Measures of a strict lockdown have an impact on the entire country, in e-commerce in particular. We would like to give our customers a number of simple tips in order to respond well to this from a purchasing technical point of view. These tips ensure more delivery reliability, turnover, and peace of mind in the process.
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Not placing a planned order will in all cases have a direct impact on the service level. If you place an order a day later, you will receive the stock a day later and you have been able to use this stock one day less. In times of high demand, this is disastrous for turnover and other processes.
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In addition to processes in your own warehouse, processes at the supplier have an influence. The sooner your order is received by the supplier, the sooner you will receive your items. You are ahead of the competition and the supplier will start working for you sooner.
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Ordering is also recommended if products cannot be delivered. This later provides tools for entering into a dialogue with the supplier.
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In times of high and uncertain demand, safety stocks are extremely important. These buffers are largely determined in Optiply by the set desired delivery reliability.
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We recommend delivery reliability in the A category of 99% and in the B category of 98%. Especially for suppliers with a short supply chain, you will immediately notice that products are more readily available and you have fewer problems with back orders, lost sales, and other unexpected changes.
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By scheduling a purchase order more often, you respond more quickly to changes in the market. This makes you more flexible and you can make adjustments faster. Whenever possible, try not to set the manual order period to less than the delivery time. This will cause deliveries to overlap and add a lot of extra work to the inbound process.
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It may be wise to keep extra stock for a specific (unreliable) supplier. For example, because his range is very popular, or his deliveries do not arrive on time. With a few days of extra delivery time per supplier, you can keep some extra stock for this specific supplier.
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In very extreme situations, where for example the supplier is about to collapse, you can choose to purchase for a few months, due to the manual order period until, for example, January 19.
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If you have a long supply chain, look for shorter alternatives. Place emergency orders with suppliers closer to you. See if you can pay for faster deliveries. In addition, it may be good to dampen demand by stopping offers or price reductions.
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The Christmas period will be a tough period, after an already tough year. Nevertheless, we expect that the Christmas holidays can be put on hold for many buyers. Purchasing is of the utmost importance in the coming weeks.
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It remains important to continuously monitor and adjust the settings where possible. If you have any questions, please let us know. We are happy to help you!
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