Jonathan Pedroza, MA CSSBB

**Ever feel like your warehouse is a game of Tetris with no way to win?** 😅 Let’s talk about that inventory problem… Did you know that a good S&OP process can chop 7% off your inventory days and slash 9% of obsolete stock? Less waste, fewer slow movers, and more room (literally) for growth! Plus, you’re saving cash by not holding onto stuff that nobody wants. It's time to stop hoarding and start optimizing. Got any fun horror stories of excess inventory? Share them in the comments—let’s laugh (and learn) together! 👇 Turn those dusty shelves into profits. #GoGetIt

1

Congrats to Andrew Kirk, Hossein Rashidinia, CPA & the whole Your Logistics Corp team on another expansion! From that small old warehouse on Manana Dr, to 5 class A buildings around the country (Vegas, 3 in Dallas, & Hagerstown, MD)! I cant say enough good things about what Andrew Kirk & Hossein Rashidinia, CPA are building. Growe 3PL Network, Growe 3PL Real Estate #Growe

68

8 Comments

Lot of info 2024 here. Check out the dropdowns at the bottom of each chart. Online made some gains in 2024 after a flat 3 yrs. #grocery #cpg #shopper https://lnkd.in/gD5Baky5

5

There’s been lots of talk around the subject of #valuecreation, especially as it relates to the private equity world. Whether it’s here on #LinkedIn, at the most recent DealMAX, or even discussions at various #ACG events I attend in the DFW (#ACGDFW) area, there are a variety of opinions. Some of these opinions can be very broad (such as ESG), or specific to a singular investment. To get a sense of what sort of value-creation efforts might be taking place, I posed the following question to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot; “Create a table of the top ten value-creation initiatives undertaken within private equity manufacturing portfolio companies.” (Result Table Attached) It should be noted that I did not ask each of the AI engines to try and categorize or create some internal ranking mechanism. Among the three engines, the Copilot results were more wordy, so I removed everything after the main concept. As expected, there were some common themes such as ‘Supply Chain Optimization’ and ‘Cost Reduction’, even though some of the phrasings may have differed. Would anyone agree or disagree with the AI lists?

2

2025 is already shaping up to be another dynamic year for retail supply chains. Connect with top retail execs at #LINK2025 and hear insights to help you & your team prepare for what's coming next. https://lnkd.in/gdg8Za5j

9

CPG Marketing Leaders: You know this story well... 📖 Once upon a time, before March 2020, E-commerce was a treated as a nice to have for many brands, accounting for a smaller share of revenue than it should have. Then, during/post-pandemic, it became a lifeline….you were dead without DTC. Now, most brand marketing teams have solid e-commerce strategies. But the story isn't over! So…how has the latest chapter gone❓ While I don’t have the expertise to share the Cliff Notes (Spark Notes for the youngsters), I did learn a LOT from a recent report by Coresight Research. It reveals that for omnichannel brands, optimizing visual content (because nobody reads, right 👀 ?!) is a big pain point for both brands and retailers. A few key findings: ☑𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 is critical to grab shoppers’ attention ☑Over half of surveyed brands/ retailers 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝟳+𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀; given variations in preferences and engagement, 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡 ☑Imagery optimization testing is not as easy as it might seem: 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 & 𝟯𝗿𝗱-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲-𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, so managing through changes can be complex. ☑The 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀/𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀, so collaboration opportunities abound: 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀/𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀: 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗥𝗲𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 What are some e-commerce growing pains you've experienced, and how have you solved them? #insights #growthstrategy #omnichannelmarketing

10

14 Comments

Believe it or not, RFID tags for tracking shipments started in the early 90’s by the Department of Defense. But recently, restaurants and retail stores have started using this technology since all their operations and manufacturing are contracted out. A few months ago Chipotle announced using these tags. Now Nordstrom uses these tags and it has brought immediate benefits as the company announced that sales increased 3.4% in Q2 thanks to e-commerce and supply chain efficiencies. The RFID technology gives visibility to show popular items being sold which ultimately helps planning teams improve stock quantities and avoid stockouts at the store level. Since many purchases are made online, the RFID rollout has helped determine stocking at the warehouse level. Here supply chain teams can determine what stores/DCs to stock inventory based on previous purchase volume and lead times to the customer. This ensures optimum service. In a couple of months when holiday purchases ramp up, we’ll see what additional intel Nordstrom utilizes to maintain its service to customers.  

17

2 Comments

As a Texas business owner, you know that managing a business is full of challenges. Partnering with a PEO (professional employer organization) can put your business on the fast track to success. Through co-employment, you retain control of your business decisions while the PEO handles HR tasks like payroll, benefits, and compliance. Learn more about how a PEO helps businesses grow 7-9% faster: https://lnkd.in/gVdwVEdw. #SmallBusiness #Growth #PEO #HumanResources #HRThatMakesADifference

2

As a Texas business owner, you know that managing a business is full of challenges. Partnering with a PEO (professional employer organization) can put your business on the fast track to success. Through co-employment, you retain control of your business decisions while the PEO handles HR tasks like payroll, benefits, and compliance. Learn more about how a PEO helps businesses grow 7-9% faster: https://lnkd.in/gpNddNDk. #SmallBusiness #Growth #PEO #HumanResources #HRThatMakesADifference

1

The US is barreling toward another significant #supplychain disruption. One week from today we could see roughly half of all inbound/outbound ocean freight grind to a halt indefinitely—#retailers are executing contingency plans to keep shelves stocked, but with ILA-USMX negotiations stalled for months it's hard to say how long a possible strike could last. The Biden-Harris administration must help facilitate a resolution before this becomes another self-inflicted hit to the US economy.

