Sri Lanka Retail Forum underscored supply chain dependability
Vice President of Sales and Operations at Info-CTRL and former Head of Operations at Kingfisher UK, Suren Sornalingam says that in order to guarantee that unforeseen issues did not occur regarding stock that often led to customer dissatisfaction, retail operators in Sri Lanka had to be certain of the supply chain they maintained with their tradersmaking sure that they were up-to-date on demand forecasts and latest trends.
He made this comment addressing the “Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2017.”
“Supply chain is the foundation of retail and firms like Alibaba had fundamentally used supply chain innovations to disrupt the retail industry,” he said.
Speaking of the disruptions that could result from panic orders he advised that weak projections and proposals impacting working capital and cash erosion had to be avoided so that deficits in stocks can be circumvented.
“Accurate demand forecasting is critical. If you don’t get the data right and you don’t have the right kind of data, you can forget about the future,” he further advised.
He advocated fostering strong collaborative relationships because personnel and “succession-planning” in retail companies was vital when evading complications resulting from the movement of workforce members gaining experience in a company’s many facets. He also encouraged dialogue between retailers and suppliers so that neither worked in isolation and had a better understanding of each other’s parameters.
“Retailers should ensure their vendor gets weekly sales reports that could help improve forecasting demand. This could help suppliers leverage economies of scale given their link with other buyers and sometimes reduce costs.Retailers should also review routes to market to reduce lead times and improve working capital,” he stated.
OSL TAKE:
Since Sri Lanka’s retail sector is steadily rising, the insights provided by Sornalingam may open the doors for “supply chain innovations” to be introduced to the country. Operators in this sector have the opportunity to pioneer this vital area of retail in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20092917/Z_3 |