York / UK. (rbs) British RedBlack Software announces a restructure that splits the company into two distinct corporate entities, RedBlack Software Limited and BakePlan Software Limited.
RedBlack Software Limited will continue its mission to serve the independent craft bakery sector with its market-leading range of Cybake bakery management solutions. BakePlan Software’s focus is on the retail grocery and convenience store sectors across Europe with its BakePlan production forecasting system for in-store bakeries.
Jane Tyler, managing director of both companies, explains that the corporate restructure was prompted by a fork in the development of their software solutions. This became apparent during a successful project to improve availability and reduce waste at M+S’ in-store bakeries throughout the UK and Ireland.
Tyler says: «It became plain that the needs of the large modern retail grocer diverged considerably from that of RedBlack’s core craft bakery customers. We therefore decided to give our BakePlan supermarket solution a life of its own. As well as attracting interest from outside investors, BakePlan is already undergoing trials with potential new users in this sector».
BakePlan tells in-store bakery staff the best combination of products to bake at the right times during the day via tablets or mobiles. Using advanced data analytics and machine learning, BakePlan adjusts its suggestions according to the day’s trading patterns. At the same time as increasing availability, the system cuts waste and increases bakery section sales.
Tyler, who is also the vice chair of the British Society of Baking industry association, says that major grocery retailers have large, complex systems that do not always cater well for the very specific needs of bakery departments that have a bake-off operation.
She says: «We find that there is rarely any provision for multi-wave planning to support a little-and-often baking model nor any practical means of capturing information about what has actually been baked. BakePlan is an easy way grocers can tackle availability and freshness, which are big differentiators in consumers’ minds, at the same time as working towards their commitments to cutting food waste».
