CASE STUDY
Quince Analytics
The ordering process for produce hasn’t changed in the last 50 years. Quince freshens the process for this digital age.
WHY
Problem
The ordering process for produce hasn’t changed in the last 50 years with the use of tedious buy sheets. Within the workflow of a commodity buyer, they worry about handling the buying and managing of inventory. They spend hours contacting suppliers through email or direct phone, assess market prices and quality, and concern themselves with having to buy quickly and move products out quickly. For wholesalers, the current tools are only 10% automated as the buying side requires a lot of communication between growers and an understanding of the people they sell to. The manual process of these sales slows down produce managers’ efficiency.
WHAT IS IT?
Solution
Quince is a fresh produce data analytics platform that automates the categorizations of vendor items for fruits, vegetables, dairy, and dried foods. It utilizes machine learning techniques to automate the extraction and processing of vendor raw pricing data to help head office users create weekly order guides. It also provides retail store users with a simpler way to create order buy sheets that are then transmitted to vendors and growers.
The data analytics platform automates the extraction of price sheets, processing order guides, and handling orders of fresh produce, streamlining and helping managers make smart buying decisions.
HOW
Our Process
Workflow Automation
Excelar provided turnkey IT resources such as BPMN v2.0 to model pre-existing manual workflows to better improve and automate them. We focused on building a solution that managed the buy sheets and replaced handwritten orders by listening to the grocery stores and head office managers’ needs. After making interactive mockups to validate user roles, creating data models, and envisioning future workflows, Quince cuts 46% of the total time it takes to perform daily ordering tasks.
Reducing Retailer Information Silos
The goal of Quince Analytics is to spread information across the entire supply chain by increasing transparency between vendors, buyers, and head office. By recognizing that one-time communications do not end with one retailer and vendor, Quince aims to share amongst others within the chain and beyond. With Excelar’s system architecture, data modelling, and user interface design, the digital ordering system makes communication and processes efficient with a store-level app that allows managers and vendors to access order data.
Analytics & Reporting
Quince Analytics saves all actions, data, and information sent through the app. Our technical system support and service monitors enable high-level data reports for managers and head office to review. Selecting a time range, monitoring any pricing changes, and building graphs and statistics have helped managers make faster, and more informed management decisions.
