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This software solution is not yet particularly well-knowncompared to the WMS and the TMS, but a growing number ofbusinesses are turning to it. The redesign of a business's globallogistics strategy typically presents the ideal opportunity forsolution providers to pitch their solution footprint including theirOMS offering. Such opportunities are usually found among majorretailers seeking to drive revenue across an increasing number ofsales channels.

Multiple solution providers, inclu-ding the likes of SAP, ManhattanAssociates, a-SIS, IBM,RedPrairie/JDA Software, Oracle

and Generix, offer their own flavourof the OMS. They are proposingthis additional software layer toserve as a link between the backoffice (ERP, WMS, TMS) and thefront office. According to industryexperts, France is behind comparedto the United Kingdom and theUnited States, where e-commercehas developed further and at a fasterpace. However, this is not the onlyreason, as the range of benefits ofthe solution and its cost/ROI arethe subject of much debate. OMSsolution vendors are neverthelessconvinced that the march towardswidepread adoption is underway,

with retailers leading the way. Thiscomes as no surprise, consideringthat retailers are at the forefront ofinnovation in the new era of omni-channel commerce.

PioneersExperts often cite two exampleswhen discussing OMS implemen-

LOGISTICS ARCHITECTURE(survey)

OMS in France,a seamless beginning

French businesses have notyet embraced the OMS(Order Management Sys-tem) en masse. This cost-effective system orches-

trates customer ordermanagement – no matter the ordermethod (in-store, online, mobile,etc.) or inventory source (from thestore, warehouse, etc.) – to where-ver the customer desires (pick-up,home delivery or store delivery).While businesses have becomefamiliar over the years with WMS(Warehouse Management Soft-ware) and TMS (Transport Mana-gement Software), with many

making extensive use of such soft-ware, only a handlful of companiesin France have realised the fullpotential of the OMS.

The upsurge in e-commercerequires multi-channelstock management.

tations: Leroy Merlin and Cdiscount.A subsidiary of Casino, the lattertook the initiative to deploy OrderManagement in 2014 in the contextof its adoption of a new logisticsstrategy, underpinnned by an invest-ment of more than 1 million euros(see interview).Leroy Merlin made its move evenearlier, after they too had made asignificant investment in a WMS.This Auchan Group subsidiary deci-ded to adopt an OMS back in 2012.“Given the growth we’ve seen in oure-commerce business, we think thatManhattan's DOM solution is theperfect tool to help us manage, control

The OMS also allows for warehousenetwork management as part of inter-site flow management,Lilian Mariani,Project Director for vente-privee.com

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OMS in France,a seamless beginning

Warehouseautomation optimisesstore replenishmentthrough a range ofdiverse distributionmethods.

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LOGISTICS ARCHITECTURE(SURVEY)and improve our e-commerce andcross-channel orders. More specifically,this solution will give us global andreal-time visibility into our orderstatus and stock levels, while enablingus to improve our customer serviceand maximise sales opportunities atevery touchpoint. In a highly com-petitive environment where cross-channel sales represent an increasinglyimportant dimension of businessgrowth, precise management of ouroperations and monitoring of ope-rational and logistics costs play anessential role in contributing to highermargins.” This is what Cécile Larou-manie, Supply Chain Director atLeroy Merlin France, stated at thetime. Whilst she was not preparedto comment on the results of theproject, one thing is certain: whencustomers are on the e-commercewebsite, they now have the optionto have items shipped to their homeor to a pick-up location, or to collectfrom a store of their choice. Fur-thermore, when in-store, they havethe option to take the merchandisehome immediately or to have it deli-vered to their home or to a store oftheir choosing. Leroy Merlin's fourwarehouses manage all sales channelsfor their own productswhilst certain supplier pro-ducts are delivered directlyto the customer or storeby the suppliers themselves.In order to cope with therise in omnichannel com-merce and customer requi-rements for shorter deliverytimes, the number of warehouseslots for fast-moving items has beenincreased, as has the frequency ofdeliveries from warehouses to stores.In 2014, Leroy Merlin began exten-ding the OMS roll-out to othercountries (Italy, Spain and Portugal)to allow for new processes and ser-vices to be implemented: onlinepurchase/in-store pickup, onlineor in-store purchase/ship from store,warehouse or supplier.This real-time order managementcapability, combined with completevisibility of stock across the entiredistribution network (stores, ware-

houses and suppliers), improvessales conversion rates and optimisesstore and warehouse supply ope-rations in order to meet the end-customer's guaranteed deliverydeadline. “The DOM solution willprovide us with complete visibilityof our stock, allowing us to guaranteeproduct availability to our customers.As a result, this should also contributeto an increase in our sales, in customerloyalty and in our profitability”, statesLuis Herrero, IT, Organisation andSupply Chain Director at Leroy

