gain better visibility and control over its inventory and supply chain. The goal was to help predict demand and understand how fulfilling the anticipated sales pipeline would affect production schedules, as well as anticipate the peaks it needed to buffer. JUST IN TIME Fortunately, E.T. Browne didn’t have to look too far for a solution. They had a long- running relationship with ERP software provider SYSPRO, having purchased their system in 1998. “E.T. Browne went live in 1999 and has used the ERP solution ever since,” recalls Gorey. “However, we recently did a business process review to look for inefficiencies within the system that E.T. Browne was experiencing related to increased and incorrect inventory.” Forecasting had always been an issue. “In the beginning, we used an add-on tool because SYSPRO couldn’t natively do what we needed it to do,” explains Goes. As the years passed, E.T. Browne admits to being guilty of not leveraging all that SYSPRO had to offer. “Our staff didn’t always have the right understanding of SYSPRO’s capabilities and so they came up with manual workarounds,” says Goes. “They dealt with issues in a cumbersome manner outside the system that over the years they could have done within SYSPRO had we stayed aware of those improvements.”
ERP Upgrade: Visible Results THE CHALLENGE E.T. Browne Drug Company, a long-established purveyor of skin care products, determined it needed to upgrade its ERP system to gain better visibility over inventory and supply chain management. THE SOLUTION Having relied on ERP software provider SYSPRO for more than a quarter century, E.T. Browne upgraded to SYSPRO 8 2023, fully leveraging the platform’s MRP capabilities to create a just-in-time inventory system. THE RESULTS Realized a 22% reduction in inventory with the downward trend continuing over the past 12 months. Gross sales are up 7.2% and net profit is up 4.6% year-to-date. NEXT STEPS Leverage SYSPRO to manage emerging challenges such as the growing need to use recycled materials.
the majority of our business is steady,” says Goes. “People like to use moisturizers year-round.” Special promotions also affect demand. Sometimes E.T. Browne offers bonus sizing or specially priced bundles of their products. Retailers might decide to do a buy one/get one free promotion. These events typically prompt orders to increase and need to be forecast and projected correctly. The skin care company needed to
“At that point, product really starts moving off the shelf,” says Goes. The company experiences a decent peak in volume from December through March, followed by a tapering off period. However, different product lines during the company’s history have caused peaks to occur at other points during the year. For instance, E.T. Browne offered an SPF rated lotion for a time, which caused an increase in summer orders. “We have seasonality in skin care but
E.T. Browne Drug Company, best known for its line of Palmer’s Skin Success products, has leveraged the SYSPRO ERP to boost visibility, reduce inventory, and grow profits.
38 Inbound Logistics • October 2024
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