Blackberry at Rectella Andy Hughson Commercial Manager

Agenda 1.The Company 2.The Problem 3.The Alternatives 4.The Solution 5.The Technology 6.The Benefits

The Company

Background UK’s leading importer & distributor of ready-made soft furnishings Privately owned limited company Established in employees at head office in Blackburn 140 employees in retail Small office in China

Business Profile Limited UK production Finished products sourced from abroad 6,500 SKUs Fashion – 1/3 range replaced every year

Sales Profile Annual Sales £14 million turnover 1.2 million units Customers 300 accounts, 1300 branches Chain stores, large multiples, mail order & independents John Lewis, Debenhams, CWS, Dunelm, Littlewoods Concessions – TJ Hughes

IT Infrastructure AS400 P10 machine –Movex v12.5 RPG –Live in August servers –MOM –MEX –BPW –Payroll –ADS/Firewall –MS Exchange –Blackberry –Web intranet/extranet –File share server –Backup server –Telephone switchboard –Voic

The Problem

Challenges Faced 30+ TJ Hughes concession outlets throughout UK Limited POS feedback Poor communication between head office & stores Budgetary & practical constraints on IT/telecoms install Stock mix managed by part-time in-store staff Optimisation of stock mix Labour intensive stock checking In-store restrictions on telephone/fax use Limited head office resource Varied IT literacy amongst retail staff

The Alternatives

Competing Technologies Full POS data exchange with TJ Hughes –Request declined In-store pc installation –Expensive –IT Overkill –Space & logistical implications –Part-time staffing problems Handheld data terminal with GPRS –Long payback period –Costly development –Connection Lag –Scope limitations –Part-time staffing problems

The Solution

Blackberry In Action

The Technology

How It Works Web based form on Blackberry User enters order/count data Data sent to SQL server to create transaction record Confirmation sent to Blackberry within 1 or 2 secs M3 Integrator from eVentura picks up new transaction M3 Integrator updates Movex using standard M3 APIs

Stock Management Automation Stores set up as warehouses Table of stocked ranges by store Safety stock rules by product group Safety stocks recalculated at least monthly Aim to maintain 6 weeks stock in store Stock levels reflect demand patterns Demand = stock check net variances

The Benefits

The Pay Off Improved stock mix management Increased stock turn Higher sales revenue Lower lost sales Reduced work content in store & at head office Increased Staff Job Satisfaction Speedy, cost effective, intuitive solution Encouraged cross-store dialog & job satisfaction More frequent and accurate stock taking Better sales information Ad-hoc stock valuations Re-key errors eradicated Counting errors rectified within 7 days Quicker, more effective staff communication

Questions

THANK YOU