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Continuous Replenishment Programme (CRP)
                                        GOALS:
 Focus on efficient replenishment of    Increase inventory turns
products                                 Reduce inventory levels
 Part of Efficient Consumer             Decrease stock-outs
Response (ECR) arena                     Improve customer service
 Improving the flow of products in     levels
                                         Boost warehouse efficiency
the supply chain
                                         Enhance trading partners'
                                        perception of value

 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)
 Manufacturer decides when to
                                        OBJECTIVES:
replenish                               Increase in-stock inventory
 Usage of automatic electronic         Increase sales
messages                                Improve customer service
 VMI implementation in industries      Increase gross margins
like, department                        Reduce overall inventory in
stores, apparel, automotive and         the supply chain
paper manufacturing                     Stabilize vendor's production
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) model

From the supplier's perspective, a VMI model generally entails:
1. Receiving stock levels from a customer
2. Receiving sales forecasts from a customer
3. Generating replenishment orders when needed
4. Sending dispatch advice to a customer
5. Receiving sales reports from a customer
6. Sending invoices to a customer.




                 Fig. A two stage VMI supply chain
Information Flow
Inventory levels – From distributor to     Sales history – From distributor to
manufacturer                               manufacturer
 The current stock quantity               The quantity sold over the last
 The quantity in order                    period
 The quantity reserved for some           The number of sold lines
customer orders                            Forecasts can also be provided
 The backorder quantity (stock out)       by the distributor
Order proposal – From
manufacturer to distributor
The Ship To location
 The order quantity
         Manufacturer    Inventory Level   Distributor       Final
                           Sales history                   Customers
                         Order Proposal                       Final

                        Purchase Order                     Customer
                             Order                           need
                        Acknowledgement
                              Delivery
Benefits
Supplier benefits:
 Visibility to the customer's point-of-sale data simplifies forecasting.
 Promotions can be more easily incorporated into the inventory plan.
 Customer ordering errors are reduced.
 Stock level visibility helps identify priorities (replenish stock versus a stockout).
 The supplier can see the potential need for an item before the item is ordered.


Customer benefits:
 Fill rates from the supplier, and to the end consumer, improve.
 Stockouts and inventory levels often decrease.
 Planning and ordering costs decrease since the responsibility is on supplier.
 Overall service level is improved by having the right product at the right time.
 The supplier is more focused than ever on providing superior service.


Dual benefits:
 Data entry errors are reduced due to computer-to-computer communications.
 Overall processing speed is improved.
 Both parties strive to offer better service to the end consumer.
 A true collaborative partnership is formed between the supplier and the
customer
VMI implementation for a
Global Energy Management
Specialist
Mission    •Help our customers to achieve more while using less
            of our common planet




           •Safe

 Goals     •Reliable
           •Efficient
           •Productive




Business   •Power and Control
           •Energy Management
• Common goal to improve services to end-
                  customer
Dual Benefits   • Partnership leading to strong and long-term
                  ties between distributor and manufacturer



  Distributor   • Decrease in stock-outs and inventory levels
   Benefits     • Reduction in planning and ordering cost



                • Visibility of the Distributor’s Sales data makes
                  forecasting easier
Manufacturers   • Promotions can be more easily incorporated
  Benefits        into the inventory plan.
                • A reduction in Distributor ordering errors
Inventory              Sales                 Order
  levels               history              proposal
       Daily               Monthly
                                            Daily or set days of a
   Current stock                                    week
     quantity        Quantity sold over
                      the last period
 Quantity in order
                                            References and the
                     Number of sold lines
                                            Quantities for
 Quantity reserved                          ordering
                                            • The Ship-to-location
                       Forecasts from
Backorder quantity                          • The order quantity
                         Distributor
The savings identified at the beginning of the project were met


With a comparable level of product availability the stock coverage strongly
reduced


Right products were put on the shelves of the distributor leading to better product
turn-over


Clear workload reduction was visible


Due to improvement in forecasting it was then acceptable to update the stock
parameters every two months instead of every month.


