Clients

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Clients

Results – what our clients are saying

Liberty Medical Pty Ltd

“After several years of steady growth, our warehouse space and processes needed review. GRA conducted a very thorough analysis and provided recommendations within an ambitious timeframe. As a result of this engagement, we have been able to effectively leverage our existing resources by implementing short term improvements while the larger investments can now be scheduled according to growth projections. By dividing up our needs into these two categories, GRA helped us improve morale and productivity almost immediately while giving us a roadmap for strategic planning as it relates to our warehouse operations.”
Larry Fells, Managing Director, Liberty Medical Pty Ltd


The Laminex Group

“GRA provided us with the vision on what an advanced inventory management system could deliver for us, along with the benefits. Through the implementation GRA managed the key activities of the project and delivered, by working closely with our small team, the project on time and on budget. GRA came to understand our business needs and tailored the implementation to suit these needs, whilst not modifying the software. To date the benefits are being delivered in line with the business case and the user experience is excellent. GRA, throughout the project, acted in an very professional manner and delivered on our expectations.”
Chris Wigg, Group Planning Manager, The Laminex Group


Lion Dairy & Drinks

“Over the last 6 months we have seen a significant shift in ownership and accountability within our IBP process. GRA have helped build the capability of the organisation by engaging and motivating Lion’s Senior Leadership Team to be active Leaders through the IBP process. The policy guidelines that GRA provided has enabled us to create functional IBP policies. These Policies will help us embed a foundation IBP process with clear roles and responsibilities through the entire organisation. GRA have helped lift our vision from our shoe laces toward a north star best practice approach in both IBP and Demand & Supply planning processes”
Ryan Dhondy, IBP Capability & Development Leader Vic, Lion Dairy & Drinks

"The current S&OP process was not delivering consistent service levels to our customers and was directly impacting our customer engagement. GRA conducted a full review of our end-to-end demand and supply process encompassing people, processes and systems, delivering a fact-based deep-dive analysis which identified service level and inventory performance improvement opportunities. GRA also built capability within the organisation on the importance of S&OP and its role in managing the business. This enabled senior leadership to fully engage in the S&OP process to drive an issues based, KPI driven S&OP process with clear ownership of the forecast and other key areas."
Demand Strategy & Planning Director and S&OP Transformation Programme Manager, Lion Dairy & Drinks

"Sales and profits are up, and Damaged & Dated is down. The sales team is engaged and enthusiastic about the S&OP process. It’s a nut we’ve been trying to crack for two years, and we’re finally seeing some green shoots."
Paul Foster, Sales Director - Convenience & Food Service, Lion Dairy & Drinks


Quiksilver

"GRA helped us piece together the critical phases & governance involved in planning our business from product concepts to planning inventory levels. They were very pragmatic in their approach and provided the right balance of guidance ensuring that we still owned the process for ultimate success."
Shaun Ladhams, Business Planning Manager, Quiksilver

Comvita

“GRA made sense of the complex issues hampering our supply chain operation. They identified a clear strategy and road map to move towards best practice, allowing for the specific business issues and practicalities of Comvita’s environment, locally and globally. They get the technical and process side, but also the importance of people and engagement in the whole demand planning process."
Erin Roberts, General Manager - Supply Chain, Comvita New Zealand Limited


ProVision

"ProVision acts an intermediary between a fragmented, and largely unsophisticated supplier base, and some 370 independently owned and operated optometry practices. Product still flows through an outdated supply chain that is desperately in need of overhaul. Through a series of interactions with both customers and suppliers, the team at GRA have helped to both identify and quantify the areas where we should apply focus to deliver better landed costs for our members."
Steven Johnston, CEO, ProVision Eyecare Pty Ltd

Mitre 10 Australia Ltd

 

"The Board’s intention was to move the supply chain from a position of being a ‘laggard’ to being a ‘leader’ in the quickest possible time", Jon Herbert, General Manager Supply Chain & Logistics, Mitre 10 Australia Ltd

GRA was engaged to implement GAINS and manage the change associated with moving from a decentralised to centralised planning structure. This included defining the organisational structure for the new planning group, developing enhanced planning processes and up-skilling the Mitre 10 team.

The implementation of GAINS allowed, for the first time, the Mitre 10 business to place consolidated orders on suppliers and to reduce inventory holdings by 15% within 12 months of the system being implemented. This inventory reduction was also combined with the business delivering consistent customer service levels in excess of 95%.

Changes to the Mitre 10 business are today delivering the highest levels of customer service within the retail hardware sector, combined with cost savings resulting from overhead savings and productivity improvements of 12%.

Read about Mitre 10's experience in the "The Ultimate Retail Supply Chain Re-engineering" article hereor download it below.

