Rural lifestyle retailer integrates space management with supply chain

Family Farm & Home is upgrading manual planogramming systems and linking store planning to supply chain data.

The Michigan-based retailer specializing in farm and rural lifestyle products is expanding an existing partnership with unified retail planning technology provider Relex Solutions to add macrospace and microspace management, including floor planning, planogram optimization and space-aware replenishment. Family Farm & Home will integrate these solutions into an existing artificial intelligence (AI)-based Relex supply chain technology implementation across its distribution centers, online channels, and 66 stores.

The retailer had been using legacy solutions for planogramming that required large amounts of manual planning. This, in turn, created challenges with disconnected data, restricted scalability, and limited automation. By deploying Relex space management technology, Family Farm & Home has now fully integrated its supply chain and space management operations and can take advantage of greater control over data and the ability to create cluster- and store-specific planograms, reduce manual touches, increase margin recognition, and improve inventory flow across the business.

By automating large amounts of previously manual tasks, Family Farm & Home is increasing efficiency and allowing product merchants and inventory analysts to focus their attention on higher value challenges. The retailer hopes the scalable technology will support its plans for store expansion, as well as continued growth in its e-commerce and BOPIS channels.

Using Relex machine learning capabilities, Family Farm & Home intends to raise both forecast accuracy and service levels for all items in its assortment. The company also seeks to improve its ability to proactively identify items and automate planning for seasonal, promotional, and new items, as well as new stores as it expands.

“Relex has already proven their value as a partner by implementing and modernizing our supply chain management,” said Family Farm & Home co-President and chief merchandising officer Tim Fansler. “We are pleased to grow our relationship with Relex as we incorporate space management into a single, unified solution.”

Based in Muskegon, Mich., Family Farm & Home operates 66 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, & Maryland.