Questions On The Supply Chain Essay

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

This case presents a company, known as Westminster and currently considered as one of the biggest manufacturer of health products. It consist of three separate companies, in which each of them manufactures their own and unique products, with a decentralized management that allows for an overall outside view of what is for best the future of this enterprise. Top managerial personnel is currently re-evaluating and assessing the company’s supply chain and how they could develop a strategies that would facilitate revamping such system.

Managing and coordinating the day-to-day activities to ensure maximum customer satisfaction, competency, and efficiency requires a customer service department to be knowledgeable about the many operational aspects of the company – marketing, labor, and communication factors all play an integral part with regard to the company’s complex and competitive relationship within the supply chain (Heidelberger).

The company I have chosen for this assignment is Fastenal. Fastenal is an industrial supply company with over 2,700 stores worldwide. The company supplies MRO, OEM, and construction products to large business to an average Joe walking in off the street. Fastenal’s specialty is fasteners, hence the name. It is a very customer serviced based company. The founder wanted his sales representatives out in the market at all times taking very hands on approach and building close relations with their customers. Over time, Fastenal has adapted to the growing use of the internet and other types of technology. It was the first industrial supply company to come up with automated supply technology (vending machines) for customers to disperse their consumables.

The strategies and the structures of the supply chains are amazing at some points. But there are shortcomings too. These major organizations have always tried to provide their customers with products of excellent quality. They have never compromised with the factor of customer satisfaction at any stage of the supply chain. Excellent professionalism and amazing business ethics have established iPhones and Dairy Milk as the leading products in their respective

2. For each specific problem, Identify the solutions developed or proposed in the case, to address the specific problem, business activity/process, and functional area

Consider the purchase of a can of soda at a convenience store. Describe the various stages in the supply chain and the different flows involved.

According to our class text Supply Chain Management’s goal is to create fast, efficient, and low-cost network of business relationships to get a company’s product from concept to market. In order to understand the goal we must know that the supply chain is the process the raw materials of a product go through in order to be available to the consumer. The relationships that the business creates are needed in order to create the product, each process the product goes through creates value, the supply chain is often called the value chain. Internet technologies are increasingly making the supply chain management process much more efficient and worth the initial investment. The supply chain management life

The successive study reveals that the senior management believes that the vast accounts affect the increment of commitment to enhanced supply chain efficiency. The administration has indicated significant customer improvements through maintenance and increase in the sales volume the company generates from the critical accounts. The company research suggests that formulation of a supply chain that involves collaboration with its large customers is now a competitive necessity. In many situations, strong retailers demand the latter and at times can dictate relationship arrangement. The company, therefore, has to ensure significant consideration to create unique supply chain, several powerful customers. It would be wise for Westminster to establish leadership positions within

The business world today is a competitive one. All the companies are trying their best to get ahead in the game. Because that is how they will improve and be the best at what they do. To achieve this the companies have to constantly strive hard and try to be ahead of their competitors or at least in step with them. This is where value chain comes in. Value chain deals with adding value to your product so that the company might gain a competitive edge over their rivals.

The companies have strategic objectives they aim at achieving by the choice of supply they choose. The aims at studying the supply chain of Ford Automobile and identifying their strategies that lead to the choice. The

Beginning with an understanding of supply chain management, Hill et al. (2015) defines the task as managing the components from suppliers and the flow of inputs used in production to maximize inventory turnover, while minimizing inventory holding. Competing in the smart phone market requires Samsung to use innovation, a source of competitive advantage, possibly leading to high profit gains if production costs can be reduced and quality can be improved (Hill et al., 2015). Should Samsung succeed in producing high quality at a low fabrication cost, they could compete with Apple, for example, and possibly earn higher profits to match their large market share, which currently does not match their profits.

The supply chain is an integral part of any business. Without the increased attempts to improve the process we go through to get products from the beginning of the chain to the end, great delays in progress will occur.

1) Increasing Number of Products and Services: With the increasing consumerism and competition among the organizations to attract more and more customers, customer has become more demanding and uncompromising. Companies are customizing products more and more to retain old customers and attract new customers, to fulfill increasing customer demand and gain competitive advantage over rival firms. This has led to the introduction of large number of new products with multiple SKUs which have very short life cycle. All these factors have led to increased complexity in supply chain which needs to be

From the digitization of sales to the modernization of field sales teams, the industrial supply company is a fast-changing business. While technology is a great asset in the development of a customer base, digital technology cannot replace the hands-on experience of a trained tool tech. Mobile devices may be replacing cute colored brochures, but nothing can replace quality customer service. Web sites, digital brochures, and quick access to product information have changed the speed at which the industry operates, but without quality products backed by a reputable service team, order speed is just a faster way to frustration.