Transcript Slide 1

MRC at Rectella Limited
Andy Hughson
Commercial Manager
Agenda
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Who are Rectella?
IT Infrastructure
Reporting options & needs
Why MRC?
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Report Examples
MRC on Blackberry
Stock Man. Case Study
Web Ordering
Benefits
Questions
Who are Rectella?
• UK’s leading importer &
distributor of ready-made
soft furnishings
• Privately owned limited
company
• Established in 1947
• 110 employees at head
office in Blackburn
• 140 employees in retail
• Small office in China
Business Profile
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Limited UK production – small amount of MTM
Almost all stock now sourced from the Far East
6,500 SKUs
Fashion industry – 1/3 range replaced every year
Sales & Customer Base
Annual Sales
• £14 million turnover
• 1.2 million units
Customers
• 300 accounts, 1300 branches
• Chain stores, multiples, mail
order & independents
• Matalan, Debenhams, B&Q,
John Lewis, CWS, Dunelm,
Littlewoods, BHS
IT Infrastructure
• AS400 P10 machine
– Movex v12.5 RPG
– Live in August 2003
• 10 Windows servers
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MOM
MEX
BPW
Payroll
ADS/Firewall
MS Exchange
Blackberry
Web intranet/extranet
File share server
Backup server
• 2 staff
– Applications Support
– Technical Support
In the Beginning. . .
Reporting options:
• AS/400 Query
– Pros:
• Useful tool for IT staff
• Ad hoc file contents query
– Cons:
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Inefficient
Experienced IT skills
Machine resource hungry
Not an end-user tool
Inflexible
No run-time prompts
Limited formatting
In the Beginning. . .
Reporting options:
• BPW
– Pros:
• Output to Excel
• Quick refresh of saved file
• Offline from AS/400
– Cons:
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Relatively complex to set up
Experienced pivot users
Not really an end-user tool
Inflexible
No run-time prompts
Limited formatting
Rectella’s Reporting Needs
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End-user reporting tool
Run-time prompts
Flexible formatting options
Easy to learn and set up
Efficient data handling
Web browser deployment
Good support services
Relatively inexpensive
licensing
Known Alternatives
• COGNOS PowerPlay
– Pros:
• Previous IT use/experience
– Cons:
• Expensive user licensing
• Limited end-user knowledge
• Similar to BPW methods
• Crystal Reports
– Pros:
• Cheap licensing
– Cons:
• Little prior experience
• Uncertain scope
MRC – A Brief Encounter. . .
• MUA Demo – May 2004
• Ticked all the boxes:
 End-user reporting tool
 Run-time prompts
 Flexible formatting options
 Easy to learn and set up
 Efficient data handling
 Web browser deployment
 Good support services
 Relatively inexpensive licensing
• Existing Movex Users:
– GBC & Kerrygold
Next steps
• Proof of Concept:
– FOC
– Setup on Rectella’s AS400
• Online Demo
– www.crazybikes.com
Why MRC?
• We would be able to create:
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Data warehouse to summarise large files, e.g. OSBSTD, MITTRA
New data tables & new fields in existing Movex tables
New applications for data maintenance and data enquiries
End-user prompted reports
Intranet for report deployment
Extranet/website for customer access
Simple Low Pricing – Licensed per processor not per user
Dictionary can be configured for end-user report creation
Key Project:TJ Hughes concession management options
Flexible & rapid KPI deployment
“Low-skills based solution with no raw application coding”
Report Examples
• Brief look at some
reporting examples
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Customer Sales
Best Selling Ranges
Product Placement
Top 20 by Retail Store
Order Source
Ex 1: Customer Sales Report
Sensitive data
Prompts: Payer No. / Customer Name / Product Group
Ex 1: Customer Sales Report
Sensitive
data
Features: monthly columns, 1 pass of 2005 OSBSTD summary file
Ex 2: Best Selling Design/Colour Report
Prompts: None
Ex 2: Best Selling Design/Colour Report
Features: uses 2 summary files, 7 summaries in all
Ex 3: Product Placement Report
Prompts: Design Name, Item Group, Invoice Date Range (Date Picker)
Ex 3: Product Placement Report
Sensitive
data
Features: 1 pass
Ex 4: Top 20 Design/Colours
Prompts: Store Name (Drop-down list)
Ex 4: Top 20 Design/Colours
Features: Dynamic column month names
Ex 5: Order Source Report
Sensitive data
Prompts: Customer Name, Order Date Range (Date Picker)
Ex 5: Order Source Report
Features: on demand sorting of report output
MRC on Blackberry
• Custom Reports
written for deployment
to Blackberry users in
retail
• Simple Deployment to
existing menu
MRC on Blackberry
Example
• Safety Stock Report