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MHD Supply Chain Solutions - 'The Ultimate Retail Supply Chain Re-engineering' - Oct 2009

PDF

Actrol

"After undertaking a broad diagnostic, GRA identified some great opportunities for our business (relating to both working capital and profit improvement). The GRA team worked effectively with management to prioritise the key areas of focus in terms of inventory reduction, freight cost optimisation, distribution network structure and broader organisational processes such as S&OP. Importantly, the review focused on opportunities that are deliverable and actionable."
Andrew Coventry, Catalyst Investment Managers Pty Ltd


Amcor Australasia's Paper & Recycling Group

Packaging giant Amcor Australasia's Paper and Recycling Group is part-way through a supply chain reinvention that will see its manufacturing base consolidated to a single site in Sydney.

"GRA did a fantastic job in analysing our future stock needs and proposing a warehouse solution," said Greg Williamson, Group's General Manager of Supply Chain.

The entire article from Supply Chain Review magazine is available as a download below:

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FORMAT
Neat & Trim
PDF

Super Cheap Auto

Super Cheap Auto




For a presentation overview on GRA's working capital and service level optimisation work with Super Cheap Auto download the document below:

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GRA - Super Cheap Auto Case Study PDF

To view the 2009 SMART presentation made by Super Cheap Auto's Managing Director Peter Birtles and GRA's Carter McNabb download the document below:

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GRA - Super Cheap Auto SMART 2009 PDF

"From a balance sheet perspective, the key take-aways are our significant reduction in inventory per store number, down to below $500,000 per store, and that's resulted from our continuous improvement in relation to our supply chain area and in particular our forecasting and replenishing systems. The key point to note there is that we’ve actually improved our in-stock position while managing down our overall inventory level."
Gary Carroll, Chief Financial Officer, Super Cheap Auto Group, Full Year Results presentation to the Australian Stock Exchange, August 2006

"The positive results the Group has achieved in terms of gross margin and working capital control has really shone through in terms of the cash flow statement where our operating cash flow has enabled us to fully fund the roll out of the entire Group both from a fixed asset and working capital perspective. Breaking that down in a little more detail, the tight control on stock, while improving our in-store stock position, has generated in itself a $12 million benefit from an operating cash flow perspective."
Gary Carroll, Chief Financial Officer, Super Cheap Auto Group, Full Year Results presentation to the Australian Stock Exchange, August 2006

"The work that we’ve done on inventory and the control that we’ve shown in the businesses has meant that we have very strong operating cash flow during the year, and that allowed us to fully cover the investment that we have made in our new stores in both Super Cheap Auto and in BCF we have been able to fully fund the investment we have made in fixed assets and in inventory in those businesses."
Peter Birtles, Managing Director, Super Cheap Auto Group, Full Year Results presentation to the Australian Stock Exchange, August 2006.

"Super Cheap Auto through the year certainly has gained market share and has been successful in growing both its gross and net margins in what certainly have been difficult trading conditions. We are also very pleased that our average inventory investment across Super Cheap Auto has reduced by 10% but we've been able to achieve that reduction in stock levels at the same time as increasing inventory presence on shelf in-store. So it's been a case of taking inventory out of our distribution centres and supply chain and increasing investment in on-shelf availability."
Peter Birtles, Managing Director, Super Cheap Auto Group, Full Year Results presentation to the Australian Stock Exchange, August 2006.

Download Super Cheap Auto's ASX announcement & presentation below.

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Audio ASX Annual Results FY06 Audio
SUL ASX Annual Results FY06 Announcement 24 Aug 06 PDF
SUL ASX Results Presentation 24 Aug 06 PDF


"Achieving growth of 17.1% in earnings in tough retail conditions is a very creditable result. Gross margins have improved, and costs have been well controlled. We are also encouraged by our management of inventory, with both average inventory per store and out of stocks reducing as our teams capitalise on our investment in forecasting and replenishment systems."
Peter Birtles Managing Director Super Cheap Auto Group, Australian Stock Exchange statement, January 2006

Download Super Cheap Auto's ASX announcement below.

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SUL ASX Announcement 23 Feb 2006 PDF


The Australian newspaper published an article about Super Cheap Auto’s supply chain challenges, solutions and results. Below is an extract:

"The Problem: car parts supplier Super Cheap Auto had millions of dollars worth of working capital tied up in excess inventory in its stores and supply chain. The Process: staff were trained in managing inventory, business systems were updated and demand management software was installed. The Result: the group freed up $12 million in working capital last financial year and expects to reap another $6 million in extra revenue next year."
"Stock Push Makes Order of Chaos" – The Australian, September 2006.

Download the article below.

