Barilla Case Study: The Underlying Factors In Operation Management

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Inbound logistics today is highly inefficient. Most retailers use multiple systems to manage the process and so suffer from fragmented visibility. Prioritisation and scheduling of orders are done on an ad hoc basis, with little consideration of current demand and inventory, while scarce resources, such as dock door and yard capacity, are often poorly utilised.

Define the Problem: Describe the type of case and what problem(s) or issue(s) should be the focus for

Barilla, the leading pasta manufacturer in Italy, faces increasing problems related to demand fluctuation. Their distributors also suffer from high inventory holding costs and low service levels on the other hand. This report explains, why the company and their distributors are troubled with this situation and how Barilla intends to solve it. The problem Barilla experiences is called the “Bullwhip Effect”, i.e. that demand variability increases when moving up the supply chain. Several factors enforce this Bullwhip Effect, e.g. high lead times, poor demand forecasting, and batch ordering. In this report we will point out, that exactly those aspects can be identified as the underlying reasons for Barilla’s problems. In a

Raising maximum distributor order, more than customer demand is one good choice made in the three games. According to the supply chain order, the maximum distributor order totals to 15units compared to a maximum demand of 9units. These figures prove that backordering costs will not occur during business operations. Good inventory management techniques require placing adequate orders to reduce backordering costs. The cost and time of backordering affects operations and hence the need to adequate inventory to match demand changes. An average customer order of 7units compared to average distributor order of 5units points to low backordering costs. A minimum customer order of 4units means that market demand is under control from

The customers, wholesalers and retailers may order in large quantities with the expectation that they will receive a greater allocation of products that are in short supply. The impact on the supply chain is significant as the forecasted demand is greatly, and unrealistically, increased with these inflated orders. Eventually orders disappear and cancellations pour in, making it impossible for the manufacturer to determine the real demand for its products

Manufacturing support performance cycles serve as the logistics of production. These functions maintain orderly and economic flow of materials and work-in-process inventory to support production schedules. The goal is to support manufacturing requirements in the most efficient manner. These are internal cycles to the firm, thus they are rarely affected by behavioral uncertainty. Customer accommodation performance cycles are those associated with processing & delivering customer orders. They link customers through timely & economical product availability. Physical distribution integrates marketing and manufacturing efforts. To improve the effectiveness forecast accuracy must improve to reduce uncertainty.

Rather than placing traditional orders with our factories, the distributors will instead provide us the demand information from the retail store locations. Using the data from the retail store orders, we can determine the optimum schedule upon which to base

The corporation is seeking data to determine the optimal course of action for distribution, referred to hereafter as the supply chain. This analyst has researched several supply-chain strategies. These strategies will be presented in this report. The analyst will also provide a concerted

In a typical supply chain, raw materials are procured and items are produced at one

The supply and management of a company have various difficulties in trying to manipulate the logistics of supply and making analysis of the whole performance of the supplying team. These issues apparently result from low surge and have had great inconveniences to stock and management. The reasons for these intensive difficulties are a result of malfunctioning of one group or department and thus disrupting the paths of supply. Prior to lack of frequency in stock-outs, poor customer response and high prices on the products of the supplying enterprise have the greatest impact then due customers. This

The other side of the problem is caused by Barilla’s sales and marketing practices, which are based on achieving sales goals without regard to efficient operations. Barilla promotional “canvass” periods are the most problematic of these discounts because they make it in a distributors best interest to invest in months’ worth of stock of a discounted product.  This bulk purchase is unrelated to the near term retail demand and muddles the picture for a Barilla operations manager trying to tailor operations to demand. The volume discounts less problematic because they are incremental, and lead to small changes in orders to achieve a truck-load quantity. This saves on Barilla distribution costs and is unlikely to induce large swings in demand for a given product as trade promotions do.

Just-in-time delivery needs good collaboration with vendors of distribution services and of products. The distributor needs a continuity of demand and the chance to define routes, loads and schedules well ahead. By working toward longer-terms, higher-volume procurements with vendors, prices can be cut due to larger transport volume over a long period of time. Just-in-time delivery will cut down the operating costs if the business is substantial for the distribution partner. Just in time delivery needs more frequent deliveries from vendors however it does not voluntarily imply higher transportation costs.

It is known to us, “in each industry, the customer is god, is operator's food and clothing parents.” This tells us that customers are important to organizations. With the current intense competition in logistics nowadays, most companies can provide high quality goods, even are willing to cut down prices if reasonable. However, how can suppliers gain a competitive advantage when high quality is expected and price must be maintained at a level to generate a reasonable return? In our views, it is no doubt that how various supplier service activities are valued by customers, more specifically, that is, the ability of logistics

These days Starbucks owns more than 18,000 stores in 62 countries and is the premier roaster and retailer of exclusive coffee in the world. Back in 1971, when the first Starbucks opened, the company already had two intentions to give to people every single day till now: share specialty coffee with friends and help to make the world a little better.