exams. We had LLMs face off against two standard certification tests, the CPSM and the CSCP . Our objective? To see if LLMs could function as supply chain professionals, understanding the niche rules and context of the supply chain industry with no training. We designed the experiment to programmatically run each LLM through the practice tests, with no context around the test, no access to the internet and no coding ability. We wanted to assess how the LLMs would perform straight out of the box, enabling a consistent and unbiased evaluation. Both the CPSM and the CSCP certification tests are multiple-choice. Rather than have the LLMs simply select an answer, we set up an output for the models to explain each choice they selected. This approach allowed us to gain valuable insight into each model’s reasoning process and understand why it was getting answers wrong or right, helping us evaluate each model’s abilities. After updated versions of the LLMs were released, we ran the test again this summer to collect new benchmark results. So, can LLMs pass supply chain exams? Impressively, the LLMs performed surprisingly well on the supply chain exams without any training. We first looked at LLMs’ out-of-the-box performance, with no context, then added some advantages. Stage 1: No context, no Internet access, no coding ability While most models achieved a solid passing grade with no context, Claude 3.5 Sonnet stood out, securing an impressive 79.71% accuracy on the CPSM certification test. On the CSCP exam, OpenAI’s o1-Preview and GPT 4o models edged out Claude Opus, scoring 48.30% accuracy compared to the latter’s 45.7%. While LLMs performed well in certain areas, they also showed limitations, particularly when faced with mathematics-related questions or deeply domain-specific questions. When examining only the math problems in each certification exam, OpenAI o1 Mini showcased a significant improvement in accuracy for OpenAI models, outperforming the Claude models tested. These results were generated based on no context, no Internet access and no coding ability. Next, we explored what would happen if we started to give the LLMs more assistance. Stage 2: Adding internet access In the next stage of testing, we gave the LLM programs access to the internet — allowing them to search using you.com. With that added capability, OpenAI GPT 4 Turbo achieved the most significant advancement — from 42.38% to 48.34% — on the CSCP test. When looking at questions that were initially missed on the first no-context test, the Claude Sonnet model achieved an accuracy rating of approximately 53.84% for the CPSM questions, and 20% for CSCP questions. While Internet access allowed the models to search for information independently, it also introduced the potential for inaccuracies due to unreliable online information sources. Stage 3: Providing context with RAG For the next test, we used a RAG (retrieval augmented generation) model, providing the LLMs with study materials from the tests.  Using RAG, the LLMS outperformed both the no-context and open internet access tests on non-mathematical questions, achieving the highest accuracy scores for both tests. Stage 4: Adding coding abilities Finally, for the next test, we gave the models the ability to write and run their own code using Code Interpreter and Open Interpreter frameworks. Using these frameworks, the LLMs could write code to help solve the mathematical questions in the exams, which they struggled with in the first iteration of the test. With coding abilities, the LLMs outperformed the no-context test by an average of approximately 28% in accuracy across all models for mathematical questions. Are LLMs useful for solving supply chain problems? On the whole, the LLM systems passed the industry-standard supply chain exams. This performance presents a very exciting possibility for integrating LLMs into supply chain management. However, the models aren’t perfect yet. They struggled with both math problems and specific supply chain logic. With the added ability to write code, the LLMs were able to overcome many of the math problems — but still needed very specific supply chain context to solve some of the more complex questions within the exams. What our study revealed is that generative AI can be extremely useful for solving supply chain problems, with the right tools and training. Fortunately, that’s what Blue Yonder excels at. We’re committed to harnessing the power of generative AI to create practical, innovative solutions for supply chain challenges. Our newly launched AI Innovation Studio is a hub for developing these solutions, bridging the gap between complex AI technologies and real-world applications. Our focus is on creating intelligent agents tailored to specific roles within the supply chain, ensuring that these agents are equipped to solve the real, authentic problems and challenges faced right now. Learn more about AI and machine learning at Blue Yonder, or contact us to start a one-on-one conversation. Achieve peak supply chain performance with predictive and generative AI Focus on decisions and let AI handle the data with decades of specialized experience and proven innovation that bring transformative results to your business. Discover More ### [5 Ways To Make Your Returns Process More Profitable](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/5-ways-to-make-your-returns-process-more-profitable) > Tired of costly returns? This blog reveals 5 practical ways to streamline your returns process, reduce losses, and ultimately boost your profitability. Blog 5 ways to make your returns process more profitable 5 Ways To Make Your Returns Process More Profitable Bob Griffiths , September 9, 2024 6 minute read Returns are a core part of e-commerce. Customers will order the wrong items, either on purpose or by accident. It happens and will continue to happen — as long as e-commerce exists, so will returns. Returns are currently one of the biggest issues in e-commerce, especially as costs continue to rise and return rates stay sky-high. However, returns are also the biggest opportunity for both retailers and carriers. By digitizing the returns process and implementing better returns strategies, retailers can cut costs, get stock back in inventory faster and ultimately increase profitability without sacrificing customer experience. Returns will always need to happen. However, the way returns are managed is the key to cutting costs and increasing profit margins. It’s time for retailers to move away from a customer experience at-all-costs mentality to providing returns solutions that deliver both customer experience and profitability. Here are five steps to help retailers get started: 1. Implement a digital returns journey First and foremost, retailers need a digital journey through which consumers can start the returns process. This is absolutely essential for making the returns process more profitable. This is Step 1, and without it, you won’t be able to complete the rest of the steps listed below. Retailers need integrated solutions that connect to order data systems. This will allow consumers to select the exact item they want to return and select why they are returning it in one, easy and intuitive journey. For retailers, this ensures that insights on what items are being returned, by who and why are being gathered, which will become the basis of making strategic decisions or implementing rules as we outline in the later steps. Digital returns portals also enable a better customer experience for initiating returns with an intuitive online journey, rather than outdated methods like contacting customer services. Our returns report found that contacting customer services remains the most common returns initiation method, used by 47% of merchants. Using a digital portal will free up resources and staff availability, providing immediate cost-saving benefits compared to relying on customer service teams. For retailers that are putting physical returns shipping labels in packages, (used by 27% of surveyed retailers), digital returns will reduce printing costs and increase sustainability by not including labels that will ultimately go to waste. In addition, it will also provide greater control over what returns are coming in and allow them to reinforce their policy at the point of initiation, rather than accepting all returns with the label — regardless of item type or how much time has passed since the order date. 2. Implement returns rules To prevent unwanted returns from coming back, retailers should implement rules at both the item and customer levels. This can include bans on items that cannot be resold, such as underwear, perishable items, or opened DVDs or games. By doing so, retailers can stop outside-of-policy returns, such as those after 30 days, from coming back through the chain, which saves on shipping and waste costs on items that cannot be resold. Using data to implement returns rules is a great way of targeting and prohibiting returns behaviors costing retailers the most money, such as late or ineligible returns. By implementing these rules, retailers can prevent unwanted returns and customers from abusing the system, reducing waste and shipping costs, and improving their bottom line. 3. Promote in-store returns Retailers with brick-and-mortar stores should utilize them for returns. By providing a slick experience in-store, customers are more likely to buy further items and keep coming back, which helps drive the customer’s lifetime value and overall revenue. According to Collect+ data, up to 40% of consumers make an additional purchase once in-store. For the best returns experience in-store, self-service is a must for retailers. Rather than having consumers queue for over-the-counter services (which adds to store associates’ workload), self-service returns kiosks enable a fully automated journey. Consumers can scan their QR code, attach a label to the parcel and drop it into the secure box, all of which can be achieved in under 60 seconds. This frees up staff to focus on increasing in-store sales with minimal disruption. The real benefit of in-store returns is that items are back in the store quickly and ready to be resold, without waiting for the shipment. Even items that need to be returned to the warehouse can go in bulk from stores, reducing shipping costs. 4. Send items to the right place, using the right service Using a digital integrated returns portal that connects to retailer data, automated rules can be set up that determine how and where items are shipped back and which shipping service they use. Not every item needs to go to the same place at the same speed. Some items might need to go to the warehouse, some to the store, some to the supplier and some to charity. By automating this process, retailers can prioritize items that need to get back in stock quickly and send them faster, helping get inventory back out and ready to be resold as quickly as possible. Items that cannot be resold can be shipped using a slower service, prioritizing items that will recapture revenue for retailers. It’s about making decisions based on each item, rather than treating each return the same way. By automatically making these decisions, retailers can avoid draining customer service resources by manually processing each return as it arrives. 5. Pass the data to the right part of your business Digital returns portals capture various returns data, including what’s coming back, from which customers and why they are returning items. This data should then be utilized and shared to help empower the business to make stronger, strategic decisions. For example, retailers can give data to the warehouse so they know what’s coming back and when — allowing them to plan and process them more quickly. This will also help get items back on sale more quickly, giving retailers a higher chance of recapturing the revenue. Customer service teams can use the returns data insights to respond to queries more quickly, saving staff time and providing a better customer experience. It could also be used to automate refunds based on certain criteria, reducing the number of customers contacting service teams. Retailers can use returns data to make strategic decisions on an item level. For instance, if there are high returns stating the fit is off, retailers can edit the product listing to address the issue and reduce future returns. Retailers can’t handle returns alone Retailers still have a long way to go to solve returns problems. By implementing the above methods, retailers can reduce costs, increase revenue and ultimately help solve returns issues. Even just focusing on just one or two can make a powerful difference and significantly improve returns efficiency. However, most retailers lack the resources to act on these items themselves, which allows carriers and logistics partners to step up. These digital return methods are a brilliant opportunity for carriers to add value-added services to their offerings, solving problems retailers need help with. This will enable carriers to strengthen relationships, ensure long-term growth and drive returns volume into their networks. Uncover the cost-cutting power of optimized returns Download Infographic ### [5 Steps to Optimizing Inventory With Order Management Systems](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/5-steps-to-optimizing-inventory-with-order-management-systems) > Learn the five essential steps to effectively optimize your inventory levels and enhance overall efficiency by leveraging the power of Order Management Systems (OMS). Blog 5 steps to optimizing inventory with order management systems 5 Steps to Optimizing Inventory With Order Management Systems Lawrence Roycroft , July 26, 2024 4 minute read In the quest for perfect last-mile delivery, retailers often overlook a critical factor: the first mile. While discussions around optimal replenishment and streamlined fulfillment are gaining traction, the crucial link between the two — ensuring inventory is optimally located for that final leg — remains underexplored. This connection is essential for meeting evolving consumer expectations around speed, convenience and sustainability. This is especially true with shoppers demanding ultimate agility at the lowest possible price, forcing retailers to consider diverse fulfillment options like click and collect, ship from store, micro-fulfillment centers, and various logistics models. However, these strategies can only succeed if inventory is already close to where demand truly lies. Optimized inventory planning, therefore, means prioritizing the last mile first. This is where a robust Order Management System (OMS) becomes paramount. To help you perfect last mile delivery, we’ve rounded up five key considerations for achieving inventory optimization with your OMS. 1. Location, location, location: aligning demand and fulfillment At present there is a split between how demand and fulfillment locations are measured. For example, if you’re a fashion retailer with your stock of summer clothing located in a region that is expecting rain for the next day, while demand is actually coming from hundreds of miles away in the middle of a heatwave, you may have planned overall replenishment effectively, but speedy fulfillment will be a challenge. The way retailers are currently using siloed planning data to replenish and drive inventory placement is going against the grain of convenience for the customer. Adapting to real-time events and resultant demand hotspots, in real time, is likely to be too late. Instead, an OMS integrates anticipated surges in demand into initial inventory placement planning through a combination of data analysis, forecasting and flexible inventory allocation. Rather than reacting to demand, OMS uses intelligent forecasts and scenario planning to provide a proactive approach, reducing delays and maximizing customer satisfaction by ensuring stock is available where and when demand is expected to surge. 2. “Speed and convenience” are more than just buzzwords It sounds obvious, but it’s worth banging the drum one more time for those who think they already have a better grasp on consumer demand in the omni-channel era. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to better respond to consumer demand is a step change, for sure, but the interconnectivity of supply chain solutions, across planning and order management, is where decision makers should now be looking. Note: Convenience doesn’t just mean “as quick as you can.” Sometimes, it might mean: “right now,” and you can only meet that demand if your inventory is nearby. 3. The “right now” requirement If replenishment is being planned according to where demand really is and where optimum fulfillment can be achieved, you will naturally improve delivery speed. But what this improved planning also buys you is a level of flexibility to respond immediately to customer needs. Customer situations can change according to the weather, regional events, spontaneous decisions, unforeseen breakages or losses. If you’re constantly fulfilling from rigid and static points of replenishment, you’re not just tarnishing cost and environmental efficiencies — you’re missing the convenience boat altogether. Getting inventory in the right place from minute one is cheaper, more sustainable and allows for the “right now” purchases that customers are increasingly seeking. Connecting planning with OMS aligns last-mile fulfillment and improved inventory placement with real-time delivery capacities, markdown objectives and optimal stock utilization 4. Be more “holis-tech" Typically, retailers are looking at order management and the orchestration of fulfillment options in one column; and planning as a second, disconnected function. Left out of the equation altogether is inventory placement, which is not currently seen as part of a traditional order management platform. What is critical moving forward, is a more holistic view of tech infrastructure, to bring fulfillment trends into the initial inventory planning process. To simplify this notion, think of future order management as three legs of a tripod, peaking together at the top: Replenishment of inventory in the right location Orchestrating the correct fulfillment location Executing that fulfillment with the requisite scope of choice and logistics partners in tow This integrated approach is the hallmark of a modern OMS. The future of omni-channel is here Get a first look at Blue Yonder's groundbreaking new launch, designed to deliver seamless customer experiences for 2025 and beyond. Discover More 5. Get the first mile right Changing the mindset around the tech at retailers’ disposal isn’t easy, considering that most traditional order management solutions have never sought to make this connection with inventory planning. They advise optimum fulfillment, but don’t account for the inventory being in the right place. Shortfalls in nearby stock inevitably lead to dissatisfied customers should orders be delayed on account of longer distribution times. And this is before you address the unnecessary costs and emissions used to make that longer — late — journey. This can all be offset by making delivery times as short as possible, courtesy of stock already being on customers’ doorsteps. Improving last mile costs of delivery, speed of fulfillment, flexibility of fulfillment options and sustainability throughout, all relies on where you’ve planned that inventory to be during the first mile. Enhancing order management through AI Retailers need to be thinking of inventory assortment, placement and management as part of their order management conversations. In this respect, replenishment and planning must be part of the same process, connected by the data at an organizations’ disposal. AI helps to veer away from static methods traditionally used in most order management platforms, towards a dynamic model that considers the most efficient, sustainable, quick and appropriate location for inventory, so that fulfillment is optimized. Known as cognitive inventory or probabilistic inventory, the human brain is unable to plan at such a complex scale. But with AI, retailers can now prepare for a future where stock is always where it’s most needed, at the right volume. The power of connecting planning with OMS then unlocks optimal guidance around that inventory’s utilization and delivery decisions. The result? Increased sales, improved conversion rates, enhanced customer experiences, greater sustainability and improved margins — all driven by a focus on the first mile through your OMS. Achieve real-time inventory and seamless orders with Blue Yonder OMS Eliminate inventory guesswork and order friction. Blue Yonder OMS delivers the real-time availability and operational efficiency you need to elevate customer satisfaction and drive profitability. Discover More ### [Keep or Return Fashion Influencers Have Created a Costly Trend for Retailers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/keep-or-return-fashion-influencers-have-created-a-costly-trend-for-retailers) > Discover the costly 'keep or return' trend driven by fashion influencers and its impact on retailers' bottom lines. Learn how to combat this growing challenge. Blog Keep or return? fashion influencers have created a costly trend for retailers Keep or Return Fashion Influencers Have Created a Costly Trend for Retailers Mike Richmond , January 6, 2025 2 minute read It’s no secret that product returns are one of the biggest challenges facing the world’s retailers — especially retailers of fashion apparel. Clothing trends and product seasons come and go with increasing speed today. That means fashion retailers must get returned products back in stores, or back into online inventories, as quickly as possible to capture the fleeting resale opportunity. As the hours and days tick by, retailers’ potential profit margins on returned merchandise steadily decline. It’s a huge problem, and growing. The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that returned merchandise accounted for a staggering $890 billion last year , or 16.9% of retailers’ total 2024 sales. This is up from 14.5% in 2023. Much of this growth in returns is driven by online shoppers. While just 10% of in-store purchases are returned, the return rate rises to 26.4% for online sales . According to Statista, the most returned online purchases in the U.S. are clothing (24%), shoes (16%) and accessories (12%) — the exact product footprint of fashion retailers. A new social media trend is influencing retail margins Why are consumers returning so many fashion products? Over half (58%) of consumers report that they routinely purchase clothing in multiple sizes, then return the items that don’t fit. When it comes to clothing, 75% of items are returned for fit issues. But today there’s an alarming new trend that’s also fueling higher return rates. Increasingly, social media influencers are buying fashion apparel from trendy retailers in bulk — they call their large purchases a haul. Then influencers not only use their homes as fitting rooms, but they share their outfits on TikTok and other platforms as they try them on, asking their followers a simple question: Keep or return? Based on feedback, influencers decide which items to keep, and which ones to return. According to Retail Economics, serial returners represent only 11% of shoppers — but are responsible for 25% of returns , sending back an average of nearly $1,500 of merchandise each year. The U.K.-based economics research consultancy estimates that the keep-or-return game and other serial returner behaviors are costing retailers about $7 billion annually in the U.K. alone. $ 0 billion the estimated total cost of returned merchandise in 2024. 0 % of clothing returns are due to fit issues. 0 % of returns are from serial returners, who send back an average of nearly $1,500 of merchandise each year. How can retailers exert their own influence? In 1968, artist Andy Warhol predicted that, in the future, everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. But probably not even Warhol would have predicted the rise of fashion influencers and the keep-or-return game. This trend has created an unexpected challenge for fashion retailers, and there’s no telling how long its popularity will last. Fortunately, retailers can work proactively to combat the negative effects of serial returners. Fashion retailers like Zara, H&M and ASOS are now charging returns fees to customers to discourage hauls and offset the costs of reverse logistics. Many clothing retailers are shortening return windows to turn products around faster, or marking more products final sale. Other fashion retailers are improving their size charts, offering proactive sizing recommendations, and even using virtual-reality technologies from Google and other vendors to create an online fitting room. Returns will always remain a fact of life, however. A Blue Yonder survey found that, while 89% of retailers have changed their policies to deter returns, more than half of those companies (59%) experienced an increase, not a decrease, in the rate of returns following those policy changes. The answer is clear: Fashion retailers need to exert their own influence by driving more efficient internal reverse logistics processes to get trendy merchandise back into inventory as rapidly as possible. This means orchestrating returns with greater intelligence — quickly deciding what to do with a returned item to maximize margins, then executing that decision as rapidly as possible. When the item is received at a warehouse or store, for example, an automated digital process is needed to help quickly assess the return and get it on its way to the next destination. Benchmark your returns strategy against 210 U.S. retailers See how other online retailers are reacting to rising return rates and learn about the role of technology in mitigating the impact. Download For Free But the journey to increased efficiency can start even earlier, with the shopper’s initiation of the return. Requiring customers to contact customer support for a return authorization or a shipping label — as almost a third of retailers do — slows the process down, results in manual work and creates additional costs. Instead, retailers can digitize the return creation process, eliminate labels altogether and offer convenient drop-off points — kickstarting the reverse logistics process immediately. A digitized process is key to maximizing transparency and making sure the right resources are in place to support end-to-end returns management, including store associates and warehouse employees, as well as carrier capacity. Digital solutions can optimize routes, increase visibility into when items will arrive back at the warehouse, automate processing when items are received, and otherwise streamline and accelerate the reverse logistics process. By automating key activities and managing tasks in real time, fashion retailers can address the two things within their control: Reverse logistics costs and timeliness. Stop shopping for a returns management solution. Choose and keep Blue Yonder Given the growth of product returns, it’s surprising that less than half of retailers (47%) are using a digital solution to optimize returns — and about a quarter (24%) are using a specialized solution they developed in-house. Many of those solutions are simply digitizing the customer experience, not exploring the opportunities for internal process improvements that can be enabled by digitization. Blue Yonder’s proven returns management capabilities are easy to launch, easy to apply and easy to maintain. From returns initiation and drop-off kiosks to returns orchestration and processing, Blue Yonder software makes the end-to-end process more seamless, more efficient and more profitable for fashion retailers. Time spent out-of-stock is minimized, as products are quickly returned to inventory. Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions automate workflows and capture real-time data at key touchpoints, enabling faster, higher-quality decisions. Retailers can understand the root causes of returns and consumers’ decision-making process at a deeper level. That means they can make smarter returns decisions and implement more successful returns policies. Social media influencers and their followers might be playing the keep-or-return game, but Blue Yonder customers universally make a “keep” decision when they’ve seen the power of our returns management capabilities. Contact us to try our solutions on for size today. Unlock easy and seamless returns with Blue Yonder Learn more about how our returns solution can improve cost effectiveness, keep customers happy, and help you prevent returns fraud. Discover More ### [LSPs Need to Build Digital Leadership Quickly Blue Yonder Can Help](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/lsps-need-to-build-digital-leadership-quickly-blue-yonder-can-help) > Digital transformation is critical for LSPs. Learn why building digital leadership quickly is essential and how Blue Yonder can provide the solutions and expertise you need. Blog LSPs need to build digital leadership quickly: Blue Yonder can help LSPs Need to Build Digital Leadership Quickly Blue Yonder Can Help Terence Leung , January 9, 2025 2 minute read Faced with unprecedented supply chain complexity, more companies are making a strategic choice to focus on their core business, while outsourcing their warehousing and transportation to the experts — logistics service providers, or LSPs. Among Fortune 500 companies, 80% are outsourcing logistics — and 68% of all businesses report that they’ve achieved cost savings from logistics outsourcing. The global market for logistics outsourcing is expected to reach an impressive $1.642 trillion by 2032. That’s obviously great news for LSPs, but it also means that now they must master supply chain complexity across multiple customer organizations, multiple industries and multiple regions. From volatile demand and shifting order priorities to extreme weather and physical roadblocks, LSPs need to plan and replan, dynamically, across dozens of customers in near real time. The only way to accomplish this multi-enterprise supply chain orchestration with speed, precision and scale is via advanced technology tools. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), today’s warehouse and transportation management solutions ingest enormous volumes of real-time data — both internal and external — then identify exceptions, replan dynamically and execute course corrections autonomously. These advanced solutions are ideal for mastering the incredibly complex challenges facing LSPs today. As LSPs work to establish technology leadership and offer a differentiated level of customer service, they face a critical question: Should they buy off-the-shelf logistics software — or build their own unique digital ecosystem from the ground up? As they consider this complicated choice, LSPs are looking at factors like total cost of ownership (TCO), speed of launch, the need for customization, maintenance and upgrades, and other issues. 0 % of Fortune 500 companies are outsourcing logistics. 0 % of all businesses report cost savings from logistics outsourcing. $ 0 trillion the expected global market for logistics outsourcing by 2032. Build-and-buy: A new path to digital transformation Our newest eBook, “ Build Technology Leadership with Blue Yonder ” offers a third option: A composable journey that combines both build and buy. To help LSPs and other organizations get quickly up to speed with AI, ML and other technology innovations, Blue Yonder offers its industry-leading capabilities as cloud-native, plug-and-play applications and microservices that are easy to install and add. LSPs can achieve a rapid, seamless and cost-effective digital transformation by launching Blue Yonder transportation management and warehouse management solutions via the cloud. They can easily customize these systems to each customer’s needs, as well as integrate them with their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and order management system (OMS). LSPs can also add specialized capabilities from Blue Yonder like yard management, labor management, warehouse execution, billing and returns management as composable microservices that are simply, seamlessly added to the existing technology stack. Blue Yonder’s modern, composable approach to establishing technology leadership enables LSPs to simultaneously buy and build, as they leverage proven, purpose-built solutions to create their own customized tech ecosystem. LSPs can quickly achieve a digital transformation and deliver world-class managed services across the end-to-end logistics operation. In a changing landscape, LSPs must remain agile Not only does Blue Yonder’s composable, build-and-buy approach enable LSPs to get up to speed quickly, but it also allows them to remain agile as conditions change. A cloud-native, plug-and-play approach ensures that LSPs are always accessing the newest Blue Yonder software features and functionality, as well as the fastest processors, to deliver the highest-quality managed services to their customers. Blue Yonder also makes it easy to onboard new customers, or add new service areas like returns management, as the business landscape continues to shift. LSPs can evolve at their own pace, without ever experiencing the downtime and disruption of a rip-and-replace event. At Blue Yonder, we understand that AI, ML, predictive analytics, what-if scenario generation and other advanced capabilities can seem intimidating. That’s why we make them available to LSPs and other customers via an easy, intuitive user interface — and apply them in practical, value-added ways. Our transportation management, warehouse management and other solutions ingest volumes of data and perform rigorous analysis behind the scenes 24-7 — but their outputs are easily understood, intelligent recommendations the entire team can get behind. Take the first step toward tech leadership today It’s no coincidence that Blue Yonder’s hybrid build-and-buy approach is perfectly suited to the needs of the world’s LSPs. Every day Blue Yonder software is used by more than 175 LSPs across the globe, including 4PLs, 3PLs, specialty logistics providers, contract warehousing companies, transportation contractors and cold chain specialists. We understand the needs of LSPs. And we’re uniquely positioned to meet those needs, as the only supply chain software provider that spans the full breadth of logistics operations: Transportation, warehousing and distribution, digital supply chain network, yard management, commerce and reverse logistics. Instead of scrambling to build digital leadership from the ground up, LSPs can count on Blue Yonder to provide the end-to-end capabilities, resources and scalability they need to serve the growing demand for managed logistics services. By making Blue Yonder your strategic partner in driving growth, you’ll be leveraging our technology leadership to build your own. Read our newest eBook , or learn more about our specialized offerings for LSPs here . Build technology leadership with Blue Yonder To successfully deliver an expanded set of managed services, logistics services providers need best-in-class digital capabilities. Blue Yonder is the single source you need. Download For Free ### [Looking for Unique Value LSPs Should Look No Further Than Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/looking-for-unique-value-lsps-should-look-no-further-than-blue-yonder) > Looking for a competitive edge? See the unique value Blue Yonder offers Logistics Service Providers to enhance their operations and better serve their clients. Blog Looking for unique value? LSPs should look no further than Blue Yonder Looking for Unique Value LSPs Should Look No Further Than Blue Yonder Terence Leung , January 13, 2025 1 minute read Logistics teams in every industry are experiencing tough pressures, from rising costs to labor shortages. But it’s important to remember that not all logistics organizations are created equal. For example, the world’s logistics service providers (LSPs) are facing very different challenges and opportunities today than, for example, the logistics teams at manufacturing and retail enterprises. That’s why Blue Yonder has developed specialized capabilities, and a dedicated practice area, aimed specifically at LSPs. We have over 175 LSP customers today, and that number is growing as leading LSPs recognize the unique value that Blue Yonder can add for their business. At a recent LinkedIn Live event, Pat Jones, Senior Director of Transformation Advisory at Blue Yonder examined our solutions and services for the LSP community. The event, called “The Unique Value Proposition Blue Yonder Delivers to LSPs,” looked at the big challenges facing LSPs today — and how Blue Yonder is qualified to help. Unlock your competitive edge with Blue Yonder To be highly successful in acquiring and retaining clients, Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) are gaining differentiating capabilities through strategic transformations. Host Terence Leung and Pat Jones, Senior Director, Value Engineering at Blue Yonder, discuss the unique value proposition we deliver to LSPs. Watch Now Capturing the logistics outsourcing opportunity So how exactly are the challenges of LSPs different and distinct? In addition to mastering complex day-to-day operations challenges, LSPs also must contend with more long-term, strategic issues. To achieve growth, they need to position themselves to capitalize on the enormous, and growing, market for logistics outsourcing — estimated to increase to $1.642 trillion by 2032 . That might mean expanding their physical footprints or service capabilities. It might mean strategic mergers and acquisitions. But one thing is certain: It means establishing clear-cut digital leadership. The only way LSPs can increase their scale and scope, without negatively impacting service levels or margins, is by leveraging advanced transportation management system (TMS), warehouse management system (WMS), labor management , warehouse execution system (WES), yard management system (YMS), returns management system (RMS), digital supply chain network and commerce solutions. These solutions not only automate daily tasks, from warehouse picking to load building, for increased speed, accuracy, efficiency and resource utilization. But, enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), they also automate the hundreds of decisions LSPs need to make every day. AI-enabled decision engines ingest huge volumes of real-time data, apply business rules, weigh trade-offs and make optimal choices in microseconds. Often, advanced digital solutions can also pull execution levers with no human intervention. That means LSPs can serve more customers, offer more capabilities and deliver optimal service levels — at the lowest possible cost. “The reason companies outsource their logistics is because they know LSPs can move and store products more effectively, more efficiently,” says Pat Jones. “That’s their core business. But, as logistics outsourcing grows, for LSPs that’s created a challenge of building scale, quickly, without driving costs so high that it’s no longer a profitable business model". “At Blue Yonder, we get that scalability challenge. We’ve seen it before, and we know how to enable rapid, profitable growth,” Pat adds. “We help LSPs leverage the most advanced technologies, the most innovative processes and the best practices we’ve learned from hundreds of customer engagements. We help them do their work better, faster and more profitably — even as they’re adding capabilities, adding customers, adding new revenue streams.” Need a rapid software launch with a big ROI? Blue Yonder delivers. Learn how Blue Yonder provides LSPs with the rapid software implementation and significant return on investment you need. Discover More The proven value of Blue Yonder Blue Yonder has a long track record of delivering results for leading LSPs. For example, Blue Yonder software helps Clipper Logistics move 500 million retail products a year, with speed and accuracy. When Clipper onboards a new customer, Blue Yonder warehouse management capabilities get the customer’s outsourced distribution up and running in just four days. For Silk Logistics , Blue Yonder software optimizes daily processes, while also enabling this LSP to bring on new customers quickly via scalable deployment templates. In just six months, Blue Yonder’s warehouse management solution was rolled out for major Rhenus customers in Poland, leading to target wins in terms of speed, efficiency, accuracy and overall customer service. Blue Yonder’s industry-leading solutions in warehouse management, warehouse labor management and transportation management helped Arcadia Cold gain real-time visibility, improve efficiency, and build resilience and sustainability into its operations from the start. As a result, this cold storage and logistics leader was able to launch five new facilities in just 18 months — and is poised for future growth, with three new warehouses under construction. Arcadia Cold builds supply chain resilience and sustainability with AI and ML Read Case Study Driving customer-specific results for every LSP During our LinkedIn Live, Pat discussed a recent LSP customer that was aiming to double its revenue in five years by expanding its “white glove” specialized customer services. “This customer wanted to capitalize on industry growth by managing very complex shipments requiring precise hands-on coordination — not just of the delivery, but the installation of the product onsite,” explains Pat. “Think of things like ATMs and kiosks — very time-critical infrastructure that can’t be out of service. “It’s a very complex operating model, and the customer’s challenge was keeping up with demand growth,” continues Pat. “They had no choice but to keep adding labor resources, because everything was based on manual processes. I spent several days with the customer, and they were successful — but it took a ton of work. And all that labor was eroding margins. So the Blue Yonder value proposition was about minimizing labor costs, and eliminating the element of human error, by automating key processes. We also helped identify some risks — damage to customer relationships, damage to carrier relationships — that could really hurt the business and keep them from achieving that ambitious growth target. “We were able to partner with this LSP and define a digital transformation using a crawl-walk-run approach. The phased implementation would address the most pressing risks, start a cultural transformation and set the stage for early returns. It was a really great example of working with an LSP and tailoring the outcome to their specific business challenges and opportunities. At Blue Yonder, we’re not just selling software in a one-size-fits-all manner — we’re creating unique value for every single customer.” How will you capitalize on this moment? According to Pat, it’s a critical time for LSPs to embark on a digital transformation to capitalize on the global outsourcing opportunity. Most LSPs, he says, are intent on making big changes. “We see a lot of LSPs growing and expanding. 3PLs are becoming 4PLs. And 4PLs are really becoming supply chain partners with their customers — providing more planning and support, not just execution,” he remarks. “That’s where a partnership with Blue Yonder can really yield value. We can meet with LSPs and  show them the future. We can demonstrate the exciting possibilities of AI, automation, decision science, data management — and we can help them build out that future and realize the vision. I love my job, because I get to meet with LSPs and help them achieve their growth goals. It’s incredibly rewarding,” concludes Pat. No matter where LSPs are in their digitalization journey, Blue Yonder’s Transformation Advisory team meets them where they are, with the solutions and services they need — and an ambitious, yet achievable, action plan. What unique value can Blue Yonder deliver for your organization? Contact Blue Yonder today and get started on your own transformation. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Fashion Returns Fraud Is Growing But Digitalization Helps Retailers Fight Back](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/fashion-returns-fraud-is-growing-but-digitalization-helps-retailers-fight-back) > Fashion returns fraud is on the rise, costing retailers billions. Discover how digitalization and advanced technology are empowering retailers to fight back and minimize losses. Blog Fashion returns fraud is growing — but digitalization helps retailers fight back Fashion Returns Fraud Is Growing But Digitalization Helps Retailers Fight Back Mike Richmond , January 15, 2025 2 minute read Product returns are an expensive, and growing, problem for fashion retailers. According to a report by Appriss Retail and the National Retail Federation (NRF), total returns for the retail industry amounted to $743 billion in merchandise in 2023, creating huge reverse logistics costs. For fashion retailers, returns create an urgent challenge as they struggle to get trendy merchandise back on the shelf, or in the online fulfillment center, as quickly as possible. When returns arrive, they need to be scanned, verified and processed right away. Speed is of the essence. But what if the warehouse receives an empty box instead of the dress associates were expecting? Or what if the dress has clearly been worn — part of a growing trend called wardrobing that’s a special risk for fashion retailers? That’s an even bigger problem. Of the $743 billion worth of returned merchandise in 2023, 13% of those returns were fraudulent — representing $101 billion in value. Fashion retailers are not only investing heavily in return logistics, but losing their merchandise as a result of fraud. As leading fashion retailers like Zara face increasing competition from low-cost retailers including Shein and Temu, every lost sale, and every trendy dress, counts. Shipping back empty boxes, or used apparel, is only the beginning. More than three-quarters (76%) of shoppers embellish their return reasons to get a refund when they don’t deserve one. Consumers take new products off the rack , go to a cash register and present them as returns. Other tactics used by fraudulent returners include fake payment methods, gift card fraud and counterfeit receipts. $ 0 billion in merchandise was returned in 2023. 0 % of returns in 2023 were fraudulent. 0 % of shoppers embellish return reasons to get a refund when they don’t deserve one. How can these criminals get away with these practices? As mentioned earlier, fashion retailers are pressed for time — and they also want to keep shoppers happy in today’s hypercompetitive environment. Since research has shown that 73% of shoppers choose a retailer based on the returns experience, fashion retailers often give consumers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to returns without a receipt, apparel that seems to be worn and other issues. The biggest challenge to combatting returns fraud is that, too often, fashion retailers are relying on human judgement, vague return policies, and on-the-fly interpretations of those policies. Their traditional manual-based processes are inadequate for detecting misuse, as well as distinguishing simple shopper mistakes from intentional fraud. If fashion retailers tighten their returns policies, charge returns fees or limit the number of returns, they risk offending loyal customers who have a high lifetime value. Retailers must maintain a delicate balance, while still flagging and addressing genuine fraud. As fashion retailers struggle with product seasonality, rising logistics costs, labor shortages and other pressing issues, returns fraud may be seen as a lower priority — but every day fraudulent returns cost fashion retailers millions of dollars. Combatting fraud easily and cost-effectively via digitization The great news is that fashion retailers can fight back against fraudulent returns quickly and affordably by embracing digital returns management. With advanced returns management capabilities from Blue Yonder , fashion retailers can create a disciplined, automated process that identifies returns fraud, minimizes its impacts and discourages repeat offenders. How does it work? By digitizing the end-to-end returns process, fashion retailers can replace human judgement and a one-off, shopper-by-shopper approach with the power of artificial intelligence (AI), data science and advanced analytics. It may be hard for store associates or warehouse employees to distinguish an honest, high-spending customer from a serial, fraudulent returner — but it’s easy for AI. Blue Yonder digital solutions intelligently use data such as customer history, behavior and returns frequency to detect suspicious activities, and then help personalize the returns experience based on that data. For example, retailers can implement shorter returns windows for serial returners, or faster refunds for loyal shoppers. Retailers are provided with an informed perspective of each return — including the specific item, the customer details and the return reasons. This perspective increases the speed and ease of performing manual parcel checks in the warehouse. Employees will already know what to expect in terms of package contents and item condition, and they can quickly do a confirmation check. Any parcels that are missing items, contain damaged items, or have replaced the returned items with some other material are immediately flagged. Images can be captured to confirm the fraud by comparing the returned items to original product images. Even if retailers choose not to take action against criminals, Blue Yonder flags them so they can’t easily repeat their fraudulent behaviors. Fight back against returns fraud Returns fraud is on the rise, impacting retailers' bottom lines. Understand the latest trends and creative tactics criminals are using to protect your profits. Discover More An intelligent, targeted approach to returns fraud While fashion retailers like Zara, ASOS and H&M are tightening their returns policies to combat fraud, the drawback is they may be negatively impacting well-intentioned, high-spending customers who will simply shop elsewhere. By leveraging advanced AI, analytics and data science, Blue Yonder enables a more intelligent approach that helps detect and prevent fraudulent returns at the earliest opportunity — while maintaining a positive customer experience for other shoppers. Returns policies can even be customized for each individual shopper, depending on their history and their statistical risk for fraud. More than half (54%) of retail executives have called fraudulent returns their greatest challenge . It’s clear that fashion retailers need to take action to fight back against criminals’ increasingly sophisticated tactics. At Blue Yonder, we think the clear approach is to employ equally sophisticated returns management solutions and processes. Why not talk to us about how fraud is uniquely impacting your own business? We can explore how our digital solutions equip you for victory in the battle against fashion returns fraud. Optimize returns and maximize revenue Don't let returns drain your profits. Blue Yonder offers an intuitive customer journey that automates the right decisions, driving greater revenue from every return. Discover More ### [Making Retail Returns Greener Is Always in Fashion](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/making-retail-returns-greener-is-always-in-fashion) > Discover how making retail returns more sustainable is not just an ethical choice, but a smart business strategy that's always in vogue. Learn actionable tips for greener returns. Blog Making retail returns greener is always in fashion Making Retail Returns Greener Is Always in Fashion Mike Richmond , January 15, 2025 2 minute read Sustainability is an increasing concern for every retail business, and for a good reason. Food, apparel, textiles, packaging materials and other consumer products not only cause environmental impacts as they’re produced and transported, but they often end up in landfills. With their trendy offerings and short product life cycles, fashion retailers face special scrutiny today from government regulators, shareholders and educated consumers. Much has been written about the environmental impacts of fast fashion — and, in response, retailers are stepping up their use of eco-friendly fabrics , encouraging clothing donations and re-use , and focusing on supply chain sustainability . One clear target for fashion retailers who want to operate greener? Optimizing the returns process. In the United States alone, every year 2.6 million tons of returned clothes end up in landfills . Recently, there’s a growing trend among retailers to simply discard some product returns on receipt, because the cost of processing and re-merchandising them is greater than the potential profit. In 2022, 9.5 billion pounds of returns worldwide were sent straight to landfills. Some experts estimate that one in four returned products are automatically landfilled — and the rate may be even higher for fashion apparel. 0 million tons of returned clothes end up in landfills in the United States every year. 0 billion pounds of returns worldwide were sent to landfills in 2022. 0 in 4 returned products are automatically landfilled. Not only does an inefficient returns process contribute to landfill waste, but it also increases a fashion retailer’s overall environmental footprint. For example, 12% of ASOS’s total carbon footprint results from its returns management process. The carbon emissions associated with returns typically add up to 30% of the emissions of initial delivery. There are a number of practical actions fashion retailers are already taking to reduce returns. Some fashion retailers are charging return fees and tightening their return policies. From offering proactive sizing recommendations to using virtual-reality fitting rooms , many retailers are also helping shoppers choose the right apparel size during the purchasing process. But the best way to minimize the environmental impact of returns is to accelerate, streamline and digitize the end-to-end returns management process — so apparel is quickly returned, processed and made re-available for purchase. Statistics indicate that returns are growing, not diminishing. But if retailers can drive significant costs, time and errors from their returns management process, the carbon footprint of returns will be greatly reduced, including fewer clothes sent to landfills. Is your business affected by the costly "keep or return" trend? Fashion influencers might be costing you more than you think. Understand the "keep or return" trend and how it's impacting retailers like you. Discover More Greater visibility + intelligence = greater sustainability Blue Yonder has the ideal formula for increasing the sustainability of fashion returns. Our digital returns management capabilities enable a disciplined, automated process and real-time visibility for fashion retailers. With Blue Yonder, returns are tracked in real time and smartly managed with artificial intelligence (AI). In seconds, fashion retailers can strategically and profitably decide what to do with a given returned item, then act on that optimal decision immediately. One of the main benefits of digitizing the returns management process via Blue Yonder software is speed. Another is profitability. At every step, time and costs are intelligently driven out of reverse logistics. For example, while nearly a third of retailers require customers to initiate a product return by contacting customer support — and others include a printed label in every package — Blue Yonder enables a digitized, label-less process. This digital process creates real-time transparency and ensures the right resources are in place to support end-to-end returns management, including labor. The product’s route is optimized, and the retailer knows exactly when it will arrive back at the warehouse. Once it’s there, automated rules help to quickly assess the return, verify it and send it to the next destination — the right retail shelf or warehouse aisle, not the dumpster. Certain high-demand fashion items can be prioritized by the receiving team, to quickly get those products back on sale and speed up revenue recapture. For items that are flagged as damaged, associates can quickly decide to repair them, offer them to shoppers at a deep discount, or categorize them for proper recycling. Fashion retailers like Urban Outfitters are beginning to offer reclaimed or re-imagined clothing items that are constructed of fabric or garments that might otherwise be sent to landfills. This is the kind of innovation that’s unlocked by digitization. Delivering greater decision speed and quality is only part of Blue Yonder’s value equation. Across the returns management process, Blue Yonder software minimizes the use of paper, such as return forms, packaging and labels. Blue Yonder solutions also reduce road miles, eliminate manual labor, maximize round trips and otherwise drive sustainability. A winning formula: Greater sustainability, higher profits, happier shoppers In addition to cutting costs, accelerating process steps and creating environmental benefits, Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions also increase shopper satisfaction. Consumers enjoy maximum ease and convenience by using digital returns portals and drop-off kiosks. Research has shown that 66% of consumers consider sustainability when they make a purchase. When fashion retailers demonstrate a commitment to environmental responsibility in their returns management process, they’re making their shoppers happier in multiple ways. Optimizing the fashion returns process has proven to be good for the planet, good for your revenues and profit margins, and good for your shoppers. No matter how you look at the perennial problem of returns, that’s a winning formula. Contact Blue Yonder to learn more. Transform your returns management with Blue Yonder Drive greater revenue from returns by providing an intuitive customer journey that automatically enables the right decision with every return. Discover More ### [The Top 10 Causes of shipping delays and How to Mitigate Them](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-top-10-causes-of-shipping-delays-and-how-to-mitigate-them) > Stop shipping delays before they start. Learn about the top 10 causes of these issues and implement effective mitigation strategies to optimize your supply chain. Blog The top 10 causes of shipping delays — and how to mitigate them The Top 10 Causes of Shipping Delays and How to Mitigate Them Salim Shaikh , January 23, 2025 4 minute read Getting shipments from the production facility or warehouse to the retail store or the consumer’s doorstep is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Today’s supply chains span thousands of miles, cross continents and oceans, rely on multiple modes of transportation, and involve many supplier tiers. Geopolitical tensions, rising fuel costs, driver shortages, blocked shipping lanes and frequent supply chain disruptions make it tough to achieve reliable on-time delivery amid this complexity. And let’s not forget demand volatility, which makes the right product/ right place/right time a moving target. As manufacturers and retailers rush to get their products delivered to stores, consumers’ homes and offices, third-party drop points, micro-fulfillment centers and other destinations, shipping delays are inevitable in this complex landscape. But they’re also costly — causing damage to sales numbers, retailer and consumer relationships, and the brand reputation. There is good news, though. Advanced digital software, enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) — like the Blue Yonder Transportation Management solution — are purpose-built to address the top causes of shipping delays. Customers in every industry are using Blue Yonder’s capabilities, infused with AI, to mitigate delay-causing events before they impact delivery performance. So what are the top reasons for shipping delays? In its work with thousands of customers, Blue Yonder has identified the top 10 causes: #1. Physical roadblocks From highway traffic to blocked shipping lanes in the Red Sea, physical roadblocks are one of the most common reasons for delayed shipments. While these kinds of events are hard to predict and impossible to eliminate, modern transportation management system (TMS) solutions can help. By recognizing new route conditions in near real time, TMS software can reroute shipments dynamically, balancing cost and service goals to arrive at the best possible outcome, usually in mere seconds. Manufacturers and retailers should ensure that their internal teams and third-party transportation providers are capitalizing on advanced digital solutions to mitigate the impact of roadblocks. #2. Ineffective transportation planning Not only do outdated TMS solutions lack the capability to dynamically manage physical disruptions — they’re also unable to create a truly cost-effective, service-oriented transportation plan in the first place. Outdated solutions don’t consider enough possibilities and parameters across the complex global supply chain. And they can’t identify and mitigate all the risk factors along the way. Legacy planning solutions leave shipments vulnerable to surprises that result in late deliveries. The reality is that ocean, rail, air and road transportation networks are full of potential obstacles. Only advanced TMS solutions, enhanced by AI, can effectively model, anticipate and prevent disruptions, enabling seamless navigation of the complexities in modern logistics. #3. Problems with shipping documentation With nearshoring, cross-border shipping and international logistics heating up, documentation problems are a growing source of delays. Every shipment requires complete, accurate documentation that meets exacting specifications. If there’s a single incorrect digit in the street address, or one misspelled name, shipments can be stopped cold. What can shippers do? Leverage a multi-modal TMS process that’s built to manage and automate all documentation, including forms, labels and data required by carriers, customers, government agencies and customs officials. #4. A lack of real-time visibility Another advantage of an advanced TMS? It gathers data from across the supply chain, as well as external sources, to identify potential delay-causing events at the earliest opportunity. The earlier an exception is detected, the more options a company has available to ensure shipments stay on track. The TMS should have near-real-time data ingestion capabilities and integrate seamlessly with third-party visibility platforms. #5. Extreme weather With natural disasters and extreme weather events increasing in frequency and severity, shippers need to be prepared in advance for these short-lived, unpredictable and very localized delivery disruptions. The TMS should have the capability to ingest weather data from an external source, identify potential threats, quantify delivery risks, and quickly execute a mitigation strategy like choosing an alternate route, mode or equipment type. #6. Equipment failure There’s no way to completely eliminate the chance that brakes, tires, electrical systems, trailer couplings and engines will fail on the way to a delivery. Manufacturers and retailers can minimize their risk, however, by incorporating carriers’ vehicle maintenance and safety records into their freight procurement decisions. U.S.-based freight carriers have CSA (compliance, safety and accountability) scores that can be used as a decision factor, in addition to cost. Shippers who rely on cost alone may be unknowingly choosing outdated, failure-prone equipment to transport their critical shipments. #7. Driver shortages and restrictions The U.S. has a well-recognized driver shortage — and drivers are also subject to hours-of-service (HOS) restrictions that limit their time at the wheel each day. Traffic and other physical obstacles mean that the clock is ticking on a shipment, even when it’s not moving. A modern TMS will apply these HOS rules, and other driver availability factors, as inputs when assigning shipments. And, of course, the TMS acts to increase driver productivity by avoiding traffic, inclement weather and other roadblocks upfront. #8. Insufficient carrier capacity Securing carrier capacity can be challenging, especially during peak transportation seasons. The right TMS will have the forward-looking visibility to accurately forecast market demand and carrier capacity. It will also integrate seamlessly with digital freight markets, digital bidding platforms and brokerage partners. Advanced digital TMS solutions give shippers greater speed, agility and flexibility in finding cost-effective capacity. Logistics procurement the way it should be Streamline collaboration with carriers around the world to lower your logistics sourcing costs and time-to-value. Discover More #9. Lost freight Even when everything seems to be going well, sometimes shipments just get misplaced. Carriers lose packages for various reasons, and the risk increases with the number of hub and vehicle transfers in the transportation network. In addition to using an AI-enabled TMS in their own operations, manufacturers and retailers should choose carriers with digital fleet management and TMS capabilities that support highly automated material handling. Look for transparent transportation networks that frequently scan shipments and report real-time status to ensure accuracy and accountability.  More scans mean greater visibility for your company and your customers. #10. Last-mile delivery failure When customers are unavailable to receive shipments, the reattempted delivery is usually late. Asking customers to sort out delivery problems is common, but that forfeits an opportunity to provide on-time delivery and higher service levels — and build long-term loyalty. An advanced TMS helps shippers take ownership and control of the customer’s freight receipt, with proactive monitoring and notifications of deliveries. Blue Yonder: Your One-Stop Source for Delay Mitigation Many manufacturers and retailers have implemented digital processes for demand and supply planning, order management and other supply chain activities. But digital transportation management is often overlooked. This makes little sense, as the transportation function is a huge cost center — and it’s also where the rubber meets the road in terms of building strong customer and consumer relationships. Today’s transportation process is too dynamic and complex to manage using manual analysis, spreadsheets and outdated TMS tools. Shippers have too much to lose to stick with the status quo — and allow these top 10 delay factors to impact their delivery performance. Volatility and disruptions are here to stay, but manufacturers and retailers can proactively adopt advanced, AI-enabled transportation management systems to mitigate their impacts. Learn more about increasing your disruption readiness by contacting Blue Yonder today. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Reimagine Inventory Planning Aligning Allocation and Replenishment Across the Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/reimagine-inventory-planning-aligning-allocation-and-replenishment-across-the-supply-chain) > Discover how to reimagine inventory planning by strategically aligning allocation and replenishment across your entire supply chain for greater efficiency and responsiveness. Blog Reimagine inventory planning: aligning allocation and replenishment across the supply chain Reimagine Inventory Planning Aligning Allocation and Replenishment Across the Supply Chain Jennifer Brox , January 24, 2025 3 minute read Many retailers are witnessing a surge in point solutions that promise to address the challenges associated with inventory planning. While these tools enhance efficiency for individual teams, they often perpetuate silos that undermine true supply chain optimization. The result? In the quest to find a solution tailored to their team’s needs, departments are cutting themselves off from one another and stifling collaboration — sometimes inadvertently exacerbating the supply chain delays intended to resolve. To break free from these limitations, retailers must take a comprehensive, all-encompassing approach and unify their planning departments in a single system to fully optimize the supply chain in the face of an increasingly disruptive market. The challenges currently facing supply chain planning 1. Organizational siloes still exist, and they’re holding you back In many planning organizations, siloes are alive and well. Planning groups frequently rely on separate processes and tools tailored to specific product characteristics. While using point solutions may seem efficient for individual departments who are purchasing the “best fit” for their needs, the reality is that this approach creates an environment where certain replenishment methods are not available where they might make sense — ultimately reinforcing the disconnect between departments and causing inefficiencies in the supply chain. For example, a highly promotional item may benefit from advanced probabilistic ordering logic typically used for fresh foods. However, if the item is managed within an ambient-centric tool that relies on a statistical safety stock calculation, then this logic becomes inaccessible. The result is an uneven patchwork of solutions that dampens optimization and complicates decision-making. To unlock true efficiency, planning teams must adopt a unified platform that considers the assortment in its entirety — whether it’s bananas or sweaters — while using the ideal replenishment methods for each product according to its characteristics. 2. The rising tide of disruptions The volume and complexity of disruptions in retail are climbing, and planners are bearing the brunt of the fallout. Day-to-day exceptions dominate their workflows — requiring manual intervention for even the top-selling items. The result is tunnel vision only made narrower by a lack of universal visibility across the supply chain. Instead of focusing on higher-value tasks that drive profit and organizational efficiency, planners are often driven to distraction addressing issues that have landed on their desks without notice. 3. Automation: the final frontier of enhanced inventory planning Rapid advancements have been made in planning technology, but the speed at which technology has developed may cause some users to hesitate before trusting it entirely. Concerns about using automation in inventory planning often stem from past experiences where a system misstep — whether real or perceived — led to skepticism. Unfortunately, this history of mistrust corners planners into a cycle of manual management, leaving them stressed and overwhelmed. Ironically, planners end up manually managing everything, every day, to sidestep the very automation tools that were designed to make their jobs easier. Nevertheless, the right system enables planners to focus on strategic activities rather than getting bogged down in minutiae by offering robust automation capabilities. It’s important to understand that automation is about empowering planners — not replacing them. By handling predictable tasks, automation frees users to pursue more strategy-led efforts. Ideally, planners should think of automation as a tool used to tell the system where to go, and let it optimize the route. This model produces the following outcomes: Users become decision-makers who focus on areas in which the system has not yet been or cannot be trained Stress levels drop as repetitive manual work decreases The organization benefits from higher efficiency and better results overall By embracing automation and integrated planning, retailers can break down the barriers that hinder their ability to pivot quickly in response to market fluctuations. Conquer the top 10 causes of shipping delays With AI-powered transportation management software, you can ensuring on-time delivery amidst today's complex supply chain challenges. Discover More The solution: unite planning under one platform Ultimately, retailers have two choices: Let each department continue buying point solutions that work for them, furthering fragmentation and increasing complexity, OR Invest in an integrated platform that seamlessly aligns all planning functions, enabling interdepartmental collaboration and holistic optimization This is the reality that an integrated solution makes possible: Move seamlessly between replenishment and allocation Replenishment and allocation should no longer be viewed as separate functions. Contemporary inventory planning frameworks enable organizations to push inventory and clear distribution centers (DCs) based on data-informed strategies. Whether it’s preparing for a new season or managing promotional stock, inventory movement becomes smooth sailing. Manage all products together The days of managing bananas and sweaters in distinct systems are over. A unified platform allows planners to handle diverse assortments with replenishment methods tailored to product characteristics. This approach ensures that each item is managed optimally while implementing a cohesive, unified strategy across the entire organization. Align inventory planning to business outcomes Stop wasting time and energy micromanaging suggested order quantities and start focusing on aligning inventory strategies with overarching business goals. By leveraging scenario planning, organizations can easily visualize a network-wide ripple effect, reducing tunnel vision and improving decision making across departments. Connect your allocation and replenishment operations across all departments The singular goal of inventory planning is to move inventory in a mutually beneficial way for the business, the customer and the product itself. To achieve this, organizations must abandon the fragmented systems that continue to bog down planning departments while promising to relieve them of inefficiencies. With Blue Yonder Allocation and Replenishment, organizations can: Connect planning across all departments Ensure unified visibility from one end of the supply chain to the other Optimize inventory movement Reduce stress on inventory planners by leveraging the power of robust automation capabilities Don’t let fragmented systems hold you back. Contact a Blue Yonder expert today to unlock the full potential of your inventory planning. With Blue Yonder, retailers can achieve seamless, intelligent inventory management across every department. Satisfy customers and optimize inventory Meet customer preferences and projected demand with pinpoint accuracy. Blue Yonder helps you create ideal inventory balance, preventing stockouts and excess inventory. Discover More ### [Changing Perspectives on Warehouse and Logistics For Dramatic Increase in Operational Efficiency](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/changing-perspectives-on-warehouse-and-logistics-for-dramatic-increase-in-operational-efficiency) > While crafting strategies for operational efficiency, executives face the single most unpredictable challenge: consumer behavior. Trends appear (and disappear) faster, and with more intensity, in recent years. Complicated logistics routes or unexpected defects can create a domino of issues for warehouse and logistic efficiency. Blog Changing perspectives on warehouse and logistics for dramatic increase in operational efficiency Changing Perspectives on Warehouse and Logistics For Dramatic Increase in Operational Efficiency Mckenna Bailey , January 27, 2025 2 minute read While crafting strategies for operational efficiency, executives face the single most unpredictable challenge: consumer behavior. Trends appear (and disappear) faster, and with more intensity, in recent years. Complicated logistics routes or unexpected defects can create a domino of issues for warehouse and logistic efficiency. Faced with an unknowable variable, companies have tended to focus on damage control rather than finding proactive solutions. Reactive approaches worked for some time. But now, companies are contending with diminished improvements in operational speed and scale. In other words, it’s time to transform unpredictability into recognizable, actionable patterns. Making the change requires powerful solutions and a philosophical change to efficiency. The solution is easy to find . The perspective shift may require a bit more work, but they are critical changes. Let’s explore them. AI and machine learning improve decision making and resiliency Today, companies have remarkable access to accurate, immediate and comprehensive data. Decisions on everything from transportation management to quality control should be easier and faster than they’ve ever been. Instead, some companies experience analysis paralysis that puts them in a perpetually reactive state. To remain competitive for today’s customers, companies need to prioritize metabolizing the data in an actionable way. That means not simply purchasing AI or machine learning tools but also integrating them in daily decision making. Leadership must make a habit of using intelligent insights to optimize everything from procurement and modeling to billing and more. The results will be a more resilient and proactive supply chain that works efficiently. Integrating robotics into warehousing and logistics is crucial for achieving next-level productivity and agility Modern warehouse robotics and automation offer the traditional benefits of productivity along with the heightened adaptability that is so highly valued in today’s complex and rapidly changing operations. Furthermore, advances in supporting technologies have enabled mobile robots to safely and dynamically operate alongside workers throughout the warehouse. These robots collaborate with the workforce and increase productivity by directly enhancing worker performance. The agility of warehouse robotics is especially well-suited to meet the dynamic needs of omni-channel fulfillment operations. Their advanced navigation, autonomous operation, and overall flexibility support the broad handling requirements and responsiveness needed to meet the frequent deadlines in these operations. With insight into deadlines, priorities and resource capacities, warehouse execution systems can dynamically orchestrate tasks to humans and robots to more efficiently balance urgency with maximum productivity. Is your warehouse operating at its full potential? Discover the power of Warehouse Execution Systems (WES) and learn how they can eliminate bottlenecks and maximize productivity. Read the Blog Embrace complexity to improve your business Finally, and perhaps the biggest change for companies to make, is to embrace complexity with enthusiasm. Often strategies intended to increase efficiency translate to simplifying everything. We live in a complex world with dynamic changes happening all the time. Embracing that complexity, and preparing for it, is the best way to stay competitive across industries. But complexity doesn’t mean complicated or overwhelming. We encourage intuitive solutions that make everyone’s job easier. But every solution needs to be powerful and built to anticipate and respond to changing conditions. Any solution that doesn’t have these features at the core of their purpose will not help your company grow revenue or scale operations. Put a different way, it wouldn’t be a solution at all. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s newest product updates Blue Yonder is on a mission to transform the supply chain landscape by empowering businesses to navigate the complexities and volatilities of the modern world. Our end-to-end platform and digital network create an interconnected ecosystem, breaking down silos and enabling seamless collaboration among trading partners. This integration ensures that planning and execution are streamlined, allowing businesses to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. The result is reduced risk, enhanced efficiency, and optimized performance. Discover how our latest product update advances this mission with enhancements in AI and ML capabilities, warehouse and logistics operations, planning, and inventory management. Blue Yonder transforms and reimagines supply chain planning with latest product release Discover how our new AI solutions empower companies to maximize supply chain performance for increased revenue, productivity, and faster, more impactful decisions. Read the Press Release ### [Omni Channel for and Beyond Blue Yonders New Launch Sets Stage for Seamless Customer Experience](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/omni-channel-for-and-beyond-blue-yonders-new-launch-sets-stage-for-seamless-customer-experience) > Although the retail landscape continually evolves, retailers’ core challenge remains the same as we enter 2025: meeting ever-rising customer expectations across all channels. This requires robust, agile technology capable of managing accurate, real-time inventory across omni-channel platforms, orchestrating seamless returns, and adapting to fluctuating demand. Blog Omni-channel for 2025 and beyond: Blue Yonder’s new launch sets stage for seamless customer experiences Omni Channel for and Beyond Blue Yonders New Launch Sets Stage for Seamless Customer Experience Danielle Strouther , January 28, 2025 1 minute read Although the retail landscape continually evolves, retailers’ core challenge remains the same as we enter 2025: meeting ever-rising customer expectations across all channels. This requires robust, agile technology capable of managing accurate, real-time inventory across omni-channel platforms, orchestrating seamless returns, and adapting to fluctuating demand. Following 18 to 24 months of work and over half a billion dollars in research and development, we are proud to announce our new product releases that revolutionizes the omni-channel experience, providing our customers with resilience, lower cost of ownership, and best-in-class functionality ready for whatever the future has in store. Breaking down departmental silos for efficient omni-channel execution Managing inventory effectively demands complete visibility across all channels—from online storefronts and physical locations to our warehouse inventory picture and the complexities of the returns journey. Without a unified view encompassing these systems, retailers operate in the dark. This lack of a single source of truth leads to inaccurate inventory levels, hindering effective order fulfillment and preventing retailers from effectively meeting customer demand. The result? Lost sales due to stockouts, excess inventory leading to costly markdowns, expensive and time-consuming processes, pile up of returned goods in warehouse, and ultimately, a diminished customer experience. These effects are particularly worse as retailers hit peak season, when the pressure to meet demand and fulfill orders intensifies. Don’t just survive peak season – thrive with these 5 peak planning strategies Regardless of when your peak season is, make sure your business is prepared with these 5 peak challenges. Discover More Transforming omni-channel commerce with the new Blue Yonder product release Blue Yonder addresses these challenges head-on, providing a single, integrated solution that connects every aspect of the omnichannel commerce execution process. This innovative platform empowers businesses to: Gain a Single View of Inventory: Eliminate inventory discrepancies between online and offline channels by providing real-time inventory views on a store and network level in milliseconds, ensuring accurate availability information and improving customer satisfaction. Accelerate Returns Orchestration: Our solutions across warehouse, orders, and returns can be seamlessly integrated to combine order data with returning stock details. Sell more at full price when you get better control and visibility of your inventory, turn around stock for resale more quickly, to recoup revenue and reduce waste. Optimize Your Fulfillment: Our Commits service optimizes across your order fulfillment routes and capacity to provide accurate delivery dates in the most efficient manner. Go one step further to allow sourcing simulations in a safe, digital twin environment to test out what-if scenarios to learn and iterate and make fact-based decisions to optimize your fulfillment. Unmatched Scaling for Peak Performance: Our Commerce platform has been rigorously tested and scaled to handle massive volumes of data and transactions, so retailers can confidently handle peak demand and deliver consistent performance. Built for the future of retail Blue Yonder is on a mission to transform the supply chain landscape empowering retailers to navigate the complexities and volatilities of the modern supply chain. Our end-to-end platform and digital network create an interconnected ecosystem, breaking down silos and enabling seamless collaboration among trading partners. This integration ensures that planning, execution, and collaboration are streamlined, allowing businesses to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. The result is reduced risk, enhanced efficiency, and optimized performance. Discover more about how our latest product updates advance this mission with enhancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities, warehouse and logistics operations, planning, and inventory management. Read the news release here , or talk to a member of our team today. Blue Yonder transforms and reimagines supply chain planning with latest product release Discover how our new AI solutions empower companies to maximize supply chain performance for increased revenue, productivity, and faster, more impactful decisions. Read the Press Release ### [How your technical architecture can unleash AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-your-technical-architecture-can-unleash-ai) > One of the biggest barriers is in technical architecture. Point solutions for supply chain processes are not fit to deliver AI the data it needs. Businesses reliant on point solutions and batch processes aren’t able to give AI tools the right quality of data, quickly enough, and lack the scope of end-to-end vision to ensure that the AI tooling they’re adopting will offer valuable decisions or optimizations. Blog How your technical architecture can unleash AI How Your Technical Architecture Can Unleash AI Ethan Morgan , February 24, 2025 2 minute read Blue Yonder research found that 80% of global organizations have piloted or implemented generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their supply chains. However, going beyond a pilot and embedding AI into business processes to truly realize its maximum potential is a major challenge. According to the Project Management Institute, between 70-80% of AI initiatives end in failure, highlighting just how difficult it can be to plug existing general AI and machine learning (ML) tools and tech into industry contexts. One of the biggest barriers is in technical architecture. Point solutions for supply chain processes are not fit to deliver AI the data it needs. Businesses reliant on point solutions and batch processes aren’t able to give AI tools the right quality of data, quickly enough, and lack the scope of end-to-end vision to ensure that the AI tooling they’re adopting will offer valuable decisions or optimizations. In this blog, we’ll explore three ways that supply chain technology architecture can be improved to allow businesses to adopt and realize value from AI – and show how Blue Yonder’s technical architecture is purpose-built for just that. AI-tuned data model A common data model serves as a standardized framework that defines how data is structured and interconnected across various systems and applications. It provides a unified schema, ensuring that data is consistent and interoperable so that different systems communicate effectively. An AI-tuned data model is structured in a way that allows first-party AI/ML to leverage the data with greater speed and accuracy, leading to faster recommendations and root-cause analyses. For example, data in this form can be used by Blue Yonder’s industry-leading ML and AI capabilities, which create accurate and explainable insights across products. Crucially though, an AI-first common data model also enables the data to be easily ingested and utilized by external AI agents. These agents can engage with both the first-party business data as well as third-party data from beyond the business to make better-informed predictions and suggest the right actions. Without designing this key architectural piece for the needs of AI, external AI agents will struggle to ingest business data and make relevant recommendations. To make sure our customers can effectively adopt cutting-edge agentic AI, Blue Yonder has delivered an AI-tuned data model in the latest product release (24.4) to both improve our embedded AI performance and to enable easier integration with external AI agents and applications. Uncover how the real power of AI transforms warehouses AI agents are revolutionizing warehouses, helping them work smarter, not harder. Automate repetitive tasks, optimize inventory management, and predict maintenance needs for increased efficiency and savings. Learn More Studios, rehearsals and tuning Just like musicians need to warm up, get their instruments in tune and develop their sound in a studio environment, AI models often need some experimentation and fine-tuning to maximize their value. However, data scientists don’t always have an easy way to rehearse. It can be tough to connect to relevant internal and third-party data, build or refine models, and put top-performing models into production at scale without the right technical environment. Thanks to the latest product release, Blue Yonder customers now have access to ML Studio, enabling them to find the machine learning model that harmonizes best with the specific use case. ML Studio lets data scientists use a familiar environment to build machine learning models that address specific outcomes and scenarios. This process allows businesses to identify which models will fit best with their needs, before deploying them live and at scale with ease. With ML Studio, Blue Yonder leads the way in offering a flexible, customizable machine learning development toolkit, offering extensive potential for achieving additional value from AI. Scenario modelling Trying to predict global demand is one of the biggest challenges in supply chain. Building a single plan that works well enough no matter what happens is an impossible task for human planners with limited visibility and access to data, particularly when they must spend a lot of time manually creating each forecast and plan. Even when scenarios can be automatically generated, legacy methods can take hours, delaying critical decisions. Embedding AI deeply into the processes of key strategic functions like planning is a huge advantage for leading supply chain operators. The ability to model thousands of scenarios in minutes is a game changer, especially when tuned for specific business goals and including highly accurate AI-driven demand signals. Optimized plans allow businesses to better leverage available supply to meet demand as it happens. Having the technical capacity to deliver such rapid modeling, adjusted specifically for your business and the strategic outcomes you deem most critical, allows planners to quickly construct and evaluate more potential plans for maximum flexibility. Blue Yonder’s approach sets a new standard for fast, accurate scenario planning that helps businesses adapt much faster to disruption and changing demand, We’re on a mission to transform the supply chain landscape, empowering businesses to navigate the complexities and volatilities of the modern supply chain. Our end-to-end platform and digital network create an interconnected ecosystem, breaking down silos and enabling seamless collaboration among trading partners. This integration ensures that planning, execution, and collaboration are streamlined, allowing businesses to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. The result is reduced risk, enhanced efficiency, and optimized performance. Discover how our latest product updates advance this mission with enhancements in AI and ML capabilities for Inventory Optimization , Demand Planning , Supply Planning , Integrated Business Planning , and Integrated Demand & Supply Planning. AI isn’t all that we’ve worked on in the new release – find out more about it here. Blue Yonder transforms and reimagines supply chain planning with latest product release Discover how our new AI solutions empower companies to maximize supply chain performance for increased revenue, productivity, and faster, more impactful decisions. Read the Press Release ### [New Tariffs Are Coming LSPs Need to Prepare Now](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/new-tariffs-are-coming-lsps-need-to-prepare-now) > The tariffs the world has been speculating about are now here. As expected, the United States outlined hefty tariffs for goods from Canada, Mexico and China this week. While many have anticipated a change, the effects of the newly imposed tariffs will be felt for much longer, especially now that all three countries have announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs. Blog New tariffs are coming. LSPs need to prepare now. New Tariffs Are Coming LSPs Need to Prepare Now Terence Leung , February 3, 2025 2 minute read The tariffs the world has been speculating about are now here. As expected, the United States outlined hefty tariffs for goods from Canada, Mexico and China this week. While many have anticipated a change, the effects of the newly imposed tariffs will be felt for much longer, especially now that all three countries have announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs. For businesses across industries, the stakes are high . In 2023, American imports from Canada totaled $428 billion, while imports from Mexico were even higher, at $479 billion. American businesses shipped good valued at $676 billion to these two North American neighbors in 2023 — about a third of all U.S. exports. As the full impact of these new tariffs take shape, U.S. businesses will be conducting their own supply chain analysis to mitigate their financial impacts. They’ll be looking for new suppliers, exploring new network models, mapping new trade routes, and identifying new transportation modes and partners. The challenge for LSPs? Delivering consistent results amid uncertainty Obviously, logistics service providers (LSPs) will also have to make dramatic changes over the coming months, pivoting strategically along with their customers. They’ll need to sense the impacts of tariff changes, understand customer concerns, and make operational changes — sometimes big ones — in response. For example, with 40% of manufacturers planning to increase their domestic sourcing , LSPs will see shifts in transportation and warehousing that might create excess capacity in some regions, while stretching capacity in others. Rates and costs may skyrocket as supplier networks shift. And LSPs will need to operate as efficiently as possible, because 33% of companies plan to counter the impact of tariffs by cutting their costs. As the competitive market for logistics services expands, contracts and changes over the coming months, how will they continue to deliver consistent, reliable customer value in a landscape characterized by great uncertainty? How can they avoid supply chain disruptions that may come with new supply chain environments? Conquer the top 10 causes of shipping delays With AI-powered transportation management software, you can ensuring on-time delivery amidst today's complex supply chain challenges. Discover More The solution? Supply chain digitalization, visibility and interoperability There’s no denying that the challenge facing LSPs in 2025 is complex. But advanced technology provides a proven solution. More than 175 of the world’s leading LSPs already partner with Blue Yonder on supply chain digitalization. And that number is steadily growing as LSPs encounter new problems, including tariffs, that exceed the capabilities of their internal manual analysis. