Bünting Group Expands RELEX Footprint Towards Vision of a Fully Unified Supply Chain 

Leading German retail group to implement new RELEX capabilities including True Inventory to support their regional grocery retail brands  

Bünting Group, the leading German trading company, is again expanding their use of the supply chain planning software by RELEX Solutions, provider of unified supply chain and retail planning solutions. Bünting Group – a longtime RELEX customer – will now implement RELEX True Inventory, machine learning (ML)-forecasting, and weather forecasting to achieve greater inventory accuracy, reduce waste, and improve sales. Bünting Group’s vision is to become fully unified in 2026, leveraging the full potential of RELEX. 

Bünting Group is a traditional family-run business that owns several retail brands, operating approximately 200+ stores and supplying more than 150 independent retailers. They have been a RELEX customer since 2017, implementing forecasting and replenishment alongside space and assortment capabilities. In 2018, they expanded to implement the Business Rules Engine followed by allocations in 2019. The results achieved so far underscored Bünting Group’s commitment to leveraging advanced technology to enhance their retail operations and deliver exceptional value to their customers.  

With RELEX True Inventory, Bünting Group will leverage this advanced, AI-driven predictive inventory solution to estimate inventory drifts, automatically correcting balance data used for replenishment and proposing inventory checks when balance estimation is uncertain. With this expansion, Bünting Group’s inventory management ensures accurate replenishment, even for loose fruit and vegetables. This will help Bünting Group maintain optimal stock levels, reduce waste, and improve overall efficiency.  

With trust in RELEX’s capabilities, Bünting Group validated the use of True Inventory through a successful pilot test for the replenishment of loose fruit and vegetables. This allowed Bünting Group to move from a local replenishment decision-making to a centralized model. The notable positive results from the pilot included: 

• 2% increase in sales value 
• 43% reduction in balance error on inventory count days 
• 1.6% improved product availability  

“Sustainable and integrated planning of the entire goods flow process, from production at the supplier to the end customer’s fridge, is our top priority. On the journey to make this possible, RELEX has proven time and again that it has a deep understanding of our business challenges and needs,” said Helge-Christian Eilers, Managing Director, Bünting Group. “This expansion is a crucial step towards achieving a truly unified retail planning solution and end-to-end supply chain planning. With further implementations to take place in 2025, we are excited to further eliminate silos and make significant strides towards full unification in 2026.” 

The implementation of ML-forecasting and weather-based forecasting will bring additional benefits to Bünting Group. These advanced forecasting methods will help the company better predict demand fluctuations and optimize stock levels. With RELEX, Bünting Group aims to achieve an overall improvement in forecasting quality, leading to better KPIs in terms of spoilage, availability, and sales. 

“We are thrilled with our long and successful relationship with Bünting Group,” said Tiina Kanninen, Vice President, Customer Success, RELEX Solutions. “Their commitment to RELEX and the great collaboration we have had over the years have been instrumental in improving our solutions. We are excited to continue this journey towards unification together.”