Solutions Section
Integrated Solutions
One newer solution to hit the market came from Citi. Through its Treasury and Trade Solutions unit, Citi recently announced the launch of Citi Integrated Payables Solutions. It is being billed as a suite of analytics, advisory and payment services that can assist organizations in optimizing their working capital and maximizing efficiency across their complete supply chain.
Among the system’s touted benefits are proprietary analytics, advisory services, client-to-bank connectivity channels and universal supplier on-boarding mechanisms. Citi says all of these features are intended to help address an organization’s continuum of suppliers, and that users will be able to influence working capital, reduce total costs, minimize supply chain risk and support their suppliers.
“The launch of Integrated Payables Solutions will benefit our clients greatly, allowing them to identify new opportunities to create value within their business systems,” Global Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions Naveed Sultan said when the solution was released. “Citi is among the industry leaders in designing adjacent and disruptive solutions that not only create significant value for our clients, but continue to scale globally to transition banking to a digital world.”
Supporting the new product suite is Citi Working Capital Analytics, a program that uses proprietary algorithms and rules to analyze a client’s financial supply chain and produce comprehensive multi-product recommendations on available opportunities. Findings can then be presented using Citi Interactive Solutions, an award-winning sales tool, which allows clients to explore recommendations and perform scenario modeling in real-time.
Predictive Analytics
Another example of the increasing use of analytics in the supply chain is Shane Co.’s recent partnership with Retalon. Shane Co. is the largest privately owned jewelry retailer in America, and Retalon is a provider of retail predictive analytics solutions. Shane Co. implemented Retalon’s Inventory and Assortment Management solution to maintain product assortment and inventory levels across all channels.
“Shane Co.’s business is very complex. We have thousands of jewelry products and loose gemstones that all have a unique SKU number,” said Tom Shane, the Chairman of Shane Co. “Retalon helps us manage them more quickly and accurately than we ever could before.”
Using Retalon, Shane Co. has been able to reduce one of its main product lines by 40 percent, while also increasing sales in that same product line by 20 percent. Shane Co.’s previous process required cumbersome data analysis, taking more than a month to complete. Using Retalon’s predictive analytics solutions, Shane Co. was able to rebalance all of its merchandise in just 15 minutes.
“It’s crucial for us to maintain accurate inventory levels and balanced assortment throughout all of our channels, from distribution centers to stores and e-commerce,” said Patrick Laufenburger, who serves as the director of business intelligence and merchandising systems at Shane Co. “Retalon’s unique approach to omnichannel retailing allows us to optimize every step of our business process with a global perspective, from purchasing to allocation, replenishment and inter-store balancing.”
Retalon’s Assortment Diversification solution is part of the integrated platform designed to effectively manage inventory, build executable merchandise and assortment plans and optimize price and markdown strategies for retail businesses.
“We are thrilled to be working with a very creative and innovative team at Shane Co. There is nothing better than the right tool in the right hands,” said Retalon CEO Mark Krupnik. “This is the kind of result retailers can expect when their vision and business processes are supported by advanced predictive analytics.”