Review on Article - What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Products

The main elements of a supply chain include purchasing, operations, distribution, and integration. The supply chain begins with purchasing. Purchasing managers or buyers are typically responsible for determining which products their company will sell, sourcing product suppliers and vendors, and procuring products from vendors at prices and terms that meets profitability goals.

Badar and Sammidi (2013) found that information collection and utilization in supply chain management is of vital importance. Badar & Sammidi (2013) also found that profits can be maximized by increasing efficiencies in the supply chain. Societal and technological trends have led to consumers who increasingly expect products and services to be quickly available (Parnell, 2014). A just-in-time inventory system based on up-to-date data prediction models that allows for quicker order fulfillment, and better in stock supplies when and where customers need the items, should continue to bode well for Home Depot long term. It will be difficult for Home Depot to distinguish itself from Lowe’s in other meaningful ways which may force it to deviate functional strategies away from the low-cost corporate strategy. Attempting to differentiate itself in other ways may cause serious misalignments in its strategies and cause an unnecessary decline in

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).

“Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells” (Friedman, T. n.d.). The introductory quotation from American Journalist Thomas Friedman establishes the purpose of this essay. This essay will briefly exhibit two factors that would change the demand for the product produced by GNC (General Nutrition Center); as elaborated upon in the last Session Long Project (SLP) this is the franchise I’ve selected for study during the duration of this session. Next, will be a short overview of activities that would affect changes in supply. After that, how could quantity demanded by changed? Finally, the type of demand the GNC product promulgates whether it is elastic or inelastic. First, let us dive into the two factors would change the demand for the GNC product.

The current demand forecasting method is based on qualitative techniques more than quantitative ones. If the forecast is not accurate, the company would carry both inventory and stock out costs. It might lose customers due to shortage of supply or carry additional holding costs due to excess production. If the actual demand doesn’t match the forecast ones, and the forecast was too high, this will result in high inventories, obsolescence, asset disposals, and increased carrying costs. When a forecast is too low, the customer resorts to a competitive product or retailer. A supplier could lose both sales and shelf space at that retail location forever if their predictions continue to be inaccurate. The tolerance level of the average consumer

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.

In the following sections I will propose a supply chain strategy which will align company goals and initiatives increasing efficiency and driving down cost thereby creating a sustainable competitive advantage through the implementation of a synergistic supply chain strategy.

Company is facing a challenge of potentially higher inventory costs. Rising prices may further result in changes in customer behavior and preferences.

When implementing project 1, you face technical and market risk. How would you assess the risks embedded in Project 1?

When dealing with closed loop supply chains, complexity increases, management information systems may have to be restructured, and uncertainty may also build up. “Several sources of uncertainty were identified such as demand, availability of raw materials, prices, promotion of new products and for the closed-loop supply chains uncertainty in the amount of non-conformance products or on the level of returnable end of life products”.(Cardoso,Science direct). Demand levels and other

Our approach was to facilitate the demand with respect to the market. We penetrated the market by building factory in Fardo and building warehouses to the respective regions, Caleopeia, Sorange, Entworpe, Tyran. Another component that we had to consider was finding the optimal cost to increase market share and increase our profit margin. Discussion on the logistics will be discussed thoroughly, which affected our decision points and our overall outcome. There are a few questions we needed to answer before we built a road map to our strategy i.e. figuring out where to build the factory and warehouse, estimate the demand of the four regions and Fargo region, should we change capacity, adjust ordering point with respect to quantity, and also

Richard Dana Associates (RDA) was brought in by the owners of a family-owned business with complex relationship issues at a time preceding an anticipated leadership transition. Following individual and group coaching sessions, RDA was able to help the leadership separate personal issues, and codify practices through formal policies to allow the leadership group to focus on business issues without personal complications. At the end of RDA's engagement, the client was well-positioned to begin developing a transition plan.

Based upon his ten years research on supply chain issues in diverse industries such as food, fashion, apparel and automobiles he devises a framework which will help

4. In a service supply chain, the (explicit) cost of information is higher than in a product

including distributors and suppliers. From the person who gets original wood from a tree to the