New England retailer looks to manage supply chain on proactive, exception basis with Blue Sky Logistics solution
Dallas April 5, 2006 New England retailer Stop & Shop Supermarkets has tapped Blue Sky Logistics to provide supply chain visibility tools to help them better manage their supply chain processes and activities.
Immortalized in the classic song "Roadrunner" by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop is a grocery retailer with more than 370 stores. Because of its growth and need to have better controls over its supply chain, Stop & Shop began looking for a visibility management tool several years ago.
The retailer wanted to become more proactive in managing the events that occur when supplying products to its end consumers, the retail stores. They saw a substantial financial savings to be gained by managing their supply chain on a proactive, exception basis, but they were having trouble sorting through the overflow of data to get to the information that mattered right then. In some cases, it was taking days to create reports that were obsolete as soon as they were available.
To address these challenges, the company recently implemented Blue Sky's Insight, a Web-based supply chain dashboard application that helps the end user to reduce unnecessary delays and inefficient use of resources by configuring a set of gauges and alerts that identify areas of the operation that require attention. Stop & Shop selected Blue Sky in part because of the solution provider's expertise in food and grocery supply chains.
Managing, Not Mining
"Insight will have an immediate and substantial impact on our operations," said Joe Francis, manager of process and systems improvement at Stop & Shop's Supply Chain Strategy and Execution Group. "Upon implementation of Insight, supervisors and managers of the operation will be able to spend more time actually managing the operation instead of mining for data or waiting until reports could be generated."
"By using a dashboard to view the current operating conditions of their supply chain, upper management has more free time to devote to strategic decisions instead of waiting until the next day to see how well the operation is performing," said Randy Marble, CEO and chairman of Blue Sky Logistics.
"We intend to utilize Insight well beyond our warehouse management systems," Stop & Shop's Francis added. "From a supply chain viewpoint, Insight helps us gain visibility across our corporate information systems. We envision that Blue Sky's Insight will play a mission-critical role in our business decision process."
Stop & Shop operates 376 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York and employs more than 58,000 associates.
Additional Articles of Interest
Capturing the sourcing savings in a low-cost manufacturing strategy means weighing the risks and understanding total cost. Read more in "Supply Base Localization: A Different Look at Low-cost Country Sourcing," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Contemplating RFID? Here are three critical questions to answer before embarking on a radio frequency identification initiative. Read "Recognizing Real RFID Adoption Potential," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Dallas April 5, 2006 New England retailer Stop & Shop Supermarkets has tapped Blue Sky Logistics to provide supply chain visibility tools to help them better manage their supply chain processes and activities.
Immortalized in the classic song "Roadrunner" by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop is a grocery retailer with more than 370 stores. Because of its growth and need to have better controls over its supply chain, Stop & Shop began looking for a visibility management tool several years ago.
The retailer wanted to become more proactive in managing the events that occur when supplying products to its end consumers, the retail stores. They saw a substantial financial savings to be gained by managing their supply chain on a proactive, exception basis, but they were having trouble sorting through the overflow of data to get to the information that mattered right then. In some cases, it was taking days to create reports that were obsolete as soon as they were available.
To address these challenges, the company recently implemented Blue Sky's Insight, a Web-based supply chain dashboard application that helps the end user to reduce unnecessary delays and inefficient use of resources by configuring a set of gauges and alerts that identify areas of the operation that require attention. Stop & Shop selected Blue Sky in part because of the solution provider's expertise in food and grocery supply chains.
Managing, Not Mining
"Insight will have an immediate and substantial impact on our operations," said Joe Francis, manager of process and systems improvement at Stop & Shop's Supply Chain Strategy and Execution Group. "Upon implementation of Insight, supervisors and managers of the operation will be able to spend more time actually managing the operation instead of mining for data or waiting until reports could be generated."
"By using a dashboard to view the current operating conditions of their supply chain, upper management has more free time to devote to strategic decisions instead of waiting until the next day to see how well the operation is performing," said Randy Marble, CEO and chairman of Blue Sky Logistics.
"We intend to utilize Insight well beyond our warehouse management systems," Stop & Shop's Francis added. "From a supply chain viewpoint, Insight helps us gain visibility across our corporate information systems. We envision that Blue Sky's Insight will play a mission-critical role in our business decision process."
Stop & Shop operates 376 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York and employs more than 58,000 associates.
Additional Articles of Interest
Capturing the sourcing savings in a low-cost manufacturing strategy means weighing the risks and understanding total cost. Read more in "Supply Base Localization: A Different Look at Low-cost Country Sourcing," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Contemplating RFID? Here are three critical questions to answer before embarking on a radio frequency identification initiative. Read "Recognizing Real RFID Adoption Potential," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
