Supply Chain Management Report: Interview Analysis of Two Companies

This report presents an analysis of supply chain management strategies based on interviews with Arvind Naram, former VP of Manufacturing at Princess Auto, and Rhonda Spencer, Overland Manager at Kuehne+Nagel. The introduction highlights the significance of logistics within supply chain management and sets the objective to compare and contrast the operational strategies of these two companies. The report provides background information on Princess Auto, a Canadian retail chain, and Kuehne+Nagel, an international transport and logistics company. The analysis compares job responsibilities, operational structures, and the application of technology in logistics. The findings reveal differences in the scope of operations, with Princess Auto focusing on land-based logistics and Kuehne+Nagel operating globally across land, air, and water. Both companies utilize advanced information technology for logistics control, but employ different consumer acquisition strategies. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of cost and time effectiveness in supply chain management and logistics. The limitation of the paper is that it could not gather updated information from Princess Auto due to the retirement of the interviewee. The report also touches on human resource management practices and suggests potential improvements for Kuehne+Nagel based on Princess Auto's practices.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Chosen interviews:
Princess Auto - former VP of Manufacturing now retired - Arvind Naram
Kuehne+Nagel - Overland Manager - Rhonda Spencer
Introduction
Logistics is the major part of supply chain management, processing and distribution
management of any business operation. As logistics system involves both inbound and
outbound logistics related strategies, it requires different job positions to manage the supply
chain and logistics system efficiently and profitably (Wang et al., 2014). The purpose of this
report is to present the post interview data analysis and discussion regarding different
responsibilities and strategies in logistics system of two different companies. The interviews
were taken from Arvind Naram, the retired VP of Manufacturing in Princess Auto and
Rhonda Spencer, the Overland Manager of Kuehne+Nagel. In the following section the
background of the companies will be discussed along with the data collected from the
interview session, in order to compare and contrast the different responsibilities and strategies
in logistics system of these two companies.
Background of Princes Auto
Princes Auto Ltd. is a Canadian retail chain that specialises in different automobile
equipment retailing associated with farming operation, industrial garage, hydraulics, Air
& Power, HVAC, Automotive Repair & Shop, Tools & Safety, Metal Fab, Seasonal,
Outdoor, Truck & Trailer, Driveline and surplus items and others (Princessauto.com., 2019).
The logistic and supply distribution operations of Princes Auto are involved with 48 stores in
ten provinces, three electronic fulfilment centres, three distribution centres and one
manufacturing division. The company has different business and supply chain strategies for
different product brands ranged from low priced brands such as Powerfist tools to mid-priced

2SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
brands such as Pro.Point, UltraPro (NAPA), Craftsman (Sears). Currently, the business
operation of this company is limited within the national border of Canada.
Interview details collected from Arvind Naram
As per the data collected from the interview session it has been found that Arvind
Naram was an engineering manager followed by purchasing management and production
manager before becoming the vice president of manufacturing department. When he joined
in the firm there were only 20 people to work with. During his engagement with the company
he worked to strategically control the purchasing process through three types of operations
namely designing, purchasing and logistics process. He also worked as a directorial position
of 1 warehouse, where he found that the procurement operations of the company involve in
international level inbound logistics. He found that the company needed to expand its stores
through the east and centre west. As distribution strategy the company used different
techniques to satisfy customer by taking care of the needs and expectations from the
customers. Repairpersons are also used to provide pose purchasing customer care service.
As per the experience of the respondents, logistics system of Princess Auto uses a
combination of Just in Time inventory management. For this the demand focusing is used
based on existing utilisation of product quantities for further manufacturing (Kuhn and
Sternbeck 2013). For the procurement operation the company uses geographical location
based stake level tracking while making purchasing decision. For reducing stock-out cost the
company uses product transportation within one day. Arvind Naram also acknowledged that
sometimes managing inventory becomes challenging. To reduce the complexity, specialised
software is used for logistics control, visual control over modelling, inventory management,
GDA operations and other customisations (Bhandari, 2014). For competing with other
marker competitors under certain data of market demand the company focuses on lowering
price strategy while connecting the consumers through e-mail (Rodrigues, Harris & Mason,

3SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
2015). As per the experience of the interviewee, for distribution or outbound logistics Princes
Auto used their freight. However, now they are using 3rd Party Logistics services. Even for
small distance they avoid trucking. To employees of the organisation the management
provides financial supports in case of any family crisis or needs for education.
Background of the Kuehne+Nagel
Kuehne + Nagel is an international transport and logistics company that was founded
in 1890 in Switzerland. The company provides sea freight and airfreight forwarding along
with contract logistics and overland business. As per the report of 207, the company now has
around 1350 offices in 109 countries (kn-portal.com., 2019). The major operations of the
company are based on Haburg, Germany. Part from that the company expanded their
business across middle east, Africa, north America, south and central America and Asian
countries such as China, Bangladesh, Singapore and others. The focus of Kuehne + Nagel is
to provide Information Technology based logistics solutions. The freight forwarding
operations include arrangement for forth road and rail. They have their own warehousing and
distribution system worldwide to provide a flawless logistics service worldwide. The
company also integrated with 4th party logistics management with aftermarket and
management involving single point of contract and full operational responsibility.
Interview details collected from Rhonda Spencer
As per the interview session with Rhonda Spencer, the Overland Manager of
Kuehne+Nagel, it has been found that she started her journey as a specialised customer care
operation staff. As per her experience, the overland logistics operation of Kuehne+Nagel,
depends on both road based and rail based transportation. Hence, as an Overland Manager it
is now her duty to plan cargo transportation routes involving both rail based and road based
communication in a way so that it would be both cost efficient and less time consuming

4SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
(Evangelista, 2017). The logistics operational strategy of this company is focused on
timeliness and cost effectiveness to increase their consumer acquisition. Rhonda Spencer also
mentioned that, though she is working as a manager of land based logistic operations,
Kuehne+Nagel focuses on their water freight for international level transportation instead of
focusing on air based cargo transaction. She also mentioned that one of their major
advantages in the competitive market of the logistics is that they have their own warehouse
scattered across the globe that allows them to operate with less amount of operational
expenditure (Kumru & Kumru, 2014). As per the the recent update, she shared a internal
information, that is Kuehne+Nagel closed their operation in china because of the corona
virus. However, a considerable amount of workforce is still working from their home to keep
the logistics support running.
Comparison of job responsibilities and operations
From the above discussion of information collected from the the retired VP of
Manufacturing in Princess Auto and the Overland Manager of Kuehne+Nagel it can be said
that the operational structure of these two business are very different in nature. One of the
major differences is that Princes Auto Ltd. is a Canadian retail chain, whereas Kuehne +
Nagel is an international transport and logistics company. Along with their business operation
the range of their logistical distribution is also different. The logistic system of Kuehne +
Nagel is distributed across the globe involving land based, air based and water based
transportation. However, Princes Auto Ltd is only limited to land based and water based
transport. Considering the job role of the interviewee, the perceptions of executing their
works are also different. Arvind Naram was highly involved in manufacturing related
logistics operations, whereas Rhonda Spencer is associated with land based logistics
operations as a third of fourth party contract based system.

5SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
It has been also found that, throughout won work experience Arvind Naram was
involved in more consumer acquisition associated strategies while minimising the price for
competitiveness. On the other hand, Rhonda Spencer experienced a time and cost efficient
consumer acquisition strategy while planning the rail and truck based transportation for
overland logistics. The major similarity between the working process of these two companies
as well as the work experience of the two interviewees is that both of these company use
advanced information technology for managing and controlling logistics and supply chain
operations (Evangelista, McKinnon & Sweeney, 2013). Furthermore, it has been also found
the human resource management system specially the employers responsibilities associated
with employee compensation is very well designed in Princess Auto (de Carvalho &
Campomar 2014)). Similar compensation strategy can be also adopted in Kuehne+Nagel for
their China based operations through allowing monetary and other compensation for their
workers to get over the current epidemic.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be said that logistics operations of Kuehne+Nagel
and Princes Auto have some seminaries and some major differences. Similarly the
experiences shared by Rhonda Spencer and Arvind Naram have some seminaries and some
functional differences. The only limitation of this investigation process is that since Arvind
Naram is the retired Vice Precedent of Manufacturing department of Princes Auto Ltd, this
paper somewhat failed to present some updated information about the company. However,
focusing on the updated operational information of Kuehne+Nagel was easier. Moreover, it
has been found that cost effectiveness and time effectiveness are the principle of the logistics
and supply chain management operations and it can add extra advantage to market
competitiveness and profitability.

6SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
References
Bhandari, R. (2014). Impact of technology on logistics and supply chain management. IOSR
Journal of Business and Management, 2, 17.
de Carvalho, J. L. G., & Campomar, M. C. (2014). Multichannel at retail and omni-channel:
Challenges for Marketing and Logistics. Business and Management Review, 4(3),
103-113.
Evangelista, P. (2017). Information and communication technologies: a key factor in freight
transport and logistics. In Training in Logistics and the Freight Transport
Industry (pp. 29-50). Routledge.
Evangelista, P., McKinnon, A., & Sweeney, E. (2013). Technology adoption in small and
medium‐sized logistics providers. Industrial Management & Data Systems.
kn-portal.com. (2019). Kuehne + Nagel: About us. Retrieved 23 February 2020, from
https://www.kn-portal.com/about_us/about_us/
Kuhn, H. and Sternbeck, M.G., 2013. Integrative retail logistics: an exploratory
study. Operations Management Research, 6(1-2), pp.2-18.
Kumru, M., & Kumru, P. Y. (2014). Analytic hierarchy process application in selecting the
mode of transport for a logistics company. Journal of Advanced
Transportation, 48(8), 974-999.
Princessauto.com. (2019). Princess Auto. Retrieved 23 February 2020, from
https://www.princessauto.com/en/
Rodrigues, V. S., Harris, I., & Mason, R. (2015). Horizontal logistics collaboration for
enhanced supply chain performance: an international retail perspective. Supply Chain
Management: An International Journal.

7SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Wang, J., Muddada, R.R., Wang, H., Ding, J., Lin, Y., Liu, C. and Zhang, W., 2014. Toward
a resilient holistic supply chain network system: Concept, review and future
direction. IEEE Systems Journal, 10(2), pp.410-421.