Sundan Reduces Inventory Costs

Shenzhen Sundan (Chain-Store) Stock Co. Ltd (Sundan) is a consumer electronics goods retailer with 17 stores in Shenzhen and other cities in China’s Guandong province. The company offers a wide range of goods from China and overseas such as computers, digital cameras, and cell phones. With competition intensifying in the retail electronics goods sector, Sundan realized it had to revamp its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and modernize management practices. In addition to strengthening competitiveness, this would help the company introduce more efficient processes, reduce costs, and improve customer service.
In November 2005, Sundan installed a range of Oracle’s JD Edwards Enterprise One applications as the basis of its new business management platform. The system provided the company with an enterprise-wide view of operations and delivered sales data from retail stores to managers’ desktops. Sundan also gained tighter control over financial, inventory, and supplier management.
(Southern China Business Express – 03/05) Profile: Sundan runs 12 stores actually and opens another 4 stores in 2004. All stores are located in Pearl River Delta, majority in Shenzhen. The size varies from 1100 sqm to 10,300 sqm a wide selection of electrical appliances, Audio/Video equipment, Digital product and house hold items. Every outlet offers a large variety of commodities of medium to high quality. The assortment contains well-known national and international brands. An advanced information system provides a daily updated situation of the companies business. B2B communication is obvious with our suppliers. B2C offers customers easy shopping since 2002.

The headcount is over 2000 Sundan focus on customers’ service, after sales and maintenance service. Sundan’s company mission is: we expect to offer services never available in the past but highly desired by our customers. Back ground information: Sundan started business in Sept.1992 with 10 employees and 110 sqm selling space. “Customers Service” has been always a priority. The company did set up delivery, installation and maintenance service.
The most important Sundan store was opened in Huaqiang Rd., Shenzhen, in Dec. 1997, offering on 10,300 sqm a wide selection of electrical appliances, Audio/Video equipment, Digital product and house hold items. The expansion started in Dec. 1999 by the opening of Dongmen store. Other outlets followed with increasing speed. B2C was launched in Spring 2002 to support local business. Regional warehouses assure fast delivery to the customers. More Control over Business Operations One of Sundan’s main goals was to establish best-practice business processes to improve productivity and gain tighter control over every aspect of its operations.
The JD Edwards Enterprise One platform introduced more efficient ways of working to the company. Manual tasks were automated and new workflows built into the system to ensure staff followed set procedures. This minimized confusion and enabled managers to track the progress of specific orders or tasks. The integrated system also encouraged information sharing between departments.
For example, easier access to data means accounting staff can compare supplier invoices against actual purchase orders. Retail stores can check if a particular product is available at the company’s distribution centre. Regular communication with suppliers is also possible. Senior managers now have real-time access to accurate, up-to-date business information. Regular data analysis helped Sundan spot emerging market trends and enabled the company to respond faster to changes in consumer demand. Decisions are made in the knowledge that they are based on credible, up-to-date data.