Articles

Inventory Management

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Industrial Technology and the Supply Chain: Is 2018 the Year We Turn a Corner?

2017 may be remembered as the year we finally figured it out. After years of spending on the components of industrial technology, professionals in the supply chain and manufacturing disciplines should begin to see the fruits of their investments, as new capabilities and efficiencies begin to surface. 2018 won’t be so much about discovering anything […]

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E-Commerce Commentary: Three Ways Shippers Can Improve Customer Satisfaction

The Amazon Effect continues to weigh heavily (pun intended) upon the supply chain. Consumers expect to receive packages at their homes within a few days—or within a day—of placing an order, and the demand for lightning-quick fulfillment coupled with the myriad of small-order additions has led to a complex operating environment for supply chain leaders. […]

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Repositioning Inventory to Better Respond to Natural Disasters

Immediately following a natural disaster that outpaces a community’s ability to respond, various outside organizations rush to provide life-saving commodities to meet health, water, food, shelter, or other needs. That response is expedited by inventory prepositioned independently by governmental and non-governmental organizations.
 Research co-authored by Jason Acimovic, assistant professor of supply chain and information systems […]

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Todd Miller
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Solving the E-Commerce Puzzle

Inventory is now on-demand, and predicting what consumers will want on any given day is tricky. Add to that the already challenging scenario that consumers want to shop and purchase goods at any time and from anywhere—and supply chain logistics for e-commerce inventory gets even more complex and complicated. Many retailers and brands haven’t solved […]

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John Lash
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How Precise Forecasting Tames Item Proliferation

Accurate forecasts enable better planning, lower inventory and manufacturing costs, and improved service levels. By limiting line item proliferation, precise forecasting reduces errors significantly for new product launches. New products lack the history required for traditional demand planning methods. In the same way that the financial industry uses algorithms to sort through masses of market […]

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Alan Sargent: A Sweet Confection Connection
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Alan Sargent: A Sweet Confection Connection

Alan Sargent is supply chain and logistics director with Just Born Quality Confections, the Bethlehem, Pa.-based company behind PEEPS®, MIKE AND IKE®, and HOT TAMALES® candy brands. He has held this position since August 2005. Responsibilities: All logistics and transportation functions. Experience: Plant logistics and distribution manager, customer service facility manager, and logistics operations planner, […]

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Neal Walters, Matthew Getz, and Mike Piccarreta
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Reshape and Refresh Your Product Portfolio for a Streamlined Supply Chain

Organizations embrace periods of strategic portfolio expansion as a lever to improve top- and bottom-line growth. But in the wake of product proliferation, portfolio complexity emerges with unanticipated supply chain consequences that can significantly impact customer service, quality, and cost. The accumulation of products spanning multiple life-cycle stages may redirect the organization away from its […]

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Ryan Kelly
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Balancing Inventory for a Better Customer Experience

Q: How is e-commerce impacting inventory management for retailers? A: Inventory is a costly investment for retailers. With the growth of e-commerce, retailers have identified a potential opportunity to reduce working capital by thinning inventory at brick-and-mortar stores—opting instead to maintain major portions of inventory at distribution centers upstream. By adopting this strategy, retailers are […]

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Sid Geddam
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Building the Connected Warehouse

Boxes, pallets, and forklifts aren’t the only things that move throughout a warehouse. Data also flows across a range of warehouse business processes, from the receipt of goods to storage and tracking, picking and packing, and outbound transportation. How effectively a business utilizes that information has a massive impact on warehouse and supply chain performance. […]

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Gary C. Smith
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Product Philanthropy: An Efficient Way to Move Unwanted Inventory

While businesses have made great strides in inventory management, many have yet to adopt a truly efficient, cost-effective process for moving unprofitable stock. Discounting merchandise eats into profits and devalues the corporate brand. Liquidating is even less profitable and more laborious. As a result, many otherwise efficient operations end up housing idle stock far longer […]

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Joe Bellini
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Inventory Replenishment: Why Push When You Can Pull?

Today‘s supply chains are undergoing significant pressures to become more demand-driven. Retailers, distributors, and manufacturers must choose the approach they hope will make the most profit. Should you produce goods according to demand forecasts, or by reacting to what consumers already bought? Companies are investing in a new generation of cloud technologies that enable the […]

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