MIE.10 – OjaExpress Dark Door Model

• Melissa Chio-Salinas
• Samantha Hernandez
• Alanna Waas
• Rodrigo Zepeda Ramirez

OjaExpress is a new startup digital marketplace that aids small to medium sized stores to deliver cultural groceries to customers in Chicago. Their mission is to bring people and culture together through food by creating a platform allowing them to close the gap in the ethnic grocery delivery space. As the business grows, the company intends to equip their partnered stores with a simple storage system and process to ensure the best product quality, customer satisfaction, and company success. This investigation provides essential information in regards to finding an optimal storage and bin food inventory system for the small to medium grocery store owners. The system is intended to consist of a method to maintain food temperature and ensure accuracy of pickup. Additionally, the team must adhere to the constraints of creating a system that is low in cost, requires minimal space, and is adaptable to each of the different stores within the OjaExpress network. In order to create the optimal system, research of existing online grocery ordering processes and food storage systems in big name grocery stores was observed and analyzed. Research was also conducted on Dark Stores by observing and analyzing their processes. Dark Stores are structured as micro-warehouse or micro-fulfillment centers for on demand click-and-collect services for groceries or general retail,  Flow charts of these systems were created to allow for a breakdown of the process that the big name grocery stores and Dark Stores use for online grocery orders. This includes methods of selecting items, storing items, customer interaction, and delivering the order. The storage and bin options analyzed through the store’s systems were a combination of refrigerators, freezers, and shelves. Through an understanding of the process and tools used by competitors in the online grocery market, the team uses this information with the intent to create the Dark Door model to be implemented in the partnered stores. Furthermore, the team also researched insulated bin or cooler systems to be used as an alternative to the Dark Door, which would not require the use of a refrigerator or freezer in order to lower cost and save space. The final findings from this research showed that the optimal storage and bin inventory system is not necessarily just one model, but depending on the size, space, and needs of the grocery store, OjaExpress can choose between either model or a combination of both.