Photo: iStock.com/mikdam
Supply Chain Strategy Meets Real Estate Advisory
With leases on its customization and distribution facilities set to expire, TaylorMade considered it timely to assess its distribution network.
Founded in 1979, TaylorMade Golf is well-known as a leading manufacturer of high-performance golf equipment, including clubs, balls and bags, as well as apparel and other golf accessories. Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, TaylorMade maintains a network of facilities that stores, customizes and distributes products to support the U.S. and Canadian markets, to both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. The company maintains a distribution footprint in Indiana, South Carolina and California, and in Tijuana, Mexico.
The company had initiated internal projects to improve the operations of its primary distribution center in Indiana, but acknowledged that the facility’s existing capacity was not positioned to support the company’s growth projections. As with all the other businesses engaged in distribution, TaylorMade also experienced the labor challenges prevalent across the industry.
With leases on facilities set to expire, TaylorMade considered it timely to assess its distribution network. The strategic objectives included designing a “future state” network to support North American fulfillment, enabling the company to deliver on its five-year strategic plan while bridging immediate fulfillment needs, and creating an agile platform that supports the growth of several diverse product offerings while delivering a flawless customer experience.
The company wanted to perform a network optimization analysis that would objectively explore the cost and service implications of alternative distribution network operating models involving different numbers, locations, sizes and types of facilities, such as distribution by product category. In its search for a consulting firm to assist in the initiative, TaylorMade engaged JLL’s Supply Chain Consulting group to evaluate and recommend the most efficient and effective future state network strategy and, as appropriate, to support the TaylorMade team with real-estate-related execution services.
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JLL organized a team of subject matter experts across multiple disciplines, including supply chain, labor analytics, real estate advisory and brokerage, to assist TaylorMade in designing its distribution network from strategy through implementation. JLL executed a proven approach to the supply chain network analysis.
Data collection and baseline development. JLL provided TaylorMade with a structured data request, outlining the information needed for the project. The project team conferred with various functional experts across the company (e.g., sales and marketing, transportation, distribution operations, finance) to gain a more comprehensive understanding of TaylorMade’s business objectives.
Operating model and scenario analysis. JLL utilized sophisticated modeling tools to analyze various “what if” scenarios and measured their cost/service performance relative to the current state baseline. This was accomplished through frequent communications with TaylorMade’s supply chain leadership to share progress and gain alignment on direction.
Recommendations and high-level implementation planning. At the conclusion of the project, JLL reviewed the results and recommendations with TaylorMade in an executive-level working session to facilitate the understanding of the various operating scenarios, as well as to discuss a high-level implementation plan.
Working closely with TaylorMade’s distribution staff, JLL conducted a network strategy engagement that utilized supply-chain-optimization modeling techniques and other analytics to assess various operating scenarios. Having reviewed the geographic dispersion of TaylorMade’s product categories, JLL evaluated the implications of centralized, versus decentralized, distribution with different numbers of facilities. The JLL team assessed the cost and service trade-offs of different network operating models in collaborative working sessions with TaylorMade leadership, taking into account service, cost, and capital concerns. In addition, JLL identified incremental improvement opportunities that could alleviate capacity issues and reduce operating costs.
“TaylorMade engaged JLL to objectively explore the cost and service implications of alternative distribution models to better serve our customers at the lowest delivered cost,” says Joe Vincent, vice president of operations at TaylorMade Golf. “JLL is unique in that they provide supply chain consulting coupled with real-estate-related execution services, which saved us time and money.”
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