How Baltex stays on top in theswimsuit industry
Every spring, the ritual begins again.Women everywhere commence the search for the perfect summer swimsuit, braving the dauntingcombination of full-length dressing room mirrors and the honesty of Lycra. As stressful asthis annual ordeal is for swimsuit consumers, it’s perhaps even more so for swimsuitmanufacturers like Montreal’s Maillot Baltex.
The intensely seasonal nature of theswimsuit market makes planning and distribution a real challenge for manufacturers. A verybrief window of opportunity and increasingly demanding retailers leave little room forerror.
But Baltex is obviously doing things right- because they’re recognized by retailers as one of the most reliable and responsivemanufacturers in North America.
Six months to sink or swim
Baltex provides women’s swimsuits to some of the largest retailers in North America. Andabout 95% of those sales occur from January to June. That means virtually everythingBaltex sells for the year must ship during that window.
From August to November, Baltex isproducing, not selling – building up inventory for the onslaught ahead. After January, thecompany’s energy is focused on getting the merchandise out the door quickly andaccurately. There’s no room for hiccups and no second chances, because retailers needswimsuits when their customers are there to buy – and that’s not for long.
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Compounding the challenge of roller-coaster sales is a rapidly changing marketplace.Retailers are becoming increasingly demanding about how, when and where they wantmerchandise delivered. "Our customers want merchandise that’s ‘floor-ready,’"says Francois Demers, General Manager of Baltex. "So we have to be able to simplifydistribution for our customers, minimize their warehousing and pack by store."
Getting streamlined
Two years ago, Baltex began implementing a JBA ERP solution to help it stay ahead of theunique demands of its industry and customers. The results are impressive. "We used tobe known as a good, reliable vendor," says Demers. "Now we’re known as the mostreliable vendor."
Automating processes from boxing toinvoicing has helped Baltex reduce the time it takes to turn and order from about threeweeks to one week. Eliminating manual and redundant processes and keypunching has helpedBaltex staff become more efficient and accurate. Demers estimates that they do about 50%more business now with the same staff – a dramatic figure in terms of productivity.
That increased efficiency has enabledBaltex to establish itself as the most flexible, responsive swimsuit vendor around.Customers know they can look to Baltex to get goods on the floor quickly and reliably.
EDI is an important part of that formula.Baltex provides initial inventory at the beginning of the season, and via EDI the retailercan request restock weekly thereafter to keep racks full of the styles that are sellingbest. "EDI is the reason we can provide that up-to-the-minute replenishment,"says Demers.
A system suited to consumers
Another key competitive advantage for Baltex is its ability to handle "mix andmatch." Stores can order swimsuit tops and bottoms as independent SKUs. That givesconsumers of all shapes and sizes the ability to get a perfect fit. Without efficientsystems and fast restock, Baltex couldn’t handle the added SKUs and complexity ofmix-and-match.
Rapid, responsive replenishment andmix-and-match capability are key differentiators for Baltex. "It’s the main reasoncustomers do business with us," says Demers. "It has opened doors to higher-enddepartment stores like the Federated Group – retailers who want to provide their customerswith more choices."
"We hope at some point to linkdirectly to in-store barcode readers to get instant access to inventory information,"he adds. "That would give us a one-week lead on the current system. It wouldeffectively generate an order right at the cash register so we could get it packed up anddelivered even faster."
Getting the perfect fit
The inherent flexibility of JBA solutions and a willingness to innovate for customers hashelped Baltex tailor its system for its distinctive needs. Customizations include featuresthat save time and labor by allowing Baltex to produce picking notes or invoices based ona range or selection of orders.
And because 80% of Baltex merchandise isexported to the U.S., JBA Montreal helped Baltex design customs forms to provide detail -including tariff numbers – by truckload rather than invoice by invoice, a process thatused to take hours.
"One thing that drew us to JBA wastheir focus on R&D," says Pierrette Devito, MIS Manager of Baltex. "We knewthey would help us find ways to handle trends in the apparel business, even if thefeatures weren’t in the package to begin with."
Cross-backs, y-backs andchargebacks
Retailer chargebacks are the bane of Baltex’ existence. When a Baltex order arrives at theretailer’s warehouse, it is closely scrutinized for order discrepancies. Too many sizeeights or wrong shade of blue and the retailer charges Baltex for the error – which makespacking accuracy a cost issue as much as a customer satisfaction issue.
"Without being there in the warehouse,we have no control over that situation and basically have to take the customer’s word onchargebacks," says Demers. "I believe our new system is reducing our error rate,although we don’t have the chargeback data yet to back it up. Eventually, we plan toadd radio scanning features so that we can scan every unit during packing."
Scanning orders right into the box willgive Baltex extremely accurate backup data to help them avoid, verify and challengechargebacks when necessary.
Users get their sea legs
Like any major process change, transitioning to the new JBA system was a challenge forBaltex users. "Once the tools started coming together, they saw what a difference itmade to them personally," says Devito. "The more modules we add, the better itgets for our users."
"Our users have really contributed tothe success of our system. Every department – logistics, purchasing, orders, accounting -everyone took responsibility to meet deadlines, even without a lot of IS guidance,"she adds.
"JBA Montreal, who did all ourintegration, has been extremely helpful. Any problems we have get resolved very quickly -we even have a JBA programmer on-site to handle anything that comes up."
A bright forecast
Baltex continues to implement new modules one at a time. One of their immediate goals isto take advantage of the robust forecasting and planning features of the software. Today,demand planning for Baltex is based primarily on previous orders and instinct rather thanorders-in-place. Top customers are given a preview of the some 2000 new styles introducedeach year, giving Baltex a "feel" for the market. But true demand is difficultto gauge. Producing too many tank suits with piping or too few patterned bikinis will costBaltex in excess inventory or lost sales opportunities. Deploying enhanced forecastingsystems of will help reduce those costs.
"50% growth is huge for us – and itshows us that our JBA system is paying off," concludes Demers. "Our goal inmaking this investment was greater customer satisfaction – to offer the shortest lead timeand get suits into stores as soon as possible." Already leading the way in that areaand intent on continual improvement of its service, Baltex is predicting sunny skiesahead.