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SCA Case Study The Australian Sept 2006 PDF


Super Cheap Auto's Managing Director Bob Thorn, talks to the Financial Review about expectations for the implementation of the advanced planning system GAINS. He quotes goals for the new system.
"Super Cheap sets supply reform" The Financial Review October 2004

Download the article below.

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Super Cheap Sets Supply Reform - AFR - Oct 2004 PDF


"Super Cheap, with annual sales of $382.7 million, has decided to install a best-of-breed forecasting software known as GAINS, which will be paired with its existing SAP enterprise resource planning system. From next year the SAP software will be used to generate reports based on information stored with Super Cheap's data warehouse and supply-chain system."
"Mix and match to gain best solution" The Financial Review Nov 2004.

Download the article below.

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Mix and match to gain best solution - AFR - Nov 2004 PDF


"The Mercury Awards panel of judges agreed that GRA has distinguished itself as a sophisticated supply chain technology consultant, with particular expertise in the field of advanced planning and supply chain optimisation. In particular, the innovative use of the company's GAINS planning tool to reduce Super Cheap Auto's inventory by 12% and generate a $12 million benefit to operating cash flow as part of the FOSIL Project, was an exceptional achievement in a difficult retail climate."
Anna Game-Lopata, Logistics Magazine Editor

Download the article below.

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GRA Wins Mercury Award Logistics Magazine article PDF


Symbion Pharmacy Services

Symbion Pharmacy Services (Formerly Mayne Health)

"In 2001... GAINS, a demand, inventory and supply chain planning system was selected and implemented. The aim was to equip the business with the ability to optimally balance capital, costs, capacity and customer service levels. What did it achieve? Inventories reduced by 26% whilst first-fill service levels (excluding manufacturer stock-outs) increased from 96% to more than 97%... the inventory reduction boosted return on assets (ROA) whilst freeing up capital, and the increase in stock turns improved supply chain efficiency. Forecast accuracy has also improved markedly. SPS is now managing by exception and operating with less inventory, improved service levels and lower costs. That's the bottom line, and it's a good result, particularly because it is sustainable."
"Advancing Health" - MHD Magazine, May-June 2006

Download the full article below.

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MHD Symbion Advancing Health May-June 2006 PDF


Snap Fresh

Snap Fresh (Qantas subsidiary)

"Qantas is moving towards 15% cost and efficiency savings on its supply chain distribution for one million meals a month produced at its value-adding in-flight Snap Fresh offshoot... Mark Trundle, general manager of Snap Fresh, told FMN that four to five per cent savings had already been achieved and another five per cent was "close"... Trundle said GRA assessed Snap Fresh’s stock holding procedures, its revenue information and handling/delivery costings. He said that following the GRA advice, the 15 per cent savings were achievable by early 2007."
FMN Magazine

Download the full article below.

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FMN SnapFresh July 2005 PDF


RAAF

Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF)

"We saved $14 million in six months… here are the graphs. We’re used to being promised these kinds of numbers; we’re just not used to having them delivered."
Wing Commander, Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF)

"The RAAF has reduced their inventory by $186 million whilst simultaneously increasing service levels (understocks reduced by 67%)."
Peter Burgess, GRA Partner

"We've noticed a real improvement in the availability of spares of the last 12 months."
Maintenance & Engineering Supervisor, RAAF

"Our workload is about 30% of what it was when we turned GAINS on."
Spares Inventory Manager, RAAF

Read the RAAF Success Story here.

CPI

CPI

"We needed a world class system and an organisation that could help us with the business issues and share their knowledge. We've been through tough implementations before, and we knew what to look for this time. We’ve never questioned our decision actually it's been constantly confirmed."
Michael Byrne, Group Stock Controller, CPI

"Now I do the purchasing each month for all 14,000 items in 3 days - that used to take 6 people 2 weeks."
Michael Byrne, Group Stock Controller, CPI

"We selected GRA because they guaranteed our success, clearly demonstrated their expertise and focused on the business process and people issues."
Michael Byrne, Group Stock Controller, CPI

Read the CPI Case Study here.

Mitsubishi Engine

"Because we were managing over 30,000 items using the manpower equivalent to one and one-half dedicated resources, the exception management capabilities of GAINS were critically important."
General Manager, Parts Operations, Mitsubishi Engine

"As anticipated, the GAINS Solution has more than met our objectives and expectations."
General Manager, Parts Operations, Mitsubishi Engine




Client Success Story

Amcor Australiasia's Paper & Recycling Group

"GRA did a fantastic job in analysing our future stock needs and proposing a warehouse solution," said Greg Williamson, Amcor Australasia's Paper & Recycling Group's General Manager of Supply Chain.