Reinventing bakery inventory management with AI

What is inventory management software for bakeries?

Inventory management software is a digital tool designed to centralize all data relating to a bakery's supply chain. It enables you to : 

• Automatically record the inputs and outputs of each ingredient, intermediate or finished product, thanks to a direct connection with the cash register. This makes it possible to track sales, goods deliveries and stock transfers between different bakeries.

• Centralize suppliers in a single tool, making it easier to set conditions (carriage-paid, packing, etc.) and place and track orders.
  

• Centralize information on your product offering: recipe cards with portioned ingredients, purchase and sales prices and VAT.
  

• Provide an inventory statement to visualize receipts and disbursements and facilitate stock-taking.
  

The aim of this software is to enable centralized inventory management. 

Why does artificial intelligence improve bakery inventory management?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool for processing data from a variety of sources, but also for adding external factors to decision-making. It can automate complex calculations and free employees from time-consuming, low-value-added tasks.

There are two critical aspects of bakery inventory management: 

• The first is demand forecasting: poor supply leads to food wastage and unoptimized working capital requirements, while insufficient production disappoints customers and impacts sales. 

• The second isthe difficulty of analyzing profitability when processing raw materials: there's the reality of the gross margin generated by your products, and the theoretical margin anticipated when the recipe was created. This never goes according to plan, and we call it the yield gap.

But how can artificial intelligence deliver concrete, quantifiable results? The difference with traditional inventory management software is thatInpulse has designed a solution based on 3 pillars: the automation of supplier orders, the simplification of inventory management operations, and real-time access to profitability ratios.

Rely on data to automatically generate orders

With the rise in raw material prices, inventory management errors in the bakery can be very costly. Precision is therefore essential, especially when ordering from suppliers.

Inpulse's sales forecasts enable you to order just what you need, thus minimizing losses. This is particularly useful for fragile, perishable products or those with short use-by dates, such as fresh produce used in pastries, salads or sandwiches (red fruit, raw vegetables, salmon, etc.).

Algorithms can accurately anticipate sales histories to forecast the products to be prepared each day and the right quantity of raw materials to order for recipe development. By taking into account various factors that impact the business, such as the weather, vacations, sporting events or public holidays, Inpulse enables bakers to order what they need at the right time.

"Inpulse forecasts are reliable, with artificial intelligence achieving up to 95% accuracy on forecast sales and product mix." Anthony Nicolas, network coordinator L'atelier Papilles

Just-in-time sourcing and production

Food waste is enemy number one in the bakery-pastry sector. Although some solutions are available to recycle unsold goods and bio-waste, the losses at the end of the day can be colossal, with significant environmental impact and consequences for profitability.

The Inpulse forecasting tool is not limited to automating supplier orders to avoid losses and stock-outs. It is also used for upstream production planning. Thanks to the product mix forecast, it is possible to predict the number of baguettes to be produced, and the number of sandwiches and salads to be prepared each morning. 

Improving profitability with AI

Inpulse automatically calculates food cost in real time. You can find out the exact cost of raw materials, the quantity of ingredients actually consumed, losses, breakage... In this way, you can easily monitor your margins , analyze purchases, inventory levels and yield variances which will help you identify areas for improvement in the transformation process.

With the Inpulse AI tool, you know which products are the most profitable. If you manage several bakeries, you save precious time by having instant access to all profitability indicators, enabling you to speed up your deployment and make better decisions.

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Simplify tasks and save time 

Automating bakery inventory management can save you a considerable amount of time. Bakery managers save an average of 20 hours a month thanks to Inpulse's supplier order recommendations and forecasts. They can also improve staff scheduling. 

It's also a question of getting all employees on board easily, so as to digitalize inventory management operations: stocktaking, goods receipt and automated generation of credit requests, stock transfers, etc.

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Automated management software provides perfect inventory control, helping to limit losses and improve profitability. Inpulse is a precise AI solution with a proven track record in bakery management. Managers of stores gain up to 5 margin points on food cost. The ease of use ofInpulse can be set up and up and running in less than 4 weeks. Inpulse can be set up and up and running in less than 4 weeks.

To find out more, you can speak to one of our experts by booking a personalized demonstration of our solution.