Supply Chain and Logistics Network Strategy Consulting Services

Supply chain and logistics network strategy studies help companies to understand the economics of making critical changes to their existing network of sourcing partners, production plants, distribution centers and stocking strategies. With the increase in globalization, these studies play an increasingly important role in determining the optimal distribution network to move goods to market. In addition, new software technologies have emerged that enable a scientific approach to the evaluation and optimization of the trade-offs between customer service levels, logistics operating expenses, inventory assets, and capital investment requirements. Supply chain and logistics network strategy studies address the following types of questions:

• Where are the optimal locations for production plants, co-packer facilities, distribution centers, and third party facilities throughout the world to optimize a company's supply chain?
• What are the economics associated with different supply chain strategies including logistics operating expenses, onetime expenses, inventory assets, and capital expenditure requirements?
• What is the optimal product stocking strategy for the distribution network to maximize customer service levels at the lowest possible logistics operating expense?
• What product sourcing strategies should be considered to improve overall competitive position and time to market?
• Is the lowest cost option necessarily the best option for a supply chain or is it better to spend more to obtain more flexibility or to improve customer service levels?
• What legal issues, tax incentives, and supply chain risks need to be considered for each strategic supply chain option being evaluated?

Supply chain strategy studies also address many of the tactical issues that need to be considered before a firm can make important decisions to optimize its return on assets. Based on customer service level requirements, how many distribution centers should there be and where should they be located to minimize logistics operating expenses?

• What is the optimal supply chain network strategy to minimize inventory assets? Is this network strategy also optimal for the sum of operating expenses and capital investment requirements?
• What capital expenditures into existing logistics network infrastructure are required over the next 10 - 15 years? How does this compare to alternative strategies being evaluated?
• What facility sizing is required to support the optimal logistics network strategy? What capital investments are required to support this infrastructure?
• How can a firm improve customer service levels and order turnaround time to be more competitive? What is the price tag of moving in this direction?
• Are there strategies available to minimize supply chain risk exposure? to ensure business continuity in the event of disaster? to address labor strategy?
• Should a firm consider 3PL outsourcing strategies for specific markets and/or facilities within its network?

Dynamic Aiders has developed a unique approach that is powerful because we use the latest in supply chain optimization software applications designed to optimize logistics networks, combined with our own internally developed econometric modeling tool (EMT). Unlike most consulting firms, we understand that an optimized supply chain strategy requires a detailed exploration of logistics operating expenses, one-time expenses, inventory assets and capital expenditure requirements. Rather than producing high level "black box" numbers, our econometric modeling tool (EMT) simulates your company's financial accounting statements down to the general ledger of detail. The final deliverable is an accurate assessment of the true shareholder value generated, based on an annualized after tax cash flow basis, for each supply chain strategy evaluated. If your company has stringent financial accounting requirements to justify capital expenditure requests, then our methodology is unique to the supply chain consulting industry because it provides companies with the financial confidence to make important decisions that will ultimately improve their competitive position.

Distribution Center/Warehouse Design, Reset and Implementation Consulting Services

Whether your company is designing a new distribution center, or expanding an existing logistics facility, or planning the reset of an existing facility, Dynamic Aiders provides highly experienced resources to ensure a successful project. Our facility design consulting practice takes into consideration the thousands of details that go into the master strategic planning and implementation of a world-class distribution center and a master facility site plan. Our company uses a proven methodology combined with leading technology applications to ensure that your company's distribution / warehouse operation is world-class. Distribution center design consulting services help companies to answer the following types of questions:

• Is there an opportunity to avoid brick and mortar by better utilizing existing assets? Are options available to avoid investing capital into additional infrastructure by maximizing the use of existing facilities?
• Is it better to expand or reset an existing distribution center versus building a new facility? What are the economics associated with each available option?
• What is the optimal size, shape and height for a new distribution facility to meet a company's projected growth plans for the future?
• What strategic master planning options exist for a new distribution center? What is the best type of material handling equipment for the distribution operation - conventional, mechanized or automated? What is the business case associated with each option being considered?
• What master site plans should be evaluated to optimize site traffic flow and to ensure long term facility expansion plans can be successfully executed into the future
• What material handling systems should be considered to increase pick facings, storage capacity, throughput capacity, labor efficiency and operating flexibility?
• Are automated and / or mechanized material handling systems cost justifiable for the logistics operation? If so, which solutions should be considered and what is the business case for each option?