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced decision science, today’s digital solutions help LSPs pivot swiftly, smartly and profitably as conditions change — whether in their own supply chain or their customer’s supply chain. Digitalization offers the only way to respond in real time to a landscape that’s changing, often dramatically, in real time. By acting now to adopt digital solutions, LSPs can prepare themselves for the new tariffs, other disruptions and dynamic market conditions they’re sure to encounter this year. While digitalization can literally impact and improve every aspect of daily logistics operations, three key capabilities stand out as we consider the extreme volatility LSPs will be navigating over the next few months. 1. Command and control: Sense, explore and pivot Blue Yonder’s Command and Control Center, powered by AI agents, equips LSPs with real-time, multi-tier visibility and orchestration across the supply chain network, including warehousing, transportation, and other functions. When new tariffs, capacity changes and rising rates occur, this robust digital capability not only senses the change in real time — it also applies advanced decision science to explore possible responses. For example, if an LSP can’t find capacity in its current network, the Blue Yonder Command and Control Center applies AI agents to extend that network, in seconds, in search of a resolution. In 2025, every second is going to matter. This command and control capability is imperative for LSPs who need to serve customer needs amid significant volatility. 2. Synchronizing execution: Respond in an intelligent, orchestrated manner It’s essential to recognize changes and re-plan in seconds. But it’s equally important to minimize any lag time between planning and execution. That’s where the concept of synchronized execution comes in. As soon as a new course of action has been identified, digitalization enables LSPs to reset their end-to-end operating parameters, automatically. No matter what happens, synchronization keeps LSPs on track to achieve on-time in-full (OTIF) performance targets, service-level agreements (SLAs), cost controls, resource utilization objectives, sustainability metrics and other goals. Let’s say new tariff documentation, or a route change to avoid tariffs, causes a transportation delay. By synchronizing Blue Yonder transportation management , order management and warehouse management solutions, LSPs can enact a rapid, strategic response across the end-to-end supply chain. Inventory can be shifted, order promises can be updated, resources can be re-allocated, and loads can be replanned — in minutes, with little to no human intervention. That’s the beauty of synchronizing execution. Synchronizing execution augments or replaces human analysis, gut feelings and on-the-fly choices with AI-enabled decision engines, guided by real-time data and working toward pre-defined outcomes. Even in a volatile environment, LSPs can be confident they’re acting to maximize operational efficiency, client service, growth and resilience at all times, and in every supply chain function. Benefits of synchronizing execution can include revenue growth, warehouse labor cost reductions, overall transportation cost savings, and decrease in safety stock. Is your technical architecture holding back your AI? Uncover the three ways that supply chain technology architecture can help you successfully implement and scale AI initiatives. Discover More 3. End-to-end interoperability: Share data and visibility via a common platform Over time, LSPs have built complex technology systems that include transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), robotics, automation and other solutions. Real-time visibility, shared data and tight integration of all these systems is critical as logistics networks grow more intricate. Even the most advanced and intelligent digital solutions can’t add maximum value if they’re siloed from other systems and unable to ingest shared real-time data. LSPs can depend on Blue Yonder Platform to drive this integration and real-time connectivity. They can link processes and workflows across warehousing, transportation, order, yard and returns management. This end-to-end integration enables LSPs to scale quickly and adapt to market changes across the supply chain. With their solutions connected on Blue Yonder Platform, LSPs can: Access all the insights they need, all at once. An “at a glance” user interface delivers detailed information, without the need to click across multiple screens and solutions. Know what’s changed in an instant. A “ticker” appears at first log-in, alerting users to changes since their last log-in — and surfacing issues across every interoperable solution. Minimize the risk of human error. Digitalization and real-time connectivity ensure the accuracy of all insights. Humans won’t miss a new tariff or other disruption. They also won’t make a decision in the order management function that negatively impacts transportation or warehousing. Blue Yonder Platform seamlessly integrates with modern data systems and marketplaces, enabling flexible data management and easy adaptability for LSPs. Act now to prepare for a reshaped logistics landscape The details may be unclear, but one thing is certain: The global logistics industry will see some big changes in the coming weeks and months. New tariffs and trade regulations will impact international shippers and their logistics partners — but also domestic teams who will encounter huge changes in costs and capacity when those multinational teams pivot. From nearshoring and friendshoring to no-shoring, successful LSPs will be those who are ready for anything this year. Digitalization is the clear solution. And now is clearly the time to act. For LSPs who are ready to take quick action, Blue Yonder is ready too. Our modernized, scalable, and secure platform supports seamless integration with existing systems, reduces total cost of ownership (TCO), and accelerates onboarding and training. By leveraging Blue Yonder’s leading cloud-native digital solutions and future-ready tech stack, LSPs can quickly embrace digitalization — and begin earning a return in as little as eight weeks. Tariffs, new trade regulations and other changes are coming. Make sure you’re ready for them by visiting our LSP website or contacting Blue Yonder today. Deliver every promise – even in a world full of disruptions Turn disruptions into opportunities with AI-driven insights and real-time visibility, to increase customer satisfaction, driver productivity and sustainability. Discover More ### [Modernizing the supply chain dramatically increases operational efficiency](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/modernizing-the-supply-chain-dramatically-increases-operational-efficiency) > Operational efficiency cannot happen in silos anymore. The modern supply chain is too complex to make changes without considering the effects it will have on every other stage. Companies know this, but making holistic changes seems too overwhelming, so they prolong any major upgrades. Blog Modernizing the supply chain dramatically increases operational efficiency Modernizing the Supply Chain Dramatically Increases Operational Efficiency Mckenna Bailey , January 28, 2025 1 minute read Operational efficiency cannot happen in silos anymore. The modern supply chain is too complex to make changes without considering the effects it will have on every other stage. Companies know this, but making holistic changes seems too overwhelming, so they prolong any major upgrades. Unfortunately, there’s no more time to wait. Companies must modernize their operations to be competitive or profitable. The good news, however, is the changes aren’t nearly as complicated as they are powerful. With the right solutions partner, companies can transform their business into an intelligent, agile, and profitable operation. Planning improves with predictive AI capabilities A growing number of factors influence the accuracy of supply and demand planning. Everything from changes in supplier availability to geopolitical issues force companies to update their plans to avoid risk and extra costs. As diligent as employees are, it’s impossible to keep track of every variable without the support of an intelligent tool. AI collects, organizes, and understands every factor that might impact the ability to schedule and sequence production runs. What’s more, AI tools allow operators to make decisions with the most accurate, up-to-date information. The two ways to make a company more efficient are by streamlining operations or reducing mistakes. Modernizing the supply chain to be powered by AI tools improves both simultaneously. Is your technical architecture holding back your AI? Uncover the three ways that supply chain technology architecture can help you successfully implement and scale AI initiatives. Discover More Make precise decisions to ensure customer loyalty Of course, risks do not disappear once a product leaves the warehouse. Changing customer behavior remains one of the biggest obstacles for manufacturers across industries. Automotive customers, for example, want the ability to customize their cars without waiting for extended periods of time. Similarly, retail customers are more concerned than ever with how and with what their goods are produced. Companies must balance the myriad customer demands with the restrictions of an efficient warehouse. Companies need transparency, more than just visibility, into their entire supply chain. That means not simply seeing what is happening throughout the supply chain, but crucially, knowing what to do about the changes. A modernized solution recognizes new information and updates its recommendations accordingly. Operators can make decisions quickly and with precision to keep customers happy and profits high. Proactively work through disruptions The final important reason companies need to modernize their supply chain solutions in 2025 is to avoid reactionary decisions. True operational efficiency includes those times when the unexpected happens, not just when everything goes to plan. Using powerful AI solutions, operators can model potential scenarios, based on comprehensive data sets, to build proactive strategies that mitigate risk. More critically, these strategies can be integrated into the solution so early warning signs are identified and escalated as necessary. New issues will arise hourly in the manufacturing industry. We can’t change that, but we can use what we know, our collective experience, and access to infinite data to ensure that those disruptions don’t derail our operations. That is the philosophy of a modernized manufacturing company. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s plan to improve efficiency Blue Yonder is on a mission to transform the supply chain landscape empowering businesses navigate the complexities and volatilities of the modern supply chain. Our end-to-end platform and digital network create an interconnected ecosystem, breaking down silos and enabling seamless collaboration among trading partners. This integration ensures that planning, execution, and collaboration are streamlined, allowing businesses to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. The result is increased productivity and profitability. Discover how our latest product updates advance this mission with AI and ML capabilities enhancements for Integrated Demand & Supply Planning . Read the news release here. Blue Yonder transforms and reimagines supply chain planning with latest product release Discover how our new AI solutions empower companies to maximize supply chain performance for increased revenue, productivity, and faster, more impactful decisions. Read the Press Release ### [Advanced Production Scheduling A Growing Imperative](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/advanced-production-scheduling-a-growing-imperative) > In the dynamic manufacturing landscape, planning orders into production is no longer a routine task. It’s become a pivotal competency that can significantly impact a manufacturer’s efficiency, productivity, profitability and service levels. Blog Advanced Production Scheduling: a growing imperative Advanced Production Scheduling A Growing Imperative Ute Strohmaier , February 13, 2025 1 minute read In the dynamic manufacturing landscape, planning orders into production is no longer a routine task. It’s become a pivotal competency that can significantly impact a manufacturer’s efficiency, productivity, profitability and service levels. Why is intelligent production planning so essential? Because, in today’s disrupted supply chain, both demand and supply have become fast-moving and ever-changing targets. In the first six months of 2023 alone, there were 8,197 supply chain disruptions recorded across all industries. And, as manufacturing supply chains become more global and more complex, incorporating more supplier tiers, the chance for something to go wrong at any node grows exponentially. In fact, 43.6% of organizations report that they’ve experienced supply chain disruption due to third-party failures in the supply chain. From medium-term production planning — spanning several months — to short-term sequencing into individual production lots, manufacturers are challenged to optimize their resources and capacities to achieve the best possible utilization, while also meeting cost and service targets. The production optimization journey involves accurate forecasting, supply planning, production planning, order prioritization, and even looking at the availability of warehouse space and trucks to accommodate materials deliveries and finished products. Operations need to be grouped intelligently. Batch sizes need to be defined. The process involves an incredible amount of data, at an amazing level of granularity. 0 supply chain disruptions were recorded across all industries in 2023 0 % of organizations report supply chain disruption due to third-party failures in the supply chain. $ 0 B the expected side of the worldwide APS market by 2033. Not surprisingly, manufacturers are finding that this planning challenge exceeds the cognitive abilities and bandwidth of their human planners. Specialized software — called Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions — have emerged in response. And the market for these solutions is expanding quickly as manufacturers discover the value of APS in precisely and profitability matching supply with demand. The worldwide APS market was valued at $1.3 billion in 2023, but it’s expected to grow to $3.4 billion by 2033 . APS solutions rely on specialized algorithms to consider volumes of upstream and downstream data — then they plan, schedule, and allocate production orders and resources efficiently. Intelligent APS solutions transform massive amounts of data into smart plans aimed at meeting production deadlines and delivery dates, optimizing materials and finished inventory, and reducing operational costs across the manufacturing network. As manufacturing complexities grow, the need for robust APS solutions becomes increasingly apparent. These solutions encompass long-term, mid-term and short-term order planning horizons, while considering internal constraints and resource limitations. They bridge the gap between supply chain planning and execution, ensuring seamless data transfer and decision support. In today’s volatile landscape, production planners confront various challenges and disruptions, including global component shortages, just-in-time production mapping, increased product range and customization, and logistics complexities. APS solutions have proven to be indispensable tools in navigating these challenges effectively. Looking for an APS? Look for these three capabilities For manufacturers who are just exploring the promise of modern APS solutions, what features and functionality should they be looking for? Based on Blue Yonder’s decades of experience — and hands-on engagements with hundreds of manufacturers — following the following are three must-have APS capabilities. 1. A modular, extensible architecture Order slotting software engines ingest both real and forecasted production orders to create a “bill of materials” that spans those orders. It compares the total parts needed to real-time information about parts availability and constraints, so materials can be ordered in an optimal way. As real orders come in and forecasted orders change, the slotting engine automatically conducts new analysis. In today’s volatile production environment, manufacturers can avoid parts shortages or disruptions caused by large, unexpected orders. Because order slotting solutions provide companies with enhanced visibility across all points of the supply chain, it’s best to work with a software provider that offers slotting as part of a modular, extensible APS architecture. Top-tier software providers offer modular APS capabilities that can be added in a flexible, incremental manner. Modular implementation allows for flexibility and scalability, ensuring that the APS solution can adapt to evolving needs without significant disruptions. A cloud-native architecture is imperative to support easy extensibility and add-ons. With state-of-the-art, composable cloud services, additional services for additional needs can be implemented quickly and efficiently, ensuring adaptability and agility in the face of evolving production requirements. 2. Best-in-class order sequencing In manufacturing environments marked by fluctuations — which is true of just about every industry today — order sequencing emerges as another crucial aspect of production planning. After order slotting engines create monthly order buckets and distribute production work evenly, sequencing software takes over. Order sequencing involves grouping production operations into lots, then arranging those lots based on productivity and priority, a technique also known as pearl chaining. However, choosing the right batch size is equally essential. Sequencing is best managed by advanced software because it must support a delicate, careful balance between lean production — making small quantities in chronological order to reduce inventory — and fulfilling productivity goals by opting for longer production runs. Sequencing software also helps minimize unproductive times such as cleaning, changeover or setup, which significantly enhances productivity and yield. With the ability to run sequencing scenarios multiple times a day, manufacturers can ensure optimal planning, even in today’s dynamic conditions. By relying on sequencing solutions and their optimization algorithms to schedule flexibly and dynamically, manufacturers can accommodate disruptions and pivot rapidly. Optimal order sequencing not only reduces lead times, but also minimizes work-in-progress inventory, leading to enhanced operational efficiency. 3. Easy, seamless integration with other systems Finally, manufacturers should look for an APS that’s designed to seamlessly integrate with other production systems and tools, creating real-time connectivity and an intuitive user experience. Without proper integration with other systems — such as the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution — it becomes challenging to gather all the essential information to drive accurate production planning decisions. When the APS solution is seamlessly integrated with the ERP solution and the manufacturing execution system (MES), data can be shared swiftly and efficiently, ensuring that production plans are always driven by real-time, relevant information. This integration significantly reduces the risk of duplicated or inconsistent data, which enables better, more accurate planning decisions. A cloud delivery model is essential here, as well. Cloud-native, connected solutions enable access from any location at any time, empowering production planners to respond promptly to changes and remain aligned with fluctuating market trends. Your search stops here, with Blue Yonder Modern manufacturers are navigating complex terrain, characterized by both challenges and opportunities. More companies are discovering the value of an intelligent APS solution to streamline their production processes, minimize disruptions, and pave the way for a more agile and responsive manufacturing ecosystem. In a world where agility and efficiency are paramount, mastering production planning is key to staying ahead in the competitive manufacturing landscape. Why not start your journey to optimized planning by contacting Blue Yonder today? You can also learn more by reading our helpful eBook, “A Guide to Production Planning in Manufacturing.” Master manufacturing production planning Digitalize production planning with Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) solutions to revolutionize your production process and achieve unparalleled efficiency and cost savings. Download For Free ### [Tariff Implications for Industrial Manufacturers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/tariff-implications-for-industrial-manufacturers) > In the constantly changing landscape of supply chain challenges, tariffs consistently pose a significant concern for leadership. As the year unfolds, the effects of newly implemented tariffs are already becoming apparent Blog Tariff implications for industrial manufacturers Tariff Implications for Industrial Manufacturers Sunil Roy , March 7, 2025 1 minute read In the constantly changing landscape of supply chain challenges, tariffs consistently pose a significant concern for leadership. As the year unfolds, the effects of newly implemented tariffs are already becoming apparent. On the positive side, companies such as a small manufacturer of advanced plastic components used across various sectors, such as medical, industrial, automotive and consumer products has experienced increased interest from clients eager to purchase American-made goods. Conversely, disruptions are also evident; for instance, another company, which manufactures large machines for constructing concrete curbs, highway barriers and sidewalks, faces logistical challenges. They are urgently seeking solutions to expedite the shipment of two such machines to Canada in the coming weeks. Here we discuss how industrial manufacturers can prepare for tariffs and the disruptions they may cause. Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Learn More Where do industrial companies focus to prepare for tariffs? Tariffs are designed to protect domestic industries, but they also pose challenges for industrial manufacturers, including higher costs, supply chain disruptions and market volatility. Managing those changes requires three key steps: 1. Understanding the changes 2. Forming new business strategies to mitigate any impact 3. Embracing core technologies to enable those strategies to work Adapting to increased costs: Many manufacturers depend on imported raw materials, such as steel, aluminum and specialty components. Tariffs on these imports raise material costs, squeezing profit margins unless businesses pass these costs on to consumers. To mitigate this impact, manufacturers may need to source materials domestically and develop new suppliers — often leading to higher costs with added logistical complexities. Managing supply chain disruptions: Tariffs can create supply chain bottlenecks, delaying the arrival of critical components. To counteract this, companies may need to rethink their supply chain strategies, considering reshoring production or diversifying suppliers to reduce dependency on any single source. Navigating market competitiveness: While tariffs may provide temporary advantages for U.S.-based manufacturers by making foreign alternatives more expensive, they can also reduce the competitiveness of American goods in global markets. Retaliatory tariffs from other nations could increase export costs, limiting international demand for U.S. products. Rebuilding the domestic market: To counter the effects of retaliatory tariffs, domestic markets will need to evolve. Changes in demand, procurement strategies and distribution networks as well as possible changes in domestic production will be necessary to adapt to shifting economic conditions. Managing market volatility: Tariff announcements often lead to fluctuations in currency values and stock prices, particularly in industries reliant on steel and aluminum. These market swings create uncertainty, requiring manufacturers to stay agile and responsive to changing economic conditions. How industrial companies prepare for tariffs induced supply chain disruptions Rethinking planning: what-if scenario analysis To navigate evolving market conditions, businesses must leverage scenario analysis to assess cost, margin impact and alternative suppliers. Key areas of focus include: Network optimization scenarios — utilizing Blue Yonder Supply Chain Strategist for scenario planning and enhanced decision-making Managing variability in the new network — implementing Blue Yonder Integrated Demand and Supply Planning for adaptability and cross functional planning Multi-tier management —Leveraging visibility and collaboration via the Blue Yonder Network to enable supply chain resilience Evolving distribution planning — enhancing distribution efficiencies through Blue Yonder TMS, WMS and Blue Yonder Network Drive unmatched efficiency across your supply chain Harness the power of generative AI to fuel smarter decision-making and faster supply chain orchestration with the Blue Yonder Orchestrator. Learn More Domestic market development Building a robust supplier ecosystem will be crucial, with a strong emphasis on rapid supplier and carrier onboarding. Key actions include: Supplier base management — ensuring smooth operations with multi-tier visibility and collaboration across the entire network with the Blue Yonder Network Optimizing shipment costs — utilizing load building, load planning and order consolidation optimization for cost efficiency Government advocacy and strategic engagement To maintain competitiveness, proactive engagement with policymakers will be essential in mitigating challenges. Notable examples include: U.S. Steel’s proposed acquisition by Nippon Steel , highlighting the importance of government policies in shaping industry dynamics The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) advocating for tax credits or subsidies for industries impacted by tariffs Modern manufacturers face an ever-evolving landscape where efficiency and agility are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Stay ahead of the curve by exploring how Blue Yonder can optimize your supply chain in the face of tariffs and other challenges. Contact us today to learn more . Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Navigating the Road Ahead: Overcoming The 5 Biggest Auto Industry Challenges](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-the-road-ahead-overcoming-the-5-biggest-auto-industry-challenges) > Discover the biggest challenges facing the automotive industry today and how automakers can navigate this turbulent terrain to deliver a more resilient and optimized supply chain. Blog Navigating the road ahead: overcoming the 5 biggest auto industry challenges New page Salim Shaikh , March 10, 2025 2 minute read The automotive industry has been shifting gears for the last few years, driven by the transition from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric vehicles (EVs), the emergence of autonomous driving and a growing appetite for customized rides. Adding to the complexity, global trade is facing another setback with a fresh wave of aggressive tariff measures. The Trump administration has introduced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, and additional duties aimed at the European Union, India and Japan under a "reciprocal tariff" strategy. If enacted, these tariffs could increase the cost of new vehicle models by $4,000 to $10,000. As Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley put it, “So far, what we’re seeing is a lot of cost and a lot of chaos.” The next five years promise even more change. By 2030: 95% of new vehicles sold globally will be connected , enabling real-time data exchange and predictive maintenance. Twelve percent of these vehicles will also be equipped with level three or level four autonomous-driving capabilities. 50% of all vehicles will be electric, thanks to changing demand and regulations such as the European Commission target. By 2035, the largest automotive markets (the EU, U.S. and China) will be fully electric. More automotive manufacturers will have adopted a direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales model, driven by the success of Tesla's D2C approach, with other EV manufacturers like Lucid and Ford also adopting similar strategies. While these trends promise a more sustainable future, automakers are still grappling with the complexities they've unleashed on their supply chains. From securing critical battery materials to adapting to the rapid pace of technological innovation, automakers face an ongoing, uphill battle to maintain their competitive edge. In this blog post, we'll explore today's biggest challenges facing the automotive industry. More important, we’ll discuss the solutions and strategies that can help automakers navigate this turbulent terrain — and deliver a more resilient, optimized supply chain solution that leaves competitors in the dust. What are the tariff implications for industrial manufacturers? New tariffs are causing increased demand for US-made goods, but they also create urgent logistical challenges that industrial manufacturers must address now. Find out how to proactively handle this double-edged sword. Discover More 1. The need for more certain outcomes amid uncertainty In the face of uncertainty, complexity and volatility, automakers need to achieve greater decision certainty. Advanced technology enables them to create a variety of what-if simulations and contingency plans to account for different tariff impacts, geopolitical risks, alternative suppliers both onshore and offshore, demand fluctuations and potential supply disruptions. Leveraging agile and precise scenario modeling, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), allows organizations to assess the possible effects of their decisions on service levels, cash flow, costs, reliability, risk, profitability and overall financial health. Increasing customer demands and regional tastes have made it increasingly difficult for automotive planners to forecast demand accurately. ICE vehicle production planners grapple with the sheer number of components and tiers within the supply chain. Orchestrating the flow of thousands of parts from numerous suppliers presents a logistical nightmare, making it incredibly difficult to predict demand for specific configurations — and avoid either surplus inventory or part shortages. This complexity is amplified by the vast array of available ICE vehicle options, leading to excess inventory of slow-selling models and the need for costly discounts. EV production, while simpler in terms of component count, faces a critical bottleneck: Battery production. Batteries are the pacemaker of EV manufacturing, the most crucial and in-demand component. The limited availability of batteries can significantly impact an EV manufacturer's ability to meet production targets, regardless of demand. Securing a stable and sufficient battery supply chain is paramount for EV manufacturers, as shortages can lead to production delays and lost sales opportunities. In addition, the rapid evolution of battery technology, and the race for increased range and charging speeds, add another layer of complexity to EV production planning. The challenge for automotive manufacturers remains the same: They're either drowning in surplus inventory that is no longer needed, or they have insufficient stock to meet current demand — forcing them to pay high prices to source missing parts. The result is a cascade of negative outcomes: Unsold products, lower margins due to overspending on procurement, and lost sales opportunities because demand cannot be met. The sheer number of options in vehicle configurations adds more fuel to the fire. Predicting which configuration will sell, in which region, is like trying to hit a moving target in the dark. This often results in an excess inventory of slow-selling models, which then require profit-eroding discounts to clear. In the U.S. alone, the supply of available unsold new vehicles was 2.61 million units at the start of 2024 — a 50% increase from the previous year. Faced with the sheer pace of change combined with complexity, leading automakers are introducing AI-enabled techniques to sense changes in demand patterns sooner, and then autonomously correct in real time. Boundaryless scenario planning means integrating long-term, medium-term and real-time perspectives to create an always-on, digital twin of the business that holistically represents its logistic and financial state. The benefit is that automakers can get ahead of disruption and optimize the outcome in terms of both customer and business results. 2. A lack of transparency and visibility across tiers The automotive industry relies on a complex ecosystem of dealers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and electronic manufacturing services. This complexity is further compounded by increasing environmental regulations, which demand enhanced tracking and tracing across the entire supply chain, from procurement to distribution. Automakers must now meticulously monitor the origin and lifecycle of materials and components to mitigate regulatory and compliance risks. This is especially true for key components like EV batteries, where enhanced tracking and tracing are crucial for illuminating the end-to-end supply chain. Effective planning and collaboration across these tiers are essential to ensure that all raw materials and components are exactly where they’re needed, when they’re needed. To achieve this, automotive companies need to maintain a birds-eye view of the entire supply chain, with real-time visibility into stock levels across all suppliers, to mitigate potential supply gaps caused by demand spikes or supplier disruptions. Without this end-to-end visibility, automakers struggle to maintain control over the supply chain, leaving them vulnerable to delays, increased costs and potential production disruptions. End-to-end visibility is crucial for anticipating disruptions in the flow of raw materials upstream, and finished goods downstream, to meet customer demand. By visualizing the entire supply chain — from suppliers and factories to distribution centers, retailers and customers — automakers can assess the real-time impact of supply changes, demand shifts and other disruptions, enabling proactive risk mitigation strategies that are both lean and resilient. For instance, once a disruption is identified, advanced technology can dynamically recalibrate plans using what-if scenarios to mitigate risks and optimize financial outcomes. Supported by AI and machine learning (ML), digital solutions enable organizations to make trade-offs, balance competing priorities, and respond with remarkable speed and agility — often without human intervention. In the case of missed part deliveries, modern technology can analyze alternatives such as expediting a replacement from the original source, or sourcing parts from an alternate location. Optimization engines can also evaluate carrier speeds and route efficiencies to minimize disruptions, ensuring the most cost-effective solution and enabling rapid recovery from any supply chain interruptions. 3. Sales & operations planning that’s disconnected from execution In the global auto industry, one size does not fit all. Automotive companies must deal with a variety of different parts to serve customer demand. EVs have different engines, battery systems and electronics compared to ICE vehicles — while smart or autonomous vehicles require advanced sensors, chips and software. Even different body styles built on a common chassis require different parts. Increased variety complicates production scheduling and makes it harder to optimize capacity utilization. Due to fluctuating demand and disruptions, manufacturers may struggle to keep their factories running at full capacity. They might have idle production lines or be forced to run overtime to meet unexpected orders, reducing profits. The challenge is even more pronounced for traditional OEMs that must juggle both ICE and EV production. They must manage the inherent complexities of each supply chain and manufacturing process, while coordinating the often disparate demands of these parallel production streams. Even small changes in demand or supply can ripple through the entire production process, requiring constant adjustments to the schedule. Ongoing changes in demand, supply and product configuration make it difficult to establish a pearl chain model which aims for an optimized and consistent production flow. This can lead to inefficiencies, higher costs and missed delivery dates. To address these challenges, greater collaboration and transparency are needed across the entire supply chain. Improved communication between production and sales is needed to ensure the accuracy of commitment dates to customers, as well as support customized vehicle requests. "Only 30% of automotive experts report having two-way communication with suppliers through a digital or real-time application and interface." Boston Consulting Group (BCG) To achieve this, manufacturers need to enable seamless sales & operations planning and execution. An end-to-end, connected and responsive digital supply chain twin can synchronize decision making across volume planning, mix planning, slotting, sequencing and detailed scheduling. This helps drive real-time insights to accurately assess consumer needs and adapt the supply chain, while maintaining profitability and maximizing capacity. 4. High levels of supply chain risk exposure Manufacturers are increasingly shifting their supply chain strategies to mitigate geopolitical disruptions, long lead times and fluctuating demand — reducing their reliance on distant foreign suppliers by expanding their local and nearshore supplier networks. This trend, often referred to as reshoring or nearshoring, aims to create more resilient and responsive supply chains. Ford is an example of this, as it’s collaborated with U.S. semiconductor chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries to reduce its dependence on overseas suppliers. Developing supply chain resiliency includes revisiting the supply chain network design to reconfigure global and regional supply chain flows, source critical components from local suppliers, and conduct trade-offs according to needs, cost, service and risk scenario analysis. Although reshoring and nearshoring can mitigate some geopolitical risks, they also introduce new supply chain challenges. Establishing new supplier relationships takes time and can create initial bottlenecks, quality issues or capacity constraints as these new partnerships are established and ramped up. These challenges can disrupt the smooth flow of parts and materials, impacting production schedules and increasing costs. Combined with evolving customer demands, the auto industry is eager to adopt a more agile and adaptable approach to sourcing, storage and transportation — not only for individual parts and raw materials, but also for assembled components, pre-final assembly vehicles and even completed vehicles. This requires a fully integrated, holistic view of the entire supply chain, from raw material extraction to final product delivery. Manufacturers need to develop robust planning and forecasting capabilities, implement flexible manufacturing systems and establish close collaboration with their supplier network. This positions them to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of components, minimize disruptions and ultimately meet customer demand. 5. A lack of advanced technology to manage today’s complexity Imagine trying to race a Formula 1 car powered by an ICE from the 1900s. No one would build that — and it wouldn’t be able to keep up with competitive cars with modern engines. Yet many automakers are operating with a similar handicap: Relying on outdated, legacy systems that are ill-equipped to handle the demands of today's dynamic market. These legacy systems, often built decades ago, operate in silos, creating information blind spots that hinder critical decision-making. Automakers struggle to inject new technology into these outdated systems, leaving them with solutions that provide no real-time visibility, holistic view of inventory levels across the entire supply chain, or capability to accurately predict demand fluctuations. Siloed, static and disjointed decision-making across multiple platforms creates delays in responding to changes in demand mix and supply disruptions, leading to inefficiencies and a significant impact on profitability. To overcome these challenges and modernize their operations, automakers must move beyond legacy, siloed offerings. They need to put a modern engine into that race car. An end-to-end, connected and responsive digital supply chain twin synchronizes decision-making across volume planning, mix planning, slotting, sequencing and detailed scheduling. Cloud-based solutions provide a cost-effective and scalable alternative, enabling companies to access cutting-edge technologies like AI and ML on demand. Utilizing a unified, AI-enabled cloud platform, automotive companies can unlock the true value of their data. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data in real time, providing valuable insights into supply chain dynamics, identifying potential risks and recommending optimal courses of action. This empowers organizations to make faster, more informed decisions, improve operational efficiency and gain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving automotive market. Drive greater performance and navigate today’s challenges with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder offers a comprehensive set of AI-powered solutions designed to help automakers navigate these complexities and achieve operational excellence. Our solutions encompass AI-driven planning, sequencing, scheduling, warehousing and logistics — all seamlessly integrated within an n-tier supply chain network. This empowers a modern approach to auto manufacturing that maximizes profits and minimizes risk. Whether automakers are looking to optimize supply chains to support the transition to new vehicle types, enhance operational agility, or foster closer collaboration with business partners, Blue Yonder provides the tools they need to succeed, including: Integrated demand and supply scenario planning enables automakers to create a range of what-if simulations and contingency plans based on demand realization, supply disruption and sustainability scenarios. They can determine the right mix between ICE, EV and hybrid vehicles, as well as develop strategies to reduce working capital, such as enhancing forecasting accuracy and optimizing inventory. Multi-tier visibility and collaboration positions automakers to illuminate the supply chain network and foster n-tier collaboration for enhanced visibility, reduced premium freight and a smaller carbon footprint. Synchronizing execution empowers automakers to insource logistics to engage in more effective strategic collaboration, leading to improved control over logistics functions, reduced freight costs and lower CO2 emissions. Configure-to-order helps OEMs shift away from the traditional make-to-stock, “flood the zone” approach that necessitates holding 60 days of inventory. Instead, they can embrace a hybrid “push” and “pull” based model that leverages configure-to-order , various ICE, EV and hybrid powertrains that reduces inventory levels and funds EV initiatives. Connected sales & operations planning and execution enables the creation of an end-to-end, connected and responsive digital supply chain twin that synchronizes decision-making across volume planning, mix planning, slotting, sequencing and detailed scheduling. Automakers can experience enhanced efficiency, increased resilience, and improved profitability by leveraging Blue Yonder solutions. They can overcome the automotive industry's key challenges, including meeting ever-changing demand, and gain a significant competitive edge in this rapidly evolving market. Discover how we've helped lower transportation and labor costs by 25% We reveal how our automotive solutions can help you build a high-performance, agile, and resilient supply chain that adapts to every turn. Learn More ### [5 Years Later: 3 Things COVID-19 Changed in Supply Chain And 2 It Didn’t](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/5-years-later-3-things-covid-19-changed-in-supply-chain) > On the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration, we examine its lasting impact on supply chains. Blog 5 years later: 3 things COVID-19 changed in supply chain and 2 it didn’t 5 Years Later: 3 Things COVID-19 Changed in Supply Chain And 2 It Didn’t Danielle Strouther , March 11, 2025 2 minute read March 11th – a date that marks five years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 a pandemic. A wave of chaos followed that turned the supply chain upside down, forcing it to adapt, transform, and learn at an accelerated pace. As well as adapting to a global pandemic, the supply chain has faced a seemingly relentless barrage of ‘unprecedented times’: The Suez Canal blockage, devastating wildfires, the war in Ukraine, escalating Red Sea tensions, persistent chip shortages, crippling labor shortages, and the looming specter of new tariffs… The list goes on. As we mark this somber anniversary, we look back on the three most significant, long-lasting impacts that have fundamentally reshaped supply chain operations, and, perhaps more surprisingly, the two areas that have returned to a semblance of normalcy. 3 long term changes to the supply chain 1. A rise in nearshoring and away from single-source depend  ency The pandemic was a wake-up call that exposed the fragility of globally interconnected supply chains and the risks of over-reliance on distant suppliers and single-source strategies. Although globalized supply chains are efficient in stable times, they are highly vulnerable to sudden, widespread shocks – which was seen during the initial lockdowns and border closures. The pandemic showed vulnerabilities in the supply chain, which were amplified by subsequent events—such as the Red Sea tensions, which caused cargo traffic to fall from around 5000 containers per day in November to 2000 in December 2023 . Or the Panama Canal drought, which forced authorities to cancel ship crossings by 36%, costing between $500 million and $700 million. The result was a shift and acceleration towards nearshoring, reshoring, and source diversification. Nearly 8 out of 10 companies (79%) are now diversifying their supplier base, with 71% actively investing in regionalization and localization to mitigate future disruptions. McKinsey research shows that 73% of companies are now pursuing dual-sourcing , and 60% are regionalizing their supply chains. This shift reflects a direct response to the pandemic’s disruption, which exposed the dangers of relying on a single point of failure. In addition, there is also a rise of “friend-shoring,” with 83% of organizations investing in it, which demonstrates a desire to build more stable and predictable supply networks. The pandemic highlighted the importance of geopolitical stability and trust, driving companies to prioritize partnerships with political and economic allies. The pandemic acted as a powerful catalyst, accelerating the adoption of regionalization, diversification, and resilience-building strategies. It forced companies to re-evaluate their supply chain models, moving away from purely cost-driven approaches to embrace a more robust and adaptable framework. Navigating the road ahead: overcoming the 5 biggest auto industry challenges Discover More 2. Rapid development of advanced planning an  d scheduling tools The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just expose the vulnerabilities of physical supply chains; it also revealed the critical need for digital agility. The sheer volume of “unprecedented” events over the past five years has underscored the absolute necessity for real-time information and proactive risk management, particularly within Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems . Before the pandemic, many companies relied on static, reactive planning methods. The sudden and unpredictable nature of the pandemic revealed a need for a more dynamic and responsive approach, that can quickly adapt to shifting demand, supply shortages, and logistical bottlenecks. This urgency fueled a significant investment in APS systems, which offer the ability to simulate various scenarios, predict potential disruptions, and optimize resource allocation in real-time. A McKinsey survey highlights a strong demand for AI-based tools, particularly in demand planning, where 74% of respondents show keen interest . Elsewhere, two-thirds of survey respondents report making substantial progress in implementing APS systems, showing that these tools are no longer a luxury, but a critical component of modern supply chain digitization. Elevate your demand planning with AI AI-enabled, dynamic, real-time demand planning might sound futuristic, but it’s within the grasp of every company today. Find out more in this blog post. Discover More 3. Labor strategies have become critical The past five years have been marked by persistent and varied labor shortages. Initial lockdowns caused widespread operational disruptions, bringing many sectors to a virtual halt. Even as lockdown restrictions have loosened, shifts in nearshoring, remote work, and the increased complexity of supply chain planning, have caused increased labor shortages across all areas of the supply chain. Descartes research shows that 76% of supply chain and logistics leaders are experiencing notable workforce shortages, with a concerning 37% characterizing the resource shortage as “high to extreme”. The areas most affected by labor shortages were transportation operations with 61% of businesses affected, followed by warehouse operations at 51%, as well as transportation planning and inventory/distribution at 51%. Ongoing labor shortages and demands continue to reshape supply chain dynamics, forcing companies to shift labor approaches from a mere cost factor to a critical component of resilience, sustainability, and competitive advantage. The impact of labor shortages has manifested in several key ways: Accelerated Automation and Technology Adoption: Facing workforce gaps, companies are increasingly turning to automation and technology to ease repetitive manual tasks and improve the efficiency of their existing workforce. Emphasis on Workforce Resilience: Companies are now developing strategies to build a more resilient, flexible and adaptable workforce, including cross-training and contingency planning to mitigate the impact of future disruptions. Intensified Talent Acquisition and Training: With persistent labor shortages, particularly in skilled roles, companies are investing heavily in talent acquisition and training. This involves offering competitive wages, benefits, and opportunities for professional development to attract and retain qualified workers. Rising Labor Costs: Labor shortages, coupled with inflation and heightened competition for skilled workers, have led to a significant increase in salaries. 2 trends that have ‘returned to normal’ 1. The e-commerce explosion didn’t replace omnichannel buying As countries went into lockdown, e-commerce sales exploded, and consumer behavior was radically changed. At first, there was a surge in essential purchases as people stockpiled necessities like toilet paper. This quickly expanded to include big-ticket items such as furniture and technology, as the transition to remote work took hold. This sudden and unprecedented surge in online demand led to significant supply chain strains, contributing to shortages – including the global semiconductor shortage and increased technology demand. The below graph from the Office for National Statistics (ONS ) helps illustrate this dramatic shift. From 2007 to 2019, internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales followed a steady, predictable upward trend. However, the pandemic’s onset caused a sharp spike, which has since stabilized and settled into a more susta inable growth pattern. Global data also shows that in 2020, e-commerce sales represented 26.8% of global retail sales. By 2023, this had settled back down to 19.4%, putting it back on a steady upward trend to its projected 25.2% share of global sales by 2030. The pandemic may have accelerated e-commerce, but it didn’t erase the need for a robust omnichannel strategy. Customers still demand a seamless experience, whether they’re browsing online or visiting a physical store. They’re not choosing one or the other—they’re embracing both, just as they did before. 2. The supply chain is no longer overstocking “just-in-case” inventory To cope with the disruptions that were unleashed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses began stockpiling inventory to combat the fear of crippling shortages. Not surprisingly, the ‘just-in-case’ approach to keep overflowing warehouses full of stock was unsustainable in the long run. Since the pandemic, the number of companies relying on bigger inventory buffers to manage disruptions has fallen from 59% to 34%. In addition, 46% of survey respondents intend to reduce or eliminate risk buffers, potentially returning to or even falling below pre-pandemic levels. While some of this reduction may be due to the financial and logistical burden of buying and storing this inventory – it reflects a conscious decision to move away from excessive stockpiling and focus on a more balanced approach that prioritizes resilience without resorting to keeping excessive inventory. How Blue Yonder has helped businesses adapt and thrive during the pandemic and beyond The global pandemic forced companies to adapt and transform, fast. Blue Yonder has been at the forefront of this evolution, providing innovative solutions that have enabled companies not only to survive but thrive amidst disruption and change. These include: Advanced planning and scheduling: Blue Yonder’s advanced planning and scheduling tools have empowered businesses to move away from static, reactive methods. By leveraging data and advanced insights, these tools allow companies to predict demand accurately, simulate various scenarios, and optimize resource allocation in real-time. This capability has been crucial in navigating supply shortages and logistical bottlenecks, ensuring businesses remain agile and resilient. Resourcing & labor management: Blue Yonder has supported businesses in attracting, engaging, and retaining talent through comprehensive resourcing and labor management solutions. For our clients, we’ve achieved a 35% reduction in labor expenses, a 50% reduction in turnover rate, and a 25% increase in employee engagement. Real-time data & visibility for omni-channel excellence: The Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization provides real-time data and visibility across the entire supply chain, enabling businesses to achieve omnichannel excellence by meeting customer demands across e-commerce and in-store channels. We’ve helped our clients reach a 300% return on investment by minimizing stockouts and excess inventory, helping maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market. Want to find out more about how Blue Yonder has helped business adapt, thrive and build resilient supply chains? Get in touch today. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [The Pressures of Omni-Channel Fulfillment and Returns Are Growing](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-pressures-of-omni-channel-fulfillment-and-returns-are-growing) > While omni-channel commerce drives record online sales (over $4.1T in 2024), the logistics behind it are increasingly complex. Learn about the staggering $890 billion in returns and the pressures on retailers to maintain service and profitability. Blog The pressures of omni-channel fulfillment and returns are growing The Pressures of Omni-Channel Fulfillment and Returns Are Growing Terence Leung , March 17, 2025 2 minute read The continuing growth of omni-channel commerce is a great thing, right? E-commerce is fueling strong results for sellers, as a record five billion Internet users worldwide contributed to online retail revenues of over $4.1 trillion in 2024 alone . Around the world, e-commerce accounted for 17% of all retail sales last year — and that number is expected to rise to 21% by 2029. Omni-channel commerce gives shoppers more options, in terms of both retail brands and specific products. It also fuels price competition, which is good for shoppers. And it provides retailers and direct-to-consumer (D2C) manufacturers with limitless access to shoppers around the world. Of course it’s a positive development, driving significant economic benefits. But let’s be honest. The explosive growth of e-commerce also creates significant logistics challenges for retailers and D2C manufacturers. As they fulfill huge, unpredictable order volumes and process more and more returns in their distribution centers, sellers are often challenged to achieve both high service levels and high profitability. Retailers and D2C manufacturers are expected to have an enormous range of products available, across the distribution network, ready for same-day or next-day delivery. They need to offer low-cost or free shipping and returns, while also protecting margins. They must track inventory, orders and returns in real time, at all times. And they need to manage their resources, from inventory and labor to forklifts and robotics, with incredible precision — keeping all assets moving productively, while avoiding excess inventory and equipment downtime. In the case of product returns — which amounted to a staggering $890 billion in 2024 — the warehouse needs to move with lightning speed and precision to capture the resale opportunity and minimize waste. 0 % of all retail sales are expected to be from e-commerce by 2029. $ 0 B The staggering amount product returns amounted to in 2024. $ 0 T The total online retail revenues recorded in 2024 alone. It’s no longer optional — LSPs need to master fulfillment and returns Increasingly, retailers and D2C manufacturers are choosing to outsource the seemingly insurmountable challenge of omni-channel fulfillment and returns to their expert partners: Logistics service providers (LSPs). Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and the growing fourth-party logistics provider (4PL) community are expanding their offerings of managed warehousing and distribution services in response to growing demand. While it’s a lucrative business segment, managing omni-channel fulfillment and returns — across customers, at massive scale — is not easy for LSPs. Imagine the complexities of a single fulfillment-and-returns operation, in one warehouse. Now multiply that by dozens of customers, thousands of SKUs, multiple distribution centers and exponentially higher operations volatility. As consumers grow in their delivery, service and pricing expectations, those pressures are, in turn, placed on LSPs who often struggle to operate profitably in this demanding landscape. In achieving omni-channel optimization, at scale, LSPs face big challenges What can LSPs do? Is it even possible to achieve the required level of speed, precision, customer service and planning accuracy at scale, 24-7, as orders and returns keep coming in? Across multiple customers and supply chains? In Blue Yonder’s experience working with over 175 LSPs, it’s very achievable. But first LSPs need to overcome these four common challenges we’ve witnessed firsthand: Inventory and order handling gaps. For LSPs managing multi-client warehouses, misaligned or unbalanced inventory can lead to higher operations costs, fulfillment delays and missed service targets. It can be especially hard to manage and prioritize orders and inventory during launches or promotional events. Of course, this damages both LSP-retailer relationships and retailer-consumer relationships. The solution lies in using advanced technology to achieve the real-time inventory visibility and synchronization needed to balance orders with availability. Dynamic requirements for labor and other resources. Order volatility also makes it tough to forecast labor and other resources across clients in managed warehouses. In today’s tight labor market, LSPs often face both fluctuating employee availability and demand surges. Understaffing during peak periods increases costs and delays, while also reducing fulfilment service levels. By leveraging digital workforce planning and warehousing solutions, enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), LSPs can dynamically allocate resources to meet client requirements both efficiently and profitably. Increasing reverse logistics complexity. Growing return volumes, spurred by e-commerce growth, are only exacerbating the pressure on LSPs. Amid the rising costs of handling and processing large return volumes, many LSPs are striving — but failing — to integrate their forward and reverse logistics operations. Advanced technology can help, by consolidating return pickups across multiple customers, introducing a centralized reverse logistics platform, and fueling more sustainable workflows and practices — while also minimizing costs and delays. A need for agile, real-time decision-making. As they manage multiple complex customer supply chains, LSPs are overwhelmed with data —about inventory movements, new orders, transportation capacity, labor availability, supply disruptions, and other upstream and downstream events. Disruptions at any node, or in any function, demand swift, smart decisions. But LSPs struggle to manage all this data, achieve real-time visibility, and sense disruptions and exceptions. That means they also lack real-time responsiveness and agility when these events occur. AI is the only practical solution for tracking supply chain events and driving an informed, strategic response. Advanced analytics, real-time data integration, and autonomous, AI-enabled decision engines empower LSPs to pivot quickly and strategically, improving inventory allocation, order prioritization, cost control and overall customer service. The convergence of these forces signals a pressing need: LSPs need to transform their operations by embracing digital solutions, powered by AI and other innovations, to manage multiple omni-channel supply chains effectively. Are you affected by this costly fashion return trend? Dive into the data and analysis behind the costly "keep or return" trend fueled by fashion influencers and its impact on your bottom line. Discover More To master omni-channel fulfillment and returns, LSPs need three capabilities To optimize their omni-channel fulfillment and returns management operations, LSPs need advanced digital capabilities, integrated on a unified platform. Modern AI, analytics, data integration and advanced decision engines can help them achieve leadership in these three areas: 1. Intelligent fulfillment sourcing and rebalancing It’s become impossible for human analysts to balance cost, location, speed, service and profitability while fulfilling orders in one supply chain — let alone across multiple customer operations. LSPs can leverage AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to make optimal fulfillment sourcing and inventory rebalancing decisions in mere seconds. They can build customer — and consumer — trust by providing reliable “order by” and “get by” dates that add up to reliable promises. They can align inventory precisely with real-time demand, for faster delivery and lower carrying costs. And LSPs can also respond proactively to disruptions with dynamic, flexible fulfillment sourcing and rebalancing. 2. Highly configurable warehousing Advanced digital solutions empower LSPs to optimize warehouse productivity and throughput at every stage of order fulfillment and returns processing. Not only can LSPs automate internal processes and decisions, but they can also seamlessly integrate their warehouse operations with multiple customer systems. The result? The real-time, end-to-end visibility retailers, D2C manufacturers and consumers demand today. Today’s best-in-class warehouse solutions are highly extensible and configurable, to easily integrate with a range of external partners and systems. Configurable warehousing, driven by digitalization, has been proven to increase warehouse productivity by 20% and reduce employee turnover by 50%, as daily decision-making and process management become easier. 3. Profitable, seamless returns management Intelligent decision engines and real-time visibility can transform the huge challenge of reverse logistics into a competitive edge for LSPs. By integrating order management and warehouse management systems with returns management software, LSPs can reduce delays, minimize waste and optimize resource utilization. By processing, routing and dispositioning returns in a smarter and faster manner, LSPs can maximize the resale opportunity, as well as the sustainability of their reverse logistics operations. Digitalization has demonstrated an ability to reduce reverse logistics costs by 30%, while improving customer and consumer service levels. Blue Yonder fulfills the most urgent needs of LSPs, every day Blue Yonder’s complete set of digital solutions for LSPs includes integrated warehousing , omni-channel fulfillment and returns management solutions that enable LSPs to synchronize inventory in real time, orchestrate multi-channel order flows and efficiently manage high-volume returns. Flexible scaling and intelligent order routing allow LSPs to streamline fulfillment, reduce disruptions and enhance profitability while meeting diverse customer needs across channels. LSPs can realize additional value by leveraging Blue Yonder Platform to unify their advanced digital solutions, driving tight integration and real-time connectivity. LSPs can link processes and workflows across warehousing, order management and fulfillment, and returns management. End-to-end integration enables LSPs to scale quickly and adapt to market changes across multiple customer supply chains in just minutes. Don’t wait until even greater pressures emerge. View this video and contact Blue Yonder today to discuss how we can help transform your business. Don’t wait until even greater pressures emerge Find out how Blue Yonder can help transform your business today. Watch The Video Contact Us ### [7 ways consumer demand has impacted the automotive supply chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/7-ways-consumer-demand-has-impacted-the-automotive-supply-chain) > The automotive supply chain is undergoing a massive transformation driven by consumer demand for online experiences, personalized options, and faster delivery. Understand the implications and the move towards configure-to-order. Blog 7 ways consumer demand has impacted the automotive supply chain 7 Ways Consumer Demand Has Impacted the Automotive Supply Chain Salim Shaikh , March 20, 2025 2 minute read There are hundreds, if not thousands, of factors that impact the world’s automotive supply chains — from tariffs and other trade policies to increasing extreme weather events , interest rates, inflation, sustainability pressures and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). But over the past few years, one force has reshaped not just the automotive supply chain, but all supply chains, unlike any other: Consumer demand. Increasingly, today’s supply chains are driven by the consumer waiting at the end. Today’s consumers want products delivered quickly to a range of sites. They want customized and personalized product options. They want accurate, on-demand availability information at the time of purchase — and real-time tracking throughout the delivery process. And they want free or low-cost shipping. This shift is not only transforming traditional retail, but also reshaping industries like automotive, where the way cars are bought and sold has changed dramatically. From online car purchases and subscription models to direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales by manufacturers, the automotive industry is experiencing a similar revolution driven by evolving consumer expectations. When buying a new car, consumers are increasingly seeking a business-to-consumer (B2C) experience that’s like shopping at Amazon. By 2030, 80% of new vehicle purchases will occur online, and 60% to 80% of new cars will be directly sold to consumers. Not only is there a growing demand from consumers to make their car purchases online, but there is increasing demand for vehicle customization. This includes the flexibility to make specific changes to the configuration, model and trim for their new car. As they make changes, consumers want to know exactly how various configurations will impact timeframes for manufacturing and delivery, as well as pricing — on demand, in real time. In response, the automotive industry is pivoting away from its traditional push-based or make-to-stock (MTS) approach — characterized by a “flood the zone” production model, where dealers maintain 60 to 80 days of inventory. Instead, they’re moving to a hybrid push- and pull-based, configure-to-order (CTO) model with lower inventories. While this is a general industry mindset shift, let’s take a look at seven specific ways consumer demand is reshaping the modern automotive supply chain. Drive success in a changing auto landscape Conquer the 5 biggest challenges facing the auto industry to unlock success in 2025 and beyond. Discover More 1. Rapid adoption of advanced technologies Legacy systems, manual processes and human analysis just aren’t adequate to keep pace with ever-changing consumer demand. Just about every automaker has been forced to embrace digital solutions that increase real-time visibility, drive out costs and inefficiencies, and fluidly match supply with shifting demand. In this case, consumers have done the world’s automotive supply chains a favor. There’s no question that supply chain digitalization — whether forced or not — has resulted in happier consumers, happier employees, happier executives and happier shareholders. In seeking vehicle shopping experiences that mirror B2C retail experiences, consumers are significantly advancing the sophistication and profitability of automotive supply chains. 2. Real-time order transparency One obvious benefit of supply chain digitalization is that it enables complete, real-time visibility across the end-to-end automotive supply chain. Today not only consumers, but all stakeholders in the chain, need real-time awareness. Consumers want to know when their order begins production, leaves production for the shipping department, and is loaded onto a boat or truck. They want complete confidence in when their new vehicle will arrive. But real-time order visibility benefits internal stakeholders too, enabling them to respond to any shipping delays or other disruptions before they impact consumer promises. 3. More accurate forecasting Remember when production and delivery timelines used to be low-pressure and more leisurely? Remember when consumers used to be more patient and understanding? E-commerce and the Amazon effect have changed all that. For products manufactured overseas or built-to-order, today long lead times are solely the company’s problem. The only way to balance long lead times with fast-changing consumer demand is to dramatically improve forecasting precision. For automakers, this challenge is only compounded by product diversity and vehicle electrification. It’s difficult to get the product mix right across electric vehicles (EVs), internal combustion engine (ICE) models and hybrids — as well as all channels and regions. Getting the mix wrong can lead to excessive, aging inventory on the one hand and missed sales opportunities on the other. Automakers that can accurately assess consumer needs and adapt their supply chains accordingly will be the ones to remain profitable. Fortunately, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), today’s forecasting engines and algorithms are incredibly accurate at considering hundreds of demand-influencing factors and arriving at accurate predictions. They help automakers not only produce or order the right products, but balance inventory across multiple locations. Advanced forecasting is essential for having the right product at the right place, at the right time, for speedy delivery that delights consumers — without decimating profit margins. 4. Increased production efficiency The worldwide automotive industry is a great example of how consumer demand has driven significant production changes. The need for vehicle customization at scale — as well as the shift from ICEs to hybrids and EVs — make the modern automotive demand forecast a constantly moving target. Considering the high capital investments required to manufacture cars and trucks, and the long lead times involved, that’s a very big deal. The only solution is to adopt more flexible, agile production planning processes that sense new orders in real time and re-configure assembly plans on a continuous basis. That may sound next-generation, but leading automakers are embracing flexible production — combined with increased forecasting accuracy — to intelligently balance costs with consumer satisfaction. Want to build resilience and increase efficiency? Discover how consumer demand is driving innovation in manufacturing in our free guide to production planning in manufacturing. Download For Free 5. Improved supply chain flexibility Of course, production isn’t the only function where digitalization has driven increased agility and responsiveness. AI, ML and advanced analytics are at work today across the automotive supply chain, improving speed and nimbleness from procurement to final delivery. Daily process automation, smart pallets, intelligent loading-building, real-time route optimization and camera-based technologies have already revolutionized logistics — and digitalization is bringing new innovations every day. Decision automation means that many choices and course corrections happen automatically and immediately, so consumers never even see or feel the bumps along the way. 6. Direct-to-consumer supply chains The next-day or same-day delivery that consumers want? That’s largely been enabled by the many manufacturers who have switched to a direct-to-consumer sales model. These companies have opted to build their own e-commerce websites where consumers place orders directly, eliminating any third parties. This new industry standard is just one more byproduct of the immediate gratification consumers expect from their buying experience. For automotive manufacturers, combining D2C shipping with flexible production practices can be a huge boon to the bottom line. The D2C model means that the expenses traditionally associated with storing inventory, third-party distribution and retooling between production runs are cut drastically. 7. Platform-based software architectures As automakers have struggled to keep up with rapidly growing consumer expectations, software providers like Blue Yonder have responded by offering more flexible architectures that include a platform-based delivery model. Connected on Blue Yonder Platform, cloud-native software solutions share the same data and work together in an orchestrated manner, supported by interoperability. During the consumer’s vehicle ordering and configuration process, Blue Yonder Platform supports a real-time inventory and pipeline search. This enables customers to check the availability of a vehicle with the desired configuration within the dealer network or in the pipeline, providing them with an estimated time of arrival (ETA) on demand, in real time. If the desired vehicle is not available in the dealer network or pipeline, consumers can obtain real-time estimates of when they can expect their personalized vehicle. Blue Yonder’s dynamic order slotting and sequencing capabilities — which look at material, time, capacity, buildability and transportation constraints, as well as vehicle routing and scheduling — interact with the ordering system to provide reliable expected dates. One of the unique advantages of partnering with Blue Yonder is that our end-to-end capabilities exist on a single platform, with a single point of data ingestion via Snowflake’s data cloud. Blue Yonder delivers unprecedented end-to-end capabilities that include volume planning, feature and mix planning, forecasting, order generation, parts requirements planning, order slotting and sequencing, configure-to-order, transportation capacity planning and logistics fulfillment. Regardless of which function planners are involved in, and the challenges faced in that process, it’s a game-changer to have a core, cloud-based central platform that integrates, orchestrates and execute actions — helping to build sustainable and resilient operations, mitigate risks and provide end-to-end visibility. Consumers are just getting started If you think consumers are done exerting their influence on the automotive supply chain, think again. As leading manufacturers profitability improve their service levels and personalization capabilities via digitalization, consumers will just become more demanding — and the stakes will get higher for the world’s automotive supply chain teams. As you look over these seven trends, how well has your organization kept up with consumer needs? Can you do more to serve consumers better, while also satisfying your shareholders? Chances are that the answer is “yes.” Consider reaching out to Blue Yonder to discuss the many ways consumers will continue to drive automotive supply chain innovation — and how you can prepare today for tomorrow’s new demands. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [How Supply Chain Leaders Can Adapt for AI Success](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-supply-chain-leaders-can-adapt-for-ai-success) > 90% of leaders are reorganizing for AI. Don't get left behind - discover the essential strategies and considerations for adapting your team to AI-driven technology Blog How supply chain leaders can adapt for AI success How Supply Chain Leaders Can Adapt for AI Success Vineet Sharma , March 22, 2025 2 minute read The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has allowed retailers to optimize processes across forecasting, planning and supply chain execution. According to Gartner, AI and generative AI are now top investment priorities for supply chain professionals. However, integrating AI is not just about investing in technology; it requires organizations to restructure themselves to leverage AI’s full potential. 