Ramnath V and Marshall wrote an excellent article detailing the technique to help retailers improve assortment planning. While the article came out in 2012, there are good pointers which are valid even today. It’s easy to spot the slow movers in your assortment, of course—sales data will tell you that—but Read more…
There are many reasons why good inventory management is important for a business. One reason is to know how many products are on the shelf so we know when we need to order more and how much to order. This is part of offering good customer service, because accurate inventory Read more…
Learning from the pandemic: Inventory Management for future Traditionally, if you wanted to manage your inventory effectively, you relied on efficiencies such as just-in-time delivery, minimal buffer stock (back stock) and a reliable sales history. But in one year, everything changed.The supply chain faced multiple challenges, including reduced work forces, Read more…
Different industries and companies will emphasize different supply chain attributes, depending on market demands and how the company competes.A high-tech manufacturer providing aftermarket parts and services to business customers may prioritize speed and reliability over cost and asset efficiency, so it will structure its supply chain such that parts are Read more…
Garbage In Garbage Out Are we putting too much focus on building new processes without understanding the importance of having reliable inputs to our processes ?A lot of management attention goes in deciding how to get the right product at the right place at the right time. But if we Read more…
With the rapid pace of change in today’s retail industry, it is often easy to forget about the importance of getting the basics right. Inventory and how it is managed is a fact of every retailer’s life and the common denominator of all retail businesses. Yet despite the lack of Read more…
Supply chain management (SCM) is much more than a materials movement or transportation initiative. It is also a new way of thinking about business relationships. Some organizations, however, are trying to adopt supply chain management practices (such as just-in-time replenishment or strategic sourcing) without also implementing an organization-wide supply chain Read more…
1. Resiliency is a philosophy (like LEAN) and not a tactic (like JIT). In the current disruptive world resilient supply chains wins business and growth.2. Balance cost, performance and resiliency. It’s not choosing one over another but to engage right type of action to mitigate the risk with cost benefit analysis.3. Plan for Read more…
Generally, the further up the chain you go, more predictable the lead time. The article talks about how to ensure that you can handle the times when it is not predictable. The problem most supply chains run into is that space restricts the last inventory points versus the variation in Read more…
Firms often take a piecemeal approach to sustainability.They demand that suppliers replace materials with greener ones, for instance, and they tweak their own operations with recycling, energy-efficient equipment, and the like.Although these changes often seem worthwhile individually, they may in the grand scheme generate unintended consequences, such as higher financial, Read more…