logistic management, whitmore products

WHITMORE PRODUCTS: TIME BASED LOGISTICS AT

WORK

PRESENTED BY:

Neetika Agarwal

Paras Jalan

Rahul S.

Yogesh Garg

Introduction:

Whitmore: Top furniture manufacturer. Homehelp: Major home decorating retailer.

Nan Peterson has proposed John Smith (Sales representative) to adopt time based logistic management.

Furniture segment is coming more prominent in the portfolio of HomeHelp and has the potential to grow by 20%.

Furniture Industry: Less investment in Information Technology and maintains high inventory through out the channel.

Whitmore is evaluating the benefits of adopting the proposal.

Business proposition for Whitmore :

Will get difficult to duplicate competitive advantage in high consolidated market.

Dramatically decrease in business with Happy Home ( 25% of total business) : Erratic purchase is causing under capacity of production.

High growth potential of HomeHelp (from existing 10% to 20% in future)

Will be needed to store less inventory in the whole Supply Chain.

Will reduce lead time from weeks to days : will cause customer satisfaction and high inventory turns.

Good experience of QuickJeans about time based logistic system.

Quick information about customer trends, will avoid obsolescence.

More accurate predictions will cause improvement in stock-out performance.

Will help in making direct relations with professional decorators to get information on coming trends.

Business proposition for HomeHelp:

In synchronization with business strategy of focus on furniture segment

Whitmore has the potential to invest in new proposal of exclusive distribution arrangement (Whitmore is investing in IT)

Direct to store delivery will help in reducing extra distribution cost

Will help in reducing the inventory at DC and warehouses Will reduce the waiting time from weeks to few days Company can promise the decorators about the exact

delivery time Logistic partner is already working with other industry on

time base logistic Orders on the base of POS data will help in reducing the

stock out and obsolescence of products

Benefits of the Proposal:

It would enable both companies to increase their sales and profitability.

By adopting the proposal, both companies would be able to reduce the total channel costs as well as provide customers with premium product availability.

Whitmore can benefit by having another secure source of revenue in addition to its alliance with Happy Home & Living that is in financial trouble .

Whitmore’s reputation of providing low quality, outdated products can be changed.

Home Help can benefit by providing shorter timetables that would not only reduce the cost of rescheduling but also improve cash flow and efficiency in product delivery.

The company will have the chance to have independent distributors with delivery programs that are flexible.

Benefits of the Proposal (cont.)

Barriers to the Proposal:

Whitmore: It would take a long time period to realize the expected benefits of the time-based logistics capability.

Distribution channel deloading leading to declining sales.

Home Help: Resistance to change. This company is well-known and has been making

huge profits. The management and even employees may

portray great resistance to change. Some may be opposed to the idea of partnering with Whitmore Company.

Suggestions :

Whitmore for long term benefits, can go for self owned logistics instead of relying on national for-hire carrier : Cost savings. Higher responsiveness. Higher reliability.

RFID system can be used instead of barcode system : Instant tracking by both the parties. Reusable RFID chips can save costs. Time for order processing and delivery reviewing can be

reduced.

Accept Or Reject The Proposal???

Home Help is considering forming an alliance with a manufacturing company based on the fact that other firms have reported success by using logistic applications.

This does not seem to be a solid base for making the decision to form an alliance with Whitmore.

However, the business arrangement is a plan that is worth taking into consideration, owed to the fact that the benefits that would be achieved outnumber the potential barriers.

If we were home help, we would accept the proposal.

Due to the fact that several companies that have adopted a time-based logistical strategy have reported success.

This implies that there is a high likelihood of increasing profitability by forming an alliance

Moreover, the plan would probably enhance the company’s competitive advantage.

The fact that Whitmore plans to advance in Information Technology is also an added advantage.


In conclusion, as per the proposal, the adoption of time-based logistics strategies would benefit both Whitmore and Home Help companies.

Despite the fact that there might be challenges such as resistance to change, effective communication would help in dealing with the potential barriers.


THANKYOU