Unilever's Global Supply Chain: Challenges, Disruptions, Lean Approach

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Unilever's global supply chain, examining the negative effects of events such as Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on its operations. It discusses the disruptions caused by these events, including challenges in maintaining seamless flow of goods and increased import costs. The report also explores the future of manufacturing and distribution operations, highlighting the importance of adapting to changing consumer demands and leveraging technology. Furthermore, it touches on the lean philosophy and its relevance in the current business environment, emphasizing the need for companies to implement effective strategies to maintain a strong supply chain, enhance customer satisfaction, and ensure profitability in the face of global challenges. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Global Supply chain

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Negative effect on supply chain..................................................................................................3
Disruption to global supply chain................................................................................................4
Future of manufacturing and distribution operation....................................................................5
Lean philosophy...........................................................................................................................6
Current business environment.....................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERNCES...................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Global supply chain refers to network that is used across multiple continents and
countries so that goods and services can be supplied to customers. It is used for proper flow of
information, processes and resources can reach globally to customers (Guan and et.al., 2020).
Unilever is a public limited company founded in the year 1929. Its headquarter is situated in
London, England. The company is providing good products to customers and satisfy their needs.
The report examines, negative effect on supply chain, changes in consumer demand due to
supply chain, future of manufacturing and disruption operation, lean philosophy and current
business environment is discussed.
MAIN BODY
Negative effect on supply chain
Supply chain is defined as set of activities that are performed by the organisation in order to
delivered goods and services to customers for fulfilment of their respective desired. It focus on
core activities of business such as converting raw material into finished parts to the customers
that are living in society. Unilever manager has taken appropriate steps to maintained strong
supply chain to enhance customers satisfaction and profitability of the company. Brexit and
covid-19 are two pandemic situation that has adversely impacted on the supply chain of
Unilever. As with covid-19 it is become difficult for the company to supply products to
customers at their doorsteps by maintaining social distancing, following government rules and
regulation and many. Therefore, there are some of the negative impact of supply chain on
Unilever that can be illustrated as follows:
1. Due to covid -19 and Brexit companies are not able to provide seamless flow of goods
and services to the customers in limited time frame. As government has put restriction or
taken lock down measures such as put restriction on trade and travel that has lead
difficulties for companies such as Unilever. So, they have to follow all rules and
regulation while supply products and services to customers that has lead in create
barriers in effective supply chain and growth of organization in external environment
(Chen, 2018).
2. Brexit has also negatively impacted on supply chain of Unilever as maximum trade of
companies that are operating in United Kingdom is with European union only. So with

implementation of Brexit, trade between two countries has been avoided that results in
affecting supply chain of Unilever. As company get maximum of its raw material and
product sold from member countries of EU so it has resulted in decrease in overall sales
volume and profitability of the company.
3. Furthermore, it can be stated that lot of expense need to be made by the Unilever to
maintained strong supply chain in context of covid-19 and Brexit. As only necessary
goods such as medicine are being transported because of their high demand (Birkie and
Trucco, 2020). So there has been more restriction related to supply of products and
services from one country to another in situation of covid-19.
4. Poor infrastructure and other facilities lead in challenges for the company to promote
effectively supply chain and delivered services to customers in limited time and cost
possible. There were limited infrastructure that could be utilized by Unilever to
delivered services to customers so it has lead in challenges of smooth operation of
business in external environment and meeting the end objective of firm.
5. The overall import cost has been increased because of impact of covid-19 and brexit that
has lead in increasing price of products and services that are delivered to customers.
Along with that, there has been not effective adaptation of technology by company to
promote its supply of products and services to end customers (Qin and et.al., 2021.).
Therefore, it has lead in negative impact on growth and development of firm in retail
sector of United Kingdom.
Global supply chain means networks by which company provides its product to customers
across the globe. It is the responsibility of an organisation to provide good quality products to
customers and satisfy their needs. With the help of supply chain network products can be
delivered to people across the globe. Unilever company is using supply chain so that product can
reach to customers and organisation can earn profit. There are some disadvantages of supply
chain like, it requires huge investment, time is wasted, human resource is required so that
product can reach to end user (Koberg and Longoni, 2019). It is the responsibility of manager to
handle all the things and implement plans properly so that goals and objectives of organisation
can be accomplished. When resources are not implemented properly then goals are not achieved
and there will be wasted of labour, service and resources. There are negative effect of supply

