Building a Better Future for Surplus
LiquidityServices.com
Table of Contents Introduction.............................................................................................................. .Page 3 About the Survey.......................................................................................................Page 4 Is Surplus Really Strategic?.......................................................................................Page 4 Success Factors for Reverse Supply Chain and Investment Recovery Professionals..................................................................Page 5 Percentage of Respondents Citing Various Success Factors in Their Role.............Page 6 Beyond Recovery Value: Key Value Drivers for Reverse Supply Chain and Investment Recovery Programs........................................................................Page 6 Control.......................................................................................................................Page 7 Coverage....................................................................................................................Page 9 Confidence...............................................................................................................Page 11 Conclusion...............................................................................................................Page 13
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Introduction Every organization has surplus: idle or used assets, returned goods, and excess inventory no longer required. Research suggests that nearly $150 billion worth of underappreciated and underutilized surplus and idle assets exist within the world’s supply chains today. Managing this surplus strategically offers significant growth opportunities for end users and businesses in the secondary market. With the right levels of focus, expertise, and technology, surplus assets can be managed to cut costs, mitigate risks, and reinforce strategic business goals. Yet with the pressure to deliver better, cheaper goods and services to market faster, the management of surplus often takes a back seat to forward-flow strategies. The reverse supply chain is a non-core business function, and many businesses lack the time and resources required to build and implement a high-performing program. The best solution is often to select a trusted partner to handle it. Liquidity Services is a global solution provider in the reverse supply chain with the world’s largest marketplace for business surplus. With the goal of providing the highest levels of service to our clients, we keep a pulse on the “voice” of our customers via frequent survey and interview outreach. Our most recent outreach sought to uncover what businesses value most in a reverse supply chain partner. We found that today’s reverse supply chain and investment recovery industry demands high-power solution providers, ready to compete with a track record of maximizing total supply chain value through better service, scale, and results. Page 3
Building a Better Future for Surplus
About the Survey From November 2013 through January 2014, our research team conducted nearly 30 half-hour phone interviews with top executives at large enterprises across a range of industries. We also conducted an electronic survey of reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals in Fortune 1000 organizations, with over 165 respondents. Our intent was to discover their perspectives regarding the optimal ways to build and manage a system for their surplus capital assets and retail goods, and identify the most important success factors for partnering with an outside provider.
30 half-hour phone interviews with top executives across a range of industries
165 respondents to an electronic survey of reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals in Fortune 1000 organizations
Industries that contributed to the research: • • • • • •
Biopharmaceuticals Electronics Manufacturing Energy Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Retail Technology
Is Surplus Really Strategic? While many reverse supply chain processes remain more decentralized, lower tech, and lower visibility compared to their forward supply chain counterparts, the vast majority of survey respondents consider their reverse supply chain a strategic function of their business that could present valuable opportunity. Retail respondents are slightly stronger believers in the strategic value of surplus inventory management, as returned surplus has been an integral component of the industry since inception. Several capital asset respondents who did not believe surplus management was strategic spoke from the perspective of how it was handled within their organizations today, rather than how it could be managed if new possibilities were opened to them.
81% of respondents see the management of surplus assets as a strategic part of their business
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Success Factors for Reverse Supply Chain and Investment Recovery Professionals Historically, the primary consideration for reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals was recovery value for surplus sold in the secondary market. Since the surplus asset is no longer of use to the business, how much can we get for it now? In addition to recovery value, many professionals identify overall program management as critical, citing the need to centralize the global management of surplus, have world-class processes and procedures for how surplus is valued and where and how it is sold, have effective internal change management to support user adoption of these processes and procedures, and access superior data and analytics to report on progress and success. Capital assets respondents also cited the importance of idle asset redeployment and sourcing of used assets as an additional factor, while brand protection, customer experience, and customer growth in the secondary market were cited by retail respondents. Both groups noted sustainability as an important consideration, which is to be expected as green initiatives and overall corporate social responsibility efforts are priorities for many large enterprises.
