Supply chain · Production

Fonterra cuts inventory reclassification time from 2 hours to 10-20 minutes with Blue Prism digital worker

The problem

Fonterra's planning team received at least 30 daily requests to reclassify inventory, each requiring 38 checks across company systems to verify regulatory and customer requirements. The manual process was too slow — delays meant customers did not get needed products and Fonterra held excess inventory, causing supply chain waste and lost revenue.

Workflow diagram · grounded in source
1
Daily reclassification requests arrive
Trigger
At least 30 inventory reclassification requests come in each day.
▾ source quote
“At least 30 of these requests come in each day”
2
Arnie opens apps and extracts reports
Ai action
Arnie opens multiple applications, extracts required reports, and applies logic to determine if the product can be reclassified.
▾ source quote
“he opens multiple applications, extracts the required reports and applies logic to determine if the product can be reclassified”
3
38 regulatory and customer checks
Validation
38 checks are conducted in company systems to verify the replacement product meets customer and regulatory requirements.
▾ source quote
“conduct 38 checks in company systems to make sure the replacement product meets customer and regulatory requirements”
4
Human escalation when needed
Human review
Arnie emails human colleagues if he needs more information before determining if the product can be shipped.
▾ source quote
“will email his human colleagues if he needs more information before determining if the product can be shipped”
5
Rapid reclassification output
Output
Arnie completes two hours of work in 10-20 minutes without errors.
▾ source quote
“Arnie completes two hours of work in 10-20 minutes without errors”
Reported outcome

Arnie, the Blue Prism digital worker, completes two hours of work in 10-20 minutes without errors, delivering cost savings of more than NZ $180,000 per year in working capital interest costs and improving speed and accuracy in Fonterra's decision-making.

Reported metrics
Time to complete reclassification checkstwo hours of work in 10-20 minutes
Annual cost savings in working capital interestmore than NZ $180,000 per year
Process errorswithout errors
Decision-making speed and accuracyimproved the speed and accuracy
Show all 7 reported metrics
time to complete reclassification checkstwo hours of work in 10-20 minutes
annual cost savings in working capital interestmore than NZ $180,000 per year
process errorswithout errors
decision-making speed and accuracyimproved the speed and accuracy
error ratereduced error rate
daily reclassification request volumeat least 30
checks required per reclassification38
Reported stack
Blue Prism
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Source
https://www.blueprism.com/resources/case-studies/global-dairy-company-keeps-customers-happy-with-intelligent-automation/
Read source ↗

Frequently asked questions

What did this team achieve with this AI workflow?

Arnie, the Blue Prism digital worker, completes two hours of work in 10-20 minutes without errors, delivering cost savings of more than NZ $180,000 per year in working capital interest costs and improving speed and ac…

What tools did this team use?

Blue Prism.

What results were reported?

Time to complete reclassification checks: two hours of work in 10-20 minutes; Annual cost savings in working capital interest: more than NZ $180,000 per year; Process errors: without errors; Decision-making speed and accuracy: improved the speed and accuracy (source-reported, not independently verified).

How is this supply chain AI workflow structured?

Daily reclassification requests arrive → Arnie opens apps and extracts reports → 38 regulatory and customer checks → Human escalation when needed → Rapid reclassification output.

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