Driving Fortune 50 growth: Vertical AI From Factory Floor to Retail Shelf

Key Takeaways

1. End-to-end AI integration: SymphonyAI unified data from manufacturing to retail, improving forecasting, quality, and operational alignment.
2. Manufacturing transformation: Digitizing workflows cut inspection time by 20%, training by 50%, and boosted efficiency by 35%, with AI copilots enabling prevention instead of reaction.
3. Retail precision and sales growth: CINDE Connected Retail provided real-time shelf and shopper insights, driving an 8% sales increase and faster, more targeted merchandising.
4. Scalable, secure AI solutions: Built on Microsoft Azure, SymphonyAI’s platforms deliver scalable, compliant, and integrated AI for enterprise-wide impact.
5. Tangible business results: Vertical AI enabled safer factories, higher productivity, and measurable sales uplifts, demonstrating real-world operational improvements.

Vertical AI transforms a Fortune 50 company’s operations

For one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, a Fortune 50 household name known for its iconic drink and snack brands, digital transformation wasn’t just an opportunity; it was an urgent necessity. 

Two engines drove the business across its global operations – massive manufacturing plants and complex retail execution. While seemingly separate, both were struggling with legacy processes, fragmented data, and lack of real-time visibility into operations. 

Using SymphonyAI’s vertically integrated AI solutions, this industry leader unlocked unprecedented levels of understanding, efficiency, and growth by connecting every link in the value chain through the power of Connected AI. 

Manufacturing: Legacy pain points and AI Solutions 

The Challenge: Paper processes on a global scale 

As a global household name, the food and beverage company operates dozens of manufacturing plants worldwide. Because nobody wants to distract from the primary goal of an efficient production line, many frontline aspects of manufacturing were still predominantly paper based. This includes safety checks, safety checks, Pathogen Environmental Monitoring (PEM), and quality inspections.  

Although paper can be a fast and efficient means of conducting basic admin, it is not easy for the data to be shared. As such, findings were fragmented, slow to move, and often reactive. Problems were found and documented after they occurred and not prevented before they started. It was simply a case of the people who could make a change not always being aware or having access to all the information.  

This was no small problem. Traceability gaps could impact both compliance and consumer safety, while slow inspections hampered throughput. Alongside this, the evident knowledge silos slowed worker training and meant errors were more likely. 

The Connected Worker platform delivers AI-powered transformation 

SymphonyAI’s Connected Worker platform transforms paper-based processes into AI-driven digital workflows. Deploying across more than 40 major production sites, the Fortune 50 company implemented mobile-native digital processes using tablets and smartphones for real-time inspections, results logging, image attachment, and alert triggering. 

But the platform goes beyond digitization. Generative AI copilots provide step-by-step guidance based on actual equipment conditions, standard operating procedures, and real-time anomalies—enabling workers to prevent problems, not just document them. 

The Results

• 100% traceability across all safety and quality actions 

• 20% faster inspections, driving increased uptime and throughput 

• 50% reduction in worker training time, thanks to embedded knowledge and digital guidance 

• 35% improvement in knowledge worker efficiency, as repetitive tasks became automated 

Why Connected Worker had an immediate impact 

The Connected Worker platform isn’t just a digital version of a clipboard. It brings industrial-grade AI to the frontline helping workers prevent problems, not just document them. Exception handling is dynamic and guided by the root cause with every action recorded for benchmarking and continuous improvement. And, thanks to edge-ready design, even remote or low-connectivity sites benefit from AI-driven support. 

Retail: From guesswork to data-driven precision 

It wasn’t just about improving the factory floor. Using AI was also bolstering the food and beverage manufacturer in actually getting their products to where they were needed most and making sure they were displayed in a more efficient manner. 

The Challenge: Retail Blind Spots 

Retail can be full of blind spots that many firms struggle to uncover. This was the case for the manufacturer, where execution on the shelf ran on intuition rather than information.  

Although there were detailed planograms in 96% of stores, these were designed centrally. They didn’t adapt to local demand or in-store realities. What works in one store won’t work in another for all kinds of reasons.  

Promotional campaigns were hard to tweak mid-flight, leaving revenue opportunities untapped. Even if they could have been adjusted, consumer behavior was a ‘black box’ and merchandising adjustments lagged behind real-world needs. 

In short, there were many areas needing improvement that only AI could efficiently deliver. 

