Li & Fung – the Global Value Chain Configurator

Westminster Company is a giant Global manufacturer of health products whose brand has been recognized by the world. As the company they have three different operations which produce and distribute different product lines. Their main strategy on which they are working and which is a major success for them is decentralized management. Now they are re-evaluating their traditional supply chain strategy because the company is getting too much pressure from their large domestic’s customers and global customers. Now the company has to study on

China’s underdeveloped infrastructure, in particular the land transport system and connection between different forms of transportation, slowed down distribution, increased logistic costs, and finally hindered expansion into rural regions (p.13). As a result of this slow transportation, Wal-Mart’s two distribution centers couldn’t serve the entire country adequately. On the other hand, these distribution centers were significantly underused due to small amount of stores. Consequently, the retailer couldn’t benefit from cost saving through its distribution approach (p.14). Furthermore, communication with the retailer’s 15,000 local suppliers was inefficient and costly due to the lack of an information-technology network (p.14).

It is becoming apparent that the ever changing environment in the global marketplace requires a swifter response time from businesses and their supply chains. The era when production was moved overseas, so businesses can take advantage of low-cost labor is coming to an end, because businesses are not only competing on price but also on time. The owner of Zara, a Spanish clothing store knows this first hand, and has turned supply chain management on its ear, making his company the “envy of the industry” (Ferdows, Lewis, & Machuca, 2004).

Inspired by my multi-cultural identity and my family’s global manufacturing and printing company, my desire to pursue a career in global supply chain management continues to shape my professional life. While completing degree, I worked full time at MazGraphic Digital Company, Unified Grocers and Aerojet Rocketdyne. My involvement with these companies led me to become increasingly detail-oriented, heightened my ability to multitask and learn about different supply chain strategy. After graduating college, I joined the Munchkin Inc. team as a supply chain

Li & Fung is a long-standing Hong Kong based company that that has evolved from an export trading company to a coordinator of value-added services across the entire supply chain in a global, open manufacturing environment. They assess the clients’ product and delivery needs and orchestrate supply, manufacture and delivery in a very tailored and specialized way (Claremont Conversation Online, 2008). In the prevailing business environment, it has not been cost effective to trade with SMEs since production orders were below the factory minimums. Through the implementation of an internet portal, they have secured their position with the SME market while maintaining economies of scale.

In today’s business world, production cost was an increasing concern for companies working to stay competitive in the global marketplace. The top management must search for a global solution to drive down costs and reduce difficult activities associate with inventory management and production management. Global sourcing aimed to exploit global efficiencies in the delivery of services and goods across geopolitical boundaries, including low cost skilled labor, low cost raw materials, tax benefits, and price breaks. Whelan Pharmaceutical was the best example to illustrate how the company chose the best manufacturing site for global sourcing from different perspectives.

L.L.Bean’s supply chain faces numerous global challenges. These challenges are not unique to L.L.Bean and affect almost all players in the global marketplace. The first issue facing L.L.Bean is the continued volatility of customer demand for premium products. While US markets have shown strong economic recovery, other global markets are still battling recovery (Gyorey, Jochim, & Norton, 2010). This results in restrained global spending, a substantial challenge for L.L.Bean who distributes their catalogs to over 170 countries (“About L.L.Bean: Company Information”, 2015).

This is a fund worth £125 million to be awarded to firms or groups of firms in the UK in order to help expand already operating suppliers and to encourage the development new suppliers. Awards will be made to applications from firms or groups of firms that want to invest in the purchase of capital equipment, research and development which improves manufacturing equipment and processes, and related skills projects

The scope of this investigation is limited to a pure academic exercise of Supply Chain Analysis in a real world situation. Even though, the study aims to provide insight on how to improve Tsingtao’s Supply Chain. The report is also limited to a specific division in South China. This method was chosen to enable detailed analysis of a current supply chain in action. Moreover, anglicizing on the Tsingtao’s supply chain in general would be too complex, and therefore not generate meaningful outcomes or strategies. In addition, the availability of information limits the study to a suggestion of a series of broader initiatives.

The shifts in the jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss’s global strategy could vividly demonstrate how global sourcing strategy works and affect its supply chain. At first, the company was created in the USA. As it developed and became a global company, they began to employ workers all over the world. However, in face of fierce competition, Levi Strauss started to shift its operation to lower-cost countries in the late 1980s. By the year 2003, Levi Strauss closed the last four plants in North American and ‘has become an entirely offshore producer’ (Dicken 2011 p.318). The German fashion company Hugo Boss also provides similar example. In face of high production cost, namely high labor cost in domestic market, more and more fashion retailers choose to outsource their production. Moreover, some fast

Management Group: Reconstructing the Supply Chain After a Cross-Border Factory Relocation: Analysis of a Case Study

In recent years, the rapid changes in the fast fashion industry, a highly concerned about environmental issues as well as the sustainability for the company. Thus, it is a big challenge for the company 's global operations to think about how to use the market intelligence, sensitive response and do more eco-friendly produce to stand out in a competitive market. In contradiction of fast fashion strategy, their supply chain must have the capabilities of fashionable design, quick response, and affordable costs. Therefore the operation decisions of supply chain management for fast fashion industry is a investigate issue to discuss and analysis the considerations of process outsourcing supply chain. The discussions here emphasize the key outsourcing decision factors such as specialization focus and key resources keeping, revenue and market share, supplier relationship, technology, and risk control, costs and efficiency.

Many complex and more diverse decisions confront supply chain managers on a regular basis: what would be more efficient to manufacture in-house or to outsource; what new channels to implement that it would benefit their customers and suppliers, or how all new technologies, platforms, and practices have to be aligned to enable real-time supply chains. Current information technology reduced outsourcing transaction costs drastically, enabled companies to an increased supervision and control over offsite work, and outsourcing services can deliver faster and more convenient, but technology alone is not the solution. If a company decides to embrace changes in business processes and business culture, those changes can support a long way toward delivering a better product for less money. Complex sphere of activities in many countries is not relevant anymore because a massive number of activities outsourced became commonplace, a new normal.

The goal of effective supply chain management is to "gain competitive advantage through optimizing flows within the enterprise". The Hong Kong listed company Li & Fung Ltd represents one of the world 's best examples of achieving this goal. The company financial history clearly tells that story. Just last year, L&F saw profit attributable to shareholder increase by 23%. In fact, over the past 14 years, L&F has seen steady compound annual growth rate of 22%. Not bad performance for a small family company that started in Guangzhou in 1906 trading silk and porcelain. In 1937, L&F moved its headquarters to one of the world 's most efficient seaports, Hong Kong, a move that would have a critical impact on their supply chain management. The L&F

• Li&Fung’s success factors include focusing on efficiently managing the supply chain and a unique