Dynamic Aiders has managed the design of many distribution centers, facility expansions and facility resets for clients from a wide range of industry sectors and countries. As importantly, we maintain a strong network of qualified business partners and facility / equipment suppliers to stay current in our knowledge of the rapidly changing world of best practice design concepts, technologies, and material handling systems.

Material Handling System and Automation System Consulting Services

Dynamic Aiders provides consulting services to help companies with the evaluation, selection, specification, and implementation of material handling systems. Our consulting services cover the full range of conventional, mechanized and automated material handling systems, including new solutions that are still in their early development phase. Many companies have put our experience to work to develop innovative and cost effective material handling solutions.

Material handling system consulting services address the following types of questions:

• Which warehouse layout and material handling equipment options are the most appropriate for a firm's distribution operation today? into the future?
• Is there an opportunity for a company to deploy automated or semi- automated material handling systems that can be cost justified within a firm's required hurdle rate? Can a company start small and grow into such a system?
• Does the existing material handling system deliver the productivity levels that should be expected? Are there improvements that can be made to the existing operation before investing further capital?
• What type of labor productivity levels can a company expect to obtain from a new material handling system?
• How can a company do more with the facilities that are already in place? How can a firm maximize the use of existing assets? Is this the most cost effective strategy for a company to take?
• Are there innovative material handling systems available that will enable: an increase in storage and throughput capacity; an increase in labor efficiency; and / or an increase in operating flexibility?
• Which vendors should be considered for issuance of bids for material handling equipment? Why?
• How can a company issue a formal request for proposal with equipment specifications clearly defined to ensure an apples-to apples comparison of material handling solutions?
• Which vendor should be selected to deliver the best value for the capital investment?

Dynamic Aiders has managed the design and implementation of many conventional, mechanized and automated material handling systems. As importantly, we maintain a strong network of qualified business partners to stay current in our knowledge of the rapidly changing world of best practice design concepts and systems.

Distribution Operations Assessment Consulting Services

Even the best logistics companies seek guidance from experienced external resources to complement their internal skill sets. The reason is simple. An experienced supply chain consultant has been exposed to a wide range of distribution operations across many industries that most people will never receive in their lifetime.

Distribution operations assessment services typically involve an on-site review of your company's distribution operation, process flows, technology systems, warehouse layout, and material handling systems. Dynamic Aiders has developed a structured program that involves interviews with key management and operating personnel, electronic data gathering and analysis, and comparative benchmarking. The deliverable is a set of actionable recommendations to provide management with a complete understanding of where short term, medium term and long term opportunities for improvement exist; and which options are the most cost effective to pursue. This service helps to address the following type of questions:

• Are there changes to the warehouse layout, material handling systems, or slotting strategies that will enable improved efficiency for a distribution operation?
• Are there opportunities to improve the capacity utilization of the distribution facility to avoid an expensive expansion?
• What is the most cost effective strategy to take to minimize outside warehousing storage expenses?
• How can a firm reduce distribution operating expenses and improve accuracy and quality at the same time?Are the technology systems being used in a company's distribution operation appropriate? or are they an impediment to achieving the firm's goals? Which alternate technology strategies should be considered?
• Are the technology systems being used in a company's distribution operation appropriate? or are they an impediment to achieving the firm's goals? Which alternate technology strategies should be considered?
• What productivity target should a company be aiming for? how should a firm measure these targets over time?
• Are there specific policy, process or procedure changes that a company should make to improve its distribution operations?
• Are there personnel issues that need to be addressed to improve warehousing operations?

Dynamic Aiders provides strictly unbiased consulting services, combined with a strong understanding of distribution operations, to assess your warehouse operation, so that your company can make the best decisions to improve the quality and efficiency of your distribution center.

