Supply Chain Research

The focus of the toy industry is turning as much to supply chain efficiencies as the latest hot toy for the 2018 holiday season. A key challenge is that the value-to-volume ratio for most toys makes sea- rather than airfreight more economical, but leads to protracted lead times. Many companies are looking to borrow “fast fashion” techniques. U.S. imports increased 2% on a year earlier in 2017, with 15.8% of shipments in October vs. 15.3% in prior years showing somewhat more condensed shipping schedules. The perils of getting shipping timings wrong can be seen from Spinmaster’s Hatchimals...