Direct ship - where suppliers deliver direct to consumers - makes sense for all concerned, keeping retailers' costs down while allowing a broad offer. But such practices must not be at the expense of good service. Alison Clements reports

Warehousing and Distribution Center: The cross dock evolves Logistics

Logistics Management, 3/1/2009

Cutting inventories in response to the current economic malaise will require new approaches given the preponderance of global offshoring and extended supply chain models.  Brute force inventory reductions will no longer work in the current environment of global supply chain management (SCM), and enterprises will need to find tools that can help them make informed decisions in a timely and more-intelligent manner. This research will highlight several types of SCM applications that should be in the arsenal of global SCM organizations.

 

Manufacturers and retailers lead the way in using up-to-the-minute point-of-sale data to avoid stock-outs and overproduction. In the perfume business, it's new products, like last year's U.S. launch of Kate, a fragrance Coty branded for supermodel Kate Moss, that can make or break a company's year. But big hits also can lead to big problems.

Supply Chain Performance Measurement: The next frontier of supply chain analytics
SearchSAP.com, 26 Jan 2009
By Jessie Chimni, Vice President of Services at Bristlecone 
Supply chains are becoming increasingly global and ever more complex, as organizations try to support strategic management practices such as entering new markets, increasing the pace of new product introductions, improving the reliability and speed of order fulfillment . . . all the while trying to lower supply chain costs. For organizations to work closely with their suppliers, logistics providers, distributors and retailers, their supply chains must be streamlined and technology-enabled.