Supply Chain Management

This document covers various topics related to Supply Chain Management including appropriate classification for logistics and SCM, Dell's supply chain, ZARA, bullwhip effect, and Toyota's sustainability initiatives.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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Topic 1
Appropriate classification for logistics and SCM
There are two indexes into which the authors have classified logisticians are abs and raw. I feel
that the raw logisticians are more appropriate for logistics and supply chain management. The
rationale behind such opinions is the fact that raw is the total gap between significance of supply
chain management and logistics. Furthermore, it is because raw logisticians are unionists and
they take the actions in accordance with the latter (Halldórsson, Larson and Poist 2008).
Dells supply chain
The company’s supply chain sets it apart from its competition. The company collaborate their
efforts with the supplier in reducing the amount of inventory (Youtube.com 2019). They do so
by giving the suppliers long-term forecasts regarding the volumes. Dell employs a direct model
and that helps the company to serve their customers conveniently and in an efficient way.
ZARA
1) Unlike other fashion retailers, Zara adjusts and adapt with the changing trends in fashion.
The company has realised that consumers of the area that they operate in a highly
sensitive to fashion. Thus in this way the company has gained competitive advantage
over their competitors.
2) The company has no intention to compromise on the quality of their products. This is the
reason why they chose to stick with the European market even if production could have
been possible much cheaply in Asia. Furthermore, they have realised the existence of
numerous fashion trends in Europe and that is the rationale behind them sticking to
Europe.

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3) By having full visibility of the suppliers the company can monitor all their weekly
activities. The use of hand held electronic devises help them monitor from the very
bottom of the sully chain to the top.
4) Keeping spare capacity of trucks, warehousing and production, helps the company
eliminate the risks associated with failure of any component of the supply chain.
5) Yes. I think the ‘rapid fire fulfilment; is suitable for online sales. This process reduces
inventory overload and further helps in boosting service speed.
Topic 2
Ex 1: Information sharing and the quality of the same is crucial when it comes to proper
functioning of the supply chain. It helps in supply chain integration by helping companies in
reducing costs. This further helps in integration of the improving utilisation of resources.
Internal supply chain integration should take place before external integration as the latter cannot
take place without the former.
Ex 2: It should be understood that products that are considered highly innovative, do not stay in
the same state for long. New innovations take of the market after which the previous innovations
are forgotten about. Such products have short life cycles and thus the supply chain should adapt
their objectives in accordance with the same. In order to gain strategic fit, the supply chain
objectives should be dynamic and in a short term perspective.
Ex 3: A company is said to be successful in achieving strategic fit if it is able to utilise all the
resources that that are available to them in accordance with the opportunities provided by the
external environment. From the case study it has been found that wall mart have been able to
achieve strategic fit (LeCavalier 2010). Not only have the company been successful in utilising

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the capabilities of the external environment, they have been able to devise extensive policies and
integrate the functioning of the supply chain in serving and fulfilling the needs of the consumers.
Topic 3:
Ex 1: Depending on the nature of the company selling fast-moving consumer good, its
distribution network would be framed. Consideration must be done while selecting the nature of
the distribution network. It will be different for a perishable good and different for a non-
perishable good. If the company deals in FMCGs that include both the types then the same
should be incorporated into production.
Ownership: The Company would be responsible of ownership of the actual products. However
momentary ownership will be possessed by the warehouses, production units, and freight and
logistics department.
Capacity: it would be determined by the scale of operations of the business. Planning would be
carried out in accordance to the demand of the markets and the ability of the suppliers.
Mode selection: Same as above will be applicable for mode selection. Generally FMCGs require
a medium that is fast and has no or very little amount of resistance. It should follow a general
structure of manufacturer to warehouse, to logistics, to whole seller, retailer and then to the final
consumer. A fast mode of transport should be selected based on the nature of the products that
would be supplied.
Ex 2: The product that has been selected as an example for the topic is Ice-creams. Cross
docking is applicable to the product since, ice-creams are seasonal products. There can be
considerable amount of demand at a certain point of time and that is when cross docking is

