Blue Yonder > Case Studies > FleetPride Drives Heavy-duty Returns on Slow Movers

FleetPride Drives Heavy-duty Returns on Slow Movers

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Blue Yonder’s slow mover forecasting & replenishment capability
Blue Yonder forecasting and replenishment solutions

Tech Stack

Luminate Planning platform

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation
Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance
Inventory Management

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

FleetPride is the largest independent distributor of aftermarket heavy-duty truck and trailer parts in the United States. The company operates a network of five regional distribution centers and 260 branch locations across 45 states. To provide a superior level of service, FleetPride has localized assortments across their network to ensure that customers get what they need, when and where they need it. However, the company was struggling with managing its inventory, particularly slow-moving items that sell less than one unit per month, which accounted for 70% of their inventory.

The Challenge

FleetPride, the largest independent distributor of aftermarket heavy-duty truck and trailer parts in the United States, was facing a significant challenge with its inventory management. Approximately 70% of their inventory, which includes a wide variety of items from small nuts and washers to transmissions and axles, sells less than one unit per month. This resulted in a high level of excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory, particularly at the local branch level. Traditional forecasting methods were not effective for these slow-moving items, as they often represented forecasts as a fraction, creating a misleading picture of demand. FleetPride was using work-arounds to support their slow mover business needs because purpose-built slow mover solutions were not previously available.

The Solution

To address this challenge, FleetPride implemented Blue Yonder’s slow mover forecasting & replenishment capability within the Blue Yonder forecasting and replenishment solutions it had already deployed. The solution uses detailed store SKU history and sophisticated algorithms to create realistic supply chain plans for slow movers. This allows retailers and suppliers to better understand what inventory should be purchased, ensuring that all on-hand inventory at the branch is considered. The system gave FleetPride better visibility to all items, allowing them to order more effectively and decrease fast mover inventory. For medium-moving SKUs, the system reduced inventory levels as expected. Interestingly, better visibility to demand actually led them to increase inventory at some branches while decreasing inventory at others in order to provide higher services levels to all of its customers.

Operational Impact

The Blue Yonder solution was installed at 3:00pm on a Friday and was available for production users by 6:00pm that day. FleetPride executed the scheduled plan processes over the weekend and were live with slow mover solution on Monday morning.
The system gave FleetPride better visibility to all items, allowing them to order more effectively and decrease fast mover inventory.
For medium-moving SKUs, the system reduced inventory levels as expected.
Better visibility to demand actually led them to increase inventory at some branches while decreasing inventory at others in order to provide higher services levels to all of its customers.

Quantitative Benefit