Supply Chain – Things You Must Understand

The digital tidal wave is changing supply chain. Here are a few terms and things one must understand moving forward.

What is Collaborative Logistics or Distributed Logistics?

By leveraging the network effect and the economies of scale in multi-client, get local, automated fulfillment and distribution centers with great final delivery to achieve low cost and high speed, customer focused logistics.

What are Digital Shelf Edges?

Electronic Shelf Labels or Digital Shelf Edge Displays are electronic displays that can be clipped onto a grocery shelf to indicate pricing and descriptions.

What is an Each Supply Chain?

There is a material handling principle called the Unit Load Principle, leave unit loads together as long as you can. Therefore, never open a container until you must, when you do palletize for as long as possible, when you must break open the pallet have everything handled as a case. Do not break the case until you are down to the customer selection the Each. However, with Direct-to-Consumer we find we must break open the case as the customer ordered less than the case. The customer ordered an Each or Eachies. Once the case is broken, you thereafter have an Each supply chain. Since we have opened the case we have begun to think about replenishment of stores not by case, but by Each. This is typically demand-driven replenishment, an Each Supply Chain.

What are Pop-Up Stores? 

A pop-up store space is a venue that is temporary, the space could be used for a sample one-day sale or most familiar the seasonal pop-up store, slated for a month or so, to market holidays such as Halloween and Christmas. Pop-up stores are used for marketing and building and awareness of a brand and / or product.

What is Post-click Logistics? 

Post-click logistics is the movement of goods to fill customer orders. Post-click, after the customer places their order, delivery is extremely important and a focus of post-click logistics.  

What is Unichannel?

About five years ago we started hearing about Multi-channel as firms combine separate business units (typically in-store and on-line) called multi-channel operations. Then three years ago we progressed to Omni-channel where we integrated the operations and the inventory across channels to have a more integrated operation. Now comes Unichannel, the unified channel. The Unichannel is a model that recognizes that "e" customers do not exist and in-store customers do not exist. All customers are customers and our focus must be on an integrate seamless customer experience without any channel differentiation.