Merlin Spain. His colleague ÉricDewitte, Supply Chain Director atLeroy Merlin Italy, adds: “This willhelp us to unify our distribution chan-nels and to make the shopping expe-rience as simple as possible for ourcustomers. Among the benefits weexpect to see from this implementationare the ability to select the best possibleorder fulfilment source, to easilymodify orders, to offer a wide rangeof delivery services for the client tochoose from, to anticipate stock shor-tages and potential delivery issuesbefore they occur, and to increaseoverall revenue and profitability.”

Vente-privee.com is also a pioneer.In a White Paper on OMS systemswritten in 2014 by consultant MichelJardat for solution provider a-SIS(Savoye Group), Lilian Mariani,Project Director for vente-privee.com, outlined the benefitsderived from the online retailer’sOMS deployment across an ope-ration that comprises a dozen ware-houses in France and elsewhere:“One of the main functions of theOMS is to provide visibility of theentire stock pool and to be able toconsolidate all inventory informationinto a single tool. We were able tostreamline our stocktaking and moni-toring processes for better control ofour inventory. The OMS also allowsfor warehouse network managementas part of inter-site flow management.For example, when transferring goodsfrom one of our warehouses to a ship-per site, it is the OMS that triggersthe transfer order. It allows for anautomatic breakdown of orders accor-ding to item type. Thus, for oversizedorders, such as furniture or largeappliances, the OMS will automa-tically split them into single orders,i.e. into as many prepared orders asthere are items. This is also the casefor high-value orders where, for insu-rance reasons, we are obliged to limitshipments to a maximum value. Ifan order exceeds this value, it willbe split into two shipments by theOMS. The OMS acts as a centralrepository and transfer system for

Logistique Magazine : Is Cdiscountone of the first French companies tohave installed an OMS? Were youinterested in this type of solutionfrom very early on?Pierre-Yves Escarpit : I believethat Cdiscount is a pioneer of theOMS in France, with ManhattanAssociates' Distributed OrderManagement (DOM) solution. Butwhen we looked to this solutionprovider, it wasn't necessarily toequip us with an OMS. Indeed,traditionally, our logistics organisationwas founded on a specialisation ofour warehouses by product type, fromUSB sticks to garden swimming pools.Operating within that framework,with a product stored at a single site,the OMS did not seem necessary forus, even though we had internalsoftware for inter-site communication.In 2012, when Cdiscount made thedecision to replace its WMS with aManhattan Associates solution suite,it contained this OMS component thatallowed us to precisely configure andoptimise our goods flows througheach warehouse, by cross-dockplatform, pre-order status and ordergrouping. In 2014, we adopted a newlogistics master plan. That’s when webegan implementing the OMS, tounderpin a new fulfilment service weprovide to merchants and which wehost on our marketplace. Having beenrunning for a year, we extended theOMS deployment in 2015 to be able tohandle our heavy (over 30 kg) andbulky (household appliances, sofa,bed, etc.) products, which was a 9-10month project. In 2016, we alsoincluded products weighing less than30kg. For heavy products, we decidedto split France in two, with a 90,000sq. m. facility in Paris serving thenorth and a of 90,000 sq. m. facility inSaint-Étienne for the south. In thiscontext, the OMS acted as a supportin serving and dividing our catchmentareas, replenishing the warehouses,

including inter-site transfers, andmanaging multi-container shipments.The OMS serves as a dashboard forcontrolling the two sites.

