Critical Path Management software is designed specifically to help retailer get the right products to the right place on time

Critical Path Management software is designed specifically to help retailer get the right products to the right place on time

Designed to track and manage risk, Milestone Manager is the latest addition to the product portfolio offered by collaborative software specialist 4Retail.

It is specifically designed to control the tracking of information and delivery dates for products, ensuring key information can be accessed quickly and efficiently.

Keith Taylor, chief executive of 4Retail, which lists among its customers John Lewis, Waitrose, Arcadia and Wilkinson Stores, said: “Those in the retail sector can face huge problems coordinating buy programmes and ensuring products are delivered on time to specification.

“Critical path management is something all retailers try to do. Many struggle because they are limited to using Excel, which makes it difficult to collaborate on milestones with suppliers and almost impossible to get any kind of centralised visibility and reporting. 4Retail now plugs that gap in a cost effective and easy to implement way.

“Milestone Manager can be applied to any buy program or project and can be used an infinite number of times, saving retailers valuable time and money on information gathering and review processes.”

Keeping track of schedules

The provider said the system works by allowing managers to upload specific tasks for any given project using ‘milestone schedules,’ where all the information can be accessed on one easy-to-use and convenient ‘summary page’. Users can link the tasks to relevant information already stored within the 4Retail system and then position that task within a timeline to chart progression.

Three varieties of date tag can be used: forecast, planned and actual delivery. Tasks can also be flagged with different warnings: approaching, overdue, and complete to inform users of pending delivery dates. Notifications are also sent out to users informing them of the status of tasks in either a chronological, dated or consolidated view.

Once tasks are complete reports can be compiled to show what has been delivered, when it was delivered and what percentages of deliveries were on time compared to the planned delivery dates. By providing a flexible but controlled set of tools to track and manage risk, in addition to identifying ‘key’ information quickly and efficiently, Milestone Manager can help to ensure planning is cost-effective and hassle-free, according to 4Retail.