CINDE Connected Retail provides an AI-powered revolution 

SymphonyAI’s CINDE Connected Retail platform transforms shelf execution into a granular, responsive process by delivering real-time insights across shelf conditions, traffic patterns, inventory levels, and shopper behavior. All data is unified through AI to drive daily decisions while planograms become dynamic, tailored to local shopper clusters and updated as new patterns emerge. 

Alongside this, the Fortune 50 company benefits from role-based generative AI copilots providing actionable guidance to every stakeholder: 

• Category managers receive AI help for assortment planning and SKU rationalization 

• Store associates receive live task lists based on shelf gaps and sell-through rates 

• CPG partners receive instant insights on in-store promotion execution and risks 

It all adds up to a streamlined, more effective and efficient process that drives growth and performance. 

The results 

• 8% average sales increase in pilot stores 

• Three new shopper clusters identified, enabling more precise category management 

• 35% faster shelf resets, improving planogram compliance and in-store productivity 

How CINDE delivers instant impact 

CINDE isn’t just analytics but about closing the gap between strategy and execution.  By embedding real-time, actionable AI from merchandising teams to store staff, CINDE ensures decisions come from reality, not guesswork. With rapid integration into existing retail technology stacks (POS, ERP, planogram systems), change is fast and frictionless. It all adds up to a system designed for extracting the most information out of the modern shopping experience. 

The importance of vertical integration and connecting operations 

By choosing SymphonyAI for both manufacturing and retail, this Fortune 50 leader gained something rare: an integrated data layer spanning the end-to-end value chain. Information flows seamlessly from the plant floor through distribution and into the store. This drives smarter forecasting, rapid problem-solving, and cross-functional alignment. 

• Consistency: One version of the truth, from factory actions to shelf outcomes 

• Faster feedback loops: Spotting quality issues in stores can be traced back to manufacturing steps and fixed at the source 

• Scalable AI: Improvements and learnings from one site or channel are rapidly deployed enterprise-wide 

The numbers speak for themselves. Higher productivity, safer factories, faster execution, and a measurable sales uplift. By employing vertical integration of AI, teams spend less time chasing paperwork and more time providing for customers and improving performance. 

The power behind SymphonyAI products 

Both the Connected Worker and CINDE platforms are built natively on SymphonyAI’s Eureka Vertical AI platform, which runs on Microsoft Azure. They use technology including Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Blob Storage, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Kubernetes, and Teams. 

Key features include: 

• AI Copilots: Generative AI delivers real-time guidance and troubleshooting, tailored to each role 

• Edge-ready deployments: Ensures even remote sites benefit from AI, regardless of connectivity 

• Closed-loop intelligence: Every action fuels model retraining, benchmarking, and system-wide optimization 

• Security and compliance: Built for regulated environments (FDA 21 CFR Part 11, ISO 27001) 

• Frictionless integration: Works seamlessly with SAP, IBM Maximo, and other major enterprise systems 

As a top-tier Microsoft GISV and Partner of the Year, SymphonyAI’s solutions are tightly integrated with the latest Azure innovations. This ensures scalability, security, and continuous improvement. 

Delivering real-world impact across industries 

SymphonyAI’s  Connected AI solutions power daily operations for leading manufacturers, retailers, and CPG firms worldwide – from global wind turbine leaders to top consumer brands, pharmaceutical giants, and the world’s most distributed supermarket chains.  

Alongside this, the company provides AI-powered innovation for businesses in financial services, media, and IT. It’s all part of a cohesive effort to improve the modern world and its systems via innovative and responsible AI use. 

From ensuring safety in energy plants to optimizing shelf execution in supermarkets,  SymphonyAI’s connected approach to AI drives new standards of speed, safety, and customer satisfaction. 

Ready for real transformation? 

This Fortune 50 case isn’t about AI pilots or siloed dashboards but about measurable, day-to-day impact and the power of vertical AI integration.  

With SymphonyAI, manufacturers and retailers are moving from fragmented legacy systems to real-time, intelligent operations. From plant floor inspections that prevent problems before they start, to shelf execution that responds to real shopper needs, this is what happens when AI is used for real work at a global scale. 

Curious how vertical AI integration can accelerate your value chain like it did for this Fortune 50 company? Get in touch to learn more about Connected Worker, CINDE Connected Retail, or any of our other products to schedule a tailored demo for your business.