NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS NEWS
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Briscoe Group, which runs the Rebel Sport and Briscoes Homeware chains, has rebuilt its New Zealand network to move stock around a new distribution centre in Drury, South Auckland. The change aims to fix a problem the retailer identified in its own network: plenty of inventory sat in the business, but not where customers were trying to buy it.
At Rebel Sport, goods were often held in the wrong part of the network, so shelves were less well stocked than planned even when stock sat elsewhere. The redesign also covers Briscoes Homeware, where the flow of incoming product has already changed.
Before the change, 80 per cent of Briscoes Homeware products went straight from supplier to store. That share has fallen to 20 per cent, with the remainder held at the Drury site and released to shops as needed. The site’s pallet storage has grown from roughly 4,000 positions to 15,000, giving the group far more room to hold stock centrally.
The retailer is working towards cutting store inventory by 57 per cent at Briscoes Homeware and by 67 per cent at Rebel Sport. Store cover would fall from 18 weeks to six weeks, with a further four weeks of stock kept at the distribution centre. Imported stock turns are targeted to improve by about 20 per cent, from 2.49 to 3.0, reducing the capital tied up in goods while keeping product flowing to shops.
Under the revised replenishment model, availability for the top six suppliers at Rebel Sport is being lifted to 90 per cent.
Rebel Sport rolled out a Manhattan Associates warehouse management system in stages, replacing manual processes with a more automated operation. Rebel Sport has also installed goods-to-person automation for unit-level replenishment, meaning stock is brought to the picker rather than the picker walking the aisles.
Early throughput from that system has run below plan. In its first weeks, the operation averaged about 237 picks an hour, against a target of 300, although one operating period hit 446 picks an hour.
Consultancy Argon & Co worked with Briscoe Group across the programme. Its scope covered the business case, warehouse design, automation systems, technology procurement, implementation, change management, and operational readiness, so the project ran past the building itself into how inventory is planned and moved.
The Briscoe Group case turns on a distinction that applies well beyond retail. Holding more stock does not, by itself, put more product in front of customers if that stock sits in the wrong place. By concentrating inventory at Drury and replenishing shops against demand, the group frees selling space that was previously doing duty as a warehouse.
For owners and managers, the numbers show where the working capital sits. Store cover falls from 18 weeks to six weeks, with four weeks held centrally, shifting the burden from the shop floor to the distribution centre. Imported stock improves from 2.49 to 3.0 points, the same way: less money tied up in goods for the same level of supply.
The programme also shows the scale of change involved. The company had to introduce a new warehouse management system, goods-to-person automation, and a revised replenishment model together, and early pick rates at Rebel Sport indicate that automation takes time to reach its target.
Briscoe Group aims to match stockholding more closely to what each store sells, making replenishment more precise and reducing excess. Centralising more inventory is the mechanism; the intended results are better product availability and more room to sell.
The Drury site opened with storage capacity roughly four times its previous level, and the group now holds the majority of its homeware stock there rather than in stores. Whether the inventory and stock-turn targets are met will show in how much capital the business keeps tied up in goods.
NZ Business News reports on the decisions, deals and numbers shaping New Zealand business — the companies making them, the policy and market conditions they work within, and what it means for the people running businesses here.