When the West Coast dock lockout threatened to upset timely shipments of holiday goods to retailers, Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. used its web-based supply chain system to quickly halt production of leather jackets in time to avoid late inventory that would have resulted in markdowns, the company tells InternetRetailer.com.
"Leather outerwear is very seasonal; it’s a situation where every day counts," says Scott Christian, director of supply chain systems for Wilsons. By communicating instantly with foreign-based factories through an e-SPS supply chain system from New Generation Computing Inc., Wilsons was able to modify production plans soon enough to avoid getting too many goods delivered too late for their prime selling season, he says.
"We were able to hold those leather jacket supplies overseas for future orders and avoid making more finished goods," Christian says. In turn, Wilsons will be able to maintain its regular prices on existing inventory without having to resort to markdowns to clear excessive out-of-season inventory, he adds.
In the past, before its web-based system, it would have taken days for Wilsons to communicate with its suppliers and find out where they were at with production schedules and implement changes, Chrristian says. The older system was also more prone to errors due to misinterpretations of messages, he adds.
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