Two hours of time saving in every Fressnapf store: The REMIRA LOGOMATE inventory management software, which has already been used for many years by Fressnapf Holding SE in wholesale to ensure optimum stock levels, is now also being used in a further version in chain stores. The fully automated and forecast-based ordering system also comes with a user interface via app. In addition to saving a great deal of time, this also significantly increases the availability of goods for customers. The app is already being used in just under 1,000 stores, and all stores are to be connected by the end of 2022.
The Fressnapf Group has been planning and optimizing its inventories with LOGOMATE for almost 15 years. The automatic forecasting and ordering tool for scheduling provides precise suggestions and makes everyday work easier for the schedulers. Central store scheduling is done with LOGOMATE, but likewise, calculated order suggestions can be customized for each store or generated individually via LOGOMATE or the app. The app connects to LOGOMATE, downloads the master data and order proposals, and then displays them on the mobile device.
Optimizing processes from the field
Since the company cannot provide independent franchise partners with a fully automated disposition, the app offers, among other things, the possibility to check the order suggestions and add to them if necessary. Customer special orders as well as orders from external third-party suppliers can also be placed via the app - offering partners the best measure of automation and customization.
"The app was designed by REMIRA as a link between the extensive cockpit and the operational scheduling in our stores. The goal was to centralize as many activities as possible from the markets at headquarters and organize them efficiently there - a true auto dispatch. The aim was to relieve the store as much as possible of scheduling tasks and significantly reduce the overall workload," explains Markus Mönkemöller, Head of Store Logistics at Fressnapf.
High confidence in Auto-Dispo
Until now, Fressnapf has mainly used LOGOMATE for the warehouses, and the app was part of the new disposition project in the stores. The new concept offers a lot of additional information about sales, promotions, seasonalities or offers. This additional information is the basis for trust in Auto-Dispo: If the stores can clearly understand why which quantity is ordered, trust increases, Markus Mönkemöller knows:
"The more trust is placed, the lower the checking and processing effort. Some stores only need 10 minutes per order; they simply wave the proposal through. We also placed great emphasis on the visuals. The app sets visual milestones for the user."
So at Fressnapf today, highly informative order suggestions are at best just checked, instead of ordering everything manually on the MDE and gathering the information needed there. In the end, a complete store order will no longer take 6 hours on average, but from 2023 probably only 90 minutes including new inventory management, Markus Mönkemöller is certain.
It is not only the employees in the stores who are convinced by the application and the benefits of the app. Sales colleagues in Austria are also enthusiastic, for example Bernard Lienbacher, Project and Process Manager Austria:
"Central store ordering - previously one of the trickiest and most time-consuming store processes, requiring a lot of experience - can now be done by almost anyone and in less time. It is impressive how plausibly and accurately even at first glance 'conspicuous' order quantities have been derived. The quantities are really almost always absolutely appropriate based on customer demand - even for promotions."
Further development
The roll-out to all around 1,600 stores will be completed by the end of 2022. After that, the app will be in use in all countries and with all partners. "We want to make even more assortments and order forms available in the coming year, for example decentralized drop orders, frozen goods, etc., as well as once again offer new information on the order suggestions, including forecast method, advertising indicator, optimal stock. The look of the app is also to be refined again over the course of the year so that usability will be even more ergonomic from 2023," says Markus Mönkemöller, summarizing the outlook for the future.
Fotos: © Fressnapf
Related Link
