[photopress:logistics_EMS_1.jpg,full,alignright]Before we get lost in the total alphabet soup which so bedevils Supply Chain Managment it is good to know that VMI, which concerns us here, is Vendor Managed Inventory , Warehouse Management Systems is WMS, Distribution Requirements Planning is DRP, Electronic Funds Transfer is EFT, Enterprise Resource Planning is ERP, Just-in-Time is JIT, Material Requirements Planning is MRP, POS is Point-of-Sale, Total Cost of Ownership is TCO, Vendor Managed Inventory is VMI and Warehouse Management Systems is WMS.
There are many, many others but these are the ones likely to appear in your term paper.
Knight Electronics provides OEM (original equioment manufacture) customers on-the-ground presence in China. So, in effect, they become the company in China.
Knight Electronics has now opened a vendor-managed inventory warehouse in China.
Bob Knight, president of Knight Electronics, said, ‘Our VMI warehouse provides our OEM customers with a presence on-the-ground in Asia, so they don’t have to manage the hassles of shipping, inspections, and delivery times from the United States or Europe to Asia
‘Our customers’ products can be manufactured in China and shipped directly to their Asian customers, reducing inventory, shipping and inspection costs while increasing profit margins.’
In other words the company provides all the services a large company establishes itself on the ground for a large amount of money. For OEMs the VMI warehouse will help reduce large capital outlays for large quantity shipments, provide a point for Asian site inspection, reduce travel time and expenses, solve communication problems, remove a risk associated with quality issues, and solve the logistics problems of shipping, payments and return of defective products. Which is what we said earlier.
Source: EMS Now