Excel spreadsheets and quarterly inventory checks - that's how Stonewall Kitchen was managing its inventory only three years ago. As you might imagine, "it wasn't working," says Dean Frost, director of operations at the York, Maine-based retailer and manufacturer of specialty foods. "The adjustments were quite large - as much as 5 to 10 percent inventory variance. That's a lot of money" for a company with revenues of about $40 million.
Given the company's goal of more than doubling those revenues within the next few years, a lot of work was required in distribution. Stonewall Kitchen decided to swallow it all in one bite. In 2004, it selected the IRMS Warehouse Management System - a distribution and inventory control system offered by Downers Grove, Ill.-based Integrated Warehousing Solutions...
