RELEX Solutions provides integrated retail and supply chain planning solutions for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. The company’s success story started in the Finnish capital in 2005 when three logistics experts at the Technical University of Helsinki – Dr. Mikko Kärkkäinen, Dr. Johanna Småros and Michael Falck – established a spin-off dedicated to developing new solutions for demand forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment management.
“From the very start, we have had major customers,” says Dr. Timo Ala- Risku, Managing Director Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who earned his PhD in Supply Chain Management. “This has enabled us to grow at extraordinary speed and to expand to other countries in the Nordic region at an early stage.”
Today, the Finnish supply chain specialist has offices in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the USA and cooperates with partner firms in Spain, Switzerland and South Africa. It employs a total of 250 people, including approximately 150 at its headquarters in Helsinki.
The company’s cost-cutting, efficiency-enhancing supply chain solutions are used by some of the world’s leading retailing and manufacturing groups, such as the supermarket chain Coop Denmark, the German pharmacy chain Rossmann and the multinational consumer goods company Unilever.
In 2016, RELEX Solutions acquired Galleria RTS to round off its portfolio and further strengthen its expertise in space and assortment management. The company specializes in consumerfocused, automated category optimization and space and product planning solutions.
With its integrated retail and supply chain planning solutions, RELEX Solutions helps its customers sell more and reduce waste and costs. The company’s comprehensive portfolio ranges from replenishment automation, demand forecasting, inventory management and supply chain analytics to promotion management, assortment management and space planning and optimization.
The essential basis for all of these solutions is provided by a proprietary in-memory database offering unrivalled processing performance compared to conventional database products and a software that can be adapted to widely varying customer requirements in a highly flexible manner.
“A full-range retailer has completely different demands as regards supply chain management than a shop with a strong focus on the lowest price in individual product segments,” Dr. Ala-Risku gives an example.
The largest target market for RELEX Solutions is food retailing, where the company’s solutions can make a substantial contribution to reducing waste as a result of out-of-date food products. Other customer benefits include improved availability of products, enhanced inventory management and optimized use of retail space.
RELEX Solutions’s turnover has grown by approximately 50% annually. “Our goal is to become the leading provider global of supply chain planning solutions to the retail sector,” states Dr. Ala-Risku. “And to support the retail trade with the broadest portfolio of solutions and services for maximum sales and minimum waste.”
