Insight
Faster innovation to create solutions at scale
A 150-year-old company not only survives but also thrives by adapting to changing times and technologies. Kraft sought new ways to foster quicker innovation and a way to test, fail and deploy minimal viable products (MVPs) quickly. The ideal solution turned out to be a new framework for innovation that brought together IBM® experts and Kraft leaders in a shared space — the IBM Garage™.
Rapid ideation, prototyping and testing has helped the company think differently about functions across human resources, supply chain and other areas at facilities and offices around the world. For example, Kraft developed a state-of-the-art algorithm to improve the distribution of its products with the ability to predict when goods were running low at stores and restaurants.
Idea
LEGO: Algorithms and analytics to the rescue
The entire consumer packaged goods industry has been grappling with the same challenge: how to measure and improve field sales and distribution. Field associates don’t have the right tools to properly understand store performance or identify growth opportunities. The solution? LEGO, a first-of-its-kind algorithm that empowers field sales teams.
The AI-powered LEGO algorithm was able to take all of Kraft’s field data and provide valuable insights for individual field sales representatives. As soon as products were running low, LEGO sent notifications to field sales in real-time. This information acceleration ultimately helped Kraft distribute each product more quickly and efficiently to stores and restaurants around the world.
Impact
A new approach to problem solving across an enterprise
LEGO is only one example of how the IBM Garage is helping Kraft innovate faster. Providing a safe place for the food company to fail quickly, learn and scale has led to numerous benefits across the organization, including:
- Faster solutions to pressing business challenges across the enterprise
- Inspiration for business leaders throughout the company, not just those participating in the garage
- Discovery of new use cases for prototypes
- Fresh thinking that reduces costs, improves product quality and fosters a culture of innovation
“ The IBM Garage helps spark innovative thinking to tackle problems in our day-to-day business in a different way. ”
— Jorge Balestra, Director, Advanced Analytics Center of Excellence , The Kraft Heinz Company
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