Understanding logistics offers huge savings for small/medium importers By Karen E. Thuermer Three years ago Bob’s Discount Furniture found itself a constant victim of its overseas vendors. “We had no control or influence over when we would receive shipments,” comments Lee Goodman, Chief Operating Officer of the New England furniture retailer. “Sometimes we would be overloaded with shipments. Other times we would be waiting for shipments to come in. The business was always feast or famine.” Then Bob’s decided to get smart and hire logistics consultant Global Logistics Solutions LLC headed by Peter Giorgia, Jr. to educate them about supply chain procedures. Executives at Bob’s Furniture quickly learned what options would give back the company control and make business flow more smoothly. “Over the first two months, Peter educated us about the many processes in a way we would not have learned in ten years on our own,” Goodman says. “By breaking logistics down into each moving part was a phenomenal education process. It showed us we no longer had to be a victim to the vendors, but could be in control.” Back in the days when Bob’s Furniture was not controlling its freight, the company had no visibility. “It was feast or famine,” Goodman says. “After we understood our options, we could decide what needed to be shipped and when.” Bob’s first round of attack was to take control of Asia. “We felt logistics in Asia would be simpler than Italy or Brazil,” Goodman says. “Peter helped us pick a freight forwarder and put out a request for quote (RFQ). He did as much or as little as we wanted him to do, but always took into consideration his No. 1 goal: to educate us. We were retail guys and were suddenly having to learn another industry.” Consequently, Bob’s selected Excel as its freight forwarding company. “They now have the capability of Excel receiving copies of all of their purchase orders,” Giorgio states. “Excel knows when things are supposed to be shipped. They know a few weeks before the overseas shipping date if they have not received any confirmation or booking from the vendor, and they can let Bob’s know. Bob’s can be even more proactive and contact the vendor to see if there is an issue before even getting close to the shipment date. Once a booking is made and the containers are on the ship, Bob’s has that information at their finger tips through Excel’s track and trace system. They can then issue reports and alerts to their warehouse as to what they are to do with the product.” As a result, this coming year Bob’s is expected to import directly on their own 3,000 containers. Now in Control Now nearly three years later Bob’s Discount Furniture is controlling all of its import markets with the exception of Italy. “Asia is our most important market since we import from all over: China, Indonesia, Vietnam,” says Goodman. The company has seen tremendous benefits on a lot of fronts. “We now have control of our entire supply chain and the flow of goods, which means we can control the feast part of our business and make sure we are receiving goods at the pace we want. If we do not want goods, we simply do not take a booking. Before we had no choice.” As a result, the company is turning its goods more efficiently and effectively. “We realize we cannot control the famine unless we controlled the factory,” Goodman adds. “But you know from the get go when the factory doesn’t make the booking. Before we would not know until the ship came and goods were not on the ship. By obtaining this information, this takes four to six weeks out of our process. We are better able to offer customer service. We now have 100 percent visibility, 100 percent control and we know ahead of time if we are going to run into a slow down at the factory and shipping and can make alternative logistics decisions, put on a mini landbridge, or pull a product off the floor and put something else on. With knowing the problem, we can work with options.” Bob’s Discount Furniture is