Kirkland’s cuts freight costs with visibility

Challenge

• Aggressive growth plan: Kirkland's identified supply chain improvement as a critical initiative with a focus on improving visibility to global inventory movements for management seeking decision support.
• Centralizing distribution hub: the company switched from a direct-to-store model and needed a WMS as the backbone of its IT infrastructure.
• International shipment visibility: limited product visibility, especially in Kirkland's yard and supplier network, affected ETA expectations and complicated downstream planning for distribution center labor, store promotions and transportation moves.

Solution

• Rapid results: Infios WM (Warehouse Management) Advantage with host and conveyor systems delivered measurable efficiency improvements in throughput, accuracy, unit costs and cycle times.
• Optimizing yard activities: Infios Yard provides real-time information, intelligent work direction and complete visibility into trucks, trailers, drivers, goods and materials, from shipment arrival at the yard through final product delivery to its destination.
• Global shipment awareness: Infios supplier management enabled visibility to inbound international shipments, supporting real-time communication and paperless document exchange with 188 active vendors. Advanced shipment notices provided Kirkland's stores with improved awareness of inbound inventory.