Enterprise-Wide Information With A Virtual Supply Chain

After several years of declining sales, automotive service generalist Midas, Inc. switched its business model from manufacturing to distribution. Then, the company created a Web-enabled supply chain to expand its warehousing capabilities.

You would think that advancements in technology would lead to better-built products, and better products would lead to higher sales. Not for Chicago-based Midas, Inc. In fact, sales for the once "King of Mufflers" were declining for several years. With aluminum and stainless steel, catalytic converters had less contaminants, and mufflers were lasting longer. The overall life of the entire exhaust system was increasing. By 1999, vehicle quality and replacement part technology had advanced to an all-time high; the company's exhaust replacement sales had declined more than 20%.

Transforming Business Objectives
In June of 1999, Wendell Province, chairman and CEO of Midas, stepped in. The $355 million automotive service provider – with approximately 2,700 franchised and licensed stores in 19 countries worldwide – began a transformation. With a new image and expanded products and services, Midas' goals were to improve store sales and enhance franchisee and company profits.

With its expanding host of automotive services (including exhaust, brakes, steering and suspension, batteries, climate control, and maintenance services), Midas began transitioning from an exhaust and brake specialist to an automotive service generalist. There was only one problem. Midas didn't have the information technology infrastructure to support its expanded operations. "As we broadened our offerings, our goal was to sell automotive aftermarket parts to any customer anywhere in the world," explains Ron McEvoy, vice president of Midas, Inc. "To accomplish this, we had to transform our business model from manufacturing to distribution."

Improving Inventory Levels With A Web-Enabled Supply Chain
Then came JDA Software Group (Scottsdale, AZ). JDA offered Midas MMS.com for creating a Web-enabled supply chain. MMS.com is an integrated, commercial e-commerce solution that delivers software components to manage inventory and order processing throughout different selling channels. With this, Midas wanted to improve distribution, retail and wholesale sales, and customer service.

McEvoy is excited about using JDA's MMS.com to achieve Midas' virtual supply chain vision. "In addition to using MMS.com to support our business-to-business strategy, we're leveraging this software to take advantage of new business opportunities." With MMS.com, Midas has expanded its warehousing capabilities to search, maintain, and replenish inventory for substitute parts. Carl Daniels, vice president of logistics at Midas, adds, "Our inventory levels have improved, allowing for better space utilization in the distribution centers." JDA's integrated system also allows Midas to access enterprise-wide information at any level.

Midas is so optimistic about the potential opportunities of building a virtual supply chain that the company is JDA's beta partner for developing the wholesale module of MMS.com. The company hopes to implement upgrades of JDA's Retail IDEAS data warehouse, Arthur Planning system, and Tactics Store Planning sometime during the second half of 2001.

Stacy Gray