90% of supply chain leaders are in the midst of restructuring or plan to restructure in the next 12 months , driven largely by the AI revolution. The Need for a Clear Vision Before adopting AI, supply chain leaders must establish a clear vision of the end-state they want to achieve. Setting clear KPIs early and ensuring quality, accessible data helps unlock value quickly. However, without a strong vision for how the business should function post-reorganization, old, siloed habits may resurface, slowing down and limiting the success of AI adoption. Cooperation Over Collaboration Collaboration means extra effort to break through silos, which is important. But the real goal is cooperation—creating an environment with fewer silos, where everyone works from the same source of truth and focuses on outcomes that benefit the entire business, not just their own team’s KPIs. The Importance of the Right Partners Aligning a clear vision within the organization is essential, but extending this alignment to external partners like vendors and systems integrators is equally critical. According to McKinsey, only 25% of supply chain leaders feel their objectives align with those of their vendors. Choosing the right partner with AI expertise and a consultative approach can prevent design missteps during implementation and ensure scalable, sustainable solutions. Adopting AI in supply chains goes beyond implementing technology—it requires a clear vision, seamless cooperation, and the right partnerships to unlock its full potential. By focusing on these elements, organizations can build resilient, efficient supply chains prepared to navigate future challenges. Blue Yonder is leading this transformation, helping businesses transition to end-to-end AI-powered supply chains. Optimize your supply chain for an AI-first future How should supply chain leaders adapt, and what considerations should leaders keep in mind as they reorganize for an AI-first future? Discover the answers in our free spotlight paper. Download For Free ### [Key concepts in sustainable supply chains in 2025](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/key-concepts-in-sustainable-supply-chains-in-2025) > Discover the fundamental ideas behind building a sustainable supply chain in 2025. Gain insights into practices that enhance efficiency, reduce impact, and ensure long-term success. Blog Key concepts in sustainable supply chains in 2025 Key Concepts in Sustainable Supply Chains in 2025 Mckenna Bailey , March 28, 2025 2 minute read Before even arriving at ProMat 2025, there was an air of excitement around the amount of attention paid to sustainability sessions. Sustainability is a conversation industries around the world have been having for years now. But as we inch closer to 2050 and our goal to be carbon neutral, there is a renewed sense of urgency. The interest from executives and operators goes beyond a desire to protect our earth. Sustainability is profitable, as well. One survey of consumers across 31 countries and territories reports that 85% of consumers say they have experienced disruptions related to climate change in their daily lives. As a result, they are focusing on sustainability-focused purchases. An initiative that makes as much business sense as it does environmental sense should be progressing more consistently. Companies still find it difficult to make major updates to their supply chain to support more sustainable practices. A large part of the obstacle is not knowing how to prove the ROI of these efforts or even where to start. This year, ProMat speakers offered a few concepts to remember when trying to make supply chains more sustainable. Here are the top concepts we heard throughout the four-day conference: Sustainability requires partnership One concern expressed by attendees is how they seem to be implementing changes and finding partners to help them be more sustainable, but there doesn’t seem to be much progress made on the overall goal. In other words, if the efforts aren’t resulting in change, should companies reprioritize efficiency and profitability rather than sustainability goals? During a session titled “Journey to a Sustainable Warehouse,” one speaker mentioned that the remedy is not giving up, but rather working with partners who can close the loop on the services they provide. A recycling partner, for example, that doesn’t simply remove waste or scrap materials. Instead, find a partner that regularly updates their partners on what happens with the scrap, what resources were required to process them, and the overall ROI. As profit margins get smaller for companies, holistic data transparency is the only way companies can make strategic decisions that will move the needle. That includes all partners. Why making retail returns greener is always in fashion Discover how making your retail returns process more sustainable can benefit your business and the planet. Learn More Transparency throughout the supply chain is critical Any change to the supply chain is complex. Changes are made complicated when they are done with a singular focus. The silos between stages of the supply chain and the silos that exist between various supply chain partners all make the path to sustainability costly and arduous. Most of the sustainability sessions this year talked about the need for partnership as companies make more thoughtful decisions. For example, making the switch from combustion engines to lithium helps reduce a company’s carbon footprint. It also requires a change in warehouse layout. Warehouses need dedicated charging stations that may require reconfiguring the warehouse or updating operating procedures. All relatively easy changes, but ones that could impact how many SKUs a warehouse can hold or labor hours. Without transparency into these updates, a warehouse that is looking to make improvements could potentially cause disruptions throughout the supply chain. To make each sustainable update more seamless, companies can invest in end-to-end solutions that provide real-time updates throughout the supply chain. With access to the most accurate data at all times, teams can communicate potential risks and collaborate to make them less disruptive. Connect sustainability efforts to business goals When teams want to make bigger changes, like what supplier to use or how production will go, need buy-in from broader stakeholders. Stakeholders that often make decisions based on the cost and the ROI. While the goal of sustainability is a good one, it doesn’t always have a clear connection to savings or revenue. But, as mentioned above, consumers are using their purchasing power to push companies to be more thoughtful about how their operations hurt the environment. Those are the kinds of conversations that will leave an impression on decision makers. Companies should pull data on their target consumer to understand the initiatives they care about and start to get buy-in on those changes first. Prove that sustainable practices are good business. After building trust in not only how it can be done but why it should, then expand to other sustainable practices that have a lower ROI. Remember progress not perfection Most importantly, as heard in each sustainability session, the goal is always progress not perfection. The forces that impact climate change, and the technology we can use to mitigate them, evolve constantly. What’s possible tomorrow might not be available today. So perfection will be a constantly moving target. Progress is something that is measurable right now, and will push all of us in the right direction. As companies consider what they can do to make their supply chain more sustainable, remember that doing something will always be better than doing nothing. Drive supply chain efficiency through sustainability Uncover the power of sustainable practices to enhance your supply chain's performance, lower costs, and minimize environmental impact. Discover More ### [AI in Demand Planning Are You Realizing Your Full Potential](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/ai-in-demand-planning-are-you-realizing-your-full-potential) > Is your demand planning truly leveraging the power of AI? Uncover the untapped potential and learn how to optimize your forecasting for greater accuracy and efficiency. Blog AI in demand planning: are you realizing your full potential? AI in Demand Planning Are You Realizing Your Full Potential Susan Sivek , April 3, 2025 3 minute read In today’s fast-paced business world, supply chains are the backbone of seamless operations. The ability to efficiently manage the flow of goods and services from manufacturing to the end consumer is paramount. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing the way supply chains operate. The most prevalent use case today is the application of AI and machine learning (ML) models to boost the accuracy of demand forecasting. But, as the adoption of AI and ML becomes more widespread, new applications continue to emerge — revealing significant untapped potential. At Blue Yonder, we’ve seen firsthand how applying AI and ML to demand planning can increase supply chain resilience, boost planner productivity and bring agility to critical decision-making. AI is a critical enabler of demand and supply planning (DSP) , which allows planners to easily collaborate, model and optimize a 360-planning view in seconds versus days. As lag times are minimized via AI, companies can capitalize on new opportunities and resolve disruptions before cost and service outcomes are affected. This blog post will explore the myriad ways AI is reshaping the future of supply chains via DSP and other next-gen demand planning practices. Intelligent scenario planning: Manage disruptions, build resilience In the most recent Blue Yonder Supply Chain Executives Survey, 84% of respondents said their organization has experienced supply chain disruptions over the previous year. The top impacts of these disruptions included customer delays (named by 42% of executives), stalled production (42%), regulatory compliance issues (39%), reputational and monetary damage (38%), and an inability to meet demand (38%) Scenario planning is a critical tool for understanding the impact of disruptions — in advance of taking action — to drive more confident, predictable outcomes. However, the scenario-planning tools and processes used by most companies today are suboptimal. Why? Because they rely on human intuition and manual intervention to create and evaluate multiple complex scenarios. Not only is manual scenario planning a tedious and time-consuming job, but it also results in suboptimal decisions because too many granular scenarios, or too few wide scenarios, were created — missing critical levers and decision points. Given the complexity of modern marketplaces, as well as modern supply chains, it’s hard for human planners and human cognition to create and test meaningful demand planning scenarios. Enabled by ML, Blue Yonder’s next-gen demand planning solutions rely on advanced algorithms that intelligently and autonomously reduce the problem scope to a logical set of scenarios that are realistic and most applicable. Embedded predictive AI evaluates this feasible set of scenarios and recommends the top scenarios that will achieve the company’s predefined objectives. This allows human planners to map out various levers in a scenario, set boundary values, then fire-and-forget. AI- and ML-powered scenario planning reduces the average time taken from days or hours to mere minutes. Planners can focus on higher-value strategic decision-making and actions, rather than just collating data. Is your demand planning reaching its full potential? Are you leveraging AI to its maximum potential in your demand forecasting? We delve into the ways AI is reshaping the future of supply chains, including increasing resilience, boost planner productivity, and bring agility to critical decision making. Discover More Complex demand-driving variables: Align decisions with reality Considering the full range of potential variables that influence demand is essential for businesses to make informed decisions, optimize operations, satisfy customers and maintain a competitive edge. But not all demand-driving variables are obvious or easy to understand, if only human intelligence is applied to the problem. Variables like weather, new product introductions, holidays, changes in customer preferences and cultural events can all have a significant impact on demand. The ability to identify the right factors, understand their effect on the forecast, and model their impact is critical to ensure forecast accuracy. Yet demand drivers can be hard to predict, measure and quantify. For example, the November 5, 2024, U.S. Presidential election caused significant changes in consumer behavior, such as product hoarding , even before Donald Trump took office. If affected consumer products companies could have foreseen this demand spike, they could have had extra product quantities in place. But how could they have known? Enter AI and ML, which can illuminate multiple demand drivers and their complex interplay — positioning businesses to navigate market uncertainties with confidence and agility. Historically, identifying the right demand-driving variables required hundreds of hours of work from data scientists, industry experts and product specialists. And, due to the complexity of the problem and the element of human error, there was always a significant chance that critical variables were overlooked. The risk level associated with human demand planning methods was high. But today deep meta learning — a cutting-edge AI innovation used in Blue Yonder’s demand planning solutions — powers a data-driven, algorithmic approach that’s both far faster and far more accurate than manual methods. With deep meta learning, ML models autonomously and continuously learn to select and configure the best combination of variables to use in a demand model. Not only does deep meta learning remove guesswork and human bias from the process of identifying variables, but it also enables a faster reconfiguration of variables as market and business realities change. The dynamic nature of deep meta learning allows demand planning teams to stay better aligned with customer preferences, as well as other proven demand drivers. With deep meta learning, demand planners are finally empowered to capture the complete value of unlimited data and unlock the speed of integrated ML. Generative AI: Unlock productivity and uplevel team performance There’s a lot of excitement today around the use and impact of generative AI across a range of disciplines. A recent article highlighted how Blue Yonder is using next-gen AI innovations , including generative AI, to transform the world’s supply chains. In the area of demand planning, Blue Yonder is embedding its solutions with generative AI, using the natural language capabilities of large language models (LLMs). Supported by natural language, Blue Yonder’s generative AI can dramatically improve planner productivity through faster access to data-driven insights, assisted decision-making and process automation. When generative AI is integrated directly into the user experience, Blue Yonder enables planners to easily ask clarifying questions, request data, visualize influencing factors and assess the effectiveness of past decisions. All these benefits significantly improve the quality of decision-making. In addition, Blue Yonder’s generative AI models can be trained on enterprise standard operating procedures, business processes, workflows and software documentation, allowing them to respond to planner queries with contextualized, relevant answers. Compared with the current scenario, where planners need to dig through multiple text-based resources to find answers to basic queries, this is a revolutionary capability. As we look to prepare the next generation of demand planners, a generative AI-based training program can significantly reduce the time and effort required to cross-train planners and onboard new hires. Embrace the full potential of AI — and outsmart your competitors The integration of AI into supply chains is not just a technological advancement; it’s a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. Using advanced AI and ML models to improve forecast accuracy is just the starting point. By harnessing the power of AI, companies can create agile, responsive and sustainable supply chains that can more readily meet the demands of the modern marketplace. Embracing AI is no longer an option, but a necessity for businesses who want to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of global commerce. Start planning for a big competitive edge by reaching out to Blue Yonder. Leap ahead with supply chain planning Boost performance, agility, and resilience with a unified supply chain planning ​​suite that connects your entire value chain and empowers real-time decision making. Discover More ### [Breaking Silos How Integrated Data and AI Transform Supply Chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/breaking-silos-how-integrated-data-and-ai-transform-supply-chains) > Canceled flights, egg shortages, matcha crises: Discover how fragile supply chains impact daily life. Learn why experts predict more disruptions in 2025 and how AI can help. Blog Breaking silos: how integrated data and AI transform supply chains Breaking Silos How Integrated Data and AI Transform Supply Chains Vineet Sharma , March 4, 2025 1 minute read What do canceled flights, a matcha shortage and a breakfast crisis reveal about our fragile supply chains? In mid-July last year, McDonald’s Australia made an unexpected move: It cut breakfast hours by 90 minutes because it couldn’t get enough eggs due to a bird flu outbreak. Two months later, Malaysia Airlines reduced its flight capacity by 20%, citing labor shortages and a lack of spare parts. Currently, Japan's matcha — the finely ground green tea loved worldwide — faces a supply crunch as global demand outpaces production. A recent survey shows that 68% of supply chain professionals expect more disruptions in 2025, with 54.5% naming the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as the highest-risk area worldwide. Companies are struggling to respond effectively to disruptions in the region due to a key obstacle: A lack of collaboration. Overcoming this challenge was the focus of a presentation at the IDG Technology Symposium and Awards, called “From Data Siloes to AI-Driven Insights.” Blue Yonder’s Chief Innovation Officer Andrea Morgan-Vandome joined Stephanie Krishnan, Associate Vice President for APAC at IDC, to share their insights on managing supply chain disruptions quickly and intelligently. 0 % of supply chain professionals expect more disruptions in 2025 0 % of supply chain professionals name the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as the highest-risk area worldwide Disconnected APAC supply chains create challenges In the Asia-Pacific region, companies operate in diverse markets with different regulations, varying levels of digital maturity and cultural complexities. This mix makes it difficult for organizations to work together effectively and respond quickly to market changes and other disruptions. Misalignment between business functions, IT systems and trading partners further hinders collaboration in APAC supply chains. Legacy IT systems, which were not designed for real-time data sharing, force production, procurement and logistics to run on separate, disconnected systems. Creating an orchestrated, strategic response to disruptions is virtually impossible in this disconnected supply chain landscape, which lacks an integrated technology platform.The fractured, diverse nature of APAC supply chains delays the flow of vital information, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities to tackle emerging risks. Breaking down silos, for improved cooperation The key to overcoming these challenges is to break down functional silos and enable true collaboration across the supply chain via an integrated platform. Speaking at the IDG event, Andrea Morgan-Vandome explained,” We really break down the silos best when we have one platform and are looking at the same data. We work better together when we don’t just collaborate but also cooperate.” By breaking down silos, companies can move beyond simple collaboration and foster true cooperation. Leveraging a single, integrated IT system enables businesses to: Unify functions around a single source of truth: A unified, integrated technology platform ensures that all teams and trading partners work from the same data. This not only improves collaboration and reduces misalignment, but it also enables businesses to actively cooperate with suppliers and distributors, streamlining decision-making across the supply chain. Gain a real-time view across the supply chain: Instant visibility into demand, stock levels and potential disruptions allows companies to make proactive, informed decisions. This real-time insight supports a deeper level of cooperation, ensuring that all parties can adjust quickly to changes in an orchestrated manner. Drive improved efficiency with shared metrics: Standardized key performance indicators (KPIs) across departments and partners facilitate better forecasting, streamlined processes and synchronized planning. These shared metrics translate into optimized inventory management and improved responsiveness to market demands, moving beyond mere collaboration into true cooperative action. Aligned data, greater visibility and shared metrics help supply chains across retail, manufacturing and logistics eliminate silos and improve efficiency. This enables cooperation, reduces risks and helps companies make faster, smarter decisions in markets that are prone to disruptions. Are you utilizing your full potential in demand planning? Increase resilience, boost planner productivity, and bring agility to critical decision-making by utilizing AI to enhance your demand planning. Discover More The AI advantage: Making more intelligent decisions Once data flows seamlessly across an organization, artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a powerful tool for optimizing supply chains. Predictive analytics, machine learning and generative AI can spot exceptions before they escalate into crises — enabling a more intelligent response. Unlike human analysts, generative AI can ingest huge volumes of data, apply analytics, run scenarios and make “good for the supply chain” decisions in mere seconds. During the IDG event, Morgan-Vandome noted, “As you break down silos, it opens up the opportunity to take action. This is where AI comes into play — because now you can see what is happening, and you may choose to make different decisions.” AI-driven insights help forecast shortages, optimize inventory levels and suggest alternatives when disruptions occur, shifting companies from a reactive stance to a proactive approach. Whether it’s product scarcity or a labor shortage, companies can mitigate the effects of disruptions before they impact critical customer relationships and generate headlines. The next disruption is coming. Are you ready? In today’s supply chains, it’s not a matter of whether a new disruption will happen. It’s a matter of when. Unfortunately, disruptions and volatility are a reality today. Companies that stick to fragmented systems, scattered data and isolated operations will struggle in this increasingly unpredictable landscape. But, by investing in unified IT platforms, integrated data and AI-powered decision engines, organizations can transform their vulnerable supply chains into resilient, connected ecosystems — for a significant competitive advantage. In today’s fast-changing world, breaking down silos and fostering genuine collaboration isn’t just a tech upgrade — it’s a strategic necessity. If you’re ready to build a stronger, more resilient supply chain, why not contact Blue Yonder ? Discover how our end-to-end supply chain management solutions can help you navigate challenges, no matter what surprises the future brings. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Blue Yonder and Snowflake are helping enterprises reimagine the way they plan, execute and deliver](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-and-snowflake-are-helping-enterprises-reimagine-the-way-they-plan-execute-and-deliver) > Discover how Blue Yonder and Snowflake empower enterprises to reimagine planning, execution, and delivery with unified data and intelligent insights. Blog Blue Yonder and Snowflake are helping enterprises reimagine the way they plan, execute and deliver Blue Yonder and Snowflake are helping enterprises reimagine the way they plan execute and deliver Chris Burchett , March 26, 2025 2 minute read It has become nearly impossible to predict changes in supply and demand patterns. On the supply side, there are increasingly frequent supply disruptions, part shortages and cost pressures. On the demand side, customer preferences remain volatile, and this is further exacerbated by the growing threat of inflation plus the rise in omni-channel. This not only hurts revenue, profit and customer satisfaction, but makes it difficult for organizations to achieve sustainability objectives of reducing waste. As external and internal challenges have become more acute, new technologies have emerged to address them. The rise in platforms like Azure has accelerated the deployment of SaaS solutions. New data management strategies are changing the way businesses organize, structure and manage data. And the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has compelled many organizations to invest in new technology – with the goals of optimizing and automating business processes, driving better performance, and increasing profitability. Data silos and disjointed point solutions are making it impossible to achieve desired profitability or resilience​ Advanced technologies, including AI and ML, hold the potential to revolutionize the world’s supply chains. By monitoring real-time conditions along the end-to-end supply chain and across the extended partner network, AI- and ML-enabled optimization engines can sense anomalies, project the results of various resolution strategies, and autonomously take corrective action. Yet for many companies the promise of these advanced technologies is not being realized, despite their growing investments. In fact, it’s been reported that 85% of AI and ML projects fail to deliver their intended business outcomes. The primary reasons? A lack of strategic data management or a well-designed data infrastructure, and disjointed point solutions. Even with big investments in AI-powered point solutions, companies today are still relying on decades-old databases, offline algorithms, and systems that lack interoperability or easy data sharing. Today, businesses have all the information they need to optimize their supply chains. But most companies are simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of available data – from suppliers, customers, partners, and third-party sources. They also lack the infrastructure to collect it, harmonize it, analyze it and apply it to their everyday decisions. Instead, data is scattered across the extended supply chain in disparate point solutions. It’s not centralized, accessible or actionable.  It’s no longer enough to simply throw more resources at the problem. As data volume and velocity accelerate, businesses cannot possibly process all the necessary data amidst increasing market complexities. Advanced technologies such as AI and ML depend on data for their success. Unless companies are equipped to digitally capture and apply real-time data on demand changes, inventory levels, product availability, and other key factors, their advanced supply chain solutions will never achieve their full potential Ready to break your own silos? Your supply chain doesn't have to be a maze of disconnected data. Discover how integrated data and AI can unlock unprecedented efficiency, visibility, and resilience for your operations. Discover More Blue Yonder and Snowflake: breaking down barriers to data access Blue Yonder is partnering with Snowflake, the data cloud company, to address this challenge. This partnership enables every joint customer to access, share and consume live governed data, industry-specific datasets and data services at scale – without the latency, cost and effort required with technical integrations across applications or with traditional data marketplaces. Snowflake delivers a single, fully managed, secure platform for multi-cloud data consolidation – with unified governance and elastic performance – that allows companies to break down data silos by ingesting and analyzing real-time insights from across the extended supply chain network, as well as third-party sources. Bringing together Blue Yonder and the Snowflake Data Cloud empowers joint customers with an end-to-end visibility into their supply chain for faster, more accurate and informed decision making. And Blue Yonder’s advanced solutions can easily ingest this data to facilitate upstream and downstream visibility, control and responsiveness across the entire supply chain in near real time. Easily share data, act on insights, and build a better network around a unified data source Blue Yonder’s partnership with Snowflake gives joint customers centralized access to Snowflake’s data marketplace, empowering them to enhance their internal data with live, ready-to-query third-party data products – from commodity prices to weather patterns – resulting in more informed scenario planning and more accurate business decisions. Blue Yonder logically maps this data to a single semantic data model then transforms it into the desired format that can be easily consumed by cloud-native services. Data can stay where it is, applications get the access they need to run optimally, and users can collaborate across the supply chain ecosystem – including suppliers, customers and partners – resulting in truly synchronized supply chain management. With Snowflake’s data collaboration capabilities, separate teams and solutions can operate together on the same data and build, train and continually refine AI and ML models with confidence to forecast demand, manage inventory, deliver products, manage exceptions, and accomplish other mission-critical tasks. External data sharing becomes as simple as one business simply granting access to another, reducing latency between trading partners, like suppliers and carriers, and enhancing coordination across the supply chain. This allows supply chains to collaborate, plan and execute in near real time while referencing a common data set. With Blue Yonder and Snowflake, joint customers reduce the cost, complexity and time required to transform data while enabling interoperability between applications and collaboration across clouds. Data storage costs, data movement and latency are all a thing of the past. Joint customers can finally strategically balance cost and service outcomes, based on an end-to-end, real-time supply chain perspective – earning the greatest possible return on their investments in AI, ML and other advanced technologies. Data-driven insights delivered with more speed, scale and agility than ever before In today’s fast-paced, volatile supply chain environment, it seems impossible for companies to monitor every factor – upstream, downstream and external – that can impact their cost and service results. By bringing accurate, reliable, real-time data from across the supply chain ecosystem together with the power of Blue Yonder’s industry-leading supply chain solutions, joint customers can identify exceptions and instantly drive a fact-based, rapid response. They can orchestrate and synchronize the end-to-end supply chain, in near real-time, confident that they are making the most intelligent, data-driven decisions. For the first time, joint customers can now easily leverage all the data they need to gain a full 360-degree view of the supply chain and extended network, as well as insights into the overall product journey and customer experience. Snowflake’s core competencies enable data storage, processing and analytic solutions that are faster, easier to use and far more flexible than traditional database offerings – making it easy for joint customers, and Blue Yonder’s solutions, to extract the insights they need. Together, we are making it easier to access more real-world data, dramatically simplifying data transformation and sharing, and making data more actionable. In doing so, we’re helping businesses make higher quality decisions even faster, increase productivity and agility, optimize performance and profitability, and build more supply chain resilience. ​ Plan, decide and execute with greater speed and scale Gains easier access to more real-world data, develop faster and more relevant insights, and make higher-quality decisions with Blue Yonder and Snowflake. Learn More Get In Touch ### [Reimagining retail: unifying category management and inventory planning for tomorrow’s success](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/reimagining-retail-unifying-category-management) > Learn how integrating category management and inventory planning can transform your retail operations, improve efficiency, and drive success in tomorrow's market. Blog Reimagining retail: unifying category management and inventory planning for tomorrow’s success Reimagining Retail Unifying Category Management Jennifer Brox , April 3, 2025 2 minute read In today’s volatile retail landscape, organizations face unprecedented challenges across both category management and inventory planning. While point solutions promise to address specific pain points, they often perpetuate silos that hinder cohesive, effective planning and optimization. To remain competitive, retailers must embrace a comprehensive approach that taps into the synergy across all functions — from category management to inventory allocation. The growing complexity of modern retail Mounting pressures on category managers The pressure to optimize category strategies has never been more intense. Shopping patterns are constantly evolving, with changes in frequency, basket size and channel preferences. Inflation is driving consumers to trade down to private-label products, while hybrid shopping experiences add complexity to decision-making. To make matters worse, the retail sector faces the third-highest quit rate among major industries, according to 2024 statistics from the United States Chamber of Commerce. This labor shortage impacts in-store execution, with planogram compliance falling below 50% in some cases — effectively undermining the meticulous planning efforts of category managers. Inventory planning challenges At the same time, inventory planning teams are grappling with their own set of hurdles: Organizational silos: Planning teams often rely on disparate processes and niche tools. While these solutions may appear efficient in isolation, they create barriers to cross-category optimization. Rising disruptions: The frequency and complexity of supply chain disruptions continue to escalate. Planners often spend excessive time managing day-to-day exceptions, leaving little bandwidth for strategic, value-driven activities. Automation hesitancy: Despite having technology at their fingertips, past bad experiences result in enough skepticism to perpetuate a cycle of manual processes that increase stress and workload. Optimize your inventory through uncertainty Don't let unpredictable market shifts throw your supply chain into disarray. Discover the actionable strategies for effective inventory rebalancing and maintain optimal stock levels. Discover More The path forward: planning as one Breaking down silos The answer lies in adopting a unified platform that aligns all planning functions, from category management to supply chain execution, to a single source of truth. This unified approach enables: Seamless movement between replenishment and allocation: Leverage AI-driven forecasts to seamlessly handle the push-pull-push of inventory with accuracy. Holistic product management: Organizations can manage diverse assortments with replenishment methods tailored to product characteristics, all while maintaining a cohesive strategy. Connected decision-making: Category managers and supply chain planners can plan concurrently with AI-driven insights, understanding the implication of a change before it happens. The impact of connected category management Category management is the link between supply chain planning, marketing and in-store execution, driving consistent results and better customer experiences. By connecting category management across the business, retailers can: Gain visibility: Access real-time insights into inventory, trends and customer behavior for smarter decisions. Ensure consistency: Use automation to execute strategies uniformly across all locations. Adapt quickly: Respond to market changes with faster adjustments to assortments, layouts, and pricing. Optimize at scale: Leverage intelligent tools to streamline operations and boost profitability. Connected category management keeps retailers agile, aligned and optimized in today’s fast-changing market. The value of unified planning The results of unified planning speak for themselves: Up to 50% improvement in category manager efficiency Up to 5% increase in sale. Up to 25% reduction in out-of-stock. Up to 20% increase in profit The time to move forward is now Retailers face a critical choice: continue relying on fragmented systems and point solutions or invest in a single platform that unifies planning functions. Today’s retail environment demands more than yesterday’s tools can deliver. By breaking down silos between category management and supply chain planning, retailers can create a more responsive, efficient and profitable operation that truly serves the needs of modern consumers. The future of retail success lies not in point solutions but in unified platforms that foster seamless collaboration. Book a call now to learn how Blue Yonder can help transform your organization. Always be ready for your customers Ensure you have the right products, at the right price, in the right place. Discover how strategic retail planning and category management can make it happen. Discover More ### [Make a Plan for Unprecedented Disruptions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/make-a-plan-for-unprecedented-disruptions) > While no one can know exactly what unprecedented event will happen next, we can assume it’s on the way. With that in mind, how should your company prepare your supply chain to mitigate risks? Is it even possible to plan for the unexpected? With the right data and a network of powerful solutions, it just might be. Here’s how you can make a plan to overcome the unprecedented and remain profitable. Model most likely disruptions The biggest gift to today’s companies is the amount of data available. Decision makers can access internal data as well as external data, like weather or transportation patterns. Knowing what has happened in the past provides a great indicator for what could happen in the future. Companies already use data to forecast supply and demand planning. However, they must take an extra step to build a resilient supply chain. Using generative AI tools, businesses can model likely what-if scenarios based on known factors in the economy, customer trends or climate events. Not every scenario will occur, but proactive scenario planning provides a better foundation for preventative strategies. Pick the disruptions that would be most costly or insurmountable if they were to happen today and solve for vulnerabilities in the supply chain. In the past, companies would bypass this step because of the additional time it takes to collect and analyze such extensive data sets. But with the help of AI, companies can work through each step in a matter of minutes. According to KPMG, combining accelerated decision making with faster execution can improve service level 400 basis points and increase gross margin 5.5%. When the tools are available to make these improvements, there’s really no reason to be entirely unprepared in today’s world. Collaborate on comprehensive strategies across the supply chain Another distinction between today’s supply chain and those of the past is the impact even a small disruption can have, globally. Today’s companies run their supply chain on tight margins, both financially and in terms of production. What’s more, today’s consumer demands can shift in an instant. There is little room for error (or hesitation) for companies that want to remain profitable. Strategies must be created with the entire supply chain in mind. For example, a disruption in supply can impact transportation requirements everywhere. Teams must communicate across the supply chain in real time, both when the disruption occurs and when the solution is determined. This gives other teams time to anticipate and adjust to the new plan. For Blue Yonder customer, Bayer Crop Science, adopting the necessary solutions resulted in a 4% decrease in logistics costs. These improvements allow for better margins and more efficient organizations. As a first step, businesses should implement a communication plan for unprecedented events. Better still, companies need to ensure all teams work together on the same solution. An end-to-end solution gives everyone the same data, the same strategies, and the same communications at the same time. The result is a more collaborative, efficient supply chain that can withstand whatever comes next. Prioritize upgrades for agility Finally, the best protection against the unexpected is to invest in agile solutions. Rigid structures that separate sections of the supply chain make it impossible to react quickly when disruptions occur. Switching technology is a complex process that often involves a lot of stakeholders. It makes sense that companies would delay the change as long as possible. However, based on the number (and variety) of disruptive events in the last few years, it’s reasonable to say that window for waiting is closed. More importantly, making the switch to new solutions is easier today than ever in the past. Companies must start to invest in tools that make them more agile, more transparent, and more profitable. The growing pains may hurt for a few weeks, but the lasting benefits far outweigh any temporary drawbacks, especially when the next unexpected event takes place. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s end-to-end solutions Start your journey to becoming more resilient to the world’s unprecedented events. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions and how our products serve your requirements across the entire supply chain. Blog Make a plan for unprecedented disruptions Make a Plan for Unprecedented Disruptions Mckenna Bailey , April 23, 2024 2 minute read The unexpected happens more frequently these days. According to a survey by BCI , 72% of organizations have experienced at least one supply chain disruption in the past year. Whether the disruptions come from geopolitical disputes or climate change, events that should be once in a lifetime happen every few years across the supply chain. While no one can know exactly what unprecedented event will happen next, we can assume it’s on the way. With that in mind, how should your company prepare your supply chain to mitigate risks? Is it even possible to plan for the unexpected? With the right data and a network of powerful solutions, it just might be. Here’s how you can make a plan to overcome the unprecedented and remain profitable. Model most likely disruptions The biggest gift to today’s companies is the amount of data available. Decision makers can access internal data as well as external data, like weather or transportation patterns. Knowing what has happened in the past provides a great indicator for what could happen in the future. Companies already use data to forecast supply and demand planning. However, they must take an extra step to build a resilient supply chain. Using generative AI tools, businesses can model likely what-if scenarios based on known factors in the economy, customer trends or climate events. Not every scenario will occur, but proactive scenario planning provides a better foundation for preventative strategies. Pick the disruptions that would be most costly or insurmountable if they were to happen today and solve for vulnerabilities in the supply chain. In the past, companies would bypass this step because of the additional time it takes to collect and analyze such extensive data sets. But with the help of AI, companies can work through each step in a matter of minutes. According to KPMG , combining accelerated decision making with faster execution can improve service level 400 basis points and increase gross margin 5.5%. When the tools are available to make these improvements, there’s really no reason to be entirely unprepared in today’s world. Conquer the top 10 causes of shipping delays With AI-powered transportation management software, you can ensuring on-time delivery amidst today's complex supply chain challenges. Discover More Collaborate on comprehensive strategies across the supply chain Another distinction between today’s supply chain and those of the past is the impact even a small disruption can have, globally. Today’s companies run their supply chain on tight margins, both financially and in terms of production. What’s more, today’s consumer demands can shift in an instant. There is little room for error (or hesitation) for companies that want to remain profitable. Strategies must be created with the entire supply chain in mind. For example, a disruption in supply can impact transportation requirements everywhere. Teams must communicate across the supply chain in real time, both when the disruption occurs and when the solution is determined. This gives other teams time to anticipate and adjust to the new plan. For Blue Yonder customer, Bayer Crop Science , adopting the necessary solutions resulted in a 4% decrease in logistics costs. These improvements allow for better margins and more efficient organizations. As a first step, businesses should implement a communication plan for unprecedented events. Better still, companies need to ensure all teams work together on the same solution. An end-to-end solution gives everyone the same data, the same strategies, and the same communications at the same time. The result is a more collaborative, efficient supply chain that can withstand whatever comes next. Prioritize upgrades for agility Finally, the best protection against the unexpected is to invest in agile solutions. Rigid structures that separate sections of the supply chain make it impossible to react quickly when disruptions occur. Switching technology is a complex process that often involves a lot of stakeholders. It makes sense that companies would delay the change as long as possible. However, based on the number (and variety) of disruptive events in the last few years, it’s reasonable to say that window for waiting is closed. More importantly, making the switch to new solutions is easier today than ever in the past. Companies must start to invest in tools that make them more agile, more transparent, and more profitable. The growing pains may hurt for a few weeks, but the lasting benefits far outweigh any temporary drawbacks, especially when the next unexpected event takes place. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s end-to-end solutions Start your journey to becoming more resilient to the world’s unprecedented events. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s solutions and how our products serve your requirements across the entire supply chain. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [When Visibility Isnt Enough Meet Todays Control Towers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/when-visibility-isnt-enough-meet-todays-control-towers) > Discover why basic visibility is no longer sufficient for supply chains. Explore how today's advanced control towers offer real-time insights and actionable intelligence to master disruptions. Blog When Visibility Isn’t Enough: Meet Today’s Control Towers When Visibility Isnt Enough Meet Todays Control Towers Stacie Immesberger , June 18, 2025 3 minute read Control towers were a foundational step change when they first emerged. Like their namesake, they offered the promise of 360° views, monitoring potential risks and chokepoints in flows. But the pace and complexity of supply chains continue to evolve—and organizations now need the next generation of control towers to master today’s variability, volatility and interconnectivity. It’s important to identify a disruptive event as quickly as possible. But visibility is just the first step. How do you respond? What parts of your operation are impacted? How do you quickly identify dependencies outside your domain—whether across functions or beyond your four walls? How do you weigh options and pull the best available levers in coordination with your trading partners? Does the predicted impact even warrant intervention, and how will change ripple through other activities? And how do you create a self-learning, self-healing environment in which change informs both future plans so they’re more feasibly constrained, and execution to reduce firefighting? Reactive by design, traditional control towers fail to address the interconnected, network-wide nature of modern supply chain operations. The good news is that next-generation control tower capabilities are available to raise the ante on visibility, embedding collaboration with context for each decision-maker, and seamlessly driving action. But how do today’s command centers differ from traditional control towers—and how do they add value by enabling smarter, faster and more holistic decisions? Beyond visibility: Turning awareness into action Traditional control towers often focused on execution functions such as logistics, order management and manufacturing. With a growing awareness that change is not an exception, companies have renewed their focus on visibility, but only as a means to an end. With fatigue due to alert whiplash, some have worked to infuse outside signals into better, more realistically constrained plans. But like execution-focused control towers, planning control towers may generate a wealth of data that goes unused. Command centers extend these capabilities to assess, in context, where intervention is needed. They prioritize activity, identify possible corrective action, orchestrate next steps across the multiple parties impacted, and learn from the decisions and actions of key stakeholders. Together, this puts the power of network-wide data, multi-party architecture and AI capabilities all within the construct of a next generation of control towers. Like their namesake, command centers arm users not only with a 360 view of data, but the key to unlock what it means—and what decision-makers can and should do. In a 2024 report, IDC offers insight that reinforces the importance of this evolution 1 . As Eric Thompson writes, “Historically, visibility efforts have not yet realized their full potential. This is in part due to organizational limitations; it's not enough to have real-time visibility without real-time decision-making processes.” He continues, “Organizations with siloed approaches to visibility have begun to complain their visibility itself is realizing limited value. The opportunity is to come at the topic through an integrated approach.” Unlock logistics excellence with the Command Centre Still grappling with fragmented data and reactive decisions? The Blue Yonder Command Center is transforming how top LSPs operate, helping them turn operational silos into a profound strategic advantage. Discover More Four advantages of a modern supply chain command center Today, solutions like Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Command Center are changing everything. Backed by the power of AI, they can identify meaningful change, recommend potential corrective action, and ultimately orchestrate a response across impacted network parties. Command centers offer four key advantages over traditional control towers: 1. Focus on action, not just visibility. Unlike traditional systems that rely on integrations, a modern command center taps into network data on inventories and capacities, supply and demand imbalances, across the nodes of the extended supply chain. With user-specific context, network-wide state of the supply chain access enables detection of meaningful change, reducing latency in generating insights. Learning recommendation engines generate possible responses or feed back into source systems. 2. Holistic, looking across functions, connecting multiple tiers of value chain participants, and breaking down artificial walls between logistics and planning. While traditional control towers were often siloed in approach, Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Command Center provides access to permissioned slices of shared network data. Each participant can directly tap into information in context to their role and decision making. While legacy approaches reflect linear or sequential decisioning, this next generation enables a true multi-party approach so networks can pivot in coordination, dynamically reflecting current needs and capacities. 3. Proactive rather than reactive firefighting. Leveraging embedded advanced modeling techniques and automated risk analyses, next-gen control towers cascade impact along end-to-end processes. Metrics like service-level agreements (SLAs), total delivered cost or revenue growth may remain the driving objective function, but this also enables a broader understanding of impact on additional imperatives such as sustainability, regulatory, or new product initiatives. 4. Antifragile. For the last few years, the need for resilience to disruption has been at the fore of supply chain discussions. Control towers sought to address this with earlier warnings across the ecosystem. But where resilient systems resist shocks, antifragile ones get stronger, inherently more adaptive. As a command center, this next-generation approach seeks to take systems beyond prescribed responses to enable Blue Yonder Network participants to adjust to previously unforeseen or unknown environments. In other words, to be cognitive. Uncover how Armada cut disruption response times by 65% with the Blue Yonder Control Tower With Blue Yonder's Control Tower, Armada built a digital thread for its $4B supply chain, achieving 96% disruption recognition within an hour and a 65% faster response. Learn More The importance of network-wide orchestration At Blue Yonder, we believe an informed, network-wide solution is essential to thrive in today’s connected, complex business landscape. Synchronized orchestration across the network enables operations to better fuel profitable growth in the face of disruption, variability and change. In late 2024, McKinsey launched their annual Global Supply Chain Leader Survey . In it they noted that while companies continue to improve their understanding of direct suppliers, visibility into deeper levels of the supply chain fell 7% from the prior year, the second such annual decline. At the same time, inventory buffers were no longer viewed as a preferred way to mitigate associated risks. Isolated initiatives to improve resilience had delivered disappointing results. The growing pressure for better transparency in deep-tier supply chains also reflects emerging regulations and other external risk drivers. For example, despite already being in force for some, 30% of survey participants admitted they were behind or significantly behind in compliance efforts with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. This doesn’t even touch on how companies should best address uncertainty surrounding topics like tariffs. Together, these trends raise the need for a command center-type approach in which multi-party network architecture foundationally supports adaptive operational flows. Improve your network-wide responsiveness today Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Command Center leverages the Blue Yonder Network to tap perpetual inventory, capacity, and demand flows; identify imbalances; and empower a coordinated response. It’s built not just to flag shifts, but to reveal how they impact complex, multi-enterprise supply chain processes—and close the gap between planning and execution. Ready to leave traditional control tower approaches behind and achieve next-gen results? Learn more about how Blue Yonder can help you transform visibility into action. 1 IDC, So What Do I Do with All This Visibility?, Doc #US51710623, April, 2024 Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Driving innovation in EV battery supply chains](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/driving-innovation-in-ev-battery-supply-chains) > Unlock the future of EV battery production. This blog explores key innovations reshaping supply chains for greater speed, reduced costs, and a greener electric future. Blog Driving innovation in EV battery supply chains Driving innovation in EV battery supply chains Philipp Beisswenger , July 3, 2025 1 minute read An earlier blog post highlighted the unique challenges facing electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers as they try to seamlessly integrate battery planning and production into their end-to-end supply chains. To protect their profit margins and customer satisfaction levels, it’s critical for automakers to accurately sync battery production with the EV demand forecast. But that’s much easier said than done. Not only are batteries expensive and time-consuming to produce, with long lead times, but they rely on scarce rare-earth materials—and they face special logistics requirements. Automakers are already challenged to create accurate demand plans across EVs, hybrids and internal combustion models. The integration of EV batteries into the supply chain just adds more complexity. At Blue Yonder, we’ve noticed a fundamental obstacle to syncing EV production and battery production: Automakers are applying two dramatically different planning and production approaches for finished vehicles and batteries. While EVs are produced via a demand-driven, discrete manufacturing operation, battery production is managed using a make-to-stock, supply-driven approach that’s largely based on the availability of lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt and other constrained materials. Batteries enter the traditional production process for vehicles in a variety of forms—as cells, electronic components and finished packs—creating even greater planning complexity. Navigate EV battery demand with confidence The EV landscape is constantly shifting, and so is battery demand. Are you prepared to adapt and thrive? Discover More Take a holistic view with end-to-end planning As with many complex supply chain challenges, a more innovative planning approach is needed. Automotive supply chain leaders need a more dynamic, integrated approach to production planning for both finished EVs and their battery components. Integrated, parallel supply chain planning and execution along the n-tier battery supply chain provides a significant competitive advantage to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Securing a supply of raw and refined battery materials is key to mitigating risk for OEMs and effectively scheduling EV production. Rolling master planning—tightly integrated with EV scheduling—is necessary to rapidly generate, and regenerate, feasible and optimal plans in-line with actual supply chain execution. With the Demand and Supply Planning solution on Blue Yonder Platform , automakers can accurately sense demand and develop accurate forecasts for finished vehicles, while also creating dependent demand plans for batteries, cells and raw materials. They can create a new, AI-enabled forecasting process that models the entire battery value chain, accounting for risks such as materials scarcity along the way. By integrating two Blue Yonder capabilities on Platform, EV manufacturers can install dynamic, rolling supply and demand planning processes that reflect real-time changes. As exceptions and disruptions occur, AI powers optimized product and production allocations for batteries, cells and finished EVs simultaneously. While this analytic challenge exceeds human cognition, Blue Yonder AI easily ingests real-time data from across the supply chain network and applies predictive analytics. Then, in seconds, it makes optimal decisions that match demand with all the complexities of supply, including batteries and their materials. Blue’s Yonder’s solution is straightforward and value-added: Bring together real-time, multi-enterprise data—including insights from component suppliers—on an end-to-end platform to create a single version of truth. Then act dynamically and intelligently on that truth, to maximize availability and capture sales opportunities, while also driving down costs and excess inventory. Our approach is enabled by Blue Yonder Network , an innovative collaboration solution that connects all partners in real time for visibility and awareness. Blue Yonder’s data cloud and supply chain platform are delivered on Snowflake’s cloud architecture, resulting in a 10x improvement in processing speed. The result? Unmatched responsiveness to any changes across the entire value chain. While Network is useful for any business, it’s especially valuable for multi-tier, multi-enterprise supply chains such as those in the worldwide automotive industry. When there’s a problem like a rare-earth material shortage, all stakeholders know immediately. Blue Yonder AI works to quickly find an optimal solution, like a new source of supply, to keep balancing supply with demand. And production continues, to keep meeting demand profitably. Understand and conquer automotive demand volatility Uncover crucial insights and practical advice to help you understand current trends, anticipate future shifts, and ensure your business remains agile and competitive. Discover More Blue Yonder innovation spans the supply chain The integration of demand and supply planning on Blue Yonder Network, which connects over 150,000 enterprises, is welcome news for the world’s EV manufacturers. Our end-to-end platform, based on a unified data cloud for AI-powered data insights, provides unique value. In fact, this end-to-end connectivity is driving a revolution in the global automotive industry, providing truly integrated planning across the entire supply chain network, including: Supply Chain Network Design and Utilization from Blue Yonder helps optimize automotive supply network models for total landed cost, considering tariffs, vertical integration, co-location, and regionalization of battery production and material sourcing Advanced Production Scheduling solutions from Blue Yonder are purpose-built for the complexities of the auto industry. These solutions continuously ingest current new orders and planned orders from demand planning, creating order buckets which can be optimized on a daily or hourly basis. Vertical supply chains are integrated into plans, and decision-makers have real-time visibility and control over the entire production process. Transportation Management is an industry-leading solution used by automakers and their partners  to easily master the tough logistics challenges of EV production and delivery. Moving vehicles and components isn’t easy, but it’s even more difficult when batteries are involved. Hazardous materials, weight and sustainability concerns add new considerations. Fortunately, Blue Yonder Transportation Management is the ideal, proven solution. Warehouse Management also assists with the complexities of EV battery storage and inventory control. Spark a supply chain revolution today There’s no doubt that the global adoption of EVs and hybrids will bring important environmental benefits. But that adoption is occurring slower and more unevenly than automakers expected. And emerging challenges, like tariffs and geopolitical issues that affect access to rare-earth materials, are only adding to the planning complexity.  Accurately integrating the EV battery planning process with the overall finished vehicle forecast is a great way to start mastering that complexity. Learn more about Blue Yonder Demand and Supply Planning today, or explore our comprehensive, composable, end-to-end planning portfolio for automotive manufacturers . You’ll be ready to meet today’s complex challenges with equally sophisticated, targeted solutions—sparking a new era of optimized supply chain performance. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/create-an-agile-supply-chain-despite-new-tariffs) > Amid all the disruptions facing the supply chain at any given time, tariffs remain a constant concern for leadership. Last year, in a survey, supply chain leaders identified rising tariffs and trade barriers as their top challenge. Just a few months into this year and the impact of global politicians’ new tariffs is already evident. Blog Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Create an Agile Supply Chain Despite New Tariffs Mckenna Bailey , April 8, 2025 2 minute read Among the list of constant stressors for supply chain leadership, tariffs sit towards the top of the list. Last year, companies identified rising tariffs and trade barriers as their top challenge. With the most recent tariffs outlined by the current U.S. administration, it’s clear to see why. The most recent plan, announced on June 2, includes a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum. The impact of these new tariffs will be felt by many industries, including grocery, automotive, and appliances, industries that already feel the strain of supply chain disruptions. In the immediate, companies are stockpiling products , moving warehouses, and updating production schedules to keep costs as low as possible. However, this only addresses the immediate. A long-term solution requires more comprehensive, proactive solutions. Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Here are four necessary changes for building an agile supply chain that can succeed despite new tariffs and trade barriers. 1. Information is your friend Of all the resources available, quality data opens the most comprehensive and varied opportunities for supply chain leaders. Investing in solutions that allow for data transparency, rather than just visibility, helps companies prepare for the domino effect new tariffs will have on their products. For example, companies that can see beyond just their first-tier suppliers, and dive into second- or third-tier suppliers will have a much more accurate understanding of what disruptions may occur due to tariffs, plus what their options are, should those disruptions occur. A risk analysis that draws on outdated, or incomplete, data cannot help companies be as efficient as possible at delivering their product and keeping margins down. The data and information must also be accessible throughout the supply chain. Teams from supply planning all the way to warehouse management and transportation must share the same data. Legacy systems that keep data siloed create additional barriers to moving quickly and adjusting efficiently. What are the tariff implications for industrial manufacturers? New tariffs are causing increased demand for US-made goods, but they also create urgent logistical challenges that industrial manufacturers must address now. Find out how to proactively handle this double-edged sword here. Discover More 2. Prioritize resilient strategies for all products Tariffs can change the supply chain overnight. The estimated costs and available supply of a single product can fluctuate so much that the plan the company created for that month is rendered obsolete. Though there can be some warning, often the exact language and consequences of new tariffs cannot be known until they are in effect. As such, companies need to build resilient, proactive strategies based on the most common scenarios that will occur. Build models using historical data that show what might happen if tariffs were raised on supplies or finished goods. Consider how long you can hold goods inside a warehouse and still remain efficient and profitable. Model what could happen if raised prices affect your customer base. All of these what-if scenarios can show you the kinds of disruptions to plan for, and how to best navigate the changes. But they should not be static plans. Leave room for changes and updates to minimize the impact across the different departments of the supply chain. Keeping a single plan, with a narrow focus on how your company will react won’t work in our current market. Resilience, nuance and collaboration are the way forward. 3. Diversify your plans Speaking of collaboration, while creating plans to overcome trade obstacles and tariffs, brainstorm strategies that consider every part of the supply chain. Transportation is not an immediate consideration when the topic of tariffs comes up. But it is directly connected to potential solutions. Nearshoring became a key priority during Covid to protect against added costs associated with transportation, among other reasons. Companies that only considered how to solve the labor challenges brought on by the pandemic, may have missed other cost-saving opportunities throughout the supply chain. Tariffs certainly will impact costs most directly, which likely cannot be avoided. However, companies can look for efficiencies in other areas that may offset what is inevitable in trade. Identifying changes that improve operations of your entire supply chain will pay off both in the short-term and for the foreseeable future. 5 years later: 3 things COVID-19 changed in supply chain and 2 it didn’t 5 years after the pandemic, we break down the 3 lasting changes it made, and 2 surprising constants. Learn More 4. Lean on a sustainable workforce Finally, companies must focus on how to create a sustainable, agile workforce. The priority in many warehouses today is finishing a task within a particular time frame. Often, the cost of speed is efficiency . Trucks are only half filled, pallets aren’t stacked in the best way and other small sacrifices that ultimately add up to additional costs. This isn’t human error; everyone works the best way they know how. But artificial intelligence (AI) solutions offer the entire workforce a better way, without requiring extra effort from individuals. What’s more, when companies integrate robotics into their warehouses, the efficiency can grow exponentially, without risking burnout from current employees. No single change will be the magic answer to overcoming the costs and disruptions associated with new tariff wars. However, implementing what you can now, and maintaining a focus on agility will ensure all companies can succeed during this challenging time. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [2025 Survey Results Only 20 of Consumers Believe Brand Sustainability Claims](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/2025-survey-results-only-20-of-consumers-believe-brand-sustainability-claims) > Do consumers actually believe brand sustainability claims? Our exclusive 2025 survey uncovers their true perceptions and how this impacts buying choices. Get key insights here. Blog 2025 survey results: only 20% of consumers believe brand sustainability claims 2025 Survey Results Only 20 of Consumers Believe Brand Sustainability Claims Danielle Strouther , April 7, 2025 6 minute read Sustainability has become a core brand strategy. Companies across all industries are investing in eco-friendly initiatives, promoting green products and publicly committing to environmental responsibility. But the real question is: what perceptions do consumers have of sustainability, and, more importantly, how do they influence purchasing decisions? To explore these critical questions, Blue Yonder commissioned a comprehensive 2025 Sustainability Survey . Conducted by a third-party provider in February 2025, this survey reached over 5,000 consumers across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), France, Germany,  U.K., and U.S. Our goal was to gather in-depth insights into their sustainable shopping preferences, perceptions of corporate sustainability initiatives, and overall sentiment towards environmental responsibility. This blog post will delve into some of the most compelling findings from this exclusive survey. 78% of consumers believe sustainability is important in purchasing 78% of consumers consider sustainability considerations as somewhat or very important when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer. This is especially true in France, where 86% of consumers think sustainability considerations are important. Only a small minority (6%) dismissed sustainability as unimportant, with the 16% of remaining consumers saying they were neutral to sustainability considerations. 47% of consumers are willing to spend an additional 5% – 9.9% on sustainable products. Interestingly, this figure continues to increase year over year in the U.S. compared with previous Blue Yonder survey results, rising from 40% in 2024 to 44% in 2025. In addition, 62% of consumers are likely to choose a retailer if they offered more sustainable delivery options. This is especially true in France with 71% of consumers saying they would be more likely to go with that retailer, followed by Germany at 65%. Consumers say sustainability is an important factor in their purchasing decisions. Almost two-thirds (65%) are willing to spend more money on sustainable products, and 62% would go with a retailer if they offered more sustainable delivery. Despite all of this, only 29% of consumers have switched their brand loyalty toward companies they perceive as exhibiting more sustainable practices. Although this is an impactful change, it’s a big gap compared to the large number of consumers who express a strong commitment to sustainability. There’s a notable gap between consumer aspirations and their real-world actions. This suggests that while consumers recognize the importance of sustainability and are prepared to make changes for it, other factors still play a significant role in their final decisions. Cost and convenience will always impact purchasing Price and convenience play a huge role in their purchasing decisions. While nearly half (47%) of consumers are open to spending 5% – 9.9% more on sustainable options, a significant 54% cite the higher cost as a barrier to purchasing. When it comes to receiving packages, 62% of consumers are drawn to more sustainable delivery options. While a majority (87%) are willing to delay deliveries for sustainability, most are only willing to delay it one to two days (30%) and three to five days (36%). Only 15% of consumers will wait up to one week for their deliveries if it means being more sustainable. U.S. consumers are less willing to wait, with only 11% of consumers willing to delay deliveries a week, followed by the U.K. at 12%. While cost and delivery speed are key factors in consumer choices, they are not the only considerations impacting consumer behavior. Only 20% of consumers believe brands accurately represent their sustainability Consumers witness a large amount of sustainability messaging, with 62% of consumers saying they have noticed an increase in brands’ eco-friendly marketing and advertising. But do consumers believe brands’ sustainability efforts are trustworthy? Unfortunately, only 20% of consumers believe brands accurately represent their sustainability efforts in their marketing. While France shows the highest level of trust (25%), followed by the U.S. (23%), the majority of consumers remain skeptical. A concerning 26% outright distrust brand sustainability claims, with 17% feeling compelled to conduct independent research and 9% perceiving brands as opportunistically leveraging the sustainability trend. 55% of consumers fall into the "sometimes" trust category, suggesting they assess brand claims on a case-by-case basis. This sentiment is consistent across regions, indicating a widespread cautious approach. This lack of trust directly impacts consumer behavior. It explains the tension between stated intentions and actual actions. Consumers express a desire for sustainable products and are often willing to pay a premium or make minor sacrifices. However, they lack the confidence to discern truly sustainable options, hindering brand loyalty shifts. When asked about barriers to sustainable purchasing, 30% of consumers cited insufficient information on product sustainability, while 26% pointed to unclear or misleading claims. Furthermore, 13% expressed a lack of trust in brand commitments, with the U.S. showing the highest level of distrust at 18%. The data paints a clear picture: consumers are hungry for sustainability, but they're not buying what brands are selling. To bridge the gap, brands must prioritize transparency, provide verifiable information and build genuine trust. Without these elements, sustainability claims will continue to fall on deaf ears, and consumer actions will remain disconnected from their stated values. Do consumers place sustainable responsibility elsewhere? When it comes to driving sustainable change, who should be leading the charge? Our survey reveals a fascinating distribution of perceived responsibility, with 33% of consumers believing that brands and corporations bear the primary responsibility for upholding sustainability efforts. This sentiment is particularly strong in the U.S., with 41% of consumers believing that brands should be responsible. 28% of respondents believe government agencies and policymakers should be held accountable for sustainability. This view is consistent across France, Germany and the U.K., with 31% of consumers answering this way. This is not surprising given the role that UK and European governments have historically played in implementing sustainability-related regulations and consumer protections. Environmental nonprofits and advocacy groups are considered less responsible for sustainability accountability, with only 8% of consumers believing they should be the primary drivers of sustainability. Interestingly, nearly one-third 32% of consumers believe everyone — brands, governments and nonprofits — shares the responsibility for sustainability. This view is particularly prevalent in Australia and New Zealand (41%) and the U.K. (36%), highlighting a collective sense of accountability. The divided results clearly demonstrate a lack of consensus on where this responsibility lies. However, one thing is clear: consumers look to brands as much or more than to governments for taking responsibility for sustainability. This places a significant burden on businesses to visibly demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility. Brands must be proactive and transparent in their sustainability efforts, reassuring consumers that they take their perceived responsibility seriously, which, in turn, would also help build trust in brand claims. Driving sustainable change with Blue Yonder The insights from our 2025 Consumer Sustainability Survey provide a valuable snapshot of consumer attitudes and expectations. But this is just one example of how Blue Yonder is empowering businesses to understand and stay ahead of the curve on sustainability. We recognize that the journey toward a more sustainable future requires a deep understanding of evolving consumer demands, coupled with innovative solutions that enable businesses to operate responsibly. That's why Blue Yonder is committed to providing the tools and expertise necessary to help organizations navigate the complexities of sustainable commerce. Learn more about how Blue Yonder can help your business drive sustainable change here. Drive supply chain efficiency through sustainability Uncover the power of sustainable practices to enhance your supply chain's performance, lower costs, and minimize environmental impact. Discover More ### [Redefining Supply Chain Excellence in the AI and Digital Network Era](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/redefining-supply-chain-excellence-in-the-ai-and-digital-network-era) > The supply chain is being redefined. Uncover how AI and digital networks are shaping the future of logistics, efficiency, and overall excellence. Blog Redefining supply chain excellence in the AI and Digital Network era Redefining Supply Chain Excellence in the AI and Digital Network Era Terence Leung , April 8, 2025 1 minute read Supply chain and logistics teams today face a pivotal moment in their evolution. The traditional metrics of excellence — cost efficiency, on-time delivery — while still important, are no longer sufficient in an era defined by volatility, complexity and political changes. We are witnessing nothing short of a reinvention of what it means to excel in supply chain management: respond well to every disruptive event and find ways to move ahead of the competition in an increasingly complex marketplace. The stakes are high, in previous blog posts “ New Tariffs Are Coming ” and “ The Pressures of Omni-Channel Fulfillment and Returns Are Growing .” The convergence of artificial intelligence and digital networking technologies is fundamentally reshaping our operating models. This convergence is creating supply chains that are fundamentally different from legacy approaches: Integrated rather than siloed between planning and execution Proactively resilient instead of reactively fragile Ecosystem-connected rather than enterprise-limited Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Discover More How to accomplish continuous optimization The digital network era demands that we rethink three fundamental aspects of supply chain and logistics management. First, we’re moving from sequential to concurrent planning and execution. Traditional supply chains followed a linear path from forecasting to planning to execution, with each step often completed in isolation before moving to the next. Today’s digital networks enable continuous real-time optimization where demand signals update instantly across all nodes, inventory positions adjust dynamically, and transportation and warehouse plans reconfigure automatically in response to changing conditions. Second, visibility is expanding from enterprise-centric to ecosystem-wide. Legacy systems typically created blind spots beyond a company’s immediate operations, but digital networks now provide real-time transparency into supplier capacity and inventory, logistics partner capacity, and even shelf-level demand patterns. This comprehensive visibility enables more coordinated and effective responses to disruptions. Third, decision-making is evolving from human-led to AI-augmented. The complexity of modern supply networks has surpassed what humans can effectively manage alone. The new model combines AI’s ability to process millions of data points with digital twins that simulate outcomes, allowing human experts to focus on strategic exceptions rather than routine operations. The five pillars of excellence of the coming era Where traditional supply chains operated as sequential, siloed processes, modern digital networks enable continuous, ecosystem-wide optimization. This transformation is not just about working faster — it’s about working smarter across an interconnected web of partners, systems and data streams. The most progressive organizations in the logistics service provider (LSP) industry and their manufacturing and retail customers are moving beyond simply doing things better to doing entirely new things: predicting disruptions before they occur, automatically reconfiguring flows across ecosystems, and balancing service, cost and sustainability objectives. At the heart of this transformation are five critical capabilities that define supply chain excellence in the AI and digital network era. The first is living demand intelligence. Gone are the days of monthly forecasts based solely on historical data. Modern systems incorporate AI models that consume real-time data, weather patterns, social trends and other external factors to generate continuously updated forecasts that are shared and refined across trading partners. Ready to streamline your fulfillment & returns? The demands of modern commerce are increasing. Learn how to navigate the complexities of omni-channel fulfillment and returns to boost efficiency, reduce costs, and create happier customers. Discover More Inventory management has similarly evolved from static calculations to autonomous orchestration. Rather than relying on fixed safety stock formulas, leading companies now use dynamic inventory positioning across their networks, with automated transshipments between nodes and self-learning replenishment algorithms that adapt to changing conditions. This approach has enabled some organizations to reduce inventory by significant amounts while actually improving service levels. Transportation networks have undergone perhaps one of the most visible transformations. The shift from fixed routing guides and contracted lanes to industry leading transportation systems represents a quantum leap in efficiency. Today’s most advanced networks feature real-time digital freight matching, autonomous carrier selection and continuous route optimization powered by data streams. The results speak for themselves — organizations using these systems routinely achieve lower transportation costs alongside improved reliability. Warehouse operations are being similarly revolutionized. Where warehouse management systems once operated in isolation, modern warehousing enables shared labor pools across labor and robots, inter-warehouse autonomous inventory balancing, and resource and robotics systems that learn from network-wide patterns. Logistics service providers for example are very efficient, but they still achieve significant improvement in service level and throughput and reductions in labor costs. Perhaps the most transformative is the emergence of digital networks. Traditional disruption management processes relied on manual intervention after problems occurred. Today’s systems can predict disruptions in advance, automatically activate alternate sourcing and routing strategies, and facilitate supplier collaboration through the digital network. The impact is dramatic — some companies have cut their recovery time from major disruptions from weeks to days and hours. Building your future The future belongs to supply chain and logistics teams that can think beyond incremental improvements to reimagine what’s possible when AI-powered intelligence meets digital network connectivity. This is no longer about squeezing productivity out of existing processes and methods — it’s about creating fundamentally better ways to design and operate supply chains and logistics networks in an increasingly complex world. In the continuing blog series, we will examine both the technological foundations and organizational capabilities required to excel in this new era. The insights draw from real-world implementations where companies have achieved step-change improvements in resilience, responsiveness and end-to-end supply chain optimization. How are leading organizations operationalizing these shifts to achieve new levels of performance? Find out in the below video. If you are attending ICON 2025, a premier event for supply chain professionals, explore the session catalog. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Faced With Complex Challenges, Life Sciences Companies Must Embrace Digitalization](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/faced-with-complex-challenges-life-sciences-companies-must-embrace-digitalization) > The future of life sciences demands digital transformation. Uncover how embracing digitalization can unlock new possibilities and solve today's toughest challenges. Blog Faced with complex challenges, life sciences companies must embrace digitalization Faced With Complex Challenges, Life Sciences Companies Must Embrace Digitalization Rochelle Brocks-Smith , April 14, 2025 2 minute read Supply chain optimization might be a timeless concept, but the way we define and achieve it evolves over time — depending on demand levels, supply shortages, the competitive landscape, geopolitical conditions, technology innovations, regulations and other challenges. The life sciences industry — including pharmaceutical, medical technology and healthcare equipment manufacturers — is a great example. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, life sciences supply chains were necessarily hyper-focused on ramping up production volumes and accelerating delivery. Pharma, Medtech and healthcare manufacturers around the world bolted into action to exercise their collective strengths to combat a dire threat to global health and the life sciences supply chain. Today, life sciences companies face an entirely new competitive landscape. They must find faster, more efficient strategies to surgically and profitably match supply with fluctuating demand and ensure operational excellence across their value chain. This has become incredibly challenging as supply chains grow more complex, SKUs proliferate and regulatory requirements increase. Product expiration dates, as well as temperature control and other special handling requirements, add to the challenge of accurately matching inventory to market needs. In addition, many companies lack the real-time visibility and collaboration needed across internal functions, as well as across multi-tier supply chain networks, hampering their ability to adapt strategies in real time wherever and whenever market forces require. And let’s not forget increasing supply chain disruptions, from new tariffs and sociopolitical uncertainty to extreme weather, labor strikes and port closures. Did we mention inflation and rising cost pressures? Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Discover More The encouraging news is that life sciences companies can have the key tools and capabilities they need to adapt their supply chain to these new, increasingly complex challenges today. From predicting disruptions in advance to managing inventory with surgical precision, Blue Yonder’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven life sciences solutions enable competitive advantage to drive increased revenues, profits and customer satisfaction. Data-driven demand and supply planning, adaptive inventory optimization, connected operations and multi-tier collaboration capabilities position life sciences companies to win, despite volatility and disruptions. Supply chain digitalization and real-time visibility enable them to achieve product availability, cost efficiency and patient-centric outcomes, while also maintaining regulatory compliance in today’s unpredictable industry landscape. Get started with three key areas to optimize There’s no doubt that digitalization can position life sciences companies to thrive, even in today’s uncertain industry landscape. But it can be unclear where to begin. Based on Blue Yonder’s experience working with life sciences industry leaders, there are three digital capabilities that drive a quick, meaningful impact in your supply chain digital transformation journey. 1. Strategic, integrated planning Life sciences manufacturers have learned firsthand that agility and resilience in the face of supply chain disruptions are critical. But being laser focused on achieving operational goals, creating competitive advantage and adhering to industry regulations on a global scale are equally imperative. How can they tackle it all? A strategic starting point is with dynamic, AI-powered demand and supply planning. While manual planning processes can take weeks to respond to upstream and downstream surprises, today’s “always on” digital decision engines continuously and automatically course correct in mere seconds, based on matching real-time data with longer-term strategic goals. The supply chain pivots autonomously, building muscle memory via machine learning (ML). Advanced, AI-powered optimization engines continuously balance demand and supply by optimizing the end-to-end supply chain for materials, capacity, labor, inventory and production schedules. Meanwhile, digital forecasting engines ingest hundreds of demand-driving variables in real time, across SKUs and markets, so the supply chain can pivot intelligently, quickly and strategically in response. What-if scenario planning capabilities consider a range of options and automatically choose the optimal combination of minimal waste, maximum margin, fast inventory turns, and high levels of availability and customer service. Blue Yonder customers with integrated demand and supply planning solutions have demonstrated results that have increased forecast accuracy by 10 to 20 points and reduced inventory levels by 10% to 25%. Drive insightful planning decisions Discover how Blue Yonder customers with integrated demand and supply planning solutions have increased forecast accuracy by 10 to 20 points and reduced inventory levels by 10% to 25%. Discover More 2. End-to-end real-time visibility and traceability Whether geographically dispersed or engaged in nearshoring/onshoring strategies to safeguard against supply chain disruption, the complexities of global inventory management for life sciences manufacturers are never-ending. Ensuring operational efficiency, profitability and global regulatory compliance, necessitates real-time, multi-tier visibility and traceability across the network. Blue Yonder Network end-to-end intelligent control tower capabilities are the perfect solution here. No matter the route products are taking to market, AI-enabled control towers provide near real-time monitoring and status updates, track-and-trace capabilities, a clear chain of custody and automated workflows built for specific compliance requirements. Manual methods and human analysis are insufficient to manage the enormously complex activities associated with regulatory compliance, quality control, product expiry and waste, and serialization. Instead, life sciences companies need to embrace the power of modern supply chain solutions to make real-time traceability easier, faster and more connected. Typical benefits Blue Yonder customers have experienced include a 15% to 20% improvement in working capital, a 90% reduction in shortages and stock-outs, and up to a 100% increase in on-time shipments. 3. Synchronized execution for operational efficiency The value of digitalization extends to address the challenges faced by synchronizing logistics workflows across warehouse, transportation and order management. AI and ML capabilities enable transportation management, warehouse management and order management solutions to ingest vast amounts of real-time data, analyze it and make optimal decisions in response and then execute on those decisions autonomously. Digital warehouse management system (WMS) solutions are purpose-built to align resources, robotics and physical space for effective inventory management and order fulfillment. Advanced transportation management system (TMS) solutions are designed for multimodal global transportation, with advanced optimization capabilities that enhance routing, load-building and other daily activities to balance low cost with high asset utilization and service levels. Intelligent order management solutions optimize the entire order fulfillment process with real-time visibility into inventory allocation, and order and shipping status — even for the most complex order configurations, improving decision-making and order accuracy. The key to optimizing the true value of synchronized execution and operational efficiency is when  these solutions are digitally connected, leveraging a shared dataset on a shared platform to enable real-time visibility and collaboration across the network. Regardless of the challenge — temperature control requirements, product shelf life, shipping route disruptions, synchronized execution of interoperable logistics solutions on the Blue Yonder platform allow the degree of precision and control that’s demanded in the life sciences industry today. Noted operational efficiency improvements include up to a 40% increase in transportation service levels, and an 8% reduction in logistics network spend. The WMS has increased throughput by 50% while cutting fulfillment, storage and handling costs in half. Start realizing the benefits of digitalization today At Blue Yonder, we believe the time is now for life sciences supply chains to shift from a reactive mindset to an opportunistic one. Thanks to technology innovation, disruptions can be predicted, end-to-end visibility can be achieved and AI can turn the supply chain into a powerful growth driver. Why not contact Blue Yonder today to start realizing the incredible power of digitalization in your own supply chain? Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Add these to your cart: 6 strategic priorities for grocery retailers](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/add-these-to-your-cart) > What's in your cart for the future of grocery retail? Discover 6 strategic priorities that leading retailers are focusing on to drive success. Blog Add these to your cart: 6 strategic priorities for grocery retailers New page Tom Hoang , April 22, 2025 3 minute read Modern retail aisles are fast-moving, action-packed spaces where multiple forces compete for shoppers’ attention. Everywhere consumers look, there are new products, standby favorites, private labels, promoted items, end caps and freestanding displays. It can be hard to know where to focus. Similarly, today’s grocery industry landscape can seem overwhelming at times for retailers. Rising operating costs, labor scarcity, sustainability, product freshness, in-store fulfillment, curbside pickup and home delivery — the world’s grocery retailers are also challenged to stay focused. It can be hard to optimize day-to-day operations, let alone considering strategic, longer-term priorities. Every day, Blue Yonder supports 76 of the world’s top 100 retailers, including leading grocers. That deep industry knowledge and hands-on experience provide Blue Yonder with an expert perspective on the most pressing challenges facing grocers. Based on our unique vantage point, we’ve developed this list of the top six strategic priorities grocery retailers should focus on today. 1. Achieving fresh food excellence Fresh food is a key differentiator for grocers as demand keeps growing for fruits, vegetables, deli items, meat and seafood. Ninety percent of consumers say buying fresh food makes them happy , as they equate these products with nutrition and health. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of grocery retail executives say fresh food is the most strategically important category for their company’s sales growth over the next 12-36 months. But managing fresh food comes with complexities, including spoilage, unpredictable demand and rising consumer quality standards. Significant labor is needed to prepare and restock products, as well as manage the demands of markdown. However, as fresh foods have increased in importance, digital solutions have simultaneously grown in their capacity to manage them. High levels of automation, dynamic demand forecasting, synchronized supply and demand planning, profitable inventory clearance, and dynamic ordering and replenishment are taking fresh foods management to new levels of speed and precision, enabled by software innovations. A fresh take: Grocery retailers who aren’t leveraging digitalization aren’t just throwing away spoiled produce. They’re also wasting opportunities for revenue growth and differentiation. 2. Delivering a seamless omni-channel experience A recent study showed that over 90% of shoppers purchase groceries both in-store and online — so it’s critical for retailers to offer a consistent, unified experience across channels. A primary obstacle? Traditional retail solutions aren’t built to integrate digital and physical operations, as well as facilitate real-time connectivity across channels. A seamless omni-channel experience requires real-time data sharing, cross-channel inventory visibility and fulfillment flexibility. To win in today’s omni-channel marketplace, grocery retailers must integrate store and online operations, seamlessly enabling options like click-and-collect, same-day delivery and personalized digital promotions. Since omni-channel retail complexity exceeds human cognition, artificial intelligence (AI) is critical. The payback is significant. When B2C brands combine AI with first- and third-party data, 84% boost their conversion rates. The future of omni-channel is here Blue Yonder's latest launch is revolutionizing seamless customer experiences. Learn how to get ahead of the curve and create winning omni-channel strategies for 2025 and beyond. Discover More 3. Optimizing the supply chain Like all retailers, grocers need to optimize their supply chains for service, accuracy, speed and efficiency to win in an increasingly competitive market. But they face significant challenges. As if labor shortages, rising operating costs and geopolitical tensions weren’t challenging enough, U.S. import tariffs are the latest force to severely impact food production and grocery supply chains . Supplier disruptions and fluctuating demand are also driving up operating costs and reducing product availability. How can grocery retailers maximize efficiency in an industry characterized by uncertainty? AI-enabled digital solutions provide the answer, empowering grocers to identify changing conditions, run what-if scenarios and pivot their operations efficiently in response. Optimizing the grocery supply chain requires an end-to-end approach, in which planning and execution are synchronized. Real-time data, AI-driven insights and automation improve forecasting accuracy, increase product availability, reduce excess stock and stockouts, and enhance responsiveness to demand shifts, supply shortages and other changing supply chain conditions. 4. Controlling the costs of labor and inventory Operations efficiency and synchronized execution are essential, but they’re not the only components of supply chain performance retailers should prioritize. To protect their already thin margins, grocers also must control the costs of labor and inventory. As labor scarcity drives up retail and service wages , grocery retailers must reduce or replace labor to the greatest extent possible — while also focusing their existing labor resources on value-added activities. Cost of goods sold (COGS) management is also becoming much more complex. Faced with inevitable demand shifts and economic trends , grocers need to improve cost efficiencies and reduce waste to minimize their COGS metric under every demand condition. While demand volatility and rising labor costs seem here to stay, so are software innovations created specifically to address these challenges. Advanced workforce planning, automation of repetitive tasks, real-time supplier collaboration and intelligent procurement help grocers increase efficiency, minimize costs and maximize margins. 5. Operating sustainably, transparently and ethically Retailer grocers are pursuing increased sustainability for a number of reasons — including the fact that minimizing food waste, road miles, packaging and other resources simply makes good business sense. But they’re also responding to external forces. Blue Yonder’s fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey highlights the increasing role of sustainability in shoppers’ purchasing decisions. For 78% of consumers, sustainability considerations are somewhat or very important.  Nearly a third (65%) of consumers will pay more for a sustainable product. Regulatory pressures are also mounting. New regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) require enhanced traceability for certain food categories, adding new complexity to grocers’ compliance efforts. The good news? A digital supply chain enables full traceability from source to shelf, transparent reporting and robust waste reduction. By leveraging advanced technology, retailers can more easily track products, ensure ethical sourcing and meet evolving regulatory requirements — while also reducing costs, minimizing waste and improving their financial performance. The 2025 consumer survey results are in We asked over 5,000 consumers across major global markets what they really think about sustainability. Find out the answers here. Discover More 6. Elevating the role of private brands Inflation has led to a shift in consumer purchasing behavior, with more shoppers opting for private-label products. In fact, a staggering 99.9% of consumers say they’ve purchased a private-label grocery product in the past year. Today over 80% of U.S. shoppers believe private-label food products are the same as, or better than, national brands. While private-label sales represent a major opportunity for grocery retailers to grow revenues and strengthen shopper loyalty, they must optimize the supply chain to ensure consistent quality, high availability and competitive pricing. Equipped with real-time data and intelligent decision engines, retailers can refine their private-brand assortments, optimize pricing and enhance supplier relationships. They can dynamically adjust to change and continuously improve in their capabilities to combine product affordability and quality with seamless availability. Stop shopping around. Partner with Blue Yonder. To achieve results in these six strategic areas, grocery retailers need a modern, connected supply chain that enables smarter decision-making, faster responses and connected outcomes. If you want to add digital transformation to your shopping cart in 2025 — and unite your teams and workflows to make smarter, faster decisions, from source to shopper — the time to act is now. Schedule your strategy call with a Blue Yonder expert today. You’ll learn how our AI-driven, end-to-end solutions can help you transform your retail grocery supply chain from a challenge to a competitive differentiator. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supply Chains Are Shifting Gears With AI Behind the Wheel](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/supply-chains-are-shifting-gears-with-ai-behind-the-wheel) > Explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming supply chains, enabling businesses to shift gears towards greater efficiency, resilience, and intelligent decision-making. Blog Supply chains are shifting gears with AI behind the wheel Supply Chains Are Shifting Gears With AI Behind the Wheel Vineet Sharma , April 30, 2025 2 minute read In an IDC InfoBrief titled ‘Building the Future of Supply Chains: AI-Driven Orchestration for Asia/Pacific Success’, 99.7% of supply chain leaders in Asia-Pacific identified agility as critical to their success. Yet, the region fraught with challenges — from cultural differences and language barriers to diverse regulations and uneven infrastructure — makes achieving agility feel like performing ballet while wearing concrete boots. What’s really preventing the region’s supply chains from effectively responding to shifting demands and disruptions? How can companies maintain supply chain stability amid geopolitical tensions, labor issues, and increasing extreme weather events? Could artificial intelligence (AI) be the solution to these problems? The IDC InfoBrief explores these challenges deeply and highlights methods and solutions businesses in the region are using to build stronger, more responsive supply chains. What’s troubling APAC’s supply chains? According to IDC, 99.5% of supply chain leaders in APAC consider visibility a top priority. Yet, most companies still lack the right systems to achieve complete visibility, leaving gaps in their supply chain operations. Over 35% say legacy IT systems lack flexibility and scalability, which prevents them from responding quickly to market changes and disruptions. Supply chain leaders also face difficulties getting clear visibility into their sales and retail partner data. Supplier constraints and issues integrating new SaaS tools with older ERP systems slow down their operations. When examined closely, APAC supply chains resemble a dial-up internet connection in the age of streaming — consumers expect instant access, but all they see is a spinning wheel of delay. Discover the key trends shaping the Asia/Pacific market Download the IDC InfoBrief to dive deeper into the trends and discover how organisations can harness AI and data-driven insights to gain a competitive advantage. Download For Free The promised land of AI Nearly 23% of supply chain leaders surveyed in the IDC Infobrief consider artificial intelligence (AI) as a crucial technology. About 30% believe AI significantly boosts productivity and cuts costs. Businesses across APAC are gradually adopting AI and noticing clear benefits: Real-time visibility and better forecasting AI consolidates data from procurement, inventory, logistics, and fulfillment into one real-time view. It uses predictive analytics to spot disruptions early, allowing companies to act proactively. For example, Swire Coca-Cola in China faced challenges from demand volatility and complex production needs across its 24 factories. By implementing advanced forecasting and production sequencing powered by AI, Swire Coca-Cola reduced production changeovers by 5.2%, decreased changeover times by 6%, and significantly improved market responsiveness. Solving IT integration issues AI-powered cloud solutions help connect legacy ERP systems smoothly with newer software. Silk Logistics Holdings (SLH), an Australian logistics company specializing in port-to-door services, faced difficulties with manual processes and legacy systems that hindered productivity. SLH adopted AI-powered warehouse management tools, automating billing, standardizing workflows, and optimizing operations. This dramatically reduced customer onboarding times and improved operational efficiency, enabling SLH to scale effectively and maintain high customer satisfaction. Strengthening supplier relationships and reducing risk AI helps improve collaboration with suppliers by centralizing data and automating performance monitoring. Mahindra & Mahindra’s Spares Business Unit in India managed 100,000 SKUs across multiple centers, facing frequent stockouts and excessive inventory. By implementing AI-driven forecasting and inventory solutions, Mahindra improved forecast accuracy by 10%, reduced inventory excess, and increased service levels and revenue by 10%, significantly cutting customer response times by 40%. Supporting sustainable practices Companies can now track carbon emissions in real-time, optimize energy consumption, and reduce waste using AI. IDC found that 27% of APAC companies have already seen sustainability improvements through AI-driven methods. Get AI-driven supply chain management with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the world leader in digital supply chain transformation. Retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers worldwide rely on Blue Yonder to optimize and accelerate their supply chain from planning through fulfillment, delivery, and returns. Blue Yonder’s AI-driven supply chain platform and multi-enterprise, multi-tier network enables more accurate forecasting and dynamic management of capacity, inventory and transport. Blue Yonder helps businesses navigate modern supply chain complexity and volatility with more resilient, sustainable supply chains to delight customers, scale profitably, and run flawlessly. Want to find out more? Download the IDC InfoBrief today. Unlock supply chain excellence across Asia/Pacific Ready to build the future? Discover how AI-driven orchestration can transform your supply chain and drive success across Asia/Pacific. Download The Brief Get In Touch ### [Just in Time for Automotive Enabling Tariff Risk Mitigation in as Little as 7 Days](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/just-in-time-for-automotive-enabling-tariff-risk-mitigation-in-as-little-as-7-days) > Discover how automotive manufacturers can rapidly mitigate tariff risks in as little as 7 days. Blog “Just in time” for Automotive: enabling tariff risk mitigation in as little as 7 days Just in Time for Automotive Enabling Tariff Risk Mitigation in as Little as 7 Days Salim Shaikh , May 1, 2025 2 minute read Today, Auto OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers navigate increasingly complex tariff scenarios. For example, aluminum raw material is cast into a piston in Canada, then shipped to Detroit for machining — incurring a 25% tariff based on the piston’s value. After machining, the piston returns to Canada for engine assembly, where it is exempt from Canadian tariffs on auto parts. The completed engine is then sent to a vehicle assembly plant in Mexico, traveling through the U.S. without additional tariffs under the USMCA agreement. Finally, the assembled vehicle crosses the Mexico-U.S. border, triggering a 25% tariff on the vehicle’s non-U.S. content. Throughout this process, a single part may cross borders several times before becoming part of a finished vehicle. Several OEMs, including Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Honda, and Toyota, are considering options such as pausing production in Canada, increasing U.S. production of alternative models, or halting vehicle manufacturing for the U.S. market in Mexico. Meanwhile, suppliers like Lear, Dana, Magna International, and BorgWarner have announced layoffs, factory closures, and spending reductions in recent months. If tariffs remain in place for six months, greater than 50% of suppliers indicated they would cut or delay investments. Morgan Stanley projects that with every 10% increase in vehicle prices, sales could decline by 5% to 7.5% and Automakers could face a loss of up to 3.2 million U.S. vehicle sales if they attempt to pass the full cost of tariffs onto consumers. Tariffs are not a new challenge. For example, some OEMs in the past, like Mercedes-Benz, manufactured Sprinter vans in Germany, then partially disassembled them for shipment to South Carolina, where they were reassembled to avoid U.S. tariffs. To navigate these complexities, business leaders must adopt a proactive, agile, and strategic approach to risk management, developing scenario plans to address a wide range of potential disruptions. While the past focus was primarily on minimizing supply chain costs in a global free-trade environment, today’s supply chain leaders must prioritize flexibility, build in additional redundancies, and create strategic sourcing options for rare materials, components, and technologies. Given such complexity, how can Auto OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers stay ahead of the curve and develop a tariff action plan across strategic, tactical, and operational horizons? Blue Yonder offers a solution — enabling a comprehensive tariff strategy in as little as 7 days. What is happening with U.S. tariffs and what does it mean? Uncover what has changed in U.S. trade policy and tariffs during 2025, how and when those changes are being applied, what’s covered, and what it means for businesses. Discover More 1. Supply Chain Network Design Optimization for Tariffs The example above highlights the importance of building a digital twin of your supply chain, enabled by digital supply chain network technology. This visibility extends beyond Tier 1 suppliers to Tier 2 and beyond — critical for identifying hidden tariff vulnerabilities. Tariffs can significantly raise production costs, particularly for automakers dependent on global supply chains. Companies might need to move parts of their supply chain closer to domestic markets, potentially creating local jobs but at a higher cost due to increased labor expenses. A robust risk mitigation strategy balances lean efficiency with resilient performance. This includes network redesign, tariff exposure analysis across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods, and sourcing strategies aligned with your organization’s risk appetite. Diversifying manufacturing and supplier bases — through a mix of offshoring, nearshoring, and onshoring — is essential. A multi-sourcing and multi-shoring approach, guided by needs, cost, service, and risk scenario trade-offs, will strengthen supply chain resilience against disruptions. 2. Demand-Supply-Inventory Scenario Planning for Tariffs Amidst tariffs, trade tensions, inflation, and supply chain disruptions, auto manufacturers need to prioritize “what-if” scenario planning in the short to midterm, as long-term network design and optimization strategies may take time to materialize. Simulating the impact of tariffs, supplier shifts, or production relocations allows companies to assess effects on cost, margin, service levels, and customer delivery trade-offs. Portfolio segmentation by revenue, margins, and tariff exposure, coupled with a review of existing demand, supply, and inventory plans, will further help mitigate tariff impacts and enhance decision-making under uncertainty. OEMs must assess the potential volume impact of tariffs and evaluate supplier shifts or production relocations to balance customer delivery, achieve revenue goals, and control costs while planning their business strategies. To navigate tariff-related challenges, it’s critical to identify the most affected areas of the product portfolio—analyzing revenue, margins, and costs by segment—and to conduct scenario planning across demand, supply, and inventory. These insights support better decision-making in uncertain environments. Key strategic choices may include shifting focus from price-sensitive segments to premium models less affected by tariffs, implementing price increases despite competitive pressures, adopting cost-efficient sourcing and production methods, timing product launches effectively, and exploring partnerships or alliances with other OEMs to secure alternative production capacities. 3. Supply Chain Network Mapping and Multi-Tier Visibility for Tariffs To counteract the risks of tariff-induced disruptions, companies must diversify their supplier base, which adds complexity to the supply chain. This underscores the need for improved multi-tier visibility and stronger supplier collaboration. Enhanced end-to-end tracking — from procurement to distribution — allows organizations to measure and quantify the real impact of tariffs. This visibility is critical for adjusting strategies, such as accelerating shipments ahead of tariff implementation dates, reconfiguring supply networks, or entering new, more profitable markets. Building a Resilient, Connected Supply Chain – Blue Yonder’s one-week assessment Although the financial impact of tariffs cannot be completely avoided, Blue Yonder’s one-week assessment equips Auto OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers with the tools to incorporate tariffs and related trade policies into their supply chain strategies and planning. By better matching supply with demand, reducing costs, and improving agility, organizations can minimize the impact of constant change. In an era of global trade disruption, the companies that succeed will be those who can see clearly, choose wisely, act quickly, and adapt continuously — capabilities made possible by a fully connected supply chain network. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Speed And Precision in Action at ICON 2025 Day 2 Unveils New Products and Advisory Service](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/speed-and-precision-in-action-at-icon-2025-day-2-unveils-new-products-and-advisory-service) > Catch up on all the major announcements from ICON 2025 Day 2, including the unveiling of Blue Yonder's groundbreaking new products and the launch of their Supply Chain Advisory service, all designed to deliver speed and precision. Blog Speed and precision in action at ICON 2025: Day 2 unveils new products and advisory services Speed And Precision in Action at ICON 2025 Day 2 Unveils New Products and Advisory Service Blue Yonder , May 6, 2025 5 minute read Yesterday, Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove opened ICON 2025 by introducing a ground-breaking new era in supply chain management. Day two in Nashville saw Wayne Usie, Blue Yonder’s EVP & Chief Strategy Officer, build on yesterday’s excitement by giving us a deeper look into Cognitive Solutions and unveil brand new Blue Yonder products. Cognitive Solutions: speed and precision together The new Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions aren’t just designed to go fast, Wayne explains. They are about being precise in how you react and how you respond to uncertainty, which is essential in the ever-changing supply chain landscape. But more than that, they mirror our own decision-making – a feat made possible by implementing a SADA (See, Analyze, Decide, Act) Loop within the solutions. Cognitive Solutions can SEE and anticipate events and their implications in real-time. Blue Yonder has the only unified data model across planning, transportation, and warehouse management in the supply chain industry. The Blue Yonder network includes over 1,600 TMS carriers and extends across multiple enterprises and tiers in a supply chain, creating a single source of truth across planning and execution and across multiple parties and tiers. With full visibility, the Cognitive Solutions then ANALYZE . Using a knowledge graph co-processor technology, the solutions can rapidly identify exceptions across the supply chain, and search for potential root causes 10- 30 times quicker, more precisely, and more efficiently than traditional methods. Using complete, accurate, and up-to-date data, Cognitive Solutions can DECIDE , running and comparing dozens of scenarios simultaneously. The decision-making process isn’t just precise and fast; for the first time ever, every decision can be made in the context of every other decision, across your entire business. Finally, the Cognitive Solutions can ACT , automating processes in a collaborative environment where humans, machines, and AI agents work together to respond to disruptions within minutes. “Cognitive Solutions are not just on the same platform and connected – they are conscious. They share one brain, one data model, and always have the most up-to-date information.” Wayne Usie, Blue Yonder EVP & Chief Strategy Officer Proving the true practical power of Cognitive Solutions Is there a better way to prove the true power of the Cognitive end-to-end Cognitive Solutions than to prove how they work across the entire supply chain? Chief Product Officer, Gurdip Singh, joined Wayne on the mainstage to demonstrate the power of Cognitive Solutions from planning to warehouse, running through real scenarios every step of the way. For example, in the planning phase, Gurdip discussed a disruption with a raw material supplier: The exact moment a disruption happens with the Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions, the planner will instantly get a notification on their mobile device and their desktop dashboard. At the same time, their AI agent teammate escalates the disruption to the demand and supply planning Cognitive Solutions, finds the pertinent root cause, potential resolution options, and even recommends which option to consider. Once a decision is made, the planners can precisely reschedule the existing warehouse delivery appointments, ensuring all the required raw materials arrive together and on time. Disruptions that used to take days or weeks to resolve are now handled in minutes. That’s the real power of Cognitive Solutions. As well as demonstrating the power of Cognitive Solutions across planning and transportation, Wayne and Gurdip also announced a highly anticipated ‘Always-on’ Warehouse Solution that was promised during last year’s ICON. With the new Cognitive Solutions for the warehouse, Blue Yonder can optimize order streaming, dock scheduling, and much more using predictive and generative machine-learning technology. Reimagining retail and returns with Cognitive Solutions Continuing on the supply chain journey, Wayne was joined by Chief Innovation Officer, Andrea Morgan-Vandome, to discuss how Blue Yonder has completely reimagined how products are delivered to stores and consumers. The core of which is omni-inventory and omni-demand. Omni-inventory is about using all your inventory, across all channels and right back to your suppliers, to serve customers better, run operations more efficiently, and use the insights from those operations to plan smarter. Omni-demand deciphers true customer intent, generating forecasts based on buying signals across every channel, fulfillment method, and shopping journey, providing a holistic view of demand and inventory. Using these principals, Andrea discussed how the Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions have changed the game in retail and returns, including: Removing manual processes such as pivot tables and what-if scenarios in retail planning, as Cognitive Solutions already have a plan that connects pre-season and in-season planning, understands trends, risks, and opportunities, and adjusts in real time. Making collaboration seamless with merchandise, assortment, inventory, and materials are all in one place. What’s more, all suppliers and carriers are all on the same network. Unified allocation and replenishment to accurately deploy inventory, and see all inventory flowing into and from the distribution centers, regardless of whether it’s allocated or replenished. Incentivize preferred return behaviors like in-store returns for speed and efficiency, while streamlining the entire consumer process through branded returns pages and network of self-service drop-off kiosks that have a 93% satisfaction rate across over 50 million returns. Using real-time return data to fuel intelligent planning, forecasting, and inventory management, so you know when to expect returns and thus use them as a sourcing option. “In today’s retail environment, clarity and speed are everything.” Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Blue Yonder Chief Innovation Officer From ICON to your supply chain As day 2 at ICON draws to a close, the spotlight now shifts to how you are going to use these insights to power your own supply chain transformation. Ready to join the new era of supply chain management? Read the full product release details and discover how our latest innovations are empowering agility in a time of uncertainty. Read The Full Release ### [Empower speed and precision in a time of uncertainty: inside our latest product release](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/empower-speed-and-precision-in-a-time-of-uncertainty-inside-our-latest-product-release) > Discover how our latest product release empowers your business with enhanced speed and precision, helping you navigate and thrive in today's unpredictable market. Blog Empower speed and precision in a time of uncertainty: inside our latest product release Empower Speed and Precision in a Time of Uncertainty Inside Our Latest Product Release Blue Yonder , May 6, 2025 1 minute read As volatility rises and economic concerns expand, today’s supply chains face a new reality: every decision must be faster, smarter, and more cost-effective than the last. Our latest release—1H 2025 —is ready to meet that moment—with an AI-infused platform designed to help businesses respond instantly to disruption, optimize costs, and make better decisions with certainty. Announced live at ICON 2025, this release isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a transformation. The challenges: volatility, margin pressure, and complexity Supply chain leaders are under pressure to continuously optimize every part of their network—from planning to fulfillment to returns. But they’re facing headwinds: Volatility: From tariffs and shortages to shifting customer expectations, leaders need real-time, scenario-based planning that can keep up with constant change. Margin pressure: Rising labor, material, and shipping costs require intelligent, end-to-end efficiency—not just patchwork fixes. Complexity: Growing data volumes and talent shortages demand solutions that help teams do more—faster. The solution: an AI-infused platform for what’s next Our latest release introduces a powerful trifecta of value: Increased speed & precision: Automatically adjust tactical and strategic plans to respond to change—with total efficiency. Superior cost efficiency: Reduce inventory waste, maximize labor and warehouse ROI, and surface opportunities to lower your total cost to serve. Simplified, AI-enabled decisioning: Empower teams with AI-assisted insights, mobile alerts, and on-the-go resolution to keep goods flowing and performance high. Experience the future of the supply chain Read the full product release details and discover how our latest innovations are empowering agility in a time of uncertainty. Read The Full Release Only our solutions deliver certainty across the entire supply chain The 1H 2025 release is packed with innovations to help your business move faster and smarter—from planning and execution to collaboration and returns: Planning & execution across the network: Stay aligned in real time—from raw materials to customer delivery. Our unified platform helps you coordinate plans and actions across every tier, every partner, every step. AI-driven insights & actions: Increase resiliency, improve resource utilization and reduce execution costs. Collaborative AI agents and advanced machine learning analyze, summarize and alert on events occurring across your supply chain then provide detailed recommendations to ensure operations run as expected. Common data cloud & platform: Connect every corner of your supply chain with a single source of truth. Our data cloud powers speed, precision, and collaboration across planning, execution, and everything in between. Ready to dive deeper? Explore the full release to see how our latest innovations can help your business operate with unmatched speed, precision, and resilience. Blue Yonder—Move beyond boundaries™ Any questions? Let's talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Meet your new strategic partner: launching the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Advisory](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/meet-your-new-strategic-partner-launching-the-blue-yonder-supply-chain-advisory) > Introducing the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Advisory, your new strategic partner designed to help your business navigate complexity and achieve resilient, future-ready supply chain operations. Blog Meet your new strategic partner: launching the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Advisory Meet Your New Strategic Partner Launching The Blue Yonder Supply Chain Advisory Blue Yonder , May 7, 2025 1 minute read ICON 2025 saw Blue Yonder’s biggest product release yet , unveiling new Cognitive Solutions designed to help businesses respond instantly to disruption, optimize costs, and make better decisions with certainty. But that wasn’t the only big announcement. Taking to the ICON main stage, Chief Innovation Officer, Andrea Morgan-Vandome and President of Cloud and Customer Experience Darren Saumur announced the Blue Yonder Supply Chain Advisory. The Supply Chain Advisory offers deep industry, solutions and data science expertise to guide customers through their digital transformation journeys. Working with you as your strategic partner, the Supply Chain Advisory is there to: Maximize the value you get from Blue Yonder Solutions. Guide you through innovative ways of working, equipping you with the right tools and methods to operate with both speed and precision. Stand alongside you as you tackle challenging decisions, helping you avoid common pitfalls and uncover new opportunities by leveraging our deep expertise and years of proven best practice methods. Navigate uncertainty with confidence Discover how our latest product release empowers your business with the speed and precision needed to thrive in today's unpredictable market. Discover More From implementation to realization Bringing together the best and brightest domain experts and data scientists, the Supply Chain Advisory will start working with you early and stay on as an advisor through implementation and the life of the product to help you realize your vision. Reimagining the implementation process, the Supply Chain Advisory worked to realign where time is spent to drive speed and precision. This includes: Developing a leading practice that covers processes across all supply chain functional areas. During ICON 2025, Andrea explains how customers who follow this approach have implemented it in half the time and gained 30% more value in their services A Maturity Matrix tool to help work with you on where you are today, where you want to get to, and the value it will drive, as well as a methodology for how and where to apply AI (Artificial Intelligence) agents And a Composable Journey studio, which has executed over 200 workshops so far to help customers determine the product roadmap, sequence, business case, and pace of their unique transformation journey In practice, the first step is to understand what your supply chain pain points are, your vision and goals, and how you are currently operating. Then, we look at how your existing Blue Yonder investments can solve these pain points. From there, the Supply Chain Advisory will work with you to collaboratively build a roadmap over time to go live with new solutions to maximize your business benefits. Maximizing value with correct usage and adoption “All of us know the best technology in the world is useless if it’s not embraced by the right teams and used in the right processes.” Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Blue Yonder Chief Innovation Officer The Supply Chain Advisory doesn’t stop at implementation. It’s also there to help you get the most from your products by enabling adoption through leadership alignment and organizational readiness, with a focus on role and organization changes, how innovation and agents change the nature of work and the adoption of new ways of working. The Supply Chain Advisory will work with your business users, partners, and dedicated Change teams to create an environment where changes can be understood and easily adopted. This goes right down to individual roles and responsibilities to give them a feel for each unique ‘day in the life’ for maximum impact. Making the path to an autonomous supply chain easier The path to an autonomous supply chain and introducing AI isn’t always a straightforward journey. That’s why Blue Yonder has created the Supply Chain Advisory: to help you maximize the value of its solutions, avoid the common pitfalls, and make confident decisions as you navigate change. Whether you are working with one of our valuable partners or Blue Yonder Professional Services, the Advisory will be there guide you through new ways of working with proven methodologies and smart tooling that deliver both speed and precision. Talk to your account manager to find out more about the Supply Chain Advisory . You set your sights high? Let's talk. Chat Now Contact Us ### [Enhance customer experience and reduce abandonment with Blue Yonder Order Management](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/enhance-customer-experience-and-reduce-abandonment-with-blue-yonder-order-management) > Discover how Blue Yonder Order Management can help you enhance customer experience and significantly reduce shopping cart abandonment through seamless, intelligent order fulfillment. Blog Enhance customer experience and reduce abandonment with Blue Yonder Order Management Enhance Customer Experience and Reduce Abandonment with Blue Yonder Order Management Kannan Ramkumar , May 9, 2025 3 minute read What’s making shoppers ghost their online carts? Consumers these days multitask with dozens of open tabs and apps — endlessly scrolling, swiping, clicking, viewing and bouncing from app to app — all while having attention spans that last about as long as a TikTok video. When shoppers want to buy something, they want it instantly. They’ll do a quick check — “Is it in stock? Can I get it delivered ASAP?” And if shoppers can’t figure that out right away? Poof! They’re gone— bouncing off to the next shiny app that catches their eye. Why do companies struggle to offer the experience consumers want? Getting shoppers from just looking at products to hitting that “Buy” button is both art and science. Sure, marketing and UX can help. They can artfully craft messages that really click with shoppers. No big deal! But that’s just one piece of the puzzle. The real game-changer, however, is behind-the-scenes real-time data powering these messages. Companies need supply chain data to promise customers “Yep, we can get that to you by 9 p.m. Thursday!” Plus, the data must be lightning-fast. If your pages take forever to load, shoppers will simply kiss “Goodbye!” and ditch their carts. Customers expect information in real time. Your traditional OMS platforms cannot provide that. These systems can’t handle the heavy traffic and are way too slow to keep up with millions of front-end page requests. Companies need to upgrade to a modern, scalable order management system to meet the expectations of today’s shoppers and convert more browsers into buyers. Let Blue Yonder OMS transform your customer experience and skyrocket sales Empower customers with real-time stock information Nothing frustrates shoppers more than finding the perfect item, only to discover it’s out of stock at checkout. Blue Yonder OMS eliminates this pain point by dynamically displaying real-time inventory across the entire network. Enrich product pages with accurate stock levels and minimize out-of-stock with near real-time inventory information. Blue Yonder OMS dynamically displays stock information on each product page using real-time inventory levels across the entire network through highly responsive APIs. Leverage Blue Yonder’s sophisticated Dynamic Safety Stock machine learning algorithms to optimize buffer inventory levels across the network, while avoiding out-of-stock situations without unnecessarily tying up capital in excess inventory. Offer customers diverse delivery options that fit their schedule Shoppers love choices. Show customers all available shipping and pickup options. When customers can clearly see their delivery choices and timing, they’ll get a sense of urgency and more likely to hit the “Place Order” button right away. Blue Yonder Order Management provides all available fulfillment options for items in the cart, showing detailed order deadlines, delivery timeframes, carrier information, shipping costs and number of expected shipments. Continuously engage with shoppers by offering convenient delivery and pickup options including standard shipping, express shipping, same-day delivery, next-day delivery, in-store pickup and curbside pickup. Convert more sales with precise delivery dates and pickup times Delivery uncertainty kills customers. Display all available fulfillment options for items in the cart, showing detailed order deadlines, delivery timeframes, carrier information, shipping costs and number of expected shipments. Blue Yonder OMS can help make shopping transparent and set clear customer expectations up front, with delivery options that work for both customers and your business. Promoting cost-effective delivery options at checkout will reduce the overall fulfillment cost. Eliminate guesswork with Blue Yonder Autonomous Delivery Date machine learning algorithms to improve delivery date accuracy. These algorithms are learned from historical data and calculate precise delivery dates in real time, eliminating under-promising while reducing over-promising. Ready to reduce cart abandonment and boost revenue? If your current OMS is slowing you down, it’s time for an upgrade. Blue Yonder Order Management ensures customers get the answers they need instantly, so they can complete their purchases with confidence. Make online shopping seamless and skyrocket sales. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [From silos to network: why grocery retail needs a supply chain shift](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/from-silos-to-network-why-grocery-retail-needs-a-supply-chain-shift) > Discover why grocery retail must break free from traditional supply chain silos and embrace a connected network. Blog From silos to network: why grocery retail needs a supply chain shift From Silos to Network Why Grocery Retail Needs a Supply Chain Shift Tom Hoang , May 12, 2025 1 minute read Grocery supply chains have always been facing rising consumer expectations, supply chain disruptions and unpredictable market conditions. While technology has introduced some improvements, many grocery retailers still struggle with siloed systems, limited visibility and lack of actionability across their supply chains. Today, more than ever, grocery retailers need a network that goes beyond just visibility — a network that’s intelligent, collaborative and ready to adapt to disruption. But here’s the problem: many grocery retailers believe they have a digital supply chain network when, in fact, their systems still operate like isolated silos. This approach limits their ability to anticipate demand, respond to disruptions or optimize operations in real time. Why your grocery supply chain network isn’t truly digital While grocery retailers might leverage digital tools, much of the collaboration with trading partners still occurs within siloed, fragmented systems. Whether it’s an inventory management system, order processing or supplier communication, these point-to-point connections create informational gaps and inefficiencies. Without real-time, end-to-end visibility and shared data across the network, it’s difficult to act quickly or proactively, resulting in stock imbalances, excess waste and missed sales opportunities. A simple point-to-point model isn’t enough. Retailers need a more dynamic, interconnected approach to manage their operations and stay competitive. The future of grocery starts here Dive deep into the transformative power of traceability. Uncover why this is not just a trend, but the foundational future for smarter, more sustainable, and trustworthy grocery retail. Discover More Redefining grocery supply chain network To truly transform grocery supply chain, think beyond just connecting with suppliers and vendors. Imagine a network where every party, grocers, suppliers and logistics partners all operate with shared, real-time visibility, communication, and context. This model of connection empowers every party to make faster, smarter decisions and adapt quickly to change. Rather than relying on fragmented updates or manual workarounds, a connected network enables a common understanding of critical data tailored to each stakeholder allowing synchronized actions. When disruptions occur, whether a supplier shortage, a sudden demand spike, or a logistics delay, everyone in the network can see the impact and act in sync for an optimal response in real time. Blue Yonder reimagines grocery supply chain network Blue Yonder delivers the foundation for a truly modern, connected grocery supply chain network, one built to meet today’s complexity and tomorrow’s demands. What sets it apart: End-to-end visibility and actionability at every node: Gain a single, unified view across your entire supply chain, from supplier to shelf. With a shared data cloud, every partner has real-time access to inventory levels, movements, and disruptions, enabling faster, more informed action at every node AI-powered insights, decisions and actions: Leverage AI-driven intelligence to drive smarter forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment. Minimize spoilage, reduce out-of-stocks and ensure the right products are in the right place — on time and with less waste. Synchronized planning and execution across the supply chain: Synchronize actions from planning to execution across all network partners, enabling faster, better decision-making for more efficient omni-channel operations. How grocery retailers benefit from Blue Yonder Network Adopting a connected network model doesn’t just streamline operations, it transforms the entire supply chain to become more agile, intelligent and customer-centric. Here’s how: Optimized inventory availability: Real-time data sharing enables faster decision-making and better responsiveness to disruptions, supply shortages or demand shifts, keeping shelves stocked and customer satisfied. Reduced costs with lower safety stock: With enhanced visibility and actionability, grocers can reduce reliance on excess safety stock, resulting in leaner operations, less spoilage and significant cost savings across the network. Enhanced traceability and transparency: Real-time visibility ensures end-to-end traceability, helping retailers meet regulatory requirements, manage recalls proactively and optimize freshness. It also allows ESG transparency, building trust with today’s mindful consumers. Unlock the power of network In today’s age of uncertainty, grocery retailers must build a supply chain network that is agile, intelligent and customer-focused. By moving beyond isolated systems and embracing a true network approach, grocers can transform their operations to increase product availability, reduce costs and elevate the customer experience. If you’re ready to begin exploring how to move from solution siloes to a connected network, then schedule your strategy call with a Blue Yonder expert today. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Why Traceability Is the Future of Grocery Retail](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/why-traceability-is-the-future-of-grocery-retail) > Explore the importance of traceability for grocery retailers, and how a digital, networked supply chain can turn it into a competitive advantage. Blog Why traceability is the future of grocery retail FSMA 204 From Compliance Mandate to Competitive Advantage for Grocery Retailers Tom Hoang , May 15, 2025 2 minute read Freshness, waste reduction and shopper trust start with end-to-end supply chain visibility. The strategic importance of traceability In today's grocery retail landscape, simply moving goods from supplier to shelf is no longer enough. Shoppers expect fresh, high-quality products — and full transparency into how those products are sourced, handled and delivered. Meanwhile, grocers are under increasing pressure to manage tighter inventory turnover, minimize waste, handle time-sensitive products and respond instantly to recalls — all while meeting growing regulatory demands. At the center of these challenges lies a single critical capability: traceability. Real-time tracking and intelligent inventory visibility have shifted from a back-office process to a frontline business priority. Traceability empowers grocers to monitor product freshness, reduce food waste, accelerate responses to disruptions, and meet shoppers’ rising expectations for sustainability and safety. Beyond compliance: traceability as a competitive advantage Regulatory initiatives like the FDA’s FSMA 204, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), the EU’s Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) highlight the growing global demand for end-to-end traceability. From food safety to ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility, these mandates signal a shift toward tighter supply chain oversight and real-time data transparency. But compliance is just the starting point. Grocers who treat traceability as a strategic lever — not just a checkbox — can unlock powerful benefits: greater freshness, less waste, optimized inventory, and stronger consumer trust through transparent, sustainable practices. In a world where consumer loyalty is earned through transparency and compelling experiences, end-to-end traceability is fundamental in gaining an edge. Go from aisle chaos to AI clarity with CPG demand management Uncover the power of Artificial Intelligence in helping CPG companies conquer the challenges of fluctuating consumer demand. Discover More How Blue Yonder powers future-ready grocery supply chains Most grocery retailers today still rely on disjointed systems and manual processes that limit their ability to track inventory, react to issues or scale with demand. Blue Yonder changes that. With an AI-powered, network-based supply chain platform, Blue Yonder enables retailers to track and trace products seamlessly from source to shelf. Retailers gain real-time visibility into inventory levels, location, quality and expiration — allowing them to dynamically optimize freshness, prioritize shelf rotation, and proactively manage recalls or compliance reporting. More importantly, Blue Yonder’s connected platform is designed not just for today’s regulations, but for the future’s evolving demands. As consumer expectations, sustainability initiatives and regulatory pressures continue to rise, retailers using Blue Yonder are positioned to adapt quickly, operate efficiently, and deliver the transparent, high-quality experiences that modern shoppers expect. The bottom line Traceability has become the foundation for resilient, responsive grocery retail operations. It’s not just about regulatory compliance — it’s about improving freshness, minimizing waste, protecting shoppers and strengthening brand trust. By investing in a future-ready supply chain platform like Blue Yonder, grocers can move beyond chasing compliance and toward leading the industry — building smarter, safer and more connected operations that grow customer loyalty and unlock sustainable profitability. Learn how Blue Yonder can help you go beyond and build a smarter, safer and more connected supply chain. Schedule your strategy call with a Blue Yonder expert today . Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Navigating the global trade wars: what manufacturers can do now to prepare for whatever comes next](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-the-global-trade-wars-what-manufacturers-can-do-now-to-prepare-for-whatever-comes-next) > Global trade wars are escalating. Discover essential strategies manufacturers can implement now to prepare for ongoing geopolitical shifts and minimize disruption to their supply chains. Blog Navigating the global trade wars: what manufacturers can do now to prepare for whatever comes next Navigating the Global Trade Wars What Manufacturers Can Do Now to Prepare for Whatever Comes Next Simon Bowes , May 16, 2025 Erratic and unpredictable changes to US trade policy have roiled global supply chains during 2025. Businesses are working diligently to assess the potential impact of tariffs and the overall economic uncertainty they have created. While we can’t predict where tariff policies will ultimately land, there are steps manufacturers can take now to ensure they are properly positioned to protect their supply chains and their bottom line. What can businesses do? To prepare for the months and years ahead, manufacturers need to prioritize responsiveness and effectiveness. To meet that goal in the near term, they will need to focus on impactful actions that can be taken quickly. Review your end-to-end supply chain Consider how tariffs (and combinations of tariffs) could affect every step in the supply chain. Every business and every supply chain are unique, so the plan you put in place will need to be fine-tuned for your situation. Tariffs will affect both your decision-making and that of your suppliers, so companies will need a clear vision of their supply networks and the challenges faced by the sector as a whole. Don’t rush to stockpile imported goods At first glance, it might seem smart to stock up on goods in order to avoid potential price increases and shortages. It would be wise to reconsider that idea because stockpiling is a short-term solution that can cause major headaches, including freight and warehousing bottlenecks as everyone else tries to do the same thing. It may be a better use of time to begin reconfiguring your supply chains to reduce the exposure to tariffs. Determine the extent to which you can pass along costs The inflation of recent years has made customers more sensitive to price increases, and will likely make them more resistant to higher prices in the current environment. Carefully gauge the tolerance level among your customer base; companies that can adjust supply chains in such a way to avoid increasing prices above that threshold will gain an edge against competitors (who are struggling with the same dynamics that you are). What is happening with U.S. tariffs and what does it mean? Uncover what has changed in U.S. trade policy and tariffs during 2025, how and when those changes are being applied, what’s covered, and what it means for businesses. Discover More Accelerate scenario planning The unpredictability of US trade policy means that we could end up with something close to the status quo—or a radical reimagining of global trade. With such a wide range of possible outcomes, companies can’t just plan for two or three likely scenarios over a 36-month time horizon; they need to be able to plan for many more possibilities and then adjust those plans in real time. The ability to plan ahead has never been more important. Take advantage of available technology Companies have a toolkit of advanced technologies available to help them manage the increasing complexity of global supply chains. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enable businesses to process and respond to changes in tariff policy much more quickly and nimbly than a human acting alone. Predictive AI can analyze vast amounts of existing data to forecast the impact of tariffs on every aspect of the supply chain. How can Blue Yonder help? The Blue Yonder platform offers a number of benefits to companies who are navigating the current trade environment. Transportation Management: As new supplier relationships are built, Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions can help businesses re-draw distribution networks and prioritize cost-saving efficiency. Blue Yonder Network: Businesses that are part of the Blue Yonder Network can more easily change suppliers as needed, which will be key as tariffs begin to affect suppliers up and down the supply chain. Real-time communication drives out latency and minimizes lead times. Integrated Demand & Supply Planning: This AI- and ML-enhanced solution from Blue Yonder simultaneously analyzes changing demand patterns and supply availability so that companies can maximize efficiency, resiliency, and service level attainment. This solution’s unique approach to concurrent planning harmonizes necessary supply, sourcing factors, and capital resource availability to reduce costs, increase capital resource efficiency, and cut inventory waste. Factory Planner: This Blue Yonder solution facilitates agile production planning, allowing manufacturers to easily re-optimize production changes in their factories in near real-time as market conditions change. New constraints or operating conditions, such as frequent supplier changes due to tariff changes, are no problem. Today’s challenges are tomorrow’s opportunities The speed and unpredictability of the changes to US trade policy under the Trump administration are unprecedented in the modern era. This rapidly shifting landscape has compressed the normal amount of time businesses have to change the tactical and strategic aspects of supply-chain management. The only way for businesses to succeed in this environment is to prepare to be nimble. Planning ahead with the right strategies and technology will have the effect of crash-proofing your supply chain, giving you the ability to adjust to sudden shocks and take advantage of new opportunities in the aftermath. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Volatile demand — across ICEs, Hybrids and EVs —continues to disrupt the auto industry](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/volatile-demand-across-ices-hybrids-and-evs-continues-to-disrupt-the-auto-industry) > Explore how fluctuating demand for ICE, hybrid, and EV vehicles is continually disrupting the automotive industry, forcing manufacturers to rethink planning and production strategies. Blog Volatile demand — across ICEs, Hybrids and EVs —continues to disrupt the auto industry New page Salim Shaikh , May 19, 2025 2 minute read New U.S. import tariffs on finished vehicles and automotive parts are getting a lot of attention, and with good reason. The cost of the tariffs for U.S. automakers is estimated to exceed $100 billion . In addition, thousands of employees face layoffs , and automakers are already weighing some big supply chain shifts in response. But that isn’t the only shock wave U.S. President Donald Trump has sent through the global automotive industry. Almost immediately, Trump began to significantly increase the uncertainty around electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the U.S . In his first days in office, Trump rolled back Joe Biden’s commitment that 50% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. would be electric by 2035. He also eliminated many of Biden’s tax credits created to incentivize EV buyers. While EVs represent only 1.4% of the cars on American roads today, there’s long been optimism that this number would increase dramatically . But Trump’s first three months in office have only fueled further demand uncertainty around EVs. While the U.S. and other countries are pushing back EV adoption guidelines, some nations are embracing EVs more enthusiastically. There are just 4 million EVs in all of America — but Chinese car buyers are purchasing a million EVs every month . The United Kingdom’s ZEV mandate will phase out all new petrol and diesel car sales in 2030. Global EV sales increased by 36% year-over-year in March, but that growth in extremely uneven, largely centered in Asia and Europe. Chinese automaker BYD dominates the EV segment , with production figures that double its closest competitor, Tesla. What is happening with U.S. tariffs and what does it mean? Uncover what has changed in U.S. trade policy and tariffs during 2025, how and when those changes are being applied, what’s covered, and what it means for businesses. Discover More Automakers face unprecedented challenges in planning, production As they forecast demand across internal combustion engine (ICE) models, EVs, EREVs (extended range EVs) and hybrids, automakers face incredible challenges in getting the product mix right by channel and region — let alone accounting for consumers’ growing demand for vehicle customization. Shifting trade policies, evolving market dynamics, and intensifying global competition are redefining the landscape. The global auto industry is in a markedly different position than just a year ago. While we always expected the energy transition to be dynamic, it’s now clear that it will be even more unpredictable, complex and regionally divergent than predicted. World automotive leaders are approaching this challenge in different ways: BYD is revising its European strategy to produce PHEVs (plug-in hybrid EVs) alongside EVs at new facilities. Bentley plans to launch a plug-in or fully electric model annually, allowing for flexibility in its approach. Mitsubishi will begin selling Foxconn-built EVs starting in 2026. Mercedes-Benz is repurposing unused capacity at its Vance, Alabama, plant (currently producing EQE and EQS EVs) to build the GLC. Waymo, in partnership with Magna International, plans to assemble Jaguar I-Pace and Zeekr vehicles equipped with its autonomous technology at a new U.S. plant in Mesa, Arizona. The stakes are high. And the costs are high. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can’t afford to miss a sales opportunity, but they also don’t want to overproduce the wrong vehicles and options. It’s impossible to predict the future. Will Americans continue to purchase EVs, especially as inflation drives fuel costs higher? Will they stop purchasing cars altogether until financial markets stabilize? And what will happen in other parts of the world in 2025 and beyond? While much is uncertain, one fact remains clear: These complex planning challenges can’t be addressed via manual processes, human analysis and outdated solutions that simply weren’t built for the task. There’s no way manual analysis and human cognition can keep track of fast-moving demand across all models, regions and channels — or sense demand changes quickly enough to drive a strategic, profitable response. Since demand volatility for EVs and other cars is only increasing, automakers have no choice: They need to adopt new planning practices, across their global supply networks, that are built for uncertainty. They need to increase their capabilities to gather real-time data, apply advanced analytics, make intelligent decisions and pivot in an orchestrated manner, across the supply chain ecosystem. Master the EV battery challenge Avoid costly inventory and missed opportunities. Learn how to navigate the complexities of EV battery demand and build a resilient supply chain. Discover More The solution? Driving improvements in three areas Backed by decades of serving the worldwide auto industry, and hundreds of customer success stories, Blue Yonder has identified three key capabilities OEMs need to embrace sooner rather than later: Increased collaboration and visibility across the network. Few industries can match the supply chain scale, scope and complexity of global auto manufacturing. It can be difficult to connect all supply chain partners for real-time awareness, collaboration and orchestration. Blue Yonder Network is designed to provide real-time connectivity and visibility across multi-tier supply chains, creating a fluid, dynamic ecosystem. Blue Yonder Network enables a holistic platform where automotive trading partners can seamlessly collaborate, plan, execute and re-execute as market conditions change. In addition, Blue Yonder Platform performs real-time, end-to-end monitoring, creating an early awareness of disruptions at any node. Integrated, agile business planning practices. As multiple functions and partners create collaborative plans, Blue Yonder Platform is the purpose-built solution they need. With real-time order, shipment and inventory status, all supply chain partners can react to unforeseen changes in real time by intelligently adapting material procurement, transportation routes and modes, order processing and other activities. For example, Sales & Operations Planning can collaborate with Order Forecasting to plan for multiple models with different configurations and trims, over multiple markets and regional distribution centers. They can see stock in transit and at dealers, then plan accordingly. The Blue Yonder Platform enables seamless stakeholder engagement and consensus, so the larger supply network is working in alignment, not at cross-purposes. Automated scenario planning increases the confidence of all stakeholders and leads to more predictable outcomes, even in an unpredictable landscape. Advanced production scheduling processes. It’s relatively easy to change sales forecasts and plans — especially when you consider the heavy lifting and high capital investments associated with car and truck manufacturing. Blue Yonder Platform’s Advanced Production Scheduling (APS) is designed to make it easier to translate detailed, dynamic, real-time forecasts and demand plans into detailed, dynamic, real-time manufacturing plans. Blue Yonder Platform’s APS uses specialized algorithms to consider data from across the network, both upstream and downstream. Then it transforms these massive amounts of data into smart plans aimed at meeting production deadlines and delivery dates, optimizing materials and finished inventory, and reducing operational costs across the manufacturing network. Sequencing, slotting and detailed scheduled happen on a flexible, fluid basis that minimizes cost and risk exposure, while maximizing capacities and service levels. The benefits of accurate, dynamic production planning across facilities extend across the supply chain. When automakers know their production plans for all plants, they can improve the cost and efficiency of execution due to better aligned transportation plans. You’ve embraced product innovation. Now embrace planning innovation. The world’s car buyers have unprecedented choices today when it comes to purchasing a vehicle. From advanced EV powertrains to new autonomous driving functionality, the world’s OEMs have introduced amazing, innovative product features that make driving safer, more comfortable and more environmentally responsible. While that unprecedented product range has led to unprecedented demand uncertainty, we can all agree that EVs and other innovations are worth it. Just as they’re invested in exciting product innovations, it’s time for OEMs to abandon their manual processes, human analysis and outdated legacy solutions. They need to match their product innovation with an equal level of planning and collaboration innovation. Blue Yonder has the end-to-end capabilities automakers need to get their competitive engines revving. Navigate demand challenges more effectively and profitably See how Blue Yonder can help you navigate all demand challenges associated with EVs and all other obstacles. Get In Touch Drive Your Performance ### [As returns grow, retailers must work smarter, not harder, to re-sell products](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/as-returns-grow-retailers-must-work-smarter-not-harder-to-resell-products) > Learn how retailers can work smarter, not harder, to efficiently resell products and boost profitability in the face of growing returns. Blog As returns grow, retailers must work smarter, not harder, to re-sell products As Returns Grow Retailers Must Work Smarter Not Harder to ReSell Products Mike Richmond , May 20, 2025 2 minute read We’ve all seen the headlines and statistics on product returns. Last year consumers returned $890 billion in merchandise . Since only 47% of returned items are resold at full price , today’s return volumes represent a staggering financial loss for retailers. For a $5 billion retailer with 50% online sales and an industry-average 30% returns rate, returns represent a $750 million problem. It’s huge! And it’s not only the lost sales opportunity that hurts, but also the high operations costs associated with returns, estimated to be about 30% of a product’s original price . On May 1, Amazon recorded $1 billion in one-time charges that it partly attributes to losses from product returns. A number of high-profile retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, are increasing the number of “refunds without returns,” which means the cost of receiving and processing the return exceeds its perceived value to them. Letting consumers keep unwanted products, or s ending billions of pounds of returned merchandise to landfills , doesn’t seem like a smart solution. And implementing stricter return policies might seem like a good idea, but a Blue Yonder survey found that most retailers see an increase, not a decrease, in returns volumes after tightening their policies. So what’s the solution? Retailers need to focus their energy and investment on processing returns quickly, accurately and intelligently. By getting products back into available inventory as fast as possible, retailers can significantly increase the chance they’ll sell at full price. Blue Yonder’s returns management capabilities are designed to support that goal, by optimizing the returns process at every stage of the end-to-end journey. $ 0 B in merchandise was returned in 2024. 0 % of returned items are resold at full price 0 B pounds of landfill waste generated by unsold returns in 2023. Improve returns speed and visibility, beginning at home Too many retailers create waste and supply chain blind spots by including paper labels in every single product delivery. The problem? By using a provided label, consumers can return the package at any place or any time — and retailers have no forward-looking awareness. They don’t know why the item’s being returned or what condition it’s in. That’s simply not smart. By eliminating labels and having consumers initiate returns digitally, the process is faster and more seamless for the shopper, but also more value-added for the retailer. For all returns, retailers know when and where the product will arrive back at their supply chain. They can have resources in place to process the return quickly and speed it back into inventory. For sold-out, viral, seasonal or otherwise in-demand merchandise, the returned product can be prioritized and fast-tracked. Real-time visibility into returns initiation and drop-off starts the process with an increased chance for ultimate resale success. Equip warehouse returns staff to be superheroes Given the importance of getting returns back into warehouse inventory, the returns team at your distribution centers need to be treated as superheroes — and provided with all the tools they need to soar. Give them the power to digitally scan returns and immediately access every important piece of information, including customer history, order details, complete product information, potential damage and return reason. Warehouse returns teams also need a rules-enabled digital process that guides their efforts. Intelligent tools, policies and checklists make the work go faster, minimize the need for human judgment, and help reduce employee burnout during peak returns periods. For products that pass the digital checklist, refunds can be issued quickly, and merchandise can be committed to another shopper before its value drops. Advanced digital solutions in the warehouse also help detect fraud by analyzing each customer’s return history, purchasing behaviors and returns frequency. Retailers can enforce stricter policies in response to today’s fast-growing problem of returns fraud , but in a smart, targeted manner. Fashion returns fraud is rising - here's how you can fight back Discover how digitalization can protect your retail business and help you fight back against growing returns fraud. Discover More Turn the returns desk into a revenue center Automated checklists, visibility into returned products, and fraud detection are equally important concepts when products are brought to the in-store returns desk. In this case, process structure and discipline are especially important, as store employees are rarely returns specialists — they’re busy customer service associates who fill many important roles. Maximize their efficiency, speed and accuracy in processing returns, and you’ll make them available for other high-value work. Often the in-store returns process is characterized by labor-intensive manual processes, paperwork, employees’ personal judgment and negotiation skills, and specialized decision-makers who have the ultimate say.  By replacing this slow, error-prone process with technology, data, intelligence and standardized processes, retailers can speed products back to the shelf and maximize their margins. Digital solutions can even reveal the precise location where each product should be restocked in the store, creating a faster, clearer path to a resale. An added benefit of creating a fast, easy and seamless in-store return process? Retailers can maximize the chance that shoppers will make another in-person purchase while they’re in the store. Did you know 70% percent of shoppers purchase more from a specific retail brand after having a positive returns experience? Turn that returned product from a loss to a win in minutes, by providing a fast, easy in-store returns experience. Increase the appeal and relevance of returns with Blue Yonder The nearly trillion-dollar return problem isn’t going anywhere. The solution for retailers lies in optimizing the returns journey at every step for cost, accuracy and speed — to maximize the chance for resale while products are still fresh and attractive to shoppers. Blue Yonder works with the world’s leading retailers every day, and we understand how to master the complex returns challenge. Our purpose-built solutions help maximize the financial potential of returned merchandise by quickly creating a second sales opportunity. From the moment of returns initiation to reshelving sellable products, Blue Yonder automates workflows, captures data at key touchpoints, and provides real-time visibility. By making returns management decisions based on data, precise process steps and well-defined rules, retailers can minimize their losses and maximize new revenue. Why not contact Blue Yonder and start increasing the value of your product returns? We can help you and your employees work smarter, not harder, at every stage of the returns process. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Mitigating tariff impacts the digital supply chain advantage](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/mitigating-tariff-impacts-the-digital-supply-chain-advantage) > Learn how a digital supply chain can help your business effectively mitigate the impacts of tariffs, transforming challenges into a competitive advantage. Blog Mitigating tariff impacts: the digital supply chain advantage Mitigating tariff impacts the digital supply chain advantage Nigel Duckworth , April 17, 2025 2 minute read The eruption of the trade war and subsequent shifts in tariffs has thrown organizations into disarray, and has them scrambling to understand the effects of tariffs on their businesses and supply chains. Even a tariff pause brings little relief, as substantial tariffs remain in place and will likely continue to ebb and flow for the foreseeable future. Global supply chains are the “ground zero” of the impact, rattling importers, exporters and domestic producers alike. Companies importing and exporting goods, be it finished retail products, manufacturing components or materials, now face substantial cost and price pressures that squeeze margins and force difficult pricing, sourcing, operations and distribution decisions. These decisions must be made quickly as the full impact of these tariffs begins to cascade through the global trade network. The impact varies dramatically by industry and region, and ongoing trade negotiations will complicate matters as tariffs wax and wane between nations. Automotive manufacturers are particularly hard hit by the Canada-Mexico tariffs, and many are already announcing that they expect significant cost increases. Industrial manufacturers face mounting pressure to reshore or diversify suppliers, with many accelerating plans to restructure their supplier networks. High-tech companies, having already begun shifting production from China following earlier trade tensions, now need to reconsider their Mexico operations and continue diversifying critical mineral sourcing. The life sciences industry, which is heavily dependent on global supply chains, faces potential shortages as raw material costs increase to levels that sometimes make production financially unfeasible. Crucial to navigating this environment is the need for global companies to make operational decisions around pricing, sourcing, production, mix, operations and distribution that reflect these outside-in factors and forces that are beyond a company’s control. Only by taking these dynamics into account will companies be able to effectively mitigate the effects of tariffs and support efficiency and sustained growth. While companies can’t control trade policy, they can dramatically improve the outcome by ensuring their supply chain technology are up to this challenge. Uncover how to create an agile supply chain, despite new tariffs Even with new tariffs in play, your supply chain can be flexible, responsive, and ready for anything. Discover More The data challenge Traditional supply chains operate with significant information gaps due to disconnected systems and disparate data. They’re managed with several point solutions serving supply chain functions, such as warehouse, transportation and order management. The result? Delayed and often outdated information hampers decision-making, slows response times, increases safety stock and raises hidden costs. In an environment where tariffs can suddenly alter the economics of established suppliers, supply routes, production, operations and distribution, these problems become even more acute. Networks: the path to resilience in an era of “tariff whiplash” Digital networks that connect all supply chain participants in real time offer a powerful solution to traditional point systems. These platforms function more like social networks, where businesses join once and can easily connect to multiple network partners through the virtual network rather than via onerous new physical implementations and connections. This approach transforms supply chain management in ways particularly valuable for tariff mitigation where there’s so much volatility and uncertainty. 