Concept explainers
CASE WARKWORTH FURNITURE1
Warkworth Furniture specializes in environmentally friendly and sustainable furniture. One of its products, the TePaki desk, uses bamboo for the surface and recycled aluminum for the supports. The desk is made in its factory in Vietnam and shipped to all of its 30 stores throughout the United States, primarily in the large urban areas on either coast. Karen Williamson, the owner of Warkworth Furniture, is struggling with how it should organize its supply chain.
Currently, it ships the desks from Vietnam to the United States via ocean carrier. Once they arrive in the United States, they are shipped via a third-party carrier to each store. It usually takes 10 weeks between when an order is placed with the factory and when the product is received in a store.
The TePaki desk may be eco-friendly, but it isn’t wallet friendly: Each desk costs Warkworth $325 to make and it sells the desk for $850. Nevertheless, Warkworth has been able to identify a market segment of customers that value the look of the desk and what it represents. Across its stores, it sells six desks per week, or 0.2 desk per week per store.
Given the upscale nature of its business, Warkworth’s stores are located in nice areas that unfortunately have high rents. Consequently, between the opportunity cost of capital and the cost of physical space, Karen estimates that it costs Warkworth $150 to hold each TePaki desk in one of its stores for one year. It would be a financial disaster if each desk actually spent the entire year in inventory in a store, but the $150 does represent the true cost of holding a desk in a store for that period of time.
Shipping a TePaki desk from Vietnam to a store costs Warkworth $80 per desk, about $40 for the ocean portion of the journey and $40 for the land portion within the United States.
Andy Philpot, Warkworth’s director of operations, has been arguing for some time that Warkworth should set up a distribution center in southern California to receive products from Asia, and from there distribute them to its various stores. Warehouse space is much cheaper than prime retail space. Hence, the holding cost per TePaki desk per year in a warehouse would only be $60. The only problem with this approach, according to Andy, is that the total shipping cost from factory to store could increase by $8 per desk due to the extra handling and shipping distance once all of the desks are routed through a distribution center.
Karen understands why the distribution center approach could make sense, but she worries about getting all of the execution done right. Instead, she suggests that it ship all of the desks directly to the stores as it currently does, but then ship product between stores as needed. The only problem with that approach is that it probably will cost it about $40 per desk to ship from one store to another.
To add to the discussion, Kathy White, Warkworth’s marketing director, is concerned with how these ideas will affect the desks’ instore availability. She proudly reminds everyone that Warkworth currently has a .99 in-stock probability for the TePaki desk. Andy, a typical ops guy, quips that it could save a ton if it were willing to make its customers wait a week or so to get their desk delivered to the store from a distribution center.
Would you recommend that it consider Karen’s idea of holding all inventory at the stores but shipping between stores as needed?
![Check Mark](/static/check-mark.png)
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution![Blurred answer](/static/blurred-answer.jpg)
Chapter 14 Solutions
OPERATION MANAGEMENT
- Scenario 3 Ben Gibson, the purchasing manager at Coastal Products, was reviewing purchasing expenditures for packaging materials with Jeff Joyner. Ben was particularly disturbed about the amount spent on corrugated boxes purchased from Southeastern Corrugated. Ben said, I dont like the salesman from that company. He comes around here acting like he owns the place. He loves to tell us about his fancy car, house, and vacations. It seems to me he must be making too much money off of us! Jeff responded that he heard Southeastern Corrugated was going to ask for a price increase to cover the rising costs of raw material paper stock. Jeff further stated that Southeastern would probably ask for more than what was justified simply from rising paper stock costs. After the meeting, Ben decided he had heard enough. After all, he prided himself on being a results-oriented manager. There was no way he was going to allow that salesman to keep taking advantage of Coastal Products. Ben called Jeff and told him it was time to rebid the corrugated contract before Southeastern came in with a price increase request. Who did Jeff know that might be interested in the business? Jeff replied he had several companies in mind to include in the