RONA Selects E3Marketplace Solution to Synchronize Inventory Decisions with Suppliers at Store Level
Canadian Powerhouse Joins Growing List of U.S. Hardware Industry Leaders
ATLANTA (June 25, 2001) -- RONA, Canada’s powerhouse in home improvement, has chosen advanced solutions from E3 Corporation, a world leader in inventory management and Web-based collaborative solutions, to facilitate online, real-time collaboration on store-level inventory decisions with suppliers. This marks one of the first CPFR production rollouts to focus on store-level forecasting and replenishment. E3 announced the new contract with RONA today at the Retail Systems 2001 Conference in Chicago.
RONA is the leading distributor and retailer of hardware products, home renovation, and building materials and gardening supplies in eastern Canada. The company controls close to 7 million square feet of retail sales space and a network of 500 stores across Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. RONA recently acquired the home improvement operations of Revy Home Centres, a subsidiary of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd, giving the company an additional network of 50 retail stores with approximately 2.7 million square feet of retail space.
"Because of our internal growth rate, as well as recent significant acquisitions, it has become even more important that we do what we can to be in sync with our vendor community and communicate as effectively as possible about projected forecasts and future demand," said Pierre Pelletier, VP of Distribution and Logistics at RONA. "We chose to implement the E3 collaborative solution because it will help our buyers communicate, and even further, collaborate with our suppliers to manage inventory and product flow. We’re doing it to better use our manpower, which will also improve our customer service levels and allow us to operate with less inventory."
Beyond Traditional CPFR
E3 solutions adhere to the Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) standards established by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards (VICS) Committee. Through adherence to these standards, the E3 solution will enable RONA to give its suppliers secure, online access to its proprietary data managed within RONA’s facilities by E3SLIM®, E3’s store-level inventory management solution. As a result, the suppliers will have visibility into the same store-level consumer demand information, can quickly come to agreement on demand forecasts, and can make appropriate inventory decisions at the store and back up to their supply planning systems.
E3’s solution goes beyond the traditional nine steps of CPFR, however. Purchase orders can adapt to everyday shipping constraints from pallet-size minimums to weight maximums. And, the system provides the ability for collaborative partners to vary their order frequency and adjust service level goals. Furthermore, both parties can review all SKU/locations daily, whereby exceptions to established orders are noted and managed by both parties, immediately driving benefits for every item at every location. In addition, E3Marketplace (TM), E3’s online collaborative community, enables companies to easily and securely access other partners with whom they have collaborative relationships.
Delivering Value
RONA joins a growing list of customers who are choosing the E3 solution, including leading U.S. hardware vendors Ace Hardware and True Value, who have established highly successful trading pairs with suppliers such as Manco Inc. In fact, E3 collaborative solutions drive more than 50 live trading pairs, an unparalleled rate of adoption. Reports from customers and their suppliers utilizing the E3 solution show impressive results, such as a 52-percent reduction in overstock, a 40-percent increase in analyst productivity and a 33-percent inventory reduction. Average sales increases have been reported from 10 to 30 percent. Vendors participating in the program have seen 10- to 25-percent reductions in operations, logistics and transportation costs.
RONA plans to initially extend collaborative partnerships to 20 to 25 percent of its suppliers to maximize value from the program. According to Pelletier, RONA expects to see impressive results, based on the experience of suppliers who have shared their successes with collaborative relationships working on E3 solutions.
"We’ve been using E3SLIM for four or five years to manage inventory in our stores. But, now we want to move into another step with our suppliers," said Pelletier. "We want to get them more involved and help them do the best job they can do in forecasting and delivering product to our stores. Based on what we’ve been told by suppliers using the solution, we believe the E3 system is the right answer."
About RONA<
RONA Inc. is Eastern Canada’s largest distributor and retailer in hardware, home improvement and gardening products and one of the largest retailers of its kind in Canada. RONA and its dealer-shareholders operate a network of almost 500 stores of various sizes and types, in Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario, under various commercial banners. Its products may also be purchased on-line at www.rona.ca. Over 11,000 employees and dealers work within the RONA network.
About E3 Corporation
E3 Corp. helps companies synchronize their inventory decisions with advanced supply chain, inventory management and data mining solutions. The company’s Web-based, collaborative products are used by retailers, e-commerce companies, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers. Based in Atlanta, E3 is a proven performer with two decades of profitable growth and more than 800 installations in 20 countries around the world. E3 solutions cross a multitude of industries including: general merchandise, specialty retail, drug, office products, wine and spirits, food, entertainment, auto parts, hardware, and industrial supply. For more information, visit E3’s web site at www.e3.com.
E3® and E3SLIM® are registered trademarks and E3Marketplace(TM) is a trademark of E3 Corporation. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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For more information, contact:
Gary Frazier
E3 Corp.
678-662-1317
gfrazier@e3.com
RONA Inc.
Daniel Larouche
GPC International
(514) 599-5900, ext. 420
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