LM : What issues have you run intowhen implementing the OMS?P.-Y. E. : During the first few weeks,the implementation project was not asmooth process, as I'm sure you canimagine. Changing a WMS is simpler,as it's the last component. The OMS isa new component that is installed atthe heart of a company’s existing ITinfrastructure and to which areconnected all company departmentsand their associated systemsincluding, in Cdiscount’s case, over adozen different ones spanning sales,billing, finance and logistics. But wealso integrated it with our solutionprovider’s WMS system. This is one ofthe riskier projects that I've beeninvolved in, including during myformer role as a consultant. But wedid some test runs before pushing thefinal “go-live” button, and this wasimportant since at Cdiscount, we’rehandling 30 million orders per year.This kind of tool needs to be able tohandle spikes in order volumes, suchas around sales periods, otherwise itbecomes a bottleneck and you can'tdeliver on your ultimate goal tocondense delivery timeframes. Whatwe learned with the firstimplementation was that upstream,the flow mapping is crucial. With acomprehensive tool, you inevitablyreduce the margin for error.

LM : Did you assemble a dedicatedteam for this project?P.-Y. E. : At Cdiscount, we're all forinternalisation and for controlling ourinformation systems ourselves,especially in the context of our ITservices organisation comprisingseveral hundred people, including ourIT partner teams. As such, we didn'tcall on any additional external IT

services provider. The project teamconsisted of almost 20 people, withinformation systems and supply chainrepresentatives as well as ManhattanAssociates employees.

LM : What was the level ofinvestment made?P.-Y. E. : With a software suite suchas this one and a project like ours,which wasn't only centred on an OMSinstallation but was much broader andinvolved several warehouses, you canexpect a sizeable investment. But anOMS tool rolled out in a simplerenvironment, as part of a less complexinformation systems infrastructure,and in a business involving smallervolumes, will cost less and may besuitable for businesses that are not ofthe same scale as Cdiscount.

LM : Have you measured the returnon investment?P.-Y. E. : It was quickly apparent inthe kilometres saved and in thereduction of our carbon footprint, thatwithout the OMS, savings on transportwould not have been possible. Peryear, we have saved 10 millionkilometres travelled by trucks in ourlarge product operations, and havereduced a truck's average distancetravelled from 400km to 200km. Nowwe are able to offer even fasterdelivery to our customers in Paris andLyon: if they place an order before2pm, they will receive their order thatsame evening. Reducing delivery timesis a key driver for growth in e-commerce.

LM : Do you think that the OMS is acompetitor for the WMS?P.-Y. E. : No. The WMS managesgoods flows within the warehouse,and the OMS has an overarching role,enabling the optimisation of goodsflows across the entire business andsetting them in motion at the righttime.

"Upstream, flow mapping is crucial."

Pierre-Yves Escarpit,Director of Operations at Cdiscount, in charge of supply chain and IT.

Interview

The OMS, the central component of our logisticsinformation system, is there to guarantee completevisibility of our stock and the automaticorchestration of our order fulfilment operation,Lilian Mariani,Project Director for vente-privee.com.

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An OMS takes intoaccount item type andautomatically preparesoversized orders bysplitting them into asmany single orders asnecessary.

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LOGISTICS ARCHITECTURE(SURVEY)all customer orders, as well as cor-responding item data. Once an orderis assigned to a warehouse, logisticscoordination manages the downloadof all order data at the start of pro-cessing. These downloads can becompleted in one go, at the end ofthe operation, or as and when if wehave the item(s) in stock. Completingthese downloads as and when allowsus to ship our merchandise when

required, and in so doing reducesdelivery times. This process, whichcontrols the download of orders anditem information, is is automaticallymanaged by the OMS. As the centralcomponent of our logistics systemsinfrastructure, the OMS is there toguarantee complete visibility of ourstock and the automatic orchestrationof our order fulfulfilment operation.” Célio, But and 3Suisses/Dispeo

are cited as other examples. ForLacoste, the complexity of its multi-channel operation (stores, onlinesales, multi-brand resellers) wasthe reason behind its decision toadopt an OMS, in 2014, for its ope-rations in North America, the brand'stop market. “Our sales teams in callcentres and stores will be able to seeand fulfil orders across all distributionchannels”, explained Francis Pierrel,CEO of Lacoste USA, who had deci-ded to combine the company’s BtoBand BtoC goods flows after the

