Crocs Supply Chain Essay

The threat of substitute products is low to Caterpillar. This is due to organisation’s use of the most efficient technology for the associated cost of operations. There is no other viable option for buyers to consider the task to be completed in a resourceful and more timely manner.

investing in plant upgrade options A and C and also consolidating the production of 500 models/styles of branded footwear in a single 12-million pair plant in the Asia-Pacific (to only incur the payment of $14 million in production run setup costs one time).

The objective of these establishments, apart from achieving labor cost savings, was to spread risk. Initially, the various production sites were capable of producing the same types of shoes, indicating an insignificant degree of specialization in the production units. However, in recent years ECCO had strived to narrow each unit and capitalize on its core competencies.

(Keogh). After viewing hundreds of period photographs, about eighty percent of them feature solid colors, and tight fitting suits for both men and women. Overseas, leather was restricted to military use, so shoe designers were forced to be increasingly clever. Every imaginable material was to make shoes, reptile skins and mesh were the most successful substitutes.

Moreover, Crocs strategically shifted production to reduce duty payments. The duty situation was generally taken into consideration from the early stages of new product development.

Traditionally, the shoe industry was seasonal and based on projections of future trends. Retail stores would need to place orders several months before the shoes would even hit the shelves. As orders were made early in the year, manufacturers would begin production for shipment later in the year. Since inventory supply depended on expected sales, stock could not be quickly replenished as it ran out. The executives at Crocs decided to branch out from the traditional production schedules and develop a lean production model. As sales increased or decreased, Crocs managed to speed up and slow down production throughout the year to quickly replenish depleted inventory. Since the shoes were easily made with the foam mold design, rapid production and order fulfillment came easily for Crocs. This approach attracted the attention of many footwear retailers. With Crocs shoes being made to order, stores could more easily control inventory without worrying about a

Crocs, Inc. obtained many core competencies throughout the various phases of their supply chain model. Their leading competency apparent in the mid-2000s, was their ability to be efficient and flexible within their supply chain model. This afforded them competitive advantage to revolutionize the footwear supply chain during this time period, in addition to only making injection molded shoes. “Much of this growth had been made possible by highly flexible supply chain which enable the company to build additional product to fulfill new orders quickly within the selling season, allowing it to respond to unexpected high demand.” A second core competency was the ownership of the formulas for the proprietary material resin “croslite”, the primary raw material in their product.

Be more aggressive in their marketing strategy. One of the reasons why Crocs got so ahead because they were very aggressive in terms of sales and marketing strategies. They need to target more overseas clients, as North America is already dominated by Crocs. They should also work harder at distributing to more retail stores in North America.

1. Which of the comparable companies appears to be a good match to Crocs at the time of

* Continued investing in TQM quality control to reduce manufacturing costs of Extreme Kicks’ footwear.

1. Study the networked supply chain concept as implemented by Cisco. What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Nike subcontracts the production process of its footwear to 900 contract factories located worldwide with Asian developing countries such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam accounting for the bulk of total world production. Production of the footwear is based on a vertically integrated model. In the primary stage, raw materials such as rubber, leather and plastic are extracted from places located in close proximity from the factories. In the secondary stage, the extracted resources are sent to the factories or “Sweatshops” for manufacturing. It should be noted that the whole production process of Nike footwear are being carried out by independent private contractors.

Costs were lowered by the elimination of standard box packaging for individual pairs of shoes. They were also decreased by the reduction of stock-keeping units (fewer styles, sizes, etc) and by the use of inexpensive plastic resin material (Croslite) compared to other fabrics which allowed Crocs to lower manufacturing costs because product could be made faster and cheaper using injection molding machines compared to traditional labor intensive methods.

3. ECCO has a fully integrated vertical value chain. What are the pros and cons of this strategy? What economic and strategic factors should be analyzed to answer this question?

Crocs’ value chain management system allowed it tremendous advantage in meeting customer needs (Business Pundit, 2008). By controlling all aspects along the value chain, Crocs could quickly adjust to customer demand, building additional shoes and fulfilling extra orders within a single selling season (von Briesen, 2009). This allowed retailers to order smaller