the bluelinx story: five proven ways strategic information ...€¦ · the bluelinx story: five...
TRANSCRIPT
The BlueLinx Story: Five Proven Ways Strategic Information
Can Help Distributors Succeed
event sponsor produced by
April 12, 2012
[email protected] www.stibosystems.com
Download handouts (PDF) : www.mdm.com/slides or [email protected]
Thomas P. Gale Publisher Modern Distribution Management
Angela Culver Director of Marketing Stibo Systems, Inc.
Margaret C. Hulme Director of Application Development and E-Commerce BlueLinx Corporation
Strategic Information Webcast Speakers
Driving Sales During the Economic Downturn
with Stibo Systems
Five Proven Ways Strategic Information Can Help Distributors Succeed
Creating Strategic Information Delivers…
1
Reduce Expenses
2
Increase Efficiency
3
Optimize Inventory
4
Buy Smarter
1 Reduce Expenses
5
Speed Time to Market
Success
History… Largest Building Products Distributor in United States Over 50 Years of Experience Spun off from GA Pacific in 2004 Extensive Network
60 Warehouses
600 Tractors
1000 Trailers
11,500+ Customers
25,000+ Locations
New US Privately Owned Housing Starts
1/00 1/2002 1/2004 1/2006 1/2008 1/2010 1/12
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
10 Year Chart
2006 Treat Strategic Information as a Company Asset not a Technical Asset ✔Accurate Relevant & Actionable Product Data ✔To be Shared from a Single Source with Sales,
Marketing Product Management, Logistics and Finance, Customer and Suppliers
✔Forecasting & Supply Chain Planning Package ✔Master Data Management for Product Data
It All Started in the Boom… Year: Corporate Objective: Goals: Results:
Then the Decline Began… 2008 Maintain Position in Market and Stabilize Overall Spending ✔Reduce Expenses ✔Increase Efficiency ✔Optimize Inventory ✔Buy Smarter ✔Speed Time to Market
Expand MDM Initiative
Year: Corporate Objective: Goals: Solution:
Next Steps…
Why a Master Data Mgmt Solution? Product Information is one of BlueLinx
Foundations 300,000+ SKU’s 3+ Systems to Manage Data Same Product – Multiple Item Numbers
The State of the Data Difficulty Finding Products Same Item in the System – up to 4x Data did not Match our Vendors Challenge for the Supply Planners
Data Purge 18 months Timeframe
Removed Duplicate Data
Reduce SKUs
from 300,000 to
80,000
Tighter Controls
Workflow Defined
Central Hub for other Business Systems
Data Governance
Increased Product Description Size Set Required Attributes Increased from 300 to 500 Key Data Points 3 Standard Description Templates Push Data to:
o eCommerce o Warehouse o Transportation o Sales
Data Attribution
Overall System Improvements Supply and Demand Forecasting Warehouse and Logistics Transportation E-Commerce
Finding Products ~ Puzzle Solved
1. Happenstance
2. Cheat
3. Follow the Directions
8! X 37 x 12!/2 x 211 ≈ 4.33 x 1019
Data Governance
Data Quality (Purge)
Attribution Assignment
Master Data Management
Solution 1
Reduce Expenses
5 Speed Time to Market
4 Buy Smarter
3 Optimize Inventory
2 Increase Efficiency
1
Reduce Expenses
Centralizing clean product and operational data across branches and business divisions significantly reduces operational expenses.
Linking operational information through an integrated process improves collaboration between trading partners.
A single trusted source of product information for the entire business improves accuracy and minimizes overstocks.
Reliable data leads to better forecasting and ability to optimize buying power.
Share centrally managed and more accurate product information with websites, e-Commerce applications, catalogs and other printed media, sales training materials and other channels.
2
Increase Efficiency
3
Optimize Inventory
4
Buy Smarter
5
Speed Time to Market