Supply Chain Execution (SCE) System Consulting Services

Dynamic Aiders provides strictly unbiased consulting services to help companies select and deploy supply chain technologies including:

• Distribution Managing System (DMS) Consulting Services
• Order Managing Systems (OMS)
• Purchasing and Forecasting Systems
• Warehouse Managing Systems (WMS)
• Transportation Managing Systems (TMS)
• Yard Managing Systems (YMS)
• Labor Managing Systems (LMS)
• Slotting Optimization Systems

Supply chain technology consulting services address the following types of questions:

• Which supply chain software applications should our company consider to better manage our customer service, order managing, purchasing, forecasting, accounting, warehousing, and transportation managing requirements?
• Which software applications are best suited for our firm's industry, company size and preferred computing platform?
• Should our company seek a filly integrated application or is a best of breed strategy more appropriate for our business?
• What is the economic business case for investing in a new software application and what financial benefits can our company realistically expect to obtain from a new system?
• What are the main differences between the packaged solutions available within the market place and which vendors present the least risk to our firm?
• Is there a process that our company should follow when acquiring software applications to ensure that maximum value is negotiated from the preferred vendor?
• Which resources will be needed to implement a supply chain software application? What should the project roadmap be? What is the total cost of ownership and project timeline?

Dynamic Aiders understands the risks associated with deploying the wrong software application or being under-prepared for the cost and complexity of a system implementation. Our experienced resources can work within your company's team to ensure success in selecting and deploying the best supply chain software solutions for your business.

Lean Distribution Consulting Services

Lean distribution is about improving processes and driving out waste everywhere in your business operations. A well-designed lean distribution program can provide your company with the tools, cultural changes and systematic thinking required to continuously improve your standardized processes, to reduce waste, and to make your distribution operation run significantly better.

Dynamic Aiders has developed a structured program that helps companies to assess their distribution operations with unbiased expertise. The objective of a lean distribution program is to drive out all non value added activities and processes so that your customers receive the highest level of quality and service at the lowest possible operating cost.

Our lean distribution consulting services apply proven lean manufacturing concepts to distribution operations to help answer the following type of questions:

• Are there non-value added activities taking place within the distribution operation that can be eliminated? Do these activities add value for the customer or are they in place for historical reasons? What alternative methods exist to eliminate non-value- added work processes?
• Is there waste in the form of time, materials or other resources that cause productivity rates to be reduced or operating expenses to be inflated? Is there a way to reduce or eliminate this waste?
• How are products organized within the distribution center? Are there ways to optimize the way that products are stored: to reduce the manpower required to store and retrieve goods; and to pick outbound orders? Is there too much motion and searching required to locate products? How can the amount of travel time and search time be reduced to eliminate waste?
• Is there an opportunity to reduce "distribution defects" by reducing pick/pack/ship errors? Are opportunities available to improve shipment accuracy, order fill rates and on time delivery?
• What type of standardized processes and technologies are available to enable improved customer service levels?
• Is there obsolete inventory or excess inventory being held in the distribution center? Are lean processes available to better control inventory and to reduce the amount of slow moving inventory being held?
• Are there opportunities to streamline the transportation shipping process for distribution operations that ship small parcels and LTL? Are package or load consolidation opportunities available? Is the transportation planning function engineered to be optimized?Are the ergonomics of the distribution operation engineered to provide a healthy working environment for the employees? What lean techniques can be applied to improve how people work and the safety of their operating environment? How can the quality of life in the distribution operation be improved for the associates that work there?
• Are the ergonomics of the distribution operation engineered to provide a healthy working environment for the employees? What lean techniques can be applied to improve how people work and the safety of their operating environment? How can the quality of life in the distribution operation be improved for the associates that work there?
• Are there opportunities to reduce warehouse space requirements by analyzing and optimizing slotting, rack elevations, storage media, warehouse layout, product flow, and operating processes?
• What performance measurements should be put into place to measure continuous improvement in the distribution center? What is the best way to measure shipment accuracy and labor productivity? How does your company's performance level compare to other firms and is your distribution operation as good as you think it is?
• How can activity based costing provide an understanding of where money is being spent at a transactional level? How can this information provide value when deploying lean distribution principles?
• Are labor incentive systems available to motivate employees to improve the quality and efficiency of the operation? Can incentives be used to encourage the contribution of ideas that help to reduce waste? How should these programs be structured - individual versus team-based versus gain-share?

