DIY retailer Wickes has rolled out Manugistics forecasting
software to help reduce stock levels and the number of
re-deliveries it has to make.
The retailer, which operates 171 stores across Britain, said it
expects its £350,000 licence, implementation and training costs to
be recouped in 21 months from tighter stock control.
Other benefits include standardising skill sets across the supply
chain team, improved customer satisfaction more right-first-time
deliveries and a red- uction in lead times, a Wickes spokeswoman
said.
Wickes, an existing Manugistics user, tested other products before
deciding to roll out Manu- gistics forecasting and replenishment
software to create a standard single supply chain system.
The software was rolled out to Wickes' home delivery service in 12
weeks, and the roll-out to suppliers took a further eight weeks.
The store supply chain system was upgraded and implemented by
suppliers and direct delivery depots in 20 weeks.
The Manugistics software sits on an IBM p670 Unix server running
IBM AIX 5.2 and an Oracle 9i database. BEA Weblogic is used as the
application server.