Operations Planning & Scheduling

                                             

Operations, Planning, and Scheduling

The Crate & Barrel Warehouse Store operates a bit differently than the other Crate & Barrel stores due to it being the first pop-up store ever. Sales and Operations Plan (S&OP) is the type of operation plan used for Crate & Barrel.

Forecasting

Sales are forecast based on factors such as historical data, industry trends, and the status of the sales pipeline which is used to estimate weekly, monthly, and annual sales. Internal and external factors play a role such as competition, industry, customers, etc Forecasting is done by the liquidation manager Bill Doud of Hilco, a third party company brought in to help support the store. 

Supply and Demand Planning

Each week, forecasts are reviewed and analyzed in regards to demand planning which results in adjustments to inventory and customer policies. Demand is usually measured in units at this specific Crate & Barrel location. Supply planning does not exist too much within the store now because merchandise is already manufactured and produced and sent to Crate & Barrel due to overstock in the warehouses. Merchandise is not being manufactured or produced specifically for the Eatontown location hence why once truck deliveries of shipment end, the store will not receive any more merchandise and will close by January 2021. 

Resource Planning

Project resource planning involves the allocation and utilization of different types of resources, including people, materials, equipment, and financial capital. Resource planning at The Crate & Barrel Warehouse Sale is not efficient in terms of people or materials. People play such an important role in a company, especially a large, well-known one. With that being said, the store is usually understaffed and materials are not always available when needed such as when merchandise needs to be disassembled for a customer and the proper tools are not available to do so. There have been several occasions of furniture being assembled incorrectly due to not having the proper materials. This issue results in poor customer service and an unhappy customer. Crate can improve this by better maintaining materials requirements planning (MRP).

Scheduling

There are a few different job positions such as sales associates, stock associates, and merchandise associates. Sales associates are either full-time or part-time employees and are solely responsible for selling merchandise and recovering the sales floor before, during, and after the store closes daily. Stock associates are mainly full-time and are responsible for unloading the trucks filled with inventory that get delivered every weekday until there are no more scheduled deliveries left. Trucks are delivered at 8:00am so it is necessary for stock associates to arrive to work by then and their shifts are usually eight hours. Once the last item is out of the truck, stock associates need to assemble the items that need to be assembled and then bring them out onto the sales floor. Stock associates are also responsible for assisting customers with their large furniture items. This includes taking the furniture off of the sales floor so no other customers try to purchase it, wrapping the furniture in stretch wrap (like saran wrap for larger items), and loading the furniture into the customer’s vehicle if needed. Lastly, merchandise associates are the ones who price the inventory and consist of both full-time and part-time employees. Sales associates are also trained to price goods however, merchandise associates are not trained to be on the sales floor. Computers, ipods, and ipads are available for all associates to use for price checks, finding information on an item such as dimensions, inventory management, and clocking in and out for shifts.