Vera Bradley Tackles Four Big Supply Chain Projects

Under the best circumstances, it's a challenge to individually implement ERP and supply chain solutions, automate paper-driven processes or move to a larger warehouse. But try tackling it all at the same time. That's just what executives at Vera Bradley decided to do. But they really had no choice -- the company was growing so fast it had to make improvements to meet customer demand and keep its product line fresh.

Vera Bradley designs and manufactures upscale handbags, luggage and accessories that are sold the all over the world. They have been seen on prime time hit television shows and in more than 20 feature films. They've even made appearances in celebrity gift lounges at the Tony Awards, the Daytime Emmys and the Sundance Film Festival.

Friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller founded the company in 1982.

"The brand is known for innovative design, meticulous craftsmanship and affordable quality," says Matt Wojewuczki, vice president of operations, Vera Bradley.

With double digit annual growth, and the company's products in hot demand, Vera Bradley had outgrown its 40,000-square-foot warehouse. Other issues included paper processes and manual picking that yielded inaccuracies.

A team was put together to take on "The Big Four" challenge: automate ordering processes, implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain solutions, and move from a 40,000 to a 200,000-square-foot facility in Fort Wayne, Ind. that would serve 24 Vera Bradley stores, 3,400 other retail outlets and e-commerce customers.


Weaving Integration

When Vera Bradley was ready to evolve its operations, extend its capabilities and compete in a slow economy, it decided to enlist the help of a third-party consulting group.

"We were taking on a substantial challenge and quickly realized it made sense for an outside firm to help us assess our requirements," explains Larry Harness, warehouse manager, Vera Bradley. "The consultants performed comprehensive data analysis and steered us toward four warehouse management providers."

In the end, Manhattan Associates was determined to be the best fit with Vera Bradley.

After implementing the ERP and warehouse management solutions, Vera Bradley set about the task of moving its inventory into the new distribution center. After tackling some obstacles with untrained personnel and within the receiving process, the warehouse became fully operational.

Today, Manhattan SCALE Warehouse Management is utilized to manage the complete distribution process within the four walls of Vera Bradley's distribution center, from receiving,
put-away, replenishment and order fulfillment to wave management, cycle counting, manifesting and shipping.

"This was a complicated proposition going into a larger warehouse, implementing technology solutions, and going from a paper environment to a fully automated system," according to David Gealy, director of
distribution for the company. "Manhattan jumped right in there and helped us get the system and building up and running as quickly as possible."  


No Pull on the Purse Strings

Since the implementation was completed, the company realized tangible results that have yielded efficiencies and cost savings.

For example, order fulfillment times have been reported as significantly reduced. In addition, peak order processing has increased from 1,500 per day to more than 6,000 per day.

"Manifesting, cartonization and system-directed work are huge gains for us," says Harness. "Now we can pre-manifest and print labels before items are pulled from inventory. With these automated systems in place, labor productivity has increased by
25 percent."

With improved visibility of its inventory and a larger, automated distribution center, Vera Bradley was even able to bring its e-commerce business back in-house from an outside provider.

"Not only did this bring back a lucrative revenue stream to our organization, but we now have more control over the accuracy and presentation of our orders," explains Gealy.  

With an eye to the future, the company has set the stage to accommodate continued growth among its customer base, product lines and overall inventory.

Commenting on the company's journey, Wojewuczki says: "The only thing that is constant is change. You have to be flexible, adaptable and nimble in an industry that's very competitive."