Inbound Logistics | May 2023

DIALOG @ILMagazine [ INSIGHT ]

Want to join the conversation? FOLLOW US: linkedin.com/company/inbound-logistics facebook.com/InboundLogistics twitter.com/ILMagazine youtube.com/user/InboundLogistics inboundlogistics.com/podcast DROP US A LINE: editorial@inboundlogistics.com to be placed in the locations that offer the best chance for full-price sales and/or align with corporate objectives. Minimum, maximum, and/or capacity values can also be used as “guardrails” to further rene the nal distribution quantities. Lastly, when possible, retailers should allocate product in higher frequency, but in smaller quantities. This will allow them to react and course-correct when necessary, as market conditions change rapidly. –Jonathan Doller Sr. Business Consultant, Logility On Automotive Supply Chains Electric vehicle supply chains are impacted by constraints in critical battery minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. In addition to the physical constraints on chip production and mineral extraction and processing, the war in Ukraine, political tensions between China and the United States and its allies, the European energy shortage, and expectations of a global recession further exacerbate the situation. Timely, end-to-end visibility into supply networks, and the ability to derive insights from the data owing within these networks, are critical to mitigating these risks. Two technologies—intelligent, multi- enterprise cloud platforms and articial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)— will be key to meeting these challenges. AI/ML technology, with its predictive and prescriptive capabilities, can provide a competitive edge and a much-needed margin of business resilience. –Peter Maithel Automotive Industry Principal, Infor

CONTENT GETS SOME LOVE

value. Lean inventory is the right phrase for, well, lean inventory management. –Gordon Donovan Global Market Research Director, Procurement and Supply, SAP

Re: Gettin’ Giggy With It By IL Publisher Keith Biondo bit.ly/CheckingIn_0323

“Gettin’ giggy with it” is surely the wave of the future. Well done! –Bill McClennen Transportation Guru of Motorcycles

Fast TAKES

Re. Good Question: What’s one supply chain misnomer? What would be a better term? bit.ly/GoodQuestion_0123 Just in time (JIT) is not so much a misnomer, but too often we confuse it with lean inventory. JIT is a philosophy of reducing waste and driving improvement. At its core, it’s about minimizing time, processes, resources, and materials that don’t add I just received my copy of the March edition of Inbound Logistics . Love the articles. Keep them coming. –Julie Humphreys Logistics & Inventory Manager DOWN inc. Thank you for the short, to-the-point articles. All publications should take your lead. –Steve Liberti Harbor Freight Transport Corp.

On Ecommerce Fulllment The past few years have shown us how critically important it is to optimize distribution and maximize the value of inventory. Retailers can use a few different strategies to better manage constrained inventory. First, they should have a good understanding of whether or not additional product will be available at some future date. If no additional product is available, then some sort of pro-rated or “fair-share” distribution is often the best course of action. Second, if additional product will be available at some point, retailers can use existing inventory to try and maximize protability over equitability (which, by denition, is what a “fair-share” allocation attempts to do). Prioritizing locations based on key metrics or attributes (e.g., margin, category ranking, new stores, etc.) allows inventory

10 Inbound Logistics • May 2023