Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - October 2008 - (Page 60)

ning quickly, with no investment in hardware and software. It offered complete visibility from the supplier to the back door of the store and includes logistics information. And it synchronized our distributors’ data with our own.” Mullen says with the technology, Church’s is able to provide daily visibility much quicker than ever before into products coming to its stores. “What they have now is visibility into purchase-order-level detail, which includes the SKUs or the identifiers of the product. They are able to see the weight of product, the volume of it, how much is coming, what the product type is, whether it’s chicken or chicken nuggets, some type of potato—all that they can see now. “In addition, from a logistics perspective, they can see when the product was picked up at the manufacturer, when it was delivered to the distributor, when it leaves Power Delivery. O U T H C A R O L I N A is the perfect place to deliver growth, with five interstate highways,international airports, railways, and Charleston–the largest container port in the South. The SC Power Team will connect you with strategically located sites and buildings, state and local incentives, workforce training, and the largest electric power system in the state. Let us deliver your next facility location! Contact Rusty Reed at Rreed@SCpowerteam.com www.SCpowerteam.com/gl 1201 Main St., Suite 1710, Columbia, SC 29201 I (803) 254 9211 Representing the Electric Cooperatives & Santee Cooper the distributor and when it arrives at the back door of the restaurant. They are able to have that visibility logistically for each leg of the supply chain.” Stukalsky described Church’s growth targets as aggressive, but says that he feels the hosted purchasing solution can keep pace with his company. “The system is fully scalable to adapt to the chain operator’s needs in terms of function and capacity. With [it], I have access to more resources than I could possibly gather on my own.” Mullen says he feels one of the resources that Stukalsky refers to is the provider’s expertise. The benefit of an ondemand solution, as he sees it, is in the savings, not least in the size of one’s labor force. He cites the expense in developing software from scratch that is tailored to one’s needs, then in maintaining it. He estimates that Church’s might have had to hire five to 12 people to build and maintain the kind of purchasing and logistics systems it now has through ArrowStream. The logistics solution involves contracting and managing carriers, as well as inventory management, Mullen says. “We do all those things,” he says. “There truly is no need for resources from the customers themselves.” Implementation typically takes about six months, of which personnel training lasts two to three weeks. Mullen says ROI can be expected within year one. “This is not like with a big ERP implementation.” The pricing model is a fairly standard subscription service: there is a monthly fee associated with the technology, which is agreed upon in advance so there is no surprise to the customer. Part of the fee is based on the number of transactions recorded, and a portion depends on how many modules or features a company purchases. ArrowStream, eight years old, has focused primarily on the casual dining and fast-food side of the food service industry, though it has begun to work in the grocery sector. It numbers Arby’s and Applebee’s among its clients. Wendy’s signed on about a year ago, says Mullen. The logistics solution, aptly named ArrowStream Logistics, is a cost-saver for these chains in these days of high-cost fuel. ArrowStream looks to consolidate as much freight from these competitors as possible to keep expenses low. “We don’t manage one customer at a time,” says Mullen. “For Church’s, for exam- 60 OCTOBER 2008 http://www.SCpowerteam.com/gl http://www.SCpowerteam.com/gl

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Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - October 2008

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