The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Operational decision · 2010–2013
Yedioth printed in two phases to match magazines to real sales
Israeli media group Yedioth matched supply to demand by using in-cycle sales to delay a second print-and-distribution phase, cutting returns sharply.
Yedioth Group
the move
Yedioth Group, Israel's largest media company, had to print magazines before knowing how many would sell, so forecasts either left unsold stock or sold out and lost copies.
With MIT and Technion, the team built a model of delayed distribution plus optimization algorithms: print an initial amount, read in-cycle sales, then trigger a second print and distribution phase.
Enabled by EDI and RFID, the system maintained the same sales levels while dramatically reducing production and return levels, and won the 2013 INFORMS Daniel H. Wagner Prize.
why it works
- Printing to forecast creates unsold copies and heavy returns
- In-cycle sales data reveal demand before the run is over
- Holding a second batch turns uncertain demand into a staged decision
- Matching supply to demand keeps sales while cutting waste
what transfers
For any product made before demand is known, hold part of capacity back until real sales arrive; delaying the second batch converts forecast error into smaller returns.
what came after
The delayed two-phase distribution system is implemented at Yedioth and won the 2013 INFORMS Daniel H. Wagner Prize. The model generalizes to any make-to-forecast product with meaningful in-cycle sales data.
references
- INFORMS awards Wagner Prize to Israel's Yedioth Group for streamlining magazine delivery
- Introduction: 2013 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice
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