1. Supply chain mapping and multi-tier visibility Digital supply chain networks enable the creation of a comprehensive digital twin of your physical supply network. This goes beyond traditional visibility by mapping not just your immediate suppliers (tier 1) but also their suppliers (tier 2) and beyond. This multi-tier visibility is crucial for understanding tariff vulnerabilities that may exist deep in your supply chain. For example, you might source from a domestic supplier that doesn’t incur a tariff. However, if that supplier’s components come from an international supplier affected by tariffs, your costs will still increase as the effects of the tariff cascade through the supply chain. This impact may be delayed, but any trading partner will be unlikely to bear the added cost indefinitely. With network-based visibility across tiers, you can identify these hidden dependencies before they impact your business. This same “deep” network visibility proves invaluable during other disruptions such as natural disasters and geopolitical events. It allows you to see upstream and downstream bottlenecks, changes and disruptions sooner so you can develop alternative plans to mitigate the risk or, in many cases, capitalize on new opportunities. Go beyond basic visibility: meet today's Control Towers Find out how next-generation control towers move beyond simple data, offering the predictive insights and orchestration capabilities you need to proactively manage disruptions and optimize your entire network. Discover More 2. Improved scenario planning and adaptation With accurate, comprehensive and current data, companies can run meaningful what-if scenarios to understand the cost implications of different sourcing, distribution and pricing options. Better scenario planning allows you to evaluate what happens if you change suppliers or reroute shipments through other countries and how that impacts costs, lead times, service levels and other factors. This capability is crucial when deciding how to respond to tariff changes, whether it’s accelerating shipments before implementation dates, reconfiguring supply networks afterward, or targeting and distributing to entirely new, more profitable markets. 3. Reduce uncertainty, inventory and capacity requirements Inventory optimization becomes particularly valuable when tariffs increase carrying costs. Real-time data throughout the supply chain allows you to reduce many safety stocks that buffer against uncertainty. This directly translates to lower inventory requirements, which frees up capital, reduces storage costs, and lowers the risk of product discounting and obsolescence, thus, protecting profitability. Likewise, removing latency from systems and connecting all trading partners enables better visibility and insight into actual demand, and into supply and logistics capacity, so capacity and resources can be optimally aligned to satisfying the most profitable demand cost-effectively. 4. Rapid supply chain reconfiguration It traditionally takes three to five years to reconfigure a supply chain, which is far too slow in today’s rapidly evolving geopolitical, regulatory and tariff environment. However, with a network approach, you connect once to the network, then connecting with other network participants is virtual and typically doesn’t require additional implementations. In addition, thousands of organizations are already connected, so you can reconfigure supplier relationships by identifying and connecting with new suppliers or distributors in more favorable regions much faster. This enables you to tightly couple supply to demand, consider these myriad of factors, and look at the total costs to serve in decision-making. Beyond avoiding costs The benefits of a digital supply chain solution extend beyond just tariff avoidance. Companies using integrated digital networks gain a holistic view and fundamental advantages across almost all aspects of their business. Lower sourcing, production and transportation costs: With better insight and decisions around demand, sourcing and logistics, companies can choose the best options based on a comprehensive strategy, to minimize costs while serving the most profitable markets. Reduced administrative overhead: Unified networks streamline trade compliance documentation and automate many labor-intensive import/export and scheduling tasks. Better matching of supply to demand: Integrated planning helps synchronize supply to shifting demand, thus, reducing waste throughout the network and offsetting tariff-related cost increases. While the financial impact of tariffs cannot be eliminated entirely, companies that invest in digital supply chain technologies can incorporate tariffs and other policies and factors into strategy and planning, better match supply to demand to boost sales, and reduce costs across the supply chain, thus, mitigating the impact of change. By having their partners on the network, they gain better insight into their supply chain costs and can respond earlier and faster to shifting conditions. The end-to-end supply chain simultaneously gains enhanced efficiency, speed, agility and resilience to adapt to whatever challenges emerge, whether trade-related or otherwise. As global trade continues to face disruption and be buffeted by constant change and uncertainty, the companies that thrive will be those that can see clearly, choose wisely, respond quickly and adapt continuously — capabilities that only fully connected supply chain networks can provide. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [How to reboot your supply chain and conquer the top 5 High-Tech challenges](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-to-reboot-your-supply-chain-and-conquer-the-top-5-high-tech-challenges) > Reboot your high-tech supply chain for success. Discover actionable strategies to overcome the top 5 challenges and build a more resilient and agile operation. Blog How to reboot your supply chain and conquer the top 5 High-Tech challenges How To Reboot Your Supply Chain and Conquer the Top 5 High-Tech Challenges Danielle Strouther , April 24, 2025 2 minute read The high-tech industry is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements and shifting consumer demands. As companies strive to stay competitive, they face several trends and challenges that require innovative solutions. Here, we explore the five biggest trends and challenges in the high-tech industry and how Blue Yonder's solutions can help overcome them. 1. Demand volatility and forecasting complexity The shift to cloud-based environments and the rise of XaaS models are significantly complicating demand forecasting. In 2024, the XaaS global market size reached $328 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.4% as more companies adopt these services over traditional on-premises IT infrastructure. By 2033, the global market is expected to reach $1,192.6 billion. The transition to cloud-based infrastructure and XaaS gives companies increased scalability and flexibility, but it also introduces volatility, as changes in one area can ripple through the entire system. Paired with increasingly unpredictable consumer behavior, driven by factors like social media trends, rapid product cycles and promotional activities; it’s become more difficult to anticipate demand accurately. Inaccurate forecasts lead to either excess inventory or stockouts, causing increased costs, an abundance of stock that cannot be sold, lost sales and customer dissatisfaction. Efficient inventory turnover is crucial in the fast-paced high-tech industry. To remain competitive, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must adapt by embracing advanced forecasting technologies and strategies that incorporate real-time data, AI and advanced analytics to improve accuracy in today’s dynamic market. $ 0 B The global XaaS market size in 2024 $ 0 B The expected XaaS global market size by 2033 0 % The expected CAGR growth rate of the XaaS global market 2. Rising supply costs and geopolitical issues The high-tech OEM landscape is facing a perfect storm. Political instability, unpredictable weather patterns and cutthroat competition for critical parts are all contributing to the escalating cost of goods. Add to this the complexity of advanced chip design, prone to low yields and recalls, and the volatility of global tensions and tariffs, and you have a recipe for supply chain mayhem. The recent chip shortage, a stark reminder of supply chain fragility, is a ghost that continues to haunt the industry. While production has somewhat stabilized, new threats loom. Export restrictions on key materials from China such as gallium and germanium, and a critical shortage of skilled engineers threaten to reignite supply disruptions. According to the SIA, the industry is projected to grow by more than 115,000 jobs by 2030, with 67,000 jobs at risk of being unfilled. In response, OEMs are rethinking their strategies. In a survey of more than 1,000 executives at companies with U.S. operations,  94% are planning a direct investment in nearshoring or onshoring, aiming to regain control and build resilient supply chains. However, location is only part of the solution. A truly agile and integrated supply chain is paramount. Siloed departments are obsolete; real-time data, AI-powered forecasting and the ability to pivot rapidly are essential. Demand and supply planning must be tightly linked to optimize manufacturing capacity and maximize returns on investment, creating an environment where OEMs anticipate disruptions rather than reacting to them. Create an agile supply chain despite new tariffs Building a more agile supply chain is necessary for companies across all industries. And with all the tariffs changing how supply chains produce and ship their products, now is the best time to start. Discover More 3. Short product lifecycles and rapid innovation Rapid technological innovation is shrinking product lifecycles to mere blinks. Companies have to churn out groundbreaking products with unprecedented agility to seize market share and meet the insatiable appetites of today's consumers. The quest for efficiency often leads manufacturers to adopt the "pearl chain" model. This approach aims to create an optimal production sequence, maximizing resource utilization and ensuring a consistent, predictable production plan. Once "frozen," the pearl chain provides a seemingly foolproof schedule. However, demand spikes, rush orders and unexpected supply chain disruptions can shatter even the most meticulously planned pearl chain. This rigidity, designed for stability, becomes a liability in a world defined by constant change. Instead, companies need agile and flexible supply chains. This means: Embracing flexibility: moving away from rigid, linear models and adopting dynamic, adaptable systems that can respond to real-time changes Investing in real-time visibility: gaining complete transparency across the supply chain, enabling quick identification and resolution of potential disruptions Leveraging data and artificial intelligence (AI): utilizing advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to forecast demand, optimize production schedules and make informed decisions Building strong supplier relationships: fostering collaborative partnerships with suppliers to ensure responsiveness and flexibility Rapid innovation may also increase the need for modular design, which allows for configuring and adapting products for faster iterations and customization. 4. Sustainability and circular supply chains Companies are increasingly looking to refurbish and repurpose products to reduce waste and meet ambitious sustainability goals. Circularity, the concept of keeping resources in use for as long as possible, is rapidly becoming a key focus. This shift is significantly accelerated by increasingly stringent government recycling and reuse targets and legislation such as “right to repair” legislation, which mandates that technology manufacturers provide consumers with the tools, parts and information necessary to repair their devices and extend product lifecycles. This trend is also being driven by consumer demand, as our latest survey reveals that 78% of consumers consider sustainability considerations as important when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer. More importantly, nearly 65% are willing to spend more money on sustainable products, and 62% would favor a retailer offering more sustainable delivery options. While the demand for sustainability is clear, implementing circular supply chains presents a significant challenge. Achieving true circularity requires unparalleled visibility and collaboration across the entire supply chain. This is crucial to ensure efficient resource use and minimize waste. Companies must invest in technologies and processes that enable them to track materials, optimize product lifecycles, and facilitate the return and reuse of products. What’s more, this strategy must also be strategically integrated with broader corporate ESG goals, requiring supply chain planners to balance environmental responsibility with fiscal prudence and robust corporate governance. This holistic approach ensures that sustainability initiatives are not only environmentally sound but also contribute to long-term business value. What do consumers really think about sustainability? Learn why only 20% of consumers trust brand sustainability claims. Explore the detailed results of our 2025 survey for critical insights. See The Results 5. Integration and visibility across supply chains The high-tech industry is a complex n-tier supply chain ecosystem, that frequently outsources to Contract Manufacturers (CMs) and Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) providers. This creates a web of dependencies that demands meticulous planning and seamless collaboration to ensure the consistent flow of raw materials and component parts needed for final product assembly. Visibility into stock levels across all suppliers within the n-tier structure is vital. This enables companies to proactively address potential supply gaps arising from demand spikes or supplier disruptions. Without this visibility, companies can face a cascade of inefficiencies and inflated costs, potentially causing production lines to grind to a halt, leading to costly delays and lost revenue. To overcome these challenges, high-tech companies must implement supply chain management systems that provide end-to-end visibility, foster closer relationships with suppliers and CM/EMS partners, and leverage data analytics to anticipate and mitigate potential disruptions. By bridging the visibility gap and fostering seamless collaboration, companies can transform their n-tier supply chains from a liability into a strategic advantage. Stay ahead and react faster than the market with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder has helped companies in the high-tech industry reduce planning effort by 30%, increase forecast accuracy by 15% and achieve a 200-basis point increase in profit margins. Enable agility, speed and efficiency with: AI-powered demand and supply planning. Our AI-driven platform delivers real-time insights and predictive analytics, enabling you to optimize demand forecasting and supply planning, minimizing stockouts and excess inventory. End-to-end supply chain visibility. Gain complete control with industry-leading multi-tier supplier visibility, allowing you to respond swiftly to disruptions and optimize costs across your entire network. Agile inventory management. Align product delivery with evolving lifecycles, supporting rapid innovation and reducing waste through flexible and responsive inventory management. Sustainability and circular supply chains . Facilitate the recapture and repurposing of older equipment with our returns solutions, driving circular supply chain practices and achieving your sustainability goals. Integrated business planning . Break down silos with a unified approach to planning and execution, enhancing collaboration and efficiency across all supply chain functions. Ready to turn disruption into opportunity? Find out more about how Blue Yonder can guide your journey in supply chain excellence here. Power up a more responsive supply chain Stay ahead of the curve with cutting-edge solutions designed for the high-tech industry. Discover how Blue Yonder helps you build a resilient, agile, and efficient supply chain. Discover More ### [How consumer habits are changing in grocery, and how to react](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/how-consumer-habits-are-changing-in-grocery-and-how-to-react) > Discover the latest shifts in grocery consumer habits and gain actionable insights on how retailers can adapt their strategies to meet evolving demands and drive future success. Blog How consumer habits are changing in grocery, and how to react New page Ethan Morgan , June 12, 2025 2 minute read Economic turbulence, years of unusually high inflation and even political events are causing significant shifts in consumer behavior. Grocery prices across categories have risen by nearly 30% since 2019 , and uncertainty around the future of the economy has caused a big drop in consumer confidence in their future financial position, which is down by 30% since November 2024. As a result, price sensitivity is on the rise: 88% of consumers expressed frustration with high prices across categories . So, what does that mean for grocery shopper behavior, and how should grocery retailers react? What it means for shopper behavior In times of uncertainty, rising prices and falling consumer confidence, we should expect a lot to change when consumers go shopping. Firstly, falling confidence typically indicates shoppers will refocus their spending onto essentials. Groceries usually benefit to some extent from this, as people are less likely to dine out and more likely to save money by cooking at home. However, at the same time, nonessentials like alcohol within the grocery category are likely to see reduced demand as shoppers reprioritize their budgets. Similarly, as consumers become more value conscious, they’re less likely to one-stop-shop, and more likely to visit multiple retailers to get the best value for money. That’s an example of how brand loyalty declines significantly when price sensitivity increases. 57% of consumers say they prioritize saving money over brand loyalty, 45% of consumers are willing to shop at a different store to find those savings and 57% say stores have to offer savings to retain their loyalty ( RRD ). 0 % of consumers expressed frustration with high prices across categories 0 % rise in grocery prices across categories by 2019 0 % of customers prioritize saving money over brand loyalty Another effect of increased price sensitivity is a shift towards private labels, as consumers begin “trading down”—a key phenomenon in grocery retail when shoppers are more price-sensitive and looking for value. It’s worth noting that trading down doesn’t usually mean a jump from the premium brands in a category to the cheapest option available. Instead consumers are more likely to move downwards in bands, so from premium to midmarket or midmarket to value brands, and from name brands to private labels. Some categories are more resistant to trading down, where consumers have greater brand loyalty to say, their favorite coffee brand, and might stay the course for that name brand, in spite of price increases relative to alternatives. Private labels offer an opportunity for grocery retailers to shore up their own brand loyalty. McKinsey found that retailers where private label sales are above average (as a percentage of the retailer’s total sales) are nearly three times more likely to gain market share. Turning private labels into so-called private brands, not just cheaper but competitive on quality and with points of difference to name brands, represents a huge opportunity for grocery retailers, allowing them to capture market share with price-conscious consumers, building brand loyalty. Finally, shoppers may make impulse purchases less frequently, use more coupons and purchase in bulk more often in their search for great value. What can grocery retailers do to succeed in a price-sensitive and competitive market? Grocery retailers need to be prepared to react rapidly to changing consumer behavior. To do that, they need three things: A strategy for cost-conscious consumers A real-time picture of what’s happening The ability to rapidly act on that information The traceable future of grocery starts here Dive deep into the transformative power of traceability and uncover why it's the foundational future for smarter, more sustainable, and trustworthy grocery retail. Discover More Strategies for winning in uncertain times No two retailers will have an identical approach to winning over shoppers in this period when brand loyalty is declining and consumer sentiment is anxious. However, they will all need a plan to effectively utilize promotions, driving additional foot traffic with minimal margin erosion. They’ll need to identify the products that act as drivers of value perception and ensure that they’re competitive on these key items and categories. They’ll also be able to compete more effectively on price and retain greater margins by reducing waste and improving the efficiency of their supply chains. Getting visibility into demand Grocery retailers will need an always up-to-date, granular view of demand . Having an excellent strategy depends on understanding shopper’s habits and being able to predict how they will change. Executing a great strategy can’t be done on a one-size-fits-all basis, either. Having real-time store-level demand data allows retailers to refine their assortment and replenishment in a way that will fit the needs of individual stores, reduce overstock and waste, and prevent out-of-stocks. Rapid action as the picture changes Retailers who can move quickly will benefit significantly, because consumer sentiment and shopper behavior continues to change fast. Having the technological ability to seamlessly connect demand data to assortment planning and space planning allows leading grocers to adjust assortment planning in a fraction of the time it takes when those systems are siloed, and they can do so knowing that the data their decisions are based on is up-to-date and accurate to the store and SKU level. Failing to move quickly in response to changes in demand means retailers risk ending up with excess inventory, unprofitable promotions and reduced customer loyalty. Discover how organic supermarket chain Alnatura grew revenues, reduced out-of-stocks and overstocks with Blue Yonder’s intelligent planning solutions for grocery retail. Discover how Alnature grew revenues by 4% with Blue Yonder Find out how supermarket Alnatura achieved a 29% reduction in overstocks, a 6% decrease in out-of-stocks and a 4% revenue increase for fresh foods using Blue Yonder’s intelligent planning solutions for grocery retail. Read The Case Study ### [Dont Look Now but Your Returned Products Are Aging](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/dont-look-now-but-your-returned-products-are-aging) > Time is money for returned items. Discover strategies to quickly get merchandise back in stock and avoid declining profit margins. Blog Don’t look now, but your returned products are aging Dont Look Now but Your Returned Products Are Aging Mike Richmond , May 22, 2025 Everyone knows returns are a huge problem for retailers. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), $890 billion in merchandise was returned in 2024 alone. Even more sobering, research shows that only 47% of returned items are resold at full price. Of the remaining number, 42% of returns are sold at a reduced price—and 12% of returned products are never resold at all. In 2023, unsold returns generated 8.4 billion pounds of landfill waste. It’s easy to focus on the big, aggregate numbers associated with product returns. But the problem begins at the level of the individual item. Maybe a high volume of returns is inevitable in today’s consumer-centric, omni-channel retail landscape. But what can retailers do better to ensure that each returned item is processed and back into available inventory quickly—increasing the chance for a full-price resale? $ 0 B in merchandise was returned in 2024. 0 % of returned items are resold at full price 0 B pounds of landfill waste generated by unsold returns in 2023. A day—or month—in the life of a product return Let’s look at the typical journey of a returned e-commerce product that’s being shipped back to the warehouse. If the consumer is an influencer posting their fashion haul on TikTok or a serial returner , the merchandise might be held until the last possible day designated on the retailer’s online return policy. Then the consumer slaps a label on the package and puts it on their front porch for pickup, or drops it off with a carrier. Meanwhile, up to 30 days have passed. No one at the warehouse knows the product is being returned. If it’s a trendy item, it might be out-of-stock online now, and potential buyers have been turned away. The inventory aging process is already well under way for this item. When the product finally shows up at the warehouse, a small, dedicated team is probably tasked with handling returns. Team members are typically overwhelmed and overworked, because no one knows how many returns will be arriving on a given day. If it’s a busy week, packages may sit for days before they’re even opened. Meanwhile, consumers are waiting for their refunds, decreasing their satisfaction With no standardized process to guide them, team members open packages, then assess the condition of merchandise using their own judgment. It’s contingent on them to recognize clothing that’s been worn, broken or damaged products, missing tags, incorrect items in the package, or other cases of returns fraud . They may have to match thousands of SKUs with different return rules and policies—which is not only time-consuming, but also nearly impossible to accomplish with 100% accuracy. Next, products that are deemed sellable land in a big pile of similar returned merchandise. It might take additional days for these products to be sorted, repackaged, reshelved in the warehouse, marked as available on the website and ready for resale. That big pile is taking up valuable physical space in the warehouse, and the products in it are getting even older. It might take a total of 40-50 days from the time of the original delivery to get returned products back into inventory. With every passing day, the chance of a full-price resale—or any resale at all—plummets. How can retail warehouses do better? This all-too-common scenario begs the question: How can retailers optimize their warehouse returns processes to maximize resale opportunities and margins, while also minimizing landfill waste? The answer lies in digitalization. Returns management software can help retailers enable consistent, standardized processes across the end-to-end returns journey that increases speed, visibility and the potential for a full-price resale. Imagine if the returns journey looked different, supported by a rules-enabled digital process—complete with intelligent tools, policies and checklists. With return labels in the original package eliminated, retailers not only reduce costs and paper waste, but they also increase their own awareness and control. When the consumer goes online to start the returns process, the retailer knows the merchandise is coming back, as well as its condition. And, when the consumer scans the item at a kiosk, the retailer knows exactly when the product will arrive at the warehouse. Now the warehouse can schedule the appropriate number of employees in advance, based on actual returns volumes. Popular merchandise can be relisted online immediately, with a get-by date that allows for receipt, processing, and re-delivery. The returns journey is accelerated and informed via modern software. At the warehouse, returns processing is also faster, guided by a standardized process and agreed-upon checklists. Employee burnout is replaced with energy and efficiency. Team members opening packages know exactly what should be in every package and can quickly confirm it, based on rules and not best guesses. Products that are in demand, and perhaps already promised to another consumer, are prioritized. Refunds can be issued immediately and automatically. With plenty of staff resources in place, merchandise is turned around quickly and back in available inventory. It’s fresh, in good condition and still relevant to consumers. Waste and costs are significantly reduced, while revenues and customer satisfaction are maximized. Is this new social media trend influencing your retail margins? We shed light on the costly trend fueled by fast fashion and influencer culture - and the actionable strategies you need to know to minimize returns, optimize your reverse logistics, and boost your profitability. Discover More Returns management is complex. Blue Yonder simplifies it. With billions of dollars in product returns each year, it’s easy to see why retailers are overwhelmed with the challenge of effectively managing them. That’s where Blue Yonder comes in. We’ve applied intelligence, connectivity and process standardization to streamline and  accelerate the end-to-end returns journey. Retailers have greater visibility and control at every stage. It’s a simple and obvious fact: The longer returns sit around in the warehouse, the less likely they are to be resold. So it’s surprising that less than half of retailers (47%) are leveraging modern software to optimize returns. And many are just using digitalization to improve the customer experience, not their own internal processes. Why not explore Blue Yonder’s proven solutions to manage the end-to-end returns process, from online returns and drop-off kiosks to returns orchestration and processing? Easy to launch and maintain, Blue Yonder software solves the problem of aging returns and gets products back into selling mode while they’re still fresh and in-demand. Don’t let that pile of returns in your warehouse get even one day older. Contact Blue Yonder today and reinvigorate your returns process. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Three Key Takeaways From the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/three-key-takeaways-from-the-gartner-supply-chain-symposium) > Discover the top three takeaways from the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™ that will help you optimize your supply chain strategy for resilience and growth. Blog Three key takeaways from the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™ Three Key Takeaways From the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Jennifer Brox , May 27, 2025 3 minute read Recently a team from Blue Yonder traveled to the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™ 2025 , joining over 4,000 chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) and other executives in Orlando, Fla. This year’s conference theme was “Disruption Ready. Futured-Focused. Value-Driven.” In keeping with that theme, keynotes and sessions focused on preparing for supply chain volatility, mitigating risk, mastering disruptions and ensuring future readiness via digital transformation. The reason for this focus was clear: According to a recent Gartner® survey , only 29% of organizations have built the necessary capabilities to deliver on future performance. So how can supply chain teams best leverage technology to prepare more effectively for a future characterized by volatility and disruption? The Blue Yonder team identified three key themes that emerged over the multi-day conference. To build resilience via digitalization, organizations need to: Initiate change from the top. Supply chain executives play a crucial role in fostering innovation by identifying and rewarding early adopters within their organizations. By doing so, they create a culture that embraces and accelerates change. Tailor artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. In the rapidly evolving tech landscape, it’s essential to choose AI solutions that align with the organization’s specific goals. Strategic implementation ensures that technology serves as a powerful tool for achieving real objectives. Embrace the “never normal.” The concept of a stable “new normal” is becoming increasingly obsolete. Instead, organizations must learn to innovate and thrive amid constant change. Embracing this mindset enables resilience and agility in the face of uncertainty. Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these key takeaways. How can supply chain teams check all these boxes and get future-ready—while still meeting daily deadlines and managing today’s pressing challenges? It all begins with leadership—and investment As the conference kicked off, Ken Chadwick, Distinguished VP of Advisory in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, emphasized the importance of executive buy-in and support in his keynote address. “Supply chain is viewed today as both a top risk and opportunity among CEOs,” said Chadwick. “Supply chain can be a positive catalyst for growth if CSCOs match their ambitions with focused investments in areas including tech adoption, commercial innovation and developing the most critical capabilities that are yet unrealized within their own teams.” Across thousands of Blue Yonder customers, we’ve witnessed the proven value of digitalization to cut costs, improve efficiency and achieve other key operational outcomes, while also making employees’ jobs easier and more satisfying. But change is rarely embraced quickly or easily by supply chain teams. For that reason, digital transformation must be coupled with a cultural transformation that’s championed by leadership. While cultural change is never simple, Chadwick had some practical advice that dovetails with the experiences of our Blue Yonder Advisory & Transformation Services team. In short, executives can more successfully introduce digitalization by partnering with change management experts. “The best organizations at digital adoption encourage their teams to see newly introduced technologies as part of an ongoing transition, rather than an isolated change,” said Chadwick. “Supply chain digital leaders are more likely to organize around new technologies, adopt digital centers of excellence, and leverage change leaders and strategic change management experts.” Blue Yonder named a leader for the 14th consecutive time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for WMS Discover More Use AI to achieve targeted, specific objectives AI is readily accessible to just about every business today, but the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™ served as a reminder that it needs to be applied thoughtfully and strategically. During the three-day event, many sessions focused on the topic of AI. A common theme across the Symposium’s AI-focused sessions? Supply chain teams need to begin with the value proposition, the end benefits that AI can produce—instead of launching general, vague AI initiatives across the supply chain. Is forecasting accuracy a critical challenge? What about excess inventory? Or transportation agility and cost control? The best strategy is to begin with a crucial challenge, master it with AI, build credibility and move on to the next challenge. We were excited to see our customer Micron lead a session called “AI and Sustainable Supply Chains: Micron’s Transformative Approach.” Matt Draper, Senior Director of Supply Chain Optimization, discussed how Micron leverages AI to boost efficiency, cut costs, and speed up operations amid geopolitical uncertainties and tariff challenges. Micron is focusing on the future by using AI thoughtfully to improve its sustainability, resilience and planning accuracy—key challenges in the semiconductor industry. At Blue Yonder, we’ve seen customers like Micron leverage our end-to-end solutions to achieve a range of practical benefits in every supply chain competency and function. AI can also form the foundation for closer collaboration and partnership across functions, as well as across the network, for greater overall supply chain speed, agility and resilience. But every AI implementation must look different, targeting the specific challenges, risks, opportunities and goals of every supply chain. It only makes sense to begin with the desired destination, then use AI to make the journey smarter, faster and ultimately more successful. Transform volatility into a competitive edge Remember a few years ago, when everyone was anticipating the return of a relatively stable supply chain environment called the “new normal”? As we’ve all gradually realized, stability is not returning. Instead, we need to embrace the “never normal”—and design supply chains for agility and resilience in the face of uncertainty. Digital solutions from Blue Yonder are purpose-built to increase real-time, end-to-end visibility, identify exceptions and drive an orchestrated resolution across the supply chain. We were gratified to see our customer Sandisk Corporation, a leader in semiconductor memory technology, lead a session on its supply chain transformation enabled by Blue Yonder planning solutions. The session—called “Blue Yonder: Insights From Sandisk on Building Agile, Dynamic and Resilient Supply Chains”—was led byAshish Rastogi, Senior Director of Global Supply Chain Management at Sandisk. He discussed how the company reimagines demand, inventory, supply planning and S&OP processes to deliver unique business value to customers. Despite geopolitical and trade disruptions, Sandisk is gaining an edge by transforming its supply chain with advanced Blue Yonder technology. Sandisk has achieved impressive results with Blue Yonder software, including 10% improvement in its safety-stock and on-time delivery metrics, as well as a 95% performance level in fulfilling its delivery commitments. Clearly this semiconductor leader is using digital planning innovation to increase its disruption readiness. Become more future-focused with Blue Yonder While the conference theme focused on disruption and volatility, the Blue Yonder team left Orlando excited and inspired about the potential of digitalization to master those challenges. We are proud to have been named a Leader in Three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports.  You may access the reports here . We’d love to continue the discussions we began at the Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium | Xpo™. Why not reach out to us today to get a conversation started? GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, MAGIC QUADRANT and SUPPLY CHAIN SYMPOSIUM/XPO are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Integrate returns into your supply chain to minimize costs, maximize resales](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/integrate-returns-into-your-supply-chain-to-minimize-costs-maximize-resales) > Unlock hidden profits in returns by discovering how integrating reverse logistics into your supply chain can dramatically minimize costs and maximize resale opportunities for your business. Blog Integrate returns into your supply chain to minimize costs, maximize resales Integrate Returns Into Your Supply Chain to Minimize Costs Maximize Resales Mike Richmond , May 27, 2025 3 minute read No one in the retail industry questions the strategic and financial value of forward logistics. Retailers have rightly invested billions of dollars in creating optimized transportation and distribution networks dedicated to getting products to the right place, at the right time. But reverse logistics—managing the journey of returned products—has historically received much less investment and attention. That’s changing, as product returns represented $890 billion in value in 2024 alone , or 16.9% of retailers’ sales for the year. The majority of retailers are taking steps to manage this problem. Most are trying to minimize the number of returns—via tight returns windows , fees for returning merchandise or the use of virtual fitting rooms that help consumers choose the right apparel size. But a Blue Yonder survey found these changes are largely ineffective in reducing the number of returns. While our study found 89% of retailers have changed their policies to minimize returns, 59% of those companies actually saw an increase, not a decrease, in returns following those changes. Strict return policies can also reduce revenues by keeping shoppers from making a purchase in the first place. When Blue Yonder surveyed consumers, we found that 59% of shoppers are deterred by a restrictive returns policy. Blue Yonder applauds any action retailers take to address the problem of product returns. But, in our view, most retailers are applying discipline and control in the wrong place—at the point of sale. The solution lies not in reducing returns upfront, but managing them better when they inevitably happen. Stop treating reverse logistics as an afterthought Just how big is the financial impact of returns for your business? If you’re a $5 billion retailer with 50% of your sales made online—and an industry-average 30% return rate —you have a $750 million returns problem. Let that sink in. If you presented that number to the C-level executives in your organization, would they agree that they’ve dramatically underinvested in this area? And would they recognize that it’s worth investing in optimizing those returns to increase their resell likelihood and value—and ultimately mitigating those losses? Imagine, for just a moment, what would happen if your organization—and every retailer—treated reverse logistics with the same level of focus and investment as forward logistics. What if retailers applied best-in-class digital solutions, created real-time visibility across the returns cycle, optimized returns transportation and labor, dramatically cut costs, and significantly improved service? What if they fully integrated reverse logistics into the end-to-end supply chain, creating a digital closed loop across a returned product’s 360-degree journey? This scenario might sound unrealistic, especially when you consider that only 47% of retailers are using any kind of digital solution to manage returns today—and most of those are aimed at optimizing the consumer’s experience. But Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions are making this ambitious closed-loop vision a reality for leading retailers every day. In most organizations, the returns management process exists outside the traditional forward-moving supply chain—supported by disconnected, specialized tools, processes and teams. But Blue Yonder customers have successfully integrated reverse logistics into their end-to-end, closed-loop supply chains, managed by solutions, processes and data that are fully connected with the larger operational  footprint. Because Blue Yonder’s retail solutions are fully interoperable, our returns management software can be integrated with every other relevant system—including inventory management and warehouse management tools—no matter the vendor. Real-time, end-to-end connectivity creates a powerful advantage as retailers strive to not only cut reverse logistics costs, but also maximize the chance for a product to be resold at full price. Returns still pose a significant challenge for U.S. retailers Blue Yonder research shows that while retailers have tightened their policies over the past 12 months, consumer returns are still increasing. Discover More Create a closed loop—and grow both margins and revenues When a consumer initiates a return, interoperable digital solutions enable immediate visibility of that action. If the product is coming back to a distribution center, its transportation journey can be optimized for cost and speed. Labor and other resources can be ready to receive returns when they arrive. Merchandise can be quickly assessed, using predefined processes and rules, and high-demand items can quickly be placed back into sellable inventory. In contrast, traditional, highly manual returns processes are characterized by blind spots and delays. No one realizes a return is coming until it suddenly shows up at a warehouse or store. Overworked employees are asked to apply their own judgment in assessing each item’s condition and dispositioning it. Piles of returned merchandise sit stagnant, as margins plummet and inventory ages. That trendy item may not be so trendy by the time it’s available for repurchase. Digitalization via Blue Yonder software turns that problematic scenario on its head. From the moment of returns initiation to reshelving sellable products, Blue Yonder solutions are purpose-built to make the end-to-end process faster, more efficient and more profitable. As Blue Yonder software automates workflows and captures real-time data at key touchpoints, retailers gain complete visibility into the journey of returned merchandise. That means they can make faster, higher-quality decisions. They can manage the labor, transportation and other resources needed to process returns at a new, more exacting level of detail. They can distinguish damaged or old merchandise from a top seller—and act accordingly at every step. This level of visibility, control, accuracy and speed is only possible when retailers leverage advanced technology that’s able to scale and integrate effortlessly with existing systems. That’s the Blue Yonder advantage, and we’ve invested aggressively to create it. Optimize forward and reverse logistics with Blue Yonder If you’re a retailer struggling with the nearly trillion-dollar challenge of product returns, what are you waiting for? Tweaking policies and improving the e-commerce interface can only go so far in addressing the problem of returns. Instead, you need to recognize reverse logistics as an integral part of the modern omni-channel supply chain, and make it a key part of your overall digital footprint. Blue Yonder makes it simple, with proven solutions that help leading retailers optimize the entire, end-to-end, closed-loop supply chain. It’s easy to look at the returns challenge and feel overwhelmed and powerless. But it’s equally easy to contact Blue Yonder and start taking some of your power back. It may be hard to control the consumer’s decision to return—but, with Blue Yonder, you can control what happens next. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Omnichannel fulfillment should make your inventory smarter. But is it?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/omnichannel-fulfillment-should-make-your-inventory-smarter-but-is-it) > Is your omnichannel strategy truly optimizing inventory? Discover if your fulfillment approach is making your inventory smarter and learn how to achieve real-time accuracy and efficiency. Blog Omnichannel fulfillment should make your inventory smarter. But is it? Omnichannel Fulfillment Should Make Your Inventory Smarter But Is It Ethan Morgan , May 28, 2025 2 minute read Consumer shopping habits and the pandemic have complicated what used to be a simple-to-draw distinction between online and offline shopping. The ecommerce site was treated like a big virtual store with distribution centers (DCs) acting as the backroom. These orders were handled totally separately to store fulfillment and replenishment. That made inventory management of these channels simpler and separate. Now though, we have new options for ecommerce customers: Buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) comes in two flavors: The order is still fulfilled by a DC but is sent to a store to be collected The order is fulfilled within the store, from the store’s stock Some online orders may be fulfilled using store stock, because it’s closer to customers and allows retailers to offer a shorter delivery time even if the customer isn’t coming to the store to collect With these journeys, the boundary between online and offline is blurred, and inventory management has to be more intelligent to keep track of what’s happening, particularly as customer expectations around delivery times, product selection and availability have continually increased since these offerings first became widespread during the pandemic. The issues with order fulfillment The sourcing aspect—deciding which inventory to use to fulfill an order—has become more sophisticated as retailers develop their operations and offerings in this space. More and more, retailers are able to match orders against local inventory in stores, or use stores with an excess of inventory for a certain SKU or line to fulfill ecommerce orders. However, they’re often using localized, custom-built or stopgap solutions for inventory visibility across their stores and distribution centers. Those solutions frequently lack the scale and responsiveness to match the volume and frequency of orders, and to intelligently source inventory to fulfill those orders. Even where inventory decisioning is in place and retailers are able to execute order fulfillment intelligently, based on business rules, these tools almost never close the loop between execution and planning. That leads to huge problems with managing inventory levels at scale across a network of stores and DCs. Sourcing inventory intelligently is good, but it’s only step one. Is omnichannel crushing your margins? E-commerce's explosive growth creates immense logistics pressure. Unpack the real challenges of fulfillment and returns, and learn how to maintain profitability and service in our blog. Discover More Demand-awareness and inventory management Planning systems rely on an understanding of demand in given areas to determine where to locate inventory, and how much to put there. Sourcing inventory from stores to fulfill ecommerce orders is great, but it can confuse the picture of demand that planning systems receive. That’s because when they’re given historical inventory data, planning systems don’t see where demand truly originates, only where orders are fulfilled from. For example, if you had excess inventory in a store, you might have decided to prioritize that location for ecommerce order fulfillment to correct the overstock. That doesn’t mean there’s truly lots of demand for that SKU in that store region. But to the planning system that is only aware of fulfillment and historical performance, a large amount of inventory in that location sold through, suggesting demand and inventory were actually correctly matched. Instead of solving the overstock issue, your planning system replicates it the next time you replenish. Closing the loop between planning and execution Intelligent inventory decisioning is not just about being able to identify the right source of inventory for a given order – it’s about efficient planning systems where stock is replenished at fulfillment nodes where true demand exists and tailor future inventory placement accordingly. So in our example, the order management and inventory decisioning triggers a planning update, where the planning solution is informed about the geographical basis of those ecommerce orders to understand where the demand actually originates. Intelligent planning can then adjust future inventory levels to place more inventory closer to customer demand, preventing the overstock issues and making it possible to offer faster fulfillment times to customers thanks to having the right products closer to them. This feedback process doesn’t only work on outbound orders, either. Returned inventory is a huge challenge for retailers and it too requires an end-to-end approach. Bundling returns into DCs for processing and sorting is a straightforward method but results in massive wastage and loss of value. If retailers understand what the returns are before they physically arrive, they can disposition them intelligently straight away, turning returned inventory into rapid replenishment for local stores where demand is high. To do so, retailers must start investing resources in ensuring that inventory planning factors in the most efficient fulfillment considerations when making replenishment decisions. – to understand where inventory is most needed, and which inventory is in high demand, and preventing overlaps – i.e. putting a bunch of returns into a store that is about to be replenished, creating overstock. Making better inventory decisions is hugely valuable – see how Blue Yonder customer Walgreens was able to offer 30-minute order pickups with Blue Yonder’s order management microservices, and ensure that inventory planning improved over time too, regardless of where orders were fulfilled from. Discover how Walgreens delivered on its 30 minute promise with Blue Yonder With over 200 million item/store combinations, Walgreens needed a powerful solution to serve 9 million customers daily. Learn how they leveraged Blue Yonder to achieve real-time visibility, incredible efficiency, and a 30-minute delivery promise. Read The Case Study ### [Warehouse Labor & Automation: Creating Synergy for Success](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/warehouse-labor-automation-creating-synergy-for-success) > Transform your warehouse operations. Explore strategies for combining human expertise with automation to unlock greater efficiency, enhance productivity, and achieve lasting success. Blog Warehouse labor & automation: creating synergy for success Warehouse Labor & Automation: Creating Synergy for Success Clint Reiser , May 28, 2025 2 minute read Every organization is under enormous pressure to increase warehouse productivity and improve efficiency in today’s labor-constrained environment. The solution many companies are looking toward? Warehouse automation. The global market for warehouse automation is expected to grow from $26.5 billion in 2024 to $115.8 billon by 2034 , representing an annual growth rate of 15.9%. This high level of investment makes good business sense. Blue Yonder has helped many customers achieve cost, efficiency, accuracy and speed gains by embracing automation and robotics in their distribution centers (DC). However, not all warehouse automation projects achieve their desired outcomes. While automation can increase efficiency and reduce variable costs, a certain level of task volume and uniformity is typically necessary to obtain the benefits. One solution is the range of new flexible automation that can benefit the average enterprise that has more varied tasks and work volumes. Flexible automation also helps address the challenge of market and demand volatility, which is only increasing. As future warehouse resource requirements become less predictable, flexible automation has become more sought-after for its ability to support a broader range of needs, at lower volumes and a lower level of capital investment. In specifying and installing flexible DC automation, however, organizations need to recognize that people are more adaptable than even the most flexible automation system. Even in today’s age of digitalization and robotics, human workers are still ideal for complex processes that require flexibility and adaptability. At Blue Yonder, we believe the secret to warehouse optimization lies in determining the proper mix and application of automation, labor and technology to achieve the desired performance for each specific warehouse operation. A holistic approach—guided by business objectives, informed by operational assessments and measured by financial impact—maximizes the probability of success for warehouse transformation efforts. Job one: assess your operations to gain efficiency insights The first step in optimizing warehouse automation? Blue Yonder recommends a thorough evaluation of people, processes and technology to gain a thorough understanding of your current practices and opportunities for improvement. Companies like DSC Logistics have achieved significant operations improvements and financial benefits by not only establishing efficient manual processes, but leveraging those insights to adopt automation in a strategic, targeted way thereafter. By taking a process flow perspective, companies can determine how each warehouse activity impacts the cost or performance of complementary tasks within the broader warehouse landscape. This approach uncovers opportunities to better coordinate tasks, sequence activities and implement more effective methods. An objective assessment can also uncover widespread inefficiencies—such as frequently performed tasks that are not performed optimally, impacting both cost and service. While the impact of discrete, repetitive tasks may appear minimal when viewed in isolation, small improvements across a high volume of daily activities can deliver substantial overall improvements. Expectations for a reasonable amount of change should also be included in the planning process to assure successful outcomes for a range of likely scenarios. A transformation project that is optimized for an outcome that doesn’t occur is clearly a suboptimal outcome in itself. Discover how DSC Logistics cut Labor costs by 20% Find out how Blue Yonder’s labor management managed to cut labor costs by a fifth across 50 distribution centers. Read The Case Study Next: make continuous improvement a way of life Another key success factor? Creating a culture of continuous improvement. Introducing a continuous improvement mindset enables ongoing productivity enhancements in DCs that are likely to experience shifts in fulfillment demands, resources and processes. Blue Yonder can help with this challenge as well. By embracing advanced technologies, warehouse teams can continuously implement process changes, manage successful improvement programs and integrate warehouse automation into existing processes. Solutions such as Blue Yonder Labor Management provide visibility into labor and robotics performance, uncovering opportunities for process and utilization improvements. When managing a hybrid environment with manual labor and automation, warehouse teams can also leverage Blue Yonder Warehouse Execution System to achieve real-time insights into workloads, resources and capacities. They can maximize overall performance through dynamic prioritization and increased resource utilization. Four keys to optimizing your results from automation In partnership with Connors Group. Blue Yonder recently published a white paper called “Navigating Technology Transformation: An Intelligent Approach to Warehouse Automation.” We encourage you to read the paper, which includes a detailed discussion of the success factors for a warehouse transformation initiative. Here are four key takeaways to keep in mind: Siloed approaches to automation are ineffective and short-sighted. Often, they deliver improvements in one area at the expense of performance in another. A skilled workforce remains essential to many warehouse functions. Scaling up automation can deliver big returns, but many tasks are still better suited to humans. A holistic approach to warehouse transformation is imperative. Taking a broad, strategic, well-considered approach provides immediate benefits, directs automation toward areas that will deliver the greatest return and establishes a foundation for continuous improvement. Emphasizing process flows, interdependencies and resource utilization drives big returns. Both human and automation resources deliver their full potential when they’re part of a strategic operations footprint. If you’re exploring warehouse automation, why not connect with Blue Yonder to maximize the rewards? With hundreds of customer success stories, we can provide the expertise you need. Boost warehouse productivity & efficiency with warehouse automation Stop guessing about the future of your warehouse and start implementing proven strategies. Download Now ### [Navigating Battery Demand in an Unpredictable EV Landscape](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-battery-demand-in-an-unpredictable-ev-landscape) > Stay ahead in the EV market. Explore the unpredictable landscape of EV battery needs, offering strategies to navigate supply chain challenges and secure your future. Blog Navigating battery demand in an unpredictable EV landscape Navigating Battery Demand in an Unpredictable EV Landscape Philipp Beisswenger , May 29, 2025 2 minute read A previous blog post focused on the numerous challenges posed to the world’s automotive manufacturers by demand uncertainty, particularly to electric vehicles (EVs). The uneven global adoption of EVs makes it difficult for automakers to get the product mix right by channel and region as they simultaneously manufacture internal combustion engine (ICE) models, EVs and hybrids. While EV demand volatility creates planning challenges across the supply chain, battery planning is especially fraught with complexity and risk. EV batteries get a lot of attention in the industry for their use of innovative materials, as well as manufacturers’ evolving designs and power technologies . Batteries are also in the headlines because their weight — 1000 pounds on average — is seen as a key engineering challenge. A heavier battery produces more power, but that weight also limits power efficiency and driving range. From a production planning perspective, batteries are seen as critical for yet another reason. With their high development costs, long lead times, use of scarce materials, and transportation challenges related to hazardous materials, weight and sustainability, batteries represent a critical piece of the automotive planning and production puzzle. If they forecast too high, automakers end up with incredibly expensive, heavy component inventories on hand that require special handling and storage. Worse, that inventory is aging quickly, as battery innovation picks up speed. If the forecast is too low, manufacturers miss sales opportunities in an industry that’s recently seen declining revenue and margin. Navigate volatile demand in the auto industry The automotive industry is in constant flux, with demand for ICEs, Hybrids, and EVs shifting unpredictably. Don't let volatility disrupt your business - discover the solution to survive here. Discover More Batteries are made to stock, in a make-to-order supply chain Compounding the problem of accurate EV planning and production? Automakers use two entirely different approaches to plan and manufacture EVs and their batteries. Most car and truck manufacturers — in partnership with their battery suppliers — use a make-to-stock, supply-driven approach for producing and sourcing EV batteries, based on the availability of scarce materials like lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt. Raw material supply forecasts, production capacities and supplier availability are the main constraints. The goal is to replenish EV battery inventories on a continuous basis, as they are used in finished vehicles. When batteries enter the traditional production planning process for vehicles, however, they’re now part of a demand-driven, discrete manufacturing operation. Batteries move into the production stream as cells, electronic components and finished packs, creating a slew of mixed production planning and component integration challenges. Their special handling requirements create practical and financial challenges during inbound transportation, storage at the production facility and vehicle assembly. The flow of batteries into EV production lines is the opposite of seamless, predictable and easily managed. The end result? The “push” of EV battery production rarely meets the “pull” of EV vehicle demand with any degree of precision. It’s easy to see how automotive manufacturers ended up in this predicament. The rare materials used in EV batteries are increasingly constrained, specifically due to geopolitical events like the Russia-Ukraine conflict. There’s a real sense among procurement specialists and battery production planners that this single constraint must necessarily drive EV manufacturing schedules and outputs. On the other hand, there’s no confidence that consumers will be waiting to buy an EV once it’s produced, complete with battery. While over a million EVs are sold in China every month , demand is lower and much less predictable in the rest of the world. Needed: A smarter way to match supply and demand It’s understandable why automakers began using this combined push- and pull-driven approach, which is often at odds with itself. But this dated approach is neither smart nor economically sustainable in today’s enormously volatile EV production landscape. Manufacturers can’t afford to keep stockpiling heavy, expensive and highly regulated batteries without a reasonable expectation that they will be incorporated into vehicles that will be sold immediately. So what’s the answer? At Blue Yonder, we strongly believe in a dynamic, integrated approach to production planning, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Imagine if all the digital capabilities needed to plan supply, demand, transportation, warehousing and production — for both components and finished vehicles — were integrated on the same platform. What if they shared the same real-time, end-to-end data? And what if this visibility extended beyond the automaker’s internal supply chain, to include key vendors and partners? In this idealized environment, planning, production and logistics would be intelligently orchestrated with one another. An exception at one supply chain node — like a battery material shortage, a halted assembly line or a drop in EV demand — would be recognized across the network. AI and ML would autonomously and immediately find an optimal solution, such as a new materials supplier, to keep supply and demand profitably and optimally balanced. To achieve this vision, automakers need to identify a technology partner who can coordinate the entire end-to-end supply chain — from sourcing to last-mile delivery — via a set of interoperable solutions, united on an edge-supported platform. In dynamically matching supply with demand, these AI-infused, interoperable solutions would ingest real-time data and apply advanced analytics to enable smarter decisions, faster responses and more connected, predictable outcomes. Every day, the headlines are filled with news on EV battery innovations. Recently, Panasonic , Stellantis , Ford , startup Slate , and Chinese giant CATL have announced big performance improvements and technology innovations. Despite the uncertain global demand for EVs, it’s clear that leading automakers and their suppliers are betting big, and investing heavily, in the future of vehicle electrification. It’s time they matched product innovation with an equally innovative, charged-up approach to supply chain planning and collaboration. It would be great to achieve the perfect EV battery design — but automotive supply chains still need to deliver it profitably and reliably to consumers as part of a finished vehicle. Drive greater performance and navigate today's challenges Discover Blue Yonder’s comprehensive capabilities for automakers that can help manage EV-related production uncertainty, as well as other supply chain challenges. Discover More Contact Us ### [Stop Shopping Around Master Your In-Store Returns With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/stop-shopping-around-master-your-in-store-returns-with-blue-yonder) > Tired of chaotic in-store returns? Discover how Blue Yonder helps retailers master their returns process, enhance customer experience, and streamline operations. Blog Stop shopping around—master your in-store returns with Blue Yonder Stop Shopping Around Master Your In-Store Returns With Blue Yonder Mike Richmond , June 13, 2025 1 minute read We’ve all experienced the real-world drawbacks of in-store product returns. With r eturn rates doubling since 2019 —and returned merchandise totaling $890 billion in 2024—we’ve all waited impatiently behind someone who’s making a lot of returns at the retail store. The only two people more stressed than those waiting in line? The retail employee who’s sorting through the growing pile of products, and the manager who’s been called from her lunch break to negotiate with the shopper over stains, 30-day deadlines and merchandise credits. The retailer is losing out too, as margins are already shrinking on that big pile of returned merchandise. Some of it might be resellable, some of it might not be. The employees don’t seem sure. As you continue to watch the scene slowly unfold, you think to yourself, “What if there were a better way?” Stop losing money on returns Don't let mounting returns eat into your profits. Learn how to work smarter, not harder, to efficiently re-sell products and transform a challenge into a revenue opportunity. Discover More Digitalizing in-store returns: a win-win-win scenario There is a better way. Advanced r eturns management software is purpose-built to create benefits for every stakeholder involved—the retail brand, the employee team and the shopper who’s returning merchandise. Digitalizing the in-store returns process to make it fast and frictionless represents a win-win-win. And, as a bonus, it also creates improved service, less cluttered stores and a better shopping experience for every other in-person consumer. How does returns digitalization work? Instead of being guided by manual processes, paperwork, employee judgment, personal negotiation skills and specialized decision-makers—who might be on their lunch break—digitalized returns management is based on technology, data, intelligence and well-defined processes. The in-store returns process is democratized as digitalization gives every employee the data and skillsets they need to master even the most complex or biggest batch of returns. By making returns management decisions based on data, precise process steps and well-defined rules, retailers and their employees can: Get popular merchandise back on the shelf quickly, at full price. When store employees scan returned merchandise, modern digital solutions provide a wealth of information, including whether the product is sold online or in stores, its current price and the precise location where it should be restocked in the store. Aging inventory and markdowns are minimized as products quickly make it back to the store shelf. Employee satisfaction increases as associates have a clear path to reshelve merchandise. Send each item to its correct destination in the inventory network. One of the biggest challenges of omni-channel returns is that items returned to the store might not actually belong in the store. Lacking data and visibility, confused employees might mark an online product down dramatically and shelve it in a department that seems to make the most sense, instead of sending back to an e-commerce warehouse—where it might have sold at full price. A Kansas City Chiefs football jersey might not sell successfully in Dallas, so digital tools send it to another store or a regional warehouse. Digitalization maximizes margins by giving employees clear, intelligent instructions on returns disposition. Recognize and address returns fraud. It’s not surprising that 54% of retail executives say fraudulent returns are their greatest challenge. In 2023, 13% of returns were fraudulent , accounting for a loss of $101 billion. For employees who aren’t well versed in the signs of fraud—such as fake receipts, missing tags or obviously worn clothing—digitalization provides discipline and structure. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), data science and advanced analytics, returns management software recognizes signs of fraud, even if retail employees don’t. Digital solutions use customer history, behavior and returns frequency data to detect suspicious activities, then personalize the returns experience based on those insights. Advanced technology empowers store associates to recognize and halt fraudulent returns transactions, reducing the incidence of loss. Automate the end-to-end returns process, for accuracy and speed. Retailers can maximize the contribution of digital solutions by having consumers initiate the return at home, on their own device, before actually visiting the store. At the store counter, a simple scan reveals the specific item, the customer details and the return reason. This informed perspective increases the speed and ease of performing manual returns in a busy retail store. Consumers are refunded faster, items are dispositioned faster, the retail queue moves faster. Employees can effectively focus on serving all shoppers, versus one. Is your business equipped to deal with rising returns fraud? Don't let clever fraudsters impact your profits; discover how recent surges in returns fraud is impacting retailers and what you can do about it. Discover More Buy. Return in-store. Buy something else. We haven’t even discussed one of the biggest benefits of streamlining and accelerating the in-store returns process via digitalization. Consumers who are able to accomplish their return quickly and easily—as well as receive a refund immediately—are much more likely to browse the store and purchase something else. Nearly three-quarters (70% percent) of shoppers report that they purchase more from a specific retail brand after having a positive returns experience there. While e-commerce is growing, 45% of consumers say they primarily shop in physical stores . Getting consumers in the door, even if they’re returning a product, is a huge opportunity to drive store traffic and additional sales. It’s an unfortunate fact that, driven by largely manual processes, today the cost of returns processing is around 30% of the product’s original price. Optimizing the in-store returns process not only drives that percentage down via improved speed and efficiency—but it also helps retailers recoup some of that cost with a brand new sale. What’s in store for retailers? Improved results, with Blue Yonder. That frustrating, tedious and highly manual returns process we described at the beginning of this blog post? Smart retailers are already making that scenario a thing of the past. Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions are helping them digitalize and optimize the end-to-end returns process, including in-store returns operations. Blue Yonder knows retail. In fact, every day the world’s leading retail brands run on our software. We understand the in-store returns process at a deep level—and we’ve improved and streamlined it with advanced intelligence, data science, real-time visibility and connectivity, and process standardization and automation. As the end-to-end returns journey becomes faster and more accurate, every stakeholder achieves a better and more satisfying outcome. Easy for store associates to learn and apply, Blue Yonder returns management software is a proven solution to the growing problem of merchandise returns. Stop browsing and start reaping the benefits. Reach out to Blue Yonder to learn more. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [It Takes a Network to Master Todays CPG Challenges](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/it-takes-a-network-to-master-todays-cpg-challenges) > Discover why CPG companies need to move beyond isolated operations and embrace a connected network approach to master today's complex challenges and drive success. Blog It takes a network to master today’s CPG challenges It Takes a Network to Master Todays CPG Challenges Kara Collins , June 17, 2025 3 minute read Every business is subject to demand volatility, supply shortages, extreme weather, tariffs, transportation roadblocks and other disruptive forces. But Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies face special challenges today as they try to profitably, precisely match changing supply with shifting demand. In addition to the standard list of disruptions, CPG companies must also contend with the complexities of omni-channel sales and promotions, product seasonality, shelf life and perishability, new product launches and social media influences. Despite these enormous challenges, retailers and consumers still depend on CPG companies to get the right product to the right place, at the right time, at the right price. Successfully accomplishing this generates revenue, boosts profit margins, and builds strong retailer and consumer relationships. Failure to have products in stock leads to lost sales and damaged loyalty that can have far-reaching effects. In today’s global, omni-channel marketplace, consumers and retailers can usually find another CPG brand or private-label alternative. Think beyond the linear supply chain More often than not, the disruptive forces that impact CPG companies originate outside the four walls of their enterprise. Disruptions frequently originate with suppliers, co-manufacturers, transportation carriers and retail customers. But too many CPG companies are focused on their own internal operations and managing data silos in linear supply chains. What’s wrong with this approach? The linear supply chain is simply not equipped to deal with disruptions and establish true operational resilience. Most CPG companies struggle with siloed systems, scattered data and a lack of real-time connectivity. When an exception occurs at any point, not all stakeholders are aware of it at the same time—and there’s no collaborative process for addressing it. The results include delays, inefficient decision-making, increased costs, and dissatisfied retail customers and consumers. The truth is that most disruptions can’t be solved optimally by a linear CPG supply chain that lacks network-wide connectivity and collaboration. If there’s a supply shortfall, new sources of supply must be found. If a third-party carrier fails to deliver, the answer also lies outside the four walls of the CPG company. But end-to-end networks are rarely connected in real time. Individual partners have their own data siloes and systems. For most CPG companies, addressing exceptions at the network level today requires cumbersome manual analysis and hands-on communications that can’t keep pace with the incidence of disruptions. By the time a disconnected, siloed network arrives at a resolution, the disruption has probably already significantly impacted cost, service and revenue outcomes. CPG companies aren’t alone in their disconnected supply chain approach. Research has shown that 71% of companies have limited or no visibility beyond Tier 2. This limits their ability to make proactive, real-time, data-driven decisions in a collaborative, connected way across all partners. Move beyond guesswork for CPG demand planning Stop letting unpredictable consumer behavior impact your bottom line. Discover how CPG leaders are leveraging AI to conquer demand variability and achieve greater accuracy and profitability. Discover More Imagine a more connected future While it might sound nearly impossible to connect all network partners in real time, integrate their systems and data, and create collaborative decisions and workflows, Blue Yonder Network is built for this purpose. Blue Yonder Network is an intelligent, multi-enterprise, AI-enabled solution that gives CPG companies real-time visibility and actionability across not just their own operations—but also across the larger network. Blue Yonder Network provides CPG companies with: A single view across every partner, every region, every site and every system Real-time visibility and actionability for every order, every SKU and every shipment A single version of the truth via shared systems, actionable data and analytics Backed by a connected network, CPG companies can operate a supply chain that dynamically flexes under pressure. They can seamlessly coordinate with all trading partners to optimize the flow of goods, time to market, and retailer and shopper satisfaction. A missed inbound delivery from a key supplier? The network collaborates to fill the gap in real time. A transportation route is blocked by extreme weather? All affected partners explore solutions, from alternative transportation modes to new sources of inventory. Increase your command and control Blue Yonder Network is equipped with next-generation control tower capabilities called Supply Chain Command Center. It automates the monitoring of overall network health, alerts for potential issues as they emerge, and assesses their impact—then proposes the best fixes and applies them quickly, before serious problems develop. No one company owns all the data within the supply chain. Instead, it’s siloed among partners, changes constantly, quickly becomes outdated, and is usually shared manually, without one single version of truth. Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center collects, consolidates and transforms network-wide data into action. Within each partner organization, cognitive dashboards offer analytics and insights for each user role. Not only does the Blue Yonder Network collect data from a variety of sources, but it also transforms the data for each partner’s unique goals and objectives. Each network participant gains insights into overall network health, potential disruptions and their impacts, and risk-mitigation measures. All partners operate from a single version of the truth for seamless collaboration and connected, more predictable outcomes. Discover the “network effect” today CPG companies face tough challenges—but the great news is that they aren’t acting alone. They’re backed by a powerful community of trading partners that can flexibly absorb shocks and act with agility. The key is linking these partners in real time, so “the power of many” can be applied to every supply chain issue, large and small. At Blue Yonder, we call that the “network effect,” and we’re seeing incredible results from our customers who’ve created an AI-enabled, connected partner community with Blue Yonder Network. The end-to-end, next-generation, intelligent command center for the future is ready today. Start increasing your multi-enterprise visibility, collaboration and disruption responsiveness by contacting Blue Yonder . Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [Flexibility Applied Intelligence and Decision Quality The 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Symposium](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/flexibility-applied-intelligence-and-decision-quality-the-2025-gartner-supply-chain-symposium) > Explore key insights from the 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™ Barcelona, focusing on how flexibility, applied intelligence, and enhanced decision quality are shaping the future of supply chains. Blog Flexibility, applied intelligence and decision quality: The 2025 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™ Barcelona Symposium Flexibility Applied Intelligence and Decision Quality The 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Simon Bowes , June 19, 2025 3 minute read A team from Blue Yonder attended the recent Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo 2025™ in Barcelona, Spain . The event theme—“Disruption Ready. Future-Focused. Value-Driven.”—encouraged 2,000 executive attendees to imagine a future where disruption and risk are minimized, thanks to advanced technology, connectivity and process innovation. We were delighted to see two of our customers, PepsiCo and Knauf, take center stage to discuss their successful application of technology to improve their supply chain results. If you missed the event, read on to learn about three key themes that emerged for the Blue Yonder team during the Symposium. Amid geopolitical shocks, supply chains must be elastic From shifting tariffs to political instability, there’s no doubt that global supply chains are under extreme pressure. In the last several years, the Geopolitical Risk with Trade (GPRT) index from has surged by approximately 30%, reflecting significantly increased volatility in global commerce. In the last three months, there have been e ight import tariff announcements from the U.S. government , some revoked and some still standing. And another seven new tariffs are being investigated. In attending presentations and having discussions with supply chain executives, we heard a clear call to action: Companies need to build supply chain resilience through geographic and partner diversity, while also creating real-time connectivity and collaboration across the network. An elastic supply chain network can flex as conditions shift, pivoting at the speed of change. How can companies build a diverse, flexible network that’s connected in real time, so all partners can sense and respond to changes together? Advanced technology plays a critical role in enabling organizations to model, optimize and rebalance their supply network footprints—not just to survive disruption, but to thrive in the face of volatility. Whether it’s scenario planning for new tariffs or re-routing production in real time, an advanced supply chain planning and execution platform empowers smarter decisions—at the network level—that protect both service levels and margins. Today’s trade-offs are ever-changing and fast-moving. Supply chains must be as well. And herein lies a huge opportunity and advantage over the competition, if you have control of that flexibility through advanced supply chain planning tools. Blue Yonder customer PepsiCo is a great example of a company that’s created elasticity and flexibility by integrating its internal operations with trading partners. In a mainstage session at the Symposium—“PepsiCo’s Control Tower Strategy—Innovating E2E Process Flows” —Raphael Cyjon, Vice President of Strategy and Transformation, Transportation & Fleet, discussed the success PepsiCo has achieved with Blue Yonder Supply Chain Command Center . PepsiCo’s control tower initiative, launched in 2018, has driven real-time visibility and optimal decision-making by connecting 15 countries in Latin America, managing 1 million trips and achieving $20 million in savings. The session in Barcelona emphasized the importance of collaboration, digitalization and continuous improvement in creating supply chain elasticity. Blue Yonder Named a Leader for the 14th Consecutive Time in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for WMS Discover More AI is a differentiator—when it’s fit for purpose At the Symposium, another key theme of our discussions was uncovering the real business value of AI. Blue Yonder believes that, as an industry, we need to look beyond the hype and determine how AI can deliver real strategic and financial returns. Agentic AI is the most recent development and one that will revolutionize how we operate today. It’s going to effectively multiply our current workforce so we can achieve so much more without a dramatic increase in labor requirements. In our view, there’s a clear path to success: AI can’t be adapted randomly, but in a manner that’s fit-for-purpose, with well-defined intentions and objectives. There’s no one-size-fits-all AI application footprint; instead AI must be leveraged in a well-considered way that makes sense for each specific supply chain. Blue Yonder customers are leveraging fit-for-purpose AI to automate decisions, respond faster and unlock hidden efficiencies across their end-to-end supply chain networks. From demand planning to logistics orchestration, AI-enabled solutions transform data into action—at scale and with confidence. During an executive roundtable with our customer Knauf, we looked at the value of creative and purpose-driven AI applications from the perspective of chief supply chain officers. In “Transforming Supply Chains: The CSCO Perspective on AI and Machine Learning,” Jochen Bansemir, Global Supply Chain Director, Integrated Planning, highlighted how Knauf uses AI to evolve and improve its supply chain processes—increasing efficiency, automation and strategic decision-making across the supply chain. Bansemir shared effective strategies for leveraging AI in a value-added manner to tackle challenges arising from the current geopolitical landscape and market volatility. Cost and risk must be balanced, not traded off Another key topic of discussion we noticed in Barcelona? Today supply chain teams are expected to do more with less, reducing costs while managing increasing risk. The answer isn’t leaner supply chains—it’s smarter ones that can intelligently balance cost and risk in myriad daily decisions. In today’s complex landscape, it’s not a matter of making trade-offs, but of making well-considered, balanced decisions that deliver optimized, predictable outcomes. Agentic AI is a vital tool in allowing companies to achieve these objectives. Advanced technology, enabled by AI, is a critical enabler of cost-to-serve optimization, proactive risk management and agile network design that minimizes risk exposure. With unified digital planning and execution capabilities, organizations can apply data and analytics to fine-tune their operations for efficiency today, as well as for greater resilience tomorrow. In a dynamic Q&A session, “Charting the Course: Exploring PepsiCo’s Supply Chain Planning Evolution,” Blue Yonder’s Rob Booth interviewed our customer PepsiCo EMEA on its transformation journey, including its approach to cost and risk management. PepsiCo participants included Caro Laparra, Director of Supply Chain Planning and IBP Transformation for PepsiCo EMEA, along with Bartek Rezske, Director of Supply Chain Planning for PepsiCo EMEA. The Q&A session covered, among other topics, the daunting challenge of managing consumer goods inventory in an environment of extreme demand volatility. PepsiCo uses advanced planning capabilities from Blue Yonder to minimize the cost of excess inventory, while also ensuring product availability and reducing the risk of stockouts. AI is a powerful enabler for managing this delicate balance, even under unpredictable demand conditions. Meet your new AI agents Blue Yonder launched groundbreaking cognitive solutions, including powerful new AI agents, at ICON 2025. See the recap to discover how they will revolutionize supply chains and help your business move beyond traditional boundaries. Discover More What can our AI-enabled solutions accomplish for you? In session after session at the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo 2025 in Barcelona, we were reminded of the powerful capability of supply chain digitalization, real-time connectivity and AI to create an important competitive differentiator for supply chain teams. No matter the level of volatility, innovative companies like PepsiCo, Knauf and other presenters are delivering more predictable, profitable outcomes thanks to AI-enabled digital solutions. With Blue Yonder solutions, our customers can connect more effectively with trading partners, maximize internal efficiencies, and plan more intelligently, accurately and dynamically. Why not discover the potential of our AI-enabled solutions to improve your own supply chain performance and results? Contact Blue Yonder to learn more. