We’ve
been keeping an eye on the aggressive supply
chain and logistics initiatives of Williams-Sonoma,
the retailer and catalog merchandiser of
cooking related products and the parent
of the Pottery Barn furniture and house
goods chain.
In its recent earnings announcements and
other public filings, William-Sonoma again
emphasized the importance to its overall
results of a variety of supply chain initiatives,
which are led by Chief Supply Chain Officer
Dean Miller.
In 2005, the company began a process of
internal management of its import hubs for
furniture, versus using third parties for
this function previously. The company recently
said that it expects “to continue
to improve efficiency in our supply chain
by expanding our furniture hub in-sourcing
initiative,” and that it has achieved
many process improvements as a result of
this initiative.
The company has also launched a daily replenishment
program for many of its stores, and in the
New York market is actually combining customer-direct
deliveries with store replenishments.
The company has also invested in a slew
of new technology over the past few years,
including warehouse management, retail inventory
management, direct-to-consumer inventory
management, order management, and more.
The company is also pursuing a number of
strategies, to reduce product damage and
other factors that lead to customer returns.
It has said this was one of the benefits
of the in-sourcing initiative for its in-bound
hubs. In parallel, the company also has
been improving its returns processing centers.
What’s the bottom line impact? As
always, it’s hard to fully see the
exact financial results, but CEO noted that,
“A company-wide focus on execution
and cost containment once again allowed
us to deliver earnings at the high end of
our revised expectations, as we leveraged
our multi-channel marketing and supply chain
capabilities." |