RELEX – This is Really How to Export!

Every one of us has a different experience of shopping for groceries and other daily needs. The complexity of dealing with our vagaries is something that shops must deal  with to make sure that we come back!

The logistics of dealing with a hundred thousand different items and customers is something that suits a simple minded AI system…

Note the two words “simple-minded” because the same process must be completed each minute, hour and day of the week without fail, and only a robot could do that because our own human brain capacity, although incredible, it cannot handle the boredom of doing the same on such a scale 24/7.

RELEX, a former Finnish start-up has developed such a system for shops and the logistics companies. It is a business built on science and great softwareIn 2005, frustrated by the amount of wasted products, time and money in the consumer goods value chain, three Finnish supply chain scientists —Mikko Kärkkäinen, Johanna Småros, and Michael Falck — founded RELEX. They wanted to make the consumer goods value chain more efficient, adaptive to change, and more responsive to consumer demand.

It began as a small startup in Finland, and now it is a global company represented in 21 countries, with over 1800 employees.

They are not alone in their efforts and face strong competition from a long list of big competitors, but they has smashed their way an made a great success with exporting their management system across several continenets and here is the reason why:

1. Just look at their website (see above) it is in 10 languages with clear simple text and graphics.
2. They publish “white papers” that explain supply chain optimization for manufacturers and explain that mathematical optimization can revolutionize supply chain planning for manufacturers, boosting efficiency and profits.
3. They explain how AI-driven forecasting and replenishment tools can help grocers optimize supply chains, minimize waste, and maintain high availability of fresh products
4. … and how many Finnish start-up end up in the international media like this:

A great example of how innovation can reap big rewards and lowers costs for consumers, reap profits for businesses, and most important reduce waste and energy consumption.