Within the context of a previous call for tenders, a new partner had been selected to take over B2B warehouse logistics on its logistics premises. After VCE took over the project management, the first step was to concretise the existing performance specification. For this purpose, technical workshops were held with all functional areas (purchasing, import, operations, auditing, sales, IT) and the requirements for the future central warehouse were documented in the areas of inbound, outbound and inventory management as well as VAS and QC. Further requirements resulted from the branch processes and customer requirements.
The collected requirements were made available to the future service provider and transferred into a holistic logistics concept for all relevant material flows (new shoes, new accessories and seasonal goods). Through continuous synchronisation of the requirements between Kienast, the new service provider for B2B and the existing service provider for B2C, the logistics concept could be further optimised, which resulted in an expansion of the project scope.
Throughout the IT design phase, the future data flow between Kienast and the two logistics service providers (B2B and B2C), including interfaces, was specified and the necessary modifications to the Kienast systems were defined. During this, the requirements for a web-based SCM tool introduced by Kienast in parallel were also worked out in order to support specific customer processes such as QC. The business requirements and the results from the IT design were formally documented and handed over to IT for the elaboration of the technical solutions and the integration into the development.
During the IT development, IT test cases were worked out and the detailed time planning for the implementation phase including testing, relocation of stocks, go-live and ramp-up phase was prepared. Through the joint selection of suitable test goods and the ongoing coordination between the responsible persons of all departments, a successful test phase could be carried out and the seamless branch supply could be ensured – for shoes and accessories. After the go-live, the project conclusion was prepared, and the further optimisation approaches identified during the project were handed over to Kienast.
Image: © Kienast – www.kienast-schuhe.de