News

European shoe retailer rolls out supplier management solution

November 7, 2013

HR Group, one of the largest shoe distributors in Europe with approximately 2,700 points of sale in 20 countries, is implementing TXTChain, TXT’s supplier relationship management software, in order to collaborate more effectively with global suppliers.

According to the companies, the TXTChain solution is a collaborative web platform to manage orders, coordinate and track deliveries with global suppliers and third party logistics providers. TXTChain will be used at HR Group by a team of 60 buyers, logistics and procurement staff for sourcing and planning daily deliveries up to six months in advance.

The retailer employs approximately 6,000 people and sells around 40 million pairs of shoes a year, with leading brands including Adidas and Dockers, as well as a range of own-label apparel and accessories, the news release said. Currently, HR Group manages about 100 deliveries every week. With TXTChain, Hamm Reno Group will handle all communications between the various departments involved in the procurement process. Moreover, the web-based platform will allow the integration of over 200 suppliers and all global logistics providers to work in a shared real-time environment.

Based from its headquarters in Germany, HR Group operates two central warehouses for distribution to its network of stores throughout Europe. The need to keep high levels of product availability, while minimizing stock across a fast growing retail network, meant that the company needed software to help it streamline all supplies upstream in the process. Before, it relied too heavily on a complex mix of spreadsheets, emails and phone calls to keep track of what was going on with numerous suppliers — sometimes as far afield as China, with long lead times compounding the problem.

“We needed to automate order management, more accurately plan our global deliveries and gain more visibility into delivery progress and any potential delays to keep us in synch with our international retail business,” said Felix Finger, Executive Director, HR Group.

Finger says that the company will use the TXT software for transmitting orders from its ERP system to suppliers, confirming orders, planning delivery dates, as well as detecting possible delays and responding appropriately.

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