SPS rolls out a web-based system to automate private label production
Private label brands are growing in importance to retailers as they provide a higher margin and allow a retailer to more closely control its image. But when a retailer offers as many private label products as Pacific Sunwear Inc.--7,500 trendy, fashion-oriented products a year--managing the process can turn into a massive headache.
SPS Commerce Inc., a vendor of supply chain systems, today introduced a web-based, supply-chain management product aimed specifically at managing retailers’ private label production. In addition to targeting the retail market, SPS Commerce also is selling the service on a hosted basis, so retailers don’t have to make upfront investments in the technology. Pacific Sunwear is the first customer for the new service.
"This new private label order management service is a natural fit for our business," said Ron Ehlers, vice president of information services for Pacific Sunwear, where private label products account for up to 40% of its product line. "The time and effort required by our product managers to stay on top of over 7,500 orders a year is tremendous. Using SPS Commerce, we hope to make our product managers more productive by keeping them focused on managing the exceptions rather than the details. Also, migrating to an electronic platform will reduce errors and improve our ability to deliver products to our stores on time."
Pacific Sunwear operates 788 stores--608 PacSun stores, 71 outlet stores and 109 d.e.m.o. stores--in 48 states and Puerto Rico.
SPS Commerce will charge $10 to $25 per project for the service, depending on quantity.
SPS` Private Label Order Management Service process works by creating an electronic version of the Product Development Plan, the document used by retailers to handle private label orders. Retailers and suppliers for private label products, including fabric manufacturers, packagers, consolidators and shippers, will have access to the order status, next steps and real-time updates on SPSCommerce.net.
The Private Label Order Management service includes:
· Order Template, rules to define orders,
· System Template, rules to define system parameters,
· ePDP Factory, which- creates the live, online, interactive document from the electronic P.O., Order and System Templates,
· Change Manager to validate and propagate project changes to ePDP,
· Message Manager, which automatically generates e-mail updates, reminders, and warnings once an order change has been validated.
Back...
