| Q1. |
What are the differences between Weave’s outsourcing replenishment program and what a sourcing company does? |
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| Answer: |
Weave provides supply and demand planning optimization solutions. We do not offer sourcing services, product development or logistic services. Our team works hand-in-hand with our client’s team to set up appropriate inventory levels, safety stocks, lead time and replenishment quantities to optimize the flow of products across the supply chain. Sourcing companies are extremely good at supporting brands and retailers with product development, sourcing of fabric and factory identification but have very limited bandwidth when it comes to day-to-day operational planning. Some of our clients use large sourcing companies in tandem with Weave. These very large sourcing agencies are actually delighted and often relieved to have planning experts alongside them to set up and manage the intricate parts of replenishment planning. |
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| Q2. |
How does the replenishment outsourcing program work?
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| Answer: |
It is an iterative 3-step process:
Step 1: Weave acts as a catalyst of information across multiple parties. Our planning team gathers demand information e.g. POS information, marketing plans, e-commerce traffic data and supply information e.g. production capacity plans, finished good WIP, fabric inventory levels to create granular E2E replenishment plans.
Step 2: Weave organizes Sales & Operation Planning (S&OP) meetings with our client’s team. We bring the necessary reports and supply chain dashboards to the key stakeholders, identify opportunities for inventory and lead time optimization and facilitate cross-functional alignment and decision making during our weekly operations planning meeting.
Step 3: Weave then creates the purchase order plan and liaises with the factories to book production capacity and raw materials. Weave keeps a close monitoring of the critical path and plays an essential role in the timely execution of the set plan.
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| Q3. | What are the key enablers to delivering a successful consulting project? | |
| Answer: |
Projects vary in shapes and forms but they are typically made of 3 to 4 distinct phases: diagnostic, solution design, pilot and implementation. Some customers start with an evaluation of their current supply chain set up. They wish to know what the major pain points are and where to focus their efforts. They often would like to quantify the value at stake of future initiatives and work out the project’s ROI for internal purposes -we call that a “Diagnostic”. Subsequently, we help our clients to design new processes, enhance their current tools and bring new knowledge to their teams. We create a roadmap that very often includes addressing multiple functional areas of their business. This type of transformational project plan enables our clients to define a 18-36 months vision for their department - we call that “solution design”. Finally, we drive projects all the way to their implementation phase. Our team manages the complexity of putting in place new processes with a progressive change management approach.This is often done with a pilot first, followed by a roll out. |
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| Q4. | Can Weave work with other external contractors and consulting firms? | |
| Answer: |
Weave can operate under multiple project frameworks. Weave can operate as a specialist team focusing on one dimension of a large program. Equally, Weave can run Project Management Office (PMO) where we manage multiple workstreams on behalf of our clients. Our aim is to bring value to our clients by delivering sustainable change within their organization and supply chain team. We will always first define the best operating model to help you achieve your goals! |