Challenge:
During the pandemic, a family-owned furniture retailer faced a $75 million backlog and severe supply chain disruption caused by the bullwhip effect. Escalating container costs—from $4,000 to $32,000—compounded the crisis, placing significant pressure on inventory management, operational capacity, and overall cost control. To survive and position for future growth, the company needed to act fast to address the inefficiencies and restore supply chain stability.
Approach:
Led by the Vice President of Supply Chain, the company launched a comprehensive transformation effort:
– Trained 30 leaders, primarily from the supply chain team, to build internal capability.
– Developed eight structured plans, each focused on a specific operational area.
– Adopted PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Adjust) work rhythms to establish consistency and continuous improvement across all supply chain processes.
These foundational actions enabled a shared understanding of challenges and a roadmap to drive measurable change.
Solution:
The company implemented a suite of data-driven strategies to strengthen performance management.
01.
Deployed advanced data analytics tools to enhance visibility and real-time decision-making.
02.
Built base and management models to expand their work measurement capabilities.
03.
Integrated analytics with performance dashboards, enabling improved tracking and exception management.
04.
Aligned labor hours and staffing with revenue, optimizing capacity planning for ongoing growth.
These solutions turned chaos into control by creating a clear, measurable system for managing supply chain operations.
Results: The transformation led to rapid and substantial improvements:
Reduced backlog below historic levels within 14 months.
Lowered distribution center costs by 5% in 2022, with a projected 10% reduction in 2023.
Achieved a balanced labor-to-revenue ratio, creating capacity for scalable growth.
Completed 6 of 8 operational plans initiated in October 2021.
Cut inventory by $11 million in just 8 months.
Enhanced performance visibility and empowered exception management through
analytics.
Key Takeaway
This case study illustrates how strategic training, structured planning, and data- driven execution enabled a furniture retailer to overcome pandemic-era disruption. By addressing supply chain inefficiencies with precision and agility, the company not only
recovered—it set a new standard for resilience, operational excellence, and growth readiness in a volatile market.