In an era when location can dictate the success or failure of retail ventures, Wenjun Yin is helping clients use technology to find the right location with the right mix of merchandise for the right customer.
Finding the right location for a new business or a branch office can spell the difference between success and failure in a hotly competitive retail environment. To identify “the perfect spot,” savvy businesses are taking advantage of analytical tools such as IBM’s retail optimized site solution (ROSS), which offers a quantitative analysis methodology to help optimize store site networks using store configurations that combine the right format, capacity and merchandise mix in the right location to serve the right customers.
At IBM's China Research Lab (CRL), Wenjun Yin’s current focus is on business analytics and optimization research for complex enterprise problem solving. “Since joining IBM in 2004 I’ve been working on supply chain management, logistics and business optimization,” says Wenjun. “Currently, I’m working with Global Business Services (GBS) to help leading industry clients to rationalize their facility networks in terms of location, format and capacity, through the use of analytical models and optimization algorithms.”
Wenjun notes that his area of expertise can apply to a number of industries, including financial services, retailers, and chemical and petroleum companies. “Developing a coherent strategy for constructing a new facility/outlet network and optimizing the existing ones in high density areas is part of the critical strategic planning process for them. Meanwhile, with customer value drivers continuing to fragment as a result of changing demographics and value systems, those leading companies in the global and emerging marketplaces are transforming from a channel-centric to customer-centric strategy to achieve sustainable growth. Up until now, however, they have lacked a comprehensive set of scientific and systematic methodologies and tools to continually diagnose and help optimize their facility/outlet networks effectively and efficiently.”
The ROSS technology is innovative because it integrates IBM deep business insights with leading edge analytical technologies to provide a new kind of asset-based business consulting services, says Wenjun: “For our clients, it will help them optimized their distribution channels to improve profitability, time-to-market and customer satisfaction. For IBM, it serves as a strategic decision-making solution to demonstrate IBM’s strong position as an innovative service company.”
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