With so much emphasis on shaving inventory to the bone, having ready access to stock when it is needed is of paramount importance for merchants. Third-party logistics service providers, therefore, should develop the capabilities to offer their customers the real-time inventory information they demand, says Robert Spieth, EVP and CIO of Ozburn-Hessey Logistics. Spieth suggests that 3PLs conduct the following assessments:
Partners’ skills: Do they have the resources? What is their relevant experience? What project management capabilities do they have? Information complexity: What are the data sources? How many systems are running and are they standard? What is the amount of data to be exchanged? What are the speed requirements — how often will information pass back and forth? How tolerant are the systems of information gaps?
If data integrity requirements aren’t met, Spieth says, it’s possible to overcome information gaps by adding more time to the project, spending more money, creating priorities and fallbacks, or simplifying the integration strategy.