3,500
SKUs
2,500
Stores
18
DCs
38%
Decrease in stock-outs
SOK is a hard discount retailer that grew from 1,200 stores in 2012 to 2,500 stores in 2015 and kept growing. It manages 3,500 SKUs across 18 distribution centers. Its replenishment process was still manual, responding to store orders rather than getting ahead of them.
So SOK partnered with Solvoyo to automate and integrate store replenishment and purchase order planning on a single platform. The result is a 38% decrease in stock-outs, along with 13% fewer stock-days and 8% less waste on short shelf-life products.
Manual Replenishment Could Not Keep Pace with Rapid Growth
Replenishment at SOK ran manually, reacting to store orders instead of using advanced analytics. That left the company holding a difficult balance: managing profitability and keeping shelves full while growing fast.
The problem had three parts:
- A manual process that responded to store orders and did not use advanced analytics
- Profitability to protect and shelves to keep full during rapid growth
- Availability to balance against inventory holding costs
Availability and holding cost pull against each other, and SOK was managing both with a process that only reacted to orders.
A Digital Platform for Demand-Driven Replenishment Planning
Solvoyo provided a digital planning platform that combines analytical capabilities with demand-driven replenishment.
Store replenishment and purchase order planning are automated and integrated on that platform, using intelligent plans built on advanced analytics.
Efficient demand-driven replenishment planning reduced excess stock and minimized stock-outs.
38% Fewer Stock-Outs and 8% Less Waste on Short Shelf-Life Products
SOK’s stock-outs decreased by 38% after the shift to demand-driven, automated replenishment. Inventory, waste, and planner productivity improved as well:
- 13% reduction in stock-days
- 8% decrease in waste for short shelf-life products
- Improved planner productivity
What Does This Mean for You?
Growing fast while keeping shelves full and margins healthy is a trade-off that demand-driven, automated replenishment is built to solve. SOK moved from a manual process that responded to store orders to demand-driven, automated replenishment, and its stock-outs fell by 38%.
If your store network is growing faster than your replenishment process, the balance between availability and inventory holding cost gets harder to hold by hand. SOK automated store replenishment and purchase order planning on one platform to solve it.
About Company
SOK is a hard discount retailer that grew from 1,200 stores in 2012 to 2,500 stores in 2015, managing 3,500 SKUs across 18 distribution centers.
Achievements
38% decrease in stock-outs
13% reduction in stock-days
8% decrease in waste for short shelf-life products
Don’t take our word for it
In the super-competitive hard discount market, Solvoyo’s solution and support not only handle our scale effectively, but they also produce measurable results – quickly. We grew from 1,200 stores in 2012 to 2,500 stores in 2015 and will continue to grow fast. It was imperative that we partner with a solution provider that became our ‘smart brains’ at stores and DCs.
With a network of 9800 stores, supply chain disruptions and uncertainty are normal for us, we keep opening hundreds of new stores and multiple DCs every year. With advanced analytics and automation, we planned for this level of complexity way ahead of our competitors.
Solvoyo is not just a great platform to support your replenishment process. It is also a great team to support you with insights and guidance on the road to improved efficiency. A true partnership.
