Ripley celebrates supply chain efficiencies with LogFire

02 Jul '10

3 min read

LogFire, a global provider of supply chain software and services for retail and consumer goods companies, announced that Ripley Corp S.A., one of the largest retailers in Chile and Peru, has significantly lowered their logistics costs. This announcement comes on the second anniversary of Ripley's new regional distribution center located in Santiago, Chile. Ripley and LogFire launched the 650,000 square foot facility in 2008 in order to facilitate the shipping of 70,000 active SKUs from hundreds of domestic & international vendors to 51 stores.

"We constantly strive to better satisfy the ever changing, multi-dimensional tastes of our customers both online and in the store," commented Gabriel Ortiz, General Manager of Logistics for Ripley. "Sourcing, stocking and distributing everything from clothing to computers and delivering them, when, where and how the customer wants them would be impossible without a 'best in class' supply chain to make it all happen." With LogFire's help, Ripley consolidated three existing distribution centers into the new Santiago facility. These changes have yielded a 'best in class' distribution operation, while augmenting the throughput, lowering the cost per unit and reaching KPIs consistent with international standards.

Successfully building systems and a warehouse in parallel is no easy task. Neither is finding a local partner with high volume retail supply chain expertise that could easily integrate into a team of construction crews, architects, engineers and more. According to Gustavo Pardo, Ripley's CIO and COO, "LogFire was clearly the right partner to trust with system and process design and software implementation and maintenance. And they delivered -- on time and on budget -- and continue to provide the top notch support we need."

According to LogFire CEO Diego Pantoja-Navajas, "A superior level of project management experience was crucial to the success of this very complex project. We staged the go-live so Ripley never had to interrupt shipping -- and we were able to help them achieve the business goals they set out to meet from the beginning." In fact, Ripley's Distribution Center is considered the most highly automated warehouse in South America.

To date, Ripley has been able to reduce their order cycle times, achieve world-class D2C service, inventory accuracy, fulfillment rates and real time management reporting. These areas of improvement have been crucial for its success. "Most importantly, we have positioned ourselves to better serve our customers and vendors now and in the future," Ortiz explains.

Ripley Corp, a publicly traded company, is today one of the most important holdings in the retail industry both in Chile and Peru, with revenues of almost US$2 billion. The main business of Ripley is retail sales of apparel, accessories and home products through different formats of department stores, accompanied by a strong financial business through direct loansto its clients using the Ripley credit card. Ripley also manages Ripley Bank in Chile and participates in the ownership of shopping malls and other complementary businesses to retail like insurances. Ripley's retail model is centered on the client and focused on giving the best solutions to the consumer needs. Ripley Corp operates in Chile and Peru, managing 51 stores, with a total selling space of over 330,000 square meters and more than 7 million cards issued.

LogFire LLC

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