Define the situation (case summary) Define the major issues, conflicts, and the network . Describe the options (alternatives) for solving these issues. Several internal and external influences serve as contributing factors in the reconsideration of the company’s current system. Changes in customer demands, domestic and global competition, and a unique decentralized management system is now forcing the Westminster Company to reevaluate their traditional supply chain practices. (Bowersox & M.B., 2014) Westminster’s domestic operations consist of three separate companies that sell and distribute products to several of the same customers. (Bowersox & M.B., 2014) At first glance consolidation of the systems can significantly improve …show more content…
Define the effect of transportation on the situation Greater prospects are available for truckload shipping volumes with consolidated distribution centers and assorted product shipments. This would necessitate fewer outbound shipments, with each in larger quantities for better transportation savings. The possible longer distances from distribution centers to customer locations might be the only disadvantage to transportation cost.
Define what the impact on inventory and warehouse cost would be? Fixed costs are generally a concern with warehousing. Many companies are streamlining their manufacturing and distribution network by consolidating and centralizing their logistics operations. (Ou, 2002) Warehouse consolidation is a key component of the logistics strategy. When the products are high in value and when transportation costs are insignificant compared to inventory and ordering cost, consolidation can be pursued with great enthusiasm. Also, outsourcing warehouse functions has proven to be a good idea when the product in question has a seasonal, cyclical, or uncertain sales nature. One recent example of manufacturing consolidation is Colgate-Palmolive establishing a new facility in Greenwood County. “Greenwood County had a building that was a perfect fit for our needs, offers us a talented workforce and excellent market access” said Mike Corbo, Vice President-Global Supply Chain, for Colgate-Palmolive. (Skipper, 2013) That “perfect fit” comes thanks to
For this assignment, the writer commences by exploring “Resource Dependency Theory” as the understanding of this hypothesis is vital. Next, an overview will be undertaken in terms of the selected organisation -that is, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. After, the paper will present a brief description of the relationship between Walmart and its suppliers. It then goes on to highlight the managerial bridging strategies that the company uses in dealing with the organisations it depends on for resources. These strategies are: negotiation, contracts, interlocking directorates, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions.
The disadvantages however include that the retail stores will have little control when the restocking takes place. Also, a number of stores rely on just one combined distribution centre. Also, if the system goes down while the delivery is at CDC, then all the stores can be affected and timely deliveries might not be possible. Hence accurate forecasts are needed. Direct delivery system might be a useful technique as the stores follow variant patterns. If the demand increases and a store require a greater number of deliveries then the demand can be met more efficiently as the deliveries can be made directly to the stores.
In 1962, the birth of regional discount stores occurred, including Wal-Mart, which grew to be one of the world’s most successful retailers
In reviewing this case it is tempting to view its current methods as inefficient, with an over-reliance on many subcontractors, with the temptation of following a Western European/USA model of centralising production and driving tighter Arms Length Contractual Relations (ACR) to drive efficiency and reduce costs.
28. All of the following reasons why the demand and supply chain management system that i2 installed for Nike failed except:
The guide lines of this approach were very simple. It established that the regional warehouses should be eliminated in order to reduce inventory to zero. However, that place would be used like an “exchanged spot”, which means that the trucks were filled up in the central warehouse and unloaded to small local trucks that would deliver the
Manufacturing today includes all facets of research, development, production, sales, distribution, logistics, customer service, marketing, and support. It extends from the making of physical products to the delivery of services (Deloitte, 2013). Manufacturing companies now compete on a global scale and utilize specific locations around the world to their advantage. For instance, basic, simple to make products will be produced in an area with cheap, low education labor. While products that use high tech machinery that require a skilled labor force would need to be produced
Ready or not, today’s large IT organizations are undergoing a transformational shift, moving from an operational focus to becoming enablers of business innovation. Increasingly tasked with delivering high-quality services that enable the business to grow on demand and in the most cost effective way, CFOs should redefine success from simply on-time, on-budget delivery of IT projects to continuously providing value to the business.The networking world in the last decade has seen huge advancement in the devices that we use for the access of the networks, applications and services that we have become so dependent on. But the underlying network has not seen any change in the same time frame.
Supply chains face expanded pressure from partners to join a plenty of corporate obligation and maintainability angles in their constituents'
When planning to utilize this centralized warehouse/complex, several things have to be taken into account fixed costs, storage costs and handling cost are all important factors in this process. Handling costs coincide with the utility and labor cost proportional to the warehouse’s yearly flow of goods and/or services. Fixed costs are not proportional to the quantity of material that passes through the facility: it has to do with capacity of the facility. Storage costs are calculated from the inventory of products held in that facility.
The supply of transportation gets its supply from individual firms known as chain managements who seek to coordinate the flow of materials, product, and information between supplies. The goal of the business is to find ways to save money in reducing the amount, the size in material, and no longer useful supply. Supply chain synchronization is one of the big firms within many firms in the challenge of supply chain management and Its duties is to integrate operations across multiple firms to facilitate logistical operations across multiple firms and so that participants would benefit from jointly planning and implementing logistical operations.
• Describe and critically analyze the supply chain management practices employed by both of these companies.
Product itself would also have a big influence on logistics, because of the requirement of sale, the design of the product’s package and itself would have impacts on the inventory and transportation efficiency. For example, some product design need big shipping package for protection which will waste space on pallets and truck.
The case involves trying to improve the market share and increase the profits of DuPont’s carpet fibres division. Over the years, the performance of the carpet fibre division has been getting poorer due to various reasons. Some of them are customer behaviour, customer expectations, competition within the industry as well as from competitors in similar industries, and also lack of knowledge and training in the entire supply chain. Using of technology, combining vertical and horizontal integration and changing with the changing trends and demands are crucial. Understanding your market and target audience along with being able to establish and cater to new ones are ways in which some solutions to these problems can be devised.
A wireless local area network (LAN) is a flexible data communications system implemented as an extension to, or as an alternative for, a wired LAN. It uses radio frequency (RF) technology, to transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. A wireless LAN system can combine data connectivity with user mobility.