JD Sports strengthens ties to Infor

Infor has announced that another subsidiary of JD Sports is using Infor technology. This time it is the turn of the JD component of the newly formed Iberian Sport Retail Group (ISRG). It has joined the Infor Nexus Supply Chain Network. ISRG is the second largest retailer in the Iberian Peninsular and a substantive addition to the platform. It includes JD, Size?, Sport Zone and Sprinter. Sport Zone has already rolled out the Infor Nexus solution previously, presumably before its acquisition by JD Sports in January 2018.

ISRG carried out a review and ultimately chose the Infor Nexus to help drive further efficiencies in its supply chain. Using the solution it aims to:

• Better manage the flow of goods across its supply chain
• Collaborate in real time with suppliers
• Improve product availability
• Reduce lead ties, thereby increasing sales and customer satisfaction
• Improve supplier compliance and accountability

Miguel Teles, Head of Sportzone supply chain commented: “ISRG partners with the world’s leading sport brands and develops its own private labels offering a unique customer experience at stores. Managing the global supply chain on Infor Nexus has been a key success factor for Sportzone like other brand partners such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Helly Hansen and many others that are currently using GT Nexus platform. (Now Infor Nexus)

“The supply chain visibility and collaboration capabilities provided by Infor Nexus will allow us to accelerate the flow of goods and improve the agility to fulfil the expectations of our demanding customers. Infor Nexus will also help ISRG achieve its corporate goals on sustainability enabling supply chain transparency and collaborative relationships with supply chain partners inspiring change within the industry.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

This announcement sees JD Sports move close to the Infor Technology stack. It has already implemented the Infor Retail solution at Chausport in France, another subsidiary. However, there is no mention in its latest annual accounts about a new replacement program across the wider group.

Corey Tollefson, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Infor Retail commented: “We are delighted to join forces with ISRG and this relationship continues Infor’s momentum within the European fashion and footwear industry. The Infor Nexus supply chain platform is key to our strategy of digitising the end to end supply chain. It will provide ISRG with accurate real time collaboration with their supplier base and will provide enhanced visibility of inbound inventory. We look forward to supporting the growth of ISRG.”

Infor Nexus is now embedded within and a key part of the wider Infor Retail offering. Infor is seeing growing success in Europe as it looks to compete with and replace legacy solutions from other vendors. It hasn’t yet cracked JD Sports fully open, but it seems to be getting a step closer.