Cycle Count

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (Page 3 - 4)
ISSUE IDENTIFICATION … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (Page 4)
ENVIRONMENTAL & ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …. (Page 5 – 8)
RECOMMENDATION (S) AND IMPLEMENTATION… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (Page 9)
MONITOR & CONTROL … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (Page 10)
CONCLUSION … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (Page 10)
REFERENCES, EXHIBITS & APPENDIXES … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On Thursday March 27, 2003, Barry McLeod, Director of Procurement and Marketing for “The North West Company”, was considering the option of proposed move to a “pull” merchandise replenishment strategy – also known as localization. Currently North West employs a “push” strategy in which category managers at North West’s Winnipeg HQ analyses the trends, places the orders and allocates products to stores. The shift towards localization expects to tap into the local knowledge that resides with store managers, allowing the local management to tailor product demand to the preferences in their communities. Under localization, product assortment decisions, which had been previously made at the Category Manager’s level at Winnipeg HQ, would become the responsibility of North West’s 147 store managers.
Ken Claudel, Vice President of Logistics & Supply Chain, e – mailed to Barry McLeod for a meeting on Monday morning to review the below: -
1. The benefits and costs of localization;
2. The potential risk of localization; and
3. Implementation plan.
Forecast & Procurement: The North West Category Manager analyses the Sales, markdown the trends, works with the suppliers to determine the new products to be in stocked in inventory and then submit purchase orders at least 4 months in advance of popular selling periods such as back – to – school season or Christmas shopping session. Using historical averages