Submitted by: Submitted by Kenzie
Views: 549
Words: 3244
Pages: 13
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 11/14/2013 08:18 PM
North West Supply Chain
1. Propose move to pull strategy (localization) to tap into the local knowledge of store managers to better tailor product quantities to preferences in their communities (assortment decisions previously made at category manager’s level would be the responsibility of 147 store managers
2. Current strategy is push in which category managers at the HQ analyzed trends, placed orders and allocated products to stores
a. Category managers analyzed sales and markdown trends, worked with suppliers to determine new products to stock and submitted purchase orders 4 months in advance of popular selling periods like back to school (august & September); Christmas (November & December)
a. What are the benefits and costs of localization
b. What are the potential risks of localization
c. What is the implementation plan of localization
Problems
1. Forecasting is a blend of science and art – category managers worked with store managers to review previous years’ lineup orders and actual sales – using historical averages and next year’s forecast growth rate, they estimated demand for products at company level
2. Product lineup for the upcoming year often differed from year to year
3. Visited trade shows in Canada, US & China and lead times ranged from 3-6 months for purchases of general merchandise (non-food, home furnishings, housewares, apparel, footwear, outerwear, luggage and transportation.
4. Stoking of seasonal merchandise
5. Stocking of NW Selections Catalogue
6. Receiving & Shipping: Slow moving or excess merchandise were pushed to store housed in the store’s warehouse before being discounted or discarded (shipping done twice, to store and then back to warehouse for discount or discard
7. Merchandising/Selling: stores received shipment too early 4-6 weeks before its selling season and all were put on display. Stores continued to receive shipment till September to keep...