Target Corp. is again adding to its supply-chain management expertise, hiring a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive to manage its direct-shipping networks.
The Minneapolis-based retailer announced Monday that it had named Shekar Natarajan for the newly created role of senior vice president, network planning and operational design. Natarajan will oversee design of the company’s direct-to-store and direct-to-customer supply chain systems and report to Arthur Valdez, Target’s executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer.
Natarajan will join Target on Nov. 20th. He will be based in the retailer’s Sunnyvale, Calif., office.
Natarajan most recently was vice president of last mile operations, emerging sciences and operational excellence at Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart.
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Both direct-to-store and direct-to-customer shipping bypass Target’s traditional supply chain, in which large numbers of products are shipped to massive distribution centers and then to stores. Direct-to-store shipping cuts out the distribution center and delivers products from manufacturer to the store; direct-to-customer networks deliver orders to a shopper directly from a warehouse or store.
Target could use some help in both areas; its stores have struggled in the past year with empty shelves and out-of-stock items, and boosting its delivery options is considered a key element in competing with online rival Amazon.com Inc..
To that end, Target has been adding supply-chain management for much of the year. It hired Valdez away from Amazon in February, and in July hired Ben Cook, a former Apple Inc. executive, as vice president of global logistics, inventory allocation and replenishment.
Date: November 08, 2016