chain as for implementing supply chain huge investment is required and if it is not implemented
properly then goals and objectives of company are not achieved. During pandemic there was
shortage of food material because transportation was closed and people are not getting food. At
the time of pandemic there was shortage of raw material and products are not made by company
because choice of people is changing and there was no source for flow of goods from one place
to another.
Supply chain is the network which is used by companies to attract people and product can
reach to customers across the globe. Supply chain has negative effect like, time is required
because it is a long process and involves many agents. Human resource is required so that
products can reach to final consumers. Sometimes, due to mistake of labour delivery of product
is not done on time or customers did not get product on time. deadlines are missed due to delay
in work, there is risk involved in this process. supply chain has many disadvantages and there
must be proper implementation of plans so that goals and objectives can be accomplished. Bad
supply chain lead to delay in delivery of product, rising logistics cost, long production cycles,
increasing risk, poor management of inventory, poor customer experience. This also lead to non-
compliance and goals of company are not achieved. It is important to implement plans properly
so that targets can be achieved and it helps in growth of organisation (Choi and et.al., 2019).
There are some negative issues which is faced by Unilever company because they are applying
supply chain such as, quality customer service, costing, risk management and supplier
relationship. In supply chain network, there are many people involved and company is not able
to make relationship with customer.
Disruption to global supply chain
There are some disturbances to global supply chain is still ongoing as customers are not
getting products on time. Nowadays, competition is increasing and it is important for an
organisation to make product as per demand of customer. There are some issues which is faced
by an organisation while implementing supply chain network like, increased cost, consumer
demand drive need for improved speed, quality and service. Supply chain complexity due to
multiple channels to market. It is the responsibility of manager to use supply chain so that
product can reach to customer on time. managers are providing good quality products to
customers and satisfy their needs. For achieving goals and objectives of company managers

should provide good quality product so that work can be completed on time (LeBaron and Lister,
2021).
There is disruption to global supply chain is still going as choice of customer is changing
and they want new & innovative product. Competition is increasing and there are many
companies who are making similar product. So, managers of Unilever company are keeping less
price as compare to other so that goals and objectives can be accomplished. Due to changes in
consumer demand, managers are not able to identify choice of customer. During pandemic,
people want product which is safe for them and helps in boosting immunity. Managers of
Unilever company identify choice of people before making any product so that need of
customers can be satisfied. Due to change in demand of customer, companies are not able to
supply goods and services on time. Product of Unilever company are moving from one place to
another by shipping. They are using ship for flow of goods and supply chain is used. During
pandemic all the transport was closed and it was difficult for manager of Unilever company to
deliver good. In the area of shipping flow of goods and services were not done at the time of
pandemic and this affects performance of company. Raw material and products are not delivered
on time because containers were stopped at ports and shipping transport was closed. At that time,
it was difficult for managers to supply goods and services to customers. After pandemic when
transport of goods and services started, product of Unilever company were delivered. Without
logistics companies are not able to sell their products in other countries and this is loss for
company (Kwak, Seo and Mason, 2018).
Future of manufacturing and distribution operation
Every organisation is using supply chain so that they can deliver their product to customers
in other countries. This helps in increasing sales and profit of company. Managers of Unilever
company are making product as per need of consumers so that their needs can be satisfied and it
helps in building good image in market. Supply chain refers to chain of business or
intermediaries by which product reaches to final buyer. Supply chain includes different people
like, wholesaler, retailer, distributor and internet. These are some people who are involved in
supply chain process and product is reach to the ultimate consumer. It is important to use supply
chain and involve retailers, wholesalers, distributor so that delivery of products can be done on
time. Managers of Unilever company are making product after analysing need of customer so
that they can perform better than others and it helps in gaining competitive advantage in market.

