Furniture retailer builds back-end performance

A furniture shopper sees and feels the fabric and the design of the product, but a solid underlying structure is essential to customer satisfaction.



Similarly, while the shopper only sees and feels the front end experience, there is an underlying back end experience that is crucial to their overall happiness. With that in mind, the Omaha, Nebraska-based operator of four retail stores and one clearance outlet across Texas, Kansas and Iowa has the selected JDA warehouse labor management solution to better plan and manage its warehouse employee workforce.



Nebraska Furniture Mart seeks to reduce back end labor costs while maintaining customer satisfaction. The retailer has three warehouse facilities with more than 1 million square feet and more than 4,000 employees performing various tasks, including traditional fulfillment and distribution as well as value-added services such as furniture assembly and prep.



The size, volume and complexity of these operations require a significant amount of labor. Without adequate tools to set expectations, provide visibility and accountability, and facilitate coaching and feedback, labor costs were growing and causing pressure as Nebraska Furniture Mart sought to provide widespread product availability with a low cost guarantee.



Nebraska Furniture Mart decided to implement JDA Warehouse Labor Management to better plan and manage its labor within its facilities, in order to drive the cost structures needed to maintain desired prices. By providing complete labor visibility, JDA Warehouse Labor Management helps improve performance accountability and deliver labor savings.



“We chose JDA Warehouse Management to increase labor productivity and facility throughput, while decreasing operational and labor costs,” said Ryan Blumkin, VP, Nebraska Furniture Mart. “This will better position us to deliver on our core value of being ‘cost effective and competitive. We look forward to rolling out JDA Warehouse Labor Management in our Kansas City location as a first step in a contemplated deployment across all three of our facilities.”