Its name suggests a narrow focus on office supplies, but United Stationers Inc. is far more than a wholesale distributor of copy paper, notebooks, pens and staplers. The $5bn-plus company also supplies janitorial and breakroom supplies, provides industrial equipment to the welding, oil field and building construction industries, and has a major - and increasing - focus on helping thousands of resellers sell online to their business end-customers.
In recent years, a growing number of retail RFID use cases have clearly demonstrated the benefits of being able to track inventory at the item level, leading to better shelf replenishment and fewer out of stocks. Many retailers quantify the benefits of reducing out of stocks not just at the item level (potential lost sales) but at the transaction level, since retailers closely track the number of items that comprise the average transaction (e.g. 3.6 items/sale). Using that example, an out-of-stock item (especially in a core category such as denim) could result in lost sales of an additional 2.6 items that were to be purchased with it.
Faced with new challenges in serving global markets, Amgen set out to improve its supply-chain resiliency with the help of a system from Resilinc. Patricia Turney, executive director of supply chain, tells the story.
Manufacturing and distribution executives love the idea of slashing inventories. But it's distribution-center managers who must deal with the consequences.
What is distributed order management? What has changed in global markets that makes it a desirable capability? Satish Kumar, vice president of client services and technology with Softeon, has the answers.
With expectations higher than ever for a merry omnichannel holiday season, retailers are assertively preparing their shipping operations to avoid delivery and service hiccups.