AL Systems Knowledge Conference Focuses on Improving Retail Compliance and Profitability
Industry Analyst Keynote Addresses Spotlight Eliminating Chargebacks
Rockaway, NJ – August 31, 2006 –AL Systems, Inc., the leading supplier of software solutions for improving distribution, recently held a Knowledge Conference featuring keynote addresses from well-known industry analysts, Roger Cunningham, principal of DCB & Company and Jessica Butler, Attain Consulting Group. Conference topics included the future of vendor compliance mandates and deduction trends; best practices for managing and measuring deduction performance, harnessing key productivity drivers for better fulfillment operations, and finding your company's "value chain" in its supply chain. Highlights of the conference included Karen Newton from Burlington Coat Factory who spoke about building a vendor compliance program.
"AL Systems is pleased to offer our customers and prospective clients powerful insights and best practices for reducing labor costs and eliminating chargebacks," said Christopher Castaldi, AL Systems' Vice President of Client Development. "Feedback from attendees said they would use the information to evaluate current processes, enhance quality management platforms, and to create an action plan to efficiently manage chargebacks, compliance, etc."
Roger Cunningham gave a presentation on vendor compliance, which is driving the rapid adoption of RFID. He reviewed proven best practices in managing retail compliance information. Without vendor compliance, shipments are often improperly packed, packing slips are misprinted, goods are damaged, shipments are late, and the wrong merchandise is received. Using vendor compliance solutions, companies get increased visibility for monitoring and managing shipment problems, which results in improved flow of merchandise to retail stores. Vendor compliance solutions allow companies to communicate with vendors as soon as shipments are identified as out of compliance with routing and shipping requirements. The net result was a dramatic reduction in the number of troubled shipments, increased fill rates, and ongoing improvements in supply chain performance.
Roger Cunningham, a leading industry figure, has for 16 years provided supply chain and distribution consulting services to many well-known companies such as Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, REI, Louis Vuitton, Federated, Eddie Bauer, Spiegel, Ross Stores, Bennetton, PetSmart, and Best Buy. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, value chain rationalization, supply chain planning, emergency management leadership services and warehouse management systems.
Jessica Butler's presentation introduced deductions and the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, which mandates business financial reporting and internal controls to ensure accuracy of financial information. As retailers and vendors offer promotions, markdowns, and allowances, and they take deductions for them, the SOX guidelines specify companies must keep track of these types of deductions, provide documentation, and report actual performance. Violations can result in severe fines and up to 10 years in jail. As a result, vendors and retailers need to improve the processes surrounding their trade promotion funding and deduction management processing. Companies face many inhibitors to controlling deductions, such as cross-departmental cooperation, timely access to information, lack of resources, inefficient processes, and lack of management buy in. The five steps to improving deduction management are:
- Ensure reason codes used to track chargebacks are meaningful
- Develop effective reporting
- Manage retailer vendor compliance requirements
- Institute routine cross-functional deduction meetings where every department is accountable for chargeback prevention and resolution
- Improve trading partner relationships by negotiating bulk settlements for deductions and discussing recurring problems
Better deduction management helps companies determine whether a specific DC or product line is experiencing more deductions and how to prevent reoccurrences; improves customer profitability; helps meet retailer scorecards; and sufficiently meets government mandates.
Jessica Butler, CPA, former partner with Grant Thornton LLP and founder of Attain Consulting Group, has more than 19 years of consulting experience specializing in deduction and chargeback management. Ms. Butler is a frequently sought speaker at conferences in the U.S. and abroad including: Vendor Compliance Federation, Toy Industry, American Apparel & Footwear, BPCA, NACAA, NACM, and National Softgoods and others. She is widely published on the subject of improving profitability by controlling deductions.
Previous AL Systems-sponsored conferences on Cross Docking and other subjects of great interest to manufacturers, retailers and suppliers have been attended by executives from Urban Outfitters, Gymboree, Toys R Us, Cabela's, Tiffany & Co., AAFES, Dots, Burlington Coat Factory, U.S. Army/Air Force Logistics, among many others.
About AL Systems, Inc.
AL Systems provides clients with integrated supply chain software solutions that improve the flow of merchandise through distribution centers. AL Systems solutions include paperless picking, packing and putting; cross-docking, in-motion manifesting; RFID; high-volume manifesting; automated print & apply solutions; and automated sortation and conveyor control (WCS). We help our clients reduce order fulfillment costs and distribute goods faster and more accurately. Clients of AL Systems include Pacific Sunwear, Gymboree, Simon & Schuster, 3M Pharmaceuticals, Kohl's Department Stores, Mervyn's, REI, Talbots, Men's Wearhouse and Urban Outfitters. AL Systems, in its fourth consecutive year of profitable growth, has been helping clients improve distribution operations for more than 25 years. For more information, visit www.alsystemsinc.com.
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