• Prompts:
– Store Name
– Design Name
MRC on Blackberry
Run-time Prompts
• Users chooses their
Store from the dropdown store list
MRC on Blackberry
Run-time Prompts
• User enters Design
name they are
interested in
• User scrolls to Run
button and initiates
report request
MRC on Blackberry
Report Output
• Designed to fit the
limited screen size
• Shows Store Number
(Movex Warehouse)
and Design chosen
• Shows Safety Stock
for each SKU
MRC on Blackberry
Report Output
• Scrolling down
reveals rest of data
and Grand Total
Stock Management Case Study
Challenge
• 30 TJ Hughes concessions
• Optimise retail stock profile
• Limited head office resource
Solution
• Define stock profile rules
• Schedule MRC summaries
• Produce net change output
• Update MITBAL file
Process – Count & Replenish
Retail Outlet
= Movex Whs
Distribution
orders shipped
Stock records
for each store
Replenish to
Safety Stock
Weekly count
by exception
API update of
physical stock
Process – Optimise & Update
Net Variance
≡ Sales
Update MITBAL
using WinSQL
MRC table for
stocked ranges
Review output/
sanity check
Nightly schedule
MRC summaries
Suggested new
stock levels
Example Output
Pillowcases:
Curtains:
Min
6 max 12
Tiebacks:
At
least
5 sizes
Valances:
Min
2 max
4 width
1
from
each
Size
3 Covers:
&
5 only
Duvet
Min
1
Min
1 max
max 4
2
All sizes
Min 2 max 6
Plan to maintain 6 weeks shelf stock (subject to min/max rules)
Store Summary – Sanity Check
Web Ordering
• Requirement:
– Low cost B2B website
• Features:
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Order entry
Simple navigation
Accurate product pricing
Up to date stock availability
Order tracking
Invoice audit trail
Account status information
Flexible user security
Product imagery
Customer/Product views
Solutions Considered
• Intentia’s e-Sales
– Costs:
• Licenses £39k
• Development £23k
• Maintenance £8k p.a.
– Pros:
• Existing Movex integration
• Existing Movex knowledge
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Licensed per customer/user (100)
Costs exclude modifications
e-Sales longevity?
Rectella Board perception
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Solutions Considered
• MRC
– Costs:
• Licenses £0
• Development £21k
• Maintenance £0k p.a.
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Prior experience with Raleigh
No additional license/maint. fees
Custom built to our design brief
Open nature of design architecture
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• No additional “out of box” website
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User login – multiple users per customer
Welcome screen and notice board
Sensitive
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Main account status information
Sensitive
data
Sensitive
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Branch links
Sensitive
data
Branch status information
Design / Colour / Item Group navigation
Designs available for this customer
(Optional) Colours available for this Design
(Optional) Item Groups available for this Design/Colour
Launch the search
Search in progress
Search results – 10 per page
Search results – 10 per page
Add item to shopping basket
Confirmation of addition
Additional information and Design/Colour image
Design description and related item links
Design roomset image
Add item to shopping basket
Quick search on product features
Add item to shopping basket
Review shopping basket
Printer friendly order confirmation
Sensitive
data
Select delivery branch
Sensitive
data
Add order number, accept terms and confirm order
Order confirmation
Sensitive
data
Review outstanding orders
Check order status
Check expected delivery date
Review invoice trail
Filter on outstanding invoices
Review outstanding invoices
Other Features
• Contact Us page
– Inc. map & email links
• Online Demo
– Flash presentation
• Password Maintenance
Extranet Architecture
Customer
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Web browser
Check price/stock
Place order
Order progression
Review account
Web Server
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Windows server
Web page host
Apache/Tomcat
Data requests
Order file origin
E-Collaborator
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Windows server
E-collab host
Order template
Order integration
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AS400
Movex
OIS275
Order validation
Order processing
MRC Data tables
User security
MRC Benefits
• Tell it WHAT you want not HOW to do it
• Custom data dictionaries by dept/user
• More efficient than Query
• Less machine resource hungry
• More flexible than BPW
• Many presentation options
• User prompts at run-time
• Breadth of development scope
• Excellent helpdesk
• Good partner relations
Questions?