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applicable (Kulwiec 2004). However, products are of perishable nature and it can become tricky
to handle big packages.
Topic 4:
The strategy that should be adopted while sourcing the supply form Bangladesh, should include
the following components;
 Category segmentation: Justification of the materials of type of the materials to be
sourced.
 Requirements of the Business: It should be catering to the needs of the business.
 Market research: proper research should be conducted to make sure that the reputation
and performance of the supplier is effective. This should be carried out in order to ensure
that the requirement of the business are met by the requirements of the business.
 Contracting: This is used to determine the final pricing. It is one of the most crucial
stages in supplier selection and determines the costs.
 Source selection: After the source is studied rigorously, the most suitable one is selected
based on the efficacy of the same.
Topic 5:
A phenomenon in the distribution channel that leads to fluctuating forecasts regarding yield of
the supply chain is known as the bullwhip effect (Chatfield and Pritchard 2013). The rationale
behind selection of the name is derived from the shape of the estimated or probable production
curve of the supply chain’s yield. The strategy that should be employed in order to reduce the
bullwhip effect that can be faced by woollen products. It can be said woollen garments are

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demanded by the customers on a seasonal basis and thus results in a fluctuating production yield.
Following are the ways of improving the inefficacy of the bullwhip effect.
 Collaboration: The Company selling the woollen garments should collaborate their
effort with the supplier and with the customer community. Collaborating efforts with the
customers would imply that the company would develop an idea regarding the
preferences of the customers. The company can then collaborate their efforts with the
suppliers in catering to the dynamic responses of the consumers.
 Accuracy of forecasting: The Company should employ personnel who are adept in
forecasting consumer behaviour in the market. They can employ the correct algorithm to
be accurate in determining the behaviour of the consumer community.
 Demand driven Supply chain: The demand driven supply chain model is one of the
most effective ways to reduce the bullwhip effects. It can be said that every other
forecasting techniques are inaccurate while this model can help in determining the most
suitable way to cope with the seasonal demands. The companies can cater to the
individual needs of the employee. Moreover, the company can afford to carry our
research interviews and surveys and that would help determine the nature of the supply
chain.
 Fast decision making: Clear visibility should be instated within the supply chain and the
same would help in making sure that the supply chain is performing up to the mark of the
industry.
Topic 7
Toyota motors is a company who have been striving to contribute to the sustainability issues
of the environment. They have acted as pioneers in developing world class technology to

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cater to the changing needs of the market. Their sustainability initiatives can be highlighted
through the following stages:
1. New way to do old things: It was opined that the best way to reduce emission from
vehicles is to carry out regular pollution control check-ups. However Toyota have
realised that does not cut it the modern times and have thus incorporated the use of
electricity powered vehicles.
2. New methods to carry out new operations: The firm with an eye for sustainability
collaborate all their efforts towards carrying out the trending operations in an
improvised way. They have increased car mileage, thus reducing number of visits to
the gas station. This helps in reducing carbon footprints and in reducing emissions.
3. Transformation: The Company have identified the importance of adaptation with the
current scenario of the society and thus have formulated and revamped their vision
and mission. The latter is aligned perfectly to the sustainable needs of the society.
4. Formulation of new structure: Sustainable operation would imply that the business
would have to implement the same in their organisational structure and the supply
chain (Lubin and Esty 2010). Thus the company has carried out the same and have
faced favourable responses in terms of revenue and consumer acceptance.

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REFERENCES
Chatfield, D.C. and Pritchard, A.M., 2013. Returns and the bullwhip effect. Transportation
Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 49(1), pp.159-175.
Halldórsson, Á., Larson, P.D. and Poist, R.F., 2008. Supply chain management: a comparison of
Scandinavian and American perspectives. International Journal of Physical Distribution &
Logistics Management, 38(2), pp.126-142.
Kulwiec, R., 2004. Crossdocking as a supply chain strategy. Target, 20(3), pp.28-35.
LeCavalier, J., 2010. All those numbers: logistics, territory and Walmart. Places Journal.
Lubin, D.A. and Esty, D.C., 2010. Lessons for leaders from previous game-changing
megatrends. Harvard Business Review, 88(5), pp.42-50.
Youtube.com, 2019. Dell Direct Model. [online] YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG5z-d81emI [Accessed 22 Feb. 2019].