Please use this link to register for the third trimester of 2015 classes.

Based on Gartner Group’s national research, Tim Payne, Vice President of Research for Gartner Group, will present the four most challenging issues for Retail Organisations when it comes to operational planning. Christine Ogden, Merchandising Operations Manager for SuperCheapAuto, the largest Auto Parts Retailer in Australia & New Zealand, will validate how SuperCheapAuto employed GAINS to master these 4 challenges. Once mastered, the SuperCheapAuto team, in 12 months, was able to increase corporate EBIT by 11% while opening 30 new stores with no increase in inventory investment.

Watch the Webinar

Will Benton, CEO of GAINSystems was interviewed by SupplyChainBrain regarding Inventory Optimisation (see link below). In the interview he clarifies the definition of true optimisation and dispels many of the errant claims to ‘optimisation’ that are, in fact, merely inventory management methods.

Watch the interview

After achieving much success with its retail planning implementation, Australian supply chain consulting firm GRA has again partnered with Officeworks to develop the business’s planning function, including significant improvements to processes and systems, with the integration of GRA’s flagship forecasting and planning software, GAINS, and its IT platforms.

With revenues of $1.5 billion and 150 stores, Officeworks is Australia's leading retailer and supplier of office products and solutions for home, business and education needs, and has joined GRA’s extensive list of blue-chip clients. Officeworks is Australia’s largest office supplies retailer, catering for households and businesses of every size with around 15,000 products across a range of departments. Officeworks provides customers with three easy ways to shop - in store, online or by phone.

GRA Partner Luke Tomkin said: “We’re excited to help another retail client implement a truly demand-driven supply chain; especially one with such a significant footprint across Australia’s retail landscape.  Officeworks offers its customers what they need, when they need it and at the lowest prices. Just in implementing this solution demonstrates its ongoing commitment to this promise.

“For a company like Officeworks, demand planning every product at every location uniquely equates to more than 1.8 million forecasts on a daily basis, no small feat. So it requires both sophisticated business processes and planning systems,” he continued.

“Couple that with Officeworks’ customer service promise and multiple channels to market and you have a big challenge, but one that offers big rewards.  What Officeworks has achieved with GRA’s help will substantially improve the customer experience whilst reducing operating costs and excess inventory. 

“Competitive pressures mean supply chains need to become increasingly responsive to customer needs, and enabling a bottom-up demand driven planning process is critical in achieving this,” he said

“As with all our clients, we look forward to a long term partnership with Officeworks.  This is just one step in optimising Officeworks’ supply chain and planning functions.  It is an exciting journey.  Delivering results is what drives our culture, and for Officeworks that means ensuring they meet their customer service promise; what you need, when you need it and all at the lowest prices,” Mr Tomkin concluded.

OCTOBER 29, 2010Australian supply chain consulting firm GRA is achieving continued success in the pharmaceutical industry,with Clifford Hallam Healthcare Pty Ltd (CH2), Australia's leading wholesaler and distributor of healthcareproducts and services, joining its list of blue-chip clients. CH2 will begin using GRA's flagship forecasting andplanning software, GAINS, later this year.

With revenues of approximately $800m and over 15,000 products, CH2 is Australia's largest pharmaceuticaland medical healthcare service provider. The company's 8,000 plus customers are located throughoutAustralia in metropolitan, regional and country areas and include public and private hospitals, aged care,primary care and veterinarians.

“Building on existing success in the pharmaceutical wholesale industry, we're looking forward to working withour new client partner to deliver market leading results,” said GRA Partner, Carter McNabb.

“GRA's forecasting and planning tool GAINS is the most powerful in its class, and the outstanding results ourclients achieve with substantial inventory reductions, reduced operating costs and increased service levels istestament to the tool's ability. With Symbion and now CH2 on board, GAINS is planning and optimising asignificant proportion of pharmacy and hospital distribution across Australia,” Mr McNabb said.

With significant inventory levels, national supply chains and stringent service level requirements,pharmaceutical wholesalers and distributors are well positioned to achieve sustainable benefits from "best ofbreed"GAINS forecasting and inventory optimisation software.

“We selected GRA and GAINS because their track record of delivering results to their clients is impressive. Welooked at a number of options in the market and decided that both their planning tool and implementationapproach were the best,” said Tim Cosgrave, National Procurement Manager for CH2.

“Financial performance and working capital efficiency are important to our shareholders, but customer servicelevels are critical to our position in the industry. Given our analysis of their experience and capabilities, we feltcomfortable that GRA would help us deliver greater financial returns, but at the same time increase serviceperformance to our customers,” said Mr Cosgrave.