A structured lean distribution program is founded on the principles of continuous improvement which incorporates fundamental concepts derived from:

Kaizen

• Elimination of waste activities that add cost but not value.
• Just in time delivery.
• Standardized work.
• Paced moving lines.

Six Sigma

• Implementation of a defects measurement as a strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction.
• DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) process is for existing business processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement.
• DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) process is for developing new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels.

Plan, Do, Study, Act (Deming Cycle)

• Elimination of waste activities that add cost but not value.
• Plan Develop a plan for improving quality of a process and predict the results.
• Do Execute the plan, first on a small scale.
• Study Evaluate feedback to confirm or to adjust the plan.
• Act Make the plan permanent or study the adjustments.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

• Defined as a management philosophy that integrates all business functions (marketing, finance, design, production, logistics, customer service, etc. ) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives.
• Maintains that organizations must strive to continuously improve processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers.

Lean Distribution

• Originated with a focus on lean manufacturing processes but has now expanded to all business processes. .
• Unique to every business - aimed at the elimination of waste in every area.
• Goal is to execute the distribution function with less human effort, less inventory, less time to handle products, and less space requirements.
• Deliverable is to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing top quality service in the most efficient and economical manner possible.

Dynamic Aiders provides strictly unbiased lean distribution consulting services combined with a strong understanding of distribution operations, so that your company can implement a successful lean distribution program which is the first important step in the journey towards continuous improvement.

Lean Manufacturing Consulting Services

Our Lean Manufacturing Strategy and Execution consulting services are designed to work with your team. Working with you, we develop the most effective ways of producing your products at a level of quality and cost that aligns with your overall business strategy and is supported with the principles of lean manufacturing. Manufacturing strategy engagements include looking at product line complexity, product design scheduling and sourcing as well as geographic footprint and make-vs- buy evaluations.

Execution level consulting services are focused on lean manufacturing principles including: shop floor level layout/flow optimization; processes; procedures; management and productivity. These engagements are hands-on in nature and allow us to leverage decades of shop floor experience.

Dynamic Aiders has developed a structured manufacturing strategy and execution program that addresses the following types of questions:

• Do we have the optimal manufacturing footprint for our business and its growth strategy?
• Are there ways to optimize our product line that could lead to substantial production efficiency and quality improvements?
• Are there different ways to schedule our production to improve output and or quality consistency?
• What metrics should be used to measure the effectiveness of our production operations and to quantify improvements?
• Does our plant layout / flow allow for the most efficient, highest quality output?
• Should we be manufacturing this product / component or purchasing it?
• What do we need to address to transform our production system to lean principles?
• Are we scheduling production in a way that provides optimal results in terms of on time delivery, quality, efficiency?

A structured approach to lean manufacturing is based on the use of the following building blocks:

Pull System

• Scheduling and producing in response to demand
• Using the customer order as the key manufacturing signal

Value Stream Mapping

• Understanding your business process from supplier to customer to highlight the flow of product and information and identify delays and non-value added activities.

Kaizen

• Developing a culture of continuous improvement leveraging all available resources including customers, employees and suppliers.

5S

• Application of the 5 principles: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardise, and Sustain to organize the workplace in a consistent fashion, improving productivity and quality

Lean Manufacturing

• Developing processes and systems to absolutely minimize the time from customer order to cash collection.

Dynamic Aiders provides strictly unbiased lean manufacturing consulting services combined with a strong understanding of all aspects of manufacturing from strategic evaluation to shop floor execution.

Transportation Managing Consulting Services

Dynamic Aiders provides transportation managing consulting services for over the road transportation operations including parcel shipping, less than truckload, full truckload, bulk freight, dedicated and private fleet operations.

