Ramesh explains how DDF implemented
the Oracle retail merchandising system and
managed to automate 95 per cent of the
warehouse’s operations. “That is not a
made-up number,” Ramesh claims. “It is real
in terms of using the automated system. The
manual system is only used for categories of
items like cigars that need to be in cold
storage. So, we automated almost the whole
operation and significantly improved the
processes between the point of sale and the
back office.
In 2017, the company upgraded to Oracle
Retail Release 16. Of the 8,000 retailers
around the world using the system, Ramesh
notes that DDF was the first to go live with
the new version, a fantastic accomplishment.EXPANDING CAPACITY
Dubai International Airport has experienced
sharp growth over the past three decades,
with its passenger movements rising from
4.4 million in 1990 to 88.2 million in 2017.
Ramesh has driven developments to ensureof handling both bulk pallets and small items
like perfumes and cosmetics. It consolidated
a number of warehouses into a single facility
and marked the first time the company had
moved away from a manual inventory system.
Updating its distribution centre indirectly
improved almost every aspect of the store’s
efficiency, Ramesh says. “It made us look at
the surrounding processes in relation to
merchandising. We looked at how orders
come to the warehouse, how people order
items in the shops, how the items are picked,
consolidated and dispatched. We also
examined how our promotions are done and
looked at the algorithms. We check whether
a minimum quantity has been reached and
whether we should reorder something.”
The back office efforts to improve the
logistics and technology of the retail
operation are important components of the
partnership. “There are a lot of elements
around the operations that fall in the middle
space between the point of sales and the
actual sales transaction.”
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