Starbucks Supply Chain

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.

The Supply Chain Management System used at Lowe’s is a collaboration process. According to LeRoy Allen, Senior Vice President of Logistics for Lowe's Companies, as cited by Real Results Magazine (2012), Lowe’s has more than 3,000 suppliers and having effective communication with all of them is difficult. Providing them with key information helps them, not only run their own business but assists Lowe’s in running theirs. This model was designed to efficiently run the supply chain together (para. 2).

| A company 's organizations and processes for distributing and delivering products to the final customers constitute

Amazon.com has built the relationship with its customer based on a particular shopping experience that is tight to three levels in the supply chain

The existing production schedule will be maximized with the use of a Materials Requirement Planning System. “To determine an acceptable feasible schedule to be released to the shop, trial master production schedules are run through the MRP program. The resulting planned

“For companies today, MRP is a computerized information system. As such, it requires data to provide the information needed for decision making” (Vonderembse & White, 2013, Section 9.5, para 6). The goal of this paper is to read the Space Age Furniture Company case study and develop an MRP for Space Age Furniture Company using the information in the case including the production of sub-assemblies in lot sizes of 1,000 considering the lot size of 1,000 for sub-assemblies has produced a lumpy demand for part 3079; suggest ways for improvements over sub-assemblies in lot sizes of 1,000, analyze the trade-off between overtime costs and inventory costs, calculate a new MRP that improves the base MRP, compare and contrast the types of production processing—job shop, batch, repetitive, or continuous—and determine which the primary mode of operation is and why, describe ways that management can keep track of job status and location during production and recommend any changes that might be beneficial to the company and/or add value for the customer.

* Starbucks expanded to pursue sales of products in a variety of distribution channels and market segments. Products were marketed to restaurants, airlines, hotels, universities, hospitals, business offices, country clubs, and select retailers. In the airline industry, Starbucks coffee was served in flights United Airlines and United Airlines. Packets of Starbucks coffee along with coffee making equipment were made available in each room in Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson and Westin Hotels. Coffee service was also provided in several Wells Fargo banks in California. Foodservice distributors such as Sysco

Best Buy infrastructure has to be its primary strength starting with its operations, merchandise and services, distribution, and suppliers both in the domestic and international segment. Best Buy store operations are divided into districts and are under management of a retail field officer who oversees store performance through district managers. District managers monitor U.S. Best Buy store operations and meet regularly with store managers to discuss merchandising, new product introductions, sales promotions, customer loyalty programs, employee satisfaction surveys and store operating performance.

In the inventories section, they are directed at the lower of cost (primarily moving average cost) or market. Starbucks records inventory reserves for obsolete and slow-moving inventory and for estimated shrinkage between physical inventory counts. According to trends, inventory reserves are based on inventory obsolescence, historical experience and application of the specific identification method. As of September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014, inventory reserves were $33.8 million and $31.2 million, respectively. We see that the carrying amount (lower of cost or market) as of the balance sheet date of inventories less all valuation and other allowances. Excludes noncurrent inventory balances (expected to remain on hand past one year or one operating cycle, if longer).

How can Harley Davidson marketing and sales, personnel interact with its purchasing personnel to further strengthen the supply chain and improve customer loyalty?

-To operate this business model, the store managers should have the access to accurate and updated sales and inventory data for them to decide what to order and what not to order. In addition, they should know the availability of the products they would like to order eg. by having access to the inventory level of other stores.

Store operation process is integrated with system providing work structure, production schedule and marketing strategy recommendation.

Distribution channels interfaces the association 's item or administration to its purchasers; and in a maker buyer (administer supply) channel, as on account of Starbucks, keeping up a faculty association with the clients is critical (Brassington & Pettitt, 2000). However, from a dissemination perspective Starbucks got preference by adhering on to its winning store area recipe for its new stores.

The context change in form that Starbucks found itself competing with smaller chains that resembled its former pre-expansion model with competitors focusing in creating symbolic-expressive value and fast food restaurants that had started to offer specialty coffee with more aggressive advertisement at a lower cost. The competitive context changed for Starbucks because it’s focus in mass distribution channels and its retail footprint strategy stated its product within a standard performance product value; this affected the value perception of the product.

Globalization is “the integration of economies around the world through the movement of goods, services and capital across borders” and is a dynamic process through which companies, corporations and organizations leverage their strengths, magnify their reach, and decrease costs by outsourcing multiple business processes (IMF Staff, 2008). The globalization of Starbucks’ supply chain played a crucial role in attaining organizational success, having a significant impact on its business operations. This report aims to analyze the challenges that globalization presents in a constantly evolving market, and evaluate the solutions that Starbucks has implemented to manage these challenges.