Enhancing efficiency in the evolving grocery supply chain through vendor integration

Abstract

C&S Wholesale Grocers is a privately-held firm headquartered in Keene, New Hampshire. C&S is a leading low-cost, high-service procurement and distribution provider servicing grocery retailers, and is the second largest grocery wholesaler in the United States.' The firm has realized average annual revenue growth of nearly 20% since 1995, and projects nearly twenty billion dollars of revenue for 2006. C&S operations are mobilized to deliver over 53,000 grocery items to more than 4,000 corporate customers "at record speed."2 Historically, C&S Wholesale Grocers has relied upon process excellence to sustain profitable growth. An internal group, the Business Process Excellence group, is currently focusing on process improvements across all areas of the C&S value chain. In support of the "BPE" team, this project focuses on "Vendor Integration", or determining the most effective processes and programs by which C&S should collaborate with its vendors to drive out supply chain costs. The goal of this thesis is to present a framework for the determination of "best-in-class" programs relating to vendor integration, programs which contribute to sustainable growth. First, a presentation of the drivers of sustainable growth is defined.

(cont.) Then a framework is employed to generate a host of available programs to be considered. Two of the programs are selected for an in-depth evaluation: Lead-Time Reduction and Global Data Synchronization. Future internships will be able to draw upon the approach, analysis, and findings of this work to solve similar strategic supply chain challenges.