JC PENNEY REDO/DO OVER

JC Penney. Interesting approach to bring in customers. Debt & too much inventory. Are they emphasizing stores? Not e-commerce/omnichannel. Do they need Supply Chain transformation too? Like the stores, it may be outdated in the new reality. Without SCM update, are they really fixing things? 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-c-penney-plots-a-comeback-less-clutter-more-yoga-classes-11572535484?shareToken=st70213600f5954c19b01b7a0c38409b4d

OPTION FOR LAST MILE SERVICE PROVIDERS

Novel idea time. Last Mile providers. When retailers & manufacturers negotiate/beat you up for lower prices so they can compete with Amazon, suggest they set up their own service to compete with Amazon. Protect your margins. 

E-COMMERCE BEST PRACTICES LOGISTICS

It is difficult to claim best practices in e-commerce logistics/ Supply Chain Management when we are in the early stages and there are few leaders & many laggards. Retail. Manufacturers. CPG. FMCG. 

OMNICHANNEL AND SUPPLY CHAIN DUALITY

New reality is about selling with multiple channels to reach customers who have high expectations while enjoying convenience. Success is driven by the strategic, weaponized supply chain. Multiple channels need supply chain duality. One size does not fit all. E-commerce is a global market. It is about order delivery velocity, as stores are about no stock outs. New supply chain with its elements and essentials.

https://www.slideshare.net/nitny/omnichannel-and-supply-chain-duality

LOGISTICS STARTUPS

Many logistics startups are about chipping at pieces of the end-to-end Supply Chain. Real need is to redefine the role & transform logistics in the new supply chain reality & its velocity. 3PSCM. SCMaaS 

BRAND VALUE AND PERFECT ORDER FAILURES AND STOCK OUTS

Retailers. Manufacturers. Grocers. E-tailers. What is the impact on your brand value & integrity with E-commerce Perfect Order failures & store Stock Outs? Do you measure? If not, why not?

IMO 2020 AND SLOW STEAMING

IMO 2020. Higher prices. Potential carrier financial bankruptcies & consolidation. Slow steaming. Only the higher rates issue gets attention. Why? In a time of end-to-end Supply Chain velocity slow service should be THE issue. 

E-COMMERCE, OMNICHANNEL AND THE CHEAP SUPPLY CHAIN

E-commerce & omnichannel are forcing retailers, manufacturers, & grocers to confront their failures in making the one-size-fits all, commoditized, and cheap Supply Chain. 

AMERICAN DREAM MALL, RETAIL, STOCK OUTS

American Dream Mall. Retail ties to Amazon. Tying retail future to outside parties, not their brands. Sound strategy? If it is about customers, what is your commit to having no Stock Outs--customer service failure & not customer centric? Basic Q. Why should customers visit you?

GROCERS. FOOD WASTE. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Grocers. What would a well-designed & operated end-to-end Supply Chain with velocity do to your food waste issue--and your profits? 

LOGISTICS PROVIDERS AND THE NEW REALITY

Logistics providers, in the new reality with strategic, weaponized end-to-end Supply Chain Management, how do you transform without understanding SCM and your new role? SCMaaS 3PSCM 

E-COMMERCE GROWTH AND SUPPLY CHAIN VELOCITY

The projected growth of e-commerce requires Supply Chain velocity. For country after country around the world. In country & cross border. If your supply chain lacks velocity, you will be left behind. Does it lack the needed speed? What are you doing about it? 

IMO 2020

IMO 2020. Scrubber failures. And now this. Will 2020 be a catastrophic year for ocean shipping? Buckle up. BAF battle may only be the beginning.

https://theloadstar.com/still-bullish-charter-market-being-driven-by-more-scrubber-fitting/

AMAZON. LOGISTICS COSTS. ONE DAY DELIVERY. LAST MILE.