Since 2001 GRA has been working with Symbion Pharmacy Services (SPS), one of Australia's leadingpharmaceutical wholesalers, to deliver enhanced forecasting and planning capabilities. The successfulimplementation of GAINS software has reduced inventory levels by 26 per cent and increased service levels to97 per cent. SPS achieved increased return on assets (ROA) and improved supply chain efficiency.

GAINS is a "best-of-breed"demand, inventory and supply chain planning and optimisation system with uniqueplanning capabilities that enable businesses to optimally balance the 4 C's - Capital, Costs, Capacity andCustomer service levels. Providing a powerful, fact based decision support at the strategic, tactical andoperational levels, GAINS is a time-tested solution with the proven ability to rapidly deliver results and createadditional value within the supply chain.

“On the surface other tools may appear to have similar functions, but GAINS has been developed and provenover the last three decades and is in a class of its own,” said Mr McNabb.

“Much of GRA's success comes from our proven methodologies for quickly delivering quantifiable andsustainable improvements in inventory, cost and service level performance. We achieve this by maintaining ahighly practical approach to implementation that ensures results are delivered by working closely with our clients.”

About GRA
GRA is Australia's premier specialist supply chain and logistics consulting firm. Founded in 1997, the companyoffers expert consulting, professional services and advanced planning systems across a broad range ofindustries throughout the Asia Pacific region.

GRA provides its clients with a competitive advantage by significantly improving margins, asset efficiency andsupply chain responsiveness. Work undertaken is at strategic, operational, systems implementation andtraining/education levels. Using proven methodologies for delivering real working capital, cost and servicelevel improvements, GRA's focus is bringing about real change and sustainable benefits for its clients.

GRA's clients include Amcor Fibre Packaging, Australian Defence Forces, Australia Post, Cadbury Schweppes,Cement Australia, Cummins Engine Australia, Fosters Australia, Honda Australia, Hunter Valley Coal, Mitre 10,Nestle Australia, OneSteel, Qantas, Reece, Sara Lee Australia, Super Cheap Auto and Wesfarmers Industrial &
Safety (Blackwoods).

About CH2
Clifford Hallam Healthcare Pty Ltd (CH2) is Australia?s largest wholesaler and distributor of healthcare productsand services to healthcare organisations. It is accredited to the current quality standard ISO 9001:2008.

With branches in each state, CH2 is committed to the ongoing implementation and maintenance of qualitycustomer service and management procedures to ensure the highest possible standards in its delivery ofproduct, back-up service and technical support.
CH2 carries a comprehensive range of medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, general hospitalconsumable items and healthcare equipment.

GRA supply chain consultants, has won the Australian Defence Force inventory software and supply chain consulting contract on the strength of delivering a documented $186,000,000 inventory reduction with a sustainable service level increase of 15+ percentage points within the RAAF.

GRA, a specialist demand, inventory and supply chain optimisation consulting firm, won a multi-year contract to provide inventory management services and implement GAINS, a best-of-breed inventory optimisation system, across the whole of the Defence Force.

The actual results achieved by the RAAF, a GRA and GAINS client since 1995, triggered the Defence Force-wide implementation. In fact the RAAF was so impressed with our service that a Certificate of Appreciation was awarded in recognition of “GRA’s outstanding contribution to the optimisation of the ADF’s aviation inventory”.

Some of the key results delivered to the RAAF include:
• $186M reduction in inventory (down from $675M to $489M)
• 42% reduction of the number of items held in RAAF warehouses
• 15+ percentage point increase in service levels
• 67% reduction in understocked items, 47% increase in balanced items and 37% reduction in overstocked items
• 70% reduction in the starting inventory management workload
• importantly – successful culture change

After a successful trial within the Royal Australian Navy, the Defence Force sponsored the tri-service implementation in order to realise the immense defence-wide benefits offered by GAINS.

Under the defence-wide implementation, GAINS will be managing the single largest inventory environment in Australia, which includes:
• $3 billion worth of inventory comprised of 1,500,000+ items (consumables and rotables) sourced from thousands of suppliers
• $500,000,000+ inventory spend per year
• a nationwide distribution network of 75 stocking locations
• consumables, spare parts and repairables
• a broad range of inventory types including aeronautical (jets, propeller planes & helicopters), automotive (trucks, tanks, off road and attack vehicles), marine (ships and submarines), electronics, safety equipment, communications, office, clothing and medical supplies GAINS will be managing inventory types ranging from commercially available automotive spares for the Army truck fleet to highly specialised parts for fighter aircraft engines and the ANZAC frigate’s radar system.

Defence pharmaceuticals inventory is also being managed by GAINS, as another GRA client – Mayne Health – is providing this service to the Defence Force.

