Arrow Electronics: Gaining New Business

Costco buys the majority of its merchandise directly from manufacturers for shipment either directly to Costco’s selling warehouses or to a consolidation point where various shipments are combined so as to minimize freight and handling costs. As a result, Costco eliminates many of the costs associated with multiple step distribution channels, which include purchasing from distributors as opposed to manufacturers, use of central receiving, storing and distributing warehouses, and storage of merchandise in locations off the sales floors. (1)

One of the key decisions of Airborne Express was to target regularly shipping business customers and purposely passing over residential deliveries and infrequent shippers. Ray Berry, vice president of Field Services Administration, commented this selection of customers: “ Since we can’t be all things to all people, we pick our kind of customer deliberately.” And it

The industry is defined as the Domestic US Express Mail industry. This includes overnight and second day delivery. In order to assess the attractiveness of the industry, a Porters' Five Forces analysis has been conducted as follows.

By not going through the regular intermediaries that the competitors use will cause problems for the distribution factor. By going through their intermediaries it will be provided by a trusted network where the salespeople that Richard hires might cause a channel conflict and it will fail.

Cisco acknowledged that there were initial barriers to the flow of information and the ease of supply operations between them and their business partners who produced products for Cisco’s consumers. They initiated a Supply Chain Management Initiative to improve their operations by automating the supply chain and improving information flow between Cisco and its partners.

Potential channels included: Heavy supply houses and heavy equipment distributors - provided access to a wide market but also absorbed additional profit margins. More importantly, they were unlikely to hold the enthusiasm needed to actively promote CMI’s pads and educate the market. Manufacturer’s reps – were commission-based transaction-driven salespeople. Reps held strong industry connections and offered access to a wide market without increasing labor costs. On the other hand they held low brand loyalty and could be discouraged by complex time consuming transactions requiring market education. CMI was also considering In-house direct sales force – they would have offered strong brand loyalty, product knowledge and professionalism but also take longer to gain market coverage and demand large expenditure on labor and training. CMI eventually decided to sign manufacturing reps who sold their pads to various distributors and supply houses.

The corporation is seeking data to determine the optimal course of action for distribution, referred to hereafter as the supply chain. This analyst has researched several supply-chain strategies. These strategies will be presented in this report. The analyst will also provide a concerted

For the problem on distribution partner, Augat has the option to stick with White Radio, or to seek new partnerships in distribution like Anixter Canada, or Deskin Sales. Though this would help Augat enhance the coverage in terms of suppliers (or end-users) and a potential increase in market presence. However, on the other hand, Augat would lose the exclusive relationship it was with White Radio, knowing White Radio’s Steve Quinn’ knowledge about Cable TV MSO’s approval process. In addition, the other distribution companies also carry competitor’s products and there is no guarantee that they would push

Casablanca Kids is confronted with the interesting opportunity of redesigning their distribution channels. Effective distribution channel restructuring will allow the company to overcome their issue of declining net sales and therefore lead to a sustainable business. By developing a solution in a timely manner, the company has real potential to thrive.

The evolution of the express mail industry had become a quick on-time shipping and delivery of packages. The service had become effective, reliable, and prompt, which most of the top companies could deliver on these guaranteed promises 96-99% of the time. But, delivery services were only a portion of the services being offered to their customers. Carriers had mastered information management that they shared with their customers. Customers were now able to fill out labels, track the route of their package, and assisted in billing using both via carrier provided software or the Internet.

The procurement section of Target’s supply chain is an essential part of how it replicate costs to customer requirements. The overall affiliation between customer fulfillment and the supply chain are closely linked to products that are designated based on benchmarks that have been appropriately matched to target costing structured with market criticism and feedback provided. When focusing on purchasing products to sell to customers, the organization selects and processes the best option that best matches Target’s

The US express mail industry is highly consolidated. 85% of the market is served by 3 service providers. There are six second tier players who serve the remaining 15%. FedEx and UPS lead the industry in services and innovation. The following trends have been observed in this Industry.

Airborne Express the current underdog in the express mail business has been able to compete with market leaders due to innovation and optimization strategy. The company built on cutting cost and emphasizing reliability now faces pressure from the leaders UPS and FedEx to change their pricing strategy. This change from standard rate pricing to distance-based pricing puts Airborne in a dilemma in which they must choose to match the competition which will make them lose what sets them apart in the market or stay with the current strategy. Changing will increase their flexibility and could open them up to new consumers while staying the same

4. Fixed Costs: This is an industry with high fixed costs (hub operations and airplanes) and these costs have already been incurred by Federal Express. To establish economies of scale it is sensible to continue offering a profitable product such as Courier Pak.

Quantum Corporation had formed the eSupplyChain Group in April 2000 with the aim of restructuring it's, then inefficient, supply chain and take the advantage of new emerging e-technologies to improve efficiencies across the chain. The company has recently entered into a new strategic alliance with eleven other top computers makers and suppliers. This alliance, known as eHITEX would build a new B2B online exchange protocol for supply chain management and