Lisa Anderson, president of LMA consulting Group and a supply chain management expert, reports that over two-thirds of manufacturers and distributors participating in her service gaps research study have reported having to respond to the elevated service standards established by companies like Amazon. Anderson, who recently helped manufacturers and distributors better understand workforce skills gapsand the impact on their operations, has initiated a research project to study the effect Amazon and mega distributors like them have had on customer expectations and service standards that are quickly becoming the benchmark with which customers and consumers measure company value and whether they will do business with that company.
The Amazon Effect study, conducted by Anderson and her firm, LMA Consulting Group, is designed to understand the gap between customer service expectations and the standards set by Amazon, the realities of global competition, supply chain missteps, and inadequate systems including customer management (CMS) and e-commerce systems. Ultimately, Anderson wants to provide data to manufacturers and distributors to pinpoint problem areas and identify opportunities where immediate results can be achieved through improvement.
“Part of our commitment to our clients and the industry is to provide value-added research and associated recommendations for improvements to stay competitive,” explains Anderson. “Following our emerging trend Skills Gap research we performed late last year, we wanted to turn our eagle eye attention on service opportunities which will not only provide a dramatic ROI (return on investment) for our clients’ businesses but will also position them for increased customer collaboration and growth. It has become apparent that those businesses that leverage the Amazon Effect strategies will grow and expand their businesses while creating customer loyalty with their existing customers.”
Capitalizing on her 25 years of experience advising manufacturers and distributors on supply chain, operations, ERP and SIOP, Anderson continually provides data that helps manufacturers and distributors focus in on which people, process and system improvements are essential to preparing their supply chains to create a sustainable advantage.
“Data alone is useless; instead, my focus is to draw meaningful conclusions for my clients and manufacturers,” says Anderson. “This time, I plan on releasing the report along with an informative webinar in August. I found that many manufacturers and distributors still had questions on how they needed to respond to the data and how to prioritize subsequent action. I think the webinar will provide an excellent opportunity to not only discuss the survey results, but also the top action items manufacturers and distributors should take.”
The complete Amazon Effect Service Gap report will be available in August. To automatically receive the free report when it is available, register here.
