Case Study 1
Situation
IDd had one channel of retail outlets (crafts) and one line of products (magazines) with limited opportunity for growth. As a distributor, any expansion faced a chicken and egg problem. Without the product, it is hard to get new customers and without customers, it is hard to get new product.
Action
I analyzed the market and noted that the fabric chain stores were adding crafts and had significant number of decorating products. I added the two primary sewing titles to our product line and encouraged the sales dept. to call on the fabric chains. This resulted in adding over 1,400 stores to our customer list. With these retailers in hand, we approached decorating publishers and added several very large publishers like Conde Nast, Hearst, Hachette, and Time Warner. With these publishers on board, we then sold decorating retailers such as Linens n’ Things and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Result
iDd grew from $2.6 million to $48 million in 8 years
Benefit
Leading companies to take advantage of opportunities, overcome challenges and grow strategically.
Case Study 2
Situation
Based on the demands of a new customer, the sales department of one company, purchased too much inventory which depleted their cash flow.
Action
The owner directed me to manage the purchasing department. While working with the owner, existing purchasing department personnel, and IT, a weekly Distribution Center Order Report was created. Together, the purchasing manager and myself improved the order report. I also worked with sales and major customers to understand sensitive areas and to communicate slow moving items in which we could manage inventory to appropriate levels.
Result
Days in active inventory were reduced from over 100 days to 45 days. This represents a $12 million savings in cash which prevented the company from going out of business
Benefit
Leading companies in order to turn data into actionable information and
manage inventory to conserve cash.
Case Study 3
Situation
In the space of 4 years one company had grown from one major customer with 500 stores with 200 SKU’s to over 12 customers with nearly 12,000 stores and over 3,000 SKU’s. Initial shipments of books to customers were based on intuition and suppliers’ needs. This put the company at risk of excess book returns and potentially losing customers.
Action
Until an automated system could be installed, I created a manual system to extract relevant data by item by week, by customer. Working with the account teams we negotiated initial model stocks based on Make a Like items, and category and seasonal trends. Model Stocks were then reviewed every 6 months in 5 store groupings.
Result
Vendor Managed Inventory at the two largest customers were gradually reduced by 29% over 3 years. One of these customers rewarded us by making the company the exclusive book and magazine category manager for their 1,600 stores. Book returns were reduced from 18% of sales to under 8% in two years.
Benefit
Leading companies to live their brand and use their data to benefit customers.