Costa Express brews replenishment upgrade

Costa Express, Costa Coffee’s chain of on-the-go self-service machines, has been benefitting from new replenishment and inventory software

It has rolled out Relex Solutions’ software to manage forecasting and replenishment between its sites and distribution centres across the UK.

Costa’s operating model at the time was no longer suitable, and it needed a new supply chain solution that would ensure its machines were always stocked with fresh ingredients. In particular, Costa wanted to be able to forecast ingredients for each individual machine based on their Bill of Materials (BOM) - including coffee beans, syrup, chocolate and cups.

Any new solution would also need to scale up for Costa’s rapid expansion in the UK, and also support the launch of new concession types.

A year later using the Relex software has reduced stock variance, increased availability, and produced a 12% increase in forecast accuracy, which is now at 90%.