Technology Trends in the Retail Supply Chain
With no dramatic upturn in the economy projected in the near future, retailers will continue to look to technology to help them reduce their costs of inventory while getting closer to their customers.
By Willliam Atkinson -- Supply Chain Management Review, 1/1/2010
These days, everyone is looking for ways to replace inventory with information. That's the view of Darin Cooprider, vice president and general manager at Ryder System, the big logistics services provider. “Retailers used to say that inventory was their friend,” Cooprider explains, “so they were not shy about being overstocked.” That's changed with the heightened awareness of how much inventory really costs. The focus now is on minimizing inventory in the supply chain and emphasizing demand forecast accuracy. “The forecasting algorithms in sales are becoming much more accurate,” Cooprider says. “They are helping to replace inventory with information.”
Many industry observers believe that retail supply chain management technology really starts with point-of-sale information. POS technologies are the principal funnel and gathering tool upon which retailers and their supply chain partners rely. “They (POS technologies) set the basis for the understanding of what is selling, where, when, and how much,” the Ryder executive says. “This sets the stage for supply chain management tools and technologies.” The POS data is disseminated to partners such as Ryder, which integrates the data with its own technologies, such as warehouse management systems and transportation management systems. This enables the retailers and the services providers in the retail supply chain to execute their respective functions more efficiently. Vendors also have access to the POS information, which can be posted in aggregate format, and also at store level, so that the proper replenishment can take place.
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