River Island reaps rewards with Manhattan Associates supply chain solutions

Warehouse Management and Labour Management solutions play pivotal role to ensure smooth flow of goods during period of rapid expansion

Leading supply chain solutions provider, Manhattan Associates, Inc., recently announced that privately-owned fashion retailer River Island has successfully handled an increase of up to 40% in the volume of goods passing through its warehouse whilst maintaining and improving productivity levels, using Manhattan Associates Warehouse Management and Labour Management solutions. 

The River Island Clothing Company selected Manhattan Associates Warehouse Management solution as part of a programme to replace all of its legacy computer systems.  The decision to select Manhattan Associates solution and run it on the Open Systems platform was made over competitor offerings because it fulfilled River Islands requirement for a system that was both robust and flexible enough to manage the flow of goods throughout its European distribution centre in Milton Keynes, UK.

The smooth running of our distribution centre is very, very important, said Ben Lewis, operations director of River Island.  It is at the core of our business so the solution we use to run the distribution centre must be both reliable and scalable.  Our distribution centre comprises 400,000 square feet of storage space and serves every one of our stores, so our choice of warehouse management system was very strategic.

When we first implemented the Manhattan Associates solution, we needed to do so with minimal disruption to our working practices, he continued.  The new solution allowed us to upgrade without throwing our workforce into disarray, and adapted easily to our pick-by-shop approach, whereby goods are dispatched directly to stores according to requirement.  It is also easy to use, which is essential for peak seasons when our workforce has to expand rapidly.

In addition to the core warehouse management software, the company has also implemented Manhattan Associates workforce optimisation solution, Labour Management.  The solution has enabled us to optimise the operating patterns of our workforce, explains Mr Lewis. With around 300 employees in the warehouse, we now have significantly faster job allocation

River Island is a great success story, said Allen Scott, Manhattan Associates UK managing director.  Its demand-driven model is at the leading edge of retail supply chain practice and we are very pleased that Manhattan Associates has been able to play its part in helping the company to achieve such spectacular results.