synonymVMI(Supplier managed inventory) generally refers to VMI (cooperative strategy mode)
The so-called VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) is based on the fact that both the user and the supplierLowest costFor the purpose, the supplier manages the inventory under a common agreement and continuously monitorsAgreement executionThe situation and the content of the amendment agreement, so thatInventory managementA cooperative strategy for continuous improvement.[1]This inventory management strategy breaks the traditional independent inventorymanagement model 。It reflects the integration of supply chainManagement thoughtAdapting to the requirements of market changes is a newRepresentativenessThe idea of inventory management.VMI plays an important role in the distribution chain, so more and more people attach importance to it.
aboutSupplier managementVendor Managed Inventory: VMI. Since there are minimum and maximum inventory points, on-time delivery can be measured by relative inventory levels.For example, the inventory is zero and the risk is high;The inventory is lower than the lowest point, and the risk is quite high;The inventory is higher than the highest point, and the risk of out of stock is small but overdueInventory riskrise.In this way, the supplier's delivery performance can be measured by counting the above situations.According to the future material demand and the supplier's supply plan, the future trend of the inventory point can also be predicted to determine the specific timeInventory index。
VMI management mode is fromQR（quick response, Quick Response) and ECR（Effective customer response, Efficient Customer Response). Its core idea is that suppliers can make replenishment based on the actual consumption model, consumption trend and replenishment strategy by sharing the current inventory and actual consumption data of the user enterprise.As a result, both parties have changed the traditional independencePrediction mode, endMaximum possibleTo decrease due to independent predictionUncertaintyResultingcommodity circulation, Logistics andinformation flowWaste, reducing the supply chain'stotal cost。
Retailers help suppliers make plans more effectively. Suppliers obtain point of sale data from retailers and use this data to coordinate their production, inventory activities and retailers' actual sales activities.
Supplier has managed inventory
The supplier fully manages and owns the inventory until the retailer sells it, but the retailer has the obligation to take care of the inventory and is responsible for the damage or damage to the inventory.There are many advantages to implementing VMI.First of all, suppliers have inventory. For retailers, redundant ordering departments can be saved, human tasks can be automated, unnecessary control steps can be removed from the processInventory costLower,service level Higher.Secondly, suppliers have inventory, so they will consider more about inventory, and try to manage it more effectively. By coordinating multiple retail production and distribution, they will further reducetotal cost。
Accurate demand forecasting
The supplier can forecast the demand according to the data at the sales time point, and can more accurately determine the order quantity,Reduce forecastOfUncertainty, thereby reducingSafety stock, less storage and supply costs, and faster supplier responseuser demand , improve the service level, and reduce the inventory level of users.
Points for attention
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The following points should be paid attention to when implementing VMI:
Trust issues
This cooperation needs some trust, otherwise it will fail.Retailers should trust suppliers and not interfere with suppliers' monitoring of delivery. Suppliers should also do more work to make retailers believe that they can manage their own inventory as well as retailers' inventory.Only through mutual trust and exchanges and cooperation can existing problems be solved.
Technical issues
Only advanced information technology can guaranteeData transferOftimeliness andaccuracy, and these technologies are often expensive, using VMI willsales officeInformation and distribution information are transmitted to suppliers and retailers respectively, and barcode technology andscanning technique To ensure the accuracy of data, and inventory and product control and planning systems must be online and accurate.
Inventory ownership
Before deciding who will replenish the inventory, when the retailer receives the goods, the ownership is transferred to the consignment relationship, and the supplier owns the inventory until the goods are sold.At the same time, due toSupplier managementAs the responsibility increases and the cost increases, both parties should negotiate the terms to reduce the overall inventory of the sharing system between retailers and suppliers.
Fund payment problem
In the past, retailers usually paid for goods one to three months after receiving the goods. They may have to pay for goods after the goods are sold. The payment period has been shortened. Retailers should adapt to this change.
Operating conditions
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Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) issupply chain managementThe product required by this concept.It requires suppliers toInventory strategy, ordering strategy and distribution strategy.Therefore, the current problem to be solved is how to operate VMI in different environments.Before implementing VMI, enterprises should analyze and compare their own environment and conditions.The main factors to be considered are as follows:
Position in the supply chain
That is, whether it is a "core enterprise" or a crucial enterprise in the supply chain.It requires that the implementing enterprises must have high-level management talents and specializeduser management Functional department, which is used to deal with ordering business between suppliers and users, and supplier to userinventory control Other businesses;It is necessary to have strong strength to promote VMI, so that enterprises in the supply chain can implement replenishment, distribution, information sharing and other target framework agreements according to its requirements.
Position in the supply chain
VMI is generally suitable for retail and manufacturing industries. The most typical example isWal-MartandDell Group。They have a common feature that their positions in the supply chain are very closeEnd consumer, that is, at the end of the supply chain.One of the main reasons is that VMI can eliminate“bullwhip effect ”Impact.(The amplification of demand variation in the marketing process is popularly known as the "bullwhip effect", which refers to theinformation flowWhen transferring information from the end customer to the original supplier, the information is distorted and gradually amplified due to the inability to effectively share information, resulting in more and more fluctuations in demand information.)
cooperative partner
VMI inImplementation processRetailers (manufacturers in the manufacturing industry) are required to provide sales data, while suppliers must deliver goods to the place designated by customers on time and accurately, which is particularly demanding for manufacturers.
