STORES Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 62) NUTS AND BOLTS / BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE how the seasonality impacts that — we’ll be able to fulfill it right away.” Moving forward with confidence Q integrates merchandise planning, product fulfillment and insight and action to improve inventory management and process efficiency. Q translates mer- chandise strategies into optimal storelevel need, optimizes inventory for every product at every location in real time and provides knowledge and visibility to current and potential item performance. After an eight-week trial run with Q, Guitar Center’s service levels increased and inventory displayed a reduction of It’s all about the Right Tool! ProTalk® Two-Way Radios units when compared with a control group. This gave the company the confidence to move forward with full implementation of Q into Guitar Center’s inventory management systems. Within six months, the solution was fully implemented; by the 2007 holiday season, there was a big difference in inventory levels, Messier says. “As we were rolling out more SKUs and coming out of the Christmas season, we were able to correct our inventory and balances far more quickly using Q.” Allan says that when Quantum did a cold call on the Hollywood, Calif., store last holiday season, the manager reported that he had the optimal continuous flow of merchandise — compared with previous years, when he had three trailers outside the store full of product. The leveraging power of software and technology to make small differences in justin-time inventory planning can add up to major differences when spread out across a couple hundred stores. Q also has allowed managers to focus on customer needs rather than constantly worry about inventory optimization. “It has empowered our business team to make critical decisions that you should manage your assortment SKUs differently than your money drivers and your image SKUs,” Messier says. Promotions and forecasting Now that Guitar Center has addressed its base forecasting, order management and allocation issues, it will look to maximize its promotional activity and forecasting engine. Buying and merchandising teams can use Q to analyze how particular products are performing. A virtual “sandbox” environment also lets planners change expectations, remove or pull back profitability targets and see how that will affect key performance indicators. For the tactical execution side of the business, Q offers forecasting guides, allocation analytics and replenishment analysis. StORES Streamline your operations with reliable and affordable Kenwood ProTalk® two-way radios. Your staff gets the confidence that comes from access to immediate answers so they can serve customers quickly and efficiently. Choose the radio many major U.S. retailers use and get the ProTalk® advantage for your operation today. TWO YEAR WARRANTY and ask about the special CALL TODAY Retail Package 1-800-950-5005 62 STORES / FEBRUARY 2008 www.kenwoodusa.com Craig Guillot is a New Orleans-based writer and photographer. WWW.STORES.ORG http://www.kenwoodusa.com http://www.kenwoodusa.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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