When intuition meets data-based decision making: Bringing family-owned meat wholesaler Domicela into the 21st century

The teaching case helps learners explore the challenges of digital transformation by considering Domicela, a family-owned meat wholesaler in south-east Poland. In this small-margin, time-sensitive branch of the food industry, short shelf lives and volatile demand make agile operations crucial. While this regional company benefits from tightly clustered warehouses, experienced workers, and a highly agile delivery service supported by local drivers who offer an advantage over mapping/routing applications, continued reliance on manual processing for core processes such as ordering and stock control causes information gaps and co-ordination problems (informal notes, phone calls, and personal intuition create a gulf between sales and warehouse operations). At the same time, a change of generation is underway, as the founders approach retirement while younger family members – with new ideas but less experience – enter the management. This setting invites students to consider how the case company might harness digital tools and data-based decision making to complement human expertise, reshape procure-to-pay and order-to-cash processes, and preserve Domicela’s community-oriented culture, in a balanced manner that also speaks to owners’, employees’, and local community members’ concerns about the impact of such change.