Herlitz IM deployed the inventory and buying solution in 40 days, which included training the company’s buying team. The solution enables retailers to meet ever-changing customer demands.
Cambridge, MA, May 23, 2017 — Herlitz Inventory Management, a best-of-breed supply chain provider in multiple industries, announced its selection by Smithland Pet & Garden Center (formerly Dave’s Soda and Pet City) to deliver its HIMPACT solution to the chain’s seven superstores.
Founded in 1975, Dave’s Soda and Pet City holds 61,000 SKUs from two distribution centers, which require managing by only two buyers throughout supply chain. It was seeking to gain efficiency by optimizing its purchasing process. Specifically, it needed to gain efficiency to build orders that met complex vendor minima for several of the suppliers manufacturing the company’s own brand, Dave’s Pet Foods.
Dave Ratner, Founder, Owner and CEO of Dave’s Soda and Pet City stated, “There’s plenty of software that helps with supply chain management, however, we chose Herlitz Inventory Management because of its history of success with retail chains like mine. Their level of commitment to improve our customer experience and give us the resources we need to grow our business is rare from vendors today.”
“Order building that previously took hours using spreadsheets is now completed in seconds,” added Terry Pomietlarz, Wholesale Buyer for Dave’s Soda and Pet City.
After just one round of training, Andy Lynch , Purchasing Manager for Dave’s Soda and Pet City stated, “I was confident HIMPACT would help us improve when we selected it, but I can already see it is doing much more than optimizing inventories. It is going to improve my quality of life.”
The solution was deployed in just 40 days and included training of the buyers. The short deployment is unheard of in the retail industry, where similar solutions may take months or even years to complete. The HIMPACT features include daily reforecasting, seasonality, and truck building, and will save Dave’s Soda and Pet City several hours per week, enabling its buyers to do more than just filling holes. This functionality positions the company to provide the best user experience for the buyers while meeting its ultimate goal—delivering outstanding customer service every single time.
Carl Herlitz, President and CEO of Herlitz Inventory Management shared, “We’re pleased to partner with Dave’s Soda and Pet City to help their team optimize its demand chain. Aside from Dave Ratner being well-loved in the region, we consider it a privilege to contribute to this critical part of his business and to see it become more profitable.”
Herlitz Inventory Management’s HIMPACT is used in many industries—including Grocery, Foodservice, Beer, Wine and Spirits, Candy and Tobacco, GM and HBW—that need a best of breed solution to stay competitive in the highly competitive world of shrinking margins and more intense competition. HIMPACT has been used to help businesses buy smarter since 2011.
Herlitz added, ”We are very excited to have Dave’s Soda and Pet City utilize our entire solution, which encompasses our multi-echelon hub and spoke approach to DCs and Retail stores. Dave’s is using HIMPACT throughout its entire retail and wholesale distribution network. Our solution truly brings profitable impacts to both the wholesale and retail environments of their business in one system.”
About Dave’s Soda and Pet City
Dave’s Soda and Pet City is a mini chain of 7 superstores with more than 150 employees. It has become synonymous with pet supplies and great customer service. Dave’s won the 2016 Reader Raves, 2015 Gazette Reader’s Choice Award and
2015 Advocate Best of the Valley award. Founder Dave Ratner was elected to the board of directors of the National Retail Federation for a three-year term. Dave’s employees are Pet-Friendly, knowledgeable, experienced and help customers find exactly what they need. In further recognition of Dave’s importance to the retail industry, in 2012 Dave was inducted into the Massachusetts Retail Association’s Hall of Fame.
