Following a successful pilot, AB Karl Hedin Bygghandel, a chain of builder’s merchants with 36 outlets in central Sweden has opted to continue its cooperation with RELEX and roll out to full-scale production use.
Store replenishment has traditionally been taken care of by store employees at the various outlets, using PDAs. Before the cooperation with RELEX, an internal pilot project had been initiated in specific outlets, where replenishment was taken care of centrally using in-built functionality within the business system. It quickly became apparent that the model had its limitations and that there was an obvious need for more advanced system support.
The cooperation between AB Karl Hedin Bygghandel and RELEX began in the spring of 2014. After rapid implementation, RELEX was commissioned for pilot use in four outlets. Three months later, the results were clear: During the pilot, the value of inventory had been reduced while availability had improved.
“We are extremely happy that RELEX was chosen during our procurement of system support,” notes Robin Eriksson, system manager at Karl Hedin Bygghandel, and continues “everything really came along nicely during the project and we achieved the desired effect.” According to Eriksson, the positive news has spread quickly within the company, and employees at the other outlets are now eager to get started.
Using RELEX system support, AB Karl Hedin Bygghandel will be able to streamline replenishment in its outlets and tackle challenges such as seasonal variations and cost and freight limits. Its own sawmill will also be able to benefit from RELEX, as the order forecasts for the stores will be used as delivery forecasts for the sawmill.
“RELEX and AB Karl Hedin Bygghandel work together to ensure that customers will find exactly what they need in the stores when they need it. At the same time ensuring that excess inventory is eliminated so the company’s capital is being used as efficiently as possible. It’s a great example of bringing a manufacturing operation and a retail operation closer together through better supply chain management”, says partner and Scandinavian Manager at RELEX Johanna Småros.