Sportsman’s Warehouse controls inventory with web-based PDAs

Expecting to grow its revenue 50% this year to $500 million, up from about $330 million last year, retail chain Sportsman’s Warehouse is getting a better handle on inventory management with a web-based system accessed from desktops or handheld devices, the company says.

Salt Lake City-based Sportsman’s Warehouse, which operates 30 recreational equipment stores in the western U.S., recently went live with a web-based warehouse and supply chain management system from HighJump Software, which is a unit of 3M, and Q4 Logistics. “Productivity jumped the first week we turned the system on," said Chris Utgaard, COO of Sportsman`s Warehouse.

In addition to dealing with sharp growth – the retailer plans to open 15 more stores this year, following 10 new stores opened last year -- Sportsman’s must abide by federal rules on tracking the movement of firearms, ammunition and other high-security products.

By accessing the HighJump-Q4 system through a PC or handheld web browser, Sportsman’s can view and modify information pertaining to individual shipments, a HighJump spokesman says. “They can use this to get on handhelds all the things they used to have to go to their back-office for,” he says.

The system also includes a web-based dashboard feature that lets managers at a desktop PC to pull up real-time data in charts and other graphics for visual presentations of how goods are moving through the supply chain, the spokesman adds.

The HighJump-Q4 system was implemented within the same 4-month period during which Sportsman’s also moved into a new warehouse and launched a new ERP system, the spokesman says.