M-Preis has reported significant success in its use of Remira’s inventory management software, which the Austrian retail company has been using for almost ten years to manage stock levels across its stores. By 2026, M-Preis also plans to integrate its two in-house production facilities – the Therese Mölk bakery and the Alpenmetzgerei – into the existing stock management solution.
Using Remira, M-Preis has reduced the stock level at its central warehouse in Völs from almost 100 per cent to around 70 per cent. According to M-Preis, stock availability has also increased by two to five per cent per product group. 99 per cent of the items in the stores are supplied from the central warehouse in Völs, near Innsbruck. The software supports M-Preis with stock planning for around 280 stores. In total, the software calculates approximately 1.7 million SKUs. The dry goods range is managed fully automatically.
The retailer introduced the software over ten years ago with the help of Remira’s Austrian implementation partner, Arbor Management Consulting. Since switching to a two-stage repelnishment system around two years ago, forecasts for the central warehouse have been based on the demand forecasts and order data from the individual stores. Agreed coordination and delivery windows supplement this data.
A two-stage replenishment process takes the pressure off the team
A team of twelve uses the software to process 80 per cent of orders for stores and the central warehouse. According to M-Preis, staff spend two to three hours a day on this task. The team uses the remaining time for duties such as coordinating with the warehouse, the transport fleet, sales and suppliers.
Master and transaction data are transferred from the merchandise management system to the solution via interfaces. Each morning, the replenishment team reviews the calculations for the following day and checks requirements and promotions. According to the retail company, detailed planning for the current day is usually carried out entirely automatically.
Weather data drives order recommendations
In addition to historical sales figures, seasonal fluctuations and current market trends, the software also takes weather forecasts into account. To this end, M-Preis has integrated 15 weather stations into the application, which enable more accurate ordering recommendations, particularly for weather-dependent product categories such as drinks, salad and barbecue meat.
The solution also supports the team when dealing with products nearing the end of their shelf life and goods with a limited best-before date. When the software flags such stock levels, the replenishment department coordinates with the purchasing department to agree on measures such as selling the items at special prices. Furthermore, M-Preis uses the forecasts to prepare for seasonal peaks and promotional campaigns.
M-Preis aims to connect production facilities
“Together with Arbor, we have continuously improved programme and data security and have also further developed the functions to meet our requirements. This enables us, for example, to coordinate promotional figures more effectively – and in this respect, the software is simply better than any human being,” says Christian Klement, Head of Replenishment Department at M-Preis.
Before the end of this year, M-Preis also plans to integrate its two in-house production facilities – the Therese Mölk bakery and the Alpenmetzgerei – into its existing planning solution. In future, orders for fresh and ultra-fresh products will also be processed via Remira’s software and the central warehouse. In this way, the retail company aims to optimise the capacity of its production facilities, which are currently operating at full capacity.
