Supply chain responsiveness for a large retailer

Abstract

A large U.S. based retailer underwent a large, complex multi-year supply chain network transformation. This transformation resulted in significant savings in logistics costs. Additionally, the regional distribution center that was introduced as part of this transformation as a new node between the supplier and the store became the decision making center for placing purchase orders with suppliers and for receiving and shipping the purchase order to individual stores. This resulted in longer lead times causing a change in the in-store units held and therefore, directly impacting the net sales. This thesis focuses on establishing the relationship between the stores performance and lead-time, review-time combinations in both supply chain networks, the original direct to store and the new regional distribution based networks.