ending of a contractual arrangementwith Amazon, who were at the timein charge of fulfilling e-commerceorders for the business. “They willbe able to perform quick stock searchesusing any piece of client or orderinformation across the entire network,and fulfil the order with stock fromany channel in order to provide acustomised shopping experience andencourage brand loyalty.” The imple-mentation was extended to Europein mid-2016, by leveraging its centralfulfilment facility in Troyes, to whereits e-commerce operation was repa-triated.For its part, the BtoB industrialsupply distributor Martin BelaysoudExpansion, will be switching overto an OMS at the start of 2017. “Aspart of our invitation to tender fora WMS project, we acquired, viathe a-SIS Logistics Manager Suite,their OMS module that will allowus to optimise inter-site flow mana-gement and meet the growing needsof our customers with regard toomnichannel retail and digitalisation”,stated Christophe Bivert, Directorof IT and e-business. Logistics spe-cialists are also jumping on thebandwagon, often to accompany

Auriseo is a hearing and hearing protectionspecialist operating under the audilo brand.this sme, consisting of ten or so people,offers close to 600 products online – via itswebsite or independent marketplaces – andships between 100 and 150 orders per day.“We were looking for a more structuredsystem, given the growth of our business inconjunction with our own website. With theincrease in order volumes trasacted throughthe marketplaces, we couldn't carry on withso few people”, explained the company'sCeo, Pierric segretain. “We either had tooutsource logistics or we had to retain it,which is what we decided to do. We had testeddifferent things with various solution provi-ders, but nothing met our needs.” ultimately, auriseo will opt for the saassolution shippingbo from Facilecomm,which it came across at a tradeshow. “Firstof all, this software makes my system morereliable as it allows me to receive all the end-customer's information, which allows him tobetter track his order. Before, we managedthis ourselves, but we had to cross-checkExcel sheets and readjust our stock levels.”

implementing the solution took almostthree months, but Facilecomm continues tomake improvements along the way. “It's likechanging your router at home. At first, it'scomplicated, you have to set it up. But thedifference is clear. We were managing every-thing from our Prestashop site. It'sconvenient, but when there's a server outage,it's a concern. You're blind. And when yourestart the server, you can't be sure if every-thing has been recovered. Now, we have anadded level of security.” the director acknowledges that shippingbowas not presented to him as an oms. “Theyused a less wild term, 'logistics management'.But it's order management! And I think thatthis type of system is going to explode over thecoming years.” Facilecomm boasts 150subscribers to its shippingbo solution (withsubscriptions ranging from €40 to €200 permonth). Proximis, Devatics or evoq (Dnnsoftware) are also positioning themselves inthis niche of cheaper, innovative, easier-to-install and less ambitious solutions than thefull oms solutions offered by the largersolution providers.

The OMS also meets the needs of SMEs

The WMS managesgoods flows within thewarehouse, and the OMShas an overarching role,enabling theoptimisation of goodsflows across the entirebusiness and settingthem in motion at the right time,Pierre-Yves Escarpit,Director of Operations at Cdiscount.

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The OMS’s ability to orchestrate orders and provide completevisibility of stock makes it a key component of a logisticssystems infrastructure.

the demands of their distributorcustomers. “I heard about the OMSthrough logistics providers”, expressedStéphane Maurin, Logistics Managerof Brandalley’s private sales site.“It's up to them to equip themselves.What interests me is reducing mylogistics costs. I'm discussing it withSED, and if the OMS can play a role,why not?”

The cautiousAfter the converts, there are thosewho study the feasability of suchprojects. Thus, showroomprive.comis in the process of rewriting its logis-tics strategy in light of its tremendousgrowth and multi-warehouse supplynetwork. “We're thinking about ourstock flows, which represent 20% ofour inventory”, acknowledges AnilBenard-Dende, Operations Directorfor the e-commerce business, whoexperienced a successful OMS roll-out while working at Cdiscount. “Itwould be easier for us to implementin this area rather than our cross-docking operation where we wouldfirst need to strengthen our supplychain exchanges with our suppliers.I don't think the risk level associatedwith an OMS is high, and I think it's