Transportation managing consulting studies address the following types of questions:

• Does our company have opportunities to reduce total transportation spending? How can our firm better leverage existing carriers to improve overall efficiency?
• Which transportation technology applications exist to improve transportation planning, execution, monitoring and visibility? Which Transportation Managing System (TMS) applications are most suitable to our firm's operating requirements?
• Is there an opportunity to optimize our firm's private (or dedicated) fleet routing through the use of dynamic planning and execution tools applicable to our industry-specific requirements?
• Are there load consolidation, zone skipping or other transportation opportunities that our company can take advantage of to improve outbound transportation expenses?
• How should our company execute a tender for bids for shipping rates to enable carrier consolidation?
• Are there opportunities available to better coordinate inbound and outbound transportation activities to improve asset utilization and operating expenses?
• How can our company develop a cost allocation system for complex multi-stop loads to our customers?
• How can our company effectively assure trucking capacity in today's challenging marketplace?
• What operational improvements can be made to become a preferred shipper with the carriers?
• Are there methods of increasing payloads on our shipments to minimize our freight spend?
• Could a comprehensive Driver Assisted Offloading program assist our customer base to better utilize their employee and equipment assets?
• Would a "Drop and Swap" program better utilize our employee assets while driving down our freight costs?
• Would using a 3PL supplier for shipments be beneficial to our company?Is utilizing a rail-to- truck strategy a viable option to reduce shipping costs?
• Is utilizing a rail-to- truck strategy a viable option to reduce shipping costs?
• Can a carrier self-reporting system assist in managing carrier performance metrics?
• Would a monthly billing cycle reduce administrative costs?
• Can a top load program for bulk shipments reduce cleaning costs while ensuring product integrity?
• Are drop shipments an effect tool to reduce freight costs?
• What carriers could be utilized for backhaul rates minimizing costs per mile?

Dynamic Aiders performs deep analytics on shipment history using advanced transportation software applications to develop our findings and conclusions. We have also cultivated a network of transportation experts specialized in specific areas of logistics to ensure that your advice is always current, unbiased and in the best interests of your company.

Purchasing and Inventory Optimization Consulting Services

Effective inventory managing is a critical success requirement for every company regardless of company size, market place, or supply chain. Weakness in inventory managing can profoundly and adversely impact the overall financial performance of a company. Being under stocked on items that are in high demand and overstocked on items that don't sell can lead to lost sales opportunities and poor return on assets.

Dynamic Aiders provides purchasing and inventory optimization consulting services to companies seeking "another set of eyes" on their firm's procurement operations. These studies can involve the evaluation purchasing operations and processes, the evaluation of systems and technologies, and the use of buyer measurement systems designed to improve customer order fulfillment levels and inventory turns.

Purchasing and inventory optimization consulting studies address the following types of questions:

• Are there opportunities available to improve our firm's order fulfillment levels? Similarly, are there opportunities available to improve inventory turns?
• How can our firm improve the use of our existing purchasing / forecasting software? Is our company making the fullest using of our existing systems or does our firm require a new technology solution?
• What software solutions exist to improve our purchasing operations? Are these solutions adaptable to the specific industry requirements for our business?
• Does our firm optimally source products? Are there opportunities to reduce the net landed cost of goods by sourcing differently or by bypassing existing distribution channels?
• Does it make sense to self-distribute certain product lines or vendors rather than moving goods directly to the retail store?
• Is our company staffed appropriately for our purchasing operations? How can we operate more efficiently with our purchasing department?
• Does our firm carry too much inventory on certain product lines? Does our firm make money when we buy forward on deal opportunities? How do other companies compare in our industry?
• How can our firm improve the gross margin return on investment for inventory?
• How can our firm minimize forecast error by reviewing supplier lead time variability, inventory balance discrepancies, supplier reliability and quality issues, etc. ?

Dynamic Aiders provides experienced resources for studies that involve procurement processes and systems. Our approach is to study all aspects of your company's existing purchasing processes as a first step. Upon completion, Dynamic Aiders documents all opportunities for improvement to enable your company to assess the short term and long term projects that should be considered. Dynamic Aiders can then work alongside your company to evaluate applicable technology solutions or to deploy new processes and / or measurement systems to improve purchasing operations.

Product Sourcing Strategy Consulting Services

Product sourcing strategy consulting services are specifically oriented to companies seeking to evaluate the economics of changing their source(s) of product supply. Dynamic Aiders offers a unique approach that combines operational and financial data to evaluate current sourcing strategies versus alternative options.

