ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Raises a Glass to Supply Chain Optimization With Manhattan Associates
ATLANTA, Oct 26, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — ABC Fine Wine & Spirits is America’s largest private spirits retailer, with nearly 150 locations, 1400 employees, a private delivery fleet, a 200,000 square foot distribution center and an Internet fulfillment center. Recently, ABC undertook an initiative to highlight an expanded wine selection and to raise the level of the “shopping experience” it provided. This included larger format stores, ranging from 8,000–10,000 square feet, filled with a wider variety of products, including gourmet foods, gift baskets, hand-rolled cigars, high-end spirits and even rentable wine vaults.
“It was easy to handle just a few thousand SKUs without an optimized system, but when it goes from 2,000 to 6,000 items it gets tougher to manage,” says Joe Hults, distribution center IT and support manager, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits. “You have to have a more holistic view of inventory and new structures to support all phases of your operation.”
ABC selected Manhattan Associates’Â (MANH 30.06, -0.28, -0.92%) Warehouse Management solution from the Manhattan SCOPE(R) supply chain portfolio to optimize distribution of its more than 15,000 SKUs. Manhattan’s Warehouse Management solution, which is included in the Distribution Management solution suite, is designed for optimal collaboration and communication with an extensive network of suppliers and partners.
Following implementation, ABC began working almost immediately with Manhattan to develop customized options specifically for the beverage industry in order to thoroughly optimize operations. In addition, Joe Hults joined the Manhattan Product Council in an effort to make the resulting Manhattan software enhancements available to all Warehouse Management customers.
As a result of input gathered through the Product Council, many of the customized functions that ABC had been integrating into their own versions of the software have become part of Warehouse Management 2010 and Manhattan’s Supply Chain Process Platform, which is the backbone of the Manhattan SCOPE portfolio of solutions. The platform facilitates the communication between each of the solutions from one common interface, in real time. These improvements include:
- Web-based Dashboard — The dashboard is available through any Internet browser and offers graphic representations of Warehouse Management data. The displays can be tailored to individual users and provide an at-a-glance reference of current operational statistics.
- Mix-to-Putaway Functionality — Rather than identifying the first available location that can accommodate a particular item, the solution searches to find the smallest available space within the designated zone in order to maximize storage capacity.
- Improved Upgrade Processing Tool — Upgrading to the latest version of Warehouse Management has been simplified and streamlined. In fact, ABC made the transition using only internal staff and required no additional support from Manhattan.
Hults is proud to have been instrumental in the development of many of the new Manhattan solution enhancements. He says, “The benefit of working with Manhattan isn’t just having robust, flexible software. It’s that their product keeps maturing and getting better and better.”
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