In today’s business world, more and more responsibility is being placed on suppliers and vendors to maintain customer satisfaction across the supply chain. This is especially true with inventory management. Many high volume retailers and distributors of consumer products are having their vendors take responsibility for maintaining inventory levels. Manufacturers are placing the same vendor managed inventory (VMI) responsibility on their suppliers.

Nippon Express USA’s network of DCs and its advanced technology supports VMI strategies across many industries. Nippon Express USA uses its systems capabilities to monitor inventory data of the distributor, retailer or manufacturer, and to generate purchase orders when inventory needs replenishment. The orders are fulfilled from Nippon Express USA DCs.

Benefits of such VMI programs include:

• Reduced overall supply chain costs with tighter matching of demand and inventory
  
  
• Increased customer service levels by reducing stock-outs through more sophisticated inventory management
  
  
• Increased sales for both the vendor and the distributor because of improved in-stock positions
  
  
• Enhanced supply chain cooperation that encourages further collaboration and other process improvement