far less complicated than a WMSimplementation project . It's a toolthat could help all kinds of businessesbut today is primarily used in the e-commerce world because it is canquickly adapt to huge swings in goodsflows, i.e. the ability to respond to10,000 orders in one day and 25,000orders the next day. In terms of costs,we're within reasonable limits (undera million euros), especially in thecontext of the return generated throughincreasing customer satisfaction, ear-ning customer loyalty, and makingthe comparison between that costand the cost of acquiring a custo-mer!”At Damartex, Supply Chain Direc-tor Patrick Da Conceicao has notyet embarked on any such project,but admits that “the OMS is a targetfor the next 3-4 years". "To get there,we need a mature cross-functional/matrix organisation. Thiscan be a broad topic, let's be clear.But we have already made much pro-gress in this regard with ourupstream/downstream supply chain,with several locations, several countriesand several sales channels (stores,Internet, telephone, catalogue).”The Etam group, for its part, studied

the question extensively in 2016when faced with choosing a newWMS. “An OMS could very well helpus because, currently, our e-commerceoperation, and our stores which areequipped with iPads to take orders,

are two streams thatgenerate different pur-chase orders. The samegoes for our after-salesservice. Omnichannelretail has pushed us tothink about this”, statedGrégoire Sanquer,Information SystemsDirector. The retailermust neverthelessmanage priorities acrossmultiple projects started

on RFID, CRM and, soon, the WMS.“It's hard to find an ROI where theOMS is concerned”, notes the func-tional head. “If you entrust a projectlike this to a company’s logistics/supplychain team, it would be a major pro-ject. If the digital team takes care ofit, it would no doubt be a lighterproject to handle, more flexible, inthe shape of SaaS. The truth is thatI think it falls somewhere in the mid-dle.”

Vincent Lepercq

Our sales teams in call centres andstores will be able to see and fulfil orders across all distributionchannels,Francis Pierrel,CEO of Lacoste USA.

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LOGISTICS ARCHITECTURE(SURVEY)

Testimonial of British company AsdaFeedback on the OMS is flourishing, especially in the Anglo-Saxon retailworld. Manhattan Associates, a leading solution provider in this emergingcategory, can already offer many case studies for the software’s successfuladoption. Among these is that of British retailer Asda, more details of whichappear on the solution provider's website, and which are summarised hereby Paul Anastasiou, the company's Supply Chain Director.

We created the "toyou"service to addressweaknesses that weresources of frustration

for our customers, particularlywhen they have to wait for apackage to arrive. One of thegreatest features ofManhattan's platformis its ability to integrateseveral different sys-tems. The ability toquickly configure thisplatform was also amajor selling point forus. For example, whenyou're on your wayhome from work, it'sprobably more conve-nient for you to stop ata petrol station enroute. On the otherhand, for someonewho has time andwants to take care oftwo things at once,picking up a parcel and doingsome shopping, "toyou" addressesthis need perfectly.

Manhattan's solution has allowedus to unify our commercial andlogistics assets by connecting themto a single IT platform. We use theDistributed Order Management(DOM) system to help choose thebest route through our logistics net-

work, which is very complex givenour different store sizes and thevarious delivery frequencies in placefor each store. Sometimes we haveto use a refrigerated delivery vehicle,and at other times, we have to gowith an ambient one. The ExtendedEnterprise Management (EEM)component allows us to break upthe journey into a series of eventsthat we can monitor in real-time.In particular, the technology hasallowed us to push back the cut-offtime for order placement. We arenow able to accept orders from oursite, george.com, until 9 pm for next-day delivery, in a way that is profitablebut that also makes best use of thesolution's efficiency. We believe thatthe "toyou" service is an industryfirst and one that closely resemblesan air traffic control system. Ourteam monitors each operation inevery system in order to ensure top

quality service, but also to identifypotential issues early on so as toproactively take evasive action.As far as order collection pointsare concerned, we have thoughtlong and hard about the in-storeexperience. We use wireless tech-nology and we're also able to managethe customer's collection experience.We keep them updated on how longtheir collection will take. This playsa crucial part in shortening queuesin stores. We give customers theopportunity to print off a returnslip at home, but they also have theoption to come into the store toprint off a return slip for one of ourpartner brands. This return slipcontains a tracking number, allowingcustomers to follow the routing oftheir returned item to its end des-tination, and thus know when theywill receive their refund.

Manhattan's solutionallowed us to unify ourcommercial andlogistics assets byconnecting them to asingle IT platform,Paul Anastasiou,Supply Chain and LogisticsDirector.

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The OMS component hasallowed for multi-channelpurchase coordination,cut-off time extension,and improvement ofproduct availability forcustomers.