Love how logistics & Supply Chain costs get attention from C-suites & publications. Do C-suites do more than complain about costs? Underlying issue is outdated GAAP that dates back to the Model A. E-commerce is new reality. Time to stop complaining about Last Mile & adapt. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-profit-may-be-weighed-down-by-shipping-costs-what-to-watch-11571911200?shareToken=stb3cdd61211e446a888daf2711c1f345e

LEAN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT / LOGISTICS

Lean Supply Chains begin upstream where supply begins. If not down there, and once it is downstream, it is too late. The wastes of too much inventory & excess time are embedded. Trying to correct then results in much effort & little too show for it. 

MORE RETAIL CLOSINGS FOR 2020

As customers get more savvy on what they expect & what retailers provide it--No Stock Outs for in-store & Perfect Order for e-commerce--both driven by Supply Chain Management. And those in retail who just do not seem to get it & power rests with customers not stores. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-14/store-closures-may-be-even-worse-next-year-credit-suisse-says?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business

SUPPLY CHAIN SELF-ASSESSMENT

Manufacturers and retailers how do you view your supply chain? Take the free Supply Chain Management Self-Assessment. See your score and what it means. Click on:

https://www.ltdmgmt.com/

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

SELF-ASSESSMENT

Identify problems with your supply chain strategy
and performance. Make sure what you are doing meets what customers want and at
a sound cost.

LTD MANAGEMENT

610.715.3710

ltdmgmt.com

Things are moving faster.  Do your customers expect more?  Do they want their orders delivered complete, accurate, and on time?  Are you squeezed as to costs?

Do you react to what is happening  Do the reactions mean more firefighting and expediting? 

If this is you, you are not alone.  Many mid-size firms struggle to do supply
chain management well. 

The result means supply chain management is about costs, rather than its performance and being a strategic part of your company's growth.  Remember, high supply
costs and high inventory levels are both a problem and a symptom of a problem
or problems.

How does this happen?  Basically, it is--

1)   You probably don't have a solid supply chain management
strategy.

2)   You probably don't know about end-to-end supply chain management
and what you can do to get the traction you need.

3)   You probably don't have the tracking/metrics in place to know.

But you can fix this. 

Successful supply chain management start with a plan.  If you are committed to growing your business in this time of disruption and a new reality, this self-assessment
is a great first step to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your supply
chain.  A starting point.

AMAZON DOING MORE OF ITS OWN TRUCKING

Amazon. Feel article misses mark. They are bringing logistics in-house (Reverse Outsourcing) to improve end-to-end Supply Chain performance, velocity, & cost. What are their competitors doing to counter it? Has more panic entered logistics providers instead of redefining their role?

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-trucking-company-branded-tractors-2019-10

TRADE WAR FORWARD BUYING AND INVENTORY

How much has trade war forward buying hurt retailers & manufacturers who lack inventory velocity in their end-to-end supply chains? Inventory rich. Cash burn. Cash flow. Lost opportunity investment. No revenue yield maximization. Write downs.

SUPPLY CHAIN CLEAN SHEET OF PAPER

An approach for Supply Chain transformation. Design the supply chain that drives customer centric as to no Stock Outs, Perfect Orders, & high Inventory Turns. Clean sheet of paper. Then overlay the current supply chain. And correct. Retail. Manufacturing. 

LOGISTICS AND END-TO-END SUPPLY CHAIN VELOCITY

Achieving end-to-end Supply Chain velocity requires redefining the role of logistics.  Retail. Manufacturing.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Dual (omni/multi) sales channels require Supply Chain duality. One size supply chain does not fit all.  Different requirements. LOGIC 101.

FUTURE OF RETAIL

It began with Amazon & e-commerce. Supply Chain Management will take over retail & will drive ability to meet Customer Expectations & Instore Experience with No Stock Outs, Perfect Orders, Perfect Restocks & Inventory Velocity to create opportunity investment growth. Mark It Down.

INVENTORY RICH AND HAVING STOCK OUTS?

