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By 2012, Quiet Logistics had built a client portfolio comprising a "who's who" of e-commerce brands: Gilt Groupe, Fancy, Zara, the online arm of menswear retailer Bonobos, and other designer apparel retailers such as Bluefly, Donna Morgan, Milly, and Nasty Gal. Rapid growth had necessitated a move from the original warehouse in Andover to two warehouses in Devens, Massachusetts totaling 500,000 square feet, one using Kiva robots and the other operating under a traditional manual-picking model. In addition to its third-party fulfillment business, Quiet Logistics now also offered a "managed services" solution in which it operated warehouses owned by specific clients, The company had two such arrangementsa Kiva-based facility for Gilt Groupe and a manual-pick facility for Nasty Gal, both in Louisville, Kentucky. As the sole independent U.S. fulfillment company using Kiva, the Quiet Logistics executive team identified robotics as their core differentiating edge. "We are the only fulfillment company in the world that looks like us," said Welty. "Kiva's robots are the game changer," added Johnson. "Other companies have come out with warehouse robotics solutions, but none are exactly like Kiva with its 'goods-to-man' system. No other system offers the same capabilities." To adapt and respond to each client's unique and changing needs, Quiet Logistics assigned an account manager to each client who communicated with the client daily. Frequent communication between clients and account managers enabled improved accuracy in sales forecasting which allowed Quiet Logistics to anticipate staffing adjustments.Quiet Logistics also nurtured client relationships by inviting select clients to visit the Quiet Center in Devens. Flexibility and scalability were critical components of the Quiet Logistics value proposition. In the short term, Quiet Logistics could efficiently manage wide fluctuations in volume particularly the sharp spikes during semi-annual sales, back-to-school sales, "Black Friday" (a major U.S. sales holiday in late November), and Christmas.Another crucial differentiator was Quiet Logistics's suite of value-added, specialty packaging options tailored to the needs of high-end apparel clients. Retailers paid separately for each additional service they requested for their customers. On top of these value-added services, high-end apparel e-commerce clients cared deeply about accurate and on-time order fulfillment. Quiet Logistics credited its carefully managed systems and proprietary software with enabling 99.99% order and inventory accuracy. A proprietary software system, QuietView, captured data on all warehouse activity e.g.,outbound shipments, order backlog, inbound shipmentsand displayed it on visual dashboards showing facility, client, and company-wide data.These performance statistics provided benchmarks for a new pay-for-performance system that paid warehouse associates an hourly bonus for meeting and exceeding performance targets.For an additional monthly fee, Quiet Logistics also offered clients access to their own QuietView portal, allowing them to view, from their home offices, the same real-time productivity dashboards (for their business only) used by Quiet Logistics in the warehouse.he executive team saw ample room for Quiet Logistics to grow in the apparel e-commerce market. US. retail e-commerce sales of apparel and accessories reached $38 billion in 2012 and was expected to reach $86 billion in 2018."3 Online sales of designer clothes alone was worth $4.4 billion in 2012.4 However, facing prospects to both expand with existing clients and take on new ones, the executive team felt they needed to be careful in choosing which opportunities to pursue. The company had a strong client retention track record. Although Quiet Logistics had declined to renew contracts with some clients who were not profitable, the company had never lost a client due to performance problems. Lemerise credited Quiet Logistics's superior service execution, unique value-added offerings, and the inherent switching costs in changing order-fulfillment providers. we dealt with many product categories toys, auto parts, food and we discovered that storage and product handling requirements are very different across categories. From that experience, we saw the tremendous value in focusing on just one market," he said. In addition, some clients were asking Quiet Logistics to serve their wholesale and inbound store-replenishment needs; Like other e-commerce fulfillment providers, Quiet Logistics generated the bulk of its revenue and profit from a small number of large clients. The loss of one or two of these major clients could severely hurt the business. At the same time, these large, fast-growing clients often escalated their demands (e.g., discounted pricing, special services) in negotiations with Quiet Logistics and required a growing share of the company's finite warehouse capacity, constraining its ability to bring in new clients,Quiet Logistics Finally, some high-growth clients wanted Quiet Logistics to expand geographically. By opening additional warehouses across the country, Quiet Logistics could support these growing businesses by reducing their shipping costs and delivery times. "We have clients that want us to be in New Jersey or Los Angeles or Kentucky. These opportunities would require more capital and some major anchor clients in those places to justify it," said Dekin, adding, "At the moment, we are perceived to be a 'nice regional company in the northeast,' while our competitors are beating their chests about size, scope, and reach." To track profitability, Quiet Logistics used internally developed software, called The Daily Flash, to generate operational reports on costs and productivity. For example, The Daily Flash captured statistics on individual warehouse associates' productivity e.g,, in 66 minutes, one associate shipped 15 packages totaling 70 units, or 13.6 packages and 63.6 units per hour as well as productivity by manager, displaying data such as their team's outbound cost per unit or per shift.

NOWUse Cadez & Guilding (2008) identify 5 (five) SMA categories and associated SMA techniques. discuss which SMA categories and SMA techniques are most likely to support Quiet Logistics strategic decision-making practices. If a category and/or technique is not applicable to Quiet Logistics, please give 1 (one) reason why. (Hint: You may consider using your responses to the strategic uncertainties, strategic risks, and the outcome of your Porters' Five Forces analysis.)

SMA Technique SMA Techniques Discussion Category Costing Attribute Costing Life-cycle Costing Quality Costing Target Costing Value-chain Costing Planning, Control, Benchmarking Performance Measurement Integrated Performance Measurement Strategic Decision Strategic cost Making management Strategic Pricing Brand Valuation Competitor Competitor Cost Accounting Assessment Competitive Position Monitoring Competitor Performance Appraisal Customer Customer Profitability Accounting Analysis Lifetime Customer Profitability Analysis Valuation of Customers as Assets