Retail Section
Winning Effort
The 2014 Hermes Retail Week Supply Chain Awards honored a number of companies. The Clipper Online Fulfillment Initiative of the Year went to Shop Direct with ArrowX, Project Delight: Two-man Diary Booking. The Damco Supply Chain Technology of the Year award was presented to Otto with Blue Yonder, Closed Loop.
The iForce Distribution & Warehouse Initiative of the Year went to John Lewis, Omnichannel Fulfillment, while the BiS Henderson Third Party Logistics Provider of the Year was DHL. The Green Supply Chain Initiative of the Year award was presented to Sainsbury’s with Carrier Transicold, NaturaLINE Trial.
Other awards presented included The Hermes Multichannel Project of the Year, awarded to Shop Direct with Kewill, Drop Ship for World Class Digital. The Allport Cargo Services International Supply Chain Project of the Year went to Sweaty Betty with Torque Logistics. The Ligentia Supply Chain Team of the Year recognized John Lewis, Customer Delivery Technical Training team (winner) and TM Lewin with Torque Logistics team (highly commended).
The Norbert Dentressangle Supply Chain Sourcing Initiative of the Year went to The East of England Co-operative, Sourced Locally. The Cinram Supply Chain Collaboration Award of the Year was presented to ASOS with DPD UK, Retail Hub Service. The MetaPack Transport Initiative of the Year went to Starbucks with Gist, Creating the Customer-focused Supply Chain.
The Wincanton Supply Chain Innovation Project of the Year was awarded to NOVUS, Logistics and Supply Chain Degree, and the Yodel Supply Chain Rising Star of the Year was presented to Tom Dart from Asda. The winner of the Hermes Grand Prix Award was Asos.
Collaborative Approach
When examining the companies and initiatives that were highlighted in the 2014 Hermes Retail Week Supply Chain Awards, it is easy to see why their efforts are on the cutting edge. Kewill – a provider of innovative software for supply chain execution – and Shop Direct – a U.K. multi-brand digital retailer – utilized collaboration to the benefit of both organizations.
Shop Direct has been a Kewill customer for years, having deployed the Kewill Trade web-based supply chain and event management solution. It enables the electronic exchange of order data and documentation, automates the drop ship process, and provides full visibility of orders fulfilled by Shop Direct’s drop ship suppliers.
The two organizations worked together on their Drop Ship for World Class Digital project, which incorporated a series of enhancements to the implementation of Kewill Trade. The project was designed to future-proof the drop ship fulfillment model and streamline the customer experience, and it was able to make orders fulfilled via drop ship indistinguishable from orders fulfilled via distribution centers. This collaborative effort is why Kewill and Shop Direct won the Multichannel Project of the Year award.
“This award recognizes the central role of drop ship in a successful multichannel retail strategy and the importance of having full visibility and control of the drop ship supplier base, which can be difficult to achieve as stock is not physically present in the retailer’s warehouses,” Kewill’s Chief Marketing Officer Evan Puzey said in a statement. “We are delighted to see the achievements of the Kewill and Shop Direct teams recognized in this way, with this win demonstrating how using the right technology can support retail businesses in achieving omni-channel success.”
In the end, all of these companies understand the customer-driven reality of the new retail supply chain. Through innovation and collaboration, these companies are succeeding because they understand that supply chain success extends from the back of the house all the way to the sales floor.