The Challenge
Rapid time-to-market performance enables companies to capture retail sales when customers are buying. When the new UK management team for GANT saw turnaround times from order to delivery of nearly three weeks, they knew something had to change. Too much old inventory and too great an emphasis on airfreight were affecting profitability.
In addition, the team had been charged with changing GANT UK’s role in the supply chain from supporting nearly exclusively the company’s wholesale functions to a balance of wholesale and retail channels.
The Strategy
Capitalise on the retail expertise and capabilities of Noatum Logistics, including our robust warehouse management technologies and local capacity. The benefits of greater inventory visibility and control would cascade into other supply chain functions including transportation, warehousing, distribution and customer service.
The Solution
Implementation of the solution started in December 2008. GANT moved its warehouse operations into the Noatum Logistics warehouse facility in Hemel Hempsted, which runs the PKMS® warehouse management system for integrating warehouse, labour, transportation and inventory logistics.
The Noatum Logistics transportation services were based on a “cost-plus” structure, making transportation expenses transparent to GANT while reducing their actual cost-per-shipment charges.
This solution also enabled Noatum Logistics to provide on-site, real-time customer service for GANT, answering their customers’ questions and resolving their issues on the spot.
Since the initial implementation, Noatum Logistics identified and implemented additional efficiencies throughout the GANT distribution process. Building on our success with continuous year-over-year cost savings, GANT now turns to Noatum Logistics for packaging product for its Swedish and German operations and implementing a retail-specific e-commerce process.
The Results
Initial Key Performance Indicators called for a 15 percent improvement on all of the prior service provider’s metrics within a six-month period. Noatum Logistics achieved this and more.
With greater visibility and better control over its inventory, GANT cut its reliance on airfreight by 70 percent in the first year. At the same time, the turnaround time from order to delivery went from approximately three weeks to less than seven days.
Overall, Noatum Logistics saved GANT 20 percent on transportation and warehousing in year one, and an additional 10 percent in year two and we continue to implement innovative solutions that improve GANTS’ Supply chain.