title: The receiving simplification partnership: a win-win approach to better service and higher profitability.
abstract: To achieve competitive advantage, customers and suppliers are increasingly forming logistics partnerships to improve supply chain performance and reduce costs. The partnerships are typically motivated by the need to solve a particular problem, but with attention and open communication, new program ideas can develop, sometimes even breakthrough concepts. During the course of their partnership, Avery Dennison and United Stationers created a program that dramatically simplifies and speeds receiving and put-away of shipments with the aim of reducing workloads, improving service, and increasing profitability. The program involves optimizing order quantity increments to full-pallet, layer, and case volumes based on demand and warehouse configurations. Within six weeks, the results included a 50 percent reduction in shipment line items and 92 percent fewer put-away pieces, despite unchanged inventory levels.
authors.affiliation: Avery Dennison, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Beech
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Berg
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003132:Commerce / Q000458:organization & administration; D003284:Contract Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D007182:Income; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008421:Materials Management, Hospital