JDA PortfolioEnabled: A .NET-connected system that fulfills a retailer's dream
Fast execution, improved margins, and dramatic ROI equal a killer competitive edge
Updated: December 27, 2005
Imagine tying all of your retail sites and suppliers together so you can see not only what's languishing on the shelves of your different regional locations but peek into your suppliers' warehouses. You could study their inventory, get a good picture of the sales of various products in real time, and make quick decisions to order faster movers.
For many, building such a connected business would be a logistical and technological nightmare, especially when thinking about all the different software and operating systems involved. Many believe the technology solutions to enable such a system only exist in future technology road maps.
But thanks to next generation software created by JDA Software Group, Inc., the Casino Group is embarking on a similar task—today. Based in St. Etienne, France, the $29 billion US food retailer operates some 9,000 outlets in 11 countries, including 46 Cash and Carry United Grocers in the western United States.
"Our vision is for a best-in-class supply chain that everyone from the store to the warehouse will be in synch with a single demand forecast based on sales," says Jean-Luc Galzi, president of information technology, Casino Group. "JDA has the best solution in the market to strategically transform our operations."
Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., JDA makes a suite of inventory management, strategic merchandising, and store operations solutions. JDA has helped more than 4,800 retail manufacturing and wholesale customers in 60 countries operate more efficiently and connect in real time.
Casino Group: Developing in-house too costly and time-consuming
Initially, the Casino Group considered building its own applications or selecting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, both of which were scrapped. Developing in-house was deemed too expensive and too lengthy, and ERP systems concentrate on data integration, not the flexible processes behind them, Galzi says.
"While ERP is a good solution in environments such as finance, accounting, and manufacturing, where process is stable and repeatable from one company to the next, ERP is not right for retail," he says. "One day the very large ERP vendors will get the knowledge and expertise to deliver solutions that support the fast pace of retail, but I don't see it in the short term and certainly not today."
JDA transforms Casino with next-generation PortfolioEnabled solution
Instead, Galzi decided to migrate to JDA's next-generation Portfolio Replenishment Optimization by E3 software, the advanced replenishment software developed on Microsoft .NET technology and part of JDA's PortfolioEnabled suite. The software is also known as PRO.
"We view PRO as key to improving our supply chain by providing the intelligence layer that will integrate our replenishment requirements with logistical distribution and promotional management," says Galzi. "By facilitating a holistic enterprise-replenishment approach, PRO will synchronize our plans, demand, promotions, orders, and receipts to ensure the best possible inventory levels are maintained throughout our supply chain."
Migrating to PRO will help the Casino Group accelerate the flow of goods and information while delivering a strong return on its investment. Because it is building its next-generation software on the .NET platform, JDA is dramatically improving how the Casino Group and other retailers and their suppliers operate and connect in real time.
"Microsoft .NET allows us to deliver sophisticated real-time enterprise solutions that can scale to the largest of our customers and deliver solutions with a substantially lower cost of ownership," says Hamish Brewer, JDA's chief executive officer.
JDA has invested more than $45 million (U.S. dollars)—and expects to spend significantly more over the next few years—enhancing its software and creating an open services-oriented architecture based upon .NET and the Microsoft Smarter Retailing Initiative.
"Market research shows that 67 percent of retailers' business systems are homegrown, making it difficult to integrate new packages into their legacy systems," says Michèl H. Annink, managing director of Microsoft's Worldwide Retail Industry Unit. "Using JDA's .NET-based PortfolioEnabled products, retailers can eliminate this problem through the integration inherent in the .NET platform."
JDA: Flexible software on .NET at demand chain speeds
JDA's PortfolioEnabled software suite brings the company's strategic merchandise management capabilities on to an open architecture. The result is a software solution that:
| • | Connects people with best processes, information, and technologies along the supply chain, from the warehouse to the consumer's door, within the enterprise and its suppliers. |
| • | Gives retailers a more agile and flexible platform to operate at demand chain speed. |
| • | Connects disparate departments, such as planning, merchandising, replenishment, and promotions, through real-time information-sharing. |
| • | Reduces a retailer's total cost of ownership and integration in record time by providing a highly scalable and open framework that allows the retailer to add advanced applications one at a time. |
| • | Offers a fast, easy, and streamlined approach for systems integration. |
| • | Provides collaboration platform between trade partners that speeds demand responsiveness. |
JDA's PortfolioEnabled solutions are based upon the Microsoft Smarter Retailing Initiative, an innovative approach that allows retailers to add new cutting-edge applications and technologies to their existing systems.
"JDA is one of the first business partners with a full .NET architecture and tool set for the supply chain," says Brian Scott, general manager of the Retail and Hospitality Industry Solutions group at Microsoft. "Retailers can pick and choose JDA products, which, through the .NET architecture, can work independently or collectively. PortfolioEnabled is also scalable, which means retailers don't have to worry as they grow from handling 30,000 transactions to 30 million."
