Case Assignment : Woodmere Products : Case Study

This then translates to a 50% chance of not having inventory available during job opportunities. Therefore, opportunity costs might occur. The indifference of the production managers' in these aspects of inventory control is alarming and should be acted upon.

Retail super-giant Wal-Mart has fought its way to becoming the world's largest company. Wal-Mart’s legendary supply chain technology has allowed them to break the three-day barrier that some economists in the eighties felt that it was unbreakable. In other words, Wal-Mart is often able to replenish items on the Wal-Mart shelf in less than three days – not from the central warehouse to the shelf, but from the manufacturer to the shelf. With quick and reliable 2-day turn around, Wal-Mart is able to maintain lower levels of inventory and still meet customer demand. These lower inventory levels result in either a reduced floor plan with lower carrying costs and lower interest expense – or a greater diversity of products on the store shelves.

Retailing building supply stores have become a popular retail industry sector due to increased public awareness and the need of many homeowners for the home improvement products. Back in the 1970s, long before warehouse stores ruled home improvement land, do-it-yourselfers shopped at “home centers.” These 30,000 square foot stores offered cheaper prices and wider selection of products, about 25,000 more than local hardware stores and eliminated the extra trip to the lumberyard. The dependence of many of these retailers upon the homebuilding industry for much of their business has also been reduced and the warehouse superstores, such as Home Depot, have become more important. The smaller companies in the

When Mike Volkema, CEO of Herman Miller, abruptly attempted to appoint Gary Van Spronsen to executive vice president of offer development and marketing, Volkema was hesitant to get involved. Since 1992, Van Spronsen had worked feverishly to build a leader in the office furniture industry in the Herman Miller subsidiary SQA. Not only did Van Spronsen create the traction that prompted better customer service, a tailored product line and design process, but he also transformed the faltering subsidiary from a refurbishing company, into a position leader that develops their own products. Now, Van Spronsen was suddenly being called on to make the same impact on the second largest producer of office furniture in

In order to further strengthen its holdings on the home improvement market, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has restructured the company’s vision to conform to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers. Lowe’s extensive research has led it to include a well lit sales floor, informative in-store displays, exclusive and proprietary brands, and an ingenious store layout just to name of the few changes. This new vision is not only centered on the store itself, Do-It-Yourselfers and Commercial Business Customers have many ways to satisfy their needs conveniently though stores nationwide by placing orders over the phone, fax, or from the improved Lowe’s web site.

LBS Textiles is a firm that designs fabrics for wholesale markets in North-East America. The company has experienced a modest growth over the last three years.

Home Depot 's target market is individual homeowners/small contractors. Even though the traditional ideology is that cost leadership and product differentiation business strategies are mutually exclusive, Home Depot was successful at using a combination strategy. First, Home Depot optimized the cost leadership strategy by offering low and competitive prices to its customers by emphasizing higher sales volumes with lower margins, while instituting a high inventory turnover. Home Depot successfully offered a warehouse product strategy to the individual consumer for the first time. Previously, this type of price discounting was only available to professional contractors who earned product price

-For HomeHelp it is the opportunity to ally with Woodmere to create a time based logistics to improve product availability in stores while reducing overall inventory. By Allying with a furniture manufacturer we have

The Spanish retail chain Zara has unique supply chain management practices that enable it to gain a competitive advantage over other fashion retailers in the industry. Zara’s rapid response time enables the firm to quickly respond to changing fashions while deliberately under producing products. This strategy, which is supported by competencies in logistic management, design and information systems, allows the company to maintain less inventory and higher profit margins and is a key factor to Zara’s success. The firm should continue to add value by seeking new opportunities to expand in the retail market and maintain their sustainable growth.

The case I will analyze and discuss in this case study is “IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor”. I will begin with the vision, values, and strategy of IKEA and an internal analysis of the issues that they have faced as of the time of the case. Next, I will detail the issues IKEA faced in the years prior to the Indian rugs and child labor challenge. Then I will describe the Indian rug and child labor problem that IKEA faced

The Canadian furniture market has brought success to IKEA Canada due to the high quality and low priced “quick-assembly” furniture designed by IKEA’s European engineers. However, this success brought many imitators. Sears Canada has recently published a new catalogue that includes a new line of furniture called “Elements”. The new line of furniture very much resembles IKEA’s knock-down, self-assembled line. IKEA is facing an imitation threat and should tactically respond to minimize its effects.

Even though direct competition has decreased, the tendency of retailers to get their products directly from manufacturers puts the company in a position of relooking its competitive edge as a distributor. The marketplace is shifting from an individuality to supply chain performance – the ability to meet end-customers needs through product availability and responsive and on-time delivery. Supply chain performance crosses both functional lines and company boundaries. Brunswick must change their way to fill customer orders faster and more efficiently than the competition.

An additional method Zara utilizes to ensure the right product is produced is to constantly monitoring the sells at every store in real time through the use of computers. Sells managers are the individuals that play out this strategy. When the clothing sells well or does not sell well, they can quickly let the designers know to swiftly create new designs (“Case 3-4. Continued Growth for Zara and Inditex”, 2013). However, the competition is changing their strategies in an attempt to successfully compete with Zara. The methods that Zara has implemented to ensure fast fashion is truly fast has pressured the competition into reducing their lead times on stocking their stores (Hayes & Jones, 2006).

Hood offers both pension and profit-sharing plans; the plans have been in place for over 25 years. The company distributes its products through a small network of approximately 150 office furniture dealers in major U.S. cities. Recently, the company placed its product with several national chains and warehouse-club chains. Most of the sales growth over the last two years is attributed to this new distribution channel; it represented 35 percent of year- 20X3 sales. Their largest single customer accounts for 8 percent of sales. The company also produces a catalogue and has an information web site with an order link. The office cabinetry line offers custom orders for on-site installation. Customers include major hotels and professional and corporate offices. Today 20 percent of sales come from this line, and the chief operating officer would like to see this line grow to a total of $25 million in sales in the next three to five years. Individuals, which comprise about 5 percent of total sales, can order directly from Mt. Hood Furniture using the company’s web site. A large showroom is maintained at the corporate offices; customers may also place orders at the showroom. Mt. Hood Furniture is subject to a variety of federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to the use, storage, handling, generation, transportation, treatment, emission, discharge, disposal and remediation of, and exposure to, hazardous and nonhazardous substances, materials, and wastes. In

IKEA’s corporate philosophy is to provide goods at a reasonable price. However, in providing products at a lower price than expected, then profit maximization is reduced (Rigby, 2011). This would be a possible threat on profit and may affect the growth for IKEA. To prevent their stock from becoming dead stocks, IKEA only order items when they are low in stock, provided the demand is there. Such as