Furniture and apparel sourcing platform

A US based catalog retailer had realized dramatic sales growth and an expansion of product categories and SKUs. As the business grew the merchandizing teams needed new sources of supply and new product development.  To stay ahead of cost pressure, demand requirements and fashion trends, management needed to establish more direct links to suppliers in Asia as well as an organization that could move at pace and scale. The challenge was to determine the best mix of suppliers including agencies, trading companies and manufacturers that could support rapid growth in categories and product line extensions. Alaris led the efforts and:

• Developed strategic approach to analyze and articulate alternatives

• Led pilot sourcing program to define optimum service and cost levels

• Conducted assessment of spend,

• Prioritized sequential waves of sourcing events to generate savings and pressure test operating models

• Implemented program to rationalize the supply chain

• Designed, incubated, and led implementation to launch Asia sourcing team