The Defence Force-wide implementation, which is under way, is projected to deliver substantial cost savings and performance improvements. Based on the actual RAAF results achieved to date, a $300,000,000 inventory reduction is anticipated within Defence’s $1.3 billion consumables inventory segment.

GRA ’s success and on-going partnership with the Defence Force has been underpinned by its:
• customer service ethic
• ability to consistently and quickly deliver proven results
• unique and successful approach to culture change, which ensures that the results are sustainable – a key point of difference, particularly in Defence
• extensive knowledge and expertise in Supply Chain

Management, both at the theoretical and practical levels, encompassing the simplest to the most complex issues.

The Defence Force’s decision to implement across the tri-services was based on proven results.

GRA supply chain consultants congratulated Super Cheap Auto on its impressive half year results recently announced to the stock market.

Highlights achieved by the Group for six months to Dec 07 include:

• Group Net Profit After Tax up by 38% over PCP
• Group EBIT up by 36% over PCP
• Group sales up by 17% over PCP
• Effective working capital management kept net debt low ($9.3 million increase) relative to new store and refurbishment investment of $30.9 million.

The company's strong profit performance was driven by top-line growth, gross margin improvement, cost control and tight working capital management. 

Super Cheap Auto employs GRA's consulting services and uses the GAINS forecasting and planning tool. 

GRA and Super Cheap Auto Group have been invited to deliver a joint presentation to the delegates of this year’s SMART Conference. The case study, to be presented by Super Cheap’s Merchandising Operations Manager Christine Ogden and GRA’s Partner Carter McNabb, will detail:

1. The demand and supply chain management issues confronted by Super Cheap’s rapidly growing business
2. How the company addressed these challenges from a people, processes and systems perspective
3. The results achieved

Super Cheap’s challenge was to get over 10,000 products across more than 230 stores and five distribution centres to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity at the lowest possible cost, while the company continued to open stores at the rate of two per week. The need to plan inventory accurately to meet service levels at the lowest cost became a critical success factor.

The presentation will explain how the following contributed to ensuring a successful outcome:

1. The implementation of the advanced planning system GAINS
2. The redesign of processes and policies to take advantage of GAINS
3. Effective coach mentoring of the planning team

The results of this project were and continue to be outstanding: In one year to July 2006, inventories reduced by 12% (equating to a $16.2 million reduction across 234 stores), contributing a $12 million cash flow benefit, and service levels improved – and all in a depressed retail sales environment where many competitors struggled.

About GRA
GRA is an expert supply chain consulting firm specialising in demand, inventory and supply chain optimisation. We combine expert knowledge with best-of-breed planning and optimisation systems to take your supply chain to the next level. Our experience is your experience, and we work side-by-side with our clients to ensure change is successful and benefits are sustainable. Guaranteed results are typically delivered within 8-12 weeks, and we aim for a minimum 3:1 ROI.

About the SMART 2007 Conference
More than 70 leading local and international speakers will share their knowledge and experience of the latest supply chain technologies and implementation at the Smart 2007 Conference, 20-21 June at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. This year’s Smart Conference program - themed Supply Chain - The Engine for Growth – is complemented by a range of activities including workshops, site visits, an Education Forum and a variety of social and networking opportunities. Established in 1993, Smart Conference takes places once every two years and has steadily grown in attendance and reputation. At the last conference - held in 2005 - more than 900 delegates from six countries attended.

Hagemeyer North America has chosen demand and supply chain planning system GAINS to profit optimise their U.S. supply chain. Hagemeyer North America is a leading value-added B2B distributor of products and services with hundreds of locations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Hagemeyer chose the user-friendly inventory software GAINS solution because of its ability to optimise costs and service levels, handle millions of items, and forecast slow-moving lines.Bruce Lodge Hagemeyer’s U.S. Director of Inventory Management said:

“We are looking to GAINS to help us maintain our already high service levels but with greater efficiency and less inventory. GAINS will also enable us to reduce our workload in planning, purchasing, and warehousing operations.”

Hagemeyer, already a leader in the distribution industry, recognised additional areas for improvement in optimising their supply chain, including inventory sharing and cross docking. They selected the GAINS solution to address these areas, and help take their supply chain to the next level.

About Hagemeyer
With sales in excess of US$1.5 billion, Hagemeyer is a business-to-business distributor of services and products focusing on the industrial MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul), safety and electrical markets with 400 plus locations throughout North America. www.hagemeyerna.com

About GAINS
GAINS is a ‘best-of-breed’ demand, inventory and supply chain planning and optimisation system. GAINS’ unique planning capabilities enable businesses to optimally balance the 4 C’s - Capital, Costs, Capacity and Customer service levels. GAINS enables management by exception and provides powerful, fact based decision support at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. GAINS is a time-tested solution with the proven ability to rapidly deliver results and create additional value within the supply chain.