Distribution network and inventory optimization for retail
Build a more agile supply chain
Retail supply chain managers face numerous challenges. Complex supply chain networks. Increasing commodity and energy costs. Volatile consumer demand. Changing consumer shopping behavior across channels, resulting in new business models. Separate yet overlapping distribution networks. And duplicate inventories for a single retailer. The distribution network and inventory optimization solution for retail from IBM can provide more robust decision-making insights through applications and methods to address these challenges.
Make informed decisions for the best impact
Smarter retailers are serving customers as a single brand—regardless of channel, touchpoint or device. But it's important to extend this strategy beyond the shopping experience, into cross-channel alignment of supply and demand. We can help you reevaluate your supply chain design and distribution planning from a strategic perspective, using analytics to provide insight into the best strategies for balancing cost, flexibility and service levels.
Using an instrumented approach, we can help you collect the data you need to answer vital strategic questions. How many distribution centers do you need and where should they be located? How are goods flowing through them? How much inventory is optimally needed at each location? How can you flex capacity and routing to support variations in demand, while reducing inventory and minimizing costs?
We can help you evaluate different replenishment and allocation strategies, merchandise flow paths and transportation plans to help improve logistics costs and reduce inventory levels. Discover how to align your supply chain infrastructure—distribution centers, transportation assets and service provider contracts—to develop an interconnected system that can reduce your fixed supply chain costs. Gain the intelligence you need to make the right decisions about changes to your processes. Examine the impact that specific changes might have on costs, budget and inventory levels. Compare multiple "what-if" scenarios. Find hidden drivers—such as forecasting errors, lead times and lot size—so you can prioritize improvement opportunities based on the overall inventory impact.
Optimize your distribution network
We can help you develop a clearly-defined vision and strategy for an optimized distribution network. We can help you:
- See demand patterns across locations, product lines and seasons to determine the most effective changes to consider now and in the future.
- Identify ways to lower inventory levels while reducing out-of-stocks, improving sales and reducing transportation costs.
- Use predictive analytics to determine the best response to changing demand and unpredictable customer behavior.
- Improve decision making through visibility and interactive scenarios of the tradeoffs between service levels, inventory carrying costs, facility costs, transportation costs and carbon impact factors.
Take advantage of advanced analytics
Our portfolio of analytical decision support software and services capabilities includes:
- IBM® Dynamic Inventory Optimization Solution (DIOS) modeling, optimization and decision support tool, which provides reports and graphs that allow you to immediately evaluate the impact that changes in service levels, cost constraints, lead times, lot sizes and other factors can have on inventory stock and carrying costs.
- IBM Global Business Services® supply chain and technical experts can evaluate, design and implement revised business processes, roles and responsibilities, applications and data integration using proven methodologies.
- IBM ILOG® Inventory and Product Flow Analyst decision support modeling software for strategic inventory positioning, determining inventory policies, and setting safety stock and inventory levels in operational environments.
- IBM ILOG LogicNet Plus XE, an off-the-shelf, easy-to-use decision support solution for managing global supply chains, evaluating distribution networks, and determining where and when new facilities are needed.
- IBM ILOG Transportation Analyst for strategic transportation planning, which lets you analyze different strategies to promptly determine the best way to deliver your products and utilize your transportation assets.