Product sourcing studies address the following types of questions:

• Which vendors and/or product lines should be stocked and self- distributed, versus cross docked, versus handled as flow through, versus direct store delivered?
• Should a firm source products through a supplier, wholesaler, or distributor? or should a firm source directly from the manufacturer?
• Should a company consider sourcing product differently? More or less frequently? Through different channels? Through different distributor suppliers?
• What are the economic cost-benefits of changing a product supply sourcing strategy ?
• What are the risks and qualitative issues that need to be considered if a product sourcing strategy is changed?

To execute these studies, Dynamic Aiders develops sophisticated product flow path / costing models that capture all supply chain cost components from the source of supply to the customer point of consumption. This model is then used to compare the economics of alternate product sourcing options yielding powerful results. Best of all, the model can be dynamically self-administered to continuously optimize product sourcing decisions into the future.

Consulting Services to Enable Logistics Excellence

Dynamic Aiders provides consulting services to help companies seek new ways to improve competitive advantage through logistics operations. Logistics has become a required core competency for all firms involved in the global supply chain. Achieving excellence in logistics is a critical aspect of providing cost effective and quality-driven customer services.

This consulting service provides a structured program to build a roadmap towards achieving world-class logistics operations.

This consulting service addresses the following type of questions:

• Which measurement systems should be implemented to improve the effectiveness of our firm's logistics operations?
• How does our company's logistics performance benchmark against other similar companies in our industry?
• What steps need to be taken to improve the quality of our firm's customer service experience?
• What steps need to be taken to reduce logistics operating expenses?
• Is our company's logistics managing team in need of new talent and who may be available to help our firm?
• Which companies are best-in- class and why? What do these companies do differently?
• How can our company reduce warehouse employee turnover? Are there innovative ideas that can be deployed to increase employee retention?
• Are there specific policy, process and/or procedure changes that need to be made to improve logistics operations?

Dynamic Aiders provides strictly unbiased advice, combined with a strong understanding of distribution operations, to ensure that your company makes the right decisions to improve the quality and efficiency of your logistics operations.

3PL Outsourcing Strategy Consulting Services

3PL Outsourcing strategy consulting services are specifically oriented to companies seeking to evaluate the economics of outsourcing some or all of the firm's warehouse operations to third party logistics service providers (3PL) or other distributor entities.

Dynamic Aiders can help to develop a 3PL outsourcing RFP specific to the needs of your business, to evaluate options for suppliers / strategies, and to make the right outsourcing decision based on all of the criteria that need to be considered. 3PL outsourcing strategy consulting studies address the following types of questions:

• Should outsourcing a firm's warehousing and/or trucking operations to a 3PL service provider be considered and if so, why? When does it make the most sense to outsource and conversely when does outsourcing make sense?
• Which 3PL vendors are the most qualified to provide shared or dedicated warehousing services for specific industries?
• Which 3PL vendors are the most capable of handling the value added services to service customers?
• Should all distribution operations be outsourced? or should a firm only consider outsourcing for specific regions, functions, and / or facilities?
• Is it important to maintain internal control over specific aspects of a firm's distribution operations?
• What are the short and long term economic impacts of outsourcing a firm's distribution operations to a 3PL?
• What are the risks and qualitative issues to be considered with 3PL outsourcing?
• How can a company develop an effective 3PL RFP document to solicit bid tender documents from prospective vendors such that multiple vendor pricing and service propositions can be accurately compared on an apples-to- apples basis? How can a firm avoid unpleasant surprises by ensuring that bid documents define all services required by the 3PL vendors?

How well is an existing 3PL partner performing? Are there opportunities for improvement and how can a gain-share program be established to share the benefits?

To execute these studies, Dynamic Aiders uses a proven and unbiased approach to evaluating and defining a company's current distribution operations. It is important to accurately define the benchmark for current operations and to identify how current operations can be improved in their "as is" state. Dynamic Aiders develops tailor-made 3PL outsourcing request for proposal bid packages for companies based on the specifics of each distribution operation. 3PL vendor responses are analyzed over a long term investment period to identify the economics of outsourcing versus maintaining internal operations. Dynamic Aiders also works with clients throughout the 3PL vendor selection and negotiation process to ensure that each client obtains the best value when outsourcing distribution operations.