VMI, or Vendor-Managed Inventory, has become somewhat of a packaging industry buzzword. Many companies offer VMI; it is no longer a unique business offering, albeit still effective and very necessary.
That’s why we are changing things up for VMI. With the addition of our first Supply Chain Analyst Specialist, Taylor Held, to the United team this fall, there is a new place for VMI at the forefront of business. She, along with our consulting and warehouse operations team, will slate a new standard for VMI as a means of advancement through modern forecasting. Ever-changing technology demands new expertise, and this investment in change is why VMI will never be the same at United Packaging.
Global vendor-managed inventory and supply chain trends are also leaning away from traditional programs used abundantly in the industry. According to an article by Lora Cecere in Forbes magazine from March 2017,
“While the traditional technologies of CRM, ERP, APS, and SRM improved the efficiency of silos within the organization, these inside-out processes are a barrier to growth and overall organizational effectiveness.”
Furthermore, according to the same article, less than 1% of companies use data from the market to drive growth.
“Today’s supply chains respond. They do not sense. They are slow and inflexible burdened by the costs of complexity through traditional marketing approaches.”
The problem is that many companies do not want to invest in new technologies, and would rather only put money towards product development. This leads to empty shelf space, and those losses are most harmful. The solution? A hybrid way of looking at market data AND development. “Cross-functional” processes to improve growth. A mix of traditional and innovative, to start.
The role of our new Supply Chain Analyst is crucial to the advancement of United’s VMI, combining new technology with what works now. Eventually, a brand new generation of VMI and supply chain will be the standard. Taylor’s experience as the Outbound Operations Manager for Target’s Distribution Center makes her fit to streamline warehouse operations from the inside out, applying new tech insights and expertise along the way.