TM Lewin updates IT systems for growth

Shirtmaker TM Lewin is investing more than one-and-a-half million pounds to overhaul its central business management systems to help it achieve its ambitious expansion plans following a management buy out (MBO).

Following the completion of the MBO last year, the multichannel shirt retailer began to search for new retail and financial management systems that would help it move away from manual, poorly-defined process workflows and help it keep better track of key trading information.

Mike Trotman, TM Lewin's finance director told IT PRO the company is still in the midst of migrating onto the new CIMS software from fashion and lifestyle retailer systems specialist Prologic, which began in April this year.

"In 2002, we had five stores," said Trotman. "So far, this year we have 53 stores plus our online arm, with a more planned for launch in coming months. When we looked at where the business was going we felt it was in a different direction to the business system requirements we had when we last looked at these systems in 2004."

The company wanted to find a system that would deliver end-to-end visibility of key metrics like stock levels and margins across business functions, with lower risk IT infrastructure components that reduce the need to maintain a multiple system interfaces. But it wanted to maintain tight integration of the head office systems to its outsourced supply chain provider, which runs RedPrarie warehouse management systems.

The new Prologic system will provide planning to product development and supply chain to sales management, all built on a single Oracle database.

Trotman said the anticipated benefits of moving away from the old system - which he declined to name given the current, sensitive handover stage - were all fairly straightforward: "The benefits will be improved stock availability where, down the line, stores and head office will be able to have better sight of it to improve margins and minimise stock losses.

"The move away from the manual processes we have at the moment will give us a more coordinated view of planning functions, with finance taken into that. It will help with performance management in our stores, who themselves will have better visibility of what other stores have in terms of stock," he said. "And better merchandising through stock and margin control should see improvements in profitability."

The implementation is currently focused on head office operations and integration with its warehouse management function. Work will continue over three phases through the next 18 months following a definition stage, which involved documenting all existing business processes and the processes that will be adopted using CIMS.

The rollout will then be extended to its stores as well as its online sales arm, while allowing TM Lewin to use diverse channels to reach the market through wholesaling and franchising.

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