Nextrade

Nextrade, one of the Philippines’ leading food distributors, launched a supply chain project to gain control over its inventory by adding new forecasting capabilities. After implementing Slimstock’s AI-enabled solution, the company has experienced transformative results.

With a mission to bring a taste of the world to every Filipino home, Nextrade serves as a one-stop solution for international products entering the Philippine market. By partnering with the world’s best brands, Nextrade combines superior product quality with a fast, efficient and value-driven supply chain.

Challenges

As one of the Philippines’ leading food distributors, Nextrade Philippines Inc. stands out for its tech-driven approach and data-led operations. However, as its product range and customer base grew, the business faced increasing challenges in maintaining control over its inventory.

“There was a lot of firefighting because we didn’t have visibility across the end-to-end process,” explains Jessica Rivera, Demand and Supply Planning Lead at Nextrade Philippines. “We couldn’t anticipate problems or capitalise on opportunities because we had no forecasting tool to manage volatile demand.”

With an expanding SKU portfolio, traditional planning methods such as relying on average sales data, could no longer keep up. “When the number of SKUs grows and the company continues to expand, using a six-month sales average isn’t enough to ensure supply,” adds Jackie Samson, Demand and Supply Events Manager.

The solution: A powerful forecasting platform for smarter planning

To overcome these challenges, Nextrade Philippines selected Slimstock’s AI-enabled solution for its strong forecasting capabilities and alignment with its financial and inventory goals.

“Based on our evaluation and the demo, Slimstock’s solution was exactly what we were looking for,” shares Amy Cruz, Supply Chain Consultant at Nextrade Philippines.

“We saw how Slimstock’s solution aligned with our demand forecasting, our inventory goals and promised a clear financial impact,” adds Sheila Mae Singson, Controller of Nextrade Philippines.

Slimstock’s collaborative approach during implementation ensured seamless knowledge transfer across Nextrade’s planning and finance teams. By embedding best practices and exception-based management, Slimstock’s solution became a central pillar in Nextrade’s supply chain planning process.

The results: From reactive to strategic, data-driven decisions

Since implementing Slimstock’s solution, Nextrade has achieved greater efficiency and visibility across its operations. The team now focuses on high-impact decisions rather than manual data checking. “Slim4 makes it easy to exclude promotional data,” notes Jackie.

“We were able to anticipate problems and focus on what is important,” continues Jessica. “Exception-based management enabled us to make faster and more informed decisions.”

“We have optimised our supply chain by improving stock availability and reducing overall inventory,” says Sheila. “This directly boosted customer satisfaction while helping us control costs.”

With reliable, data-driven insights, Nextrade has transitioned from reactive decision-making to proactive planning, empowering teams to work more strategically.

A partnership for long-term growth

Slimstock continues to play a vital role in Nextrade’s digital transformation journey. The company is now expanding its use of Slimstock’s solution to support Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and to manage an even broader product portfolio.

“We’ve embarked on implementing Sales & Operations Planning using Slimstock’s solution as our system,” explains Ami. “It’s been a very positive journey for us.”

Sheila concludes, describing Nextrade’s journey with Slimstock in one word: “Transformative. Slimstock completely changed the way we manage our inventory, helping us move from reactive decisions to a more strategic, data-driven approach.”