Smart & Final

Smart & Final operates 231 non-membership warehouse stores for food and foodservice supplies in 6 states and northern Mexico. Annual sales for 2004 were $1,955.6 million.

Aldata G.O.L.D. Training Needs

Smart & Final is the first U.S. client to purchase Aldata's G.O.L.D. merchandising application and TOPASE purchasing module. G.O.L.D. is Europe's most widely used merchandising system. TEC was engaged to develop business processes and a training program for Category Managers and merchandising departments on the G.O.L.D./Topase application.

Challenges

Challenges included:

Software written for European business operations
System documentation delivered in French
System field labels delivered in French
Business processes undefined
Functionality of software was to be modified to accommodate the specific business model.

TEC Services and Products Delivered

TEC developed and delivered training programs that included:

Trainer's Guide for Topase/G.O.L.D.
Participant Guide
Practice Exercises
Business Scenarios
Learning Surveys
Job Aids
Glossary of terms

TEC also assisted Smart & Final in the identification and function of key merchandising roles and responsibilities for operations in the new environment.

TEC delivered Train-the-Trainer: Presentation and Training Delivery Skills program to Category managers who were involved in the project team and to merchants assisting other employees in the ongoing use of G.O.L.D./Topase.

Results

Smart & Final went live with the Aldata G.O.L.D./TOPASE system in July 2005. All Category Managers and merchants were trained and prepared to switch over to the new system.

Training programs included: Purchasing Order Management, Item / SKU Creation, Hierarchy Management, General Navigation, and Vendor Setup.
User Guides, Trainer's Guides and Quick Reference Guides were delivered and used in training.