Over the last fifteen years, European distribution structures have been evolving as companies pursue opportunities provided by both EU harmonization legislation and IT technology advancements; i.e., company-wide ERP, VMI & collaborative networking transparency, etc.

This begs the question as to whether standard but distinct distribution strategies (number and location of warehouses) exist for the different sectors such as electronics, FMCG, chemical, pharma, commodities, etc. In order to determine if there are patterns within sectors, we should approach our analysis using the following considerations:

• What are the main cost drivers when defining a distribution strategy?


• What are the main product-, and market aspects determining the distribution requirements?


• What is the best distribution strategy to comply with these distribution requirements?

We can then distill common best practice on the developed distribution strategy per industry segment, provided the caveat that we focus on the main market and product issues within individual sectors
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However, such best practice strategies can be influenced by typical macro-economic factors as carbon footprints and rising fuel prices. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast just how long such best practices will remain valid for each respective sector.

However this statement could be influenced by typical macro-economic factors as the carbon footprint, and the rising fuel prices. So to what extent will best practice distribution strategy stay valid over the years for each branch.