Significant Inventory Reduction Projected For Leading Retailer, CVS

CVS, America's leading pharmacy, leverages Descartes' solutions to improve inbound supply chain visibility. A third-party analysis projected an estimated potential reduction in inventory of up to 17% over a 12-month period following enterprise-wide implementation by: using exception alerts to improve logistics execution, preventing order failures through proactive monitoring of inbound shipments and collaborating with supply chain partners to decrease order cycle times.

To better manage hundreds of thousands of deliveries from approximately 22,000 origin points annually, CVS/pharmacy has a goal to improve inbound supply chain visibility by automating connections with hundreds of suppliers and carriers.

Like most retailers, CVS needs up-to-the-minute answers to critical questions such as:

• Has the purchase order been confirmed?
• What is the shipment status?
• What is the carrier's estimated time of arrival?

Prior to teaming with Descartes, CVS followed the industry practice of relying heavily on historical data and safety stock to protect its 4,100 stores and nine distribution centers against costly inventory shortages.