Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said it has created, with United Parcel Service Inc., a distribution system for U.S.-bound electronic components.
The new system will enable Matsushita to deliver its parts to its more than 250 U.S. corporate clients within three days after an order is placed, compared with the current five to six days, a Matsushita spokesman said.
The move is in line with a growing electronics-industry trend of building supply-chain systems to better manage the operation flow of parts procurement, manufacturing, inventory and sales, as product cycles continue to grow shorter.
Under the new system, consumer-electronics maker Matsushita will place all shipment-related orders to U.S. package-delivery company UPS. UPS and Japan’s Yamato Transport Co. will conduct ground transportation jointly while solely UPS’s own planes will handle air shipments.
Matsushita also hopes the new system will help slash inventory costs. The Osaka Company said it plans to gradually reduce from about 50 to 20 the number of U.S. warehouses its sales units hold
