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MRC at Rectella Limited
Andy Hughson
Commercial Manager
Agenda• Who are Rectella?• IT Infrastructure• Reporting options & needs• Why MRC?
• Report Examples• MRC on Blackberry• Stock Man. Case Study• Web Ordering• Benefits• Questions
Who are Rectella?• UK’s leading importer &
distributor of ready-made soft furnishings
• Privately owned limited company
• Established in 1947• 110 employees at head
office in Blackburn• 140 employees in retail• Small office in China
Business Profile• Limited UK production – small amount of MTM• Almost all stock now sourced from the Far East• 6,500 SKUs• Fashion industry – 1/3 range replaced every year
Sales & Customer BaseAnnual Sales• £14 million turnover• 1.2 million units
Customers• 300 accounts, 1300 branches• Chain stores, multiples, mail
order & independents• Matalan, Debenhams, B&Q,
John Lewis, CWS, Dunelm, Littlewoods, BHS
IT Infrastructure• AS400 P10 machine
– Movex v12.5 RPG– Live in August 2003
• 10 Windows servers– MOM– MEX– BPW– Payroll– ADS/Firewall– MS Exchange– Blackberry– Web intranet/extranet– File share server– Backup server
• 2 staff– Applications Support– Technical Support
In the Beginning. . .Reporting options:• AS/400 Query
– Pros:• Useful tool for IT staff
• Ad hoc file contents query
– Cons:• Inefficient
• Experienced IT skills
• Machine resource hungry
• Not an end-user tool
• Inflexible
• No run-time prompts
• Limited formatting
In the Beginning. . .Reporting options:• BPW
– Pros:• Output to Excel
• Quick refresh of saved file
• Offline from AS/400
– Cons:• Relatively complex to set up
• Experienced pivot users
• Not really an end-user tool
• Inflexible
• No run-time prompts
• Limited formatting
Rectella’s Reporting Needs• End-user reporting tool• Run-time prompts• Flexible formatting options• Easy to learn and set up• Efficient data handling• Web browser deployment• Good support services• Relatively inexpensive
licensing
Known Alternatives• COGNOS PowerPlay
– Pros:• Previous IT use/experience
– Cons:• Expensive user licensing
• Limited end-user knowledge
• Similar to BPW methods
• Crystal Reports– Pros:
• Cheap licensing
– Cons:• Little prior experience
• Uncertain scope
MRC – A Brief Encounter. . .• MUA Demo – May 2004• Ticked all the boxes:
End-user reporting tool Run-time prompts Flexible formatting options Easy to learn and set up Efficient data handling Web browser deployment Good support services Relatively inexpensive licensing
• Existing Movex Users:– GBC & Kerrygold
Next steps• Proof of Concept:
– FOC– Setup on Rectella’s AS400
• Online Demo– www.crazybikes.com
Why MRC?• We would be able to create:
– Data warehouse to summarise large files, e.g. OSBSTD, MITTRA– New data tables & new fields in existing Movex tables– New applications for data maintenance and data enquiries– End-user prompted reports– Intranet for report deployment– Extranet/website for customer access
• Simple Low Pricing – Licensed per processor not per user• Dictionary can be configured for end-user report creation• Key Project:TJ Hughes concession management options• Flexible & rapid KPI deployment• “Low-skills based solution with no raw application coding”
Report Examples• Brief look at some
reporting examples– Customer Sales– Best Selling Ranges– Product Placement– Top 20 by Retail Store– Order Source
Ex 1: Customer Sales Report
Prompts: Payer No. / Customer Name / Product Group
Sensitive data
Ex 1: Customer Sales Report
Features: monthly columns, 1 pass of 2005 OSBSTD summary file
Sensitive
data
Ex 2: Best Selling Design/Colour Report
Prompts: None
Ex 2: Best Selling Design/Colour Report
Features: uses 2 summary files, 7 summaries in all
Ex 3: Product Placement Report
Prompts: Design Name, Item Group, Invoice Date Range (Date Picker)
Ex 3: Product Placement Report
Features: 1 pass
Sensitive
data
Ex 4: Top 20 Design/Colours
Prompts: Store Name (Drop-down list)
Ex 4: Top 20 Design/Colours
Features: Dynamic column month names
Ex 5: Order Source Report
Prompts: Customer Name, Order Date Range (Date Picker)
Sensitive data
Ex 5: Order Source Report
Features: on demand sorting of report output
MRC on Blackberry• Custom Reports
written for deployment to Blackberry users in retail
