WHSmith predicts and plans for demand with ALG Software
WHSmith High Street, part of WHSmith PLC, has selected ALG Software's Predictive Planning application to enable its finance and operational teams to forecast the resource requirements for each store. This will enable WHSmith to better align staffing requirements with trading patterns.
ALG's web-based Predictive Planning tool will provide WHSmith with rapid, flexible and more accurate staffing budgets for the 550 plus UK-based retail stores. By incorporating non-financial data on activities such as 'receiving deliveries', 'stock handling', 'pricing' and 'customer service' into the budgeting process, Predictive Planning will enable WHSmith to model the drivers of resource consumption and then quickly and accurately predict staffing requirements and their costs.
Sebastian McMillan, Work Labour Model Analyst at WHSmith, comments, 'Predictive Planning enables us to provide store managers with fair and equitable budgets, based on the resources required to support the mix of product categories carried by individual stores. By allocating staff to departments and product lines based on a much better understanding of what resource is needed to support them, managers are better able to increase efficiency in-store.'
Sebastian McMillan continues, 'A store that predominantly sells high volumes of low-value items such as newspapers clearly has different staffing requirements to a store that predominately sells lower volumes of higher value items such as books. By allowing us to work at a more detailed product category level, Predictive Planning will bring all this information together and increases transparency.
'WHSmith chose Predictive Planning not only because it provides the flexibility to gain the deliverables required, but also because it is an easy to use application that is quick to implement and has a familiar Windows look and feel.'
Predictive Planning will be used to generate an annual staffing forecast for each store in the High Street group by month. Further into the implementation, WHSmith will use the menu driven cost analytics functionality within Predictive Planning to monitor the cost of each product category. This will be combined with supply chain costs and sales information to get a clearer view of product and store profitability.
About WHSmith
WHSmith Retail is made up of 553 high street stores and 220 travel stores and WHSmith.co.uk. The high street business sells a wide range of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books and entertainment products, while WHSmith Travel sells a tailored range of newspapers, magazines, books and confectionery products for people on the move. With over three million square feet of selling space, WHSmith employs 20,000 people and WHSmith Clubcard, the Company's loyalty scheme, has more than nine million members.
WHSmith PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SMWH) and is part of the mid-250 index.
About ALG Software
ALG Software is a global provider of Enterprise Performance Optimisation applications that can be implemented across an entire enterprise and across a broad spectrum of industries. ALG Software applications and service solutions assist organisations in understanding and controlling their costs, formulating and executing strategy, achieving greater responsiveness to change and boosting profitability and shareholder value. Ultimately ALG Software provides the foundation of profitable strategic and operational decision-making. ALG Software operates across Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Middle East and the Far East.
