Foundations for Successful Continuous Replenishment Programs

In the future, earnings ‐ perhaps even survival, will depend upon strong and enduring relationships between manufacturers and their customers. Continuous replenishment is rapidly emerging as a value‐added service that enhances the development of these relationships. For the most part, such partnerships have been engaged with positive expectations of reducing costs in the near term. However, in order to realize the real, mutual benefits of continuous replenishment, it is critical that both parties have a foundation of second business practices which will support this new way of doing business and its many and various effects upon the supply chain. This means establishing organizational alignments which facilitate a process, installing new or different technology and securing the support of senior management to champion the concept of supply chain management.