Predictive Inventory, Real-World Impact: AI for Coffee Roaster Supply Chains
- Team Uniquon
- 5 ago
- Tempo di lettura: 2 min
How Uniquon helped a national coffee roaster optimise inventory and meet distributor demand through AI
In a competitive market defined by freshness, consistency and seasonal peaks, a prominent Italian coffee roaster faced a growing challenge: ensuring the right stock, in the right warehouse, at the right time—without overproduction or shortages.
With a distribution network spanning cafés, boutique retailers and automated vending operators, the company needed more than just inventory tracking. It needed foresight.
Uniquon partnered with the roaster to deliver an AI-powered demand forecasting and predictive inventory optimisation platform—transforming raw data into actionable intelligence that improved agility, reduced waste, and supported sustainable growth.
The Challenge
Inventory management in the coffee roasting business is anything but simple. Demand varies with seasons, promotional campaigns, regional tastes, and even weather conditions. Yet production planning was largely manual, relying on historical orders, spreadsheets, and intuition.
Distributors regularly placed last-minute or inconsistent orders, creating logistical strain and a risk of either overstocking perishable beans or under-serving key clients. Warehouses in different cities operated in silos, lacking a shared view of inventory and consumption patterns.
This led to inefficiencies, excess costs, and lost sales opportunities—particularly during peak periods.
Our Solution: leveraging predictive inventory to optimise coffee supply chains
Uniquon deployed a bespoke AI solution integrating machine learning-based demand forecasting with dynamic inventory planning across the roaster’s entire supply chain.
The platform ingested data from multiple sources: past orders, distributor performance, regional consumption trends, weather forecasts, calendar events, and marketing campaigns. It then generated accurate, evolving demand projections for each distribution hub—down to the product blend and packaging format.
Based on these forecasts, the system suggested daily stock targets for roasting facilities and distribution centres, enabling proactive production batches and optimal transfer scheduling.
A visual control tower dashboard gave supply chain managers real-time insight into stock levels, demand deltas and replenishment windows—allowing them to intervene before shortages or surpluses occurred.
Implementation Strategy
Uniquon followed a modular rollout approach:
Data Enrichment Phase: We centralised internal and distributor data, applied data cleansing, and structured unified inventory categories.
Model Training & Validation: Machine learning models were trained on historical behaviour, tested against seasonal fluctuations, and fine-tuned for regional accuracy.
Pilot and Scale: A 3-month pilot across two major hubs yielded a 22% reduction in out-of-stock events. The system was then extended nationwide.
Enablement & Monitoring: Interactive dashboards, weekly model updates and ongoing support enabled the client's team to stay in full control of their AI environment.
The Results
Within six months, the client reported:
20% reduction in inventory holding costs
35% fewer urgent shipments and rush orders
Higher fulfilment rates, even during high-variability demand windows
Increased shelf-life consistency, thanks to tighter batch-to-shelf timing
But the real impact? A smoother, smarter way of roasting and distributing coffee—fuelled by data, not guesswork.
Why Uniquon
At Uniquon, we turn complexity into clarity through applied AI with real business outcomes. Whether you manage beans or balance sheets, we help you sense, adapt and act—faster and with greater confidence.
From food & beverage to advanced manufacturing, our AI platforms are designed to learn your business—not just your data.
When your supply chain needs precision, your solution is Uniquon.
