Morrisons has selected technology provider Logile to improve workload planning across its supermarkets, convenience stores and logistics network, replacing manual spreadsheets with automated operational planning software.
The grocery retailer will use Logile’s AI-powered Connected Workforce solutions to give central operations teams clearer visibility of workload requirements across its estate and help ensure staffing and tasks are aligned with daily operational needs.
The rollout will establish a consistent approach to defining and planning work across Morrisons’ different operations, while allowing for the varying requirements of large supermarkets, local convenience stores and logistics sites.
Alex Rose, head of productivity at Morrisons, said reliable planning was essential to ensuring colleagues were deployed where customers needed them most.
“A large supermarket and a local convenience store operate differently, so our planning has to flex to those local needs while keeping central support consistent,” Rose said.
He added that dependable plans would allow store managers to spend less time on administration and more time supporting colleagues and serving customers.
The implementation will begin with Logile’s Enterprise Standards Manager, which establishes a central definition of the work required across different operations. Its workload planning tools will translate store tasks into operational requirements, while operational and store planning modules will incorporate these into day-to-day plans.
Enterprise Performance Dashboards will provide visibility of store operations across the business.
Logile will deliver the programme in collaboration with strategic partner FrontlineXP, which works with retailers to simplify store processes and translate operational plans into consistent support at store level.
The company said the system would reduce the time central teams spend managing spreadsheets, improve operational consistency and provide a more reliable basis for supporting store and warehouse teams.
“UK grocers are increasingly focused on effectively supporting workload planning and operations, and the ones making progress start by agreeing on what the work actually is,” said James Freshwater, vice president, UK EMEA & International at Logile, said.
“Morrisons is doing that across its entire estate, from its largest supermarkets to its logistics sites, and that takes conviction from the top. Our part is to make that foundation accurate and simple for their teams to use every day, so the value shows up on the shop floor and in the warehouse.”
Morrisons operates around 500 supermarkets and 1,700 Morrisons Daily convenience stores, approximately 700 of which are franchise stores. The retailer employs around 95,000 colleagues and also operates an extensive network of distribution depots serving its wholesale business.
The Logile agreement is the latest in a series of technology initiatives by Morrisons. In September, the retailer partnered with Instaleap to streamline e-commerce operations by managing orders from multiple rapid-delivery marketplaces through a single platform. In July, it became the first UK supermarket to trial Instacart’s AI-powered Caper smart trolleys, which offer personalised shopping features and real-time budgeting tools.