EFFECTIVENESS OF IN-HOUSE DISTRIBUTION IN MANUFACTURING SECTORS: A Case study of Kisii Bottlers Limited

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out the effectiveness of in-house distribution in manufacturing sectors. The objective of the study was to establish the effect of in-house distribution on organizational productivity, to find out the mode of distribution used at Kisii Bottlers to send goods from manufacturing point to the point of selling and finally to find out in-house distribution challenges encountered while conducting in-house distribution. The study was carried out during the month of April to May 2013 at Kisii Bottlers. The study adopted a descriptive case study design. The target population for the study was all employees of Kisii Bottlers who were 119. A sample size of 36 presented the whole population. The researcher used researcher developed questionnaires to collect data from the 36 respondents. Pre-test with non-sampling group was conducted to determine the reliability of the instrument. The researcher will rely on expert judgment to determine the validity of the instrument. Quantitative data was analyzed and presented descriptively using tables of frequencies and percentage, while qualitative data was presented in narration form according to the study objectives. The study established that KBL did in-house distribution intensively, exclusively and selectively and the factors which influenced this were product type, control level of product, type of image to be created, company’s resources and marketing nature, and that there were challenges like financial problems, management problems, high initial cost, marketing nature, legal constraints and competition environment which were facing in-house distribution and the main reason for in-house distribution at KBL were to control the product to maximize products to reduces prices increased by middlemen, for reputation, for communication control and for convincing purposes. KBL used the following methods in evaluating performance which were: product and service output, cost level, error level, expanded and reduced distribution coverage and level of customer complaints. The study recommended that Kisii Bottlers should reconsider their distribution strategies so as to make in-house distribution effective, management of Kisii Bottlers should increase control of finances and even exercise management effectively to correct the situation of financial and management problems and management of Kisii bottlers should reconsider channel networks in-order reduce channel conflicts.