Jockey Grows Distribution Operations to Underpin Innovation
Since its inception in 1876, Jockey has produced countless products and styles that have shaped the underwear and intimate apparel industry. Today this prolific company offers more than 2,000 styles of men's and women's underwear that are distributed in more than 120 countries around the globe, and produces hundreds of millions of pairs of underwear each year. Jockey's corporate headquarters are in Kenosha, Wis., and the company remains today a privately-held and family-owned business. Supporting Innovation
One of Jockey's defining traits and areas of focus is, and has always been, a commitment to innovation. From creating the men's brief, to developing underwear for NASA, to recently launching a popular 3D Innovations collection, Jockey continues to elevate the industry.
"As a result, Jockey needs to be nimble and fast-acting," says Jim Cook, Jockey's vice president of Information Technology, who is responsible for developing and implementing Jockey's information technology systems to support global operations. "As Jockey grows, so grows our distribution solution requirements."
Jockey stays current by continually updating its Manhattan Associates' Distribution Management suite of applications. In 2004, when word of RFID mandates spread, Jockey implemented a warehouse management system (WMS) to ensure that it was prepared for compliance with its major retail customers.
A single instance of this WMS system now runs in two of Jockey's North American warehouses. Today, the majority of Jockey's orders are received via EDI into its ERP system, a Jockey version of JBA. These orders are then passed into the warehouse management system within the requested shipping window. WMS manages the waves into picking through wireless handhelds and then controls the items across conveyor automation into packing and routing for shipment.
"WMS also manages our receipts and putaways, giving us visibility of our product anywhere on the floor, in real time," says Cook.
Continuous Improvement
In 2007, Jockey embarked on another upgrade to its distribution management operation, replacing a custom productivity solution, which was complex and costly to maintain.
Jockey decided to implement Manhattan Associates' Labor Management and Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI) products. Labor Management is a product offered within the Distribution Management suite, and works by storing a database of standards for every key task. For each associate, the actual times for task completion are monitored in real time and compared to standards. Employees at all levels receive immediate feedback on their performance.
Meanwhile, SCI is a cross-suite application that can be integrated with the Distribution Management suite. The module provides measures, key performance indicators and analysis dimensions that enable Jockey to gain insight into trends in the supply chain as they happen and make both short and long-term decisions based on that information.
According to Cook, the addition of these products allows Jockey to automate its time and attendance process and productivity tracking, replacing manual systems such as punch clocks.
"The products from Manhattan provided more accurate productivity and attendance reporting, and offered capabilities of adjusting design reports to meet our needs," adds Cook.
In regard to its RFID operations (first implemented in 2004), Jockey now leverages Manhattan Associates' EPC Manager to satisfy customer requirements. "We continually look for supply chain advantages to use RFID capabilities."
Getting Involved
Jockey recognizes that value of continually upgrading its distribution management suite of solutions. To ensure that it stays ahead of ever-changing requirements for the industry, Jockey is active with Manhattan Associates' WMS development groups, providing suggestions and influence for development of functionality that will go into the future products.
"Many customers, including ourselves, have continued to drive the business practices and requirements into a package such as WMS. By being an active partner with our vendors, Jockey often determines and develops improvements to enhance our business," says Cook.