Information Management for Supply Chains: Case Study of Levi Strauss

This report delves into the intricacies of information management within the supply chain, using Levi Strauss & Co. as a case study. It examines the company's implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, particularly in the context of its operations in China. The report covers the framework of the ERP system, its efficiency, and the challenges faced, such as cultural and language barriers, data management, and vendor selection. It highlights how the ERP system has helped streamline business processes, improve data accuracy, and enhance customer service. The report also discusses the benefits of the ERP system in overcoming these challenges and achieving better supply chain efficiency and integration, ultimately contributing to the company's competitive advantage.

Running head: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR SUPPLY CHAINS
Information Management for Supply Chains
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR SUPPLY CHAINS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Implementation of ERP system in China.........................................................................................3
Framework of LSCO-CHK’s ERP system......................................................................................4
Efficiency of LSCO-CHK’s ERP system........................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The topic focuses on the various aspects of managing information for the supply chains
by Levi Strauss and Co., which is one of the major branded jeans wear company. The company
is well established, because of which, it has more than 55,000 retail locations worldwide and has
even been considered as one of the top 100 brands too. It has its headquarters in Singapore, San
Francisco and Brussels and employs over 10,500 employees overseas (levistrauss.com, 2017).
Implementation of ERP system in China
The Enterprise resource planning or ERP system has helped in implementing a business
process management software used by the organisation Levi Strauss and Co. to manage the
business and automate the business operations and processes that are inclined with the
technology, human resources and services offered by the organization (Jacobs & Chase, 2013).
The ERP system allows for managing the business operations with the utilisation of assets in an
effective manner through proper management of production, the design of engineering,
manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution, accounting and customers' services offered by Levi
Strauss and Co. The cross-functional ERP system has helped in integrating the various business
units to deliver better services, reduce the time of processing, enhance the ability to respond to
changes and gain a competitive advantage in business too (levistrauss.com, 2017). The
implementation of fashion ERP systems in China has been successful because it has helped in
determining the mindset of customers and what they wanted. The ERP system implementation
also focuses on the identification of internal staff members and external business partners for
ensuring that those proper investments are made in technology, and the efficiency of production
is reduced along with lessening of the time for processing (Prajogo & Olhager, 2012).

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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR SUPPLY CHAINS
Framework of LSCO-CHK’s ERP system
Organizational environment
Features of people
Technical issues
Impact of culture
ERP vendor support
Successful ERP
implementation
Top management
support
Management of
project
Support by company
Management of business
processes
Involvement of
users
Training and
education
Accuracy of data
Hardware and software
suitability
Organizational culture of
China
Support by vendors
Classification of ABCD
Satisfaction of
users

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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR SUPPLY CHAINS
Efficiency of LSCO-CHK’s ERP system
Levi Straus and Co. has used the ERP system for various reasons such as to prevent
cultural and language barriers and understand the needs and preferences of the customers
effectively and easily. The supply chains have become global nowadays, due to which, there are
multiple barriers faced while planning for the business operations and processes with ease and
effectiveness (levistrauss.com, 2017). In China, there had been several issues including lack of
ability to maintain data, integration problems, selection of a vendor, lack of skills and expertise
of handling the ERP system, poor IT infrastructure and less accessibility to the human resources,
relevant data and information (Jacobs & Chase, 2013).
The foreign products are expensive a bit when compared to the products delivered by the
vendors in China. The Oracle or SAP application can be used as effective ERP systems to
compete with the local vendors too. It is seen that the local vendors can identify the market
scenario quickly than the foreign vendors, while the foreign vendors face similar issues regarding
the delivery of proper customer support because of lack of proper communication and skills o-f
technical staffs (levistrauss.com, 2017). On the other hand, rather than using any alphabets, the
Chinese language use pictures and symbols that create further difficulties to translate the ERP
system from one language to another. The interfaces are designed to support both English and
Chinese so that it can create convenience for the Chinese users to understand and complete their
tasks within the organisation properly (Prajogo & Olhager, 2012).
LSCO-CHK’s ERP system has reduced the chances of entering data and information
manually that has helped in streamlining the business processes and create convenience for the
company to gather relevant data and information (levistrauss.com, 2017). With the use of ERP
system, the redundant data and repetitive processes are reduced, which has allowed the managers

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of the company to make appropriate forecasts and furthermore enhance the scalability of the
implemented solution from time to time. High quality customers’ services are offered along with
better security to protect data and information from getting lost (Jacobs & Chase, 2013).
Conclusion
The topic revolved around the management of data and Information for Supply Chains
within the business organisation Levi Strauss and Co. The importance of Enterprise resource
planning or ERP system had been demonstrated here along with its implementation in China.
The framework for ERP used by the company had been included here as well along with the
identification of success of the implementation of ERP system within the organisation.

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References
Jacobs, R., & Chase, R. (2013). Operations and supply chain management. McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.
levistrauss.com (2017). Levi Strauss. Retrieved 28 August 2017, from
http://www.levistrauss.com/
Prajogo, D., & Olhager, J. (2012). Supply chain integration and performance: The effects of
long-term relationships, information technology and sharing, and logistics
integration. International Journal of Production Economics, 135(1), 514-522.