Smart & Final increases efficiencies for its suppliers and ecosystem of distribution centers

Symphony RetailAI, the leading global provider of integrated AI-enabled marketing, merchandising and supply chain solutions for FMCG retailers and manufacturers, announced today that Smart & Final is implementing Symphony RetailAI Vendor Portal and upgrading to the latest version of Symphony RetailAI Warehouse Management System (WMS).

Smart & Final, the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store, is one of the longest continuously operating food retailers in the United States and operates under two banners: Smart & Final and Smart & Final Extra!. The retailer wanted to update its IT infrastructure to reduce impacts to the flow of information and products to its distribution centers. To do this, it upgraded its Symphony RetailAI WMS solution to the latest version throughout six key distribution centers, which will lead to significant optimization of its warehouse processes.
“This project was a complicated undertaking,” said Vishal Kumar, Group VP of IT, Smart & Final. “However, the execution was very strong, limiting business interruption and delivering a really solid product to our distribution centers.”
Also, through implementing Symphony RetailAI Vendor Portal, Smart & Final will realize enhanced data and process collaboration for retailer and trade partners’ products, purchasing, distribution, inventory assortments, promotions, and forecasts, while gaining a single view of all this activity via a vendor dashboard.
“It’s one thing to talk about how a project will go, but it’s another to state how it went,” said Raju Keertipati, VP, Product Management and Analytics Platform, Smart & Final. “The flawless execution builds a lot of confidence for the next distribution centers on the list.”

“It’s not just about what software does in the short term that makes it valuable to the organization,” said Chris Koziol, CEO, Symphony RetailAI. “The upgrade to our latest and state-of-the-art WMS solution will support Smart & Final’s trajectory of growth far into the future, which means it can focus on what counts – the day-to-day business of getting products in the hands of its customers.”

Now that its distribution centers and warehouses are modernized and upgraded, Smart & Final is looking to deploy Symphony RetailAI Supply Chain and WMS Insights.