Improving the Multi-Brand Channel Distribution of a Fashion Retailer

One has seen exponential growth in the number of clients and in the quantities ordered in the fashion retailing multi-brand channel. It has, therefore, become essential to improve the channel's distribution process in order to meet the customers' orders in the shortest time, and in a cost-effective manner, thus complying with the delivery terms agreed upon with the market. To this end, one studied aspects such as the mapping of the supply flow process, the occupation of space and the spaghetti-dash diagram of four current distribution process activities. Besides these, one also analyzed the calculation of productivity, cycle times, takt time, as well as the service level designed, with the purpose of preparing a system to evaluate company performance. In addition to these studies, one resorted to the ABC and SWOT customers' analyses in order to develop the improvement proposal, which was characterized by: (a) changes in the layout, (b) improvements in the supply flow, (c) implementation of gravity carriers, as well as more ergonomic forms of transport, and (d) the use of computer applications developed in Visual Basic language for the distribution process. Based on this proposal, one succeeded in increasing the amount sorted out by the distributor in an eight-hour shift to 294 articles (11,23%). Cycle time was reduced from 0,015 minutes/article to 0,013 minutes/article (13,33%), which allows for the segregation of articles in time for the next collections. In addition, the occupied space was reduced to 47 m2 on average per collection (1,39%), which is translated into a reduction of 1 498 468 meters (23,34%) in the average distance covered per collection. Furthermore, the number of workers was reduced, on average, by five employees (12,82%) per collection. The storage capacity of the fmished product was also increased by 535 boxes (11,30%). The total investment needed to achieve these changes is established as being 23 754,42; yet, the payback time involved will only be six months, resulting in a cumulative profit of 84 504,23 by the end of the fall/winter 2020 collection. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.