Today’s reverse supply chain and investment recovery landscape is much more complex for large enterprises, and respondents report a wide variety of considerations as success factors for fulfilling their responsibilities exceptionally
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Percentage of Respondents Citing Various Success Factors in Their Role While success factors for reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals are indeed evolving, survey data reveals that many professionals still have a more narrow view of what they expect from their vendors. Eighty percent of survey respondents report their existing surplus management providers can offer nothing more important than great recovery on their assets. Interview data confirms this sentiment and reveals that recovery value serves as a tier one qualifier for most organizations. Can a service provider deliver competitive recovery? If not, they are disqualified from further consideration. If so, a host of other important consideration factors will move the most eligible providers to the top of the list. In some cases related to surplus capital assets, the cost to keep surplus on the books so greatly exceeds potential recovery value that speed is the tier one qualifier rather than recovery. In these circumstances, respondents report that the service provider’s project management expertise and logistical skills are paramount to swift and successful removal and disposal of the assets.
Top Success Factors Cited
1
Recovery and costs
2
Best in class process and execution
3
Internal client support
4
Efficiency and speed
Beyond Recovery Value: Key Value Drivers for Reverse Supply Chain and Investment Recovery Programs When examining how reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals assess service providers, three major trends emerge in respondent feedback:
Control
Coverage
Confidence
in delivering a strategic business impact
across all needs related to surplus asset management
maximizing return and velocity
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Control Be Like One of Us and Care as Much as We Do Service may sound like a nebulous factor, but few things matter more according to survey respondents. Indeed, service is a broad category of evaluation criteria that ultimately sums into a provider’s ability to partner well and offer the right solutions, at the right time, in a way that delivers strategic value back to the organization. Reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals want providers that understand their business and operate with integrity, offering transparency and honest advice and working in their clients’ best interests to deliver results.
While responsiveness and follow up are important - and relatively obvious - aspects of a provider’s service, service also entails a high level of sophistication
Organizations seek providers who act like high-performance extensions of their team. Especially key is the ability to expertly comply with their policies and protect them from legislative, financial, environmental, health, and safety risks associated with surplus asset management. Data is another key requirement for a thriving service relationship. Reports and analytics that provide guidance and benchmarking on surplus asset management decisions, as well as measurable evidence of performance relative to strategic goals, are identified as essential aspects of the service partnership.
Bottom line: Companies want to partner with providers that help them make informed, sustainable decisions; mitigate risks; and generate results that are meaningful and measurable
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Survey respondents reported the following as critical criteria accounted for in their selection process: • • • • • •
Connection to and understanding of different parts of client’s business Honesty and transparency Responsiveness Follow up and follow through Risk mitigation Ability to provide data and analytics at a moment’s notice
Survey respondents had the following to say: •
• •
• • •
• • • •
Having a rep onsite with us means everything. It improves the service and responsiveness. These people, our partners, need to understand what we need and what we want and how it impacts us. By having a provider’s reps on our team, they feel the culture, the pain, the successes that we feel, and I think it just makes everyone operate on a much higher level. I don’t want my providers to just go after my surplus. I want them to go after helping me. I like the relationship, the teamwork feeling. The feeling I had was that [my rep] was like an employee here. He always worked to get the best recovery numbers... And I trust the guys I’m working with. I don’t feel like they’re trying to do anything off. [Vendors] need to have fast response. Everything happens really fast here... Also be truthful with me. There really is no substitute for the people. How we vet partners is about understanding what is the company’s strategy. What are they out to do? To make a dollar or solve a business problem aligned with our problems? And the philosophy and integrity of the people in the company. That matters, too. I also care about the people and how they go about building relationships with us. I’m looking for someone integrated into our business, someone who understands it. To have reliable reporting is essential to the success of my relationship. It’s the drumbeat that keeps the questions at bay. I know what’s happening and my stakeholders know what’s happening. I’d like to really be getting more into business performance reviews with our providers and plan as companies truly working together. Having a strategy walk through once a quarter is a must. We need to show the importance of what the reverse supply chain means to the rest of the business. We need tools, numbers, and results that show why leaders should focus on it.
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Coverage You Complete Me Large organizations have substantial quantities of surplus across diverse asset categories and in varied conditions, all over the world. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that another key factor for reverse supply chain and investment recovery professionals is the coverage a service provider can provide.
The trend for organizations today is to gain efficiencies of scale by aligning with fewer expert service providers that are more knowledgeable and effective and can execute exceptionally well
Respondents report they prefer providers who simplify their responsibilities and address their needs at scale, whose capabilities span multiple asset categories and the entire reverse supply chain lifecycle. Those offering more niche solutions often require the organization to dedicate internal resources or forge multiple partnerships to manage their complete range of surplus-related needs. Additionally, global coverage matters, especially for large, multinational organizations. They seek providers with a presence in every region in which they operate and access to local buyer bases that may not otherwise be willing to incur expensive shipping and transportation fees to obtain surplus assets. Lastly, respondents claim that the ability to continually handle high volumes of assets as part of a seamless and streamlined operation is a key consideration.
