Case Studies Follett Higher Education Group readies for the back-to-campus rush with Manhattan’s Planning solutions

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	Follett Higher Education Group readies for the back-to-campus rush with Manhattan’s Planning solutions

Follett Higher Education Group readies for the back-to-campus rush with Manhattan’s Planning solutions

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Education Retail
Applicable Functions	Sales & Marketing Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Inventory Management Predictive Replenishment Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) faced significant challenges in ensuring that merchandise hit college bookstore shelves in time for the two annual back-to-campus selling seasons. The traditional manual processes for merchandise planning were time-consuming, taking approximately six weeks just to input data. This inefficiency slowed down the delivery of merchandise, making it difficult to meet the specific needs of each campus. The company needed a more efficient method to plan, order, and place merchandise that would sell rapidly across approximately 900 bookstores. The planners required a better method to predict and order the best merchandise assortment to sell rapidly during its 'Christmas' seasons. The goal was to get the right products in place at the right time to avoid losing business to off-campus retailers. Read More
About Customer	Founded in 1873, Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) is the seventh oldest retailer in the United States. The privately owned company generates consolidated sales exceeding $2 billion and employs nearly 10,000 associates throughout North America. FHEG is one of Follett Corporation’s seven business units and is the nation’s largest contract operator of college and university bookstores, with almost 900 locations. The company supplies emblematic clothing, gift merchandise, textbooks, school supplies, convenience items, general reading books, and computer products to a wide variety of colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. FHEG provides merchandise specifically designed and manufactured for each college campus, catering to the unique traditions and preferences of each institution. Read More
Solution	Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) implemented Manhattan Associates’ Planning Solutions, which included Assortment Planning, Financial Planning, and Item Planning modules. These solutions were chosen because they could replicate FHEG’s unique business processes without requiring major modifications. The implementation process was aggressive, with the Assortment Planning and Item Planning processes tackled in just six months. The Manhattan solutions allowed FHEG to fine-tune how it orders merchandise based on assortment and item plans generated by store planners. This significantly reduced the time required for manual purchase order data entry from six weeks to an overnight interface process. The solutions were user-friendly, intuitive, and required minimal development work, making them a perfect fit for FHEG’s needs. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Education

Retail

Applicable Functions

Sales & Marketing

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Predictive Replenishment

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) faced significant challenges in ensuring that merchandise hit college bookstore shelves in time for the two annual back-to-campus selling seasons. The traditional manual processes for merchandise planning were time-consuming, taking approximately six weeks just to input data. This inefficiency slowed down the delivery of merchandise, making it difficult to meet the specific needs of each campus. The company needed a more efficient method to plan, order, and place merchandise that would sell rapidly across approximately 900 bookstores. The planners required a better method to predict and order the best merchandise assortment to sell rapidly during its 'Christmas' seasons. The goal was to get the right products in place at the right time to avoid losing business to off-campus retailers.

About Customer

Founded in 1873, Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) is the seventh oldest retailer in the United States. The privately owned company generates consolidated sales exceeding $2 billion and employs nearly 10,000 associates throughout North America. FHEG is one of Follett Corporation’s seven business units and is the nation’s largest contract operator of college and university bookstores, with almost 900 locations. The company supplies emblematic clothing, gift merchandise, textbooks, school supplies, convenience items, general reading books, and computer products to a wide variety of colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. FHEG provides merchandise specifically designed and manufactured for each college campus, catering to the unique traditions and preferences of each institution.

Solution

Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) implemented Manhattan Associates’ Planning Solutions, which included Assortment Planning, Financial Planning, and Item Planning modules. These solutions were chosen because they could replicate FHEG’s unique business processes without requiring major modifications. The implementation process was aggressive, with the Assortment Planning and Item Planning processes tackled in just six months. The Manhattan solutions allowed FHEG to fine-tune how it orders merchandise based on assortment and item plans generated by store planners. This significantly reduced the time required for manual purchase order data entry from six weeks to an overnight interface process. The solutions were user-friendly, intuitive, and required minimal development work, making them a perfect fit for FHEG’s needs.

Impact #1	FHEG reduced the product planning and placement time by six weeks, allowing for more efficient merchandise planning and ordering.
Impact #2	The implementation of Manhattan’s Planning solutions enabled store planners to focus more on customer needs and less on data entry labor.
Impact #3	The solutions were scalable and could handle the volume of detailed store-level sales history needed to build assortment and item plans.

Impact #1

FHEG reduced the product planning and placement time by six weeks, allowing for more efficient merchandise planning and ordering.

Impact #2

The implementation of Manhattan’s Planning solutions enabled store planners to focus more on customer needs and less on data entry labor.

Impact #3

The solutions were scalable and could handle the volume of detailed store-level sales history needed to build assortment and item plans.

Benefit #1	FHEG projects a 1% increase in sales due to the improved planning and ordering processes.
Benefit #2	The company estimates a 2% decrease in inventory expenses annually, generating lower carrying costs.

Benefit #1

FHEG projects a 1% increase in sales due to the improved planning and ordering processes.

Benefit #2

The company estimates a 2% decrease in inventory expenses annually, generating lower carrying costs.

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Overview

Follett Higher Education Group readies for the back-to-campus rush with Manhattan’s Planning solutions

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit