Verizon is one of the world’s largest wireless providers, servicing the most subscribers of any US-based telecommunications company. They ranked 16th on the most recent Fortune 500 list and remained there for 24 years, cementing themselves as a world leader in wireless communications. According to Fortune.com, Verizon posted over $126 billion in revenue and saw its profits rise 129% from 2017 to 2018.
The Challenge
The Verizon staff includes over 155,000 employees, across over 2,330 retail stores and corporate locations. Inventory tracking across such a wide range presents many challenges. Without complete visibility of stocked items at each retail location, Verizon could not provide real-time analytics on which products were selling well and which had low inventory. Nor could they see which items were collecting dust and would sell better at another location. This challenge resulted in potential revenue loss and missed or delayed promotion opportunities; Verizon was forced to overspend on inventory, and over-allocate resources for long cycle counts to account for this. Lack of inventory visibility also led to increased shrinkage trends and a substantial hit to revenue.
The Solution
Implementing Apptricity’s automated inventory management system integrated IoT technology, giving Verizon the tools they needed to cut overspending and reduce hours spent in cycle counting. Before the implementation, Verizon cycle counts would span multiple days and be subject to manual, error-prone methods. After implementing the Apptricity system, Verizon experienced a 40% reduction in cycle-counting time and achieved total visibility of stock quantities. This visibility allowed Verizon to locate their inventory and count it accurately, drastically cutting overstocking levels and reducing the time spent during each cycle count, along with the resources required.
Verizon installed the Apptricity I-Connect system at various retail locations; this solution scans RFID-tagged inventory at a location to help the company make more informed purchasing strategies, restocking of items, and reducing orders for lower purchased products. With the data collected, Apptricity integrated with Verizon’s SAP system for real-time data updates to keep their SAP current with the newest scans. Apptricity tracks over $9 billion of inventory providing automatic updates every 5 minutes.
