Black box solution for Xindao to ensure delivery times

How does Xindao meet the expectations of customers? The company will be relying on a ‘black box’ solution to gain more insight into their own performance towards customers. Johnny de Witte, supply chain manager at Xindao explained the idea behind this black box solution during the Supply Chain Day.

Xindao is a manufacturer and supplier of promotional products and gifts and has a worldwide network of over 4,500 distributors. Since the company has been present in China for a long time and has his own design studio in Shanghai, Xindao is to “pave the way for innovation in the sector”.  In Shanghai work fifteen designers, many of whom were trained at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. According to Xindao, the current market calls for more than just quality products. For distributors one-stop shopping (stock and custom), customer service and the right marketing support is important. Meeting the expectations of the customers is the main focus of Xindao.

Delivery options

To meet the agreed delivery dates, Xindao uses the software of ShipitSmarter from which they receive a list of carriers that can carry out the shipment within the desired time, including a calculation of the costs. As sales place an order and the transport options in the system, they can choose between several delivery options, such as standard UPS delivery for 15 euros. These costs are stored in Xindao’s ERP system and then sent along with details of the consignment to the WMS. If there is a delay in production, ShipitSmarter will recommend a faster carrier, such as an express service from UPS. Then the system will check the costs again and if they are within the norm. This can be a percentage or a fixed amount.

Supply Chain Day

In his presentation on April 13 at the Supply Chain Day in Scherpenzeel, Johhny de Witte elaborated on how Xindao implemented this black box concept, what the results where and future developments. The presentation was part of the stream “Logistics Control Tower” in which Caroz also presented a customer case.