Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Perspective

Want collaboration? Let's talk first

Face-to-face communication is an essential ingredient of true supply chain collaboration.

Collaboration between manufacturers and retailers isn't a new idea. For more than two decades now, companies have tried working together to ensure that products flow efficiently from the plant to the retail shelf and into consumers' hands. Yet a recent study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. suggests that most of those efforts have not yielded the expected results.

The current state of collaboration notwithstanding, that process remains vital to achieving mutual corporate success. At a time when penny-pinching consumers are searching for the best deals and, thanks to Internet retailing, are demanding products around the clock, manufacturers and retailers have little choice but to work more closely together to minimize inventory, boost sales, and increase profits.


To achieve those objectives, manufacturing and retail executives should sit down face to face and personally exchange information. For example, a manufacturer could share details about the production constraints that make it difficult to fill last-minute requests for shipments. In return, the retailer could provide information on the special deals it plans to offer shoppers, explaining to the manufacturer the reasons for and likely timing of last-minute spikes in orders. Once they understand each other's situations, the manufacturer and retailer could work together to better align production with store promotions to ensure the right amount of product is available when needed. Simply sharing data will not produce the desired results.

Lip service about collaboration rather than effective action will not work in the current business environment, as both manufacturer and retailer risk losing sales and customers. Companies today must engage in tighter supply chain collaboration to ensure mutual success. And collaboration starts with sitting down for a frank dialogue.

Recent

More Stories

DHL online shopper report

DHL report shows seven factors about American online shoppers

Online merchants should consider seven key factors about American consumers in order to optimize their sales and operations this holiday season, according to a report from DHL eCommerce.

First, many of the most powerful sales platforms are marketplaces. With nearly universal appeal, 99% of U.S. shoppers buy from marketplaces, ranked in popularity from Amazon (92%) to Walmart (68%), eBay (47%), Temu (32%), Etsy (28%), and Shein (21%).

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

storm track forecast map hurricane rafael

Louisiana and Texas watch Hurricane Rafael approach

Gulf Coast businesses in Louisiana and Texas are keeping a watchful eye on the latest storm to emerge from the Gulf Of Mexico this week, as Hurricane Rafael nears Cuba.

The island nation today is bracing for storm surge, high winds, and destructive waves, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Keep ReadingShow less
white house

Business groups push back on Trump tariff plan

In the face of campaign pledges by Donald Trump to boost tariffs on imports, many U.S. business interests are pushing back on that policy plan following Trump’s election yesterday as president-elect.

U.S. firms are already rushing to import goods before the promised tariff increases take effect, to avoid potential cost increases. That’s because tariffs are paid by the domestic companies that order the goods, not by the foreign nation that makes them.

Keep ReadingShow less
clorox brands

Clorox partnership helps suppliers meet carbon reduction targets

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) provider The Clorox Co. has partnered with Manufacture 2030 (M2030) to help Clorox's suppliers meet their carbon reduction targets and advance the company's long-term goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition to its flagship Clorox bleach product, Oakland, California-based Clorox manages a diverse catalog of brands including Hidden Valley Ranch, Glad, Pine-Sol, Burt’s Bees, Kingsford, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, 409, Brita, Liquid Plumr, and Tilex.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. map showing drought risk

Everstream Analytics quantifies how climate risk affects supply chains

Supply chain risk analytics company Everstream Analytics has launched a product that can quantify the impact of leading climate indicators and project how identified risk will impact customer supply chains.

Expanding upon the weather and climate intelligence Everstream already provides, the new “Climate Risk Scores” tool enables clients to apply eight climate indicator risk projection scores to their facilities and supplier locations to forecast future climate risk and support business continuity.

Keep ReadingShow less