The reduction of training needs was also very clear
VMI implementation for a
Global Energy Management
Specialist
World’s largest manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines


Supplies the entire Volvo group with driveline components


Employees approximately 8000 people


Operations in Sweden, France, Brazil and US


Production is Customer based


Identified VMI is an efficient tool to lower inventory level and improve
relationship with its suppliers
Pipechain VMI software was employed

Cover days of stock lowered from seven days to three days

Inventory reduction of 67 percentage

Reduced administration costs

High supplier satisfaction

Decrease in set-up time
VMI implementation for a
Global Energy Management
Specialist
Part of Orkla Group

Nordic region’s leading supplier of manufactured food products
for grocery trade

Annual turnover over 3 billion SEK


1500 Employees


Headquartered at Eslov, Sweden
Service levels have gone up from 94% to 98%


Inventory Level has been decreased by 30%

Order processing cost has declined by 40% throughout supply
chain

More efficient production planning


Easier for co-planning and optimizing set-up times
With cases from the Indian
market
   A step beyond just-in-time                  (JIT)    in   the
    manufacturing scenario

   Consumables procurement
     practicing VMI between the needle supplier and apparel
      manufacturer will result in negligible cost and space savings
      for the manufacturer

   Accurate prediction by the vendor                           of
    merchandise quality and quantity
     A sewing thread supplier can decide on the
      type of thread and calculate fairly accurately
      the quantity required based on the fabric
      swatch and apparel sample
Challenge • Controlling sewing thread inventories

           • The manufacturer alone would calculate and order
 Pre VMI     the total quantity of thread, with any surplus or
 Process     shortage being the manufacturer's problem
           • The onus of any surplus or shortage was shifted totally to
Strategy     the thread supplier
           • The demand pattern (based on the production
             schedule) was shared with the thread supplier

             • Barring some standard colour like white or black,
               thread is a perishable item so the thread supplier
  Result       withdrew from the arrangement
             • Under the new risk sharing arrangement the cost of
               dispute/surplus quantity of thread is being shared by
               both the thread supplier and apparel manufacturer
 The manufacturer blocks
  certain quantities of thread
  with the thread supplier,          The thread supplier avoids
 who then maintains the             complicated reverse entry of
  thread     inventory      and      goods if there is a surplus
  delivers products just-in-          The manufacturer avoids
  time when required by the          being     left     with     surplus
  manufacturer                       stock, while guaranteeing
 Blocking thread quantities is      against out of stock
  only valid for a certain
  period of time, after which         The         responsibility    for
  the thread supplier is free to     calculating       the      correct
  sell the thread to other           quantity still remains with the
  manufacturers                      manufacturer



           Geographical proximity between both companies
   Products like zippers and needles were also
    explored but manufacturers felt these were too
    insignificant to experiment with
   While exploring similar arrangements with sewing
    machine spare parts suppliers in India it was found
    that similar practices are being exercised with a
    few large apparel manufacturers for selected high
    priced machines.
   Absence of large apparel manufacturers, the driver
    of VMI implementation
   There is an absence of major machine manufacturers
   According to Professor Sunil Chopra, VMI should only
    be      implemented        in   cases       where    the
    manufacturer/vendor can forecast demand more
    accurately than the distributor/retailer
   VMI presupposes EDI between the trading
    partners, since an absence of the EDI infrastructure
    will make the "time gain" factor difficult to appreciate
    (and convert to a cost advantage) by partners
   The emphasis is on the relationship, and the software
    merely automates the demand analysis. The sales tax
    and other procedural complexities may need to be
    simplified if there is to be a smooth flow of material
    and information between partners
Some examples of
companies which chose to
implement VMI
K-Mart                    Fred Mayer              Walmart and P&G

•Customer service           •Reduced inventories        •Have had a VMI
 measures have gone          30-40 per cent              program together for
 from the high 80s to the   •Service levels increased    over ten years to
 high 90s                    to 98 per cent              manage the inventory
•Inventory turns on         •VMI implemented with        and production of
 seasonal items have         two key food vendors        disposable
 gone from 3 to                                          diapers, with great
 between 10 and                                          success
 11, and for non-                                       •Turnover doubled
 seasonal items from 12-                                •Wal-Mart's operating
 15 to 17-20                                             costs fell
                                                        •P&G's market share
                                                         grew (because Wal-
                                                         Mart gave it preferred
                                                         shelf space)
How to measure success of a
VMI implementation

What are the major challenges
in implementing the VMI

What are the possible pitfalls in
implementing the VMI
Continuous replenishment and vendor managed inventory
Continuous replenishment and vendor managed inventory