8

Many CPG brands are still relying on 20 different brokers AND a separate media agency—all operating in isolation. Sales data, media data, and digital shelf data are scattered across multiple systems that don’t talk to each other. This disconnect creates a major headache for brands trying to go to market. Or worse, there is no headache because connection is not being pursued. Instead of working from one integrated strategy, they’re managing fragmented pieces that don’t add up. Leaders are left navigating a maze of silos, with important insights locked away in separate systems. Ultimately, this leads to complexity, inefficiency, and missed opportunities. Our aim at Harvest Group is to solve for this disconnection. We bring together sales, media, and digital strategies under one roof to ensure everything is connected and working toward the same goals.

90

9 Comments

Great article by Don Davis. The acquisition of SRS Distribution by Home Depot is a strategic move that highlights the evolving landscape of the distribution market. As the article rightly points out, Home Depot is transitioning from a retailer to a formidable distributor, positioning itself to better serve larger business buyers who require bulk deliveries directly to their job sites. It's worth noting Home Depot's digital marketplace is one component of its strategy and I suspect it will ingest highly fragmented SRS wholesale operations and adjust its services to the needs of large B2B and complex project buyers. That being said, unlike many distributors still grappling with the initial phases of e-commerce, Home Depot has effectively created a digital marketplace where vendors and manufacturers spend ad dollars to garner better placement on their website and reach targeted customers. This marketplace enhances product discoverability for paying brands (just having aisle placement alone doesn't suffice for some categories), but it also provides unparalleled insights into consumer shopping behavior, B2B activities, and market trends. As other big players like Amazon and Walmart aggressively expand into distribution, leveraging their technological prowess and deep pockets, the need for existing distributors and related associations to innovate becomes increasingly urgent. Act now or ...

2

I am guilty...of drinking too much coffee. I was looking at our Cataltyics Ad and Promotion Tracking data and realized I am not alone in my coffee habit! Coffee Ads are up 38% from 2022. If you are looking for a better way to track and analyze your retailer ad and promotions data, grab 10 minutes with me to get a free Ad report: https://bit.ly/catalytics #CPG #Sales #categorymanagement #marketinsights #consumergoods

15

How can Engine help you in your category? Let us show you how Engine continues to be cutting edge making you more efficient during times of change. Use the link provided to reach out to us!

6

1 Comment

For some reason the link from the CNN article doesn't want to post, however, here's the Headline "Supply chains are under plenty of stress, but they’re not breaking. Here’s why" And the article itself.... https://lnkd.in/gEhbQAxK It's amusing to read "Shippers and Economists" suggest businesses are much more resilient than they were pre pandemic, pointing to "lessons learned" during the restrictions 2000-2022. They also point to significant reshoring and nearshoring initiatives, together with major steps taken over the last 4 years to diversify their supply networks. Not a word on integration though, nor transformational change required to deliver this. THis would point to a line of thought of doing what we did up to 2019, a few tweaks (including carrying more inventory), some battle scars and we're "good to go". NO effort expended on transformational change. If only things were this simple. Sure, if one set of ports, in their simple analysis, are blocked, just chug the steamer around to the other side of a continent, no sweat. What they haven't understood is how devastating the CN/CPKC strike could have been to North America. One further ratchet up the scale is the looming East Coast union unrest, plus the latent rail strike, focusing minds of all supply chain leaders on 30th September - leveraging perfect timing for disrupting peak trading!! And what if the West Coast ports remain capacity constrained, or chassis or containers (or cranes) limit processing capacity. There are no easy fixes. Crops could go rotten and essential goods may find themselves held at sea or in the melee at open ports. Sure, we survived the ravages of the pandemic where we saw unprecedented levels of global asynchronous disruption which accumulated and accelerated, a war breaking out in Europe and challenges with both Panama Canal and the Suez Canal/Red Sea....alas, the general thought that, somehow, businesses have become resilient, is simply for the birds. The slightest turn of the thumbscrews sends panic waves through leadership teams who remain steadfastly opposed to concepts such as optionality, agility, flexibility, digitalisation, resilience, risk management and long term supply chain and business visioning. This is a big checklist for most businesses grappling with the flow of goods through traditionally designed supply chains, riding horses with their stetson hats, hoping that government will intervene and show the irksome unions their grievances can be set aside. Let's stop kidding ourselves, many businesses are deeply affected by the slightest disruption to their supply chain operations, but my questions remains, despite the last 4-5 years, why are we still seeing resistance to digitialisation and transformational change?

15

16 Comments

Good article for grocery retailers (and brands) on the importance of key perimeter categories in terms of differentiating vs. competition and maintaining shopper loyalty (during a time when trip missions are evolving and shoppers are gravitating to discount grocers).

8

This Big Lots news on the tail of The Home Depot reporting a struggle of a Q2 is important. The home category saw so much growth during peak covid, and this just shows that keeping growth consistent through such drastic changes in consumer spending patterns is *tough.* Success and struggle stories are very much dependent on the category/ies a retailer sells. #retailstrategy

150

62 Comments