Case Study - Solutions for Premium Baby Product Provider - Wholesale & Retail
SerCom - competitive edge from supply chain improvements...
The Challenge
Our customer is a provider of high quality baby product including clothing, toys and bath & spa related items. The company has two divisions - one which operates as a wholesaler supplying large retailers and the second which supplies end-users directly through orders via their website.
As with any premium product, there is a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction. Excellent operational execution is a basic requirement and this client was in start-up mode when they first engaged with SerCom Solutions. They made the decision to concentrate their efforts on demand generation, and looked to SerCom to manage all operational elements to support their customers.
SerCom's Solution
Utilising SerCom's global freight contracts, we set up an inbound network from the chosen supply base which spans the USA, Europe, Morocco and the Middle East. Once the product range was finalised, SerCom worked to assign appropriate customs tariff codes and we succeeded in obtaining binding tariff information for each item. In essence, this assures our customer that the tariff codes will not fluctuate over a period of six years.
Due to the broad appeal and attractiveness of the products, security considerations have been paramount. To that end, products are packaged carefully and stored in a purposely built, secure area (card access only) within our production facility.
Although the majority of product is branded, SerCom re-sourced a number of key packaging items, including gift boxes, ribbons, high quality wrapping paper and labels, and provided the customer with significant cost savings.
SerCom's web development team designed a web store for the wholesale division. Retailers (our client's customers) use this portal to place orders which are immediately reflected as Customer Orders onto SerCom's SAP system. This, in turn, generates pick and pack instructions to our work cell within 15 minutes. Once the shipment is processed through our system, a branded label and packing list are generated with the appropriate customer address. SerCom then distributes the shipments through our network of logistics partners.
The Results
- Our customer experienced a highly successful overall launch of their product portfolio which was fully enabled and supported by SerCom Solutions
- They also benefited from a reduction in non-strategic material costs delivered by SerCom's commodity expertise
- The business has since matured into a smoothly run operation with SerCom handling the management of customer orders, inventory management, planning and PO placement
- SerCom provides cost management and savings / benchmarking on an ongoing basis
- SerCom maintains performance metrics and frequent reviews are held with our client