Logistics, Trade Administration and Supply Chain

Tell me if you have heard this recently - we are undergoing a major digital transformation! I realize this is not a news bulletin, but one industry that is seeing the greatest impact from the digital revolution is retail. Why? Because digital is having the greatest impact at the consumer level. Retailers have already experienced the impacts of digital transformation. Just think of mobile commerce and e-commerce and how these have changed their businesses. So how can retail supply chains take advantage of these changes? The constantly changing consumer. The biggest driver of disruption in retail supply chain is the consumer. As consumers continue to grow with regard to their influence and ability to dictate how retailers service their needs, supply chains, which are foundational, will have to keep pace. We are going beyond omnicommerce and into ambient commerce. Commerce that is not only always-on but not constrained to a separate practice. Look at efforts by social giants such as F...

When retailers managed inventory, one of the methods for inventory control was to use some form of a trigger-point method replenishment program. That is, when an item in stock is depleted to the level of the trigger point quantity, a purchase order is placed on a vendor to replenish the item. In such systems, retailers make their own forecast and inventory control rules. Alternately, retailers will replenish on a fixed cycle i.e. once a week basis and order an amount to fill designated shelf space for an item. According to the International Mass Retail Association, over 60 percent of hard goods and almost 40 percent of soft goods are under replenishment programs managed by retailers. Although retailer-managed replenishment programs are expected to continue, there are also expected to be a substantial growth in vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that is continuous replenishment. With electronic data interchange (EDI) and point of sale data, vendors can be as aware of what is on the ret...