Strategic Supply Chain Management for Boots UK: Consultant Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of supply chain management at Boots UK, following its acquisition by Walgreen Boots Alliance. It applies key supply chain concepts, principles, and processes within the organizational context, evaluating the importance of effective supply chain management and its interrelationships with other business areas. The report explores topics such as resource planning, demand planning, production scheduling, and flow management. Furthermore, it delves into supplier relationships, procurement strategies, and demand management techniques. The analysis culminates in recommendations for improvements to Boots UK's supply chain strategy, including automatic purchasing, data insight utilization, real-time inventory management, vendor performance monitoring, and just-in-time inventory practices, all aimed at enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. The report concludes with a timeline for implementing the proposed action plan, highlighting the potential for significant improvements in Boots UK's supply chain performance. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN
Supply chain
Name of the student
Name of the university

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SUPPLY CHAIN
Author Note:
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Part 1................................................................................................................................................5
Application of Key Supply Chain Concepts, Principles and Processes..........................................5
Supply Chain...............................................................................................................................6
Difference of Supply Chain between Service and Manufacturing Sector...................................7
Supply Chain Management..........................................................................................................7
The key principles of supply chain management........................................................................8
Use of lean supply chain principles to enhance competitive advantage......................................9

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Efficient and effective resource planning and management......................................................10
Obtaining working capital and investment in capital................................................................11
The relationship between demand planning and production scheduling...................................11
Incorporating project management techniques into the production process.............................11
Selecting the most appropriate strategy (e.g. make or buy)......................................................12
Flow management as a concept and technique..........................................................................12
Selection of the most appropriate location for establishing a manufacturing operation, including consideration of transport links and
costs...........................................................................................................................................13
The use of real time automated delivery notification systems..................................................13
Part 2..............................................................................................................................................14
Evaluation of the importance of effective supply chain management...........................................14
Relationship with Suppliers and Logistic Service providers.....................................................14
Management of Service Sector Supply Chains vs. Management of Manufacturing sector Supply chains 14
Management of customers and meeting their needs efficiently and effectively to build a competitive infrastructure 15
Benefits of effective Supply Chain Management......................................................................16

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Development of Procurement Strategies...................................................................................17
Demand Management (Forecasting and Planning)....................................................................18
Analysis of Supplier Landscape................................................................................................18
Price and Quality of the Product................................................................................................19
Time taken to Deliver................................................................................................................19
Place of the Supplier..................................................................................................................19
Ways to meet the anticipated Demand......................................................................................20
Vendor Relations.......................................................................................................................20
Part 3..............................................................................................................................................21
Evaluation of the interrelationships between supply chain and other areas of organization.........21
Supply Chain Integration...........................................................................................................21
Relationship Between the supply chain and other business functions......................................22
Factors influencing decisions to integrate the supply chain......................................................22
Supply Chain Logistics..............................................................................................................24

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Customization of Logistics Network to meet service requirements..........................................24
Customer Demand Planning and Product Life Cycle................................................................25
Holistic Approach to managing and Optimizing the effectiveness of supply Chain.................26
Balancing inventory...................................................................................................................26
Virtual supply chain modeling...................................................................................................27
Use of SCOR Model..................................................................................................................27
Recommendation for improvements to a supply chain strategy for an organization................29
1. Automatic Purchasing............................................................................................................29
Gain Data Insight.......................................................................................................................30
Real-Time Inventory Management............................................................................................31
Monitor Vendor Performance....................................................................................................31
Raise Cost Awareness................................................................................................................31
Improve Returns Management..................................................................................................31
Just-in-time (JIT).......................................................................................................................31

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Streamline Accounting..............................................................................................................32
Timeline.....................................................................................................................................32
Table 1: Timeline of the Supply Chain Action Plan..................................................................33
Figure 1: Gantt chart..................................................................................................................33
References......................................................................................................................................34
Introduction
Part 1
Application of Key Supply Chain Concepts, Principles and Processes
The application of key supply chain concept is one of the most important concerns of the management of the business
organization. The supply chain concepts are linked with the strategies of the business by following a number of steps. This includes;
a. Segmentation of the customers based on the service needs of distinct groups and the adaption of the supply chains that will be
utilized to serve the following segments.
b. Customization of the logistics network to the service requirements and ensuring the profitability of the customer segments.

