How Soennecken eG is successfully transforming its planning with AI forecasts

High quality, error-free, and delivered in just 24 hours—that’s the guarantee offered by Soennecken eG, the leading retail cooperative for office and home office products in the German-speaking world, for more than 25,000 items. However, this comes with high demands on demand planning and inventory management. To reduce manual configuration and enable future-proof, predictive control, Soennecken has switched to REMIRA’s cloud-based replenishment software with integrated AI sales forecasts.

Soennecken eG is the leading retail cooperative in German-speaking countries for office and home office products and services, uniting approximately 460 affiliated retail companies. In addition to an extensive product range, the cooperative offers its partners high-performance logistics and wholesale services. Soennecken has been using REMIRA’s original replenishment solution for about 15 years; this solution supports the company in handling all planning processes and optimizing inventory management.

By switching to the new cloud-based version, Soennecken is now taking its inventory management to the next level technologically. REMIRA’s scalable cloud solution combines proven functions for planning and inventory optimization with AI-powered forecasts. The technology, based on machine learning, delivers even more precise and reliable forecasts, thereby reducing safety stock and tying up less capital—while simultaneously ensuring higher product availability.

Improved forecasts thanks to AI & cloud application

The new AI forecasts, which Soennecken is now also using, are part of the cloud version of the REMIRA Forecast & Replenishment (F+R) software. It offers future-proof forecasting models and planning processes, as well as further improvements in inventory levels that correlate with sales. The benefits of AI are most evident with challenging items such as new product launches, ramp-up phases, and sporadic or highly fluctuating sales—where improvements in forecast accuracy of up to 15% are possible. This has a direct impact on inventory levels, delivery capacity, and revenue. Björn Endres, Project Manager for Inventory Management at Soennecken eG, explains:

“We like to be first movers and get involved in the development of new systems. Our goal with the AI forecasts was not to achieve better numbers immediately—but to gain better control in the long term. This involves replacing traditional methods and also reducing manual parameterization.”

Proper employee onboarding is also crucial to the success of the AI project. Soennecken has developed a corresponding roadmap in collaboration with REMIRA. Trust and a high degree of transparency are the cornerstones of this process:

“We’re currently running the traditional forecasts and the AI forecasts in parallel so that everyone involved can get a feel for the AI. Acceptance doesn’t come from algorithms—it comes from experience,”

Endres explains the approach.

REMIRA provides support throughout the entire process and performs iterative fine-tuning. Feedback from Soennecken is used to make adjustments to the software and optimize the models. Theoretical and practical knowledge are combined to achieve the best possible result and train the AI according to Soennecken’s requirements.

Significant relief in day-to-day operations

Overall, the REMIRA F+R software provides valuable support to employees and frees up relevant capacity—for example, for managing delivery capabilities or inventory exceptions. This added value is particularly evident when looking at the warehouse location in Melsdorf, which was built a few years ago as a near mirror image of the logistics center in Overath.

“Although the workload has effectively doubled with the opening of the new warehouse location, we only had to hire one new employee in planning. This is primarily due to the support provided by the REMIRA software, as the high degree of automation significantly reduces the workload,”

explains Björn Endres.

Seamless integration of REMIRA software and AutoStore™

Additional efficiency gains are also achieved through the integration of the AutoStore™ units used by Soennecken with the REMIRA software. This is because the automated storage system enables significantly better utilization of existing capacity without requiring additional storage space. Instead, plastic containers are stacked on an aluminum structure and automatically transported from there by robots. These container units are all integrated into the REMIRA solution using a special scheduling logic: This ensures the software always knows how much fits into a quarter, half, or full AutoStore™ container and automatically selects the most appropriate unit for calculating the order quantity. In this way, the software helps Soennecken optimize container inventory and precisely tailor reorders to available capacity—with great success, as Björn Endres summarizes:

“The REMIRA solution is highly versatile and provides us with optimal support regarding AutoStore™ containers. The process runs flawlessly.”

Flexible parameters and an additional module for goods receiving

Furthermore, additional benefits arise from the flexibility that the REMIRA F+R software offers. For example, not only can the user interface be customized to the requirements and preferences of individual employees with just a few clicks, but REMIRA also enables Soennecken to easily add a wide variety of desired parameters to the system via import files. Soennecken also uses an add-on module of the REMIRA software for optimizing goods receipt. This allows the time required per truck or pallet to be calculated and, based on that, a realistic schedule to be created. Whether deliveries overlap can be calculated on a daily basis. When capacity bottlenecks loom, the software checks which delivery dates have not yet been communicated to the supplier and can automatically reschedule existing dates. This occurs within a preset time window and takes supplier terms into account.

Looking to the future with cloud and AI

In the joint project with REMIRA, the goal is to gradually replace traditional methods entirely. As a result, inventory management will take place entirely in the cloud and with the help of AI-driven forecasts. The goal is to achieve even higher availability through this consistently reliable inventory management and to lay the foundation for end-to-end automation. Björn Endres:

“The added value of AI arises where technology, data expertise, and operational experience converge: Only through targeted training and close collaboration between people and systems can an algorithm lead to better decisions, more efficient processes, and the foundation for the next stage of evolution.”

Are you interested in our AI-powered forecast and replenishment software? We’d be happy to consult with you—with no obligation!