Remastering the art of fulfilment

With digital disruption transforming all aspects of the retail industry, retailers globally will need to ensure their ongoing strategies don’t become lost in a sea of new technology. Keeping the customer at the heart of business practice is essential to success.

This mindset shouldn’t just be applied when thinking about the store experience or front end of ecommerce platforms – a truly intelligent supply chain should be customer focused too.

Businesses globally are already streamlining their supply chains, with distribution centres becoming increasingly automated, optimising human and robotic assets to reduce costs by increasing the efficiency of stock movement.

But a uniform approach to fulfilment fails to consider the specific demands of each shipment.

“To thrive in a connected commerce world, retailers need to squeeze every ounce of efficiency from their systems"

To thrive in a connected commerce world, retailers need to squeeze every ounce of efficiency from their systems, requiring technology solutions that help big and small orders equally well.

Manhattan Associates – technology leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce – is challenging the norm, by encouraging retailers to provide tailor-made experiences in their warehouses, as well as their stores.

Push Possible, the theme for Manhattan’s EMEA Exchange 2018 event held in Amsterdam earlier this month, celebrated the software provider’s unique ability to help its clients transform their supply chains and create a seamless and outstanding customer experience across all channels.

Speaking from Amsterdam on October 9, president and chief executive Eddie Capel delivered a powerful keynote, telling the audience how Manhattan was continuously pushing the envelope to develop bigger, bolder and better ideas.

“We are tenacious in our commitment to propelling businesses forward,” he said.

That tenacity was apparent over the two-day event, with Manhattan encouraging delegates to work together to future-proof their supply chain operations in order to reap the rewards of the global omnichannel marketplace.

How to gain competitive advantage through automation

Manhattan follows the philosophy that technology isn’t the experience, it’s the enabler of the experience.

Its commitment to technology as an enabler has seen the solutions provider invest more in its warehouse management systems in 2018 than any other year in the business’ history.

Supply chain investment is a key area where retailers can gain a competitive advantage by speeding up the movement of stock.

Industry leaders at the Amsterdam event, including Asda, the Co-operative Group and Skechers, shared how they are delivering impressive results with Manhattan’s pioneering omnichannel, inventory and supply-chain innovations.

“Getting maximum throughput from a distribution centre requires orchestrating every asset to work together – humans and machines working in tandem to improve efficiency in a dynamic way”

Eddie Capel, Manhattan Associates

“Getting maximum throughput from a distribution centre requires orchestrating every asset to work together – humans and machines working in tandem to improve efficiency in a dynamic way,” said Capel.

Manhattan’s Active Supply Chain suite of solutions helps businesses create such efficiency, allowing them to succeed in a new retail environment that emphasises speed, convenience and personalisation.

Capel said Manhattan’s solutions “allow retailers to turn ‘what if’ into ‘right now’,” creating an environment where they can solve supply-chain inefficiencies, grow profitably and enable true customer engagement.

 In the words of Capel: “Fulfilment technology has never been cooler.”