Eric

1. What are the lessons useful for their future microprocessor business that you think Intel should have taken away from their experience in the DRAM industry?

Using Supply-Chain Management to reduce space and investment requirements while maintaining adequate service levels is that when an effective supply-chain management, Wolf Motors can streamline the acquisition processes and maintain efficient inventory control while reducing unnecessary inventory warehousing. Wolf Motors could analyze the historical inventory turnover rates to diagnose the appropriate range of supplies that should be on hand in each and every category. Wolf

Changes within the supply chain can disrupt the normal flow of goods and services because each change hasn’t been fully scrutinized. A firm can plan and speculate that a change with have a certain effect on the supply chain, but until those processes have been measured it is impossible to know the true cause and effect of any disruption.

Minimize risks due to uncertain demand. L.L. Bean would be able to manage ordering process and quantities based on actual demand and adjust more effectively.

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

* Employees would not have to work as many overtime hours to fill orders because there would be substantial inventory during heavy demand months

3. How do you anticipate Altera’s customers will react to this new strategy? What are advantages and disadvantages for Altera’s customers?

Accordingly, “major new-product development activity was replaced by incremental product line extensions” (p.56) that resulted in a major revenue stall. The premature core abandonment cause is illustrated with the Kmart example. While the company was investing in a range of unrelated businesses searching for growth, Wal-Mart developed effective distribution and inventory systems. Kmart’s management failed to monitor and match these systems and fell far behind its rival. Hitachi’s example illustrates the talent bench shortfall. One of the leading causes of the stall was the company had executive management that lacked capabilities.

When offers of reduced pricing are accepted for equipment, meeting delivery expectations becomes an important part of enhancing the customer experience to maintain satisfied loyal customers. An inventory specialist in the current distribution center would be given the additional task of segregating and maintaining inventory levels to meet the needs of the customer loyalty department.

2.What activities could be developed by Peanutty to reduce or manage the power od its suppliers and customers to minimize risks and maximize profitability?

Effective supply chain management can provide an important competitive advantage for a business marketer, resulting in improved communication and involvement among members of the chain, increased motivation, and decreased costs. Tracking the movement of and demand for components used to manufacture a product across a variety of potential and actual suppliers, provides insight and the ability to respond instantly to shortages, surpluses, and changes in market conditions. It seeks to optimize production, decrease manufacturing time, minimize inventory, streamline order fulfillment, and reduce cost.

Tasks:  What should Alison do? o Develop plans to improve the inventory management o Develop time-based supply strategies to bring competitive advantages to the organization  Identify the functions and forms of inventory  What are alternatives for inventory management? o ABC classification o Supplier-managed inventories (SMI) o Just-on-time or Just-in-time (JIT) o Enhance the forecasting system (factor correlated with inventory variation)  Provide training programs for current and new hiring employees 1

The move to the state-of-the-art facility will result in the organization being more efficient and will as well result in quicker pull of inventory and quicker shipment. Furthermore, stock will be handled more efficiently with less errors resulting in higher profits for the organization.

Supply change management (SCM) is active in many organizations today. The purpose of SCM is to maximize the company value in order maintain a competitive advantage in the market place. As an Operational Managers (OM) it is essential to oversee the supply chain within an organization. The OM responsibility is to manage the supply chain flow, and to ensure the supply chain has a quality design in order to reduce cost and drive efficiency. (Reid & Sanders, 2010) An organization supply chain includes activities such as product development, sourcing, productions, logistics, material, and other information systems needed to coordinate the movement of goods from suppliers to manufactures, and to final customers.

SF does not want the product overproduced, provide timely reporting of product sales in order to avoid this problem. For this reason, the company's inventory becomes a serious problem.