Ofi's Internal Systems Are Ready. The External Layer Is Next.
Disruptions start in the supply chain. So should automation.
Over 15 years, Olam has built a proprietary CTRM platform, deployed SAP globally, and launched digital warehousing. But the variables that disrupt trading positions, production schedules, customer commitments, and working capital are external. When cocoa from West Africa is delayed or coffee from Vietnam is rerouted, that signal still reaches your team by email. ofi is building its own tech stack as the London listing approaches. The architecture it sets now determines how far supply chain signals reach across the business.
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Raw Data, Ready to Work
Olam Group moves nearly 50 million tonnes a year across 60 countries. In 2024, the cash-to-cash cycle stretched from 72 to 110 days as commodity prices spiked. Detecting what’s in transit earlier and acting on it faster across departments is how that cycle shortens. Few other inputs touch as many parts of the business at once.
Opportunity 1: Five departments respond to a single supply chain event. One layer could connect them. A delay can mean adjusting hedging exposure on the trading desk, rescheduling production, notifying buyers, updating accruals in finance, sourcing alternatives through procurement, and revising delivery commitments with key accounts. A single event can require responses across all of them. The opportunity is to coordinate those responses from a single signal.
Opportunity 2: Production schedules at ofi’s processing facilities are built on estimates. Cocoa processing, coffee roasting, and nut processing all depend on inbound raw materials arriving on time. Without reliable arrival data, planners pad schedules with safety stock and buffer days. When cocoa prices doubled in 2024, the cost of every buffer day doubled with them.
Opportunity 3: 22,000 buyers depend on ofi’s delivery data to plan their own operations. Ingredient buyers across six continents schedule production, plan labor, and manage inventory around ofi’s deliveries. Without automated access to arrival data, each buyer who needs an update becomes an inquiry your team handles manually. The bigger opportunity is what those buyers could do with it. Their own production scheduling, inventory adjustments, and procurement decisions wait on data your team has but their systems don’t.
The Right Blend of Signal and Automation
Signal Reach
Every Department Sees It at the Same Time
Challenge: When a shipment is delayed or rerouted, trading, production, customer service, finance, and procurement may all need to respond, and today those responses happen one at a time.
Solution: One signal, seen by every affected department at once. Five parallel responses instead of five sequential handoffs.
Impact:
- At a global CPG company, an AI agent handled 86% of exception communications autonomously and improved tracking quality by 20%. Expired loads dropped from 15% to zero.
- Unilever saw notable improvements to exception management and tracking quality within four weeks. Recovered hours went to strategic initiatives instead of manual coordination.
Planning Confidence
Arrival Data That Planners Can Schedule On
Challenge: Production schedules at ofi’s processing facilities are based on estimated arrival times for inbound raw materials. When those estimates are wrong, planners absorb the uncertainty with safety stock and buffer days.
Solution: Planners see verified arrival times mapped to purchase orders in SAP. At-risk POs get flagged automatically.
Impact:
- Bayer Crop Science tracks ocean containers across Thailand, the Philippines, Mexico, and global operations. When disruptions hit, their team sees it in real time and reroutes before production schedules are affected.
- Constellation Brands connected arrival data to production planning and reduced safety stock on key raw materials. Reliable transit data made just-in-time production possible for inputs that previously required significant safety stock buffers.
Buyer Access
Your Delivery Data Powers Their Operations
Challenge: 22,000 ingredient buyers plan their operations around ofi’s deliveries, and without direct access to arrival data, each one contacts your team for updates they could receive automatically.
Solution: Buyers get the data directly through automated notifications and self-service access. Their production scheduling, inventory planning, and procurement systems get the input they need without a phone call.
Impact:
- Topco Associates reduced inbound email traffic by more than 50% while handling 7% more loads without adding headcount.
- Coca-Cola automated status responses to bottling partners, cutting inquiry time from 90 minutes to seconds and returning hundreds of hours to associates annually. The freed capacity shifted toward data quality work, identifying stale information and nudging carriers for updates.
Add Supply Chain Signals to Your Automation Strategy.
Proof of Origin
Unilever
Unilever, one of the world’s largest CPG companies, piloted an AI agent for their North American logistics team. The agent proactively identifies risks, coordinates with carriers, and takes immediate action. Within four weeks and without disrupting existing workflows:
- The agent autonomously handled the majority of exception communications
- Expired loads reduced significantly
- Recovered hours redirected to strategic initiatives
The pilot model meant low risk and fast proof of value before broader deployment.
Bayer Crop Science
Bayer Crop Science is a global agri-chemical company that sources and ships across many of the same regions ofi operates in. They needed arrival data for ocean containers independent of freight forwarder reporting cycles, particularly during periods of heavy ocean disruption.
- 94% track and trace results across Thailand, the Philippines, Mexico, and global operations
- When disruptions hit, the team acts in time to reroute to another port or switch to a different mode of shipping entirely
- The APAC logistics team uses the same data to make decisions across long-distance routes where delays carry the highest cost
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola’s bottling partners are similar to ofi’s 22,000 ingredient buyers. They depend on shipment status to plan their own production, and each inquiry previously took 90 minutes to resolve.
- An AI agent cut resolution time to seconds, returning hundreds of hours to associates annually
- The team expanded the agent’s role beyond inquiry deflection to identify stale data, flag missing information, and nudge carriers for updates
- Coca-Cola views this as positioning for a future where customers expect increased and differentiated service capabilities
In Their Own Words
"FourKites' AI agent Tracy has cut response times from 90 minutes to just a few seconds, returning hundreds of hours to our associates annually. Beyond customer service, Tracy now handles identifying stale location data, flagging missing information, and proactively nudging carriers to provide updates."
Patrick McManus, Senior Director Customer Operations, The Coca-Cola Company
"We see about 94% track and trace results, which is very, very impressive. The Bayer-FourKites connection is established in Thailand, in the Philippines, in Mexico and for also our global business."
Ferenc Polgar, Global Distribution Operational Excellence Lead, Bayer Crop Science
"Knowing the variations of ETAs in real time allows us to better manage our inventories, even reducing the percentage of safety stock of some raw materials so we can change to plan for just-in-time production."
Fernanda Ongay, Transportation Manager, Constellation Brands
Trusted by Global Food and Ingredient Leaders