Retailer. Manufacturer. Is Inventory a Pain Point. Some why and what you can do.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-have-inventory-problems-are-rich-out-stock-same-tom-craig

E-COMMERCE SUPPLY CHAIN VS STORE/FACTORY SUPPLY CHAIN

A well-designed e-commerce Supply Chain can better service stores or factories than a store/factory supply chain can service online. Retail. Manufacturing. 

BED BATH & BEYOND. WAY TOO MUCH INVENTORY

Bed Bath & Beyond. Another retailer with too much inventory caused from little understanding of end-to-end #SupplyChain velocity. A strategy change or just a cut & slash exercise?

https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/bed-bath-beyond-to-cut-1b-in-inventory-cost/564370/

Bed Bath & Beyond to cut $1B in inventory, hundreds of millions in cost as more stores close

Credit: Flickr user Mike Mozart

Author

Emma Cosgrove @emmacos

Published

Oct. 4, 2019

• p

  Dive Brief:

  • Bed Bath and Beyond will work with outside sourcing firms as part of an effort to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from its cost of goods, executives said on the company's second-quarter earnings call Wednesday.
  • Retooling the way the chain's private label line is sourced will play a significant role in this cost-cutting, said interim CEO Mary Winston. The line is largely indirectly sourced, she said, leaving "significant opportunity for margin improvement" as the retailer cuts out intermediary tiers of suppliers.
  • The company will also reduce overall store inventory by $1 billion over the next 18 months. To that end, the retailer reported a $194 million write-down in the second quarter.
  
  
  os

  Dive Insight:

  After raising its number of expected store closures from 40 to 60, cost-cutting is the order of the day at Bed Bath & Beyond. In addition to staffing cuts and sourcing changes, the retailer is looking to rid itself of excess inventory fast through markdowns, clearance sales and liquidation avenues.

  Winston said $350 million of store inventory should be clear before the 2019 holiday season. To optimize this inventory off-load the company is employing "markdown optimization software" to speed the process.

  "We believe this aggressive disposition of inventory will enable us to more quickly reset inventory levels in both our Bed Bath & Beyond stores and distribution centers to allow for a faster refresh of our assortment, as well as to enable us to refocus store labor activity to better support our customers and drive sales," Winston said, adding that the chain will be mindful not to cannibalize crucial holiday sales with markdowns.

  Tariffs are not to blame for Bed Bath & Beyond's current woes, which ironically may be indicative of the company's indirect buying habits. Winston said most of the chain's products are sourced in the U.S. — though tariff pass-through from vendors is still a possibility.

  CFO Robyn D'Elia said a new practice of directly importing some products has gleaned supply chain efficiencies for the organization, on top of vendor negotiations.

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND OUT OF STOCK

Retail & Manufacturing Customer Experience 101. No out of stocks! How are you doing? Success requires end-to-end Supply Chain velocity. Being inventory rich is not a strategy here. 

DIGITAL STRATEGY, RETAIL, AND SUPPLY CHAINS

Digital strategy for retailers. An offered option for improving stores & Customer Experience. How can it compete with the internet? How about AV/VR streaming to draw customers or get them to e-commerce order? Now about Supply Chains to handle larger & more orders from this technology!? 

E-COMMERCE, WAREHOUSE ALIGNMENT, AND BABY WAREHOUSES

In the world of e-commerce, warehouse alignment—as to number of, locations, and size—is important for Order Delivery velocity, picking speed, and costs. So what happens to the existing, now baby-size warehouses of retailers & manufacturers? 

FMC DOCKET ON DEMURRAGE AND DETENTION

FMC Docket.  Demurrage & Detention. Pondering a point. D&D are financial incentives to encourage productive use of containers. In the reality of huge trade imbalances and flows, how does D&D do that? Or is it a penalty for lack of productive use?  Here is a link to the docket:

https://www2.fmc.gov/readingroom/docs/19-05/19-05_NPRM.pdf/