FEEDS: New IoT enabled supply management tool from Tech Mahindra

At a time when companies are taking to connected devices with the advent of Internet of Things, Tech Mahindra in association with SAP Co-Innovation Labs, has hopped into the race with the launch of Fresh Produce End to End Digital Supply Chain (FEEDS). This new initiative by the Indian company assures to deliver farm grown produce to the consumer doorstep as if it were grown locally. The platform is built on SAP’s HANA Cloud platform integrated with SAP’s ERP system and utilizes digital levers like IoT, Big Data and Mobility to create a minute-by-minute picture of the supply chain. For fresh produce, high perishability, short shelf life and high demand and supply variations stand as the major lookouts. With overgrowing market competitions, stringent regulatory compliance norms and lack of end-to-end visibility, supply chain management becomes a more challenging task leading to high wastage and loss of freshness by the time the produce reaches consumers. Tech Mahindra cites the “lack of real time visibility and traceability” in the current produce supply chain. Rohit Khanna, Senior Vice President Global Retail & CPG, Tech Mahindra, said:

“Freshness is a key differentiator for fresh produce as it impacts the consumer perception of the brand. The lack of holistic visibility breeds inefficiencies in the complex modern day food supply chain. Our rich domain expertise combined with the strong technology prowess of SAP digital platform provides an ideal combination to deliver unique and unparalleled benefits to our clients.”

The unified platform has provisions for interactions and transactions between various participants of supply chain in real time. Krishna Kumaraswamy, Senior Vice President & Global Head – SAP Practice, Tech Mahindra, added, “Tech Mahindra has invested in multiple industry-specific Cloud Platforms using SAP Digital & IoT stacks. FEEDS is our flagship digital offering for Retail & CPG sector. Built on ‘Mobile first’ strategy, high emphasis has been laid on the usability standards achieved through Design Thinking.” With this new initiative, the Tech Mahindra claims to curb at least 15-20% of losses and wastes while enabling business collaboration, maintains product quality and freshness. The infographic below explains how the end-to-end Digital Supply Chain transformation would function.