Budget Marine sees Bright Future for Social Media in Supply Chain Management

Budget Marine is the Caribbean’s leading marine chandlery with retail locations throughout the Caribbean.  In the Caribbean, most people use social media to let friends and family know where their latest landfall is, and for obtaining information through cruisers’ nets.

Using social media as a tool to improve business performance is a new concept.  However, for companies like Budget Marine, it opens up vast new opportunities.  People may not think of the Caribbean when they think of “multinational companies,” but that is exactly what Budget Marine is.

Potential

Last week, I interviewed Angus Hodge, Supply Chain Manager at Budget Marine, St. Maarten.  When I told him what this week’s course topic is, he became very interested. Right away, Angus recognized the potential in applying social media to increase visibility and process improvement.  Budget is already doing this to a limited extent, but Angus sees the capacity for much more.

Areas for Immediate Improvement

Angus and I discussed the potential of simple solutions like changing the vocabulary on Budget Marine’s website to give customers more information when looking for product availability.  We talked about using FaceBook to inform customers that we’re working on solutions to issues as they arise.

(Secretly, I think Angus has already taken this course!)

Areas Where Budget Marine is Already Moving Forward

Of the shipping companies that currently supply Budget Marine, only one uses social media to inform its customers about shipment delays.  I was surprised to learn that this is not a US company, but a French company.

Recently, Budget Marine has made big changes in their internal warehousing practices, using social media.  One of the primary benefits has been the ability to communicate with remote locations on a timely basis.  There are now direct connections between Budget’s internal shipping department and the locations.

… gives all of the locations a nice heads up of what’s going on at our distribution centre.

 

Growth

There is huge potential for Budget Marine to use social media to optimize their supply chain management strategy, both internally and with external partners.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, is cost reduction.  The second, as Angus thoughtfully points out, is the potential to attract local St. Maartener’s, who have gone abroad for university, to return to the island to pursue careers in supply chain management.

In this interview clip, Angus gives a clear précis on Budget Marine’s approach to using social media in supply chain management.

Lessons for Others

Budget Marine recognized, early on, the potential advantages of utilizing social media.  It still has a lot of potential to tap and the key is that Budget Marine is eager to advance its use of social media to optimize business performance.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

---

References