Tracking Orders via the Supply Chain, Cataloger Improves Fulfillment
Blinco System' 3rdwave Allows Rothco to Prepare for Order Surges
RETAIL TECH, February 2000 - By Deena M. Amato-McCoy

Rothco, a Smithtown, NY-based cataloger of military and outdoor clothes and accessories, is doing a better job these days at fulfilling customer orders and responding to higher order volumes. How? By employing a supply chain application that enables the company to track merchandise filtering into and out of its distribution center (DC).

Rothco began implementing the application - Windows-based 3rdwave solution from Blinco Systems Inc., Toronto - last spring. The application, which is integrated into Rothco's client/server network, makes available information related to the inbound and outbound movement of goods - beginning from the time a purchase order is placed, continuing as items are delivered to the distribution center, and concluding when orders are picked for customer distribution. 3rdwave replaced Rothco's Pro4 application, a character-based, proprietary system that was not integrated into its sales, inventory and distribution systems.

"We needed an application that would match our front-end operations to our legacy systems, so we could synchronize our order entry and fulfillment systems," says Anthony Prossi, director of information systems for the $45 million Rothco. "We only make money if we can fulfill orders and send them to our customers. To achieve that we need a system that will track our orders en route to our distribution center."

"There is an urgency of demand and time constraints that plague the fashion industry," says Ned Blinick, vice president of sales and marketing for Blinco, provider 3rdwave supply chain and logistics management solutions. "With a seamless view of the pipeline, Rothco has a window of opportunity and can prepare for order surges. If a retailer misses this window of opportunity, it will not have enough stock available and its profits will be thrown out the window."

3rdwave links Rothco's domestic distribution operations, inbound tracking, order entry, inventory control, general ledger system and accounting applications. All data flows into an Oracle database, which Rothco uses for forecasting during busy seasons or monthly peaks.

At Rothco, as a purchase order is created, it is electronically transmitted to the apparel vendor that fulfills the order. When the vendor confirms that the order is en route, Rothco puts the estimated date and time of arrival into its database. The system is again updated once the delivery hits the loading dock of Rothco's 57,000 square foot facility.
When customer orders are scheduled for fulfillment, Rothco employees query the database to ensure that specific items are in stock or in transit to the distribution center.

Each time data is put into the inventory system, 3rdwave updates the connecting applications to keep a real-time view of the supply chain pipeline. This maintains an SKU-level inventory that details color, size and special pricing for certain customers. By using 3rdwave to link front and back office functions, Rothco is achieving more than a 99% availability rate, says Prossi.

3rdwave is supporting more than 620 orders per hour during Rothco's peak periods, Prossi says, and is facilitating a 20% productivity improvement. "Speed is very important," he explains. "A customer could place an order with multiple sizes and styles per line. We use our graphical user interface (GUI) to bring up a grid that lets us enter sizes into the system quickly. The template reduces online order entry errors, which provides better customer service."

This year, Rothco plans to link the supply chain execution solution to its executive information system "to give the 'big guys' an idea of what is happening," Prossi says. "We are developing more tools to enable senior management to access sales analysis, generate reports and perform forecasting."

3rdwave can be customized and scaled to accommodate companies ranging from $20 million in revenue to $4 billion. A return-on-investment could happen within a year, says Blinick.

For related information, please go to:
3rdwave Retail
3rdwave Fashion
3rdwave CGD (for consumer goods distributors)
Rothco Case Study