Bottom line: Companies want to partner with providers whose scalable solutions help simplify their operations and enhance their productivity globally
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Survey respondents reported the following as critical criteria accounted for in their selection process: • • • •
Ability to handle the full cycle, beginning to end Ability to scale geographically Ability to scale in volume Capabilities in a range of asset types/categories
Survey respondents had the following to say: • • • • • • • •
We’re global so geographic reach is important. I’m looking for you to handle all things associated to the transaction without needing anything from us except a final go ahead. I don’t want it to be a laborious effort to do business. It’s important to have a pulse on the entire process and to be able to manage that process, pulling us in only as necessary. It is essential that the vendor has a global presence demonstrated by local expertise and on the ground coverage. I’m looking for a one stop shop and we’re expanding globally. Having resources around the globe that can take part and optimize value around the globe is important. We need a company that can handle all of our volume... I would like a single provider to do it all. This is not a standard secondary market like it used to be. The more options you can provide, the more business we do together.
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Confidence The Tried and True is Much Preferred As with any important partnership, organizations want service providers that can deliver long-term value and follow through on their assurances of expertise and ability. They need a provider with the right resources, processes, and technologies to deliver high-quality outcomes. Another overarching theme involves organizations seeking credible and quantifiable cases from providers of industry expertise and past success implementing reverse supply chain and investment recovery programs for similar companies with similar challenges.
Aligning with an “expert” provider matters, as many organizations don’t have the time, money, or patience to teach service providers how to best plug into their business and get the job done well
Organizations want to count on their service provider to be experienced enough to know how to effectively navigate their industry and business environment to build a program that meets their needs and positions them as best-in-class.
Bottom line: Companies want to partner with providers with proven solutions that help them maximize return and velocity
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Survey respondents reported the following as critical criteria accounted for in their selection process: • • • • • • •
Industry leadership/size Company reputation/strategy/philosophy Financial strength Demonstrable expertise and experience in the category and industry (for purposes of recovery and speed) Process efficiency (including the ability to automate/enable outcomes with technology) Access to the right buyers (for purposes of recovery) Ability to keep business running/avoid disrupting business
Survey respondents had the following to say: • • • • • • • •
We look for who you are in your industry – how long have you been around, do you have deep industry expertise... Also name recognition matters. We’re buying expertise. We’re not in the resale business... That’s why we hire them. We have a problem with people who don’t have the experience and don’t know what they’re doing... We need the expertise... That’s one of the rules. I’d want to tell my leadership this company is a solid organization that already knows how to do this. They’re experienced, and a well-known company that’s got size and mass to it. I’m looking for someone in the space who gets our industry and works with other companies like us. Somebody who brings best practices. This is a different industry. A lot of people will promise a lot and deliver less. If your motivation is risk, you need to go with an established, larger player. We need to be convinced that the company can execute. I want to partner with someone who’s been in the business and knows what they’re doing.
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Building a Better Future for Surplus
Conclusion To achieve success, today’s reverse supply chain and investment recovery operations demand more than they did just a decade ago. To ensure organizations capture and optimize the most value from their surplus assets, they must step up their end game and require more of their surplus asset management solution providers than ever before. While recovery value and speed will always be core components to success, truly strategic programs will raise the bar, creating value by offering higher recovery, more efficient processes, simplified and consistent operations, global coverage, lower risks, sustainable solutions, and superior service.
About Liquidity Services Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) is the leader in managing surplus across the globe to maximize return, more efficiently and more strategically. No matter the type of surplus asset or where it is located, we optimize and execute surplus management strategies to achieve your business goals. We are the industry innovator, leveraging insights from over 500,000 annual transactions and $1 billion in annual sales proceeds to continuously pioneer a superior model for managing the reverse supply chain. With Liquidity Services, you have a partner who maximizes the total value you can expect for your surplus – higher recovery, more efficient processes, simplified and consistent operations, global coverage, lower risks, sustainable solutions, and service from people you can trust to deliver results. Learn more at LiquidityServices.com.
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