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c. Differentiation of the products and services that are closer to the customer and helps in the conversion all across the supply
chain of the business organization
d. Adoption of a supply chain that spans the performance measures to gauge the collective success of the organizations
For example taking the case of Unilever the company has a large supply chain base which is divided into different types;

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Figure 1: Supply Chain of Unilever
Source:(supplychainmovement.com/tag/unilever 2019)
Supply Chain
The supply chain is the system of the organization, activities, people as well as different kinds of the activities, information and
resources that are generally involved in moving a product or service from the supplier or the customer (Akkucuk 2016). The particular
network between the company and the suppliers is to produce and distribute a particular product and the supply chain represents the
different steps it takes to deliver the end product or service to the consumers. The supply chain of the American holding company has
only two specific drug distribution channels. This includes the OTC and the prescription. The Food and Drug distribution limited of
USA regulates both of these channels (Brindley 2017). The Company processes the raw materials and delivers the final drug at the
manufacturing unit. The management of the company generally stores the drugs in different central as well as regional warehouses.
Difference of Supply Chain between Service and Manufacturing Sector
There are a number of differences in between the Service and manufacturing supply chains of the industrial sector. The
differences are as follows;
Factors Manufacturing Supply Chains Service Supply Chains
Demand from the market  Changes slowly over
the passage of time and
 Cannot be measured
approximately because

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thus prediction can be
made accurately
it varies on different
kinds of factors. It is
important for service to
adapt to different
changes quickly and
react quickly
Number of Products  Few Products  Service can be of large
numbers. It can even
cover the entire
production history
Types of Products  Manufacturing supply
chains contain similar
kind of products
 Service supply chains
can be of different
types depending on the
nature of the industry
Channels of Distribution  There are different
kinds of distribution
channels for
manufacturing sector
 One network that
delivers a large number
of different services
Goals of Inventory  Speeding up the
movement of the
resources through the
process of production
 Contains the resources
and delivering the
resources at the right
time
Maturity in Technology  Highly developed
systems
 Technology is not
much applied in
service sector. It is still
in initial stages
Turnover of the Product  Large turnover  Medium turnover

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Supply Chain Management
According to, Akkucuk (2016) Supply Chain Management is the broad range of activities that are required to plan, control as
well as execute the flow of the product, acquire raw materials and also ensure production through the distribution to the final customer
in the most proper as well as cost effective manner.
The management of Walgreen Boots Alliance in USA uses fixed, regulator certified suppliers to acquire raw materials
(Christopher 2016). These raw materials and the finished products of the company are also stored in different warehouses of other
companies. The distributors and the suppliers of the organization receives the drugs and then supplies them to the different entities in
the retail segment like hospitals, clinics as well as pharmacy stores.
The key principles of supply chain management
The key principles of Supply Chain management for the organization are as follows;
 Principle 1-Segmentation of the customers of the products based on the service needs and the adaption of the supply chains to
serve the different segments in a profitable manner
 Principle 2- Customization of the logistics network to the service requirements and a profitability of the customer segments
 Principle 3- Listen to different kind of marketing signals and align the demand planning accordingly across the supply chain,
ensuring consistent forecasts as well as the optimal allocation of the resources
 Principle 4-Differentiation of the product closer to the customers and conversion of the speed across the total supply chain

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 Principle 5- Management of the supply sources in a strategic manner that helps to reduce the total cost of owning the different
materials and the services
 Principle 6- Development of the supply chain strategy by implementing technology which is capable to support multiple levels
of decision making and also presents a transparent and clear view of the product flow, services and information
 Principle 7- Adoption of the Channel Spanning performance measures to gauge collective success in reaching the end user
effectively and more efficiently
Use of lean supply chain principles to enhance competitive advantage
Lean strategies have been developed to eliminate or reduce waste and thus improve the different kinds of operational
efficiency in a manufacturing environment. The research of Arora Arora and Sivakumar (2016) suggests that Lean strategies have
been developed in order to speed up the production and also make the production more effective. In the case of the pharmaceutical
sector considering the case of Walgreen Boots Alliance in USA it has shown a willingness to simplify the business operations,
processes and reduction of costs by means of lean implementation. The management of the business enterprise follows the proper
manufacturing practices but there is a lot of scope for the implementation of the Lean management practices to improve the
operational efficiency (Fernie and Sparks 2018).
As said by, Ayers and Odegaard (2017) the implementation of the Lean principles helps the organization to support effective
quality management systems for the business organizations. These systems form an integral part of the organization as because it

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enables them to provide quality products. The strategy of the organization differs from the other organizations and mainly focuses on
data validation that helps to improve the quality of the drugs manufactured by them (Fredendall and Hill 2016). Following the core
lean aspects like Robust design, validated process helps the organizations to have a competitive advantage over their rivals in the
market.
Efficient and effective resource planning and management
The success of the acquisition of Boots UK by Walgreen Boots Alliance of USA will depend on the effective implementation
and the most effective use of the available resources. One of the most important elements of resource management is the management
of the resources on whether they actually work or not (Ayers and Odegaard 2017). In the following case the management of both the
companies have to utilize the resources in such a manner that it can achieve the objectives of the supply chain. Some of the main ways
that will be followed by the management of the companies to effectively manage the resources will include the likes of;
a. Using the people as effective resources- The management of the people will again be one of the most important tasks for the
organization. The effective management of the people in the company can help the organization to utilize the resources of the
organization in the most appropriate manner (Hugos 2018). Leadership, effective communication and emotional intelligence
can help the organization to motivate the team members of the pharmaceutical company.