Blue Yonder Case Studies A Perfect Fit

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	A Perfect Fit Blue Yonder

A Perfect Fit

Blue Yonder

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Retail
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Inventory Management Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services System Integration Training
Challenge	Mark’s Work Wearhouse, a retail chain that sells work clothes, boots, business wear, casual wear, and outdoor apparel, faced a challenge in managing its inventory. The company's product complexity and geographic coverage increased over the years, creating merchandising challenges. The company recognized a gap between what and how much they were placing in their stores and what customers actually wanted. For out-of-stock products in specific stores, Mark’s had a customer promise that was expensive to fulfill. The company had a service — Mark’s FastFind — where they would deliver merchandise that’s out-of-stock in a certain size or color to the shopper’s home or local store at no cost to the consumer. However, this commitment was depleting the company's margin due to the vast distances involved in transporting goods across Canada. Read More
About Customer	Mark’s Work Wearhouse began selling work clothes and boots for men in 1977, and over the next two decades gradually expanded its offerings to include business wear, casual wear, and outdoor apparel — even extending its consumer focus to include women. While the retail chain grew steadily, exponential revenue growth began in 2002 when the company was acquired by retail giant Canadian Tire. Today, Mark’s operates more than 385 stores across Canada and a growing e-commerce platform. The company's increase in product complexity and geographic coverage has been a winning formula for Mark’s, but it has also created some merchandising challenges. Read More
Solution	Mark’s selected JDA’s Intelligent Fulfillment™ and Retail Planning solutions to ensure that its merchandise assortments were created, distributed, and replenished based on its shoppers’ real-world needs. The company chose JDA Demand, JDA Fulfillment, and JDA Size Scaling to integrate with in-house planning tools. The company also selected JDA Portfolio Merchandise Management, along with JDA Merchandise Performance Analysis, to serve as its master data hub and merchandising system. The JDA solutions automated many previously manual activities — from generating purchase orders to pre-packing store deliveries. The solutions helped Mark’s make more strategic decisions, such as only pre-packing 70 percent of merchandise for the stores and sending the other 30 percent to the places it’s been selling best if the forecast is wrong. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

Mark’s Work Wearhouse, a retail chain that sells work clothes, boots, business wear, casual wear, and outdoor apparel, faced a challenge in managing its inventory. The company's product complexity and geographic coverage increased over the years, creating merchandising challenges. The company recognized a gap between what and how much they were placing in their stores and what customers actually wanted. For out-of-stock products in specific stores, Mark’s had a customer promise that was expensive to fulfill. The company had a service — Mark’s FastFind — where they would deliver merchandise that’s out-of-stock in a certain size or color to the shopper’s home or local store at no cost to the consumer. However, this commitment was depleting the company's margin due to the vast distances involved in transporting goods across Canada.

About Customer

Mark’s Work Wearhouse began selling work clothes and boots for men in 1977, and over the next two decades gradually expanded its offerings to include business wear, casual wear, and outdoor apparel — even extending its consumer focus to include women. While the retail chain grew steadily, exponential revenue growth began in 2002 when the company was acquired by retail giant Canadian Tire. Today, Mark’s operates more than 385 stores across Canada and a growing e-commerce platform. The company's increase in product complexity and geographic coverage has been a winning formula for Mark’s, but it has also created some merchandising challenges.

Solution

Mark’s selected JDA’s Intelligent Fulfillment™ and Retail Planning solutions to ensure that its merchandise assortments were created, distributed, and replenished based on its shoppers’ real-world needs. The company chose JDA Demand, JDA Fulfillment, and JDA Size Scaling to integrate with in-house planning tools. The company also selected JDA Portfolio Merchandise Management, along with JDA Merchandise Performance Analysis, to serve as its master data hub and merchandising system. The JDA solutions automated many previously manual activities — from generating purchase orders to pre-packing store deliveries. The solutions helped Mark’s make more strategic decisions, such as only pre-packing 70 percent of merchandise for the stores and sending the other 30 percent to the places it’s been selling best if the forecast is wrong.

Impact #1	Achieved three quarters of record top-line sales from Q1-Q3 2012
Impact #2	Reduced inventory units 8.3 percent below last year rate (LYR) in Q3 2012
Impact #3	Realized strong profit performance to LYR and plan in Q1-Q3 2012

Impact #1

Achieved three quarters of record top-line sales from Q1-Q3 2012

Impact #2

Reduced inventory units 8.3 percent below last year rate (LYR) in Q3 2012

Impact #3

Realized strong profit performance to LYR and plan in Q1-Q3 2012

Benefit #1	Record top-line sales for three quarters in 2012
Benefit #2	8.3% reduction in inventory units in Q3 2012
Benefit #3	Strong profit performance in Q1-Q3 2012

Benefit #1

Record top-line sales for three quarters in 2012

Benefit #2

8.3% reduction in inventory units in Q3 2012

Benefit #3

Strong profit performance in Q1-Q3 2012

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Overview

A Perfect Fit

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit