Scalable Logistics Solutions
The Company is a leading manufacturer and originator of network equipment that basically run the Internet. With 30,000 employees worldwide they had a need to transition from a centric mode of manufacturing to a global manufacturing model while simultaneously striving to triple their growth.
The Opportunity was to make this effort transparent to their supply chain channels. A priority was to accomplish this effort by maintaining their customer satisfaction rating and significantly improving the customer service level in on-line order placement and service.
Challenges & Objectives
Transitioning from a centric mode of manufacturing to a global manufacturing model.
Strategy
Leveraging Internet technology to gain greater visibility and improve supply chain performance to enable streamlined business to business processes. The solution increased customer product demand and reduced rising development costs.
Customized Solution
Creating a full logistics management environment that was transparent to the supply chain channels, taking advantage of track and trace availability and exception reporting capabilities.
The Approach was to create a full logistics management environment, implement track and trace availability and manage exception reporting. The outcome was to outsource everything and execute the strategy via the web. This included logistics, inventory management, manufacturing and fulfillment.
By leveraging Internet technology we helped position them in the marketplace to gain greater visibility, improve supply chain performance which enabled streamlined business to business processes.
The global manufacturing model began with a coordinated plan for a managed European logistics center in the Netherlands. In addition, company subsidiaries handle distribution flows in Tokyo, Sydney and Toronto.
Manufacturing under the Direct Fulfillment model originally started from San Jose but quickly spread to other regions in the U.S. followed by manufacturing in Scotland, Canada, Mexico and Malaysia. Direct Fulfillment sites were then expanded to other parts of Asia, Europe and Latin America.
This was followed by vendor manufacturing sites in Scotland and Penang facilitating door to door service within the EU which lowered business costs allowing for an in transit merge model to be developed.
Next we implemented door to airport services in non-EU countries with guaranteed daily lift at all origins. There were options that were required to allow for duty unpaid terms, and the use of premium carriers throughout the chain.
We helped them accomplish greater productivity and shorter order cycle times by managing to their growth. Using global delivery we made the delivery on time and predictable, visible and accurate. Removing non-value-added steps, hand-offs and 24X7 access to information reduced lead-time.
The Results speak for themselves. This solution increased customer demand for the product slowed down development costs and increased supply chain visibility and subsequent performance.
Customer satisfaction through online order placement and service improved 25% over the past year. They were able to realize a 35% cost reduction in inventory levels throughout the supply chain.
Results
- Inventory Reduction: 35%
- Customer Satisfaction Improvement: 25%