Admired by consumers and competitors alike, the name Ted Baker is synonymous with success. With 16 retail stores and 25 concessions and with a portfolio of 11 brands, Ted Baker has forged an enviable reputation across the UK.
But no success story is without its champions. Behind every captain is a steady crew and behind every crew is an all-weather infrastructure. In Ted Baker's case its infrastructure has adapted effortlessly with exponential growth. The backbone of this infrastructure is information technology, and the supplier, Prologic.
Situation
A business cannot grow as fast as Ted Baker has without a sound technology infrastructure in place to support it. "Back in early 1998, we had 9 retail sites - 8 stores and 1 concession" Ted Baker's financial director, Lindsay Page, explains. "Our wholesale business was supplying 300 accounts and we had 3 brands: Ted Baker, Ted Baker Woman and Teddy Boy.
At the time our technology was focused on retail, wholesale, stock replenishment and sales. We were using a separate accounting package and there were areas of the business which weren't exploiting technology at all".
Developed for the smaller retailer, the Top to Toe system which Ted Baker had used since its inception had been outgrown by the brand's steep growth curve. Sales had rocketed from £14million in 1996 to £28million in 1998 and the company needed a system which would stand up to further growth which has seen the company doubling turnover year on year. "At the time our existing system was beginning to weaken. We were experiencing downtime and as an organisation we were losing confidence in the technology".
Selection
Selecting an IT system can be a daunting task. Where do I start? How do I find appropriate suppliers? How many should I shortlist? How can I tell if they will really be able to deliver what we need? However, after researching an array of technology suppliers, Lindsay drew up a shortlist of 5 companies most relevant to Ted Baker's specific requirements.
Integration was extremely important to Ted Baker as monitoring and controlling a business is difficult at any time, but during a period of explosive growth it becomes almost impossible without accurate and integrated management reporting.
"We decided to involve all our Heads of Department in the selection process" comments Lindsay. "The chosen system would profoundly affect every one of them, so it was vital not only that the system was right for each department but also that we had been seen to engage and involve key people at every stage of the process". Prologic won Ted Baker's confidence with its solution, CIMS, an Oracle-based system capable of linking every department and 200 shops upward. The alternatives on parade were generic systems, implemented across car manufacturers, oil companies and fashion brands alike. Prologic was more than familiar with Ted Baker's growing pains as CIMS is designed specifically for the fashion trade.
"As a company, Ted Baker does almost everything, from design to production and from warehousing to retail" explains Sam Jackson, Prologic's managing director. "And our solution fits every element of their equation". In addition, Prologic was the only supplier who could meet all of Ted Baker's needs within one single system, as opposed to other IT suppliers who offered a complete solution by interfacing various packages together.
Implementation
When the project began in April 1998, Ted Baker wanted the system live in the head office by June and across all 30 stores by September. "We implemented the system quicker than Prologic originally intended" says Lindsay. "But we had sponsorship from all areas of Ted Baker, as well as a young, highly motivated team, all eager to enjoy the changes which the system promised".
"Every 2 weeks during the implementation period we pulled the whole project team together to identify any bottlenecks. One important lesson we learned was that people with previous experience of using IT systems adapted more quickly. The retail and warehousing departments were already used to working electronically, so adapted easily, but production had been using mostly manual systems and they had a significantly steeper learning curve".
The solution
CIMS links Ted Baker's entire business cycle, from how the product is going to be marketed, the management, allocation and replenishment of stock to shipping processes, shop floor sales and inter-branch transfers. CIMS is also capable of handling a company's entire online requirements, from e-commerce to interactive television.
The company now has every conceivable piece of mission critical information at its fingertips. "It can ask itself how profitable it is, what is happening with its shipping, which stock is flying off its shelves quickest and get instant, accurate answers" Sam enthuses. "Plus scaleability is a huge issue for any growing company. Ted Baker has doubled in size since CIMS was implemented and all they've had to do since is install a bigger server".
"I honestly can't think of a single significant issue that we've had with CIMS since it was implemented" Lindsay concludes. "It's not something that I've had to worry about at all. And that's exactly what I wanted from the outset".