STOCK RECEVING DISPATCH REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF JULY AND AUGUST

ZUCCHINI HUB
AUTHOR: William Opiyo.

The complexity of managing multiple stores formats supply chains requires the mastery
of both the hard discounters and a highly efficient and responsive teams. Over the past two
months the stock receiving location at the Hub has become one of the most important
elements of Zucchini Greengrocers Limited. This evolution would not have been possible
without effective supply chain management.
The management of suppliers and their products must be present at all levels of the supply
chain and in all aspects of business in order for it to be truly effective and foster growth and
success within the company. Recent technological and logistical advancements have made
supply chain management within the company even more successful.
Upon arrival of products at the Hub receiving office, the products are prepared and
listed into the system, during this period the products expiry dates and KRA certificates are
verified to ensure that they align with company policy. Upon the successful completion of the
above processes, the prices are calibrated to ensure they capture the required marker
percentages then VAT is included. Products are then dispatched through the stock system to
the four major branches by the following day.
These major branches are; ABC Place branch, Village Market, General Mathenge and Hub
market. When there are surplus stock they are kept at the Hub shelves or store to be
dispatched to all branches upon request by the merchandizers. The process has not met with
major setbacks since its start. Nevertheless, in reality the supply chains -especially those of Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) conceal numerous inefficiencies existing in the collaboration
with trading partners.
It is worth mentioning the existence of a problem of high out-of-stock situations in cases where
the supplier takes a longer period of time to deliver products upon receipt of an order. The
other cause of stock outs is when a particular branch has run out of product but does not make
an effort to request for replenishment of a particular product. This however has been remedied
by the constant monitoring of branch sales by the team lead Mr. Emmanuel who works closely
with Zucchini Green Grocers merchandizers who have since been brought on board.
The other major set-back to the process is instances whereby stock once dispatched from the
Hub store does not get to the undersigned branch due to lack of clarity for the responsible
persons leading to stock for some branches being delivered to the wrong location or being left
to lay at the ABC branch for several days. This trend has led to overstocking as the aggrieved
branches may end up placing the same order twice. I would recommend that there is a
designated delivery truck which travels to all the branches and doing deliveries without having
to dock at the ABC first. This will improve the efficiency of the process.
Emperies are monitored by the 30th day mark and upon completion on this period they are
handed over to the suppliers. Some branches like Valley Arcade have had instance where by
their expiries are not communicated in time causing wastes especially for dairy products which
could sell faster if sent back to the ABC.