bidding process. These companies would surely come in at a lower price, partly because they used lower-grade boxes that would probably work well enough in Coastal Products process. Jeff also explained that these suppliers were not serious contenders for the business. Their purpose was to create competition with the bids. Ben told Jeff to make sure that Southeastern was well aware that these new suppliers were bidding on the contract. He also said to make sure the suppliers knew that price was going to be the determining factor in this quote, because he considered corrugated boxes to be a standard industry item. Is Ben Gibson acting legally? Is he acting ethically? Why or why not?arrow_forwardScenario 3 Ben Gibson, the purchasing manager at Coastal Products, was reviewing purchasing expenditures for packaging materials with Jeff Joyner. Ben was particularly disturbed about the amount spent on corrugated boxes purchased from Southeastern Corrugated. Ben said, I dont like the salesman from that company. He comes around here acting like he owns the place. He loves to tell us about his fancy car, house, and vacations. It seems to me he must be making too much money off of us! Jeff responded that he heard Southeastern Corrugated was going to ask for a price increase to cover the rising costs of raw material paper stock. Jeff further stated that Southeastern would probably ask for more than what was justified simply from rising paper stock costs. After the meeting, Ben decided he had heard enough. After all, he prided himself on being a results-oriented manager. There was no way he was going to allow that salesman to keep taking advantage of Coastal Products. Ben called Jeff and told him it was time to rebid the corrugated contract before Southeastern came in with a price increase request. Who did Jeff know that might be interested in the business? Jeff replied he had several companies in mind to include in the bidding process. These companies would surely come in at a lower price, partly because they used lower-grade boxes that would probably work well enough in Coastal Products process. Jeff also explained that these suppliers were not serious contenders for the business. Their purpose was to create competition with the bids. Ben told Jeff to make sure that Southeastern was well aware that these new suppliers were bidding on the contract. He also said to make sure the suppliers knew that price was going to be the determining factor in this quote, because he considered corrugated boxes to be a standard industry item. As the Marketing Manager for Southeastern Corrugated, what would you do upon receiving the request for quotation from Coastal Products?arrow_forwardThe chapter presented various approaches for the control of inventory investment. Discuss three additional approaches not included that might involve supply chain managers.arrow_forward
- Your firm uses a periodic review system for all SKUS classified, using ABC analysis, as B or C items. Further, it uses a continuous review system for all SKUS classified as A items. The demand for a specific SKU, currently classified as an A item, has been dropping. You have been asked to evaluate the impact of moving the item from continuous review to periodic review. Assume your firm operates 52 weeks per year; the item's current characteristics are: Demand (D) = 15,080 units/year Ordering cost (S) = $125.00/order Holding cost (H) = $3.00/unit/year Lead time (L) = 5 weeks Cycle service level = 95 percent Demand is normally distributed, with a standard deviation of weekly demand of 64 units. -Calculate the item's EOQ. - Use the EOQ to define the parameters of an appropriate continuous review and periodie review system for this item. -Which system requires more safety stock and by how much? -How do you think each system can affect your procurement procedures/methods?arrow_forwardYour firm uses a periodic review system for all SKUS classified, using ABC analysis, as B or C items. Further, it uses a continuous review system for all SKUS classified as A items. The demand for a specific SKU, currently classified as an A item, has been dropping. You have been asked to evaluate the impact of moving the item from continuous review to periodic review. Assume your firm operates 52 weeks per year; the item's current characteristics are: Demand (D) = 15,080 units/year Ordering cost (S) = $125.00/order Holding cost (H) = $3.00/unit/year Lead time (L) = 5 weeks Cycle service level = 95 percent Demand is normally distributed, with a standard deviation of weekly demand of 64 units. 1- How do you think each system can affect your procurement procedures/methods?arrow_forwardWholemark is an Internet order business that sells one popular New Year greeting card once a year. The cost of the paper on which the card is printed is $0.05 per card, and the cost of printing is $0.15 per card. The company receives $2.15 per card sold. Since the cards have the current year printed on them, unsold cards have no salvage value. Its customers are from the four areas: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Pasadena. Based on past data, the number of customers from each of the four regions is normally distributed with mean 2,000 and standard deviation 500. (Assume these four are independent.) What is the optimal production quantity for the card?arrow_forward
