WEI deploys iPad-based, integrated store management and communication solution to 8,500 stores for nationwide pharmacy
Retail Case Study
CHALLENGE
WEI’s customer, a national pharmacy retailer known for its digital ingenuity, wanted to reduce paper waste associated with employee communications and information transfer within each of their 8,500 stores nationwide. They also wanted to provide training, replenishment, store planning, and other management capabilities on an easy-to-manage digital platform.
The company’s existing information-sharing methods spanned multiple laptops and desktop computers, as well as printed communications. The fragmented environment slowed operations and jeopardized the efficacy of both corporate and store-based collaboration.
Company stakeholders wanted to rollout an operations group to transform communications across their physical stores. Facing a roughly $300-per-store investment—without sufficient technical resources, space, and fulfillment capabilities—the pharmacy retailer needed a partner that could perform all related functions at scale, on budget, and within an aggressive timeline.
SOLUTION
Upon realizing WEI’s past successes in these areas, the pharmacy retailer’s operations team reached out for help developing an optimal solution. Collectively it was decided to create and distribute an iPad-based platform, featuring individual devices at each of their respective store locations.
The company called on WEI to manage the customization, integration, and delivery of the technology. They also partnered with WEI for product testing—both hardware and software—before rolling out a successful solution in a short amount of time.
During integration, the WEI engineering team created a process for imaging and customizing the devices on a store-by-store basis, which included testing and integration. The team enrolled the devices in the Apple Device Enrollment Program (DEP), also known as Apple Business Manager, and the company’s mobile device manager (MDM), ensuring the store management applications functioned properly and unilaterally across the retailer’s 8,500 stores.
The WEI team collaborated with the company’s technology distribution center for the fulfillment process, quickly rolling out the solution while minimizing internal costs and operational strain to the company. The WEI team also worked as a liaison between multiple business units throughout the process to ensure quality and timeliness.
OUTCOME
The WEI team helped the company minimize waste and boost efficiency at individual stores while minimizing operational cost, time to delivery, and strain at the enterprise level. Benefits of the WEI solution include:
- Customized devices and durable, rugged-tested packaging
- Custom “kits” and clear guides for immediate implementation on the store level—ready to go out of the box
- Easy scanning and tracking solutions for all devices
- Enrollment and personalized training in the company’s new Apple DEP portal
- Testing for security, MDM enrollment, and on-site wireless network connectivity
- Paperless environments across the pharmacy’s 8,500 stores
- Operational cost savings, fast speed to market, and scalability for future growth
- Simplified fulfillment process—8,500 iPads shipped with minimum internal involvement
WEI differentiated itself with its ability to get the solution to market fast and ready to scale. The solution was rolled out within three weeks to the 8,500 stores, which would have taken well over a year if the solution had been executed without WEI. The client celebrated the technical creativity of WEI’s team as they now enjoy their new fully integrated, paper-free—and hassle-free—solution.
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