In late 2017, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), Washington, D.C., conducted a survey asking wholesaler-distributors about key initiatives to support their organization's inventory and supply chain planning operations in 2018.

NAW’s State of the Wholesale Supply Chain report details what leading-edge companies are doing to compete in today's ultra-competitive landscape, and offers some tips on how to tweak inventory optimization operations.
 
Key findings of the study include: 

• Increasingly complex demand patterns are causing firms to hold more inventories, but that's not translating into increased customer service. 
• Many companies continue to struggle with how to forecast and manage promotions. 
• Forecasting techniques most commonly used by wholesalers are often outdated and lack integration of more advanced data analytics.
• Wholesaler-distributors continue to struggle with cross-departmental collaboration.