Joseph Healy
Soundings Trade Only Online
Freight issues are adding to supply-chain difficulties, causing dealers to focus even more on setting clear expectations for frustrated customers.
Decades ago, MBAs and international logistics experts were touting the advantages of just-in-time inventory management in manufacturing. The idea was to reduce product-storage costs while still making goods available to customers as soon as needed. Just-in-time inventory was heralded as a way to increase manufacturing efficiencies and eliminate the costs of mothballing products while turning over inventory quickly.
The success of the JIT approach depends on manufacturers forecasting product sales accurately, including spikes in demand that would require fallback inventory. But when a wildly unexpected surge in demand occurs — say, for a record-setting number of boats and marine products during a once-in-a-century... [read more]
