News
Coop optimises with mobile solution
25.05.2010
Optimising is one of the most essential elements in the supply chain for retail businesses.
Therefore, Coop is updating the group’s mobile solution for managing store products on the shelves with DynamicStore from Consafe Logistics. The goal is for the products to always be on the shelf when the customer needs them – while at the same time controlling the costs.
The last “warehouse” in a value chain with groceries is the store shelf. Currently, modern stores do not have any extra storage. The storage exists on the shelves since the store chains want to utilise the entire store space for sales and customer service. Thus, it is vital to carefully manage the store products on the shelves.
Coop Danmark is Denmark’s largest retail company operating six nationwide store chains, which together with the independent consumer cooperatives comprise almost 800 stores and employs approx. 35,000 people.
This results in a complex and extensive supply chain with a profusion of products, some of which are fresh products with limited shelf-life that need to be distributed frequently and to many destinations. The goal is to balance the service level with costs or in other words: That the product is always on the shelf when the customer needs it – while at the same time the costs are controlled.
Extend IT out onto the store floor
Part of the solution to control the flow of products is a mobile extension of the store’s administrative IT system so it reaches all the way out onto the store floor. This provides store employees with direct access to all the information they need for the handling and management of the products.
"So far we have implemented about 1,200 hand-held terminals in a number of stores. We expect to gradually phase out the old solution with the new one from Consafe Logistics in the near future so we will have, in total, 2,500 – 3,000 terminals and about 800 stores," explains project manager, Svend Envoldsen, from COOP Danmark. He goes on to say:
Terminal-to-product and not the reverse
"The mobile solution will be used to order products, check stock and to register scrapping, new prices or the need for new labels on products, etc. You could say that the solution enables us to bring the terminal to the product and not the reverse. This is a great advantage in the daily store operation since a modern store’s warehouse is the shelves out on the store floor."
Central maintenance of de-central IT tool
Svend Envoldsen explains that the subsequent maintenance of the mobile IT solution has been crucial to the choice of the system platform. "It is very crucial for us to be able to manage the distribution of new software to all the terminals in the many hundreds of stores from the head office in Albertslund. This saves an enormous amount of resources. At the same time, it ensures that we can further develop the solution in the future in line with new needs arising."
He adds: "The most important piece of advice I would give to other businesses that are planning to implement a mobile IT solution is: Ensure that it can be easily updated so it can meet your business’ future requirements!"
