WHSmith overhauls supply chain with £3.5m IT upgrade

Capgemini completes 12-month project on time and budget...

WHSmith News is aiming to boost its newspaper and magazine distribution capabilities with a new £3.5m supply chain IT upgrade which will enable it to respond faster to changes in the retail market.

The new core business systems are based on EMC, IBM and SAP hardware and software, and will be fully operational from the end of July. The 12-month systems upgrade has been handled by WHSmith News' IT outsourcing partner Capgemini.

The upgrade is aimed at making it easier for WHSmith News to respond faster to the rapid changes in patterns of retail distribution and the demands of different retailers including supermarkets.

The company will also use its new IT capabilities to offer specialised services to external supply chain partners in retail and publishing on a hosted application service provider basis.

Richard Webb, IS director at WHSmith News, said the new systems will give the company more agility.

"They will also enable us to accommodate any amount of external change in our markets and environment, and to further strengthen our policy of constantly improving the quality of service and value for money that we offer our customers," he said in a statement.

Capgemini said its outsourcing contract with WHSmith News has now been renewed until 2010 and extended to include management of third-party IT suppliers.