Heinen’s is extending its use of the Afresh AI platform to period ending inventory across its fresh departments, replacing manual after-hours counts with AI-generated inventory estimates in produce, meat, deli, cheese and bakery.
The Warrensville Heights, Ohio-based grocer already used Afresh for store ordering, so adding the inventory review required no new integrations or devices, the companies said. Period ending inventory – a complete manual count of every item followed by data entry – is one of the more time-consuming recurring jobs in grocery. Afresh replaces the hand count with item-level estimates drawn from daily ordering, shipment and sales data, which teams review and confirm.
Afresh said its Intelligent Inventory estimates are 10 to 40 percent more accurate than perpetual inventory, producing faster counts and more reliable financial inputs at period close.
“Taking ending inventory has historically been an arduous and error-prone process dreaded by most team members,” said Kelsey Heinen, director of food service at Heinen’s. “With Afresh, we have been able to increase the accuracy of our counts, more quickly pinpoint variances, and simplify the process for our associates.”
Adam Litle, chief revenue officer at Afresh, said period ending inventory is a clear example of automating routine work so teams can focus on customers.
Founded in 1929, Heinen’s is a family-owned grocer operating 23 stores in the Cleveland and Chicago areas.
Afresh, founded in 2017, supports more than 12,700 departments across 40 states, with partners including Albertsons, Stater Bros., Meijer and Wakefern.