- A store uses an EOQ system for one of its most popular product. The product has a daily demand of 49 units. The store purchases the product from a supplier. The supplier has an order lead time of 6 days. The store uses an order quantity of 1617 units. A shipment of the supplier always at the beginning of day and the store always place a new order at the end of day. The store also monitors its inventory continuously. Assume that a shipment arrives at the beginning of day 1 and the beginning inventory becomes 1617 units. What is the inventory level at the end of day 12?arrow_forwardJack Ltd is a market leader in the manufacture of apple juice. They operate areorder level system of inventory management, and the following information isavailable for green apples:Average usage 800 per dayMinimum usage 540 per dayMaximum usage 1260 per dayLead time for replenishment 16-20 dayReorder quantity 19,500 applesRequired: iii Calculate the minimum (buffer) inventory levelarrow_forwardZara is a fashion label and fashion chain store established in 1975 by the Spanish group Inditex owned by Amancio Ortega. Zara tripled its profit and stores during the last two decades and ranked the third biggest retailer worldwide (Zhang, 2008). Zara has been struggling with managing inventories accumulated because its retail outlets are accumulating the demand and leading to inaccurate demand forecast orders. Zara also has a free return policy allowing customers to overstate demands due to shortages intentionally and then cancel when the supply becomes adequate again. a) Identify and discuss the supply chain term associated with Zara's inventory accumulation problem in the supply chain?arrow_forward
- Barbara Flynn's company has compiled the following 12.5 ata on a small set of products: ITEM A B C D E ANNUAL DEMAND ITEM NUMBER E102 D23 D27 R02 R19 $107 $123 U11 U23 V75 100 75 50 200 150 Perform an ABC analysis on her data. PX 12.6 Lynn Fish opened a new beauty-products retail store. There are numerous items in inventory, and Lynn knows that there are costs associated with inventory. However, because her time is limited, she cannot carefully evaluate the inventory policy for all products. Lynn wants to classify the items according to dol- lars invested in them. The following table provides information about the 10 items that she carries: UNIT COST $300 100 50 100 65 UNIT COST $4 $16 $8 $2 $8 $12 $1 $7 $1 $14 DEMAND (UNITS) 800 2,400 700 1,000 200 500 1,200 800 Use ABC analysis to classify these items into categories A, B, and C. PX 1,500 2,500 Problems 12.7-12.40 relate to Inventory Models for Independent Demand • 12.7 William Beville's computer training school, in Richmond, stocks…arrow_forwardJack Ltd is a market leader in the manufacture of apple juice. They operate areorder level system of inventory management, and the following information isavailable for green apples:Average usage 800 per dayMinimum usage 540 per dayMaximum usage 1260 per dayLead time for replenishment 16-20 dayReorder quantity 19,500 applesRequired:a. Calculate the reorder levelarrow_forwardMGMT Bakehouse Inc supplies bread, cakes and other specialty products, to a large percentage of the country. In a market where the customer can return stale bread for up to a 100% refund, having ‘Returns’ is like burning paper money. All baked goods have a shelf life of one week. That is, bread that is sold on Monday is returned the following Monday. Most customers place orders in advance but wholesalers and hotels are sometimes ad-hoc and the company has to project/predict their orders. Recently there have been complaints that some product lines and/or customers are experiencing high returns. At the same time there is a very specific set of customers consistently experiencing short deliveries. The company wishes to maximize sales while minimizing returns. 1. From the perspective of the Human Resource department and management level, Suggest ONE contributing factor that may be upsetting the business process(es) as HR manager and ONE contributing factor for those customers…arrow_forward
- Purchasing and Supply Chain ManagementOperations ManagementISBN:9781285869681Author:Robert M. Monczka, Robert B. Handfield, Larry C. Giunipero, James L. PattersonPublisher:Cengage Learning
![Text book image](https://www.bartleby.com/isbn_cover_images/9781285869681/9781285869681_smallCoverImage.gif)