January 1, 2001
In 1999, auto manufacturer Mercedes found itself in an unusual position: Its customers were unhappy. In short, customers and dealers were clamoring because their merchandise hadn’t been shipped or was out of stock, or they had received the wrong products. For months, the company’s fulfillment operations had been building into a dreadful back-order situation. In addition to offering automobiles, Mercedes is a catalog and in-store retailer of car accessories and luxury Mercedes-branded merchandise for consumers and dealers, as well as a supplier of parts to its dealerships. Fulfillment has always been done by a third party, and in August 1999, backlogs
