Supply Chain Management
The proposed changes will hopefully improve customer service, but will also focus on improving the integration between the different units, so as to put a common front for the customer. Moreover, the changes will begin to modernize the system for tracking inventory. The reason that the customers expect to be able to track their orders every step of the way is because that is fairly common technology. Thus, a move to RFID and other technologies that facilitate real-time tracking, along with adopting a common technology platform, will serve the company's needs in a number of ways.
First, the customers will receive the tracking information that they want, and should expect from any company in 2015. This will resolve the company's major customer service issue, and thus should help to improve its customer service scores overall, which are presently being dragged down by the technological inferiority in the supply chain. However, these technologies also build on what the company has been doing with respect to demand forecasting, inventory planning and seeking logistics efficiency. Ultimately, the company will benefit from being able to track how goods move through the system, and use that data to improve delivery times and other aspects of the customer experience.
For WCC North America, this should be the first step to building out the worldwide logistics system. The company...
Thus, the move will help WCC North America to improve both its logistics and its marketing, but offering greater value for the customer while simultaneously cutting variable costs.
The supply chain is one of the major inputs on inventory levels, the other being demand. By installing systems that allow the company to manage its supply chain more carefully, WCC will be able to manage inventory levels, and better align those levels with the expected demand. So the supply chain has a lot to do with inventory levels. The better organized the supply chain, the less inventory the company has to carry, which is something that will reduce the overall costs of the supply chain. Moreover, with better data this does not have to come at the expense of customer service, because the company will be able to maintain its alignment between inventory levels, the supply chain and demand.
The overall size of the supply chain will ultimately be reduced by these recommendations. Warehouse space will be surplus, over time. What this does for the company is that the company can either reduce its warehouse space (and cost), rent some of it out, or use that space to help with expansion. All three options are positive. But with…
