Furniture chain taps SPS for perfectly balanced stock
Discover how SPS helped a furniture retailer reach a defining brand goal by streamlining their operations and supplier connections.
The challenge:
With import volatility at an all-time high, HOM Furniture needed a smart way to reduce manual processes, stay ahead of supplier disruptions and still achieve their goal of a 90%+ in-stock rate for every product they offer.
The solution:
SPS Commerce Community
The result:
Better visibility into supplier challenges gave HOM Furniture the foresight they needed to increase overall agility while reducing time spent connecting with each partner individually. The time and energy saved by eliminating manual processes also allowed staff to shift their attention to strategic and analytical tasks.
The challenge
Over the past 50 years, Minnesota-based HOM Furniture has grown from a single location to a chain of 17 stores across the Midwest, fed by a primary and secondary distribution site central to their footprint. As the retailer climbed in size, they took on international supply partners from China, India, Vietnam, Italy and Indonesia to supplement domestic furniture production. Still, disruptions to the overseas supply chain continued to cost HOM time and money as they struggled to keep up with sudden partner challenges using manual processes.
To achieve their goal of 90% in stock for all products, HOM had to:
- Simplify and accelerate communication with their supplier network
- Achieve greater visibility over their inventory and stock levels
- Find a way to move past manual processes and toward automation
- Make onboarding new partners easier to catalyze growth
The solution
To keep up with modern supplier requirements, HOM started working with EDI in 2019 but lacked the ability to handle all the changes in-house without a dedicated partner. HOM came to SPS to work out the technical side of their implementation, and when their expected 50 suppliers using EDI turned into 150 (representing 85% of their PO volume), SPS stayed on as a full-time provider. Using SPS allowed the company to streamline their operations, improve stock maintenance and enhance overall business efficiency as they focused on achieving their 90% in-stock goal.
But, to reach that goal, HOM had to tackle challenges with their operations and improve communications with partners. HOM enrolled in Community from SPS Commerce to boost responsiveness, empowering the business to focus on strategic initiatives while SPS handled onboarding, educating and adjusting to new customers.
The added organization and automation allowed HOM to stay agile by keeping tabs on suppliers and adjusting stock proactively while saving time with streamlined operations and onboarding.
“I felt like [SPS] already had a strategy in place to kind of keep that flow going and to keep a regular pulse with those suppliers. It just felt like a very organized approach.”
Brian Dent, Procurement and Global Logistics Manager, HOM Furniture
The results
With automation via SPS driving time savings across their operations, HOM was able to right-size staff and working hours, leading to more dollars saved and improved connection with international suppliers. Easier navigation of import volatility informed leaders at HOM when items were actually coming, allowing them to boost their agility by supplementing products from other sources when disruptions arose.
As HOM moves ever closer to its 90%+ in-stock goal, the business plans to improve customer experience by expanding its omnichannel and e-commerce capabilities to meet today’s buyers where they are—and SPS Commerce is helping them every step of the way.
It has been a very positive experience, and I feel like it was just very reassuring and obvious throughout each stage of the journey.
– Brian Dent, Procurement and Global Logistics Manager, HOM Furniture
