SAS Chosen by Waitrose to Forecast Customer Demand

Dublin, Ireland, 02. Aug. 2006 -  Waitrose, the food shops of the John Lewis Partnership, has selected SAS, the market leader in the new generation of business intelligence (BI) software, to provide forecasting software to better manage its supply chain. SAS' forecasting software, built on the SAS®9 Intelligence Platform, will help Waitrose forecast demand for its products based not only on the past history of each item, but also based on any number of causal variables, events or holidays.

Extensive trials led Waitrose to believe benefits could be gained if forecasts were improved, in particular around events and promotions. Rob Thompson, Head of Supply Chain at Waitrose said: "SAS' event forecasting enables us to incorporate knowledge about our business into the forecasting process and enables us to forecast the demand for thousands of items quickly and accurately. We anticipate that the return on investment we will achieve on reduced wastage and increased revenues will be significant."

Waitrose assessed six companies using the following criteria; the product suitability, compatible company and culture, and also that the chosen company had a good understanding of Waitrose's business. SAS fulfilled all these criteria, in particular because of the flexibility, speed and accuracy of its forecasting software. SAS will be forecasting 20,000 stock keeping units, across many branches.

Following installation, the system was trialled in three branches and received unprecedented positive feedback from those Waitrose branch managers. One fruit, vegetable and horticulture manager claimed SAS' solution had cut his order amendment rate by half. Furthermore, a fresh food manager for Waitrose stated "I did not think it [SAS' forecasting software] could do it, but now I leave the ordering alone" whilst another pointed out that "levels in the chiller have reduced and stock rotation is now much improved". Other positive comments include: "my stock levels have significantly reduced and my direct-to-shelf hit rate is much higher".

The system will now be implemented into more stores this year so it can be fully trialled over the main event in retailing, Christmas. Following this it is hoped the system will be fully rolled out to all stores during 2007.

"Forecasting impacts Waitrose's whole business, from the provision of goods to the branches, where stock is held in store-rooms and on the shelf. The capability to forecast accurately throughout the supply chain is critical to the company's ability to satisfy customer demand, and ultimately to the bottom line of their business," said John Dalton, managing director of SAS UK.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: 
Siobhan Molloy / Louise Cassidy, Weber Shandwick
Tel: 01 6760168 / 086 817 5066 / 086 383 5727
smolloy@webershandwick.com/ lcassidy@webershandwick.com

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