Fact-Based Inventory Process Discovery -

Fact-Based Inventory Process Discovery

A leading European food service distributor partnered with Percipere, leveraging their FUTUROOT process mining expertise to implement SAP Vistex and modernise inventory management. The client’s legacy system had been in use for over 20 years, creating process complexity and operational risk. Percipere applied its process mining approach to provide clarity, reduce risk, and enable a controlled, data-driven SAP rollout.

Business Challenge

The organisation faced significant challenges due to decades of accumulated inventory management complexity:

High transformation risk: Without factual, data-driven insights, the company risked wasted testing effort, increased complexity, and prolonged implementation timelines.
Lack of visibility: Leadership did not have a complete understanding of real-world inventory processes.
Hidden process variations: Numerous legacy inventory movement types made it difficult to identify active versus obsolete processes.
Operational and forecasting risks: Incomplete insights threatened forecasting accuracy, risked unnecessary customisation, and could disrupt the SAP Vistex rollout.

The Solution

Percipere, using FUTUROOT, provided a structured, evidence-based approach:

Process Explorer: Analysed 98% of inventory transactions to distinguish active from inactive movement types, eliminating obsolete processes and reducing risk.
Variant Explorer: Mapped 87 inventory variants versus 12 previously known, harmonising processes and cutting 45% of redundancies.
KPI Analysis: Addressed bottlenecks, reducing exception rates from 22% to 9% and shortening stock reconciliation cycle times by 30%.
FUTUROOT Analytics Dashboards: Delivered interactive, executive-friendly dashboards showing process variations, movement types, and key KPIs for informed decision-making.
Additional Process Optimisation: Retired 15% of inactive material codes and reduced UAT test case volume by 35%, saving six weeks of testing effort.

87%

Inventory Scenarios Mapped: Complete visibility into all active and inactive inventory processes.

45%

Reduction in Redundant Processes: Eliminated nearly half of unnecessary process variants, reducing complexity and risk.

30%

Faster Cycle Times: Streamlined stock reconciliation and inventory processes, reducing cycle times from 10 to 7 days.

35%

Reduction in Test Case Volume: UAT effort decreased by over a third, saving six weeks and accelerating the SAP rollout.

“Partnering with Percipere has been a game-changer for us. Their innovative use of FUTUROOT and the rapid 30/60/90-adoption acceleration rollout have not only eliminated manual errors but also provided us with complete process visibility, enabling better strategic decision-making.”

Leadership Team, Leading Food Distributor