RETAIL LOGISTICS EXCELLENCE - RELEX OY

Their core work

RELEX is a Finnish software company that builds supply chain planning and retail logistics optimization software, with a specific focus on the food industry. Their EU-funded work centered on reducing food spoilage by applying in-memory computing to supply chain planning — enabling faster, more accurate demand forecasting and inventory decisions across complex food distribution networks. They progressed through the EU SME Instrument from a feasibility study to a full-scale commercial software development project targeting European food retailers and processors. Their product addresses a concrete commercial problem: food waste generated by poor supply chain visibility and slow planning tools.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

RELEX's H2020 participation spans only 2015–2018 and consists of two closely linked projects, so the evolution is a product development arc rather than a research pivot. They began with a Phase 1 SME Instrument feasibility study (Spoilage Down, €50k) to validate the concept of in-memory supply chain planning for reducing food spoilage, then scaled directly into a Phase 2 development project (NexGenFSCM, €1.36M) to build and commercialize the full software platform. The shift from "Spoilage Down" to "NexGenFSCM" signals a broadening of scope — from spoilage reduction as the lead problem to positioning the product as a general next-generation SCM platform for the entire European food industry.

RELEX used EU funding as a commercial R&D springboard — having completed the SME Instrument Phase 1 and Phase 2 cycle by 2018, they likely exited EU project activity as a funded commercial product, suggesting any future collaboration would be as a technology provider or industry partner rather than a grant-seeking SME.

How they like to work

RELEX operates exclusively as a project coordinator and shows zero recorded consortium partners across both projects, which is characteristic of software SMEs using the EU SME Instrument as a direct R&D subsidy rather than a collaborative research mechanism. Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the SME Instrument are designed for single-company applications, so the absence of partners reflects the funding scheme rather than an organizational preference for isolation. Anyone seeking to partner with them would likely engage them as a technology vendor bringing a mature software product, not as a co-developer sharing R&D risk.

RELEX has no recorded consortium partners in the H2020 data, consistent with the solo-applicant SME Instrument funding model they used for both projects. Their collaboration footprint within EU research networks is minimal, though their commercial market reach targets European food retailers and processors broadly.

What sets them apart

RELEX is a commercial software product company that used EU funding to accelerate a specific product — supply chain planning software built for the food industry — rather than to conduct open-ended research. This gives them a sharp, deployable offering rather than lab-stage technology. For a consortium seeking a digital tools partner with proven food sector focus and a real product behind them, RELEX represents an industry-facing asset rather than an academic contributor.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NexGenFSCM
  The largest project by far (€1.36M, 2016–2018), this SME Instrument Phase 2 award represents a full commercial R&D investment in next-generation food industry supply chain software — a rare case of EU funding directly building a market-ready platform.
• Spoilage Down
  This Phase 1 feasibility study (2015) is notable for its concrete commercial framing — reducing spoilage in the European food supply chain via in-memory planning — and for successfully unlocking the much larger Phase 2 follow-on grant.