submit a 1500 words paper on the topic Strategic Operational Issues. Commencing from the company background, the problem is detailed with analysis and final recommendations as to how improvisation should be done.
Hi, need to submit a 1500 words paper on the topic Strategic Operational Issues. Commencing from the company background, the problem is detailed with analysis and final recommendations as to how improvisation should be done.
Holt Renfrew is a renowned fashion and cosmetics retailer based in Canada. It started as a hat and fur shop in the year 1837 but soon expanded to 10 stores in seven different Canadian cities. Holt Renfrew uses round the year marketing to inform customers about the latest trends and fashion assortments.
With high popularity, the company attracts around 22, 000 orders per year from its buyers at its flagship Toronto store. The company operates with around 3000 suppliers but only 1000 of them are operational in any year. Also, only half of the stock keeping units were available at a particular point of time from a total of 500, 000. While certain product categories maintained a stable sales rate, the introduction of new fashion brands and seasonal products accounted for around half of the merchandise ordered each year.
The company owns a primary distribution center (DC) located at Mississauga, Ontario which stores all the merchandise ordered. Once the merchandise comes, it is picked, ticketed and tagged to be shipped to the stores. Being the primary DC, it receives approximately $42 million of inventory monthly. This is composed of both carton and hanging sets of merchandise and almost 3.5 million of merchandise is shipped to different stores from this DC.
Mississauga also facilitated a secondary warehouse which mostly stored inventory not sold at the stores and also sent back by Last Call, a Winnipeg based store that sold at considerable discounts. An estimated $1 million of inventory was lying idle in this secondary warehouse.
Currently, Holt Renfrew is facing multiple problems with its order processing and inventory management along with some concerns about its human resources strategy too. It is September month and sales are not that high.