Customer success story
Seamless data exchange across 199 stores
Every REMA 1000 store used to report to head office separately, by hand. The Rapidi Replicator for Microsoft Dynamics NAV now moves around a million records a day between 199 stores and the central system, in both directions.
REMA 1000 is a discount supermarket chain in the Reitan Group. Each store reported separately and manually to head office in Horsens, Denmark, so nothing captured the economies of scale that 199 stores together could offer. As part of a Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementation, the Replicator was put in as the link between the stores and the central financial system. Sales and employee data replicate from the stores to head office; products, prices and purchase orders replicate out to the stores.
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About REMA 1000
REMA 1000 is a multinational discount supermarket chain owned by the Reitan Group (Reitangruppen). REMA is short for REitan MAt, Reitan Food, referring to Odd Reitan, who founded the company. The 1000 refers to the original concept of offering a selection of only one thousand different products, though the range has grown well beyond that since.
The chain runs a franchised discount concept: buying large quantities of a limited range and offering them to semi-independent owners under the REMA 1000 brand. It operates across Scandinavia, with businesses in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, each with its own head office.
The thousand-product range has since grown to around 2,500 different products. By 2007 the chain counted 576 discount supermarkets across Scandinavia, and the Reitan Group 2,445 outlets in total. More about the company at rema1000.dk.
The business need
Each separate store reported separately and manually to REMA 1000’s headquarters in Horsens, Denmark. There was no system in place to capitalise on the economies of scale that 199 stores could benefit from when communicating with a central head office.
To get an overview of the business from all the transactions and total sales, a link between each of the 199 stores and the central head office was vital. Communicating in both directions meant they needed a data exchange solution rather than more reporting effort.
The challenge
As part of a Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementation project at REMA 1000, the chain’s CEO wanted a fast, easy and secure way to move the data through the whole retail chain. The volume is what makes that hard.
As there are 199 stores you can imagine there are a lot of data — about 1 million records — going back and forward every day between each store and the central head quarter. Information about e.g. products, prices, special offers, campaigns, employees etc. has to be up-to-date in each store and the head quarter. We needed all that information to be managed and transferred in an efficient and secure way.
The solution
The Replicator handles the total data transfer between the 199 stores and the central server. Sales data replicates from the stores to head office. Information about products, prices and purchase orders replicates from head office out into the stores. Data about employees moves from each single store to head office.
The Replicator is part of the IT Group’s retail solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which suits retail chains particularly well. It is the link between REMA 1000’s stores and its general financial system, and it makes sure any relevant information is exchanged between the 199 stores and the central system automatically.
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The whole story as a PDF
A million records a day between 199 stores and head office, and what moves in each direction.
The results
The implementation brought several tangible benefits. It eliminated duplicated data entry, it keeps the data up to date, and it gives a better overview of the whole picture. That saves REMA 1000 both time and money. General work routines improved as well, and valuable resources were freed up.
The Replicator for Microsoft Dynamics NAV made it possible to take advantage of the integration possibilities in our retail solution. The Replicator is the perfect solution for us as it provides data exchange between 199 stores and the head quarter in an easy, efficient and secure way.
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