Elly Yates-Roberts |
The Kraft Heinz Company has partnered with Microsoft as part of its digital transformation. It aims to improve daily operations, create a more collaborative supply chain and enhance consumer experience by using real-time predictive analytics to anticipate consumer demand.
Kraft Heinz will migrate its global data centre assets onto Microsoft Azure and will deploy its enterprise resource planning software through SAP on Azure. Microsoft’s digital tools will also enable the company to predict and rapidly respond to supply chain disruptions.
“Our collaboration with Microsoft is a critical piece of our transformation strategy, providing us with the machine learning and advanced analytics to drive innovation and efficiencies across the supply chain so we can get products into the market faster, better serve our customers and, ultimately, deliver on the sustained and growing consumer demand our iconic brands continue to experience,” said Carlos Abrams-Rivera, executive vice president and president of North America Zone at Kraft Heinz.
The collaboration will see the creation of a Supply Chain Control Tower, which will provide real-time data on supply-chain distribution through Azure’s artificial intelligence, internet of things and data analytics capabilities. Kraft Heinz will be able to quickly transport its products to its more than 2,500 US retailer and food service customers cost effectively.
Kraft Heinz will also implement Azure Digital Twins at its 34 manufacturing facilities in North America to identify product capacity and reduce mechanical interruptions by testing solutions and processes before problems occur. This, alongside its new Digital Innovation Office, will allow Kraft Heinz to evaluate and improve its manufacturing operations.
“The past two years have highlighted the urgent need for digital-first supply chain solutions across every industry,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. “Through this collaboration, we’re working shoulder to shoulder with Kraft Heinz, applying the power of Azure, data analytics and the industrial metaverse to co-innovate and create hybrid experiences that will ultimately put goods in the hands of retailers and consumers when they need and want them.”