Situation
A global distributor wanted to invest in its distribution infrastructure within Brazil, a growing market opportunity where the client believed it could position itself as a next-day delivery distributor with national reach. The client needed to obtain a detailed understanding of competitors’ distribution infrastructure and capabilities to determine where it needed to invest in logistical infrastructure that would outperform the competition.
Methodology
The Maia team benchmarked 4 leading competitors’ DC infrastructure and operations, including granular data on distribution and branch location, size, delivery capabilities, SKU counts, inventory management systems and processes and order fulfillment pathways and logistics.
Analysis
Maia pinpointed where our client’s distribution and delivery strengths outperformed the competition and where it needed to prioritize capital, IT and human resource investments because it lagged behind competitors.
Impact
With the goal of the client differentiating itself as a one of the only distributors with national next day delivery coverage for 90% of Brazil, Maia directed our client’s capital investments in geographies where it lacked distribution capabilities versus the competition. It also exposed geographies where it greatly outperformed the competition. Maia advised the client to increase sales and marketing resources in areas where it had market-leading distribution capabilities, but needed to raise customer awareness of its clear service advantages.