Articles

Inventory Management

Backorder: Meaning, Causes, and How to Limit Them
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Backorder: Meaning, Causes, and How to Limit Them

Understanding what backorders mean, their causes, and how to limit them is essential for businesses and logistics professionals. As supply chain disruptions become more common in today’s global economy, managing backorders effectively can make or break a company’s success.  In this article, we explore the ins and outs of back-ordered items to equip businesses with […]

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This Ain’t Your Parents’ Inventory Cycle
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This Ain’t Your Parents’ Inventory Cycle

Speculation has been mounting that the inventory cycle is back. Profit warnings by major American companies such as GAP, Walmart, and Target that had taken on excess inventories and now needed to run them down raised concerns that a concerted drawdown of stocks could make a likely U.S. recession worse.

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Don’t Blame Lean Manufacturing
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Don’t Blame Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing has been blamed for the recent supply chain crisis, with critics claiming lean and just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing encouraged extremely low inventories of raw materials and components. When the pandemic arrived, and supplies were disrupted, manufacturers had to stop production due to material shortages. This had cascading effects all the way down the supply […]

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Embracing the Opportunity in Returns
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Embracing the Opportunity in Returns

With the explosive growth of online shopping in recent years, largely fueled by the pandemic, returns are on the rise and have become a logistics headache for retailers, carriers, and consumers. The long-term impacts of this increased demand, and the resulting strain on retailers and supply chains, will largely depend on how retailers respond.

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Operating in Style
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Operating in Style

After working for several years in the field of styling and fashion, Joelle Desaulniers created the eponymous JOELLE Collection. The Quebec-based company offers unique dresses, sweaters, jumpsuits, and jewelry, among other items, through a thriving online business and a boutique in Trois-Rivieres. Another boutique in Place Ste-Foy is slated to open later in 2023.

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Supply Planning: Definition, Process, and Best Practices
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Supply Planning: Definition, Process, and Best Practices

Supply planning is a business management tool that impacts supply, demand, and inventory levels. Retailers use supply chain planning systems to provide projected demand for products and materials needed to support those demands.  The process is designed to balance plans for future demand with the availability of goods in inventory. Supply planning helps companies determine […]

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2023 Inventory… Too Much? Too Little?
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2023 Inventory… Too Much? Too Little?

Inventory. That was the theme unifying both attendees and exhibitors at the 2023 National Retail Federation (NRF) convention in New York City. More precisely, everyone I spoke to was interested in load balancing inventory to serve new retail fulfillment approaches striving to catch up with the blindingly fast evolution in consumer buying habits. For retail […]

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