Tutorial Activity 6 and 7: Supply Chain Management and E-procurement

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Tutorial Activity 6, 7
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Table of Contents
Activity 6.........................................................................................................................................3
Activity 7.........................................................................................................................................4
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Activity 6
1. Explain how Argos uses supply chain management to improve the proposition for its
customers.
The adoption of supply chain management or SCM by Argos has aided it to enhance the
suggestion for its consumers as it uses the feature of “Check and Reserve” that aid the customers
of the organisation to check the availability of products in its stores and place orders from a
particular store that can be picked up later. The features of the system that Argos has are better as
compared to the systems that its rivals have thus aided the organisation to deliver better results to
the customers thus increasing the satisfaction that they derive from using the services that the
Argos provides.
2. What do you think are the factors that have made Argos successful within its
multichannel retail strategy?
Argos have emerged successful in its strategy of multichannel retail because the organisation
used the feature of “Check and Reserve” that has aided the customers to keep a track of the
levels of stock that the organisation has and place orders from a particular store such that the
stocks can be picked-up later as per the choice of the customers. The range of diversity of the
products that Argos owned increased, thus aiding the customers to opt for home delivery thus the
organisation was aided to emerge successful in its strategy pertaining to multichannel retail and
increasing the profitability of the organisation.
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Activity 7
1. Given the scale of the purchasing operation at Cambridge Consultants, what benefits do
you think e‐procurement has brought?
E-procurement has brought in several benefits with itself as it aided the organisation to order
immediately online as the agreements of purchase those were made as well as the controls
associated with it aided to establish the orders immediately on the Internet that included the
accurate price and the terms of special payments that were made. The RS card of purchase that
was made while orders were made on website aided the information of the orders made to be
collected automatically making sure that the controls are at place. The speed of the process
increased and the accuracy was ensured thus decreasing the cost of each transaction.
2. Why are procurement costs currently as high as £60 to £100 per order?
The cost of procurement of the organisation is high because the process involved about 60
pounds to 120 pounds based on the complication of the order that was placed. The cost was high
because the engineers had to use paper for recognising the needs of the customers thus increasing
the cost by including the costs matching invoices. The cost of clearance, matching invoices,
handling delivery, along with the pour parts of order form of purchase increased the total cost per
order.
3. How are procurement costs reduced through e‐procurement?
The cost of procurement was decreased by adopting e-procurement as it aided the company to
place orders immediately on online platforms. The cards of RS that were used with respect to the
purchases that were made aided to collect data or information at once or instantly. Moreover, as
the process of buying was boosted, accuracy was guaranteed thus aiding to reduce the
transactions that were made. The organisation’s time, as well as expenditure, has been saved as a
result of e-procurement. The use of paper in the process has decreased in the company due to the
adoption of e-procurement. The cost pertaining to match the invoices was reduced thus
decreasing the expenditure of the company.
4. What staff benefits accrue to Cambridge Consultants as a result of e‐procurement?
The adoption of e-procurement in Cambridge Consultants has aided it in several ways as the
costs of procurement of the organisation have decreased. E-procurement has aided to make not
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only customers happy but also the employees of the organisation since they have been assisted to
place orders until 8 pm and meet the deadlines based on the requirement. Every employee of the
organisation has access to internet in the organisation thus aiding to control the functions of
reporting from the website. E-procurement has aided to open several orders during daytime such
that they can be put against various centres of cost internally.
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