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Pierre Honnorat, chief manager of the United Nations Response Depot (UNHRD), was faced with a daunting challenge. He and his team had to develop a strategy that would improve the efficacy and reduce the cost of offering logistics services. UNHRD’s storage infrastructure enabled its partners to store relief supplies and equipment in strategic locations to ensure a rapid response during crises. In the humanitarian sector, this storage strategy – stockpiling in anticipation of sudden need – is known as pre-positioning. Since UNHRD offered some logistics services such as free storage, it relied on funding to cover some of its operational costs. But over the past decade, humanitarian needs had skyrocketed, while available resources had not. Honnorat and his team had decided to address this problem by analyzing two options for optimizing UNHRD’s supply chain: 1) cut costs by changing the service offer while retaining the existing network, and 2) add a regional storage level to the existing network in Kampala to serve East Africa.

This two-part case looks at flowcasting at Princess Auto, going beyond a simple presentation. Case A describes the challenges of implementing this system and its impact on the accountabilities of employees who are responsible for store replenishment, while Case B describes situations that are specific to Princess Auto, such as stocking surplus items (a unique strategy to attract customers to its stores) and the challenges of e-commerce.

Gomak Inc. is a small business in the distribution industry. The company, owned by Mr Gauthier, imports 28 products in the food industry that it distributes throughout North America. In order to improve its current cash utilization, it is considering changing its inventory policy. Its most important product is a Guérande salt ordered directly from the producer three times a year. Mr Gauthier is considering changing the ordering pattern to improve both the company’s performance and cash flow.