Hobbycraft

HobbyCraft, med hovedkontor i Bournemouth, er Storbritanniens førende detailhandler af hobbyprodukter. I en af de mere end 50 hobby-supermarkeder kan kunderne finde et brancheførende udvalg af 35.000 forskellige produkter, der dækker over 250 hobbyer og aktiviteter. Med forventet stærk vækst siger Nic Tasker, Supply Chain Manager hos HobbyCraft: “Vi står over for en stadig større udfordring med at opfylde og overgå kundernes forventninger til tilgængelighed. Med flere og flere varer, der kommer fra Fjernøsten, var udfordringen for teamet at opretholde tilgængeligheden, samtidig med at den samlede lagerbeholdning holdes i overensstemmelse med virksomhedens forventninger.”

How to approach the challenge of keeping over 50 stores, with 35,000 SKUs each, sufficiently stocked to meet customer demand and not hold too much stock at the same time, is a question Nic Tasker asks himself every day. From HobbyCraft’s head offices in Bournemouth, Supply Chain Manager Nic Tasker and his team of four planners ensure that this tricky task is carried out as efficiently as possible.

Nic states: “We used to order about 8,000 SKUs into out NDC, but keeping on top of that with our old systems was proving to be so time-consuming that we seemed to be constantly fire-fighting. On top of that, the business was moving towards more centralised purchasing, further compounding the problems.” It was at this time that HobbyCraft decided to implement Slimstock’s forecasting and inventory management solution, Slim4. “We were impressed with both the system and the people. They knew the business and throughout the whole process our requirements were matched and exceeded.”

HobbyCraft gik i luften med Slim4 på deres nationale distributionscenter. De første resultater var allerede synlige inden for få måneder. “Vi fandt ud af, at vi havde mere tid. Undtagelsesrapporteringen i Slim4 fokuserede vores opmærksomhed på de SKUs, vi skulle investere tid i, i stedet for at kigge på alt. Vi brugte den tid på at øge kontrollen over vores bestillinger, så i stedet for at bestille lidt for meget for at opretholde tilgængeligheden, reducerede vi gradvist vores bestillinger og lagerbeholdning. Slim4 gav os tillid til at gøre dette, fordi vi vidste, det ville sikre, at vi nåede vores tilgængelighedsmål.” Resultatet har været en næsten 20% reduktion i lageret, hvilket har givet HobbyCraft mulighed for yderligere at øge antallet af SKUs i deres NDC uden behov for ekstra plads.