We were engaged to work with a global online fashion retailer, to implement a new warehouse system to support the company’s massive growth.
The client offers 850 brands and 85,000 product lines with 4,500 new styles launched per week. With fulfilment centres in the UK, US, Europe and China shipping to over 140 countries, they have experienced rapid growth and is still expanding.
Their ambitious plans to expand further meant that it had reached the stage where its systems would soon not be able to support the business processes. Swift and sustainable action had to be taken to ensure the company could manage growth effectively in the future.

Approach

The first step was to implement a thorough review of existing applications and processes. We interviewed key staff across merchandising, buying, supply chain, logistics and finance functions, to identify their current state and to assess their needs.
Following the successful completion of the review, we replaced and implemented a new Warehouse Management System (WMS) with a Tier 1 retail solution. The scope of our work included the full process, from the initial choice of application to the final implementation and testing stages.
Our embedded team quickly fitted into the client’s culture and provided a seamless transition to the new system by introducing robust, supportable, business processes.
In a separate work stream, we also worked with the client on a project to establish an internal programme management capability.

Outcome

Successfully replacing this warehouse system has been a crucial milestone in the effective management of the fashion retailer’s growth. The key deliverables of the project were:
• Creating reliable warehouse management systems that support Asos’ rapid growth and ambitions for further expansion;
• Robust, supportive and sustainable business processes are now in place;
• Developing a Programme Management Office model, including the development of a Toolkit and supporting procedures.