Inventory Management

The future is about servicing a customer from any place, at any time and to anywhere globally. It is easy for a retail analyst to pontificate on the importance of omni-channel retailing, but the rubber hits the road when it comes to supply chain planning and execution.

A product begins its life with maximum profit potential during the manufacturing process. But as that product moves through an increasingly complex, global supply chain, excess time and handling costs erode its profit.

The last few years have brought significant changes to the retail landscape, and 2014 will be no exception. While a few brands are delivering on their omnichannel strategies, many are still struggling to meet expectations. The latest retail survey from GT Nexus sheds some light into what today’s consumers expect – and what they’re actually getting.

The goal of any retailer is to develop a merchandising strategy and assortment that meets the needs of the customers that you are servicing. The best merchandising strategy is often sub-optimized by not having the right inventory, at the right time, at the right quantity allocated to the right channel.

Supply Chain Visibility gives a clear view of inventory and supply chain activity, creating an agile global supply chain

In September 2013, GT Nexus conducted a survey to compare and contrast retail consumer buying patterns and product delivery expectations in the context of today's new multichannel retail environment. It found that consumers purchased across an array of channels, trending towards greater variety with younger demographics.

Much of the analytics effort to date has focused on the demand side of the supply chain equation. Yet analytics can be applied just as effectively to the supply side to assure reliable and cost effective inventory, capacity, and supplier capabilities. The insights here can help companies build a supply analytics competency that will lead to better business decisions.

You need to ship before your customer places an order. Some of you may be thinking that this strategy is more ridiculous than the original customer’s unrealistic expectations, and it may be, but there are ways to make it work.

Today, and into the foreseeable future, retailers must move past multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing. While the two are similar, omni-channel focuses on creating a homogeneous customer experience across all channels. The customer experience is brand focused, versus channel focused. Brick-and-mortar stores become part of the retailer’s overall supply chain and should be considered an inventory and fulfillment source to meet the demands of their customers.

Inventory optimization—the process of scientifically determining the right inventory levels across the supply chain—has never been easy. But advanced tools now available are enabling companies to do the job faster, more accurately, and with greater business impact. In fact, industry leaders are finding that IO can drive greater profitability through lower inventories, better fill rates, and ultimately a more satisfied customer.

Cutting-edge demand classification technology integrated with network optimization and simulation enables cost reduction and increased inventory availability

Best Practices in Flight Line Equipment Tracking: Aerospace and Defense Industry

If there is only one theoretical concept you need to understand to make better supply chain decisions, it is Risk pooling. Very close but still a far second is the Bullwhip effect.

Manufacturing Day would not be complete if it did not offer opportunities to hire our heroes—the men and women who have served in the U.S. military. Veterans play an important role in closing the skills gap. They have skills that make them uniquely suited to careers in manufacturing.

Using mobile applications on smart phones and tablets, today’s consumers are able to compare prices and read product reviews while on the move. To service this new omni-channel consumer, retailers are stepping up and flowing product information across multiple channels to capture customers’ attention and make the sale.

Apple’s supply chain teams now face rather tough challenges in the weeks and months to come. Rather than a phased product available launch that occurred in prior market introductions, the current plan call for simultaneous inventory availability of the 5S and 5C in all major countries and geographies.

Our flexibility to operate dedicated or multi-customer facilities and either co-locate or embed multiple operations will save you time and money and ensure that your customers have what they need, when they need it. With our integrated packaging, warehousing and distribution solution, you’ll be able to share labor resources, reduce lead times, lower freight costs and improve inventory management by having everything you need in a single or multiple operations with complete visibility.

Our Product Lifecycle Logistics approach treats the movement of products as one continuous inventory stream, increasing agility, reducing touch points and speeding up the movement of products throughout the supply chain

The direct-to-store approach—also known as distribution center bypass or direct distribution—keeps inventory moving from manufacturer to end customer by eliminating stops at warehouses along the way.

Supply chain and logistics optimization is neither easy nor cheap but it is the biggest opportunity for most companies to significantly reduce their cost and improve their performance. For most supply chain and logistics operations there is an opportunity to reduce cost by 10% to 40% by making better decisions.