Case Study: Large Volume Retailing Company reduces inventory costs with Expeditors origin pre-distribution

Large Volume Retailing Company - Customer Case Study

Expeditors worked with a Large Volume Retailing Company that operated seven distribution centers and struggled with uneven inventory levels—some DCs had too much product while others had none. The retailer’s challenge came from placing overseas orders months in advance on a DC-by-DC basis, which caused demand forecast accuracy to deteriorate over time and led to excess inventory and shortages. Expeditors supported the customer using its web-based order management tool, exp.o®, as part of an order management approach.

Expeditors proposed an origin pre-distribution solution that let the retailer place one large company-wide order, then allocate it to DCs several weeks before shipping once forecasts were more accurate. Vendors used exp.o® to assign shipments by DC, book cargo, and prepare documentation, with products shipped directly to DCs via vendor-loaded or consolidated containers. Expeditors implemented the program in four months, and in the first year it saved the customer more than $6 million while improving forecast accuracy and creating a more flexible, risk-tolerant supply chain with multiple ports of entry.