SCDigest
Editorial Staff
The News: Outdoor
retailer Cabela’s recently told a
group of attendees at the Manhattan Associates
User Conference that it is now using the
WMS that it had originally installed in
its DCs to manage store inventory and floor
replenishment in its retail stores.
SC Digest Says: |
It would
seem that implementing a light WMS,
especially one that can be hosted centrally
and simply accessed by the stores, could
be a relatively fast and simple way
to get control of the backroom and inventory
levels for many of these retailers
What do you say?
Send
us your comments here |
The Impact: With
so much of the recent focus on RFID and
consumer goods centering on the challenges
of finding and delivering inventory from
stock room to the sales floor, Supply Chain
Digest has often wondered why more companies
don’t consider the WMS light route.
The WMS a company owns for the DC, or another
downsized commercial package, could be the
smart and immediate answer for better store
execution.
The Story: Cabela’s
(Sidney, Neb.), a company focused on outdoor
and sporting goods, has seen strong growth
in its retail store channel after starting
out as a catalog-based merchant.
Its 18 retail
stores are massive, with the stock room
alone often sized at 30,000 square feet;
the stores carry as many as 150,000 SKUs.
To
some people, implementation of a "light"
Warehouse Management System may make sense
in a large scale retail, but would not for smaller
footprint stores. We think perhaps the concept
should be tried in more places.
At Cabela’s,
incoming inventory is scanned into general
location areas in the stock room, providing
a very accurate picture about what inventory
is located where. Part of the business case
for RFID is that retail associates can’t
find product needed for replenishment in
chaotic back office stock rooms, though
retailers like Target, that use even lower
tech, basic back room location systems are
less vocal about this potential RFID benefit.
When inventory
is needed on the floor, a “pick list”
is generated, and replenishers using Radio
Frequency terminals scan the inventory out
of the stock room and confirm its placement
on the new location on the floor or shelf.
Sounds pretty
simple to us.
We’re
often surprised at how few retailers have
accurate perpetual inventory systems at
the store. It would seem that implementing
a light WMS, especially one that can be
hosted centrally and simply accessed by
the stores, could be a relatively fast and
simple way to get control of the backroom
and inventory levels for many of these retailers.
WMS providers
would have to rethink pricing models to
reflect reduced use of functionality and
a different perspective on the right price
for a “site,” but if we were
retailers, we might try this before mega-spending
on RFID.
Could more
retailers use “light” WMS functionality
to improve inventory management at store
level? What are the barriers? Is there a
better answer? And is it RFID? Let us know
your thoughts at the feedback button below. |