Ford 's Current Existing Supply Chain Condition

The Ford Motor Company’s Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT The influx of foreign automobiles that flood the United States market is higher than ever before and American companies are struggling to adapt to this decrease in market share. Ford is one of the organizations that has restructured its supply chain strategy to better integrate suppliers into their system reducing cost and

However, there were four fatalities among contractors who were involved in accidents. (Corporate ford 2012).

A supply chain is a net work of firms. Thus, each firm in the chain should build its own supply chains to support the competitive priorities of its services or products. Two distinct designs used to competitive advantage are efficient supply chains and responsive supply chains. Efficient supply chains work best in environments where demand is highly predictable. The focus of the supply chain is on efficient flows of services and materials keeping inventories to a minimum. The firm’s competitive priorities are low-cost operations, consistent quality, and on-time delivery. Responsive supply chains designed to react quickly in order to hedge against uncertainties in demand. Work best when firms offer a great variety of services or products and demand predictability is low. Typical competitive priorities are development speed, fast delivery times, customization, variety, volume flexibility, and top quality. Tables below show the environments and design features that best suit each design.

Ford supply chain strategy case study is an in-depth analysis report based on the inside and outside factors affecting the organization. Our analysis have included two alternatives and a few other attributes of the Ford which focuses on production on various countries and how the factor supply chain is contributing to the company policies. Moreover the report will focus on the current objective and suggest new ideology of Ford with global environment changes in mind.

Fierce competition, fluctuating market demand and rising customer requirements has led to customers becoming more demanding with increased preferences (Zhang and Cheng, 2006). In, the 21 st century, participating largely in globalization has created significant opportunities, and at the same time, put pressure on the automotive industry manufacturers to enhance quality, improve styling, increase organizational efficiencies and drive innovative features into their products in an effort to attract customers and expand into new markets (BCC, 2005). This paper explores the concept of supply chain management with a case study of one of the greatest motor brands BMW. We will look at the supply chain strategy of the company and how successfully it

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

AutoZone is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. With this retail market being saturated, AutoZone has faced tough competition from O’Reilly Automotive, Advance Auto, and Walmart. With the expansion of competition, over everything from price to parts availability, AutoZone decided to make an investment back into the business. Subsequently, AutoZone has strategically change the concept of its supply chain strategy to remain competitive. The changes includes increased frequency of delivery to stores and significantly expanded parts assortments in select mega hubs (Meek, 2017). In addition, more frequent deliveries facilitate lower part depth and higher breadth (Plexor, 2016). AutoZone has made strategic

A mutual fund manager is a person who actively buys or sells and sometimes both funds. They are experienced in implementing a funds strategy used for investing and manages its trading activities as well as the portfolio. Choosing whether or not to invest in Ford Motor Company will take the use of a SWOT analysis and learning about the stakeholders of the company.

What is the right supply chain for your product ? is the question asked by Marshall L. Fisher in his article titled, “What is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product ?” published in March-April 1997 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Author raises the question stating the fact that new ideas and technology implemented haven’t lead to improved performance. Performance has not become better but rather in at least some cases, has worsened due to costs rocketing to unprecedented levels.

Ford in 2011 is on the rebound, having recovered from the darkest hours in the late 2000s. The company for the company is that many of its competitors are also rebounding, and there are significant long-run changes in the automobile industry. Ford needs to determine a strategy that will take the company through the next decade, and improve the company's competitive position. The company has four of the top fifteen best-selling cars in America, but also needs to set strategy globally, as many of the best automobile growth markets are overseas. Another strategic consideration is that CEO Alan Mulally remains in the process of changing the organizational culture at Ford, which had become stagnant and unresponsive to the changes in the industry environment.

Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.

The key to achieving this goal lies in the ability to take advantage of the Ford Company’s size and global presence to invest in information technology. This can be accomplished by using its intelligence resources to renegotiate the way it does business with suppliers, including partial integration of the “virtual integration model”, such as Dell Corporation

After closely examining Dell’s “virtual integration”, Teri realizes the differences between Ford’s purchasing organization and that of Dell’s pose complications. The redesign of the process must

Although the direct business model of Dell is most attractive, there are several key differences between the computer and auto industries which serve as barriers to Ford‘s implementation of uniform, supply chain virtual integration. Ford must tackle many diverse obstacles that were, simply, not a factor with Dell‘s implementation. These obstacles range down the delivery chain from the supplier to the manufacturer to the dealer and, ultimately, to the customer. Overall, the intricate and historic process of manufacturing and selling automobiles contradicts the technological innovation necessary for a true virtually integrated system to exist.

Ford should trim its supplier networks down to one- or two-tier and select the suppliers with advanced and compatible IT capabilities. In the meantime, Ford should pay more attention to building and strengthening the data linkages – like communicating inventory levels and replenishment needs regularly with vendors - to facilitate the sharing of information in real-time fashion. Ford also needs to encourage the dealers to improve their IT ability and much more involve them in forecasting demand.