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Any questions? Let’s talk! Chat Now Contact Us ### [The Blue Yonder Command Center Your Guide to Logistics Excellence](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/the-blue-yonder-command-center-your-guide-to-logistics-excellence) > Explore how the Blue Yonder Command Center empowers logistics excellence through enhanced visibility, real-time insights, and optimized operations. Blog The Blue Yonder Command Center: your guide to logistics excellence The Blue Yonder Command Center Your Guide to Logistics Excellence Terence Leung , Koushik Balasubramanian and Ann Marie Jonkman – June 23, 2025 3 minute read Operations, management, and customers are scrambling to deliver faster, with tighter margins and fewer resources. Consumers want real-time answers, so logistics teams are left chasing down answers with disconnected processes and tribal knowledge of silos. When another disruption hits—tariffs, weather, fires, recalls—the teams are left reacting again. Leaders in logistics today: there are pressures to reduce labor costs, exceed service levels, balance inventory in the right locations to match demand, collaborate with suppliers and carriers, and connect all your decisions among your operations. If you are not leading with value-added services and offering new ways of working across decisions that improve your bottom line, your company is behind. Operations leaders know the feeling: you are constantly fighting fires instead of driving strategy. Your biggest clients demand real-time updates that you cannot provide. Your teams scramble to coordinate across disconnected systems. Margins keep shrinking despite harder work and labor turnover is high. Collaboration breaks down silos and improves visibility gaps. How do you improve your business for your people and the experience of end consumers in the age of AI? The difference between industry leaders and everyone else is not resources or luck. It is their ability to orchestrate complex networks with precision and foresight in real-time as a disruption occurs. The Network Command Center’s capabilities are transforming how top LSPs operate, turning operational silos into strategic advantage. The chaos executives can’t ignore It’s Monday morning, and three critical scenarios are unfolding simultaneously: Your top automotive client has accelerated their production schedule and needs components delivered 48 hours earlier than planned. Your warehouse teams weren’t notified, so the inventory sits unpicked as the latest inbound truck never arrived. Meanwhile, your carrier has arrived on time for their appointment. Across the country, one distribution center operates at 65% capacity while another struggles with mounting overtime costs trying to handle unexpected volume surges—all because your labor management system can’t balance workloads across facilities and inventory mix. Simultaneously, a customs delay has impacted 30% of this week’s international shipments, yet because your systems don’t communicate with each other, sales teams continue promising on-time deliveries that can’t possibly be met. This isn’t an occasional challenge in logistics—for many LSPs, it’s business as usual. But it’s important to understand that these aren’t merely operational inconveniences; they are strategic vulnerabilities that directly impact profitability and market position. The scale of this problem is significant: According to Gartner, only 21% of supply chain leaders have achieved a highly resilient network —one with good visibility and the agility to rapidly shift sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and distribution activities. While most organizations aim to significantly improve resilience within the next two to three years, they struggle with balancing increased resilience against additional costs. “The executives who are pulling ahead in today’s market understand that these challenges aren’t just “the nature of logistics”—they’re the result of outdated systems that were not built to handle multiple partners and processes”, said Ann Marie Jonkman, “And they are addressing the root cause before their competition does. Disconnected systems, processes and decisions create waste. Waste increases your cost and reduces first time quality and your customers’ trust.” See how DHL unlocked 7% transportation savings Discover how DHL saved 7% on transportation costs through better optimization of vehicles and stops with the Blue Yonder Network Read The Case Study Transforming from reactive to predictive So, how do LSPs address these challenges? The answer lies in a fundamentally different approach to logistics management by modernizing your network with AI. As Peter Drucker famously stated: “What gets measured gets managed”. According to Koushik Balasubramanian, the Network Command Center is not just another technology layer—it’s a strategic operating model that connects siloed systems and teams into a synchronized supply chain. At its core, it provides a unified operational view where transportation, warehousing, labor, and client requirements converge into a single, actionable picture of your entire logistics ecosystem across your orders. Think of it as your logistics mission control; modern control tower where data transforms into intelligence, intelligence drives decisions, and decisions orchestrate actions across your network. Unlike traditional control towers that merely monitor ongoing operations through multiple spreadsheets, screens and systems; the command center actively shapes what happens next. With this approach, LSP operations & executives gain leverage, better control and empowered AI decisions: Unify visibility across enterprises to end the guesswork—connecting every stakeholder in real time to proactively address capacity constraints, tracking bottlenecks, and client timeline challenges before they impact service. Maximize every mile and every rate in your carrier network—turning transportation from a cost drain into a strategic asset through optimized routing, dynamic load consolidation, and performance-based carrier management. Synchronize multi-party execution across diverse client requirements—automatically balancing warehouse flows, transportation schedules, and client SLAs to reduce labor costs by 10-25% while enhancing service quality. Predict and prevent disruptions before they impact operations—using network intelligence to reroute shipments ahead of potential obstacles, simulate bottlenecks, and provide clients with reliable ETAs that build trust. When your competitors are still explaining why deliveries failed, you’ll be demonstrating why your clients’ supply chains never miss a beat—even amid the unpredictable disruptions that define modern logistics. Driving Real Growth for LSPs This strategic transformation isn’t theory—Blue Yonder’s solutions are delivering measurable results for logistics leaders: DHL saves 7% on transportation costs through improved network optimization of stops, fleet mix and vehicle types. Americold reduces labor costs by 10% across 150 sites integrating warehouse and labor orchestration. These results illustrate what is possible when you apply orchestration principles across your logistics operations, according to Terence Leung. For executives, this capability elevates logistics from a cost center to a competitive advantage. Smart logistics leaders aren’t debating whether to improve visibility and control—they are already taking actions and adding real savings to the bottom line. Take control now Don’t wait for the next logistics crisis to expose gaps in your operations. Explore our e-book today to begin your transformation. Download Now Once you’ve established command of your network, you’ll be ready for the next challenge—scaling operations without losing control. Get a headstart with our ebook The Adaptive Advantage – Scaling Smart Without Sacrificing Precision. ### [For Life Sciences Companies A Network Approach Is Essential](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/for-life-sciences-companies-a-network-approach-is-essential) > Discover why a network approach is crucial for Life Sciences companies to navigate complex regulations, accelerate innovation, and improve patient outcomes. Blog For Life Sciences companies, a network approach Is essential For Life Sciences Companies A Network Approach Is Essential Shirell James , June 26, 2025 2 minute read Let’s face it. Demand volatility, geopolitical uncertainty and changing regulations are placing pressure on every supply chain. But Life Sciences companies also face mounting challenges in securing materials, controlling costs, and operating sustainably and transparently. They must ensure real-time compliance, maintain end-to-end quality control and manage multiple tiers of suppliers. With the rise of biologics and personalized medicine, more specialty contract manufacturers, cold-temperature logistics providers and other new partners are joining the supply chain network. Life Sciences products are essential to patients and medical teams worldwide—but it’s getting more and more difficult to deliver them reliably and profitably in light of all these challenges. Blue Yonder has created an on-demand webinar that discusses proven solutions, strategies and best practices for managing these challenges. “Achieving Real-Time Multi-Enterprise Collaboration and Compliance in Complex Supply Networks” reveals a central truth: For Life Sciences companies, supply chain optimization must occur at the network level. Think about it. Of all the disruptions that occur daily across a typical Life Sciences supply chain—which spans thousands of miles and involves dozens of suppliers and trading partners—very few originate within the four walls of the manufacturing enterprise. And the vast majority of disruptions can’t be resolved by a single organization, acting alone. When there’s a material shortage or a missed customer delivery, the problem occurs at a supplier node—and it can only be addressed via a collaborative resolution, like finding a new source of supply or an alternate carrier. When a regional health emergency, extreme weather event, new regulation or other external force acts on the supply network, collaboration is also required. The modern Life Sciences supply chain faces a constant, unrelenting barrage of disruptions and exceptions. To operate profitability, it must be built to flex under that pressure and not break. It’s not enough to arrive at a collaborative decision—all stakeholders must also execute that decision quickly, in an orchestrated manner. But most Life Sciences companies are trying to establish real-time visibility, collaboration and responsiveness across the network with manual, siloed processes, disconnected systems, and isolated planning and execution workflows. They simply can’t keep up with the complexity and fast-moving nature of today’s Life Sciences landscape. The results include high costs, low margins, lost sales, constrained revenues, compliance issues and product waste. Watch on-demand: How to master real-time collaboration in complex supply networks Our exclusive webinar with Supply Chain Digest reveals the strategies and technologies you need to gain end-to-end visibility and control. Watch Now Blue Yonder Network: the ideal prescription If you’re thinking to yourself, “There’s got to be a better way,” you’re right. It’s called Blue Yonder Network , and it’s purpose-built to connect and optimize complex supply networks like those in the Life Sciences industry. This powerful, innovative solution fosters real-time, multi-enterprise collaboration, compliance and disruption management—enabled by artigicial intelligence (AI) and delivered via highly automated workflows. Blue Yonder Network connects all partners, including multiple levels of suppliers, on a shared platform with integrated systems and a common data source. It optimizes and connects supply chain planning and execution not just internally, for the core manufacturer, but across their entire partner network. The result? Blue Yonder drives better decisions, based on a shared version of the truth. And it minimizes the cycle between recognizing an exception and responding in an orchestrated, optimal manner. At the heart of Blue Yonder Network is Supply Chain Command Center , which combines the real-time data ingestion capabilities of traditional control towers with AI-enabled analysis and network-wide collaboration. It’s built to not just flag exceptions, but reveal exactly how they impact complex, multienterprise supply chain processes—and drive a fast, good-for-the-network response. By connecting network-wide data and processes in real time, Blue Yonder’s next-gen capabilities make it straightforward and automatic for Life Sciences companies to achieve real-time traceability, visibility and risk management across their multitier supply chains, including at the batch level. An accurate digital chain of custody is created for every product, including high-value, highly regulated, or carefully controlled medtech and healthcare products. For Life Sciences companies facing increasing regulatory requirements—such as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DCSA)—Blue Yonder helps deliver automatic, documented compliance at a minimal investment of time and human effort. As materials and products move across the supply chain, Blue Yonder solutions generate full, real-time visibility across multiple partners, including contract manufacturers and transportation carriers. It’s easy to trace and document every product’s unique journey via digitalization. Blue Yonder Network also makes it easy to onboard new suppliers, an increasing need as more specialized product solutions emerge. Blue Yonder Network supports an established trading partner community with over 150,000 current members worldwide, 5.6 million daily transactions and more than 1 trillion total market transactions to date. Control towers: demystified Cut through the control tower hype—we reveal the 4 types and which is right for you. Discover More A day in the life of a pharmaceutical disruption So far, we’ve discussed Blue Yonder Network at a theoretical level—but let’s look at how it helps Life Sciences companies master a typical disruption. As I mentioned earlier, biologics and personalized medications are a big trend in the Life Sciences industry. These advanced products not only involve specialty contract manufacturers, but they also necessitate long development cycles and precise handling. Obviously that creates a huge need for supply chain speed, accuracy and visibility. Let’s say there’s an exception—a quality-control violation at a contract manufacturer, a capacity issue at a warehouse or a carrier mistake that results in a temperature deviation. In a disconnected, manual supply chain, it might take days for this issue to even be recognized by the necessary supply chain stakeholders, let alone resolved. By that time, patient outcomes, revenues and brand reputations might be affected significantly. With Blue Yonder Network, data on the exception is shared instantly, all affected partners connect in real time to understand the impact, and a fast resolution rolls out seamlessly, and automatically, across the end-to-end supply chain network. Whether the answer is finding a new supplier or accelerating a new batch of products, the issue is addressed both swiftly and intelligently via AI. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can also help minimize the risk of that same issue happening again. For example, if a cold-chain product was stored at ambient temperature for too long, Blue Yonder AI can start to track that data more precisely, in real time, to head off a future temperature-control problem. It’s easy to see how real-time connectivity and AI-enabled analysis help build supply chain resilience and self-healing characteristics at the network level. Optimize at the network level for better supply chain health Learn more about how Blue Yonder Network creates a holistic platform where trading partners can seamlessly collaborate, plan and execute together. And I hope you’re ready to start realizing the benefits in your own supply chain. To get started, watch our on-demand webinar, explore our comprehensive capabilities for Life Sciences companies, or contact us to begin a one-on-one conversation. Optimize at the network level for better supply chain health Learn more about how Blue Yonder Network creates a holistic platform where trading partners can seamlessly collaborate, plan and execute together. Watch Our Webinar Explore Our Services Get In Touch ### [Challenges in supply chain for medical devices](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/challenges-in-supply-chain-for-medical-devices) > Navigate the unique complexities of the medical device supply chain. Discover key challenges and strategies to optimize your operations for better efficiency and patient outcomes. Blog Challenges in supply chain for medical devices Challenges in supply chain for medical devices Shyam Chittal , June 24, 2024 2 minute read Supply chains for medical devices are getting increasingly complex and face unique challenges. Many of the most complex medical device supply chains exist within large conglomerates producing a myriad of diverse products from pacemakers to testing kits and from MRI machines to disposable needles. The sheer diversity of the products that need to be managed warrants a robust and scalable planning solution. Some of the challenges faced by today’s medical devices manufacturers are: Diversity of Products Large medical device manufacturers often have a diverse portfolio and hence very different supply chain structures for each of them. Some of the products like testing kits, disposable needles and other fast-moving items need a Make to Stock (MTS) supply chain while others like MRI machines and CAT scanners need an Assemble To Order (ATO) supply chain planning solution. This creates a need to segment the supply chain and have separate inventory norms for each of the product lines. Also due to the diverse regions that the manufacturer supports, the inventory strategies need to be different to cater to the different markets. Solution: Blue Yonder Inventory Optimization solutions offers the right segmentation strategies to cluster the demand across multiple dimensions of product, location and customer. The dynamic segmentation and inventory optimization strategies offered integrated seamlessly with the demand planning systems to accurately provide safety stock norms based on the diverse service levels across different customer markets. Is your life sciences supply chain ready for the future? True connectivity and collaboration are no longer optional—they're critical for navigating complexity, ensuring compliance, and accelerating innovation. Discover More New Product Introduction Medical devices face a unique challenge as compared to other segments in the area of New Product Introduction. The reason is that the rules and regulations for these products are different depending on the market. The time required to certify the new products are market dependent. Hence a new product could be active faster in the U.S. than in European countries due to more stringent guidelines. It also depends on who controls the health services in the country. Countries like U.S. are primarily driven by private players and insurance driven while in countries like France and Spain the government provides virtually free health services but imposes higher taxation. The approval times between such diverse countries are very different and the new products or the Phase In products need to be introduced at different times in different markets. This provides a unique challenge in the supply chain to maintain country-specific stocks and date effectivity for the transition. Solution: Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions offers a robust Phase In / Out solution not only from a demand planning perspective but also from a supply planning perspective. The solution offers a mechanism to not only plan for the demand for new products by market but also helps to define the alternate relationships between Phase In and Phase Out products by market with date effectivity. This way we can define the Phase In and Phase Out relationship such that based on the demand or safety stock requirement from the market, we could consume the Phase Out product first before producing fresh on the Phase In product. In some cases, we could even define that the Phase In product is not applicable before a certain date and hence the production will not be triggered for the new product for the market’s demand where the new product is not yet approved. These options in the configuration allow to reduce the stock and blocked working capital at the same time adhering to the country-specific regulations. Compliance and Regulatory Needs Most of these organizations have a single source for each of their products but serving almost the demands for the entire world. The regulatory requirements in each of the countries is different and unique to that country. Also, they keep changing as time passes by and new regulations are created. These regulations warrant that the product be manufactured using certified manufacturing processes. While some countries provide relaxed norms some other countries have more stringent norms. The company would lose opportunity to manufacture at lower costs if all the products are manufactured with the most stringent of norms. At the same time, it would end up with obsolete stocks and maybe lawsuits if the product is manufactured using less stringent norms and it makes their way to the more stringent countries. These intricacies result in SKU proliferation, therefore making stock management and production planning becomes a major challenge and requires a delicate balance between margins and adherence to norms. Solution: Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions offers attribute-based planning capability to respond to regulatory requirements specific to a given country. This allows for flexibility to choose the production process to use or a particular raw material stock to use during the manufacturing process based on which markets’ demand or safety stock is being satisfied. It provides an end-to-end visibility right from raw material consumption to finished product manufacturing to shipping across the multi-echelon network to the final destination. This guarantees that based on the market, the lowest cost eligible manufacturing process would be given higher preference than a higher cost one. Hence it minimizes the cost of manufacturing while adhering to the most stringent norms. Perishable Products One might assume that since many medical devices share similarities with electronics products, their shelf life is considerably larger than the pharmaceuticals or food and beverages. While this is true, it is also true that medical device manufacturing customers often have stringent shelf life requirements.  Hence, it’s not uncommon to see that a product that has five years of total shelf life has a demand placed on it with a condition that at the point of sale, the minimum shelf life is four years. This means that any product that is manufactured one year back cannot be sold. To complicate matters, many of these products have a large economic order quantity due to setup times in changeovers. This can lead to excess manufacturing and write-offs. Again, similar to the regulatory norms, not all the customers / markets have these high minimum shelf life requirements. Therefore, some of these products can be shipped out to destinations with lower minimum shelf life requirements. This would be desirable to reduce the overall production and clean-up of excess stocks. Solution: Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions offer ways to manage perishability using customer- / order-driven minimum shelf life requirements. Hence, the excess stock available on slow movers can be easily cleaned up by demand from markets that require lower minimum shelf life requirements. This minimizes the overall stocks held by the organization and hence unblocks the working capital. Is your life sciences business falling behind? Find out why digital transformation is essential for navigating regulations, accelerating research, and optimizing operations - and how digitalization can unlock new levels of efficiency, compliance, and innovation for your business. Discover More Diverse Shipping Lead Times Because a given product is often manufactured in one country and shipped to locations across the world, the distance and hence the lead time of shipment from the manufacturing locations to the demand location is often very different. This offers a unique challenge in terms of prioritization of demand. Typically, the demands from the markets are prioritized based on the due date at the customer location. If this was applied to this type of supply chain, then the constrained capacity would be allocated first to the nearest market while the farther markets would be starved. There is a need to provide a fair share of the capacity to all markets and hence a need to prioritize the demand differently. Solution: The prioritization in this case should be done based on the estimated manufacturing date at the plant based on the lead time offsets rather than the due date of the demand as done at most customers. The fair share layers also can be defined based on this prioritization scheme to give near equal priority between the nearer and farther markets with respect to the manufacturing locations. Reverse Supply Chain One unique challenge in this industry is the presence of what is called return stocks. Many of the products are required during complex surgical procedures and these products may or may not be used during the surgery. So many of the hospitals (customers) would order all variants of the product or even multiple products as a kit. These being expensive products they would have a contract that only the products that are consumed be billed while the rest would be returned. When the products are used during a surgery, they can still be returned to the manufacturer but require an extensive sterilization process. This creates a reverse supply chain problem where the stocks that are projected to be returned cannot be again used to satisfy the same demand causing a cyclicity in demand-supply. Solution: Blue Yonder Supply Chain Planning solutions incorporate a robust attribute-based planning algorithm with which the projected return stocks can be tagged in such a way that it can be used to satisfy only demands other than the ones from which the supply would be returned from. This makes sure that cyclicity between the supply and demand is broken and at the same time, these stocks can be utilized to meet other demands. Optimizing medical device supply chains with efficient planning Organizations supplying medical devices have unique challenges like single sourcing with country specific requirements, diverse product portfolio and perishability. Blue Yonder solutions provide an integrated supply chain planning suite to address all these constraints to generate make, move and buy plans allowing to minimize the overall stock at a higher demand satisfaction. The story isn't over yet... We've only just scratched the surface of challenges in the supply chain for medical devices - make sure you get the full picture by exploring part 2. Go To Part 2 ### [In-Store Kiosks Help Maximize Financial Returns on Product Returns](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/in-store-kiosks-help-maximize-financial-returns-on-product-returns) > Discover how in-store kiosks can transform product returns into a profit opportunity. Maximize financial returns and streamline your process with smart kiosk solutions. Blog In-store kiosks help maximize financial returns on product returns In-Store Kiosks Help Maximize Financial Returns on Product Returns Mike Raudenbush , June 30, 2025 2 minute read Faced with overwhelming volumes of product returns, retailers are trying just about every strategy to fight back. In a Blue Yonder survey, 89% of retailers reported that they’ve updated their policies to reduce product returns. But 59% of those companies actually saw an increase, not a decrease, in returns following their policy changes. Obviously retailers need to work to minimize shoppers’ tendency to buy multiple sizes, purchase and try on clothes just for social media , and engage in fraud. But there’s no denying that returns continue to grow steadily, accounting for $890 billion in merchandise value last year alone. A $5 billion retailer that makes half of its sales online has a $750 million returns problem, based on average return rates. In our opinion at Blue Yonder, most retailers aren’t doing enough to mitigate that enormous problem through internal improvements. While high returns volumes seem here to stay, there’s a lot retailers can do to manage them more efficiently. We believe a key success factor is maximizing the financial return on returned merchandise by minimizing processing costs and getting products back into sellable inventory as quickly as possible. Today the average cost of processing a return is 30% of a product’s original price . We don’t think that’s acceptable—and you shouldn’t either. In previous blogs like this one , we’ve discussed ways to optimize the end-to-end returns journey for maximum speed and cost efficiency via Blue Yonder’s returns management capabilities. Today let’s take a look at an underexplored hero of that journey: The in-store returns kiosk. Stop letting returns eat into your profits Discover how to optimize your end-to-end returns journey for maximum speed and cost efficiency with Blue Yonder's capabilities, helping you reduce waste and boost your bottom line. Discover More Return kiosks: Small investment, big impact There are many benefits of having shoppers return merchandise directly to your stores, instead of using other methods like mailing them to a warehouse. Carrier fees are eliminated. Warehouse effort is reduced. Packaging and other environmental impacts are minimized. And, let’s face it, you have shoppers right there in the store, where they’re likely to browse and make another purchase. Research has shown that 70% of consumers are likely to make an additional purchase from your retail brand following a positive returns experience. But there are costs associated with in-store returns, too. In the face of significant labor shortages, you’re asking busy store employees to add to their responsibilities, becoming on-demand returns processors. You’re taking employees away from valuable shopper assistance roles that help drive purchases. And you could be delivering an inconsistent, sometimes suboptimal consumer experience, as shoppers are forced to wait in long queues during peak hours. The beauty of in-store return kiosks is that they boost revenues by creating a fast, seamless, consistent return experience—and, at the same time, they cut costs. These standalone devices enable customers to return items in-store—without contact, packaging or a pre-printed label. Shoppers simply use the kiosk to complete their returns, and place their item in a drop box. Consumers process their returned merchandise independently, in as little as 60 seconds, without having to interact with store staff. In consumer surveys, shoppers have given Blue Yonder’s in-store kiosks a net promoter score (NPS) of more than 80—so they’re a proven way to drive loyalty and satisfaction. In-store returns kiosks are also a proven way to maximize your return on returns, for a small financial investment. They’re simple to set up and maintain, as well as unobtrusive—but they work hard behind the scenes to optimize the journey of your returned merchandise. In-store kiosks may look like they’re just sitting there, but here’s what they’re doing: Positioning in-store product stock for an immediate return to the shelf Freeing up checkout queues and staff availability Driving in-store foot traffic Encouraging consumers to make additional purchases via a fast, easy returns experience Capturing data on shoppers, products and return reasons Enforcing your standards and barring out-of-policy or fraudulent returns Issuing immediate refunds, vouchers or discount coupons that incentivize shoppers In just one minute, consumers can be done with their returns task and on their way. Compare that with the cumbersome effort associated with filling out paperwork, packing up products, and taking them to a post office or carrier. Or standing in a long checkout queue. It’s easy to see why in-store return kiosks increase shopper satisfaction and drive repeat business, while also cutting costs. Losing money to fashion returns fraud? You're not alone. But there's good news: digitalization offers a powerful defense! Read on to find the essential insights and digital strategies to help you reclaim control and protect your revenue. Discover More Put kiosks to work—in a way that works for you Every retailer is different, so it makes sense that every in-store returns kiosk program will look different. Blue Yonder is an expert at creating in-store kiosks and related best practices aimed at maximizing your return on investment. Multiple kiosk designs and sizes are available—including standard, countertop, compact, and in-wall models—to accommodate every retail environment. Integrated features can include touchscreens, barcode/QR scanners, label printers, accessibility controls and drop/fill sensors. Kiosks can be programmed with customized returns policies, as well as orchestration rules that guide the immediate disposition of returns. While some products can be re-shelved immediately, others might be sent to a warehouse, partner or marketplace supplier for processing. You can also use your kiosks to communicate promotions, invite consumers to provide feedback or offer incentives like discounts. Urgency to repurchase can be created by issuing time-sensitive coupons. Blue Yonder can also add reporting and analytics capabilities that monitor uptake, usage, shopper satisfaction and other key performance metrics. Every retailer can maximize the value and contributions of their in-store kiosks, based on their own objectives. Blue Yonder’s role is to make your unique vision come to life. Drop everything—and start taking advantage of kiosks today Retailers face some incredibly complex challenges today. In-store return kiosks are an easy, cost-effective, yet high-impact way to address the growing problem of product returns. Blue Yonder kiosks have already processed over 50 million product returns, with a 93% retailer satisfaction rate. What are you waiting for? Contact Blue Yonder and start capitalizing on the benefits of in-store return kiosks today. What are you waiting for? Blue Yonder kiosks have already processed over 50 million product returns, with a 93% retailer satisfaction rate. Start capitalizing on the benefits of in-store return kiosks today. Explore Our Kiosks Get In Touch ### [Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/blue-yonder-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-transportation-management-systems) > Blue Yonder is named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems for the 14th consecutive year. Learn why. Blog Blue Yonder Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Transportation Management Systems for the 14th Consecutive Year Blue Yonder named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems Sarah Hart , April 1, 2025 2 minute read At Blue Yonder, our commitment to placing customers at the forefront of everything we do has empowered us to consistently deliver solutions that drive operational excellence. We proudly announce that Blue Yonder has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) report 1 for the 14th consecutive year 2 . We believe this recognition highlights the Completeness of our Vision and our Ability to Execute by providing cutting-edge technology to address the complex and evolving needs of our customers. Our commitment to continuous innovation is evident through our increased investment in Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions, ensuring that our clients receive the best of the best. Blue Yonder’s achievements are deeply rooted in our transportation management solutions and the Blue Yonder Platform. In the face of economic fluctuations, our solutions help businesses redesign distribution networks, focusing on cost-effective productivity to navigate these challenges. Blue Yonder supports businesses throughout the entire supply chain, from initial to final delivery and back. With this latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management System, Blue Yonder remains one of only two companies recognized as a Leader in the three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports 3 covering Supply Chain Planning, Transportation Management Systems, and Warehouse Management Systems. Enhanced Capabilities through Strategic Acquisitions Our transportation management solutions offer end-to-end global transportation management, complemented by logistics solutions such as Warehouse Management and Yard Management solutions. We believe the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems report 4 underscores the effectiveness of Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions in addressing Level 3 through Level 5 use cases. With our strategic acquisition of One Network Enterprises , we are poised to enhance our service offerings across the entire spectrum, from Level 1 to Level 5 clients, catering to both the simplest and the most complex enterprise needs. Integrating One Network with Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions enhance real-time visibility, collaboration, and optimization, leading to reduced costs and improved service levels. By providing a scalable, cloud-based platform that connects end-to-end supply chain functions, we empower data-driven decision-making and proactive risk management, ultimately boosting operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Continuous Innovation Across Diverse Industries and Geographies Blue Yonder is a global supply chain leader with a strong presence across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. Retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers worldwide rely on Blue Yonder transportation management solutions to optimize and accelerate their supply chain operations. “We have great expectations that this new [Blue Yonder transportation management solutions] will support us to improve our customer experience and our logistics operations throughout the entire global supply chain network.” Johnny Ivanyi, Global Head of Logistics Operational Excellence, Bayer. Learn how Bayer is reducing Global Transportation costs by 4% across 70+ countries Discover how Bayer Crop Science leverages Blue Yonder Transportation Management to provide end-to-end visibility and drive data-driven decisions that slash both costs and environmental impact. Read The Case Study Supporting Digital Journeys and Sustainability Goals Blue Yonder’s transportation management solutions are designed to support our customers’ digital journeys, helping them navigate complex challenges and meet customer-centric requirements. At Blue Yonder, we are focused on enabling our customers to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape, ensuring they achieve their ambitious goals in sustainability and productivity. Regardless of the increasing complexity of the world, Blue Yonder remains committed to delivering responsible and innovative technology to our customers. “As a new company, we could embed sustainability from the start in our business processes and technology choices. Blue Yonder’s solutions gave us the ability to start digital. We do everything digital — from taking pictures of inbound trucks and showing our customers how we receive their products to how we ship their products. There’s no paper waste. Blue Yonder provides us and our customers with a single view of our data so we can see all their information in one place. Everything is documented in a system for ease of access and waste reduction,” Christopher Lafaire, Chief Information Officer, Arcadia Cold. Read more about Arcadia Cold’s journey. Advanced AI and ML Integration The Blue Yonder Platform, along with its transportation management solutions, is at the forefront of innovation with a clear vision centered around artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These advanced technologies empower global transportation execution and optimization, excelling in data management and seamlessly integrating into the logistics ecosystem. Our solutions are designed to provide customers with end-to-end visibility, coordination, and optimization, effectively supporting Logistics Service Providers and the transportation operations of manufacturers and retailers, as well as their carrier networks. Furthermore, Blue Yonder’s logistics network enhances the shipper experience through superior built-in connectivity and continuously updated service offerings, underscoring our commitment to leveraging AI and ML for transformative transportation management solutions. “We first implemented Blue Yonder’s transportation management [solutions] in 2006. The logistics landscape has changed significantly since then, but Blue Yonder’s capabilities have evolved along with it. Today we’re undertaking a digital transformation, supported by a move to the cloud, that’s setting the stage for automation and exception-based management across our global transportation network. Working in partnership with Blue Yonder, I’m confident we’ll get there,” A Transportation Manager, Kimberly-Clark. See how Kimberly-Clark saved $14M with Blue Yonder Learn how our Transport Management and Visibility solutions helped the CPG giant Kimberly-Clark optimize its vast North American network, leading to a remarkable $14 million in savings. Read The Case Study Empowering our Customers At Blue Yonder, we are dedicated to empowering our customers to achieve operational excellence and thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. Our solutions are designed to support ambitious goals in sustainability and efficiency, ensuring our customers remain at the forefront of their industries. We extend our heartfelt congratulations and appreciation to our transportation management customers globally, whose contributions are vital to Blue Yonder being recognized in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS) report. For those Blue Yonder customers who have yet to explore our innovative capabilities, we invite you to reach out and discover how these Blue Yonder solutions can integrate with and elevate your current Blue Yonder software. To learn how our customers’ digital journey benefits from our transportation management solutions, visit the Blue Yonder Transportation Management solution page and review our Transportation Management for a Transformed World E-book , and Selecting the Right TMS for Your Needs E-book. Ready to transform your transportation? Discover how leading companies are achieving their digital transformation goals with Blue Yonder. Visit our Transportation Management solution page and download two essential resources: " Transportation Management for a Transformed World " and " Selecting the Right TMS for Your Needs " E-books. Get Started Sources: 1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 25 March 2025. 2 Blue Yonder was previously listed as JDA; the company rebranded to Blue Yonder in February 2020. 3Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems, Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, Rishabh Narang, Federica Stufano, 2 May 2024. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions, Pia Orup Lund, Tim Payne, Joe Graham, Caleb Thomson, Jan Snoeckx, 23 April 2024. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. 4 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 24 March 2025. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. ### [Navigating Complexities of Modern Life Sciences Supply Chains: Insights From LogiMed 2025](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2025/navigating-complexities-of-modern-life-sciences-supply-chains-insights-from-logimed-2025) > Get key insights from LogiMed 2025 on navigating the intricate challenges of modern life sciences supply chains, from compliance to innovation and global logistics. Blog Navigating Complexities of Modern Life Sciences Supply Chains: Insights From LogiMed 2025 Navigating Complexities of Modern Life Sciences Supply Chains Insights From LogiMed 2025 Tiffany Brewer , April 14, 2025 1 minute read In the dynamic world of MedTech, supply chain management is a critical component that directly impacts patient care and organizational efficiency. The recent LogiMed conference in Carlsbad, California, on March 24 – 26 brought together industry leaders to delve into the challenges and opportunities that define today’s life sciences supply chains. Here are the key insights from this gathering of minds, highlighting strategies for navigating complexities and enhancing operational resilience. Managing risk and supply chain dependencies One of the foremost challenges discussed at LogiMed was the management of risk within life sciences supply chains. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of breaking down silos — both internal and customer-related — to foster a more integrated approach to risk management. These silos can create barriers to effective communication and collaboration, ultimately impacting the ability to respond swiftly to disruptions. A significant point of concern is the dependency on single-sourced components, which poses considerable risks. For example, hospitals rely heavily on nitrogen gas, 60% of which is supplied by Ukraine, underscoring geopolitical vulnerabilities. This reliance necessitates a reevaluation of sourcing strategies and the development of contingency plans to ensure continuity of supply. Additionally, the need for accurate data management is paramount; discrepancies between expected and received quantities can lead to operational inefficiencies and increased costs. Life Sciences: is your supply chain holding you back? Navigate strict regulations and rapid innovation more effectively. Discover how a true network approach can drive innovation, ensure compliance, and improve patient outcomes. Discover More The power of collaboration and innovative partnerships Collaboration emerged as a central theme at LogiMed, emphasizing the potential for partnerships to expand value rather than compete for larger shares. Medtronic and BJC Health System exemplified this approach by rethinking consignment inventory models through collaborative process mapping and white-boarding sessions. This shift towards Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) highlights the potential for innovative inventory management strategies that foster trust and transparency. Organizations are encouraged to focus on expanding the pie collaboratively, rather than dividing it. By fostering an environment of trust and transparency, partners can work together to optimize inventory management, reduce waste and enhance service delivery. This collaborative approach not only strengthens relationships but also drives efficiency and innovation across the supply chain. Leveraging technology and data for strategic advantage As MedTech organizations transition to new ERP systems and explore artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, the balance between technological advancements and process improvements is crucial. The resurgence of lean concepts underscores the need for quick reactions to disruptions, enabling organizations to maintain operational continuity in the face of challenges. However, scaling AI solutions remains a challenge, requiring careful consideration of data security and the role of AI in replacing human tasks. AI and predictive analytics are increasingly being leveraged to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. By harnessing historical data, healthcare providers can improve forecast accuracy, optimize inventory levels and reduce reliance on reactive measures. This strategic use of technology not only enhances operational efficiency but also improves patient care by ensuring the availability of critical supplies. Enhancing demand planning and forecasting Predictive analytics and statistical forecasting are transforming demand planning, allowing organizations to be more preventative rather than reactive. By utilizing historical data and advanced algorithms, healthcare providers can improve forecast accuracy and reduce reliance on reactive measures. This proactive approach to demand planning enhances operational efficiency, reduces costs and ultimately improves patient care. Organizations are encouraged to embrace predictive analytics as a tool for enhancing demand planning and forecasting. By doing so, they can better anticipate changes in demand, optimize inventory levels and ensure the availability of critical supplies. This focus on proactive planning not only enhances operational efficiency but also strengthens the resilience of life sciences supply chains. Watch on-demand: How to master real-time collaboration in complex supply networks Our exclusive webinar with Supply Chain Digest reveals the strategies and technologies you need to gain end-to-end visibility and control. Watch Now The importance of communication and transparency Effective communication and transparency are vital in managing disruptions and fostering trust among partners. Radical candor and healthy debate can facilitate open dialogue, ensuring that all parties share a common understanding of value and costs. This approach not only strengthens partnerships but also enhances the resilience of life sciences supply chains. Organizations are encouraged to prioritize communication and transparency in their interactions with partners. By fostering an environment of open dialogue and shared understanding, they can build trust, enhance collaboration and drive efficiency across the supply chain. This focus on communication and transparency is essential for navigating the complexities of modern life sciences supply chains and ensuring the delivery of critical healthcare services. In conclusion, the insights from LogiMed highlight the need for MedTech organizations to embrace collaboration, leverage technology and prioritize communication in navigating the complexities of modern supply chains. By doing so, they can enhance their ability to deliver critical healthcare services in an increasingly uncertain world. The strategies discussed at LogiMed provide a roadmap for organizations seeking to optimize their supply chains and drive innovation in the delivery of life-saving and life-enhancing medical products. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Why Are Retailer-Owned Marketplaces Taking Over And How Can You Benefit](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/why-are-retailer-owned-marketplaces-taking-over-and-how-can-you-benefit) > Retailer-owned marketplaces are booming. Find out why they're gaining popularity and how you can leverage this trend to expand your reach and boost sales. Blog Why Are Retailer-Owned Marketplaces Taking Over? And How Can You Benefit? Why Are Retailer-Owned Marketplaces Taking Over And How Can You Benefit Mike Richmond , September 17, 2024 2 minute read The number of retailer-owned third-party marketplaces, in which retailers list products from other sellers within their platform or website, has risen over the past few years. Many big-name retailers now have their own marketplace platforms, including Tesco, Boots, Superdrug, B&Q and The Range in the UK, as well as Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Macy’s in the U.S. Third-party marketplaces are great for growth Third-party marketplaces are a smart, strategic way for retailers to expand the range of their product offerings. They can help retailers drive growth and customer acquisition, without taking on the burden of all that new inventory directly. B&Q have reported that the marketplace they launched only a few years ago now accounts for about 40% of their online sales. Most marketplace sellers are happy to work with big-name brands to tap into a retailer’s audience. By putting their products in front of a wider range of people and leveraging the trusted reputation of the retailer who owns the platform, sellers can boost their acquisition and conversion. Third-party marketplaces offer these significant benefits for retailers: Expanded product range. Retailers can expand their product range without investing in additional inventory. This can attract a wider customer base and increase sales potential. Reduced operational costs. Retailers can save on the costs associated with warehousing, shipping and customer service, as third-party sellers handle these aspects. Lower financial risk. Since retailers don’t own the inventory, they are less exposed to the risk of unsold products and potential losses. Data insights. A marketplace offers insights about customer behavior and purchasing criteria that can improve new products, user journeys and the general customer experience, helping retailers make strategic decisions in these areas. Improved customer experience. A wider range of products can enhance customers’ overall shopping experience, increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty and lifetime value. Protect your brand and boost profits with marketplace returns Don't let returns derail your marketplace success. Learn 5 crucial steps to optimize returns, protect your brand, and capitalize on growth opportunities without draining your bottom line. Discover More There are still challenges, however Managing third-party marketplaces is not without its pitfalls. Customers will come because they trust the brand, but that also means every third-party seller is now a brand custodian to some degree. There are ways to introduce some separation for example, clearly labelling products provided by third parties  — but the buck ultimately stops with the marketplace brand. That means retailers must carefully control who can sell on their marketplace, as well as set and police high standards of customer service and product quality. A high degree of control is essential for the long-term health of both the marketplace and the value of retail brand as a whole. In addition, product returns can become a tricky problem in the third-party marketplace landscape. If customers buy from a marketplace that has a retailer’s branding on it, they’ll expect to be able to return items to the retailer’s store. That’s fine from the customer’s perspective, but it leaves the retailer saddled with items it likely does not usually stock, in stores that may be far from where the item originated. The  third-party seller needs that stock to be returned to them somehow, having issued a refund to the customer. Retailers must communicate clear return policies that state customers should contact the marketplace seller for marketplace returns. But there will still be some cases where customers aren’t aware that they’ve purchased a third-party item — and they’ll expect to go through the default returns process for the retailer. In these cases, the best-case scenario is a frustrating customer experience where the retailer’s returns journey refuses to accept the return. The worst case is marketplace inventory becoming mixed up with the retailer’s own, causing unnecessary operational headaches and requiring the retailer to make good with the marketplace sellers. An optimized returns management process is essential for avoiding these pitfalls and optimizing the third-party marketplace experience for retailers, sellers and consumers. Avoid the operational nightmare of marketplace returns Find out how to get all the benefits of marketplace growth, without the logistical headaches in our exclusive e-book. Download For Free ### [What Is a Digital Supply Chain Network](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/what-is-a-digital-supply-chain-network) > Demystify digital supply chain networks. Discover their key components, benefits, and how they optimize supply chain efficiency and collaboration Blog What Is a Digital Supply Chain Network? What Is a Digital Supply Chain Network Peter Nilsson , November 8, 2024 3 minute read We hear talk about them all the time. We are told we need one. But what exactly is a supply chain network? Just as social networks have existed for centuries (long before social media platforms!), so too have supply chain networks. Digital social media platforms when first introduced made it much easier for us to communicate and collaborate with our social networks. They acted as a turbocharger on what we were already able to do through other means. They unlocked previously impractical capabilities of what we can do today. Do you remember how you shared a photo of the view from your breakfast table on the first day of your vacation with everyone you knew before Facebook was a staple? Exactly, you didn’t! Before the big digital social media platforms, we either didn’t do some of what we today take for granted, or we relied on point solutions. Some solutions allowed us to ask our contacts to log in to a platform of our choice to see our latest photo album. Other solutions allowed our connections to update their own contact details in our address book but not share the details with each other. These one-to-many solutions ultimately faded away in favor of digital social media platforms, since they were inherently hub-and-spoke solutions that provided some value for the initiating party, but questionable benefits to everyone else. Supply chain networks At the most fundamental level, organizations must communicate with everyone from manufacturing and warehousing to transportation partners, freight forwarders, distributors, retailers, and others. We send orders, confirm those orders, notify when the shipment is scheduled and send invoices before the actual movement of goods takes place. Each party typically leverages its own preferred point solutions, some rather sophisticated solutions, and others very basic. Efforts have been made to integrate between some of the largest solution suites typically leveraged by large organizations, but as you move down the line, we typically end up relying on spreadsheets, emails, phone calls and various file-sharing solutions. Quite quickly you realize there’s a need to collaborate on the details of many orders. Then you want to provide an order forecast, a promise or confirmation on the order, to schedule pick-up and delivery of the shipment, etc. Ultimately you want to manage and optimize across all your buyers. The industry analyst firm Gartner® coined the term “Multienterprise Supply Chain Business Networks” (MESCBN)” and defined it as “a community of trading partners — of any tier and type within a network — that needs to coordinate and execute supply chain processes across multiple enterprises.” The key is that the community of companies carry out business processes that extend across multiple parties or enterprises , which includes most supply chain business processes. According to the report, “Multienterprise supply chain business networks (MESCBNs) are an essential technology component to a successful high-maturity, digital transformation. Executives must understand that their company needs to operate within such networks to stay competitive — in other words, minimize risk, increase efficiency, reduce cost, and capitalize on opportunities.” While all of that is true, it doesn’t address what you truly need to be successful in achieving the ultimate supply chain goal of delivering the highest customer value at the lowest possible cost. Discover the power of a true supply chain network Are you struggling to manage complex supply chains? Discover how a true network can help you organize, engage, and gain a competitive advantage. Discover More That’s great in theory, but the reality today… In today’s business landscape, it is almost absurd to think that we’ll be able to drive any substantial optimization if each party is expecting everyone else to comply with their standalone hub-and-spoke point solution. To drive our own internal efficiency, we force our ecosystem partners via these one-to-many systems to comply with our processes and solution choices with little regard for the extra effort imposed on them. Reminiscent of the days before the use of digital social media platforms became widespread, your business partners expect you to happily log in to their platform of choice regularly to collaborate with them on their terms with little added benefit to you. Most organizations ignore the fact that their ecosystem partners are forced by them and many others to access a whole range of disparate systems on a regular basis just to keep up with business. The more point solutions deployed, the more friction we add into the supply chain ecosystem, driving up the cost and lead time and harming everyone in the process. So, what is the solution? First of all, there have to be benefits for all participants. A true digital supply chain network does that. For instance, the Blue Yonder platform unites all trading partners on a single, real-time, customer-centric platform in the cloud. Like a digital social media platform, it is a many-to-many platform, where each trading partner is empowered with real-time visibility and actionability, across all of their own trading partners. They can plan and execute, informed by real-time data, and manage the supply chain from raw material suppliers to the end customers. No extra onboarding or systems required. These capabilities are key and define a supply chain network. If: You need to re-onboard for other business relationships, or to leverage other capabilities You can’t plan and execute on the same platform You are still relying on spreadsheets, chat and phone calls Then it might be time to rethink your supply chain platform. These are sure signs that you are not on a true digital supply chain network, and are using a pseudo-network, the equivalent of a photo-sharing portal. Unlock the power of a true supply chain network with Blue Yonder Gain end-to-end visibility into how your supply chain is operating for faster, more accurate, and more informed decision-making. Discover More ### [What Constitutes a True Supply Chain Network](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/what-constitutes-a-true-supply-chain-network) > Stop settling for less. Understand the critical components of a true supply chain network and how deep partner integration can transform your business. Blog What Constitutes a True Supply Chain Network? What Constitutes a True Supply Chain Network Ranjit Notani , November 15, 2024 4 minute read Over the past few years, the disruptions of the pandemic and the Suez and Panama canals have highlighted the shortcomings of the traditional ways of running a supply chain.  Many businesses are embarking on a digital transformation to turn linear supply chains into connected, intelligent, scalable, customizable and nimble digital supply networks. Similar in concept to social networks, these supply chain networks are creating breakthrough results and powering business processes quicker and more effectively, while handling the increased variability that the world continues to face. Digitally transforming the supply chain into a Digital Supply Chain Network allows parties to collaborate on the same shared objects using shared applications. More importantly, these networks are changing the way business is done by allowing companies to organize, manage and engage, their partners for a competitive advantage. More than just “moving to the cloud”, these networks enable game-changing multiparty or multicompany applications by enabling all-parties to better manage capacity and keep their focus on the end-goal of customer satisfaction. What’s driving these new supply chain networks? It started before the pandemic, though the pandemic increased the urgency with which companies are transforming their supply chains. And today, that urgency continues. Multi-enterprise supply chain business networks support a community of trading partners that need to work and communicate across multiple enterprises with an end-to-end and shared focus. Such solutions provide their community with multi-enterprise functionality, services, and security with special emphasis on supply chain visibility and executional processes. Gartner® analysts Christian Titze and Simon Bailey wrote in a report that “multi-partner digital ecosystems are becoming the preeminent form of collaboration to support new digital business models.” The end of vertical integration and the rise of specialization is creating huge competitive advantages to those companies that can leverage their partners most effectively. Networks are particularly important for companies that deal with hundreds or thousands of partners or who require workflows that require more than just two parties. Why EDI and API calls between parties aren’t cutting it While many organizations tried to leverage electronic data interchange (EDI) and application program interface (API) to exchange documents and/or to design a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications with their trading partners, the reality is these point-to-point approaches just can’t scale to meet large numbers of trading partners. They are also incapable of supporting the sophisticated, multiparty workflows that are required for most routine transactions. A single version of the truth for your supply chain These EDI and API “band aids” are superficial fixes for a deep problem. These methods create massive data synchronization issues because there is no single version of the truth, especially when workflows expand beyond just two parties. For instance, a simple four-party workflow is painful enough to get billing done properly as it involves participation from the hospital, a patient, attending physicians and an insurance company. Now, imagine the complexity when you add in that patients often have to deal with multiple doctors and hospitals; doctors have to deal with multiple insurance companies; and insurance companies have to deal with multiple hospitals, doctors and patients. Rudimentary EDI and API techniques are simply not set up to support today’s multiparty environment never mind an organization’s digital transformation. Networks support partner connectivity and are built on a many-to-many network architecture that includes solid data governance, interoperability, enterprise system and multichannel integration. The components of a true supply chain network platform A multiparty, many-to-many network connects all parties through a single connection to the network. In the report mentioned above, Gartner advises supply chain leaders to develop a proactive strategy for engaging their business ecosystems and select the right mix of business processes and technology. But what does that mean? When it comes to selecting an effective network solution, it is critical to do your homework to ensure it includes the following capabilities: Multiparty transactions and master data management provide a single version of the truth. Instead of replicating data, there should be a single version of the truth mediated by a permissions model. Upgrade multiparty workflows while maintaining backward compatibility. Private processes that can be independently updated on top of shared network processes. Onboard once and then conduct business with anyone (subject to permissions, agreements, contracts, etc. of course). Near-real-time global visibility to see what’s occurring now. Intelligent agents that run on top of the near-real-time global backbone to provide intelligent sense-and-respond as this can dramatically increase the responsiveness, automation and intelligence of the network. Agents can also employ machine learning to constantly improve their function. Tuneable system-of-control to allow individual systems or process steps to be independently moved onto the network. This is a critical capability because expecting every partner and every process to be simultaneously and fully onboarded is impossible. High uptimes and data access SLAs to ensure minimal disruptions. A modular architecture that allows individual modules or apps to be built by different parties and then assembled into a network solution. Unlock the potential of digital supply chain networks We hear talk about them all the time. We are told we need one. Now, find out exactly what a supply chain network is and how it will benefit your business in this in-depth guide. Discover More Why ERP and hub and spoke models fall short Because enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions were designed to handle private processes, they are very weak for cross-enterprise shared processes. “One-to-many networks” or the “hub-and-spoke” model where a single company (hub) surrounds itself with other companies (spokes) aren’t any better. First, deciding which company should be the hub and which should be the spoke is hard. If you and your partners can manage to get past this, the next problem is that spokes need to onboard multiple times — once for each hub they are dealing with. This is extremely onerous and a major reason hub-and-spoke networks have failed beyond basic EDI. Aside from being unwieldy, workflows involving more than two parties become very difficult. Networks, on the other hand, are centered around our customers attaining value. Rapid time to value means the system is self-funding versus the traditional ERP model where you bear the entire financial burden. The Blue Yonder Network & Control Tower connects all trading partners to the AI powered network, helping you collaborate, optimize and execute together to serve your end customers. Not only does this network help support growth and better manage capacity, it also allows all parties to concentrate on what’s most important — serving its customers. Supply chain leaders focused on manufacturing operations strategy can use this research to extend capacity planning to the full network. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [The Strategic Edge of Automated Supply Chains for LSPs](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/the-strategic-edge-of-automated-supply-chains-for-lsps) > Discover how automated supply chains can provide a significant strategic edge for Logistics Service Providers (LSPs), enhancing efficiency, visibility, and service offerings. Blog The Strategic Edge of Automated Supply Chains for LSPs The Strategic Edge of Automated Supply Chains for LSPs Roy Bridgland , August 23, 2024 2 minute read In an era where the pace of change accelerates by the minute, logistics service providers (LSPs) face a constant challenge: Adapt swiftly or lag inevitably. To stay competitive in this fast-evolving landscape, LSPs need to find innovative ways to enhance their operational agility and respond to market demands with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Automating processes isn’t just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic imperative that reshapes the very fabric of logistics operations. As businesses globally prioritize agility and resilience, a notable shift is evident: 83% of supply chain leaders report their investments in resilience helped minimize the impact of disruptions in 2022 . The drive toward automation is underscored by compelling projections. By 2025, 70% of organizations plan to implement structured automation to enhance flexibility and efficiency, up from just 20% in 2021. Blue Yonder emerges as a pivotal player in this transformation effort, providing cutting-edge solutions that set new standards in supply chain efficiency and responsiveness. Our industry brief in partnership with Incisiv, “ Navigating the Future: The Essential Role of Multi-Faceted Automation in Modern Supply Chains ” offers invaluable insights into how advanced automation technologies — including smart yard management, automated task allocation and comprehensive integration with transportation management systems (TMS) and warehouse management systems (WMS) — are not only responding to emerging challenges, but redefining supply chain management. 83% 0 of supply chain leaders report their investments in resilience helped minimize the impact of disruptions in 2022. 70% 0 of organizations plan to implement structured automation by 2025. 87% 0 of LSPs have maintained or increased their technology investments since 2020. Transforming challenges into opportunities With 87% of LSPs maintaining or increasing their technology investments since 2020, the adoption of automated solutions is expected to skyrocket. This rapid embrace of automation reflects a response to past disruptions, as well as a proactive strategy to future-proof supply chains against unpredictability. Incorporating structured automation delivers flexibility and efficiency that allows logistics operations to pivot and adapt at the speed of the market. It enables LSPs to not only enhance their operational agility, but also solidify their market position by quickly responding to changes and opportunities. As predictive analytics for cross-supply chain efficiencies become a critical element of strategic planning, LSPs have the tools necessary to turn potential disruptions into opportunities for growth and innovation. Through real-time data orchestration, these systems provide unparalleled visibility and control, enhancing LSPs’ ability to make informed decisions rapidly. The compelling benefits of automated supply chains Supply chain automation transforms logistics into a strategic lever for business success. Workflow automation helps companies drastically reduce operational delays and bottlenecks, which translates to faster time-to-market and significant cost savings. According to a McKinsey report, leading logistics players have reported productivity improvements of 10-20% in the short term, and 20-40% within two to four years , due to automation. This widespread adoption of tech-driven operations can serve as a model for LSPs, highlighting the potential benefits of automation in enhancing profitability and operational efficiency . Labor automation solutions — including automated task allocation and robotics integration — are especially valuable for LSPs. They elevate the role of associates by freeing up time that can be redirected toward more strategic, value-added activities. This shift not only maximizes workforce productivity, but it also fosters a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within LSP organizations. With intelligent systems like AI-enhanced resource orchestration taking over the repetitive assignment of tasks, employees are empowered to focus on work that requires human insight and decision-making. Overall business performance is enhanced, and the supply chain becomes more intelligent, agile and responsive supply chain.  The new tariff landscape: your LSP survival guide Find out how LSPs can deliver consistent results amid uncertainty as the new Trump Administration will impose tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from China, Canada, Mexico and other countries. Discover More The digital supply chain revolution is here The future of supply chain management is undoubtedly digital, with industry leaders predicting that digital supply chains will become the predominant business model within the next five years. This shift is underpinned by a strategic commitment to automation, which not only streamlines operations, but also significantly enhances decision-making capabilities through advanced analytics and machine learning. As the landscape evolves, eight out of 10 supply chain leaders say embracing digital supply chains represents a fundamental business transformation . The push toward digital integration extends beyond mere automation of routine tasks; digitalization is about creating a resilient, agile and proactive supply chain ecosystem. Step into the future of supply chain management LSPs that leverage cutting-edge technologies like those offered by Blue Yonder are not merely responding to immediate challenges—they’re proactively shaping their future and ensuring they stay ahead in a competitive landscape. Advance your automation capabilities across warehouses, yards and transportation Explore Blue Yonder’s Automation Acceleration Resource Center for LSPs to uncover the depth and breadth of opportunities that automation offers and how it can transform your operations from the ground up. Discover More ### [The Rise of Outsourced Logistics What It Means for LSPs](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/the-rise-of-outsourced-logistics-what-it-means-for-lsps) > The future of logistics is changing. Learn how the rise of outsourcing affects LSPs and discover strategies to remain competitive in this evolving landscape. Blog The Rise of Outsourced Logistics: What It Means for LSPs The Rise of Outsourced Logistics What It Means for LSPs Terence Leung , October 31, 2024 2 minute read Driven by omni-channel growth and multinational expansion, the global logistics industry is booming — and it’s expected to reach $18 trillion in value by 2030 . While market growth is exciting, it’s typically accompanied by growing pains. As the size and scale of their worldwide supply chains increase, many manufacturers, retailers and distributors are finding themselves constrained by shortfalls in resources, capacity and specialized knowledge. Shippers need more labor to keep their transportation and distribution activities moving, but employees are becoming harder to find and more expensive to retain. They need new trucks, new warehousing space, new micro-fulfillment facilities — but high interest rates and rising real estate prices make them reluctant to invest. Nearshoring, cross-border customs, new tariffs and emerging emissions requirements are fueling the need for specialized expertise. Given today’s demand volatility and economic uncertainty, companies are wise to approach any internal logistics expansion plans with extreme caution. At the same time, logistics service providers (LSPs) are also feeling pressure. As freight carrier rates and fuel prices rise, and competition for customers heats up, their margins are shrinking. Both carriers and LSPs are exiting the U.S. market at record rates during what experts are calling a freight recession . The logical move for growth-oriented LSPs? Expand their services to capture new revenue. More and more LSPs are adopting the fourth-party logistics (4PL) business model, in which they offer complete, turnkey management of customer supply chains. In addition to storing and moving freight, they’re designing networks, managing and fulfilling orders, allocating and optimizing inventory, tracking and tracing shipments, measuring and reporting emissions, assuming ownership for supplier relationships, and handling billing and other administrative tasks — in other words, assuming full responsibility for the entire supply chain. Logistics outsourcing makes good business sense for both parties in today’s fast-paced, complex logistics landscape. After all, why not match the urgent need of shippers to manage growing logistics size, scale and complexity with the specialized expertise and resources of 4PLs — who are seeking revenue growth? It’s no surprise that the global market for logistics outsourcing is expected to increase from $1.043 trillion in 2023 to $1.642 trillion by 2032. According to a recent study, 87% of shippers expect to increase their outsourced activities in the next year. Prepare for new tariffs now Find out how LSPs can deliver consistent results amid uncertainty as the new Trump Administration will impose tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from China, Canada, Mexico and other countries. Discover More Expansion of managed services brings new challenges for LSPs The scope of managed service is expanding from transportation to other supply chain services including inventory management, demand forecasting, supplier management, raw material sourcing, robotics, and supply chain and transportation modeling. There are some larger LSPs out there who can easily manage end-to-end supply chains and seamlessly onboard new customers. But, for most LSPs — especially third-party logistics providers (3PLs) who aspire to become 4PLs — today’s expanding list of managed services offerings presents some big challenges. Acting as a single point of contact for supply chain management means LSPs must establish near real-time visibility, connectivity and tracking. Of course, the ultimate customer needs transparency — but so do the customer’s customers, the supplier network, external trading partners, every internal function and other supply chain stakeholders. LSPs also need advanced technology that enables them to identify and resolve disruptions quickly, from port closures and bridge collapses to extreme weather and geopolitical conflicts. In the study cited earlier , the most requested digital capability from shippers is a control tower. Nearly two thirds of shippers, or 68%, expect their outsourced logistics partner to leverage a control tower for asset management, visibility and tracking. Secure your LSP's future with automated supply chains Is your LSP struggling with rapid market changes? Discover how automated supply chains provide the strategic edge you need for agility and resilience. Discover More Capitalizing on the growing managed services opportunity might also require LSPs to expand their physical facilities, their fleets and their services. They might need to add warehouse robotics, e-commerce transaction capabilities, order management or parcel shipping execution at enormous scale. They may choose to add specialized expertise and associated resources in cold chain, project logistics or cross-border transportation. As they expand their capabilities, LSPs need to consider both the physical supply chain and the digital backbone that supports it. Blue Yonder helps LSP customers transform their supply chain execution by modernizing their warehousing, transportation and commerce capabilities. Again, there are some large managed service providers that are already well-established in terms of advanced technology, physical infrastructure and managed services breadth. But for most LSPs, the shift to turnkey managed services is not an easy transition. After all, LSPs are experts in day-to-day logistics operations, but maybe not in digitalization, process innovation and real-time visibility. New time-to-value challenges require a new approach Turnkey supply chain management isn’t for the faint of heart. In transforming into full-scale managed service providers, LSPs need to ensure flawless execution, no matter what surprises come their way. Their customers’ critical relationships, brand reputations and financial results are at stake — but their own relationships, reputation and performance are also at stake. They can achieve enormous benefits from capturing the expanded managed services opportunity, but they can also falter, with high-profile and long-lasting consequences. Their customers will be counting on them for world-class artificial intelligence (AI) , machine learning (ML), predictive analytics, and data management. Shippers expect a 4PL to automate not just processes and workflows, but also the hundreds of day-to-day decisions that keep the supply chain on track to meet cost, service, sustainability and other goals. Blue Yonder Platform provides the robust foundation to drive innovation, capturing every element of the supply chain while enabling seamless integration across transportation, commerce, warehousing and returns modules. With Blue Yonder’s multi-enterprise and multi-tier digital supply chain network, command and control center, and end-to-end planning and execution solutions, LSPs can optimize operations, enhance visibility and respond proactively to disruptions. AI delivers actionable insights at scale, increasing agility and decreasing operational risks. In redefining traditional managed services, LSPs must have a new approach to meet the expectations of today. Offering new or even next-generation services at scale means LSPs’ technology architectures should be scalable, end-to-end and interoperable. Blue Yonder microservices decrease time to value for establishing this architecture, and subsequent new services or business models, from months to weeks. Blue Yonder’s rapid, customizable implementations increase return on investment, enabling LSPs to scale technology and evolve the business model according to their changing needs. Advance your automation capabilities across warehouses, yards and transportation Explore Blue Yonder’s Automation Acceleration Resource Center for LSPs to uncover the depth and breadth of automation's opportunities and how it can transform your operations from the ground up. Discover More How can LSPs minimize risk and maximize reward? If you’re thinking the rewards associated with expanded managed services isn’t worth the risk exposure, think again. Based on its work with the world’s leading 4PLs, 3PLs and other logistics service providers, Blue Yonder knows exactly how to get managed logistics services up and running — and driven by the most advanced digital capabilities. We’ve developed scalable, adaptable, cloud-native and interoperable solutions that capitalize on the most advanced AI, ML and other innovations to optimize and automate even the most complex operations — while also featuring user-friendly interfaces that are easy for logistics teams to master. Learn more by checking out our full range of services and solutions for logistics service providers. