Alliance Boots achieves immediate inventory savings and improved service levels with Manhattan solutions
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- Europe
Country
- France
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Spain
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
Product
- Manhattan Demand Forecasting
- Manhattan Replenishment
Tech Stack
- IBM Platform
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Predictive Replenishment
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Alliance Boots was formed in July 2006 following the merger of Alliance UniChem PLC and Boots Group PLC. Alliance Boots offers a range of products and services to customers in 20 countries through Group owned operations, joint ventures, and associates. The Group has two core divisions—pharmaceutical wholesaling and retail pharmacy. Alliance Boots leads the retail pharmacy market in Europe with approximately 3,200 retail outlets operating in nine countries. The wholesale and distribution network serves 135,000 pharmacies, hospitals, and health centres via 370 depots.
The Challenge
Following the merger of Alliance UniChem PLC and Boots Group PLC, Alliance Boots needed to redesign its European logistics function and replace the Group’s various proprietary replenishment systems. The solution would be deployed in most of the European countries encompassed by Alliance Boots and integrated rapidly to all the company’s suppliers. The solution would have to offer a proven, reliable and upgradeable forecasting and replenishment system that would enable the group to better identify and exploit buying opportunities, reduce inventory levels, improve service levels, improve replenishment processes, and gain a much clearer understanding of stock value.
The Solution
Alliance Boots selected Manhattan Associates’ Demand Forecasting and Replenishment solutions after a thorough investigation into the solutions available on the market. Together, the companies assembled a dedicated group of 15 people—including Alliance Boots employees from the UK, Holland, France, and Italy, as well as three consultants from Manhattan—to undertake a thorough study of Alliance Boots’ needs. The group detailed the specific business requirements of Alliance Boots’ European operations, the optimum systems configuration to support those requirements, and the benefits that could be expected from the use of Manhattan’s solutions. The UK deployment—the first phase of the European Wholesale project—started two months after Manhattan’s selection. The solution went live within six months across an initial group of 20 suppliers. The full integration of Alliance Boots’ supplier base—close to 1,000 suppliers—took an additional three months. Following the successful conclusion of the UK implementation, Alliance Boots and Manhattan Associates switched the project’s focus to the rest of Europe, with implementations in Spain, Turkey, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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