Fast Fit Case Study
1. FastFit Case Study
FastFit Sporting Goods is a successful New England regional supplier of sporting goods to the high end consumer market. They sell an exclusive selection of equipment and apparel to men and women who exercise and pursue outdoor activities on a regular basis. They operate five (5) upscale retail stores in the New England market that offer a high level of customer attention, with a headquarters (HQ) is in Burlington, Massachusetts, and a single warehouse, distribution, and eCommerce fulfillment center in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Most of their products are purchased from two suppliers, Winter Gear Distributers outside of Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston Fitness Supplies in Marlboro, Massachusetts. FastFit has expanded successfully in the New England area over the past five years. However to expand nationally as a major retailer, they need to improve the scalability of their operations (stores and warehouses). A key part of their strategy is to leverage information systems to automate and improve operations, to strengthen management controls, and to enable significant growth while maintaining the “high touch” customer experience. A diagram of their complete non-Web based operations follows. See figure 1.
[pic]
Figure 1: A Schematic diagram of FastFit Sporting Goods Operations
The Initial Set of Case Study Questions
The simple system diagram below may be used to answer the following questions. The questions should be answered using your common sense and knowledge of retail processes because we have all bought things at a store. Be specific about the items of information, where they are captured, stored and used. How the information flows or is moved within FastFit may be shown by the student adding labeled arrows added to the diagram below. See figure 2.
Figure 2: Starting Point for a System Diagram of FastFit Business Information Flows
A General Question
1. Mark the main flows of goods and money in the diagram (above).
FastFit Sporting Goods is a successful New England regional supplier of sporting goods to the high end consumer market. They sell an exclusive selection of equipment and apparel to men and women who exercise and pursue outdoor activities on a regular basis. They operate five (5) upscale retail stores in the New England market that offer a high level of customer attention, with a headquarters (HQ) is in Burlington, Massachusetts, and a single warehouse, distribution, and eCommerce fulfillment center in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Most of their products are purchased from two suppliers, Winter Gear Distributers outside of Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston Fitness Supplies in Marlboro, Massachusetts. FastFit has expanded successfully in the New England area over the past five years. However to expand nationally as a major retailer, they need to improve the scalability of their operations (stores and warehouses). A key part of their strategy is to leverage information systems to automate and improve operations, to strengthen management controls, and to enable significant growth while maintaining the “high touch” customer experience. A diagram of their complete non-Web based operations follows. See figure 1.
[pic]
Figure 1: A Schematic diagram of FastFit Sporting Goods Operations
The Initial Set of Case Study Questions
The simple system diagram below may be used to answer the following questions. The questions should be answered using your common sense and knowledge of retail processes because we have all bought things at a store. Be specific about the items of information, where they are captured, stored and used. How the information flows or is moved within FastFit may be shown by the student adding labeled arrows added to the diagram below. See figure 2.
Figure 2: Starting Point for a System Diagram of FastFit Business Information Flows
A General Question
1. Mark the main flows of goods and money in the diagram (above).