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Superpowered by Multimillion-Dollar Investments Supply Chains Are Ready to Shine](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/superpowered-by-multimillion-dollar-investments-supply-chains-are-ready-to-shine) > Discover how multi-million dollar investments are supercharging supply chains, enabling them to shine with enhanced resilience, efficiency, and innovation for the future. Blog Superpowered by Multimillion-Dollar Investments, Supply Chains Are Ready to Shine Superpowered by Multimillion-Dollar Investments Supply Chains Are Ready to Shine Terence Leung , May 13, 2024 3 minute read Each year, Blue Yonder releases the findings of its annual Supply Chain Executives Survey* in conjunction with ICON , the premier conference for supply chain leaders in manufacturing, logistics and retail. Once again this year, the findings of the survey are consistent with what we’re hearing from customers in Dallas this week. First, the bad news. Based on responses from 600 C-suite and senior executives around the world, supply chain teams continue to face significant challenges — including frequent disruptions. In fact, 84% of respondents worldwide report ongoing and significant supply chain disruptions — including shortages of materials, labor and transportation capacity. These exceptions are causing customer delays, stalling production, interfering with regulatory compliance, damaging financial results and brand reputations, and resulting in lost sales. And that’s not all. Inflation is driving up supply chain costs, including the price of transportation, materials, labor and inventory. As a result, 46% of executives have seen profit margins shrink over the past year — and that number rises to 60% for companies in the U.S. Advanced technology takes the spotlight Now, the fantastic news. The executives in Blue Yonder’s annual survey are extremely optimistic about how advanced technologies — including cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) — can superpower their supply chains and help them master these challenges. And this is the focus of what Blue Yonder ICON 2024 attendees will learn this week. More than half (51%) of companies in our survey have invested more than $10 million in their supply chains in the last year, with much of that investment going toward advanced capabilities like AI and ML. Among U.S. respondents, the number of companies investing more than $10 million in supply chain has more than doubled in two years — growing from 24% in 2022 to 49% in 2024. The outcomes of these multimillion-dollar supply chain investments? Improved efficiencies (named by 53% of executives), revenue growth (37%), increased market share (37%), fewer disruptions (37%), and increased profitability (29%). Like the Blue Yonder customers who will share their success at ICON, our survey participants seem to grow in technology maturity and sophistication each year. In the 2024 survey, over half of organizations are already applying AI and ML in supply chain planning (56%), transportation management (53%) and order management (50%). A sweeping digital transformation is a focus of investment for 37% of participants. And the executives in our survey are investing in some innovative, leading-edge capabilities. In fact, 80% said their companies have organized initiatives to implement generative AI. This subset of AI relies on predictive algorithms to generate responses — such as text, commands or recommendations — to user queries. Among those organizations exploring generative AI, 91% reported that it’s proven “moderately effective” or “highly effective” in optimizing supply chain processes and decision-making. It’s clear that the world’s supply chain teams are betting heavily on advanced technology to superpower their supply chains. A majority of respondents in our survey — 86% —plan to increase their investments in AI, ML and generative AI in the future. Discover the full insights from Blue Yonder’s 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey See the results and the innovative solutions that will help manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies tackle the challenges and improve business performance. Download For Free Let’s celebrate our collective success If you’re reading this blog post, then you clearly believe in the potential of advanced technology to help master supply chain challenges and drive success. This week marks the perfect opportunity to celebrate our collective results to date, as evidenced by the encouraging feedback from our 2024 Supply Chain Executives Survey — as well as the incredible success stories we will be hearing at ICON 2024. Like the executives in our survey, ICON attendees and presenters are investing in advanced technology, with impressive results. Presenters at ICON include more than 55 leading brands, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Arcadia Cold, Bayer Crop Science, Caterpillar Inc., Coca-Cola FEMSA, Coke One North America Services, Crate & Barrel, Harris Teeter, Kohler, Mars, Meijer, Micron Technology, Nestlé Purina Petcare, Penske Logistics, Arcadia Cold, Armada Supply Chain and Tractor Supply Company. It’s clear from our survey that, superpowered by advanced technology, supply chains are ready to shine. And Blue Yonder stands ready to help. Like the world’s supply chain teams, we’re also betting on the future of advanced technology — investing $1 billion in innovation over three years. Whatever your unique vision, we’ll help you achieve it with leading-edge technology solutions and innovative delivery models that accelerate, and amplify, your return on your growing supply chain investments. This blog only touches on the full results of Blue Yonder’s 2024 Supply Chain Executives Survey. Learn more details in the infographic and eBook . * Blue Yonder’s 2024 Supply Chain Executive Survey was fielded by a third-party provider and conducted March 1-15, 2024. Responses were collected from more than 600 C-suite and senior executives across manufacturing, retail, third-party logistics and government. Participants are responsible for supply chain strategy, planning, logistics and manufacturing operations in the United States, United Kingdom, DACH (which includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland), and France/BENELUX (which includes Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Supercharge Fulfillment for a More Efficient Customer Centric Retail Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/supercharge-fulfillment-for-a-more-efficient-customer-centric-retail-supply-chain) > Discover how to supercharge your fulfillment operations, creating a more efficient and customer-centric retail supply chain that meets modern demands and enhances satisfaction. Blog Supercharge Fulfillment for a More Efficient, Customer-Centric Retail Supply Chain Supercharge Fulfillment for a More Efficient Customer Centric Retail Supply Chain Terence Leung , April 23, 2024 4 minute read It’s easy to think of fulfillment as comprising the final steps in the retail supply chain. But the truth is that the conditions faced in warehouses and delivery vehicles are determined much earlier in the supply chain than the last mile. Supercharging fulfillment works in concert with accelerating plans, amplifying experiences and building trust to orchestrate a synchronized supply chain via an end-to-end approach. Since fulfillment represents the most cost-intensive stage of the retail supply chain, it’s beneficial for supply chain professionals to consider the margin-widening powers of an end-to-end approach that optimizes the supply chain in a holistic, rather than siloed, way. By optimizing fulfillment, exponential value in the retail supply chain can be unlocked. Uniting people and technology to serve consumers faster, more efficiently It’s important to realize that exponential value can’t be unleashed by adopting a fragmented patchwork of integrated point solutions. Rather, the entire retail supply chain, from planning to execution, needs to be harmonized around a singular outcome. Adopting a customer-centric approach helps achieve this. While the consumer has always been at the center of the retail supply chain, recent fulfillment trends indicate that customer-centricity has never been more essential to success. Trends like omni-channel ordering, automated inventory management, real-time order visibility and same-day delivery emerged in an era when most customers spent their days at home. But the demand for these capabilities has not diminished. Faster fulfillment times and higher consumer expectations are here to stay. Satisfying consumer demand for faster delivery, while improving internal efficiencies and handling disruptions seamlessly, remains a high priority for supply chain professionals. To operate a truly customer-centric supply chain, retailers need to focus on creating a unified ecosystem that runs on a common platform. The use of a shared platform ensures universal visibility of the same data, and access to the same resources, across the end-to-end supply chain. With platform-based, advanced digital solutions widely available, supercharging fulfillment for a more efficient and customer-centric supply chain isn’t just a great idea — it’s a tangible reality. The impact of warehousing and resourcing trends on retail supply chains The seemingly universal demand for more efficient order fulfillment has effected profound changes in every silo of the supply chain. Many of these changes are positive, while others create new challenges. For instance, new fulfillment modes increase flexibility today — but they also mean increasingly dissatisfied shoppers are forced to share precious aisle space with in-store pickers, as well as navigate roads that are more congested with delivery vehicles. Similarly, store staff are encountering their own frustrations about sourcing items to fulfil online orders, in addition to their existing responsibilities. Another flexible fulfillment challenge? The retail labor shortages that characterized 2023 are not letting up anytime soon. According to a report by the National Retail Federation (NRF), there were four million retail job openings in the 12 months before January 2024. “That shortage of workers is not likely to ease dramatically in 2024,” warns the NRF. “Earmarking capital for technology that aids in scheduling , hiring, and training is suggested as a solution to this challenge, which is not set to be resolved soon.” Overall, it’s clear that supply chain professionals must prepare for a future with continued disruptions to labor availability in warehousing and resourcing. However, with the right end-to-end digital solutions in place, being prepared to take on any future disruptions has never been simpler. The answer lies in automation. Automation is the key to supercharging fulfillment Automating logistics and warehousing operations can supercharge speed and responsiveness in the retail supply chain, including fulfillment — a transformative power that modern retailers would do well to recognize. When we talk about automation, we’re speaking about a multifaceted realm that goes beyond robotics. Advanced automation merges multiple technologies for smart, independent decision-making. It marks a new era for supply chain management, where machines and algorithms work in harmony to streamline processes like fulfillment from end to end. By 2025, modern retailers plan to automate 70% of their routine tasks and prioritize investments that will enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs and support higher profits. By adopting automation, retailers can achieve significant improvements in various facets of their operations, including fulfillment: Modernized operations and enhanced efficiency. Automation modernizes operations, while enhancing the efficiency and precision of processes. It’s been proven to set new industry standards, reduce costs associated with human labor and errors, and improve the bottom line. Because fulfillment is resource-intensive, it’s a natural target. Smarter supply chain operations. Automation facilitates agile and strategic decision-making through data analysis, helping retailers keep pace with rapidly changing market dynamics. They can see fulfillment trends and be ready in advance. Future-readiness and resilience. Automation ensures seamless operations and builds resilience against the disruptions that frequently disrupt fulfillment processes. It fosters sustained efficiency, paving the way for future industry leadership. Supercharge fulfillment with an end-to-end solution By adopting an end-to-end approach to supply chain optimization, retailers can supercharge fulfillment — and other core competencies — by eliminating siloed thinking and creating universal visibility into enterprise data streams. For a more resilient and profitable supply chain, retailers must consider how to fuel fulfillment via automation, for a more fulfilling customer experience. Schedule a strategy call with a Blue Yonder expert today. They’ll explain how simple it is to implement and scale an end-to-end solution that transforms the supply chain from a disparate cluster of siloes to a cohesive, collaborative structure. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Speedy Refunds Creating Happy Customers With Fast and Effective Returns](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/speedy-refunds-creating-happy-customers-with-fast-and-effective-returns) > Want happier customers? This blog explores the crucial link between fast and effective refunds and positive customer experiences in e-commerce. Blog Speedy Refunds: Creating Happy Customers With Fast and Effective Returns Speedy Refunds Creating Happy Customers With Fast and Effective Returns Bob Griffiths , July 29, 2024 2 minute read Returns are one of retailers’ biggest problems in today’s e-commerce landscape — with 63% of merchants saying it’s a significant problem for their business . Without effective returns strategies, retailers are experiencing increased costs thanks to processing, sorting and restocking returns — all while damaging the customer’s experience of the brand and increasing their churn rate. However, with effective returns management, returns can become a secret weapon for retailers, helping them recapture revenue, increase customer loyalty and lifetime value. One of the key components to an effective returns solution is through speedy refunds. The damage of slow refunds One study revealed that 52% of customers would not be likely to shop with a particular retailer again if it takes too long to process a refund. Similarly, a TrueLayer and YouGov study revealed that two-thirds of shoppers consider refund processing time an important factor on whether to shop with your business again. From a customer’s point of view, this makes sense. You’ve bought an item, waited for it to arrive and when you receive it, it lets you down somehow. No matter the return reason, all that matters is that you want your money back. But before you can get a refund, you need to go through the returns process. That could involve speaking to customer service, repackaging items, printing a label and posting it back to the retailer… all of which means inconvenience and time spent. If a retailer doesn’t offer free returns, you’re also paying for the privilege. At this point, disappointment and annoyance have replaced any feel-good buzz you got from shopping in the first place. Waiting weeks for a refund is like salt in the wound — it implies a lack of trust on the part of the retailer and extends the period of irritation for the customer. Rather than letting these negative returns experiences build up for customers, offering fast refunds can create a positive returns experience, keeping your customers happy, increasing loyalty and driving future revenue. Benchmark your returns strategy against 210 U.S. retailers See how other online retailers are reacting to rising return rates and learn about the role of technology in mitigating the impact. Download For Free Effective returns orchestration lays the groundwork To offer customers faster refunds, retailers need a returns solution that enables them to know exactly what returns are coming in and allows for quick and efficient processing. The less information the retailer has, and the more delays that happen in processing, the longer customers must wait for their refunds. If the business can’t accurately track returns coming back, there’s no way to know when the customer can be refunded. A digital returns platform allows customers to book their return, choose a returns reason and select how they’d like to make the return. They can also choose between an exchange or a refund and specify the exact method of refund (e.g., store credit/card refund). Doing this through the returns platform means the retailer has full visibility and a good estimate of when the return will arrive at the sorting center. That also means retailers can provide customers with an estimated refund date, customized to their personal journey. Having a data point to work from reduces the likelihood of customers contacting the support team to find out when they should get their refund. The foresight that a digital returns platform provides also means that retailers can line up the right amount of resource for the volume of returns they will be receiving. The data gathered by digital returns solutions also enables them to optimize returns processing. For example, some returns can be automatically rerouted to alternative locations if they hit specific criteria, such as sending damaged items or returns with particular SKU codes straight to repair or disposal facilities, reducing processing time and costs. In addition, high-value or popular items that are likely to be quickly resold can be prioritized to get back into stock faster, helping to recapture lost revenue. Increased drop-off options speed u  p validation Having local and convenient drop-off locations for returns, whether your own stores or pickup/drop-off (PUDO) locations, allows retailers to offer an easy and painless way to return products. Even better, in-store returns of online purchases encourage customers to make additional purchases — the cost of processing a return is a lot more justifiable when it helps increase customer lifetime value in such a direct way. From a logistical perspective, grouping returns in stores means that some can be processed within the store and put back on shelves locally, while those that need to be processed centrally can be consolidated and shipped together in bulk, saving on reverse logistics costs. From a refund perspective, having a store drop-off point means that you can validate that the customer has done their part by giving back the product, and that the product is in the condition described, which allows the retailer to begin the refund process straight away. Is automation the future of parcel returns and collections? Uncover exclusive insights from 103 senior logistics professionals across Europe on the impact of automation on parcel returns and collections. Download The Results Automated communications improve customer experience Just like automated communications can step buyers through their online shopping experience, they can also talk them through their returns experience. Automated communications can inform customers that their return has been acknowledged, and that the retailer is awaiting the product in their warehouse. This information can be as granular as you need, including reverse tracking information, showing the item’s journey to the warehouse for processing. This gives customers an honest insight into the process and gives them confidence that everything is under control, reducing the likelihood that they contact customer support to chase a refund. This proactive approach is much more informative than reacting to a customer call or email, and it can be largely automated. However, to do this, the retailer needs to have good visibility of their own reverse supply chain, as we described above. Beyond the refund period, using post-sales communications to check on the order can prompt customers to act more quickly. We’re all human, which sometimes means leaving things to the last minute, including returning products. Speeding up this phase with an email nudge or app notification can improve the speed of returns, minimizing the time a customer spends with an unwanted product and a hole in their wallet. The power of exchanges The best and fastest refund is no refund. An exchange saves the sale for the retailer and saves time for the customer, and given that the majority of online returns are due to issues with size, fit or color , customers are often willing to accept an exchange to a different size, for example. The challenge for retailers is following up on the sale to find out whether the customer is eligible for an exchange before they receive a return unexpectedly. Once again, a communications platform that reaches out proactively to customers to check that they’re happy with their order can help. By including exchange offering as part of the customer journey, the business can preserve more customers and prevent issuing avoidable refunds. Instant and “returnless” refunds One retailer that is ahead of the returns management curve is Amazon. Amazon has two key strategies to speed up returns refunds. First, it initiates refunds immediately after the customer drops off a parcel at their chosen location. This eliminates the waiting stage until the package makes its way back to the processing center. Secondly, Amazon also offers “returnless” refunds, where customers are automatically refunded without returning their item. This option is best for cases where the item cannot be resold and would often cost more to process the return than the value of a resale. From both a cost-saving and customer experience perspective, retailers should consider this as a potential option for dealing with the most challenging returns. Retailers can also consider several strategically personalized options for instant returns, such as immediately issuing refunds to high-value customers, offering free returns to customers who don’t habitually return and perhaps charging a fee to serial returners. Personalizing the returns experience can work in myriad ways, but retailers are currently underutilizing these opportunities, perhaps because they have limited insight into the customer data and hence the connections between customer profiles and their returns behaviors. Speed up refunds, recapture revenue and drive growth Speeding up refund time improves the customer experience, making customers more likely to shop and purchase again — increasing overall revenue. Although there are several strategies to help speed up returns, at the core is an efficient returns management and orchestration solution. Want to find out more about how returns management and orchestration systems can help your business cut returns costs, recapture revenue and drive growth? Talk to our team today. Unlock easy and seamless returns with Blue Yonder Learn more about how our returns solution can improve cost effectiveness, keep customers happy, and help you prevent returns fraud. Discover More ### [Save the Planet and the Bottom Line: 4 Routes to Sustainable, Cost-Effective Returns](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/save-the-planet-and-the-bottom-line) > Unlock the secret to sustainable returns. This blog explores 4 practical routes to minimize environmental impact while optimizing your return process and saving money. Blog Save the Planet and the Bottom Line: 4 Routes to Sustainable, Cost-Effective Returns Save the Planet and the Bottom Line Mike Richmond , July 16, 2024 2 minute read Returns are one of the biggest challenges facing retailers today. Not only are they a drain on profits — for every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer incurs $145 million in merchandise returns — but they’re also damaging for sustainability. Each return adds to carbon emissions through extra transportation, leads to packaging waste and contributes to landfills if an item cannot be resold, which the EU aims to ban in new landfill laws . In the U.S. alone, the carbon dioxide cost of returns is equivalent to the output of 3 million cars . On average, one-third of all returned clothing bought online is destroyed — and one truckload of clothing is sent to landfills or burned every single second. This is a particular problem for the fashion industry, where returns rates can rise as high as 40% — and are estimated to be responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. However, there are ways for retailers to implement both cost-effective and sustainable returns. Let’s take a look at a few strategies to help save both the planet and profit margins. $145 million 0 the amount retails incur in merchandise returns for every $1billion in sales. 3 million cars 0 That's the equivalent of the carbon dioxide output from returns in the U.S. alone. 10% 0 of global carbon emissions ae the estimated contribution of the fashion industry. 1. Divert landfill waste by increasing resale rates There are many reasons returned items cannot be resold, including damage, missing parts or being out of season. These unsold items often pile up in warehouses, taking up valuable space and ultimately ending up in landfills. The solution is increasing the salability of returns. The more items that can be resold, the more revenue a retailer will make, and the less waste will be sent to landfills. The key to increasing resale rates is speed. The faster retailers can get returned items back, repaired and restocked, the more chance they have of reselling the items. Any delays in shipping, processing or restocking directly impact the likeliness of an item being resold. However, if retailers know what goods are being returned and why — before they arrive at the warehouse — smarter decisions can be made in less time. By utilizing this pre-sort data, retailers gain valuable insights into the condition and nature of returned items before they even reach the warehouse floor. This helps warehousing teams quickly assess and make the right decisions about each item. Items in good condition that have been returned because they didn’t fit, or because a customer changed their mind, can be prioritized for repackaging and resale. If an item is flagged as having damage, it can be sent directly to the repair shop for a quick fix. It can also be flagged as a second-chance item to be offered at a discounted rate, depending on the type of damage. Items beyond repair or resale can be categorized for proper recycling based on the item type and materials. Partnering with responsible recycling facilities ensures these materials are diverted from landfills and potentially used to create new products. 2. Reduce waste from return labels Blue Yonder’s research found that 27% of merchants still offer pre-printed carrier labels in the package. For every customer who doesn’t return an item, these labels go straight into the trash, creating tons of returns label paper waste across all parcels. By offering a digital returns portal, retailers enable customers to book returns online and provide the reason for each return —– eliminating  the cost and waste associated with printing labels for every package. By switching to a digital returns portal, UK retailer ASOS has removed 64 million paper returns inserts per year, saving around 8,450 trees or 320,000 kilograms of paper and avoiding 312 tons of CO2 emissions. In addition, digital portals also give retailers greater control over what returns are coming back. For example, if a customer tries to return an item that is out of policy, retailers can automatically reject the return. By collecting return information from each customer — including what items are being returned, customer information and the return reason — retailers can use this information to fuel more efficient processing and management, like prioritizing resale items to increase revenue recapture. Benchmark your returns strategy against 210 U.S. retailers See how other online retailers are reacting to rising return rates and learn about the role of technology in mitigating the impact. Download For Free 3. Minimize miles to reduce emissions The more miles over which returns have to be transported, the more emissions they will produce. Reducing the amount of miles driven will not only help cut emissions, but also help retailers save on transportation costs. The best way to reduce miles is to ensure that returns data is collected and used to intelligently route items based on order information, item type, location and return reason. Having the right returns management solution allows retailers to set and manage rules to easily determine how returns are processed — which allows them to send broken items straight to repair or recycling, or send high-value items straight for resale. This prevents every return from being sent to a warehouse for sorting, before going on a separate journey to reach the correct facility — removing an entire leg from the transportation journey. 4. Consolidate returns via drop-off networks Drop-off networks are another way of reducing the total miles driven to collect and transport returns. By building networks of drop-off points and using automated solutions like self-service parcel kiosks, retailers can consolidate their returns parcels to create more efficient shipping routes. Self-service drop-offs also offer customers a better returns experience, helping to increase brand loyalty and lifetime value. In addition, the more convenient the location for customers, the more likely they are to return items early, again increasing the chance of reselling. For retailers with brick-and-mortar stores, in-store drop-off points can ensure items are available for resale immediately, as well as provide an opportunity to upsell to returns customers, helping to recapture revenue. One U.S.-based Blue Yonder customer uses an automated drop-off network across its chain of grocery stores, allowing it to fill space on existing logistics routes with returns rather than create new routes — minimizing emissions. Drive more sustainable, profitable returns Implementing these four best practices in returns management is a win-win for retailers, increasing sustainability while also reducing costs. In addition, these strategies provide more opportunities to increase revenue by promoting sustainability savings to attract customers who value environmentally conscious businesses. What’s more, the ease of use of a digital returns portal and a self-service drop-off network also improve the consumer experience, helping to strengthen loyalty and increase lifetime customer value. Ready to unlock the power of sustainable returns? Get in touch to discover how Blue Yonder Returns Management solutions can help you streamline your processes, reduce costs and delight your customers — while also saving the planet. Unlock easy and seamless returns with Blue Yonder Find out how our returns solution can improve cost effectiveness, keep customers happy, and help you prevent returns fraud. Discover More ### [Retailers Beware Returns Fraud on the Rise As Criminals Get More Creative](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/retailers-beware-returns-fraud-on-the-rise-as-criminals-get-more-creative) > Retailers face increasing returns fraud. Learn how criminals are getting more creative and discover strategies to protect your business from evolving fraud tactics Blog Retailers Beware: Returns Fraud on the Rise As Criminals Get More Creative Retailers Beware Returns Fraud on the Rise As Criminals Get More Creative Mike Richmond , October 10, 2024 2 minute read Returns already have a significant impact on retailers’ bottom line. National Retail Federation (NRF) data reveals that for every $1 billion in sales, retailers incur an average of $145 million in merchandise returns . To make matters worse, returns fraud is also on the rise. 13.7% of retail returns were fraudulent in 2023, up from 10.4% in 2022, costing retailers $101.91 billion in 2023 alone. Criminals are continually implementing more creative ways to cheat traditional returns systems, making it harder for retailers to detect and prevent fraud. Returns fraud is becoming more organized and sophisticated A recent case involving PacSun highlights how returns fraud is becoming more creative, with one customer found guilty of returning approximately 250 orders worth $24,000 , receiving refunds without sending back the merchandise. The customer, instead, sent in used or different merchandise, empty shoeboxes, or even packages that never arrived at the warehouse to claim the returns — based on advice from organized groups on messaging apps. These apps are being used to guide users on how to navigate the returns process and trigger high-volume, high-cost fraud. Some of these platforms operate like businesses, promising easy money to their users. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, one example is a scheme called “Simple Refunds.” The scheme organizer and his staff encouraged co-conspirators to purchase items from retailers and then impersonated the purchasers to secure refunds while allowing the original buyers to keep the merchandise for a cut of the return fees. One company in Western Washington alone lost $1.4 million to this fraudulent scheme . As well as seeking guidance online, fraudsters are also employing creative methods to bypass automatic returns processes such as replacing the weight of returned items. In one instance, a 22-year-old was arrested for totaling nearly $370,000 in Amazon returns by ordering items and sending the parcels back with the exact weight in dirt. Without manual checks, the parcels would be weighed and processed automatically as the parcel displayed the correct weight. It wasn’t until one of the parcels was selected for a random search that the scam was…unearthed. $101.91 billion 0 the total cost to retailers in 2023 from fraudulent returns. 13.7% 0 of retail returns were fraudulent in 2023, a rise of 10.4% from 2022. $145 million 0 the total cost retailers occur in merchandise returns per $1 billion in sales How retailers can tackle rising returns fraud Detecting and preventing returns fraud is a challenge for retailers. And as fraudsters become increasingly clever with their methods, retailers too must implement smarter policies and procedures. But there is a balance retailers must strike to keep returns both cost-effective and customers happy. For example: Implementing strategies like higher returns fees can help recover some lost costs and deter some fraudsters but can steer away your potential and loyal customers. Limiting the number of returns customers make will prevent serial returners from abusing returns policies but will also punish loyal, high-spending customers with genuinely higher return rates, decreasing overall lifetime value. Applying manual checks to each return will ensure that refunds are only issued for the correct items — but is an incredibly time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive process. So how do retailers prevent returns fraud, while ensuring customer happiness and decreasing costs? The answer lies in a comprehensive, end-to-end returns solution that examines each aspect of the returns process. Retailers need smarter returns processes, not necessarily tighter End-to-end returns solutions offer a holistic approach to returns for retailers, using data and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze customer behaviors and detect fraudulent activity. By using information, such as customer history, return frequency and payment information, the smarter returns solutions can implement stricter guidelines or return fees when detecting suspicious behavior. With a complete view of each return, including what is due to be returned, by who and why, end-to-end solutions also increase the speed and ease of manual parcel checks. As packages arrive in the warehouse, staff will already have details of the contents and condition — allowing them to perform quick confirmation checks. Any parcels that are missing items or have replaced items with a similar weight are immediately flagged. Image verification can also be utilized here, as comparing images of returned items to original product images can help identify discrepancies and prevent the return of used or counterfeit merchandise. 5 ways returns management saves you money Turn returns into profits. Improve your customer satisfaction and cost savings through these 5 key gains. Download Infographic Prevent fraud and increase profits with Blue Yonder Blue Yonder offers a complete, end-to-end returns solution that can help retailers combat fraud through an intuitive customer journey that automatically enables the right decision with every return. By leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning and AI, our solution provides the tools to help detect and prevent fraudulent returns while maintaining a positive customer experience. Unlock easy and seamless returns with Blue Yonder Learn more about how our returns solution can improve cost effectiveness, keep customers happy, and help you prevent returns fraud. Discover More ### [Profit and Planet Two Sides of the Same Supply Chain Coin](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/profit-and-planet-two-sides-of-the-same-supply-chain-coin) > Building sustainability into your supply chain is critical, but often overlooked. Here's why you should be paying attention. Blog Profit and Planet: Two Sides of the Same Supply Chain Coin Profit and Planet Two Sides of the Same Supply Chain Coin Saskia van Gendt , January 8, 2024 2 minute read A Gartner survey found that more than two-thirds of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are still recovering from the last major disruption when the next one comes along. These executives face a continuous barrage of challenges that proves unresponsive supply chains are going to struggle in a state of constant volatility. Businesses must respond proactively to disruptions by implementing processes and technologies that enable them to not only spot risks or disruption much earlier, but also act upon them in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. The current level of supply chain disruption and complexity represents the culmination of decades of supply chain evolution. New innovations, changing customer expectations and a growing understanding of environmental concerns have added to today’s complexity and volatility. Supply chain management started with the establishment of long, low-cost supply chains that remain the foundation of most manufacturing and retail business operations to this day. Fast-forward to the global financial crisis. While businesses got their first taste of the volatility that was to come, the basic supply chain model didn’t really change. There wasn’t an air of anticipation that these inherently inflexible supply chains would become operationally, financially and environmentally unsustainable. However, all three pressures materialized during the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented global event exposed vulnerabilities and led to the realization that organizations needed to adapt their supply chains to become more financially and environmentally resilient. That magic word “resilience” has been joined by another aspirational word — “agility” — to guide business strategy in the pandemic’s aftermath. The need to balance investment in operational cost efficiency, service improvement, product profitability and growth and environmental sustainability — while simultaneously making supply chains more resilient to disruption — is the new holy grail. The growing importance of sustainability Simultaneously, sustainability has emerged as a strategic priority. But resilience and environmental stewardship are closely aligned. Building a sustainable and resilient supply chain means laying down strategies to predict and respond to disruptions efficiently, with an acceptable impact on both profit and planet. So far, this has largely involved organizations building knowledge of financial and environmental impacts into their decision-making tools — for example, calculating the carbon outputs and fuel cost savings of various transportation options, including not just the route but also the vehicle itself. Given that road transportation from trucks and vans accounts for 65% of the total emissions from transportation , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the potential for optimization is enormous. Waste reduction is another route to addressing both profit and planet. For example, in a highly reactive sector such as short shelf-life foods, predictive artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to develop forecast models based on external variables like weather, seasons, competitor behavior and advertising. This granular level of forecasting improves accuracy, which allows the supply chain to meet demand without creating excess inventory. Forecast accuracy offers the added benefit of maintaining profit margin by minimizing price reductions and clearance events. A study by McKinsey, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Google identified that AI can unlock $127 billion per year through food waste reduction. Finally, enabling the inclusion of CO2 emissions in mid-term planning processes allows a similar optimization of supply chain activities for both environmental and financial advantage. By using optimization capabilities that consider multiple objectives concurrently, companies can achieve balance in their decision-making, where financial performance has traditionally been at the expense of environmental impact. 4 routes to a greener, more profitable business Find out the practical steps your organization can take to be more sustainable while simultaneously improving your financial performance. Discover More Maximizing visibility, connectivity and cultural adoption This all sounds like healthy progress, and it is. However, the implementation of these technologies and new processes does require a mindset shift. It also means changing existing practices that many organizations have entrenched after decades of the same supply chain model. Some significant challenges must be overcome. The first challenge is an inherent lack of visibility of the environmental impacts across a company’s supply chains. A lack of reliable data around indirect carbon emissions — known as Scope 3 emissions — makes it difficult to forecast future impacts based on new investments or operational pivots. The answer here is to work with what can be seen and measured, and then allow AI to do what it does best — leverage relevant datasets to develop diagnostics and optimized networks that eliminate waste and carbon emissions. The second challenge relates directly to the lack of connectivity between commercial and sustainability strategies, causing conflict between environmental aims and functional profit targets. To overcome this, businesses must start aligning and analyzing sustainability metrics alongside traditional supply chain metrics within their company goal-setting and technology-adoption strategies. The relationship between environmental decisions and financial impacts will become clearer if both are tied to corporate goals and digitalization initiatives. The biggest standalone challenge may be changing longstanding organizational mindsets. Resistance to change is no longer an option when it comes to sustainability. Customers have far more choices than they used to, and they aren’t afraid to make a stand when it comes to sustainability. There is also no hiding place anymore, with regulations forcing both transparency and action. By seeing the relationship between profit and planet more clearly, decision-makers realizing increasing value across the company as they make sustainability investments. They need to get the entire culture on board by communicating that value. Redefining supply chain optimization Supply chain sustainability really must be seen as a commercial decision, a profit enabler and a business enhancer. By looking at the relationship between sustainability and supply chain performance, decision-makers can unearth the best roadmap for the entire company. This more integrated approach is likely to lead companies to embrace more diverse manufacturing networks with alternative sources, make-and-buy optionality, or nearshoring possibilities. Network innovation can help companies more accurately balance service, sustainability and costs. Optimizing for both cost and more sustainable outcomes might also lead companies to explore a new distribution network with local warehousing and transportation alternatives, or sourcing networks that include alternative local and global suppliers. With a clear context of expected costs and environmental impacts, executives can consider product portfolio rationalization and mass configuration, inventory and capacity buffers, and new collaborations across the partner ecosystem more clearly. Once profit and planet are intertwined into the same business strategy, the opportunities for optimization become much more diverse and informed. The game-changing value of AI and cloud computing Technology’s role in unifying sustainability and supply chain objectives is paramount — specifically artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins, which can accelerate progress toward sustainability goals. In addition to improving forecasting and optimization around availability and waste, businesses can also build accurate digital twins of their entire supply chain to align with improved planning and forecasting, while breaking down the siloes where waste and cost usually lurk. An EY study quantified that digital twins can reduce carbon emissions from an existing building by up to 50% and reduce costs by up to 35%. By using accurate digital twins in conjunction with the power of AI and cloud computing, supply chain optimization can be much more detailed and concerted, evaluating many more variable characteristics across the network. These factors include lead times, demand levels, supply reliability, product quality and yield. Cloud-based cognitive solutions are now able to generate hundreds of scenarios automatically. These advanced solutions optimize scenarios around multiple business objectives — including sustainability — then use AI to pick the ones that will deliver the most desirable business outcomes. All of this analysis takes minutes, while also enriching the workforce and their roles in the process. Future supply chains will be more resilient and agile when they integrate sustainability decisioning alongside traditional supply chain objectives. By harnessing AI and cloud computing, the future begins now. After years of disruption, the connection between profit and planet can finally be made. Want to learn more? Connect with Blue Yonder today. Reorganizing for AI: how supply chain leaders have to adapt 90% of supply chain leaders are currently executing a reorganization or will do so in the next 12 months. Many are preparing their teams for AI-driven supply chain technology, but how should they adapt, and what considerations should leaders keep in mind as they reorganize for an AI-first future? Download ### [Profitability and Mass Personalization Automakers Can Now Achieve Both](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/profitability-and-mass-personalization-automakers-can-now-achieve-both) > Learn how your automotive business can unlock increased profitability while delivering highly personalized vehicles at scale. Blog Profitability and Mass Personalization: Automakers Can Now Achieve Both Profitability and Mass Personalization Automakers Can Now Achieve Both Andreas Ehrenfeuchter , September 10, 2024 2 minute read Today’s consumers increasingly want personalized products — and automobiles are no exception. For automotive manufacturers, the demand for personalization means more vehicle variations and a technology ecosystem that powers this customer experience from showroom to shop floor. Build-to-order capabilities are possibly the most critical aspect to do this profitably and at scale. While it’s easy for car manufacturers to advertise their capabilities to quickly deliver personalized vehicles, it’s much harder to achieve mass customization on a day-to-day basis. The answer lies in optimizing the complex automotive supply chain, which produces both individual components and finished assemblies. The end-to-end manufacturing process must be carefully orchestrated to sequence individual orders, and the needed parts, so final assembly of customized products can occur fluidly, seamlessly and — let’s not forget — profitably. But is profitable mass customization even possible? Blue Yonder Production Planning is specifically designed to master this complex challenge. This set of capabilities combines the art of flexible product variation with the science of cost-effective, highly efficient large-scale manufacturing. Delivered on Blue Yonder Platform, Production Planning capabilities are configurable and interoperable with other Blue Yonder solutions — enabling all supply chain planning and execution processes to be mapped and orchestrated in a flexible way. By using AI on Blue Yonder Platform, insights can be identified and shared, and planning can be optimized and automated across functions. Planning and execution can be managed not in siloes, but as part of a joint approach, minimizing response times to demand shifts, new product variations and other changing parameters. Unlock growth in the evolving vehicle industry Address the hurdles and capitalize on the opportunities of the "new reality" with our guide to transforming your manufacturing process. Download eBook Customization at scale: A challenging proposition Probably the best way to illustrate the power of Blue Yonder Production Planning is through a recent customer case study. A major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of trucks, vans and buses needed to optimize its supply chain operations to produce several product variations simultaneously, to meet customer demand. The manufacturer needed to produce variations of both two-axle tractor units and four-axle all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicles. This was not an easy task. The different vehicle configurations required diverse components and assembly processes. Belt structures needed to be fixed in advance, with a range of automated guided vehicle (AGV) belt structures required for different frame lengths. In all, at-scale customization meant the automaker had to create approximately 90 assembly stations, as well as high standardized part volumes. Clearly, this company required complex and individualized manufacturing capabilities, coupled with speed-to-market and a profitable production model. The OEM had to address three significant challenges. First and foremost, the manufacturer required a program management approach that could change flexibly, based on the market situation. Quick, timely production sequencing and scheduling changes needed to be accommodated. The company needed a build-to-order environment that produced only the occasional stock vehicle. As any manufacturer can tell you, this is an enormous hurdle. The lack of backstock makes an organization much more vulnerable to supply chain and environmental disruptions. It was crucial to have a high-volume delivery capability, ideally with a delivery time less than or equal to competitors. But, simultaneously, program management had to be profitable, balancing constant production with fluctuating market demand — a goal that many organizations strive for, but not all achieve. Operational flexibility was a clear, overarching requirement for this automaker. A second challenge? The availability and number of order slots depended on the particular variants of each product in question. Every customer order had different manufacturing requirements, and slotting and sequencing would change with each order. But every order did not exist in isolation, so slotting and sequencing had to be orchestrated strategically across all orders. This led to the manufacturer’s third challenge: Achieving a high level of throughput by intelligently balancing orders. To ensure profitable production, the mix of orders had to be maintained within defined limits. The number of vehicles in production at a given time had to drive efficiency, while minimizing the risk of delays and errors. The numerical complexity of these three challenges demanded a digital, intelligent solution. Manual analysis, human cognition and non-specialized planning solutions were not up to this complicated task. Blue Yonder Production Planning provides a solution The OEM’s goal was to use a pearl chain approach to achieve profitable mass personalization. The pearl chain philosophy supports stable order sequencing, in which every product is made through a clear, pre-defined chain of actions. This approach is particularly useful because it maps the production sequence for complete vehicles — such as trucks and buses — directly to the fabrication of individual components like chassis, cabins, axles and engines. The manufacturer chose to implement and manage its pearl chain production approach by partnering with Blue Yonder. Scheduling and sequencing capabilities from Blue Yonder enable the OEM to operate with maximum flexibility, while still tightly controlling the production environment and closely mapping final assembly to component production. As demand and orders shift, the solution supports autonomous, dynamic planning and re-planning for both final assembly and component production. As Blue Yonder software ingests real-time data, it instantly performs analysis and arrives at new order sequencing and slotting plans that maximize speed, efficiency and profitability. To add even greater value, Blue Yonder’s scheduling and sequencing solution accommodates the business requirements of individual planners by allowing them to create their own unique production rules and constraints. For example, to ensure delivery timeliness, the OEM programmed the Blue Yonder solution to monitor level changes with a minimum lead time of three months, as well as prioritize a full order book. The automaker defined minimum and maximum quantities per time unit — such as a month, week or day — to ensure an optimal balance of orders. Lead times are factored in, and production rules are adjusted accordingly. Any empty slots are automatically filled with real customer orders. The chosen solution also enables the automaker’s planners to simulate the results of different production schemes via what-if scenarios. Before they define new rules or make sequencing decisions, planners can see the likely impact on service levels, costs, waste and other outcomes. Unlock dynamic, responsive production planning Balance demand with material, capacity and due date constraints to develop optimized and agile production plans. Discover More Combining 95% production stability with product variation As a result of implementing Blue Yonder Production Planning capabilities, the automotive OEM is able to optimize production efficiency and stability, while still supporting an incredibly high level of product personalization. Thanks to the rules and constraints defined in the scheduling and sequencing solution, the manufacturer is able to combine process control and standardization with flexible, configurable production. In fact, today the manufacturer has achieved sequencing stability that exceeds 95%. Production quality and accuracy have also improved, because the solution graphically displays any rule violations, anticipated disruptions and exceptions. The automaker can now predict, monitor and correct violations and disruptions faster than ever, providing the business with supply chain agility and resiliency. This is just one Blue Yonder Production Planning customer success story. Why not contact the Blue Yonder team today to learn about our other customer results? You can also check out our new white paper, “A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes.” ### [Optimize and Automate Your Planning and Scheduling With Blue Yonder](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/optimize-and-automate-your-planning-and-scheduling-with-blue-yonder) > Discover how Blue Yonder's solutions can optimize and automate your planning and scheduling processes, leading to greater efficiency and improved resource management. Blog Optimize and Automate Your Planning and Scheduling With Blue Yonder Optimize and Automate Your Planning and Scheduling With Blue Yonde Ute Strohmaier , August 13, 2024 2 minute read Manufacturers of cars and trucks — as well as other large-scale manufacturing enterprises — face tough challenges. With their high capital investments, long lead times and rising operations costs, they’ve been hit especially hard by the disruptions that characterize all supply chains today. From extreme weather to materials shortages, disruptions are constantly interfering with manufacturers’ carefully considered production and logistics plans. And let’s not forget wildly fluctuating customer demand, driven by inflation and other factors beyond manufacturers’ control. How can car and truck makers, and other production-centered businesses, achieve predictable results under these uncertain conditions? Blue Yonder’s new white paper — “A Guide to Transforming Your Manufacturing Processes” — includes some powerful recommendations. In short, manufacturers need to reimagine their foundational processes to create additional resilience, then match those new processes with innovative digital technologies and new network structures. They need to counter today’s changing world by transforming their supply chains, led by manufacturing process improvements and digitalization. What exactly does that mean — and is it achievable for the typical manufacturer? Let’s take a closer look at one of the most critical capabilities for any production-centered business: Advanced planning and scheduling , or APS. In the complex, capital-intensive world of large-scale manufacturing, APS is both challenging and indispensable. APS involves scheduling orders in assembly lines and aligning them with material availability, while considering restrictions, production rules and delivery dates. APS must be unfailingly accurate to maximize customer service and minimize costs, but it must also be agile and able to adapt to changing conditions. Turn disruption into opportunity in manufacturing Don't just react – thrive! Explore the challenges and opportunities within the evolving supply chain, offering strategies to transform your manufacturing processes for a competitive edge. Download For Free Mastering the complexity of APS with advanced technology APS involves extremely complex scenario planning that considers countless influencing factors — from materials availability to fluctuating demand — as well as millions of possible outcomes. Daily re-planning is essential, and real-time decisions revolve around critical factors such as build and delivery dates, detailed product mixes, production capacities and volumes, and order and job sequencing. Along the way, the APS journey includes key tasks such as slotting, sequencing and detailed scheduling. Slotting considers delivery dates when scheduling orders into production, with its rules and constraints, while sequencing optimizes production sequences based on all existing orders. Detailed scheduling optimizes production programs, while creating transparency into demand, resources and capacities. Schedulers are tasked with understanding production processes, modeling supply chain constraints, and balancing various corporate objectives such as cost, service and sustainability. There’s no doubt that modern APS is incredibly complex. Large-scale manufacturing has evolved into an extremely time-sensitive, resource-intensive and costly activity that plays a central role in fulfilling customer promises and expectations. But fortunately, just as manufacturing has evolved, so have advanced technology solutions designed to optimize the production process. Today’s best-in-class APS solutions optimize scheduling to drive manufacturers’ crucial decisions, including when to build orders, which production lines to utilize, and the detailed job sequence for production. These solutions are tailored for shop floor oriented, large-scale manufacturing processes such as vehicle production. The choice of an APS solution for scheduling is strategic, impacting operations planning, enterprise resource planning (ERP), downstream supplier schedules, quality control and manufacturing execution systems (MES). Blue Yonder Production Planning includes APS capabilities that are available as composable solutions. They strategically integrate ERP, MES, material requirements planning (MRP), and sales and operations planning (S&OP) to achieve various goals across different aspects of the manufacturing process. Blue Yonder’s optimization engines, which exceed human cognition, ingest a wide range of internal and external data, to arrive at strategic, adaptable production plans that deliver the best result for the end-to-end supply chain. Intelligent Blue Yonder APS solutions enable highly detailed scenario planning, as well as the ability to replan dynamically as conditions inevitably change. Automakers can orchestrate all their supply chain processes, including demand and supply planning, directly with production planning by launching multiple solutions on Blue Yonder Platform. By combining advanced Blue Yonder AI with Platform, manufacturers can generate and share insights, optimize workflows and automate planning across functional siloes. Maximizing the strategic contribution of APS Production scheduling is not just a daily operational task, it’s a strategically important function that directly impacts the quality and speed of manufacturing output, the return on capital investments, and ultimate cost and service outcomes. Scheduling plays a central role in the IT architecture, supporting seamless integration and efficiency across the end-to-end supply chain. Aligning production scheduling with broader company strategies ensures coherence and effectiveness in achieving overarching goals such as optimizing service, cost and sustainability. As more manufacturing teams recognize the critical importance of advanced production scheduling, their deployment strategies for APS solutions are evolving. More companies are shifting their hosting model to the cloud, to gain speed and performance advantages, as well as leveraging APS solutions as add-ons to their ERP systems. Blue Yonder Production Planning delivers modular APS software for cloud deployment and offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) to allow for fast launches, cost-effective maintenance, minimal downtime and seamless upgrades. Blue Yonder APS also supports product personalization, which is in high demand from customers. It provides an increased ability to custom-tailor products before they’re built, as well as visibility into how different product configurations will affect fulfillment dates. Blue Yonder software also considers the impacts of any parts shortages on fulfillment promises. Combined with Blue Yonder’s integrated planning, execution and commerce solutions, Blue Yonder APS supports an unprecedented ability for companies to deliver highly configurable products to customers. Companies are capitalizing on the advanced capabilities of Blue Yonder Production Planning to extend their production schedules further into the future and consider longer-term planning horizons with a high level of granularity. No-touch APS transactions, where orders are placed autonomously with minimal human intervention, are another key capability of Blue Yonder. This involves integrating both human and machine workflows, with planners still playing a crucial role in optimizing schedules. It’s time to implement leading-edge APS technology The increasing frequency of disruptions, as well as the growing momentum of digital supply chain transformation, is driving car and truck makers, as well as other large-scale manufacturers, to seek technology-enabled APS solutions. Modern APS software can assume the role of a translator, turning key business metrics like cost and sustainability into practical daily operations plans. The integration of high-level business requirements and technology enables manufacturers to identify trends and patterns, and automatically optimize their production schedules in response. APS software also helps production-centered businesses remain profitable and competitive, by enabling them to continuously adapt to disruptions and evolving customer requirements in a strategic manner. How can you get started on your APS journey? Blue Yonder makes it easy, by delivering the most advanced intelligence via a modular, cloud-native approach. Blue Yonder’s composable solutions, including Blue Yonder APS, can be added on top of the existing technology stack for a rapid launch and an early return on investment. Connected on Blue Yonder Platform and sharing the same data, Production Planning and other Blue Yonder solutions facilitate real-time, cross-functional business collaboration. This integration supports more agile decision-making, elevates customer satisfaction, drives profitable growth, and fosters the development of resilient, sustainable supply chains. Your path to efficient manufacturing starts here Explore the possibilities of process transformation for your large-scale manufacturing with Blue Yonder Production Planning and APS. Download eBook ### [LSPs Need a Rapid Software Launch](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/lsps-need-a-rapid-software-launch) > LSPs: Get rapid software deployment and a significant return on investment with Blue Yonder. Discover our solutions designed for fast implementation and maximum value. Blog LSPs Need a Rapid Software Launch, with a Big ROI. Blue Yonder Delivers. LSPs Need a Rapid Software Launch Terence Leung , December 12, 2024 3 minute read We’ve seen seismic shifts in the global logistics landscape over the past few years, including a transition to omni-channel commerce, increasing demand variability and growing customer expectations. In the age of Amazon, consumers want customized fulfillment and delivery options, with fast service at a low cost. To operate profitably, companies need to carefully orchestrate their logistics operations at every step, across thousands of SKUs, hundreds of thousands of customers, and a distribution network that may span multiple countries. Perhaps no one has benefitted more from this growing complexity than the world’s logistics service providers (LSPs). They’ve been able to significantly expand their business, as manufacturers and retailers are increasingly outsourcing their logistics tasks — and counting on LSPs to master the complicated business of distributing and transporting their products. Providing turnkey managed services represents an enormous revenue opportunity for LSPs. While this is great news, it’s also placed pressure on LSPs to quickly get up to speed on advanced logistics software. From transportation management system (TMS) and warehouse management system (WMS) software to labor management, warehouse execution and yard management solutions, today LSPs need to capitalize on digital capabilities to combine high service levels with high margins. Whether they’re building loads, optimizing routes, picking and packing orders, or otherwise managing customer logistics, LSPs need to work quickly, intelligently and strategically to achieve healthy profits. They need to monitor changing conditions in real time — like freight rates, carrier and warehouse space availability, and order volatility — and always make decisions that balance service and costs. That means ingesting real-time data, performing automated analysis, making optimal decisions and executing them quickly. Digital solutions aren’t optional, they’re imperative. Implementing advanced technology, launching it quickly, and achieving a fast, sizable return on investment (ROI) has never been more critical for LSPs. But how can they accomplish that? Understanding the value of a composable journey A recent LinkedIn Live event, called “How Does a Composable Journey Benefit Logistics Service Providers?” , addressed that question. To Erik Gudas, Blue Yonder’s Corporate Vice President for the Composable Journey Team, a Blue Yonder composable journey begins by looking at each customer’s long-term goals — then creating a plan to generate wins quickly. “As one example, we worked with an LSP that wanted to extend their managed services beyond warehousing and transportation,” explains Eric. “The customer wanted to offer forecasting, inventory optimization and store replenishment as a service, to grow their revenue and operate as a true 4PL, or fourth-party logistics provider. “In a case like this, the customer isn’t looking for a multi-year, multi-million-dollar engagement that doesn’t deliver an ROI until 2027. They’re looking for extended digital capabilities and new revenues right now,” Eric emphasizes. “That’s the mission behind Blue Yonder’s Composable Journey Team. Our goal is to launch software quickly — via cloud-native microservices and application programming interfaces, or APIs — and generate big returns quickly. “In this case, we linked new Blue Yonder forecasting functionality directly to the TMS, the WMS and the order management system via robust APIs — because it was critical to tie front-end forecasting to back-end execution. We integrated all software on Blue Yonder Platform so all solutions would be interoperable, sharing the same real-time data and driving synchronized decisions. As a result, the LSP was able to quickly get the new forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment capabilities up and running. By offering expanded services, they were able to add new customer value and create a new revenue stream, before that opportunity disappeared,” says Eric. How does a composable journey benefit LSPs? Join host Terence Leung and Erik Gudas, Corporate Vice President, Composable Journey Executive Advisor at Blue Yonder, to explore how a composable journey can drive leap-frogging success in an LSPs’ improvement journey. Watch Now Every digital transformation begins with a single step Each customer’s composable journey will look different, because it’s based on addressing their unique challenges. But Eric stresses that all Blue Yonder Composable Journey engagements are targeted, fast and aimed at generating a significant ROI. Because the cost associated with launching cloud-native microservices is much lower than monolithic software implementations, that return on investment can be as high as 1200%. “Think of adding a cloud-native Blue Yonder microservice as the first step in a larger digital transformation,” notes Eric. “The scope can be broad, like adding an entirely new forecasting and replenishment capability, or it can be narrow and more specific. For example, we recently helped an LSP with the highly targeted challenge of adding intelligent load-building capabilities. Their average truck capacities were around 80%, which means there was 20% wasted space on every trip. A quick way to cut costs and emissions is to fill trucks more efficiently. We gave them that capability very quickly, and at a relatively low cost.” In Blue Yonder’s experience, many LSPs want to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), predictive analytics and other advanced technologies — but they don’t know how to begin. By engaging with Blue Yonder’s Composable Journey team, LSPs can identify practical, value-added opportunities for digitalization that deliver quick wins, with little to no disruptions. “At Blue Yonder, we’re evangelists about the power of AI, ML and other advancements to solve even the most complex supply chain challenges intelligently, profitably and rapidly. It’s extremely gratifying to meet with LSPs and uncover exciting new opportunities for them to cut costs, grow revenue, increase speed and accuracy, and otherwise optimize their operations,” Eric says. “It’s equally gratifying to keep working with customers over time, incrementally expanding their digital capabilities and their supply chain results. At every step, our goal is to come in, launch software quickly and drive a substantial ROI,” he concludes. Your own composable journey starts now Blue Yonder’s Composable Journey Team has delivered both high-level strategic benefits and incremental operations improvements for the world’s LSPs. They’re working from a deep base of industry expertise and hands-on experience, as Blue Yonder has over 175 LSP customers. What unique value can Blue Yonder deliver for your organization? Your journey to a fast implementation and a dramatic ROI starts now, by watching our LinkedIn Live event or contacting Blue Yonder today . Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [From Shortages to Surpluses: MedTech and Pharma’s Demand Planning Remedy](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/from-shortages-to-surpluses-medtech-and-pharmas-demand-planning-remedy) > Tired of shortages and surpluses? This blog reveals the demand planning remedy for MedTech and Pharma, offering insights to stabilize supply chains and ensure product availability. Blog From Shortages to Surpluses: MedTech and Pharma’s Demand Planning Remedy From Shortages to Surpluses MedTech and Pharmas Demand Planning Remedy Tiffany Brewer , September 30, 2024 2 minute read In the current business environment, a company’s global supply chain can make or break its success, regardless of industry. The stakes are especially high, however, for pharmaceutical, medical device, and health care manufacturers and distributors. If planners fail to accurately match supply with demand, the results are product shortages, scrapped inventory, cancelled procedures and patient health risks. These manufacturers and distributors absolutely need to get their forecasts, inventory levels and supply strategies right. In today’s volatile, disrupted supply chain environment, that’s easier said than done. Life sciences companies operate across a globally dispersed manufacturing and supplier network. Materials shortages are common. Natural disasters, socio-political conflicts and other events interfere with their ability to deliver products to where they’re most needed. Challenges also exist on the demand side. Manufacturers have moved products closer to end patients to minimize delivery time and costs — but that has only added to the complexity of demand variability. Forecasts must consider shelf life, product serialization, changing regulations and jurisdictional requirements. Increased access to health care, changing modalities and demographics — such as an aging population — are other forces that impact consumer demand. Significant market events — including breakthrough product introductions, regional disease outbreaks and public health emergencies — can also influence demand. All these supply and demand dynamics place life sciences companies in a tough situation. If they forecast too low, patients won’t get the products that can positively impact their health. If they forecast too high, they’re left with excess inventories, outdated products and high levels of waste. Is your supply chain ready for anything? In the fast-paced world of CPG, F&B, and Life Sciences, agility is your superpower. Learn how integrated demand and supply planning can help you anticipate and plan for every shift in demand. Discover More Diagnosing the problem: Siloed, outdated planning processes These are big challenges. But the real problem is that most pharmaceutical, medical device and health care manufacturers are applying outdated demand planning technology, manual analysis and static planning cycles that fail to recognize the dynamic nature of modern health care, medical and pharmaceutical demand. And, while their supply chains are complex, dispersed and global in nature, many life sciences manufacturers are using siloed planning tools, processes and data. The extended supply chain can’t react to demand changes in a rapid, orchestrated manner because most stakeholders lack real-time visibility and awareness of demand plan updates. Static traditional planning cycles are also an issue. Pharmaceutical, medical device and health care markets are fast-paced and dynamic. New trends, disruptions and consumer needs unfold in real time. That means these companies need a real-time, dynamic way to constantly update forecasts, as well as rebalance supply and demand. To build resilience into their supply chains, demand planners must stop relying on outdated forecasting tools, manual processes and planning methods that simply weren’t built for today’s urgent challenges. Because the complexity of demand planning today exceeds human cognition, planners need to instead rely on the power of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to determine an optimal plan — as well as replan, dynamically and continuously, as conditions change. Unlock the full potential of your demand planning Are you leveraging Artificial Intelligence to its maximum potential in your demand forecasting? We delve into the ways AI is reshaping the future of supply chains, including increasing resilience, boosting planner productivity, and bringing agility to critical decision-making. Discover More Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning is the perfect prescription This vision sounds hard to achieve, but Blue Yonder has invested in developing the ideal cure. Enabled by AI and ML, Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning helps life sciences companies simulate real-time market conditions, generate actionable insights and prepare for seamless, collaborative execution across the supply chain. This solution enables the industry’s demand planning teams to significantly improve forecast accuracy, make data-driven decisions, identify disruptions at an early stage and enact a rapid, orchestrated response. In fact, Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning has been proven to reduce inventory levels by up to 25%, while ensuring product availability and on-time delivery. Reducing inventory levels frees up capital that can be invested back into the business for increased innovation. Let’s take a deep dive into three advanced capabilities that help improve the health and well-being of demand planning processes: Improved analysis, supported by causal simulation . Life sciences companies are inundated with data about historic demand, supply constraints, regional public health trends, regulatory developments, competitor moves, world and local news, economic indicators, weather…the list goes on and on. Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning ingests hundreds of demand-driving variables, then makes intelligent, data-driven recommendations. Next, it enables planners to simulate a specific decision path and see the likely outcome — before executing the plan. Blue Yonder’s predictive models and statistical algorithms give planners visibility into the cause-and-effect factors that drive the forecast, creating explainability for perhaps the first time. No matter how many demand drivers there are, how many products are involved, and how many time horizons are considered, this solution can improve forecast accuracy by up to 20%. A unified, multi-enterprise planning process. The modern life sciences supply chain is composed of multiple suppliers, co-manufacturers, resellers and other trading partners. To ensure true end-to-end agility and responsiveness, the demand plan must be shared across this network in real time. Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning is built to allow cross-functional and even multi-enterprise planning. It connects all partners with real-time data and invites them into decision-making processes, accelerating execution and ensuring delivery accuracy. All stakeholders have a clear view of demand signals, production needs and distribution plans — for a single version of the truth. The entire supply chain works together to profitably deliver the right critical product to the right place, and the right patient, at the right time. Dynamic and productive real-time planning. Forget manual processes, time-consuming and error-prone human analysis, paperwork and static planning cycles. Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning drives incredibly rigorous, AI-enabled analysis that produces recommendations in mere minutes. It not only accelerates decision-making — so planning becomes a continuous, dynamic process — it also increases planner productivity by up to 75%. Planning lead time is cut from weeks, days or hours to just minutes, enabling a new level of real-time responsiveness to market changes. Many processes are automated, allowing human planners to do what they do best: Create value by managing assumptions, adding new causal factors, and otherwise fine-tuning the solution’s inputs and outputs. Discover the cure for demand variability The life sciences industry is evolving quickly, along with the rest of the world. While today’s fast pace of change has brought supply chain challenges, it’s also enabled manufacturers to introduce exciting advancements in biologics, advanced therapies, smart devices, robotics, wearables and other areas that dramatically improve patient outcomes. Just as pharmaceutical, medical device and health care manufacturers are at the leading edge of product technologies, it’s imperative for them to embrace that same spirit of innovation across their supply chains — particularly in the complex activity of demand planning. Modern capabilities from Blue Yonder are already enabling the world’s leading life sciences companies to achieve healthier, more profitable financial results, while also delivering life-changing benefits to patients and medical teams. Leveraging Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning to align supply and production planning with real-time demand signals is the cure for today’s unprecedented demand variability. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s demand planning capabilities for MedTech and Pharma , or contact us to start a conversation about your unique challenges and opportunities. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [From the Barley in the Fields to the Beer in Our Hands Carlsbergs Sustainability Journey](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/from-the-barley-in-the-fields-to-the-beer-in-our-hands-carlsbergs-sustainability-journey) > Trace Carlsberg's extensive sustainability journey, from innovative farming practices for barley to achieving responsible production and delivery of beer in your hand. Blog From the Barley in the Fields, to the Beer in Our Hands: Carlsberg’s Sustainability Journey From the Barley in the Fields to the Beer in Our Hands Carlsbergs Sustainability Journey Blue Yonder , April 9, 2024 3 minute read For the past 175 years, Carlsberg has continuously reinvented itself from a marketing, innovation and product perspective, while remaining true to its core values of enriching communities while manufacturing quality drinks. Spanning 140 brands, 40,000 employees, 150 global markets, and 12.5 billion liters of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, the operation is vast. And, in recent times, this has made the critical notion of sustainability an equally vast challenge. The company’s Sail ’27 mission is the second iteration of a plan to “brew for a better today and tomorrow,” plotting a roadmap for a future based on the concept of zero: Zero carbon footprint, zero farming footprint, zero packaging waste, zero water waste, zero irresponsible drinking and a zero-accident culture. Carlsberg’s sustainability efforts are marked by significant advancements, including achieving net zero emissions in several of its breweries and aiming to fully transition to renewable energy across all its facilities by 2040. Carlsberg has also introduced electric trucks and established a specialized transportation control tower in Poznan, Poland. This initiative is central to enhancing the management and efficiency of its logistics operations throughout Europe. The success of Carlsberg’s overall sustainability strategy will largely be driven by optimizing this transportation process. But, through Carlsberg’s relationship with Blue Yonder, it has become clear that the entire production and supply ecosystem must be connected for these transportation ambitions to be met. In a recent webinar , Carlsberg shared more on this topic. A digital response to shared pressures It’s important to note that Carlsberg certainly isn’t alone in this challenge to achieve more with less, to raise profits while investing in new solutions and to overhaul processes to become more sustainable without harming the growing business. Pressures come in the form of regulations, both nationally and internationally for global operations such as Carlsberg’s. They come from customers who now cite sustainability as a reason to shop with a certain provider. They come from colleagues and employees who also want to work for forward-thinking, caring organizations. And they come from shareholders who realize that sustainability doesn’t just implicate the environment — it means complete future-proofing across the business, people and planet. To trigger such widespread improvements without harming other areas of the company, manual intervention is no longer an option. The levels of speed, accuracy and agility just aren’t sufficient without digital input … without new software … without automation. Connected automation Automation is pivotal in addressing the speed aspect of sustainability goals. Nearly all strategies put forward by organizations, including Carlsberg, come with a 2030 or 2040 asterisk. The former deadline isn’t far away. This pressure is also why an end-to-end approach is so vital. By addressing the entire supply ecosystem as a conjoined concern, and then implementing technologies that bring visibility and connectivity to those different strands, all areas can be optimized as one effort and one investment and augmentation roadmap. Dealing with each area — planning, manufacturing, distribution, fulfillment, etc. — as siloed entities will not only yield less accurate data and a failure to promise deliveries to consumers, but it will probably incur more costs for fewer returns while taking much longer. Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions are one string in a wider bow that allows for complete capability and capacity to be analyzed, and, therefore, responded to. This includes demand planning, volume assessments at a granular level, knowing where best to source from to meet omni-channel demand, where to then position inventory based on known demand and where customers are located, and, of course, how best to then fulfill orders and to optimize the last mile. Optimize your inventory through uncertainty Don't let unpredictable market shifts throw your supply chain into disarray. Discover the actionable strategies for effective inventory rebalancing and maintain optimal stock levels. Discover More Getting the beer in our hands, in the most sustainable way Strictly from a transportation perspective, there is then clear visibility and optimization capabilities around how best to route supply, to route orders, to reduce truck miles, to stack inventory, to optimize the labor force, to position and use equipment. Each of these individual elements tick the parallel KPI boxes of saved money, lowered emissions and improved customer satisfaction. Blue Yonder Transportation Management solutions also ensure data clarity: continuous reporting of performance related to the carbon footprint of materials during sourcing, the efficacy of different equipment and people, how space is being used both within warehouses and vehicles, the impact of third-party logistics companies or logistics service providers (3PLs/LSPs) on internal metrics, and, ultimately, the entire extent of emissions and costs associated with each and every end-to-end product process. In Carlsberg’s case, “from the barley in the fields to the beer in our hands.” This reporting capability also informs further investments for the future, knowing with surety that electric trucks, for example, will have a positive effect on overheads, as well as net zero goals. Knowing also, that by stacking products in a certain way, X amount of space will be saved, leading to less trucks needed, reducing the overall miles on the road and emissions in the air. Quantifying sustainability is integral when businesses like Carlsberg are against the clock to achieve stated targets. How else will they know if their transportation transformations are traveling in the right direction for the next six years, let alone another 175? By not only opting for a best-in-class transportation management solution , but connecting it to capability metrics across supply, manufacturing, distribution, external partners and the customer, complete end-to-end sustainability can be achieved. A prospect to raise a glass to. Hear directly from Carlsberg in the “Supply Chain’s Digital Disruptors” Blue Yonder Live session. Watch how Carlsberg moves to the cloud within three months Tomas Tomasson, Service Owner Logistics and Transportation, shares how the company is going digital first using Blue Yonder Transportation Management, the company's “Zero & Beyond” strategy, and more. Watch Now ### [From Aisle to AI: How CPGs Can Conquer Demand Variability](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/from-aisle-to-ai-how-cpgs-can-conquer-demand-variability) > Struggling with demand fluctuations? This blog reveals how CPGs can use AI to conquer variability, improve forecasting accuracy, and optimize supply chain operations. Blog From Aisle to AI: How CPGs Can Conquer Demand Variability From Aisle to AI How CPGs Can Conquer Demand Variability Tom Gregorchik , October 4, 2024 1 minute read Extreme demand volatility and unprecedented supply chain disruptions make it tough for many manufacturers to get the demand-supply balance right. