Merchandising And Inventory ManagementRichter Systems International recently announced that free inventory management software, a leading retailer and wholesaler of branded footwear, is now using Richter Merchandising(TM) for its enterprise resource management. The Richter Merchandising module has been operational since the first week of February in Genesco's GSW (General Shoe Warehouse) outlet division, which comprises 15 stores in the United States. The new Richter system is helping GSW to streamline operations by reducing shortages, improving inventory turns, and efficiently shifting inventory among store locations to match buying trends. In the coming months, Genesco will roll out Richter Merchandising to nearly all of its 596 stores, including the Jarman chain, Journeys, and Johnston & Murphy.
"Richter Merchandising provides the multi-dimensional sizing and other shoe-industry specific capabilities we need on a state-of-the-art client/server system that integrates easily with the other components of our new system," said Dennis Harris, director of Information Services at Genesco. "In addition, Richter Merchandising will provide us the flexibility we need in a merchandising support system to meet our changing needs as we grow our retail divisions and meet our customer's needs." "Richter is enthusiastic about supporting Genesco and its many prestigious brands with our flagship product, which is optimized specifically to support the merchandising of footwear and apparel," said Paul Butare, Richter chief executive officer. "Genesco's foresight in investing in state-of-the-art information systems such as Richter's will provide them with cost-effective and efficient solutions. Genesco is among the vanguard of companies recognizing the strategic and competitive advantages of improving operations through the intelligent application of technology". The Richter implementation is part of a long-term Genesco project to migrate from a homegrown legacy IBM-mainframe-based system to an IBM RS/6000 SP Highnode 8 processor platform running an Oracle database at the heart of a UNIX and Windows NT client/server network. The Richter software is integrated with four other systems that make use of the Oracle database: PeopleSoft Financials, an STR point-of-sale (POS) system, Commander and a Cognos decision-support system. In addition, Richter Merchandising integrates with a homegrown distribution and wholesale system, and will integrate with the ABT wholesale replacement system when it is implemented this year. Genesco makes use of nearly every module in the Merchandising package, including Replenishment, Purchase Order Management, Allocation, Price Change and Distribution. Beginning with the Jarman implementation, Genesco also will use the Richter EDI module, which automatically sends completed purchase orders to suppliers through standard EDI procedures. Genesco also expects to benefit from the Suggested Transfer module, which automatically recommends store-to-store stock transfers in response to buying patterns, and from the Oracle relational database's on-line inquiry capability, for improved decision making. A Richter services team is working with the Genesco staff along with CFT Consulting, Inc. to implement the solution, which will have nearly 100 users when completed later this year. Among the innovative interfaces developed with the Genesco team is one that takes advantage of Genesco's custom system for locating the nearest store or warehouse that has a particular shoe size and style in response to in-store customer requests. Once the shoe is located, Genesco's POS system and the Richter system will automatically process the order to have the merchandise shipped. |