Supply chain is used by managers of Unilever so that products can reach to final consumer
on time and need of customers can be satisfied (Bhaskar and et.al., 2020). This is a strategy to
attract consumers and it helps in increasing sales of organisation. Manufacturing and distribution
operation are helpful for a company as it helps in delivery of goods and services on time.
distribution channel helps in better collaboration, improved quality control, people get products
on time, build good image in market. Distribution operation involves, customer service,
shipping, warehousing, inventory control. It is important to use distribution channel so that
product can reach to customers on time and it helps in increasing profit of firm.
Nowadays, trends are changing and it is important to provide good quality product to
customer and satisfy their need. The future of manufacturing and distribution operation is
changing every year. It includes, producers, distributors and retailers which help in delivering
product to end consumer. Managers of Unilever company are using distribution channel to
provide products to people. With the change in technology, some organisations are using creative
and innovative approach to identify market situation and determine choice of customer. It is
important to analyse choice of customer so that products can be made accordingly and it helps in
achieving goals and objectives of company (Muñoz-Torres and et.al., 2018).
Manufacturing sector is one of the fastest growing sector and in future more profit will be
earned by manufacturing companies. New and innovative product are made by managers of
manufacturing company so that more people are attracted and their needs can be satisfied. There
are innovative approaches to identify choice of people and it helps in covering entire market
segment from production to retail. Manufacturing and distribution operation are important part
and in future there will be new and innovative techniques. With the help of distribution channel
product reaches to customer on time and this helps in increasing sales of organisation.
Lean philosophy
Lean philosophy refers to eliminating unnecessary waste and improve quality of products.
Lean philosophy focuses on creating value for customers by providing them good quality
products and satisfy their needs so that goals and objectives can be accomplished. This
philosophy focuses on eliminating waste and provide good quality product to customers. It is
important to focus on need of people because it helps in generating more profit. When waste is
identified, companies are observing an increase in efficiency and focus on improving quality of
product (Azevedo and et.al., 2019). The objective of lean philosophy is to improve quality of

products and reduce wastage of material. Resources should be used efficiently as it helps in
increasing productivity and overall efficiency of organisation. When unnecessary elements are
reduced then good quality product can be provided to customers.
Current business environment
Nowadays, trends are changing and choice of people is also changing. There are some
factors which affect performance of company like, political, economic, social, technological,
legal and environmental. These factors affect working of Unilever company and managers are
making plans so that they can perform better than others and it helps in achieving goals and
objectives of company (Cepel, Belas, Rozsa and Strnad, 2019). Unilever company is sending
their products in other countries and they have to pay tariff barriers and tax. In different country
rules and regulations are different, there are many challenges which an organisation has to face.
Technology is changing rapidly and it is the responsibility of managers to implement new
techniques so that better products can be made and it helps in achieving targets. Rules and laws
vary from country to country and it is difficult for managers to make rules. It is essential to apply
rules so that employees can work efficiently and goals can be accomplished. Managers should
analyse market situation and make plans accordingly so that need of customer can be satisfied
and it helps in generating more profit. Business environment affects performance of company
and better strategies are applied so that goals of organisation can be accomplished. Managers of
Unilever company are determining market situation and analyse strategy used by competitor so
that they can make better plans and gain competitive advantage in market. This helps in
generating more revenue and more people are attracted.
There are different type of risk of supply chain network like, financial risk, scope of
schedule risk, legal risk, human behaviour risk, socio-political risk (Cepel, 2019). It is essential
to provide good quality product to customers and managers should apply proper process so that
work can be completed within time. Supply chain has negative impact during pandemic as there
was shortage of material and proper delivery of products is not done. At the time of pandemic
organisation are not making product because raw material was not available and goods are not
going from one place to another. So, products of Unilever company are not delivered to
customers and this affect performance of company and profit is not earned.

CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, global supply chain helps in
delivering products to the end user and company can earn more profit. The negative effect on
supply chain has been discussed. Disruption of global supply chain due to changes in consumer
demand for products in pandemic has been described. Further, future of manufacturing and
distribution operation has been discussed. Lean philosophy by maintaining minimal production
inventories and current business environment has been described.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
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