Supply Operation Suite



Login	RSS	Download	Site Map

Retail Solutions

Master Information Suite

Retail Analytics Suite

Retail Execution Suite

Retail Collaboration Suite

Merchandising Business Suite

Supply Operation Suite

		ibs CENTRAL
		ibs STORE

Info Suite


Supply Chain Operations Suite

Market Trends Worldwide retailers are increasingly using their supply chain to consolidate and develop market share by applying strategy the best at the operation level. Partnerships between Soft Solutions and different kind of retailers: food and beverage, DIY, department, convenience… of any size (Tier 1 retailer and / or category killers) exposed six key trends causing significant impacts and changes to supply chain design and performance: Demand planning Globalization Increased competition and price pressures Outsourcing Shortened and more complex product life cycles Closer integration and collaboration with suppliers.
These trends reflect the market current position and the top priorities developed in the figure beside. Source: Annual Survey by PRTM Management Consultants: (2010-2012) Global Supply Chain Trends

The key point to achieve these priorities is the implementation of a more intense collaboration between retailers and suppliers. The level of optimal collaboration is more than linking information but sharing business processes and organization structures: GS1 communication on new paletization plan Common sales forecast simulations Automated business workflow for replenishment The ultimate goal of collaboration is to increase visibility throughout the supply chain in an effort to decrease operational costs.
Supply Chain operational problems
Companies focusing on optimizing Sales and Operations Planning get the flexibility to: Improve the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) process, Improve promotional planning, Minimize unnecessary buildups of inventory, Increase revenue predictability, Satisfy customer service expectations. Recent studies show that retailers can lose 3% to 4% of revenue per year due to shelf stock outs, while inventory is available somewhere in the supply chain.
Supply chain needs and related risks are now considered as one of the priorities, knowing that supply chain is the link achieving the strategy execution. Lack of investments will reduce retailer ability to achieve fundamental, sustainable improvement. Source: Annual Survey by PRTM Management Consultants: (2010-2012) Global Supply Chain Trends Soft Solutions Supply Chain Operations Suite provides solutions for better coordination of store-level product availability with the warehouse and the suppliers. In addition, it gives better visibility of product availability, reducing overall logistics costs as products move through the supply chain to fulfil safe stock levels and consumer demand.
Supply Chain Operations Suite is a recognized solution deployed at retailers to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, Soft Solutions helps clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.
"80% of retailer's success stories come from 20% execution of their strategy"
Solutions for Stores and DC's Soft Solutions Supply Chain Operations Suite delivers integrated yet modular Central and Store functionalities that relies on our Master Data Management (MDM) platform. The corporate and the store personnel can now access the same Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform, to perform tasks to fulfil retailers needs (buying and ordering), replenishing the store, executing price changes and promotions, managing staff and ensuring a service level to provide a compelling retail experience for the consumer. Supply Chain Operations Suite provides the necessary functionalities to the Central and Store team to perform their tasks in an intelligent manner that is standardized yet flexible to anticipate changes.
As it is a centrally distributed platform, information and best practices can be shared and accessed by anyone with an access. In addition, Supply Chain Operations Suite is interactive with the whole Soft Solutions ibs Suites, with MDM and ibs Referential to share up-to-date and single version of information (items, suppliers, logistic flows…), ibs Reporting to generate reports, and ibs Workflow to configure business processes and automated alerts, … Soft Solutions Supply Chain Operations Suite includes two distinct solutions, managing needs at both levels: Store and DC: ibs Central is used to perform central purchasing, replenishment, receiving and inventory management. ibs Store delivers on a single application the management of all store-based activities such as managing store replenishment, inventory, store merchandising and customer data use.
"Provide multilevel capacity & visibility for management"
Key Features
Supply Chain Operations Suite: ibs Central, and ibs Store applications, covers the following business functionalities: Supply Chain Operations Suite - Replenishment: This module allows retailers to manage the supply chain between Suppliers, DC's (warehouse or platform) and Stores: Replenishment planning through centralized products Allocation and Booking, manual or automatic store orders creation, central orders consolidation, planning deliveries, merchandise receiving / returns, and order follow-up. Supply Chain Operations Suite - Invoicing and Invoice Control: This module includes central invoicing to stores as well as invoice control in central and in store: Merchandise or logistics invoice input and matching, stock valuation, quantity and price gap management, invoice / credit requests, invoice / credit input and follow-up, and payment authorization issuing. Supply Chain Operations Suite - Stock: This module consists of all the functionalities associated with stock management in DC's and Stores, including store stock levels optimization, central order shortage management, stock shrinkage, physical inventory, stock movements follow-up and stock tracking from ordering to DC's/Suppliers up to stock use within the store. Supply Chain Operations Suite - Sales: This module provides all the elements necessary for merchandise and marketing management at the POS (point of sale): Select central product assortment based on company strategy; define best adjustment for store assortment that optimally meets with local customer needs. Position and align prices with respect to company strategy and competitor environment. Prepare, execute and analyze promotional events. Set up store Plano gram and optimize shelf space distribution among the different product families. Plan out teamwork. And implement sale assistance tools. Supply Chain Operations Suite - Customer Service: This module allows managing in-store customer relations: Customer orders, home delivery, customer contact, after-sale service, … The integrated management tools ensure information collection, processing and diffusion, allowing better recognition of customer base, and better targeting of commercial offers like customer-loyalty programs.
For more detailed information, please download the following material: ibs ROS Fact Sheet 2011