General Óptica increases stock turn by 81% with slim4

General Óptica set the standard in the Spanish & Portuguese optical sectors. With 210 of its own stores and 70 franchises, the retailer needed a partner to help optimise inventory, increase availability rates and avoid obsolescence.

After utilising Slim4 for just 12 months, the business has undertaken a complete review of its purchasing policy with “extraordinary” results: a 62% reduction in stock-outs across the fastest moving items and an 81% increase in stock turn for prescription glasses.

With a network of 280 stores, 2 distribution warehouses, more than 2,000 active SKUs and ambitious future growth objectives, General Óptica – a member of the Italian Rigo Group, – is one of the best-known manufacturers and distributors of prescription and sun frames in Spain and Portugal.

“We needed a tool that would help up to take control of replenishment, reduce stock levels and increase the level of service to stores. We analysed the main vendors in the market and, for many reasons, we decided to proceed with Slim4. The results speak for themselves – we now see that we made the right choice,” says Xavier Gironella, Director of Operations.

81% increase in stock turn & 62% reduction in stockouts

Within just 12 months of rolling out Slim4, the stock turn increased by 81.3%, while the stock-outs on its top products fell by 62.4%. “By optimising inventory throughout our network, we have also reduced obsolescence of B and C items (slow movers) while improving the availability of best-selling. As a result, we can provide our stores with a more reliable supply. Furthermore, we now offer a more profitable product assortment and, above all, risk of lost sales has been minimised,” explains the Director of Operations.

“All these improvements are the result of the collaboration between General Óptica and Slimstock; the implementation of a new purchasing policy and the incorporation of Slim4 into the S&OP process,” he adds.

Optimised store assortment management

To improve the product assortment throughout General Óptica’s network of stores, Slimstock has implemented an automated inventory system. The tool analyses the in-store assortments and focuses the team attention on the most import SKUs with exception-based alerts.

Slim4 helps General Óptica to manage the introduction of new products and phase-out of slow-moving product lines to ensure the best possible assortment for each store; therefore, maximising sales. In addition, the system helps the planning team proactively avoid lost sales thanks to the automatic proposal of substitutes.

“With Slim4 we can respond to availability issues quickly. If there is no availability of a bestselling product in the warehouse, the system automatically replenishes stores with a substitute product with the same characteristics. Thus, we can ensure that we have an optimal assortment in all our stores at all times.”, explains Xavier Gironella.

Lead time improvement: From 4 months to 15 days

With suppliers based in the Far East, General Óptica faced lead times of more than 12 months. This greatly affects the stock levels in the warehouse. “Now we share the purchase forecast for the next 6 months to our suppliers every month. This means they are better positioned to meet our requirements. With this in mind, we hope to reduce the lead time to 15 days, reducing the risk of stockouts and allowing us to further improve service to stores,” says Gironella.

“Extraordinary” results

The Director of Operations, concludes: “In this type of optimisation project, the complexity is always a challenge – especially when you have so many active SKUs with such a long lead time. The truth is that after betting on Slim4, we have exceeded our initial expectations. The results are extraordinary; we did not imagine such positive results for General Óptica”