The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry is undergoing a digital revolution, with businesses leveraging automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize operations and gain a competitive edge.
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The FMCG Industry Facing Digital Transformation
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is undergoing a profound digital revolution. Increasingly fierce competition and the rapid changes in consumer behavior have driven FMCG businesses to seek technological solutions to optimize processes and enhance competitiveness. The application of technology in business operations not only improves efficiency but also opens up new opportunities for FMCG companies to adapt to new consumer trends, such as e-commerce and online shopping. For instance, Unilever has utilized AI to analyze consumer data, helping customers make quicker product decisions. In the personal care sector, for example, a notable 8.9% increase in underlying sales has been recorded, driven by product innovations and AI-led marketing strategies.
Operational optimization strategies for FMCG companies
Automated warehouse management
To improve operations, many FMCG companies have adopted technology strategies. One of the standout strategies is automating the management and distribution processes. Automation in the FMCG sector not only helps reduce labor costs but also enhances accuracy and efficiency in warehouse and transportation management.
A Warehouse Management System (WMS) combined with automated robots provides a comprehensive solution, optimizing every stage of warehouse management. From the moment goods enter the warehouse, robots automatically receive them, scan barcodes to identify information and place them in storage locations assigned by the WMS. Optimization algorithms help arrange goods logically, making the best use of warehouse space and minimizing search time. When an order is placed, the WMS generates a picking order and robots move to the goods’ location, retrieve the items and bring them to the packing area. To ensure high accuracy, the system uses sensors and cameras to monitor the robots’ movement picking process and integrates automated quality control systems to ensure goods meet standards.
Additionally, RPA in warehouse management is becoming an essential trend. By automating repetitive tasks like data entry, data reconciliation, and report creation, this process not only minimizes errors but also significantly increases productivity.
- Data entry: RPA can integrate with transportation management systems to automatically update information about shipments and the current location of goods, helping to track and manage the transportation process efficiently. Additionally, RPA can extract data from unstructured documents like paper invoices and warehouse receipts using OCR technology. This fully digitizes the data entry process, eliminating manual steps, reducing errors, and saving significant time.
- Data reconciliation: RPA plays a crucial role in data reconciliation, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of data in the warehouse management system. Robots can automatically conduct regular inventory checks, collect data on the actual quantity of goods on shelves, and compare it with system records. Any discrepancies are immediately reported, allowing warehouse staff to quickly identify and address the causes. Moreover, RPA can reconcile data across different systems, such as comparing the quantity of goods shipped in the warehouse management system with order quantities in the sales system. RPA makes data reconciliation more automated and efficient, quickly detecting and resolving discrepancies.
- Report creation: RPA allows users to create customized reports quickly and easily. Instead of spending a lot of time building complex queries, users simply specify the necessary criteria for inventory, shipments, and revenue. The RPA system then automatically compiles the data and generates reports according to the requirements.
Analysis of customer, sales, and market data
In the digital era, data has become a valuable asset for businesses. Especially in the FMCG sector, collecting and analyzing big data from various sources such as sales, customer and market data has become crucial for making accurate business decisions, optimizing operations and achieving sustainable growth.
By collecting and analyzing large amounts of data from different sources like sales data, customer data, and market data, FMCG companies can uncover deep insights into shopping behaviors, consumption trends and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. With the help of AI, businesses can forecast consumer trends and adjust production plans in a timely manner. According to a report by Gartner, businesses that adopt automation can reduce operational costs by up to 30% and increase work efficiency by 20%.
FMCG Automation: In-Depth Insights from Leading Consulting Firms
Implementing automation and AI in the FMCG sector requires thorough preparation. According to research by Gartner and IDC, many companies have learned valuable lessons. First, clearly defining goals and desired benefits is crucial. Next, businesses need to build a robust data management system to provide high-quality data for AI algorithms. Finally, training employees and continuously evaluating and improving processes are essential factors to ensure long-term success.
For a smooth digital transformation, collaboration between departments is necessary. Departments such as production, sales, marketing, and IT need to work closely together to develop a unified digital transformation strategy. Additionally, consulting with experts can be very helpful in identifying suitable solutions and optimizing the implementation process.
Gartner experts recommend that FMCG companies invest in strong data management systems to support AI and automation. Additionally, training employees in digital skills is important to ensure they can fully utilize new technologies. IDC also emphasizes the importance of continuously evaluating and improving automation processes to maintain long-term efficiency.
Wrapping Up
Automation are opening up new opportunities for the FMCG sector, helping businesses optimize operations and increase their competitive edge. By learning from successful companies and applying appropriate strategies, FMCG businesses can achieve significant milestones in their digital transformation journey.
akaBot (FPT) is the operation optimization solution for enterprises based on the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) platform combined with Artificial Intelligence, Process Mining, OCR, Intelligent Document Processing, Machine Learning, Conversational AI, etc. Serving clients in 21+ countries, across 08 domains such as Banking & Finances, Retail, IT Services, Manufacturing, and Logistics…, akaBot is featured in “Voice of the Customer” for Robotics Process Automation” by Gartner Peer Insights, G2, and ranked as Top 6 Global RPA Platform by Software Reviews. akaBot also won the prestigious Stevie Award, The Asian Banker Award 2021, Everest Group’s RPA Products PEAK Matrix® 2023, etc.
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