Supply Chain Management: Case Studies and Analysis

|20 pages |12-07-2010 | |
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Price : €5.40

Presentation

Supply chain management is an essential part of the operations of any company. IT and technological improvements have meant that supply chain management practices continue to evolve and progress. Good supply chain management should respond to a company's objectives, satisfy and anticipate demand while taking quality/price ratio and competitiveness into account.

Most of the companies referred to in the following assignment are implanted worldwide and continue their expansion by entering new markets. They have learnt how to be efficient and their supply chain and logistics strategies are central to their competitive edge.

Thus, it is interesting to take lessons from Airbus, 7-eleven, Hewlett-Packard and Zara, which are successful companies, and to learn more about the supply chain process through the Silog logistics simulation game. In so doing, we gain a better understanding of the news concerning supply chain management and its issues, and to how to apply it to future business endeavours.

Extract

2/ WHAT WERE THE MAIN LESSONS THAT YOU LEARNED FROM THE 7-ELEVEN CASE AND THE SUBSEQUENT DISCUSSION?
7-eleven is the largest worldwide chain of convenience stores. It is mainly implemented in the United States of America with more than 5000 stores, Japan with around 7000 stores, and some more other 20 countries. Its name is due to the fact that the stores were open from 7am to 11pm, but it is not the case anymore: 7-eleven tends to open its stores 24 hour a day to answer to the customers’ expectations, depending to the countries. The company adapts to the local market and the willing of the demand.

Currently, 7-eleven success is due to its supply chain management and its know-how in terms of location, inventory, transportation and logistics... Thus, we can make a list of the four main key factors of decision that make the difference between 7-eleven and its competitors:

1. Proximity between stores:
The particularity of the 7-eleven stores is that they are very close from each other, so that competitors are evicted because of the strong presence of the company. The concentration of the stores also allows a less expensive delivery of goods.
2. Off-site preparation:
7-eleven is a convenience store that also sells fresh food. The particularity of 7-eleven fresh food is that it is prepared off-site (versus doing everything at the store): the reason is that it costs a lot to cook in the store and it is more convenient to prepare it off-site. Thus, it requires an organized supply chain system: e.g. 1 delivery/day in the USA, 3 deliveries/day in Japan (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
3. Distribution centers:
7-eleven deals with distribution centers and tries to avoid direct store delivery. The objective is to move all products through combined distribution centers in order to save costs, to have no storage, and to have a faster reactivity. However, it is difficult to deal with small orders with this strategy.
4. IT – Information Technology:
7-eleven supply chain system works thanks to IT. Indeed, stores are connected electronically to the head office, distribution centers and suppliers. Thus, it allows a continuous inventory.
The company also considers the RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification), which tends to replace the bar code system (that has an inventory use), and improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of the company(...)

Supply Chain Management: Case Studies and Analysis Supply Chain Management: Case Studies and Analysis
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Table of Contents

Introduction
1. What were the main lessons you learned from the Airbus video and the subsequent discussion?
2. What were the main lessons you learned from the 7-Eleven case and the subsequent discussion?
3. In the EOQ model, the key parameters to calculate the optimal size of an order are K (order cost) and H (holding cost). If we were to use this EOQ model in SILOG, could you identify in the SILOG data the value of these parameters?
4. No team in SILOG reached a service level of 100%. Comment about the causes of this fact.
5. Using the historical demand data of the SILOG and the methodology of linear regression, do a forecast for weeks 1 to 8. Compare your results with the actual average demand your team faced in SILOG during the five weeks we played.
6. What were the main lessons you learned from the Hewlett-Packard case and the subsequent discussion?
7. Research the supply chain management of Group Inditex (Zara stores). Make a brief report about the influence of SCM aspects on the success of the group.
8. Select a recent article in the press or from the web dealing with supply chain management issues. Make an extended report commenting the main aspects of the article and trying to relate these aspects to the topics dealt with in class.
Conclusion
References

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