Gap Techs Up Operations
The Gap will be relying more on technology to help keep its inventories in check as the 3,097-unit chain rolls out the initial phases of a big software investment it committed to last spring with Minneapolis, Minn.-based supply-chain specialist Retek Inc.
The San Francisco-based retailer will debut Retek’s merchandise-forecasting solution for its Banana Republic division this month and follow up at Old Navy and Gap stores. Gap has committed to a suite of application solutions aimed at enhancing the company’s global supply-chain capabilities. Gap and Retek intend to partner over a multiyear period to develop next-generation supply-chain solutions and enhance Retek’s supply-chain capabilities. The solutions will help Gap strengthen its operating efficiencies and continuously improve customer service, company executives said.
The rollout comes at a time when the retailer is coming off an $8 million loss in 2001, a year chief executive officer Mickey Drexler characterized as “our most difficult ever.” The poor results forced key executives, including Drexler, to take cuts in pay and forgo bonuses, according to recently released Securities & Exchange Commission documents.
The results were blamed in part on shrinking margins, which is one of the reasons why the company is turning to technology for help.
“By leveraging leading-edge technology in our sourcing, inventory management, merchandising and planning and distribution systems, we believe that we can serve our customers faster and more effectively,” said Ken Harris, Gap’s chief information officer. —Robert McAllister