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies face especially difficult forecasting and demand planning challenges. Every day, CPG planners must contend with the complexities of omni-channel sales and promotions, product seasonality, shelf life and perishability, and new product launches. In addition, the rise of omni-channel has created significant, and not always predictable, changes in shopper behaviors. It’s opened the door to heightened competition from lower-priced private-label offerings, as well as causing consumers to choose different product sizes. Amid this complexity and uncertainty, consumer products manufacturers still need the right product to be at the right place, at the right time, across all channels and retail customers. This is essential to drive revenue, protect profit margins, and build strong retailer and consumer relationships. But how do they get there? Launching omni-channel for 2025 and beyond Blue Yonder's latest launch is redefining seamless customer experiences for 2025 and beyond. Discover how to create a unified, personalized journey that will captivate your customers. Discover More It’s time for a demand planning rebrand It all comes down to accurate demand planning to arrive at the correct product mix — along with accurate demand sensing to ensure inventory is positioned in the right location to fulfill on-time and in-full requirements, even in the face of extreme market volatility. This high level of precision is driven by access to internal and external data, automated planning processes fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) , in-depth analysis tools and sophisticated algorithms. Instead of relying on manual analysis, outdated tools, static planning cycles and consumer-grade spreadsheets — which introduce errors, inefficiencies and risks — successful CPG companies are using internal and external data sources to create a factual basis for increased forecast accuracy. Just as CPG companies constantly refresh their product lines and brand strategies to stay current in the retail aisle, they also need to keep pace with digital planning innovation. As more companies realize the value of AI and ML, data science, predictive analytics and advanced forecasting algorithms, CPG leaders can’t afford to get behind the curve. To maximize their demand planning results, they need to embrace AI- and ML-enabled solutions that offers these three essential capabilities: Real-time decision-making, enabled by simulation. CPG companies need an intelligent solution that ingests hundreds of demand-driving variables — including granular local sales data, but also macroeconomic indicators like housing starts and interest rates. The ideal solution also considers planned promotions, open orders, recent deliveries, customer inventory levels, retailer point-of-sale (POS) numbers and other data. The right solution not only makes recommendations based on its analysis but also — here’s the critical part — enables planners to simulate the outcomes of their decisions before they implement them. As they prepare to pull an execution lever, planners have already predicted the most probable outcomes, relying on statistical algorithms and predictive modeling capabilities. Transparency into demand cause-and-effect. Explainable AI enables demand planning teams to proactively shape demand by understanding the likely real-world impacts of promotions, new product launches, economic trends, local events and weather on their forecasts. Instead of making assumptions or guesses based on human cognition, CPG planning teams can leverage digital decision engines to conduct rigorous mathematical analysis — and consider hundreds of potential demand-influencing factors in mere minutes. Planners can accurately predict cause-and-effect upfront and execute on the demand plan with full confidence. Near-term demand sensing with longer-term forecasting, all in one solution. The days of static forecasting, conducted on a monthly or quarterly basis, are over. Today’s market volatility demands a more dynamic, real-time approach. As market trends emerge or consumer behaviors shift, CPG companies must sense these changes in near real time, then adjust forecasts and plans dynamically. CPG companies need a near real-time solution that guides them as they dynamically rebalance and reposition inventory, shift allocation, adjust regional or store-cluster replenishment, and otherwise fine-tune execution plans based on real-time, unbiased demand data. But they can’t just focus on short-term factors that improve near-term forecasting results. They also need appropriate algorithms for a longer planning horizon, where unknown factors might emerge. This mix-and-match forecasting approach is essential to achieve both short- and long-term views of demand. Stop browsing and choose Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning It’s hard to imagine a single digital solution that delivers all these capabilities, answering the specific challenges faced by CPG planning teams. But Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning is purpose-built to help consumer products companies create accurate, dynamic forecasts — no matter how quickly, or how often, demand changes. Powered by AI, ML, data science and proprietary forecasting algorithms, Cognitive Demand Planning minimizes the lag time between planning and execution. In generating dynamic forecasts, this powerful solution runs hundreds of what-if simulations quickly, to ensure supply is being accurately and profitably matched with near real-time, objective demand data. Via intelligent scenario planning, CPG companies can increase forecast accuracy by up to 15%. This more accurate, more confident forecast can be shared up and down the supply chain to ensure a coordinated response, minimize excess inventory at all nodes and improve customer service. As it increases CPG companies’ understanding of demand drivers, Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning: Reduces lost sales by up to 3% Improves planner productivity by up to 75% Transparently shows the cause of forecast increases and decreases Identifies new causal factors over time Allows planners to add their own demand drivers to its analysis Leverages multiple statistical and ML models to forecast over different time horizons, regions, retailers, store clusters and product categories Ingests causal data from multiple sources, including the data marketplace managed by Snowflake, a strategic Blue Yonder partner Your one-stop shop for greater planning speed and accuracy If you’re a demand planner in the consumer products industry, why are you still shopping? Leading CPG companies have already placed Blue Yonder Cognitive Demand Planning in their carts. They’re using it every day to successfully navigate today’s overwhelmingly complex, fast-paced world of demand forecasting. For example, a global beverages leader recently used Cognitive Demand Planning to improve forecast accuracy by 6% — while reducing bias by 11%. Find out how Cognitive Demand Planning can produce significant improvements in your planning speed, accuracy, productivity and frequency. Real-time insights, for real powerful results. Cut through the noise and get straight to the data. Our AI-powered solution simplifies real-time demand planning for consumer goods, improving forecasts and planner efficiency. Discover More ### [Executing Through Uncertainty React and Recover From Disruptions](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/executing-through-uncertainty-react-and-recover-from-disruptions) > Master executing through uncertainty. This post explores how the Intelligent Rebalancer helps you react, recover, and maintain progress despite disruptions. Blog Executing Through Uncertainty: React and Recover From Disruptions With the Intelligent Rebalancer Executing Through Uncertainty React and Recover From Disruptions Sumit Mittal , September 5, 2024 6 minute read For supply chain professionals, there is always a conundrum when balancing supply and demand. Traditional order management or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems do their best to execute an optimal balance, which can be sufficient during normal operations. But a sudden imbalance is enough to throw planning systems off, requiring a brand-new fulfillment plan. After the past few years, it seems almost clichéd to caution about the dangers of supply and demand disruptions. Today, disruptions occur so frequently that while each individual instance is unpredictable, the consequences in terms of product availability are entirely predictable. A sudden demand spike can lead to stockouts of popular retail products, while a severe weather event can interrupt the flow of critical supplies to consumers. The responsibility to react clearly rests with planning and execution leaders. From fulfillment analysts and omni-channel commerce managers to customer success managers, diverse functions ensure that inventory is properly rebalanced following a disruption. Ultimately, their mission is to strike the right balance between customer satisfaction and profitable fulfillment. But most of the available tools today make that task difficult. While we can’t avoid disruptions, we can respond swiftly, strategically and profitably via intelligent inventory rebalancing — all within the time horizon of an existing plan. The shortfalls of today’s inventory rebalancing approaches Generally, these functions become aware of disruptions through a supplier, colleague or even a news article. At that point, they’re forced to navigate multiple systems and work through complex macro-based spreadsheets to find a potential solution. With these systems working in siloes, it’s difficult to communicate and coordinate across the organization. And manual analysis simply can’t manage the complexity of rebalancing, let alone keep pace with the urgent nature of this task. The result? Scarce inventory is rarely allocated in the most profitable and strategic way, to optimize fill rates and service outcomes for top-priority customers — as well as maximize inventory utilization and return on investment. Let’s explore this challenge through the lens of a consumer goods manufacturer. ABC Corporation currently has 100 units of inventory on-hand across four distribution centers (DCs) — more than enough to satisfy customer orders for 80 units. The initial allocation has been determined by the planning team, and the execution team understands how to optimally fulfill the orders. Due to a storm, one distribution center (DC) that’s carrying 40 units of inventory is suddenly out of operation. To minimize stockouts and customer dissatisfaction, ABC Corp now must quickly address an unexpected shortfall of 20 units. This forces execution leaders to reengage the planning team and wait for a new fulfillment plan. Planners must quickly decide which customer orders get filled, search for an alternate source of supply and analyze transportation capacity. All the while, they are losing valuable time, and margins, every minute. Besides calculating shipping costs from one supply chain node to another one, intelligent rebalancing must consider the strategic importance of each customer, the probability of selling each item at full price, and real-world operational constraints such as the availability of labor and transportation assets. An article in Science Direct notes that, for fashion apparel, there are typically a million binary variables to consider when reallocating inventory. Clearly, traditional approaches based on spreadsheets and human cognition are going to fall short. Imagine a better, smarter, more profitable way The good news? Thanks to digitalization, planners now have access to all the data they need to make optimal decisions based on customer tiers and priorities, as well as allocation rules like first-in-first-out (FIFO) and fair share. The bad news? They probably lack the advanced decision tools, powered by sophisticated, purpose-built algorithms, to perform all the necessary analysis and make rapid, profitable decisions. Enter Blue Yonder Intelligent Rebalancer . Fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Intelligent Rebalancer is a flexible, cloud-native microservice that can be easily, rapidly and seamlessly launched to address the complex problem of reallocation. As they reallocate inventory in near real time, planners can apply the same robust AI and analytics they used to originally plan inventory allocation using Blue Yonder Order Management . Intelligent Rebalancer leverages an AI- and ML-enabled optimization engine to make complex trade-offs across all orders — considering cost, service, margins, sustainability and other business objectives — and arrive at optimal decisions in microseconds. When the next disruption occurs, it repeats this cycle, continuously improving outcomes via ML. With the Intelligent Rebalancer, Blue Yonder is the first software provider to support inventory optimization in both the planning and execution stages. Build your own unique digital ecosystem At Blue Yonder, one concern we hear from new customers is that, in their previous experiences, a new software launch itself represented a disruption. That’s why we’ve designed Intelligent Rebalancer as a cloud-native microservice that can easily be added on top of customers’ existing technology stacks. Thanks to Blue Yonder’s microservices architecture, customers can embark on a composable journey — choosing the exact software capabilities and implementation pace that make the most sense for them. Like the larger Blue Yonder Commerce portfolio, Intelligent Rebalancer can be deployed individually or with additional Blue Yonder microservices. This approach allows customers to augment their existing systems with the unique benefits of Intelligent Rebalancer. Intelligent Rebalancer also integrates seamlessly with other third-party solutions and systems customers are running in their supply chains. The result is a dynamic, flexible and unique digital ecosystem that looks different for every customer — because no two supply chains are created equal. Here’s a look at how Intelligent Rebalancer integrates and complements three typical planning and execution tools: Planning systems help manufacturers and retailers ensure that critical inputs, capacities and labor resources are aligned to satisfy customer orders. Intelligent Rebalancer doesn’t replace these planning systems; it augments the original plan during execution, driving near real-time course correction and responsiveness. When the original fulfillment plan is created, companies have the luxury of time. But Intelligent Rebalancer acts quickly, accurately and strategically when conditions have changed — and time is of the essence. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems help wholesale distributors fulfill bulk orders of finished goods. ERP solutions monitor and support service levels, reconcile payments and support the sales team. Intelligent Rebalancer integrates smoothly with ERPs to infuse intelligent decision-making and speed up their reaction time — avoiding a difficult ERP upgrade. Distributors can easily modernize and upgrade their operations without ripping and replacing existing systems. Order management system (OMS) solutions are especially useful for hardlines and softlines retailers. They help manage multiple sales channels, delivery options and even the returns process. Given the inherent complexity of last-mile delivery, many OMS solutions offer some level of order visibility and tracking. Intelligent Rebalancer can work across both inventory and order data to define the most efficient fulfillment plan. Ultimately, Intelligent Rebalancer complements the capabilities of other planning and execution solutions — and ingests their data — to identify the optimal balance between customer satisfaction and profitable fulfillment. Apply the most intelligent solution to every disruption What results can you expect from Intelligent Rebalancer? Let’s revisit the scenario we laid out earlier. ABC Corporation had 100 units of inventory on hand across four DCs — more than enough to satisfy customer orders for 80 units. Then, due to a storm, one DC carrying 40 units of inventory suddenly went out of operation, leaving ABC with a shortfall of 20 units. Instead of manually solving this problem — losing valuable time and profits — ABC can leverage the power of Intelligent Rebalancer to react in near real time. This solution uses AI and advanced data science to ensure the right ABC customers are prioritized based on their configured allocation strategy. By considering all pending ABC orders, it resequences open demand and reallocates inventory based on current — not planned — demand. Because Intelligent Rebalancer accounts for labor and capacity, new orders are automatically rerouted across the network for efficient fulfillment without straining existing operations. Once the storm has passed and the DC is back online, ABC can review the decisions Intelligent Rebalancer made via an intuitive dashboard. Planning and execution leaders can understand the reasoning behind the new plan and its ultimate effects. Transform reallocation into a competitive edge Say the word “reallocation” and even the strongest planning and execution teams shudder. That’s because reallocation is often a mad scramble, where the results are often suboptimal — simply because those charged with this task don’t have the right tools. Intelligent Rebalancer changes all that with advanced decision engines — powered by sophisticated, purpose-built algorithms — that perform all the necessary analysis and make rapid, profitable decisions. It’s easy to launch, easy to learn and easy to leverage for profitable, strategic reallocation. Reach out to Blue Yonder today — and learn how you can use Intelligent Rebalancer to transform the tough challenge of reallocation into a significant advantage over slower-moving competitors. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Empowering Demand Planners With AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/empowering-demand-planners-with-ai) > Discover how AI tools are revolutionizing demand planning. Learn how to optimize supply chains, reduce risks, and drive better business outcomes with real-time data and end-to-end visibility. Blog Empowering Demand Planners With AI Empowering Demand Planners With AI Vinay P Sharma , September 12, 2024 1 minute read Has there ever been a more challenging time to accurately predict demand? Today, supply chain planners must contend with inflation, high interest rates and other economic forces that influence consumers’ buying behaviors and preferences. Planners must also consider extreme weather, social media trends and other unknowns that might suddenly create a demand peak — or valley. In addition, labor shortages, blocked shipping lanes and geopolitical uncertainty affect organizations’ ability to move products swiftly and profitably from Point A to Point B, which must certainly be part of the demand planning exercise. While it’s always been difficult to predict demand, today these macro trends and complications create a cascade of challenges for demand planners. The current dynamic environment means that static monthly planning cycles are no longer enough. Instead, to keep pace with demand volatility, planners need to re-plan much more frequently — possibly up to several times a day — to reflect news, weather, economic trends and other influencing factors. However, planners are often limited by dated technology solutions that cannot support actual business requirements, iterative planning processes or today’s fast pace of change. Watch how to revolutionize your demand planning with AI Join Supply Chain Talk, Blue Yonder, and Snowflake to discover how AI-powered tools can optimize your supply chain, minimize risks, and boost business results. Gain insights into real-time data and end-to-end visibility for improved demand planner performance. Watch Now The high cost of outdated, inefficient forecasting methods Despite the error-prone nature of creating forecasts via manual analysis, static monthly planning cycles and consumer-grade spreadsheets, many demand planning teams still stick to their traditional methods. Why? Because change is difficult. It requires an investment in new solutions and new processes, as well as significant employee education and cultural transformation efforts. But when market volatility and disruptions cause planning teams to produce an inaccurate forecast due to their outdated, inefficient forecasting methods, the costs are incredibly high. The consequences include: Lost sales and decreased consumer loyalty due to product shortages The financial costs of markdowns, waste and excess inventory Damage to crucial retailer relationships The only comprehensive solution? Artificial intelligence The truth is that most planning teams aren’t equipped to consider hundreds of relevant factors and arrive at an accurate forecast in a dynamic daily or intraday fashion. The scope, depth and pace of the required analysis exceed human cognition and consumer-grade tools — and historic sales data has become almost meaningless in today’s fast-changing landscape. Today successful organizations are empowering their demand planning teams with advanced, forward-looking, predictive technology solutions that are powered by artificial intelligence (AI). How is this accomplished? Fueled by AI, modern decision engines can ingest huge volumes of real-time data from across the supply chain and external sources like news, weather, and social media and arrive at optimal forecasts in mere seconds. As conditions change, these “always on” engines dynamically adjust their predictions in real time to reflect new influencing factors. Invisibly and behind the scenes, they’re constantly creating more and more accurate predictions, enabled by AI capabilities that continually learn and improve. In addition to making recommendations, AI-enabled decision engines further support decision-making by autonomously creating and analyzing hundreds of scenarios — then providing insights to planners. AI represents the best way for demand planning teams to keep pace with the dynamic nature of today’s markets and make optimal decisions. For example, because new tariffs may follow the U.S. presidential election on November 5, many American companies are stalling their offshore production efforts, while other companies are speeding imported products across the border. Probabilistic capabilities in advanced demand planning software can show the likely outcomes of both strategies. In addition, the analysis conducted by demand planning engines can have big implications upstream, downstream and across the supply chain, if the planning team shares these kinds of predictions. Is your demand planning reaching Its full potential? Are you leveraging Artificial Intelligence to its maximum potential in your demand forecasting? We delve into the ways AI is reshaping the future of supply chains, including increasing resilience, boosting planner productivity, and bringing agility to critical decision-making. Discover More Can you afford not to invest in AI? As mentioned earlier, change is intimidating — and it often requires significant investments. But I would argue that, given today’s extreme volatility, companies are losing more by choosing not to invest in AI. Smart companies are already capitalizing on the ability of AI to consider hundreds of demand-driving variables, plan dynamically and continuously, and generate ever-more-accurate forecasts. The benefits include enhanced margins and revenues, a greater return on inventory and other investments, higher shopper satisfaction, faster fulfillment and improved customer service. AI adopters also achieve a powerful competitive advantage as they anticipate and react to changing conditions faster than others in their industry. In addition, as AI-enabled engines do more of the work of forecasting autonomously, companies can also elevate their demand planners to more strategic, value-added roles. AI-enabled, dynamic, real-time demand planning might sound futuristic, but it’s within the grasp of every company today. Learn more about Blue Yonder’s  AI-powered Cognitive Demand Planning capabilities — and start seeing the benefits for yourself. Leap ahead with supply chain planning Boost performance, agility and resilience with a unified supply chain planning ​​suite that connects your entire value chain and empowers real time decision making. Discover More ### [Understanding the True Value of OMS Seven Signs of Optimization](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/understanding-the-true-value-of-oms-seven-signs-of-optimization) > Uncover the true value of an Order Management System (OMS) by recognizing seven key signs of optimization that indicate enhanced efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Blog Understanding the True Value of OMS: Seven Signs of Optimization Understanding the True Value of OMS Seven Signs of Optimization Lawrence Roycroft , August 29, 2024 3 minute read Having a disjointed view of inventory and customer data across both physical and online channels is no longer an option for retailers. Effective order management requires end-to-end connectivity of intuitive, automated solutions that can optimize customer data and maintaining a unified view of inventory across all channels. In short, it’s where retailers need an order management system (OMS), which provides a centralized platform for managing orders, inventory and fulfillment across all sales channels. Many retailers understand this need but struggle fully grasp what is an OMS and the true value it offers, leading to businesses investing in areas that aren’t a priority, or that won’t yield enough of a return to trigger the next stage of investment. This blog explores seven key ways an OMS can provide significant value to your business. 1. Revenue growth from improved customer service It sounds obvious to link order management to ultimate customer satisfaction, but too few consider the direct ways in which this connection can be made. Effective OMS deployment can not only increase customer acquisition rates and repeat purchase levels, but it can also reduce friction in the online shopping process, while increasing foot traffic in-store. This is achieved through accurate, real-time inventory availability that is visible to both retailer and consumer. With this end-to-end view of what’s available and where, a more personalized proposition of how to fulfill prospective orders can be offered in real time. Notices of limited quantities and options around delivery can make each visit feel entirely bespoke. 2. Preventing cancellations Through a centralized platform for managing orders, inventory and fulfillment across multiple channels, retailers can offer accurate inventory availability during the shopping process and avoid overselling products that are out of stock. Moreover, an effective OMS can help retailers improve order orchestration, further reducing instances of overselling. Additionally, the system can help retailers allocate inventory to high-demand locations or channels in near real time, thus reducing cancellations due to stockouts. 3. Streamlining returns By seamlessly integrating warehouse management, commerce platforms, and dedicated returns management solutions , businesses can use OMS to transform returns from a cost center into a value driver. Combining detailed order data with information about returning stock provides several key advantages: Improved inventory control: Real-time visibility into returned inventory allows for more accurate stock management, preventing discrepancies and ensuring accurate stock levels across all channels. Faster restocking and resale: Streamlining the returns process enables businesses to quickly process returned items, assess their condition and make them available for resale. This rapid turnaround helps recoup revenue faster and minimizes losses associated with depreciating or obsolete stock. Reduced waste: Efficient returns processing minimizes the risk of returned items becoming damaged or lost, reducing waste and contributing to more sustainable business practices. Reduced return rates: When customers receive their orders promptly and in good condition, the chances of returns due to late, damaged or unwanted products decrease substantially. Offering faster delivery options and promoting convenient fulfillment methods like Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) or in-store pickup significantly reduces the likelihood of returns. The future of omni-channel is here Get a first look at Blue Yonder's groundbreaking new launch, designed to deliver seamless customer experiences for 2025 and beyond. Discover More 4. Gross margin improvement Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-powered clearances of stock aim to avoid markdowns as much as possible, or at least to accurately value items as retailers seek to sell unseasonal or phased-out products. AI can help maximize sell-through and adjust safety stock ahead of a markdown to increase those margins. 5. Transportation efficiency If the right amount of inventory is being held in the most logical and appropriate locations, then this directly impacts shipments and distribution. Encouraging BOPIS can further reduce transportation costs while simultaneously optimizing fulfillment capacities. 6. Optimizing labor capacity Fulfillment capacity optimization through the reduction of split shipments and via ship consolidation stems from the use of ML. If the requisite extent of inventory and shipments are accurately forecasted ahead of time, then it’s also possible to know the extent of labor required as well. 7. Perfecting safety stock Intelligent exposure to inventory through AI such as store-only inventory or online search product detail pages (PDP) can help to reduce oversell or undersell through each respective channel. Varying safety stock parameters according to this precise insight can also then adjust for peaks, holidays seasons and demand for each selling channel. Unlock the true value of OMS with Blue Yonder Each of these seven strands exist as potential avenues to drive value through an OMS implementation. However, knowing which areas are currently a priority can only come from knowledge of where your business is now. This is where Blue Yonder comes in, not only as a microservice-driven pioneer of OMS solutions , but as a source of data, use cases, industry scenarios and best practice guidance. Using years of research and development, we’ve also recently announced the release of our latest OMS. This new release builds upon our existing strengths, offering enhanced capabilities and even greater flexibility to meet the evolving demands of today's retail landscape. You can learn all about the new features and improvements here. By implementing an OMS with a tailored roadmap for phased improvements and value, retailers can process orders more efficiently and accurately, reduce errors, and accelerate fulfilment across channels. Improved tracking and visibility also help to guarantee that your new OMS technologies enhance revenue growth and customer satisfaction in equal measure. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Leveraging Technology to Improve Employee Engagement and Retention](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/leveraging-technology-to-improve-employee-engagement-and-retention) > Discover how to effectively leverage technology to boost employee engagement and improve retention rates, creating a more satisfied and stable workforce. Blog Leveraging Technology to Improve Employee Engagement and Retention Leveraging Technology to Improve Employee Engagement and Retention Terence Leung , March 22, 2024 2 minute read Technology can play a critical role in creating a culture of engagement and retention. Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management (WLM) creates a warehouse environment that streamlines the onboarding of new or temporary employees, drives active engagement between warehouse staff and supervisors, and helps to ensure higher levels of retention. When complemented with the flexible scheduling capabilities of Blue Yonder’s Workforce Management solution, WLM enables any warehouse operator to successfully attract, manage and maintain a modern workforce in the face of labor shortages and uncertainty. Streamline the onboarding process Employee onboarding for new hires or temporary employees is a time-consuming process. In the warehouse, the intricacies of operations, combined with a lack of standard processes, can add time and complexity in getting employees to work. Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management establishes standards for daily processes and operating procedures. With standards in place, it becomes easier to train and onboard staff or temporary labor, as the solution enforces standardized practices. In addition, for new hires, standards can be adjusted to allow for learning curves as these employees learn their roles. Drive deeper employee engagement Studies show that employees who believe their company is investing in their learning and development are more likely to stay. Blue Yonder WLM helps establish a structure that encourages interaction and promotes equitable work. For example, performance management capabilities provide supervisors and management with a view into an employee’s performance as the day progresses. Performance can be categorized to show both exceptional performers and those that may need additional help. This encourages management to walk the facility with an eye toward encouraging staff as they work through the day. Newer employees can become discouraged as they struggle to achieve performance goals. Warehouse Labor Management minimizes this issue by allowing for learning curves in standards and metrics. While it may take a seasoned employee less time to perform a certain task, learning curves allow extra time for new employees as they grow their expertise. This ensures equitable, accurate measurement of performance and encourages cross-training. An employee who’s experienced and successful in the packing station can now cross-train on the forklift without fear of lowering their performance metrics. This job flexibility increases their value to the organization. Engaged employees want regular feedback and opportunities to improve; this demonstrates the company’s dedication to their success. With report cards in WLM, employees have access to a comprehensive review of their performance, creating an engagement opportunity with their supervisor to discuss areas of improvement or how to further career goals. Build a culture of retention Events like the Great Reshuffle have shown that employees are looking for opportunities where they feel the culture best matches their needs. Individuals are looking for companies that offer freedom and flexibility, along with signs that the company will invest in and reward them for their work. Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management enables a continuous improvement process to help employees reach their full potential. The solution helps identify specific steps when  and issues are identified, whether they are training-related or perhaps a larger process issue for the facility. In the case of training, it could simply be that the employee is performing unnecessary steps, slowing them down. In the case of a process improvement, the solution may help uncover an issue where an aisle is consistently becoming crowded with activities — and the overall process needs to be revisited. Incentives help increase morale and engagement, and they can be a tool to drive retention. The ability to calculate incentives at a group or individual level encourages collaboration and teamwork, and incentives can be tied to payroll systems. Create a flexible work environment, without sacrificing productivity Another aspect that’s important to employees is scheduling flexibility. Many workers may work multiple jobs, have family members to care for, or struggle with transportation. It’s important to create schedules that accommodate these challenges. Today, 73% of blue collar workers would trade a $1 per hour raise for a more flexible work schedule. Flexible scheduling doesn’t mean simply offering shift swaps. It’s about building weekly schedules that accommodate the work preferences of each employee, while ensuring the needs of the warehouse are met. Attempting to do this with manual scheduling is nearly impossible, but Blue Yonder Workforce Management capabilities make it easy. The scheduling engine starts with an accurate labor forecast, applies each employee’s availability and work preferences, and then builds weekly schedules that accommodate these nuances — while also adhering to applicable labor regulations and corporate policies. By more perfectly aligning available staff with labor needs, warehouse operators can reduce overtime and virtually eliminate paying for unnecessary labor, cutting overall labor costs by more than 5%. In addition, employees will be scheduled to work when and how they want, which can result in a 25% increase in employee engagement and lower turnover rates. Work with Blue Yonder today Like all areas of the business, warehouse operations are challenged to find, onboard, engage and retain talent to meet dynamically changing goals. Solutions such as Blue Yonder Warehouse Labor Management and Workforce Management work in concert to not only drive efficiency and productivity, but also establish a culture that encourages employee retention. Contact Blue Yonder to learn more. Transform your labor management with Blue Yonder Enhance workforce productivity through actionable insights, employee engagement and continuous improvement. Discover More ### [Mitigating the Risks of Generative AI](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/mitigating-the-risks-of-generative-ai) > Explore the potential risks associated with generative AI and discover actionable strategies and best practices for organizations to effectively mitigate them while harnessing its power. Blog Mitigating the Risks of Generative AI Mitigating the Risks of Generative AI Bob Simonoff , February 18, 2024 3 minute read Generative artificial intelligence (AI) holds tremendous promise across many industries and disciplines. However, as with any powerful new technology, it also brings new security risks. Let’s take a few moments to dive into the emerging generative AI threat landscape, focusing specifically on areas of data and system security. This blog post will also highlight how organizations can securely adopt these tools, even with these risks. How is generative AI different? To grasp how generative AI changes the threat landscape, we must first consider how these new systems differ from traditional systems that have served as the backbone of supply chain systems for the past 50 years. The top five differences are: Security tools and practices for generative AI are still maturing, compared to technologies already available for databases. Database security vulnerabilities like SQL injection are well understood, following decades of focus. Developers are extensively trained on these threats, and robust auditing tools are integrated into CI/CD pipelines. However, the generative AI journey is just beginning, with threat modeling and tools still emerging. Generative AI delivers novel insights, rather than merely retrieving records. While databases return data that they’ve previously stored, possibly with transformations or calculations, generative AI synthesizes novel data based on its training. This is analogous to an analyst generating insights versus a clerk fetching records. Formal programming languages are predictable and unambiguous, unlike the nuances and ambiguity present in natural language used by generative AI. Databases utilize formal languages, such as SQL, which leverage a formal, understood syntax to access data. A given SQL statement, taken in the context of the already stored data, will always produce the same result. However, generative AI utilizes natural “everyday” language — with all its nuance and ambiguity — for all inputs and outputs. Like two people negotiating a contract, misunderstandings can occur between humans and AI applications. In addition, generative AI’s outputs are non-deterministic — which means identical inputs can yield distinct results in phrasing, wording or meaning. Generative AI may lack traceability and auditing capabilities, versus databases with tighter controls. With databases, authorized users can easily audit stored data and trace its origin. In contrast, generative AI models store knowledge in a neural network, in a form that’s incomprehensible to most people. In addition, there are currently no robust techniques available to audit the generative AI models’ acquired “knowledge,” or the potential biases from its training data. Generative AI currently has fewer built-in data access controls than databases. Databases have robust authorization controls that govern data access. However, generative AI currently lacks such built-in controls. Authenticated users may access any data. Examining the differences between traditional systems and generative AI reveals new security vulnerabilities and necessary mitigations, which can be categorized into three key domains: Protecting sensitive data, securing systems and data from malicious use, and properly governing AI agents and plug-ins. Can ChatGPT pass the supply chain test? Blue Yonder reveals benchmark study for Language Learning Models (LLMs), testing how capable they are out-of-the-box and if they can be effectively applied to supply chain analysis to address the real issues faced in supply chain management. See The Results Understand the risk factors and how to manage them When a company entrusts its software system with sensitive data, there’s an expectation that all information will be fully protected from unauthorized access, modification or exfiltration. While traditional vulnerabilities remain a concern, the unique nature of generative AI introduces additional risks that must be guarded against. In addition to protecting sensitive data, it’s also important that generative AI meets its service level agreements (SLAs) — including availability, scalability, performance, reliability and disaster recovery. Generative AI must also be proven not to negatively affect the SLAs of downstream systems. Understanding these vulnerabilities, and preventing them from creating security exposures, paves the way for realizing the tremendous promise of generative AI. Some key vulnerabilities to look out for include: Prompt injection. Well-crafted inputs can trick generative AI applications into revealing confidential data or executing harmful actions. Insecure output handling. Blindly using AI outputs without scrutiny opens the door for system exploits like unauthorized data access. Training data poisoning. Manipulated training data can corrupt AI components, introducing dangerous biases or back doors. Model denial of service. Attackers can overwhelm generative AI applications with complex requests, degrading or disabling service. Excessive agency. Giving AI components uncontrolled autonomy may allow them to make damaging decisions based on faulty reasoning. Insecure plug-in design. Third-party AI components can introduce severe vulnerabilities through unsafe data handling. Supply chain compromise. If any third-party tools or data sources get hacked, these events create risk within the generative AI application. Sensitive data leakage. Generative AI may reveal sensitive customer or business data it was exposed to during its training. Fortunately, preventive measures may mitigate multiple types of AI vulnerabilities. For example, securing against prompt injection and training data poisoning also helps reduce the chance of sensitive information disclosure. A robust identity and access framework, with a well thought-out access control implementation, is a prerequisite for protecting against excessive agency attacks. And the traditional security measures that we’ve been practicing since the dawn of computing provide the foundation on which generative AI protections are built. With a vigilant security posture and in-depth defense measures in place, companies can realize the tremendous potential of generative AI while safeguarding systems and sensitive information. Securing generative AI necessitates a multi-layered approach encompassing data, model training and fine-tuning, infrastructure, identities, access control and, importantly, diligence when evaluating vendors. Companies also need to implement comprehensive governance, rigorous access control, input and output controls, monitoring, sandboxing and well-defined development and operations protocols. Assess your generative AI security position before diving in Whether companies are incorporating generative AI directly into in-house built solutions, or acquiring these capabilities from vendors, asking the right questions is critical to ensure stringent security. The right questions can help guide conversations to determine if adequate protections have been implemented. Consider covering the following topic areas: Supply chain security. Companies should request third-party audits, penetration testing and code reviews to ensure supply chain security. They need to understand how third-party providers are evaluated, both initially and on an ongoing basis. Data security. Organizations need to understand how data is classified and protected based on sensitivity, including personal and proprietary business data. How are user permissions managed, and what safeguards are in place? Access control. With a vigilant security posture — including privilege-based access controls and in-depth defense measures — companies can realize the tremendous potential of generative AI while also safeguarding systems and sensitive information. Training pipeline security. Rigorous control around training data governance, pipelines, models and algorithms is essential. What protections are in place to protect against data poisoning? Input and output security. Before implementing generative AI, organizations should evaluate input validation methods — as well as how outputs are filtered, sanitized and approved. Infrastructure security. How often does the vendor perform resilience testing? What are their SLAs in terms of availability, scalability and performance? This is critical to assessing infrastructure security and stability. Monitoring and response. Companies need to understand fully how  workflows, monitoring and responses are automated, logged and audited. Any audit records must be secure, especially if they’re likely to contain confidential or personal information. Compliance. Enterprises should confirm that the vendor complies with regulations like GDPR and CCPA, and that certifications like SOC2 and ISO 27001 have been achieved. They must understand where data will be collected, stored and used to ensure that country-specific or state-specific requirements are met. Realize the promise of generative AI, securely Generative AI has immense potential, with new applications being discovered almost daily. While current capabilities are already profound, even greater potential lies ahead. However, with this promise come risks that require prudent, ongoing governance. Security establishes trust and enables progress — and the guidance in this blog post provides a starting point for organizations to assess and address these risks. With diligence, companies can adopt generative AI early, and securely, to get a head start on realizing generative AI’s benefits now and in the future. The key is balancing innovation with governance through continuous collaboration between security and AI teams. Blue Yonder is applying the industry’s gold standard for generative AI security, OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Models, to safeguard our solutions. This means our customers can confidently take full advantage of the latest technology innovations that keep their businesses running faster and smarter. Contact us to discuss the potential for secure generative AI in your supply chain. Achieve peak supply chain performance with predictive and generative AI Focus on decisions and let AI handle the data with decades of specialized experience and proven innovation that bring transformative results to your business. Discover More ### [Putting the AI in Availability: 5 Keys to Bridging the Wholesale Supply and Demand Gap](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/putting-the-ai-in-availability-2) > Bridge the wholesale supply and demand gap with AI. Discover 5 key strategies leveraging artificial intelligence to improve availability and optimize inventory. Blog Putting the AI in Availability: 5 Keys to Bridging the Wholesale Supply and Demand Gap Putting the AI in Availability 2 Tammy Kulesa , January 11, 2024 1 minute read The wholesale distribution and manufacturing (WD&M) landscape is entering a new era. Business-to-business (B2B) customers increasingly expect a commerce-like experience. Self-service and flexible, omni-channel fulfillment are the new gold standards. Erosion of regional restrictions means whoever has the product on hand gets the deal, and e-commerce distributors and marketplaces are muscling in. Margins are under unprecedented pressure. The industry landscape is more demanding and fast-paced than ever. WD&M companies face an existential moment, when the usual workarounds to address legacy challenges are no longer viable in the face of cascading, unprecedented threats. Accurate inventory and order management: A make-or-break capability One of the main challenges faced by WD&M enterprises is transforming from legacy approaches to digital inventory processing and order orchestration, as well as moving toward solutions primed to handle omni-channel demands. Current legacy systems just can’t deliver the levels of accuracy, flexibility and efficiency required to successfully meet the moment. Processes based on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and spreadsheets aren’t effective enough in handling the demands of modern commerce. As any wholesale distributor who’s tried it can tell you, attempting to back-engineer an existing, hardened ERP system into a modern solution for omni-channel inventory visibility and order fulfillment is costly — and nothing ever works quite the way it should. The result? In short, a world of pain. Break free from silos Learn how to unify planning, avoid tunnel vision and let automation save time, whatever you're selling. Discover More Breaking down ERP inefficiencies for inventory and ordering For inventory and order management, the traditional ERP-based approach falls short in a number of critical areas. Limited to no inventory visibility Limited or no inventory visibility across nodes and networks means WD&M companies have trouble fulfilling commitments. Excess inventory ties up capital, while supply shortages have negatively impact customer satisfaction and retention. There’s no line of sight on what inventory is available to promise, to whom and when. WD&M companies have no view of their suppliers’ inventory, leading to supply issues, additional costs and delays. Inefficient order creation and modification Siloed, paper-based environments mean processing every order requires manual, human effort and doesn’t include a self-service option. A quick order interface means customers can create quick orders — even using traditional methods such as uploading emails, CSVs or XLSs. Higher error rates Legacy ERP systems invariably require more manual processing, data entry and spreadsheet management. This leads to increased levels of human error — missed orders, late deliveries, unhappy customers and a higher cost-to-serve — which negatively impacts the bottom line. Heavy reliance on tenured employees Too many WD&M companies over-rely on tenured employees to keep track of inventory. Sure, Hank knows exactly how many two-by-fours will be available next week in the Tahoe branch, but Hank may hurt his back while shifting stock — and be out of commission for the next three months. What then? A lack of omni-channel support Most existing ERPs are not built for omni-channel ordering. According to McKinsey, today’s B2B buyers are using up to 10 channels to conclude the buying process, from self-service portals to video and phone calls. Funneling orders from multiple channels into a single, cohesive inventory management and fulfillment process is complex and challenging, and it requires a built-for-purpose solution. Omni-channel for 2025 and beyond Blue Yonder’s new launch sets the stage for seamless customer experiences. Read The Release Discover the benefits of OMS solutions built for B2B complexity Enter order management system (OMS) solutions purpose-built for the complexities of B2B and business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) environments — and infused with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for a future of continued relevancy. AI-infused inventory and order management solutions are the way forward for WD&M companies hoping to bridge the supply-demand gap, as well as meet and exceed customers’ new B2B omni-channel expectations. They’re scalable, cost-effective and fit-for-purpose. And they deliver key operational benefits that translate directly into profit. Real-time inventory visibility and tracking An advanced OMS delivers up-to-the-minute visibility into sellable and non-sellable stock, enabling accurate demand planning and reducing the risk of both inventory shortages and stale inventory. Demand forecasting and proactive replenishment AI analyzes historical sales data, market trends, weather and promotions to accurately predict demand, helping WD&M companies optimize inventory levels, reduce carrying costs and improve cash flow. Intelligent order routing for optimal fulfillment AI and ML consider proximity, capacity, customer and product locations, promised delivery dates, inventory levels, merchandise costs, the likelihood of markdowns, shipping time and costs, labor capacity and other constraints to optimize order fulfillment locations. This improves on-time delivery rates and cost-to-serve. Automated exception handling and error reduction AI-infused OMS solutions automatically flag anomalies like incorrect quantities or pricing discrepancies, reducing the risk of errors. Five Ways Blue Yonder Transforms Inventory and Ordering Management Using AI Blue Yonder’s AI-infused order management microservices deliver a fit-for-purpose inventory processing and OMS that boosts margins and efficiency at every operational level. They deliver these five transformative capabilities: 1. Real-time, network-wide inventory visibility WD&M companies can leverage AI and ML to maximize inventory exposure and deliver accurate, risk-free promises for an e-commerce revenue boost of up to 5%. Blue Yonder delivers real-time product availability, reservations and segmentation — from in-stock/out-of-stock messaging to proximity- and location-based availability data. Blue Yonder software enables: Perpetual, accurate and reliable inventory commitments to customers across channels An omni-channel fulfillment architecture Cost-to-fulfill optimization by factoring in account location, cost of merchandise, product selection, profitability, transportation options, and transport and supply chain costs Product reservation and inventory segmentation through flexible and complex allocation algorithms Pre-sourcing and post-sourcing, enabling WD&M companies to promise against future inventory supply 2. Smart, profitable allocation WD&M enterprises can improve their fill rates, adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) and order-to-cash with flexible, complex allocation algorithms to support customer needs. Blue Yonder helps them: Allocate inventory based on specific time intervals, status or counts Allocate to fulfill the highest-priority orders versus lower-priority orders Allocate inventory based on predetermined rules at different levels, by percentage or weighted average Allocate based on forecasted demand and supply 3. Intelligent inventory rebalancing Disruptions, changes and reprioritized needs happen all too frequently, especially when there are long lead times between order creation and fulfillment. WD&M companies need a way to react quickly, without creating havoc with customers. With Blue Yonder, they can: Rebalance open demand based on defined allocation rules Resequence pending orders for optimal sourcing and reprioritization 4.    Order services optimization WD&M enterprises can improve their percentage of perfect orders with full end-to-end visibility. They can schedule, orchestrate, modify and support the complete order lifecycle with a single source of truth from order to delivery, regardless of channels, source and types. Consider these benefits provided by Blue Yonder: AI/ML-driven multi-factor cost optimization, to protect margins by reducing cost-to-serve Complex organizational hierarchies for various business entities including marketplaces, third-party logistics (3PL) providers, distributors and manufacturers Post-disruption, the ability to resequence pending orders for fulfillment, based on optimal resourcing and reprioritization Customized workflows and orchestration rules, allocation rules and decisioning rules at different organizational levels The ability to expand channels and business opportunities through vendor portals and marketplaces 5. AI- and ML-infused insights and actions WD&M companies can leverage advanced ML algorithms and AI capabilities from Blue Yonder to generate actionable insights and predict potential issues that will impact order fulfillment. Always-on algorithms run unsupervised, generating patterns and identifying anomalies, as well as structuring data into easy-to-understand insight dashboards. The result? Powerful, data-driven decision-making and full operational optimization. Blue Yonder Order Management: The fastest route to revenue It’s far more cost-effective than WD&M companies think to transform their operations via advanced order management capabilities from Blue Yonder, and the benefits are nothing short of transformative. Blue Yonder’s OMS microservices are easy to implement, integrate fully with existing systems and deliver unprecedented time-to-value. Once an initial WD&M site is up and running, subsequent sites can be configured within a matter of days. Due to their modular nature, Blue Yonder’s OMS microservices can be implemented to meet immediate needs, one at a time, and rolled out at a customized pace, according to specific business and operational needs and objectives. And with intuitive mobile interfaces, these tools can be mastered by associates in just a few hours, reducing reliance on tenured staff and streamlining the onboarding process. Bridge the supply-demand gap with a cloud-native, AI-infused OMS solution Digital transformation for WD&M companies no longer requires an all-or-nothing approach. With Blue Yonder’s augmentative, composable OMS microservices, WD&M enterprises can tackle their most urgent pain points one at a time. They can implement the targeted solutions they need to overcome immediate challenges, while steadily building toward a future of total operational excellence. Make every customer and every order feel like a top priority Find out how our purpose-built OMS microservices can help you optimize your WD&M operations, by deploying industry-leading AI capabilities to capture value at every level. Discover More ### [Its Time to Unlock Our Supply Chain](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/its-time-to-unlock-our-supply-chain) > To create an efficient and resilient supply chain, we need to start thinking about each function differently. Here's how. Blog It's Time to Unlock Our Supply Chain Its Time to Unlock Our Supply Chain Duncan Angove , January 2, 2024 4 minute read People often only realize the importance of something when it breaks, right? The supply chain is finally having its zeitgeist moment, and budgets are shifting because it’s becoming a top priority. We’re living in an extraordinary time. There are secular trends of inflation and labor shortages. There’s dramatic uncertainty in demand and supply coupled with rising shipping container costs. Then there are the longer-term trends of e-commerce acceleration, last-mile delivery and sustainability. According to a recent Gartner survey , 68% of supply chain executives feel they’re constantly responding to high-impact disruptions, and the same number said they don’t even have time to recover before the next one hits. Meanwhile, customers are becoming more demanding — expecting shorter lead times, improved service, free returns with no fees, and a commitment to sustainability. And across sectors, organizations are seeing a significant growth in competitors, rise of digital natives, cross-border commerce and more, putting pressure on price, profit and market share. All these pressures have pushed supply chain to the top of the agenda for any C-level leader. But supply chains weren’t originally designed or built to address these stressors, and teams are struggling to solve ever-evolving complex challenges with the tools they have. They are unable to keep up with increasing market complexity, data volume and velocity, or supply chain disruptions because they are shackled to legacy technology. As they reach accuracy and effectiveness plateaus, teams are being forced to manually intervene over and over again, consuming valuable time and energy, which has led to record levels of burnout and attrition. If organizations are going to continue weathering these perpetual storms, something has to change. Why are supply chain solutions falling short? 1. The supply chain technology category has never been consolidated or platformed. Supply chains are still primarily served by point solutions. And there’s good reason for it: Consolidation is really hard to do, it’s deeply specialized, and systems were originally designed to meet the traditional, linear approach to supply chain management. Supply chains have historically been broken into functions due to their inherent scale, complexity and diversity. This functional approach created silos within silos. Decision-making was broken down into different time horizons running at different cadences, and traditional processes and systems reflected these organizational and decision silos. We inadvertently designed technology that couldn’t adapt to modern processes. As these technological limitations are reinforced, they perpetuate the flaws in how our supply chains are being run. This is why supply chains remain highly fragmented and comprise a diverse application topology, driving disconnected stakeholders and processes. While this approach may have worked in the past, our new environment requires more real-time coordination, event-driven decision-making, and synchronized planning and execution. The siloed, reactive approach won’t cut it anymore. We must finally break with the norm. 2. Lack of scalable computing means teams sacrifice quality and speed. Existing architectures are limited in their computing power, which results in hours and hours of batch processing work. As a result, especially in a world where decisions must be made quickly in response to dynamic market shifts, teams are forced to trade accuracy for time. But this sacrifice isn’t even paying off. Inadequate agility and responsiveness further contribute to a lack of supply chain coordination, and the figurative walls that were created by system silos grow higher. 3. Data is getting more and more expensive to manage and move. Businesses have become overwhelmed by the sheer volume and velocity of available data — from suppliers, customers, partners and third-party sources — all with different formats, product hierarchies, taxonomies, etc. They also lack the infrastructure to collect, harmonize, analyze and apply data to their everyday decisions. Instead, it is scattered across the extended supply chain in disparate point solutions. It’s not centralized, accessible or actionable. The bigger, broader and more diverse data gets, the more expensive and inefficient it becomes to move. But we still do it all the time — because we have to — resulting in stale, disjointed decisions. 4. Customizations are being used to “fix” technology shortcomings but carry hidden costs. Enterprise software often comes encoded with supposed best practices — the implication being that if you adopt the software as-is, you’ve automatically implemented best practices into your company. But those “best practices” are based on the supply chains of yesterday, are likewise shaped by inhibitions and context of yesterday, and have the unintended consequences of limiting coordination due to the inherent nature of siloed supply chain applications. Bespoke customizations, from specialized workflows and business rules to integrations with external business applications, may seemingly serve as a quick fix to address the challenges of disconnected systems or outdated processes, making older technology more suitable for today’s environment. But these customizations make technology stacks harder to maintain and upgrade, stunting innovation over time. Modernizing your supply chain doesn't have to be complex Achieve a competitive advantage through intelligent, agile, and profitable operations. Our latest blog reveals how simple supply chain modernization can be with the right partner. Discover More What would the ideal supply chain solution look like? This can’t be all there is. What if you could initiate a new planning run based on market realities, rather than sticking to fixed cycles? Or run scenarios faster than it takes you to grab your morning coffee? What if planning and logistics teams could stay continuously connected, all running on a single source of truth? What if your teams spent more time strategizing and responding in the moment, and less time living in spreadsheets? What if all the technological limitations went away? How would you reimagine the way supply chains are run, and how the software that runs them actually looks? 1. It would run on a single database , bringing together all the supply chain data you need, and going beyond analytics. It would leverage a real-time, single source of truth to optimize collaboration and application behavior. It would break down data silos and mitigate the need for endless data movement, which in turn would accelerate decisioning and drive greater agility. Because it’s event-driven, as things happen — a shipment arrives or an order is packed — it would publish updates to the common data source, informing all the applications running on it. 2. It would be connected end-to-end , with all applications — from planning to warehouse to commerce to logistics — running on a common platform with a common user interface with a common data model. And this seamless connectivity would extend to the entire ecosystem, eliminating electronic data interchange (EDI) and other unnecessary integrations. You could simply grant carriers and trading partners read access to the data, rather than moving data around again and again. Collaboration and orchestration would be simple and seamless. 3. It would be super intelligent, with predictive and generative AI embedded into all systems and applications. With applications running on a cloud-based platform, you could spin up unconstrained computing power to run hundreds of simulations in a matter of minutes, versus in a few hours — or days. There would be no batch, and you wouldn’t have to sacrifice accuracy for speed. As a result, you would collapse the time horizon between planning and execution to nearly zero, working synchronously across your supply chain. It would be trained on your software, your specific implementation and your data, with the ability to handle complex reasoning. AI will become a force multiplier for productivity so teams can do more important things more frequently and drive continuous optimization. 4. It would be delivered via a resilient, reliable secure cloud that enables your organization to compress transformation and consume innovation and value as fast as you need it. You would be able to compose your own journey, adding new applications without having to rip and replace existing investments. Its inherent extensibility would mean you could configure data models and workflows to meet your business needs, without the risk of disruption or surprise costs down the line. The moment is now We are at the precipice of a technological revolution. We stand at an inflection point where data, generative AI and the cloud converge, opening up unfathomable possibilities for the future of supply chain. Just imagine the transformative potential when we harness these emerging technologies. They have the power not only to change how supply chains are run, but also to reinvent global commerce altogether. We have the opportunity to turn uncertainty into advantage, to break down existing silos, and to foster both inter- and intra-enterprise collaboration, driving us toward a future of greater resilience and sustainability. It’s time to stop compromising when it comes to your supply chain. Technology should never limit your ability to realize your strategy. In today’s world, you should expect more. Are you ready for what’s next? Let’s talk about your future. Any questions? Chat Now Contact Us ### [Unleash the Power of Cloud to Accelerate Growth and Build Resilience](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/unleash-the-power-of-cloud-to-accelerate-growth-and-build-resilience) > Learn how to leverage the power of innovative cloud solutions to grow your supply chain and increase resiliency. Blog Unleash the Power of Cloud to Accelerate Growth and Build Resilience Unleash the Power of Cloud to Accelerate Growth and Build Resilience Darren Saumur , January 19, 2024 3 minute read The concept of a supply chain was born out of the creation of the assembly line, dating back to the early 20th century. Each function, from planning to delivery, had its place. And if everyone did their part, just like a well-oiled machine, manufacturers could expect high margins and growth. It worked so well that as manufacturers modernized supply chain management, introducing technology and automation to help them move faster and smarter. But the foundation of supply chain was still tied to the original linear, siloed, rigid approach of early mass production. The problem is that today’s world looks pretty different than the business landscape of 1905 — or even 2015. Optimizing at the functional level, with a focus on achieving the lowest cost, will no longer produce the best possible results for the organization. Walled-off systems can no longer handle the pace of change — or deliver the agility necessary to keep up with customer demand shifts, market disruptions and growing supply chain complexity. Businesses leaders across industries know they need a new approach. They want a supply chain that’s modern, resilient and fully optimized to deliver the greatest possible profit to their organizations. Who wouldn’t? The challenge is, where do you start? This blog post will walk you through the key steps you should take to increase supply chain resilience and profitability — by shifting to the cloud and taking full advantage of the technology innovation available today. Step 1: Use the cloud as a launchpad for digital transformation Enterprises today want a supply chain that’s modern, resilient and fully optimized. To get there, they must first make a leap over to the cloud. By shifting from on-premises computing resources to the cloud, businesses can achieve a significantly higher level of agility and speed, which enables them to pivot and shift on the fly in response to supply chain disruptions. Businesses also gain the ability to consume innovation faster and cheaper. With on- premises technology stacks, it’s time-consuming and expensive to upgrade to new functionality. But on the cloud, this can be done in minutes or days, versus months or years. And finally, companies are able to process information — running scenarios across merchandising, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and distribution all at the same time, with unconstrained computing power. They can scale up and scale down quickly, on-demand. Rather than using one CPU for 100 hours, companies can use 100 CPUs for one hour, compressing planning time from days to minutes. They’re no longer constrained by long batch cycles, and they can finally put their investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to better use. This speed and agility in decision-making will be a pivotal aspect in determining supply chain winners and losers in the years ahead. Those organizations that can spin up a new scenario based on real-time market factors, and execute on that scenario in minutes, will gain a competitive edge. While cloud gets talked about a lot in supply chain, the concept of cloud computing has still struggled to really get traction for a handful of reasons — most notably integration and data challenges. This brings us to Step 2. Maximize supply chain resilience and agility with the power of a common data cloud Create integrated, efficient, and responsive supply chains by seamlessly connecting data and processes across a shared data architecture to reduce data latency and deliver faster results. Discover More Step 2: Get Your data together When data is siloed — and especially when it’s on-premises and all over the place — that’s a huge obstacle to digital transformation. Scattered data makes it both expensive and challenging to get visibility across the entire supply chain. To move quickly, it’s imperative to understand how all the moving pieces of a supply chain interplay. When companies make a capacity plan, they need to see how it aligns with the demand forecast, the supply network and even warehouse staffing. It needs to all match up, or else supply chains are stuck in a constant back-and-forth battle, which wastes time and erodes profits. Beyond hindering visibility, fragmented data also results in fragmented or conflicting reports, analytics and insights. Point solutions and KPIs should not be competing against each other. The key is bringing all supply chain data together, creating a single source of truth for applications and analytics. Bringing all insights onto a centralized data cloud removes the need for ETL (extract, transform and load) processes, mitigates the proliferation of integrations, and dramatically reduces costs of testing and ongoing maintenance. By standardizing the data model, all insights can be leveraged across any application, for all analytics and AI — including new solutions that will be added in the future. That brings us to Step 3. Step 3: Design a digital transformation that’s aligned to business goals Monolithic applications can take years to implement, as well as years to earn a return on investment. Companies lose focus along the way. If the business model changes to reflect the ever-evolving market landscape, the solution may not even work anymore. Every business is at a different level of digital maturity. Some have already moved to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and adopted new technologies. Some are running on older, on-premises applications. And still others have a mix of both. It doesn’t make sense — financially, technically or in terms of change management — to put every company on the same digital transformation path. Instead, a company-specific game plan enables businesses to consume technology and innovation at their own pace. At Blue Yonder, we’ve found that’s key to an accelerated time to value, a higher return on investment and longer-term success. Composable microservices bring together specific sets of capabilities that deliver discrete sets of business value to solve specific supply chain needs. They allow organizations to break down behemoth implementations into smaller projects that can get up and running in months. This allows organizations to consume innovations that address today’s pain points right away, without waiting for other ancillary capabilities to be deployed. There are no more “cliff” events. Instead, incremental business benefits are delivered along the way. An important note: “Best of breed” may not necessarily mean “best for you.” Fragmented solutions can perpetuate siloes. And, while data integrations can mask supply chain issues, they don’t solve them. Ideally, companies should aim to acquire composable applications that all sit on the same platform and work synchronously together. Step 4: Capture the full value of data and AI At this point, the supply chain is on the cloud. Check. Data is consolidated onto a single data cloud, with a single data model. Check. And the latest functionalities and technology innovations have been adopted. Check. Now it’s time to capitalize on the full value of data and AI. Companies should look for ways to automate — and optimize — existing processes, leveraging the power of AI and ML. For example, Blue Yonder offers the ability to mix and match ML algorithms and AI to optimize forecast accuracy. For example, a customer could use two statistical models for certain SKUs and AI for more complex forecasting challenges like fast-moving goods. Blue Yonder also helps customers integrate their own homegrown models. By adopting Blue Yonder’s latest AI and ML, businesses realize many benefits, including an improvement in forecast accuracy, higher fill rates and optimized capacity utilization. These operational improvements drive recurring benefits in terms of greater revenue, improved gross margin and operating expense reductions. There are also one-time benefits associated with reduction and CAPEX avoidance. Your next move: Crush your business case No CFO is willing to wait years for a return on investment. That’s why Blue Yonder partners closely with our customers to define and achieve real value. First, we sit down for a multi-day workshop which ends with a high-level impact and opportunity assessment. Next, we perform a detailed four- to six-week assessment that identifies pain points and opportunities, an optimal technology architecture, a sequenced roadmap and a robust business case. Blue Yonder also provides a change management plan. There will be a lot of shifts in not just people’s roles, but also what they do day-to-day.  In partnership with our customers, Blue Yonder drives value creation. On average, Blue Yonder customers can achieve a 12X return on their investment. The time to act is now. For those organizations who make the leap to the cloud, unify their data and capture the full value of AI, there is an enormous opportunity for growth. Those companies who wait risk losing their competitive edge. While no one can predict the next big market change or disruption, it’s imperative to react with speed and agility when it occurs. The world is evolving, and supply chains need to evolve along with it. By moving to the cloud, you’ll be well on your way. Are you ready to start your journey to greater supply chain resilience? Watch our on-demand webinar or contact Blue Yonder today. Unleash the power of cloud: accelerate growth, build resilience, unlock 12x value Join Blue Yonder and Acceleration Economy to dive into the transformative power of the cloud—a timely move that unlocks the true potential of end-to-end supply chain orchestration and maximizes the value of your technology investments. Watch Now ### [What Is a Warehouse Execution System (WES) — and How Can It Improve Your Warehouse Efficiency?](https://blueyonder.com/blog/2024/whats-a-wes) > Demystify Warehouse Execution Systems (WES). Learn what they are, how they differ from WMS, and the concrete ways they can boost your warehouse efficiency. Blog What Is a Warehouse Execution System (WES) — and How Can It Improve Your Warehouse Efficiency? Whats a Wes Terence Leung , February 27, 2024 4 minute read Warehouses sit at the heart of the supply chain, fulfilling customer promises and playing a critical role in driving satisfaction and repeat sales. Logistics teams have a hard time optimizing warehouses for cost, service, sustainability and other metrics, even in the most stable business environment. Factoring in skyrocketing operational costs, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, it’s more important than ever to improve warehouse optimization. Leading manufacturers, retailers and logistics services providers (LSPs) have already realized the value of advanced warehouse management system (WMS) solutions to achieve visibility and control, streamline processes and improve efficiency across the distribution network. But increasingly they’re adding a new capability — a warehouse execution system (WES) — to optimize performance in today’s complex, disrupted environment. What exactly is a WES? And how can it improve your warehouse efficiency? WES is the brain of the warehouse A WMS provides the foundational rules and processes for your warehouse. A WES, however, acts as the "brain," adding a layer of intelligence and cognition. It leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to create dynamic plans and resolve disruptions in real time. This is a crucial element of how to run an efficient warehouse. A WES orchestrates work across all warehouse resources — human and machine — dynamically adapting to changing conditions. It continuously improves speed, accuracy and profitability with minimal human intervention. In a world of constant disruptions, a WES autonomously finds optimal solutions that maximize cost, service, sustainability and other key outcomes. “A WMS provides a set of rules, algorithms and processes that define the core of your warehousing business,” explains Joe Kozenski, Product Director for WES at Blue Yonder. “This is a critical tool of the warehousing toolbox but a WES adds an extra layer of intelligence and cognition. Think of it as the ‘brain’ of the warehouse. It applies advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to create dynamic plans and resolve problems like disruptions — based on real-time signals it’s gathering from across the warehouse.” A WES is purpose-built to seamlessly orchestrate work across all warehouse resources — both humans and machines — in a dynamic manner as conditions change. It uses advanced technology to continuously improve speed, accuracy and profitability across the warehouse, with minimal human intervention. In an age when disruptions have become commonplace, a WES autonomously finds an optimal resolution that maximizes cost, service, sustainability and other outcomes — while taking real-world constraints into account. “Let’s say a carrier is making a pickup at 5 p.m., and the entire warehouse is already enacting a plan for getting hundreds of orders out that day. That plan has been carefully defined, based on   specific task assignments, the facility’s physical layout, the human and machine resources available, travel times and established task completion times,” says Joe. “That’s an incredible feat of orchestration already that was done by the warehouse supervisors, managers and experts.” “But now a disruption occurs,” he continues. “An employee comes in late or leaves early. A picking robot breaks down or runs out of a charge. A scheduled incoming delivery never shows up. A rush order comes in from a top-tier customer. The carefully defined plan is thrown into chaos. These are too many variables to manage in real time, which is where the WES comes in for assistance.” “What’s the best resolution, across the warehouse? Literally thousands of calculations might be required now. While that problem exceeds human cognition, it’s easy for the WES,” Joe notes. “The WES applies analytics and starts reassigning tasks — based on cost, service, sustainability and other outcomes. It automatically and immediately matches labor, robotics, equipment, and other resources with a newly defined set of priorities, in real time.” Decision automation: the key to warehouse optimization “More than ever, the warehouse needs to constantly change course, seamlessly and in concert, as conditions change,” Joe stresses. “That ongoing course correction can’t be driven by time-consuming, error-prone manual analysis. Instead, the WES automatically senses a disruption and accurately chooses the right corrective action to keep end-to-end operations on track. It even pulls the execution lever. And ML makes the WES smarter all the time. This shifts the dynamic to for your workforce to manage the whole process to managing the exceptions or decisions that aren’t automated responses.” WES doesn’t just solve real-time problems, but it also tackles longer-range planning challenges. If a warehouse needs to process 40% more orders to meet short-term seasonal demand, the WES can figure out how to enable that volume increase. It creates and tests a variety of scenarios, from adding new employees to onboarding new robotics. The logistics team can then choose the optimal course of action moving forward. Struggling with warehouse efficiency? Optimizing labor, automating inventory, and connecting your operations are crucial for warehouse success. Our WMS Buyer's Guide reveals what to look for in a system that can transform your efficiency. Download For Free Applying advanced technology in a practical way “Customers are always approaching us with an interest in increasing their investments in AI, ML, data science and robotics,” states Joe. “But they don’t want to use advanced technology just for the sake of using advanced technology. They want to see practical value from those investments. Frequently, they’re looking for the smaller investment opportunity to test or validate some of these principles out before investing in a full warehouse implementation and a multi-million dollar cost.” “Customers are asking really pointed questions like, ‘How do we get the most out of our existing workforce since we can’t hire more people? How can we maximize the return on our robotics, which were expensive? How should we be using all the data we’re getting from the WMS and the OMS?’” he says. “And those are really great questions.” “Blue Yonder’s WES has been designed specifically to meet all those practical customer challenges,” Joe emphasizes. “It’s built to ensure work is completed efficiently and accurately. It’s built to deliver customer orders quickly and profitably. But it’s also built to maximize the utilization and financial return of every warehouse resource, from human employees and equipment to robotics systems.” “Customers who are implementing WES in their warehouses tell us they can’t imagine going back to their old ways of managing the warehouse,” Joe concludes. “The results — including significant improvements in cost, service and throughput — speak for themselves.” Embracing WES for warehouse optimization Implementing a WES leads to significant improvements in cost, service, and throughput. It's a game-changer for businesses seeking to achieve warehouse optimization and implement warehouse best practices. It empowers them to run an efficient warehouse even in the face of constant change. Find out how to improve warehouse efficiency and gain a significant competitive advantage with the Blue Yonder Warehouse Execution System . Take your warehouse performance to the next level Blue Yonder Warehouse Execution System uses AI to dynamically determine the highest priority tasks while maximizing overall warehouse productivity. Discover More