Operation mode
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Due to the different positions and forms of core enterprises in the supply chain, they are generally divided into two categories according to the different positions of core enterprises. A. The downstream of the supply chain is the core enterprise;B. The upstream of the supply chain is the core enterprise.
Due to the different positions of core enterprises in the VMI system, the cooperation modes between core enterprises and their partners are different. For example, when core enterprises are upstream, they generally chooseSelf-support Logistics In the downstream, you can choose self run logistics or outsourcing logistics.This will lead to changes in the VMI operating structure.The following will propose correspondingOperation mode。
As mentioned earlier, in the VMI system, the core enterprise can be both upstream and downstream of the supply chain. When it is downstream, it can be either the middle link or the end of the supply chain.Obviously, VMI'soperation pattern They are different. There are three main situations: supplier manufacturer (core), supplier retailer (core), and core enterprises (usually manufacturers)-distributor(or retailer).
Supplier manufacturer VMI operation mode
In this operation mode, in addition to being a core enterprise, there are generally the following characteristics.
The production scale is relatively large, and the manufacturer's production is generally stable, that is, every dayChange in demandNot very big;The supplier is required to supply relatively small quantities of spare parts every time, usually for one day, or even several hours;The frequency of supply is high, sometimes even two to three times a day;In order to maintain continuous production, stock outs are generally not allowed, that isservice level It is required to reach more than 99%.
Because the manufacturers in this mode must have dozens or even hundreds of suppliers to supply spare parts or raw materials.It is obviously uneconomical for every supplier to build a warehouse near the manufacturer.Therefore, one can be set up near the manufacturerVMI HUB, adding VMI HUB has the following effects:
Buffering effect。Since one customer has to correspond to N suppliers, if the customer has a high demand for supply frequency, then there may be multiple suppliers delivering goods at the same time. Without prior arrangements, there will be chaotic unloading scenes, which will seriously affect the production order and bring inconvenience to the normal work of the enterprise.With VMI HUB, the above phenomenon can be avoided by professional distribution, playing a buffer role.
Increased in-depth services。In the absence of VMI HUB, the suppliers are independent of each other, and the delivered goods are separated from each other. When VMI HUB is available, it will provide before shipmentpicking VMI HUB will, according to the requirements of the manufacturerProportional configurationOK, and then send it to the manufacturer, so that the manufacturer'sproduction efficiency。
When there is a sudden change in demand, such as the sudden increase in sales of manufacturers, the inventory in VMI HUB cannot meet the needs of manufacturers in time, then the implementation structure of VMI has made a corresponding change.VMI HUB directly sends the replenishment plan to the supplier's information system. At this time, the supplier directly replenishes the goods to the manufacturer, thus saving time and cost.We call the supplier's behavior of directly replenishing the goods to the manufacturer without VMI HUB asCross dockingCross Locking.
Supplier retailer VMI operation mode
When retailers pass sales and other related information throughEDIAfter being transmitted to the supplier (usually the data in a replenishment cycle, such as 3 days, or even 1 day), the supplier forecasts the demand based on the received information, and thenInformation inputmaterial requirement planningSystem (MRP), and according to the existing inventory in the enterprise and theInventory, production replenishment order, arrange production plan, and carry out production.Finished products are stored, sorted, packaged and delivered to retailers.
The difference between supplier retailer VMI operation mode and supplier manufacturer operation mode is as follows:
When facing large retailers“Receiving goods”Then, accounts payable is generated.Generally, large retailers (such as Wal Market) require that payment be made to the supplier only after the goods of the supplier are actually sold. Otherwise, no payment will be made“Accounts payable”。
This mode generally does not require the construction of VMI HUB.Because for retailers, the products supplied by two suppliers are independent of each other, and they are not required at the same time in the same period of time, unlike manufacturers who need parts or raw materials to generate a product, they must obtain them at the same time.
In the supplier producer model, its core competitiveness is mainly reflected in itsManufacturingOn, rather than logistics distribution.Obviously, it is uneconomical for suppliers or manufacturers to manage VMI HUB.
In the supplier retailer model, because the retailer has a wide range of retail productsgeographical positionReplenishment from suppliers to retailers is far awayLead timeLong, not conducive to accuratedemand forecastAnd deal with emergencies.The compromise solution to this problem is that the supplier rents or builds a warehouse near the retailer, and the warehouse is responsible for supplying directly to the retailer.
For the above reasons, it is most appropriate for a highly specialized enterprise to manage the VMI HUB or warehouse, and the ideal object is“Third party logistics enterprises”。moreoversupply chain managementIt is emphasized that each enterprise in the supply chain should give full play to its core competitiveness, which is just suitable for the third-party logistics enterprises to meet the requirements of this inventory operation mode and give full play to its characteristics and advantages.When the third-party logistics enterprises join, the VMI operation mode changes accordingly.
Core enterprise - distributor model
The core enterprise plays the role of supplier in VMI, and its operation mode is roughly the same as the first twoSales InformationAnd make predictions, and thendistributorInventory ofunified management And delivery.Since there is only one supplier in this mode, there is no problem of establishing a warehouse near the distributor.According to the actual situation with each distributor, the core enterprise can uniformly arrange the distribution of each distributor, and ensure that each batch isEconomic batchThe route of each delivery can be adjusted to the bestDistribution Route。
