Distribution network reconfiguration for an apparel manufacturer : an inventory analysis

Companies in the footwear and apparel industry must deal with many supply chain challenges, including intense competition, long production lead times, reliance on international carriers, and shifting consumer preferences. For many large companies, only design and distribution are performed internally. This places pressure on footwear and apparel companies to continually improve supply chain management. This study considers a company in the footwear and apparel industry and its option to consolidate distribution for two separate regions into one. One region currently serves nine times the demand of the other region. In addition, there are differences in labor and transportation costs between the two regions. The company would like to understand the financial, operational, and service impacts associated with consolidation. This study uses a total logistics system approach with particular focus on inventory. The results indicate that if the company were to consolidate distribution for the two regions into one, then there would be a slight total logistics system cost increase. This is due mainly to differences in labor and transportation costs between the two regions. However, sensitivity analysis indicates that if some costs can be reduced, there may actually be potential savings associated with consolidating the two regions.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Tercero, Pablo, 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James Masters.

• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28573

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28573