Provided insight and clarity into purchasing operations and quality of design artifacts, resulting in implementation of a flexible Order Management System (OMS).

Issue

Continuing with the retailer’s existing legacy systems supporting replenishment and purchasing operations posed a large operational risk to the business. The legacy systems were inflexible, poorly integrated and there was general lack of overall visibility. The result was a situation where business was “blind” until critical issues arose.

Executive summary

Ordering, transporting and replenishing inventory in a large-scale network of stores is a complex process that plays a fundamental role in a retail enterprise’s success. Mistakes can be costly, and can spell the difference between profitability and failure. To improve a major U.S. retailer’s order management process, IBM Research Services—a partnership between Global Business Services (GBS) and IBM Research—used a combination of Research’s Business Entity Lifecycle Analysis (BELA) methodology, Service Oriented Modeling and Architecture (SOMA) and Recipe for Service Component (R4SC) to revamp its business processes.

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NOTE:  Inventory order management is just for the big relailers using expensive technology. Inventory order management has gone mainstream online with solutions like RightOn Inventory Order Management.