The Vision Is to Inspire
The embryo of the Stadium stores that exist in Sweden, Denmark and Finland today started its life in 1974 with the establishment of a small sporting goods outlet in Norrköping, Sweden, called Spiralen Sport. Business boomed, and the vision, which remains unchanged today, was to inspire people to lead an active, fun, and healthy life. The business concept was gradually developed and resulted in the very first Stadium store, which opened in Stockholm in 1987. Today there are more than 100 stores in the Nordic region.
Efficient Processes Are Crucial
Current trends in sport and health mean good times for sports equipment chains such as Stadium. The company is also aiming to increase its revenue by about 10 percent per annum. Moreover, it wants to fine-tune processes for supply chain management and financials to further improve profitability.
“Efficient processes for supply chain management and stock replenishment are crucial to us,” says Stefan Maxeby, project manager at Stadium. “Before we implemented IFS Applications we had to handle many of these processes manually, which wasn’t viable for us because we wanted to be one of the leading players in the trade.”
Demanding Manual Work
Maxeby explains that the previous way of working meant a large number of manual contacts between stores, service offices, and suppliers. It is not difficult to understand that these consumed a lot of time and that efficient IT support would improve the situation.
IFS Applications Implemented in 2000
As early as 2000, Stadium implemented financials components from IFS to coordinate all the financials processes for the Swedish stores. That was the beginning of the process of automation that characterizes the way Stadium works today.
“We are successively automating our stock flows thanks to IFS Applications,” explains Maxeby. “The solution provides each store with daily updates on what and how much we have sold of various items. The stores are then automatically replenished based on the highest and lowest levels we defined in the system. Our aim is to find the optimal balance between inventory levels and demand.”
Vital Competitive Advantages
IFS consultants worked closely with Stadium to create a supply chain management solution that is specially designed for Stadium but which can easily be implemented in other companies in the retail business. This concept has already borne fruit. Byggmax, a Swedish supplier of building materials with a nationwide chain of 35 stores, implemented IFS Applications in a matter of months.
Supply Chain Management Is Business-Critical
As the company has grown, it has invested heavily in developing its supply chain processes. Stefan Maxeby is in charge of the upgrade to the newer version of IFS Applications.
“The functionality in IFS Applications is a prerequisite for being able to create the efficiency required for a company of our size,” comments Maxeby. “Because several of our suppliers are in Asia lead times are often long, which places even more demands on our purchase planning and IT support. When our buyers have decided what and how much we will buy in to our distribution center, the supplier chain software takes over and ensures that each store gets the products that its customers are asking for.”
Higher Customer Demands in the Future
Many of us consumers expect to find our exact size and the color we prefer in the store we visit. This is a trend that Maxeby recognizes. “Our consumers are becoming increasingly aware, so to be able to compete in today’s tough business climate the decisive factor is the ability to provide customers with the levels of service they expect.”
To meet this challenge, IFS and Stadium are creating a system that can provide Stadium with detailed sales forecasts based on seasonality, trends, campaigns, and previous sales data. This is what Stadium hopes will give its competitors a tougher fight in the battle for customers.
About Stadium
Stadium is a Swedish sport retailer with more than 100 stores in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Its vision is to inspire people to lead a fun, active and healthy life. The Stadium stores are owned by the Parent Company, Stadium AB, which is also the service office for the stores. Stadium AB also includes 10 other operations and stores.
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