Industry News

Richard Owens, CEO of DHL Asia Pacific had a featured article on Business Times commenting on the changing economy and the need for better integration throughout the supply chain.   The recession has forced many businesses to look for ways to lower costs and improve the customer delivery experience.

Supply chain management companies like Komar Distribution Services (KDS) have been called to executive round table discussions to map out how new technology and business processes can reduce the cost of delivered goods.  KDS has a 100 year history of working in partnership with manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to innovate the supply chain.

Richard Owens Excerpt

Richard Owens, tackles a piece of the challenges business supply chain partners are facing in his guest blog post.  Here is an excerpt from the Business Time article.

A customer walks into an electronics store to buy a new mobile phone. He has a brand in mind but it is not in stock. What does he do? Does he decide to go home and return when the brand he was looking for is available again? Unlikely. He will probably buy another model from a brand that offers similar features at the same price point.

In a world where the customer is increasingly informed and time-poor, convenience and efficiency can often drive a purchasing decision over brand loyalty. This means that companies must not only focus on marketing a product to create the demand, but equally importantly, businesses must ensure that the supply chain can deliver the product to store shelves around the world in an efficient and precise manner. Without the right supply chain, companies risk losing customers and ultimately market share.

The above example could just as easily have been a notebook PC, LCD TV or a non-consumer electronics product. Regardless of the market, businesses have to get their products to market and in front of customers on time, every time. And, to stay financially healthy, they have to do this without amassing large inventory levels. It’s a fine balance. It’s also one of the reasons that in recent times, I have witnessed the art of supply chain management moving from the warehouse into the boardroom.

So, has the current economic downturn elevated the importance of supply chain management in strategic business decision making? It would be an exaggeration to say that this recession is solely responsible for the increasing priority that businesses are giving to the supply chain. But what I hear from customers is that it has undoubtedly spurred on what has been a gradual evolution in that direction. Between the first half of 2008 and the same period of 2009, DHL Global Customer Solutions has seen a 133 per cent increase in consultancy for supply chain optimization projects.

Before the slump, our customers, especially those in the technology sector, had their supply chains designed around a high-demand scenario. They built up stock to meet insatiable customer demand. When the market slowed down suddenly without much warning, many companies were caught off guard and were left with over stocked shelves. Businesses cannot afford high inventory levels, least of all technology companies, who deal in products with extremely short lifecycles. The downturn has forced many businesses to immediately examine how they manage their supply chains and order-to-cash cycles.

A positive outcome we can see, partly due to the recession, has been an increase in true consultation and partnership between logistics providers and their customers. While this is part of the natural evolution of the industry, the recession has brought the need for closer engagement to the fore. Previously, the purchasing of supply chain services, including warehousing, freight and express services, was primarily driven by procurement groups and was very much focused on achieving the lowest transportation charges.   (Read full article)

Supply Chain Management

If you are a growing business looking to reduce the costs associated with your supply chain processes, contact the executive team at KDS.  If you are looking for a competent supply chain logistics partner with 100 years on experience with manufacturing, overseas transportation, warehousing and distribution of  retail goods across America, give us a call.

Komar Distribution Services
16 E. 34th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10016
(918) 429-7779

Komar Distribution Services, a division of New York–based Charles Komar and Sons, is on a mission to grow its business on the West Coast.

What began two years ago as a 350,000-square-foot distribution center in San Bernardino, Calif., for Charles Komar and Sons’ own brands—which include sleepwear and intimates labels—has now grown into Komar Distribution Services, a back-office and distribution-services provider.

The company, which has operated a distribution center out of McAlester, Okla., for approximately 80 years, made the move west to satisfy its own distribution needs and quickly found brands eager to use its facilities and resources.

Ron Weissbrod, Komar’s vice president of business development, said Komar currently has approximately 10 customers being serviced out of the San Bernardino location. Those customers represent 15 percent to 20 percent of Komar’s business out of the West Coast location, and Weissbrod expects that number to more than double in the next several years.

He declined to name Komar’s current clients. But Weissbrod said customers include domestic and international swimwear, sleepwear, intimates, sportswear, dress, and children’s and juniors brands that retail in major and big-box retailers through to specialty stores and independent boutiques. Client testimonials on Komar’s Web site count Liz Claiborne Sleepwear among its satisfied customers.

In Down Economy – Interest is Up

As the economy forces companies to cut spending and reduce overhead, interest in Komar’s services has never been higher, Weissbrod said. “A good example is that of a swimwear company that only uses its warehouse 50 percent of the year, when it is actually shipping goods. The rest of the year the warehouse sits empty, but it is being paid for,” he said. “With this economy, companies are looking for ways to increase their efficiency.”

With its 40-plus employees and state-of-the-art facility, Komar’s San Bernardino location offers apparel imports, warehousing, distribution, pick and pack, supply-chain management, customer service, accounting and back-office systems for bigger operations as well as boutique brands. “Everyone needs to lower their overhead,” Weissbrod said.

He declined to discuss Komar’s fee structure, but Weissbrod said most companies, whether they have their own distribution and back-office operations or outsource them, would realize savings. One way Komar could fatten a company’s bottom line is by reducing the kinds of costly mistakes that are often made when shipping to new accounts as well as big box or major retailers. “We work with so many retailers—and have for nearly 100 years—that we know their specific requirements,” he said. Meeting shipping requirements and “virtually eliminating chargebacks” make for significant client savings.

Technology—which allows Komar to track goods from overseas factories onto boats, into and out of the warehouse, and onto the sales floor—is another money-saving bonus. “If a company knows where every single piece of product is at any given time—from the moment the order is placed to when it is cut and sewn down to whether it has been invoiced and when it is paid—they have so much more to work with and can be more agile,” Weissbrod said.

Komar Technical Prowess

With the influx of interest and business, Komar is keen on staying at the forefront of technology—from developing proprietary software that enables it to keep clients informed in real time as to the status of their goods to implementing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) mapping and compliance with “nearly every major retailer.” The facility is also Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)–enabled, something that is becoming a key factor for companies selling goods to the likes of Wal-Mart and other big-box stores.

“We are very technology-focused,” said Melinda Cook, Komar’s director of customer service. “Our array of services and clients requires us to be at the forefront of what is going on. It’s how we save our clients money and run our own business more efficiently.”

To communicate with clients, Komar has developed a software that is installed directly onto clients’ computers. The dashboard, as it is called, gives clients constant access to reports such as sales reporting and history, gross margin analysis, style master management, reserve and bulk order management, inventory forecasting, production-order status, and real-time inventory visibility and control, a release from the company states. “The software makes everything visible and transparent. And it eliminates the hundreds of e-mails from different people that would otherwise be necessary from the moment a purchase order is written until it is delivered,” Cook said.

Currently, each client’s record is updated multiple times a day so they can track the progress of their goods in real time.

“The minute a shipment passes through our dock doors, it is in our system,” Weissbrod said. “That means a client can turn stock as soon as it comes in— and that is something that is a big advantage in the current market,” he said.