Supply Chain Expertise Helps FTTH Operator Adapt to Rapid Growth

Supply chain management and optimization is an essential part of the success of any business. In times of growth or decline, if you haven’t considered your entire supply chain and logistics, you could experience issues, frustration and disruptions.

That’s why it’s important to closely monitor and improve your supply chain, especially when you experience rapid business growth.

How an FTTH Operator Optimized Its Supply Chain

As an example, when one of the largest FTTH operators in Mexico started experiencing problems with keeping up with growth, the organization needed support.

The operator turned to a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse management team to handle elements of their inventory management, warehousing and fulfillment. While that initially seemed to be the answer, they found that they were still experiencing supply chain challenges beyond efficiency and cost management issues. Recognizing the opportunity for improvement was the first step in solving the problem.

Wesco had an existing relationship with the operator, and when the operator expressed their frustrations with the performance of their existing 3PL provider, our team shared strategies for building a successful supply chain. One that is lean, cost-efficient and dependable, as well as maximizes performance from suppliers, logistics providers and the in-house team.

We outlined a plan to implement business improvements that would deliver both near and long-term results to the operator. The goal was to find opportunities to improve efficiencies, performance and profitability. This included:

• Mapping out the current strategy to gain an overview of the full process
• Analyzing the market
• Determining inefficiencies in the current process
• Identifying opportunities to implement changes or adaptions
• Planning ahead with a resilient, future-proof recommendation

From suppliers and subcontractors to all team members, successful supply chain management requires commitment, input and buy-in from all parties. On the flip side, an ineffective supply chain can be a huge drain on resources, so it’s important to be as lean and cost-effective as possible.

This is where the global experience, local expertise and innovative solutions that Wesco could offer proved to be invaluable, including:

• Inventory management
• Centralized purchasing
• ERP integrations
• Electronic order processing
• Establishing warehousing infrastructure
• Logistics coordination
• Balanced inventory across the distribution footprint

By using a variety of process-driven approaches, Wesco delivered measurable business value, including annual savings in maintaining stock inventory, end-to-end visibility, a considerable increase in shipping efficiency, and a reduction in overall supply chain costs.