Infor provides supply chain IT for sports brand owner

Infor, the industry cloud company, has announced that Pentland Brands Limited, owner of the Speedo, Berghaus, Canterbury of New Zealand, Endura, ellesse, SeaVees and Mitre brands, has adopted the Infor Nexus supply chain platform. The technology will help Pentland Brands improve visibility of inventory, enhancing collaboration with suppliers, automating the vital procure-to-pay process, and accelerating the onboarding of new suppliers and partners.

The Pentland Brands UK businesses are already live on the platform, with the US-based businesses going live at the end of 2021.Now its entire supplier network across China, East Asia and Europe is connected to Infor Nexus, with standardised best-practice processes for all interactions.

Following a thorough review of the market, Infor Nexus was chosen based on its capability to combine both the physical and financial supply chain processes.  This helps provide:

• Real-time supply forecast and order collaboration.
• Digital shipping processes to help streamline both carton scanning and transport booking.
• Automation of the procure-to-pay process, including invoice generation, auto-approval, and settlement. This will help reduce costs and provide real-time cashflow visibility to both suppliers and Pentland Brands.
• Enhanced visibility, enabling Pentland Brands to respond quickly to production issues and changes in available quantities, as well as tracking the process of all goods in transit.

As the system of engagement, Infor Nexus was also chosen because of its complete integration with Pentland Brands enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This helps synchronise orders generated in the ERP, order change requests, supplier pack lists, advance shipping notices (ASNs), estimated time of arrival (ETA), and payment authorisation back to the ERP. This helps extend the visibility across Pentland Brands’ supply chain and reduces supply and capital costs.

Looking to the future, Pentland Brands is also assessing the predictive estimated time of arrival (PETA) capabilities of Infor Nexus.

“For brands, especially those linked to the sports, outdoor and lifestyle markets, efficient operations and speed to market are critical,” said Abhy Thomas Joseph, Pentland Brands, global director IT, Digital & Innovation. “The enhanced collaboration, connection and visibility provided by Infor Nexus gives us a competitive advantage with our suppliers and also allows us to on-board new partners faster.”

“Modern brand management is just as much about ensuring a world-class supply chain as it is ensuring you have the best creative talent,” said Sam Keers, Pentland Brands global sourcing and planning director. “We have hundreds of suppliers across the globe, and we’re now able to deliver a standardised set of best practices that will mean we’re more agile across all of our markets.”

“Combining supply chain, operational and financial aspects into cohesive processes enables faster, more controlled growth,” said Mark Illidge, Infor vice-president and general manager for supply chain in EMEA. “As brands look to re-engage with a drastically changed retail market, the ability to be agile, fast and responsive throughout the supply chain will be key to success, and technology such as the Infor Nexus platform will be a vital part of that.”