In the heavily custom store fixture industry, the seeds of supply chain management are beginning to take root, providing retailers, designers, and manufacturers with new abilities to track every stage of fixture manufacturing, delivery, and installation. The process that makes this possible, supply chain management, coordinates the flow of material, information, and finance so that the information can be accessed and used by everyone involved in a fixturing project-customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and installers.

Driven by shorter lead times, the need for economies of scale and accountability, and the challenge of forecasting in an unpredictable economy, sharing of information and redistributing of responsibilities through supply chain management can provide a competitive advantage for companies of all sizes.

What This Means for Fixture Buyers

Consolidating shipments becomes much easier using supply chain management. General manager Robert McDonald, says his company, Tarrant, one of the Leggett & Platt companies, now gathers together all of the components and products that its various sister plants have created for a particular retailer before shipping them out to the stores. Tarrant then sends its own crews to the stores to do the installation. "For visual merchandising and store fixturing, we provide one stop shopping," says McDonald.

Michael Carger, vice president-marketing services for L.A. Darling, explains that supply chain management is one more way his company is responding to how retailers want to do business. "We have to put away our paradigms of how we manufacture. Retailers ask us to consolidate shipments, and we do. We're strong in metal and wood, but if our customer needs acrylic, we'll get acrylic for them," says Carger.

Manufacturers, however, aren't the only ones benefiting from these new techniques. Joe Perdew, director of interior construction for Target, says his company has established its own consolidation center for fixturing accessories. These accessories represent 9 percent of the total cost of the store, but 80 percent of the volume of parts. By bulk shipping the parts to new and remodeled stores, Target both streamlines the process and saves time and money.

Sharing Information

When vendors and customers share information, they can also save resources. Perdew collects monthly inventory reports from his vendors. Tarrant runs weekly inventory reports and provides information to retail customers who request it.

Online Tracking

Online, real-time exchange is the next evolution of information sharing. L.A. Darling uses Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to streamline communications and manage projects with retail customers. L.A. Darling gives customers a password that they can use to access the system online. Customers can get real-time forecasts, check additional commitments, status of orders, carriers for shipments, shipping status and PRO numbers. Customers who want the details can even get specifics such as pallet numbers, box numbers and box inventories. The software even links with UPS so customers can continue to track orders once they've entered UPS's system. "If a retailer wants to be in the know, they can be-from anywhere," says Carger.

There's also a new web-based platform called "Workspace," designed specifically for the retail fixture and display industries by NASFM member WiseConnect, a collaborative software developer. With a browser and an Internet connection, Workspace provides a single access point and instant visibility to design, store planning, sales, manufacturing, shipping and installation activities, according to Molly Pengra, marketing director of 7WiseConnect Inc.

An Added Benefit

More than reducing costs and increasing efficiency, a properly managed supply chain creates value, according to a recent article in Supply Chain Management Review. Companies of all sizes can realize cost savings, decreased lead times, and add value through integrated supply chain management.