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WARSAW and ATLANTA – August 12, 2008
Supply chain optimisation provider Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) has announced that Empik, Poland’s leading lifestyle retail brand, offering an extensive range of cultural, knowledge and entertainment products, has selected Manhattan Associates’ Warehouse Management solution (WMS) for Open Systems to run its 10,800 square metres warehouse in Warsaw. Empik’s primary objective was to select a system that could manage the company’s growth plans which include building its store portfolio from 120 to 300 outlets within 3 years, and expanding its online sales offering.
Empik, which offers products including books, CDs, DVDs, new technologies and multimedia games, had previously operated a direct, ‘supplier-to-store’ model, where goods were shipped from producers and distributors directly to stores. Following rapid growth over a two-year period during which Empik saw its retail network grow from 60 to 120 stores, it decided it would need to move to a centralised distribution structure to effectively accommodate future growth. Already handling over two million products every month from 300 suppliers, the creation of a systems-driven central warehouse would facilitate rapid growth and at the same time improve availability and overall service quality.
As Empik develops its multi-channel retailing capability over the next few years, it is essential that it can fulfil store orders – orders consisting of a relatively small number of items in large quantities, and web orders – large volumes of orders where each order typically consists of a small number of individual units, in a reliable and efficient a way as possible.
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“After we hit the 80 store mark, it became clear that we needed a warehouse in order to keep up with demand,” said Keith Murphy, managing director of the Polish retail operation for Empik. “We have ambitious growth targets to reach by 2011, and with our e-commerce offering gaining momentum, it was essential that we invested in a warehouse management solution that was scalable, could grow with the business, could help us operate as a leading multi-channel retailer and could deliver the visibility and efficiency improvements we needed.”
“We are delighted to have been selected by Empik and look forward to supporting the company as it expands both on the high street and online,” said Steve Smith, senior vice president, EMEA, at Manhattan Associates. “This contract award further strengthens our position as a leading supply chain systems provider in this fast-developing region of Europe. With the strong growth that retailers - as well as their suppliers and distributors - are experiencing in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, we are confident that we will see further successes in this region in the coming months and years.”
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