Food Lion Completing CAO Rollout

ORLANDO, Fla. — Food Lion is close to completing a rollout of computer-assisted ordering (CAO) to all of its more than 1,500 stores, according to Scott Craig, director of supply chain, Delhaize America.

The implementation of the CAO system from SAF (now part of SAP), began in October 2010 and was almost completed last year, Craig said at the Supply Chain Conference here this week. The Supply Chain Conference is sponsored by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

About three-fourths of the remaining 140 stores were deployed this month, with the rest to be done shortly, he added. The system triggers replenishment orders from distribution centers based on forecasts and inventory counts, among other factors. Food Lion uses a home-grown perpetual inventory system with the CAO application.

As a result of the CAO rollout, “our in-stocks are way up,” Craig said. “We’ve reduced store inventory, reclaims and shrink in fresh departments.” Food Lion’s sister Delhaize America chain Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, also uses the same CAO system.