Sainsbury’s to transform supply chain with IBM

Improvement in stock availability is expected as Sainsbury's revamps supply chain systems

Sainsbury’s has signed a five-year contract with IBM to revamp the system underpinning its supply chain.

The partnership will see legacy systems replaced by a platform based on technology provided by vendor Wesupply, which is based on the software-as-a-service model and will cover the supermarket chain's 4,000-strong supplier network.

According to Sainsbury's, the measures will improve stock availability as well as customer service.

“To support our continued growth, we were looking to enhance our collaboration with suppliers without a significant increase in cost, while continuing to introduce greater intelligence into our supply chain," said Sainsbury’s director of supply chain operations Tim Goalen.

The IBM deal includes consulting services to support the setup, implementation and maintenance of the Wesupply systems, as well as the migration of suppliers to the new platform.

Another project included in IBM’s brief will see Sainsbury’s' electronic data interchange value added network (EDI VAN) moved to supplier Inovis.

Five years ago, Sainsbury's had some well-documented problems with its outsourcing contract with IT services group Accenture. Issues with its supply chain system had left its stores with inadequate stock levels. The contract was cut short, and IT brought back in-house.