Supply Chain Modelling for Retailers
Barloworld Supply Chain Software offers strategic network design
and optimisation software and supply chain planning consulting
services to leading organisations in all the major markets of the
world. The flexibility of the CAST Aurora supply chain network
modelling software and its ease of use permits its application
across all industry sectors and geographies where there is supply
chain complexity that may include multi-tier manufacturing,
warehousing and transportation options.
Top Retailers use CAST Aurora software
The world's largest retailers typically use CAST software to
annually budget and identify the optimal distribution
infrastructure for their national supply chain networks, in line
with new store openings each year and as component supply chain
costs such as wages, diesel and rent change. These companies
include the number one grocery retailers in the US, UK and Canada.
Retailers not only want to establish the optimal warehouse
infrastructure and distribution to their stores in terms of cost
and service, but they will also want to see which product lines
should be held, and where, in the network. More recently, this has
included the evaluation of supplier deliveries into the network,
whether to deliver to store direct from the supplier versus the
benefit of bringing those volumes into the retailer's own
distribution network, merging with deliveries not going direct and
benefiting from the resulting transportation savings arising from
better load utilisation. The explosion in internet driven home
delivery shopping has also seen retailers use CAST software to
evaluate and develop new supply chains for the domestic home
market.
Barloworld Supply Chain Software recently participated in a
retail industry and government supported consortium (that included
John Lewis, Cranfield University, the Highways Agency and the
Department for Transport) whose project aim was to improve the
efficiency of the rapidly expanding home deliveries market in the
UK. A national home delivery model was developed in the CAST
software tool, using a combination of actual and synthesised data
from delivery companies and grocery retailers. Scenarios were then
run to assess the impact of changing loading time, delivery time,
duty time, vehicle capacity, vehicle size and cross-industry
freight consolidation opportunities. Consolidation of the grocery
and small parcel industries identified a potential 5% saving. It
was also identified that unloading times were a key driver in
resulting fleet requirements and costs. This led to further project
investigation into practical delivery time reduction opportunities
resulting in recommendations related to Proof-of Delivery systems,
RFID tagging and optimised vehicle layout and e-stop delivery
locations.
CAST supply chain planning software in action
Sainsbury's purchased CAST software to perform strategic
analysis on their distribution network. Initially, they needed to
determine the optimum number and location of Regional Distribution
Centres (RDCs) for the future. CAST software allowed to investigate
where they should site future RDCs and to measure the impact of
opening or closing an RDC on the rest of the supply chain. They
have used CAST to identify the potential locations of intermediate
warehouses and to find future opportunities to improve their
primary distribution network. CAST software has helped to identify
where financial supply chain savings are possible.
A significant number of major national & global clothing
retailers also use CAST software to design supply chains for new
overseas markets that they are expanding into, for example GAP used
CAST supply chain planning software to establish the optimal supply
chain when it entered the French & Japanese markets.
Increasingly, western retailers are reaching saturation levels
in their domestic markets and as they begin to look at exciting
retail opportunities in the rapidly developing consumer markets of
China, India, Russia and Brazil, they turn to Barloworld Supply
Chain Software to offer local supply chain modelling expertise
& capability to help shape their retail development &
subsequent logistics support strategy in those regions.
CAST software was used recently to establish an optimal DC
configuration for a UK hard goods (DIY) retailer in China, based on
their existing and forecasted store openings in the country. This
followed similar studies for the retailer in central Europe.
Customer Quote:
"We are pleased with our investment in CAST, which is proving
valuable in our strategic planning. The value of the software is
increased, however, with the addition of the Support programme. It
is indeed refreshing to find a software supplier who continues to
respond to customer needs long after the initial sale has been
concluded. "
Richard Adams, Business Improvement Co-ordinator
Sainsbury's