Brooner says Madison Reed found “real value” in Saddle Creek’s work cell design. “It was unlike anything we saw from other prospective partners,” she says. “We knew it could create efficiencies to help with volatility in demand and order volume as well as our focus on picking accuracy. “We did not have an OMS prior to our relationship with Saddle Creek,” she adds. “Their OMS functionality introduced a different level of visibility and, specifically, inventory allocation.” Brooner notes that Madison Reed now has an allocation-driven inventory process that ensures the company passes fully executable orders to the team on the floor. “As a result, we don’t have surprise shorts or cancellations where we’re not able to deliver product to our customers,” Brooner says. Always Accurate The move to a single-node solution with dedicated space, alongside Saddle Creek’s processes and cycle count accuracy, means that Madison Reed maintains accurate inventory at all times, Brooner says. “We have brought down shorts and cancellations on the wholesale side of our business to nearly 0%,” Brooner says. “We reached 100% OTIF [on-time- in-full] shortly after joining Saddle Creek—which is a complete 180-degree turn from where we were before.” As of April, Saddle Creek has supported the opening of five new Hair Color Bar locations in 2024— each with launch orders shipping in the first quarter to support openings shortly afterward. “Our Hair Color Bar leadership said it is the first time that they have received all the product required to make sure the stores look great and actually start performing services on time, all without disruption or hiccups,” Brooner says. For both Cutter & Buck and Madison Reed, finding the right partner was the key to turning their fulfillment operations around and freeing them to pursue the growth their brands were ready to enjoy. n
Saddle Creek supports all of Madison Reed’s sales channels from a single inventory, providing the hair beauty brand with accurate stock counts at all times.
In light of that growth and the complexity of Madison Reed’s channels, a strong fulfillment operation is critical, says Erica Brooner, the company’s vice president, supply chain. However, fulfillment was hindering its ambitions for a while. “We were facing challenges with unreliable service levels and performance, inaccurate inventory, and retail compliance issues,” Brooner says. “We had an unreliable logistics partner that did not have best practices in place across all aspects of fulfillment and distribution, and we were in dire need of that. “When customers color their hair, they want the product to show up when they need it so they can stay on their desired schedule, so consistency is definitely key,” Brooner adds. “It’s also important on the Hair Color Bar side because disruption not only affects sales, but also affects our ability to perform services in those salons.” finding the Right Partner Brooner says Madison Reed’s stockouts were trending at 8 to 10% due to a variety of reasons, mostly lack of reliable inventory visibility and inventory accuracy. In response to its fulfillment struggles, Madison Reed ran a competitive RFP process that led to
Saddle Creek Logistics, an omnichannel supply chain solutions company based in Lakeland, Florida. Saddle Creek spent time with Madison Reed’s team discussing its needs and expectations and then assembled a cross-functional solution design team made up of experts in engineering, systems, and operations, as well as senior management. The partnership ultimately led to a single-node solution with dedicated space at Saddle Creek’s Fort Worth, Texas facility. The operation went live in October 2023. “Saddle Creek supports all of Madison Reed’s sales channels from a single inventory,” says Luke Hendrix, regional senior director, operations, Saddle Creek Logistics Services. “For the core business, base kits are kitted to stock and the UPC label is applied. Then, the kits move to work cells where we add hair color, marketing inserts, and any add- ons. We ‘each pick’ ecommerce orders and orders for the Hair Color Bars and case pick orders going to retailers like Ulta and Target. To ensure order accuracy, we perform quality checks at the end of every line.” Madison Reed operates on Saddle Creek’s order management system (OMS) and warehouse management systems, and will continue to refine and enhance the operation as needed.
164 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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