Corset Shop marks apparel to their retail stores' specifications so it can be received in the back room and sped to the selling floor. As a result of compliance marking and automation improvements, Corset Shop enjoys a 25% increase in productivity and throughput.
NEWARK, New Jersey - The final link of the Retail Logistics Supply Chain is Floor-Ready Merchandise (FRM). The system works when retailers can receive merchandise and speed it to the sales floor, knowing it's marked to their specifications for style, size, color and price.
At checkout, the item's UPC bar code is scanned to automatically price the item, balance inventory and reorder stock. Items in demand by consumers can be automatically reordered at store level. FRM takes human error and delay out of the equation while it increases productivity and profitability.
Compliance Marking Since 1985
Corset Shop, based in Newark, New Jersey, distributes women's underwear and sleepwear for national retail chains, including their company owned stores under the name Bare Necessities (www.barenecessities.com). In 1985, they began to field requests from their retail customers to start UPC item ID marking of the 8 million SKUs.
"The start-up was challenging," said Dennis Hanvey, Operations Manager of Corset Shop Distribution Center. "We had trouble keeping up with the high-volume tagging requirements and our old bar code printers couldn't keep up. They kept breaking down. When you're tagging upwards of 8 million items a year, any glitch in the end game can back up your production line and shut you down."
A shutdown of production was the last thing Hanvey wanted, so he called in systems consultant Jim Graziano of Calmon USA, located just five minutes away in Hillside, New Jersey.
A vital part of their process is the Item ID bar code ticketing and UCC/EAN-128 bar code labeling in the distribution center. Every garment must be properly ticketed with the size, style number, price and UPC item ID bar code. Graziano performed a cost/quality analysis of the operation and determined the problems caused by tag printing and how to solve them.
"Their printing solution had to accomplish three important things," explained Graziano. "They needed to achieve higher volume, better quality and more reliability."
25% Productivity Increase
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Before packing and shipping, merchandise is scanned into the system to balance inventory and update the Purchase Order system.
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Graziano recommended two new Sato XL 400 bar code printers to meet their customers' requests for bar code ticketing. The small footprint, sturdy construction and competitive price were all factors in recommending the Sato XL 400. The printers imprint rolls of tags with variable information, then cut and stack the tags in order. Each printer prints over 120,000 (3" x 1.25") tags per shift, operating at eight inches per second. Now, Corset Shop can easily handle 8 million tags per year, increasing their productivity by 25 percent.
"The PC-driven Sato printers helped them keep up with their production demands because we integrated the printers into the mainframe computer system," said Graziano. At the heart of the system is a proprietary software program that pulls data from the Purchase Order system. "This eliminates human error since there's no keying of information. The result is increased accuracy and speed."
A PCMCIA card containing a variety of type fonts is installed in each of the printer's motherboards, allowing the software to send tag data to the appropriate printer. Data is processed quickly with the 32-bit RISC processor. Each printer images, prints, cuts and stacks immediately, separating each batch of tags with a flag ticket. The pizza cutter-style blade is enclosed for safety reasons.
Service and Support Vital
The eight million garments that pass through the Corset Shop Distribution Center must be properly ticketed with the size, style number, price and UPC item ID bar code. |
The Corset Shop installation went smoothly, starting with the "plug and play" features of the Sato printer. They were up and running in
only in 60 minutes.
Service, support and preventative maintenance were the most important factors for Hanvey because "we know the price we pay if a printer is down. So, we make it a priority to clean and dust the printers and trouble shoot errors. We want potential problems identified and solved quickly, and we rely on Calmon USA to provide excellent support. My issue is service, so I negotiated a performance guarantee with the sale. If a machine goes down for some reason, I know my VAR will deliver a loaner immediately to keep production on schedule."
Benefits of Automation for Vendors
- Increased accuracy
- Improved productivity
- Elimination of errors
- Reduction in proof of deliveries
- Increased cash flow
- Gain a competitive edge
- Meet a trading partner's requests/mandates for labeling
By automating their processes to meet customer compliance standards, Corset Shop realized the following benefits by using their bar code system internally:
- Increased efficiency - Apparel is bar coded and scanned thereby increasing efficiency, tracking and control.
- Increased productivity - Apparel can be moved faster, easier and at a lower cost.
- Increased accuracy - Data key entry errors are eliminated, saving the time and money required to correct them.
- Increased business - On-time, on-target deliveries reduce costs and provide the competitive edge needed to gain more business.
For more information, contact:
SATO America, Inc.
10350A Nations Ford Road Charlotte, NC 28273
Phone: (704) 644-1650
Fax: (704) 644-1659
http://www.satoamerica.com
or
Calmon USA - (908) 436-2400
Edited versions of this story have appeared in the following publications:
May/June 1999 issue of Consumer Goods
June 1999 issue of Retail Systems Reseller
October 1999 issue of Bobbin |
