Zebra Technologies implements Food Waste Management System at French grocery retailer Auchan; AI solution uses Zebra mobile devices and Smartway software to digitize management of unsold food products, saving 35 million products from waste annually

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PARIS , September 23, 2022 (press release) –

Auchan, Zebra, Smartway and Hub One showcase unique AI-based solution at Paris Retail Week

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced its work with French grocery retailer, Auchan to combat food waste. Thanks to the implementation of its Food Waste Management System (FWMS), a unique AI solution using Zebra mobile devices and Smartway software, Auchan’s food retail stores will save 35 million products from going to waste within 12 months.

Already strongly invested in the fight against food waste, Auchan wanted to accelerate its mission by digitizing the management of its unsold food products. The goal: to gain speed, increase efficiency and simplify time-consuming essential tasks such as detecting soon-to-expire products on shelves, choosing the correct pricing options, applying the right discount rates, and printing discounted labels among other activities.

To achieve this goal, Auchan turned to Zebra and Smartway, a Zebra software partner who has been supporting retailers in the fight against food waste for 10 years. Together, Auchan, Zebra and Smartway  deployed a bespoke solution including Zebra TC57 handheld mobile computers and ZD410 mobile printers combined with the SmartWay AI software platform—creating the FWMS.

"The fight against food waste is one of our corporate priorities," said Bénédicte Vantorre, Operations & CI Performance Director, Auchan Retail France. "To increase efficiency, we have deployed the digital solution offered by Zebra and Smartway in all our hypermarkets and supermarkets, a first for us on this scale. In less than six months, 350 stores were equipped, our teams were trained, and we reached our objectives. In a full year, this intelligent solution will enable us to save 35 million products, equaling 17,000 tonnes of products and 41,000 tons of CO₂. This is a real source of pride for our teams.”

The FWMS enables Auchan to optimise its close-to-expiry food inventory management and cut food waste by empowering retail store workers with AI insights and recommendations. As a result, there has been a drastic reduction in the time spent on tasks related to expiring food products and a four-fold increase in team member productivity. AI-powered data delivered on the Zebra mobile computers and mobile printers turn inventory analysis into action.

“This project was of strategic importance to all involved,” said Elie Mura, Retail Director, Zebra Technologies France. “I am delighted we are helping Auchan meet its ambitious goal and demonstrate the best and quickest return on investment with a hardware and software solution infused with AI.”

Auchan initially rolled out the solution across 30% of its stores and then reached full deployment with the help of Zebra partner and integrator Hub One, a specialist in logistics and mobile fleet management.

“Our teams have proactively worked around component shortages and have been able to respond with agility, achieving the solution deployment in 90 days,” said Benoit Duchene, Director of Traceability & Mobility Division, Hub One. “Thanks to the close collaboration between Auchan and its partners, we were able to implement the solution across nearly 13,000 Zebra TC57 mobile computers in record time.”

The FWMS features three smart tools: SmartDetection for picking out food with approaching use-by dates, SmartDecision for choosing the right path for soon-to-expire food, and SmartDiscount for applying the right discounts.

"Beyond the unique technology we have been developing for 10 years, the key to the success of this project lies in the tremendous mobilisation of the Auchan’s Retail France teams alongside ours to deploy a project of unprecedented scope,” said Christophe Menez, COO & Co-founder, Smartway. “We are thus making a significant step forward in our ‘together, let's build a daily life without waste’ mission."

Auchan and Zebra delivered a workshop at Paris Retail Week about this unique solution, with delegates and media invited to meet representatives from Zebra, Auchan and their partners at Pavillon 4, F095.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • French retailer Auchan wanted to advance its efforts to fight food waste through better inventory management so Auchan turned to Zebra and its partners, SmartWay and Hub One.
  • Zebra and its partners deployed the bespoke Food Waste Management System, consisting of an AI software platform along with mobile computers and printers.
  • The solution is delivering a four-fold increase in associate productivity and will reduce the waste of an extra 35 million food products in twelve months.


ABOUT ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

Zebra (NASDAQ: ZBRA) empowers organizations to thrive in the on-demand economy by making every front-line worker and asset at the edge visible, connected and fully optimized. With an ecosystem of more than 10,000 partners across more than 100 countries, Zebra serves customers of all sizes – including 84% of the Fortune 500 – with an award-winning portfolio of hardware, software, services and solutions that digitize and automate workflows. Supply chains are more dynamic, customers and patients are better served, and workers are more engaged when they utilize Zebra innovations that help them sense, analyze and act in real time.  Zebra recently expanded its industrial automation portfolio with its Fetch Robotics acquisition and increased its machine vision and AI software capabilities with the acquisitions of Adaptive Vision, antuit.ai and Matrox Imaging. Zebra is #25 on Newsweek’s inaugural list of America’s Most Loved Workplaces, #42 on Fast Company’s list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators and #79 on Forbes’ list of America’s 500 Best Midsize Employers. Learn more at www.zebra.com or sign up for news alerts. Follow Zebra’s Your Edge blog, LinkedInTwitter and Facebook, and check out our Story Hub: Zebra Perspectives.

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