Supply Chain Of Ford Automobile

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

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.

Supply chains manage the movement of products from the acquisition of raw materials through production and finally distribution to the end user. A properly designed supply chain can create many opportunities to drive down cost and increase revenue opportunities. In order to create a supply chain that is sustainable and flexible it is necessary to identify and align company goals and initiatives with the manufacturing and distribution of products.

A supply chain is very important to an organization. It can and should show the relationship between suppliers, distributors, managers and consumers. This paper would detail how important suppliers and distributions are to an organization’s success. And how important a supply chain is within an organization and how managers can utilize the supply chain. It is important that companies such as Target Corporations utilize the supply chain and gain competitive advantages. Target is one of the world’s largest retail stores; the first Target was opened in 1962 in Roseville, Minnesota (Target.com). By the end of 1962 there were only four Target and they were all operated in Minnesota.

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.

Supply-Chain Management is the activities that procure materials and services, and transform them into intermediate goods and final products and deliver them, through a distribution system (Heizer & Render, 2011, p. 452). DELL is a computer technology corporation that develops sells, repairs and supports, computers and computer related products. DELL has realized that supply chain is becoming more and more important for the success of today’s business world and they work accordingly to keep a competitive advantage in the market. This study will examine to what extent Dell has used supply chain management to gain and retain a competitive advantage in the computer market.

The topic selected is (Strategic Procurement & Supply Chain Management). For this study, we have selected Toyota Motor Corporations as our company of choice. Toyota is without doubt the best in the world, with its many philosophies and principles on how to make the best out of the least; JIT, lean production and elimination of waste and the desire for continuous improvement are just a few ways how Toyota has become the best in the auto industry. Toyota as a name, a company, and as a brand has become synonymous with Quality.

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

The supply chain MCC utilizes is deigned to eliminates waste, focuses on quality and reduces time and cost. By the company including production postponement projects the image of customization for a product to meet client's needs. Therefore, if the company strives for shorter lead times it could damage the reputation of the company. Often times, it assumed that products are inefficient and poorly assembled if production is done too quickly. Also, the increase in production can lead to malfunctions in the vehicle. According to the article in Consumer Affair’s (2016), entitled “GM recalls Chevy Cruze vehicles”, it describes how General Motors recalled the 2015 Chevrolet Cruze automobile due to improperly assembly of the driver-side seatbelts.

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

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.

As director of Supply Chain Systems, Teri Takai recommends implementing virtual integration strategies from companies like Dell to portions of Ford’s supply chain strategy. Although there are several key differences between the companies, the restructuring plans of Ford 2000 have set a viable foundation to implement Dell’s virtual integration strategy in inventory management, customer service and support and suppliers’ management. The redesign of the process must include design not only of the supply chain but also of fulfillment, forecasting, purchasing, and a variety of other functions that historically been considered independently within the Ford hierarchy. Teri

2) What advantages does Dell derive from virtual integration? How important are these advantages in the auto business?

A company 's competitive strategy clearly spells out the set of customer needs that it seeks to satisfy through its products and services having a defined set of attributes. The supply chain design or supply chain strategy must be in alignment with competitive strategy. A supply chain design can be taken up only after the competitive strategy is finalized and a supply chain needs to be redesigned or modified whenever there is a change in competitive strategy. The supply chain strategy includes supplier strategy, operations strategy, and logistics strategy. Design decisions regarding inventory, transportation, operating facilities, and information flows in the supply chain of a company are all part of supply chain strategy. Business strategy involves leveraging the core competencies of the organization to achieve a defined high-level goal or objective. It also includes the analytic and decision-making process surrounding what to offer, when to offer, and where to offer as a competitive plan. While the business strategy constitutes the overall direction that an organization wishes to go, the supply chain strategy constitutes the actual operations of that organization and the extended supply chain to meet a specific supply chain objective. According to an article Supply chain performance: achieving strategic fit and scope –review notes in Business and Management

Dealing With Customers. Jones, D., Helling, J., and Shimokana, K. provide their research about the relationship between mass production and its purchasers, lean production and its clients, and the future development trend in the customer relation of lean production in this section. In the beginning, they observe the way Henry Ford, an example of mass production, dealt with his consumers by letting the dealer perform it. His principle was putting the dealer under the mandatory contract to sell particularly cars from Ford’s production and allowing dealers to stock products in order of satisfying walk-in buyers. Some basic parts in Ford’s dealership rules are still considered nowadays. About the European delivery system, it is somehow similar to American’s, but it is almost thirty years late in some aspects because they have two-tier dealer system which was abandoned many years ago in America. To demonstrate the connection between lean producers and customers, the writers begin with a survey in Western countries, and they, subsequently, realize that the professional sellers there obtained training in marketing skills in order to make an efficient bargain. After that, they describe the way that Toyota use to operate their selling system by showing examples on Toyota products such as Corolla, Vista, Camry, Celica, and Supra. In addition, the lean dealership is also illustrated in this section by addressing some facts about car buyers in Japan, America, and Europe. Also, they