Redesign Needed For Supply Chain And Delivery

Retailers and consumer products companies are scrambling to meet customer demand for fast home delivery of products, citing outdated supply and delivery chains, a lack of order fulfillment centres near customers, and the high capital costs of fixing these problems as major impediments, says a study by the CMO Council and Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network. Just three per cent of industry survey respondents say their companies are very capable of meeting current expectations for fast home delivery. As a result, the industry is considering new co-operative approaches to supply chain transformation, including joint ventures for creating shared micro-fulfillment centres in urban areas closer to customers. Some 97 per cent of respondents say they would consider new joint venture approaches to rebuilding supply and fulfillment, including 42 per cent who already expect adoption of these shared models. The vast majority of executives (96 per cent) say that redesigning supply and delivery chains will be crucial to fulfilling their promise to customers and maintaining business profitability. Greater automation of picking, packing, and sorting, closer proximity of fulfill centres to customers, and more efficient last mile delivery are seen as the top three requirements for supply chain transformation.