Supply Chain Redesign: A Conversation with Lennox International’s Keith Nash

Last month on Talking Logistics, Adrian Gonzalez, Keith Nash (VP Supply Chain Logistics at Lennox International) and I discussed “Lennox International’s Complete Supply Chain Redesign.” If you missed the live episode, you can watch it now on demand.

Here are some of the questions that we discussed, along with a summary of Keith’s responses.

What are some of the key supply chain trends and challenges you are facing today?

Keith: The main challenges Lennox faces today are rising customer expectations, shortened cycle times along with having better product availability. We’ve also had to become fulfillment masters. With a complex mix of inbound and outbound transportation modes, we’ve had to tailor our fulfillment from full truckload shipments outbound to more small-pack and courier shipments. New hours of service, capacity restraints and global trade regulations are also items we’ve had to account for and work into our mix. The key has been learning how to best utilize our assets to meet the rising customer expectations we face.

What were some of the factors that went into your TMS/WMS selection process? What are some of the key benefits achieved from the technology?

Watch clip below for Keith’s full response

Here’s a snippet: The key consideration with any technology you implement is that it should never limit what you want to achieve. You need a solution that can grow and scale with your needs. With Manhattan as our core logistics solution provider for TMS, WMS, Labor and Slotting, we’ve been able to transform our supply chain despite the complexity of the redesign project. Some of the key benefits we’ve realized are lower transportation costs, record service levels and shorter cycle times, and better inventory accuracy. All of this has been achieved while we’ve grown our network from 65 locations to a planned 215 locations by 2016.

What other goals are you looking to achieve as the technology matures?

Keith: We’re starting to develop detailed logistics cost-to-serve information down to the customer level. Additionally, we’re implementing inbound transportation management capabilities and expect to improve costs through the optimization of inbound and outbound shipments and the reduction of deadhead miles. And when possible, we’re also looking to implement Manhattan’s Load Optimization tool to increase truckload utilization. So within business units across the organization, we’re starting to view our processes as one supply chain where possible.

What are some of the lessons you learned from your major supply chain redesign project?

Keith: The key is creating a flexible, multi-year plan that drives value and has a solid business case. You have to develop and invest in building a strong change management team that understands the core business and is able to execute. The software solutions themselves have to be flexible, agile and scalable. Manual processes are not scalable and frozen hard code isn’t flexible. The three main evaluation criteria (in order) that you should focus on are the quality of the solution; the effect of the solution on the schedule; and the cost of the solution. If you take care of the first two, the third will pay for itself.

Watch the rest of our conversation for additional insights and advice from Keith!

Adam Bruun is Senior Director of Services at Manhattan Associates. He’s been an integral part of the Transportation practice for 14 years, managing the practice for the last six years. He is primarily responsible for complex supply chain implementations across Retail, Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing verticals. Adam joined Manhattan in 2002 after the acquisition of Logistics.com where he supported their SaaS Transportation solution. He started his career in the technology space with Computer Sciences Corporation in 1999 before moving on to Logistics.com. Adam graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1997 with a degree in Natural Resource Economics.