• Simple Deployment to existing menu
MRC on BlackberryExample• Safety Stock Report
• Prompts:– Store Name– Design Name
MRC on BlackberryRun-time Prompts• Users chooses their
Store from the drop-down store list
MRC on BlackberryRun-time Prompts• User enters Design
name they are interested in
• User scrolls to Run button and initiates report request
MRC on BlackberryReport Output• Designed to fit the
limited screen size
• Shows Store Number (Movex Warehouse) and Design chosen
• Shows Safety Stock for each SKU
MRC on BlackberryReport Output• Scrolling down
reveals rest of data and Grand Total
Stock Management Case StudyChallenge• 30 TJ Hughes concessions• Optimise retail stock profile• Limited head office resource
Solution• Define stock profile rules• Schedule MRC summaries• Produce net change output• Update MITBAL file
Process – Count & ReplenishRetail Outlet
= Movex Whs
API update of
physical stock
Stock records
for each store
Weekly count
by exception
Distribution
orders shipped
Replenish to
Safety Stock
Process – Optimise & UpdateNet Variance
≡ Sales
Suggested new
stock levels
MRC table for
stocked ranges
Nightly schedule
MRC summaries
Update MITBAL
using WinSQL
Review output/
sanity check
Example Output
Plan to maintain 6 weeks shelf stock (subject to min/max rules)
Curtains:
At least 5 sizes
1 from each width
Min 1 max 4Duvet Covers:
All sizes
Min 2 max 6
Pillowcases:
Min 6 max 12Tiebacks:
Min 2 max 4Valances:
Size 3 & 5 only
Min 1 max 2
Store Summary – Sanity Check
Web Ordering• Requirement:
– Low cost B2B website
• Features:– Order entry– Simple navigation– Accurate product pricing– Up to date stock availability– Order tracking– Invoice audit trail– Account status information– Flexible user security– Product imagery– Customer/Product views
Solutions Considered• Intentia’s e-Sales
– Costs:• Licenses £39k
• Development £23k
• Maintenance £8k p.a.
– Pros:• Existing Movex integration
• Existing Movex knowledge
– Cons:• Licensed per customer/user (100)
• Costs exclude modifications
• e-Sales longevity?
• Rectella Board perception
Solutions Considered• MRC
– Costs:• Licenses £0
• Development £21k
• Maintenance £0k p.a.
– Pros:• Prior experience with Raleigh
• No additional license/maint. fees
• Custom built to our design brief
• Open nature of design architecture
– Cons:• No additional “out of box” website
features
User login – multiple users per customer
Welcome screen and notice board
Main account status information
Sensitive
data
Branch links
Sensitive
data
Sensitive
data
Branch status information
Sensitive
data
Design / Colour / Item Group navigation
Designs available for this customer
(Optional) Colours available for this Design
(Optional) Item Groups available for this Design/Colour
Launch the search
Search in progress
Search results – 10 per page
Search results – 10 per page
Add item to shopping basket
Confirmation of addition
Additional information and Design/Colour image
Design description and related item links
Design roomset image
Add item to shopping basket
Quick search on product features
Add item to shopping basket
Review shopping basket
Printer friendly order confirmation
Select delivery branch
Sensitive
data
Add order number, accept terms and confirm order
Sensitive
data
Order confirmation
Review outstanding orders
Sensitive
data
Check order status
Check expected delivery date
Review invoice trail
Filter on outstanding invoices
Review outstanding invoices
Other Features• Contact Us page
– Inc. map & email links
• Online Demo– Flash presentation
• Password Maintenance
Extranet Architecture
Customer Web Server AS400
• Web browser• Check price/stock• Place order• Order progression• Review account
E-Collaborator
• Windows server• Web page host• Apache/Tomcat• Data requests• Order file origin
• Windows server• E-collab host• Order template• Order integration
• Movex• OIS275• Order validation• Order processing• MRC Data tables• User security
MRC Benefits• Tell it WHAT you want not HOW to do it
• Custom data dictionaries by dept/user
• More efficient than Query
• Less machine resource hungry
• More flexible than BPW
• Many presentation options
• User prompts at run-time
• Breadth of development scope
• Excellent helpdesk
• Good partner relations
Questions?