OM05
Supply Chain Management
Assignment No.I
Assignment Code: 2013OM05A1 Last Date of Submission: 15th April 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 Successful supply chains manage inventory and information flows. What is the nature
of the relationship between these two flows?
Ques. 2 Quote three live examples of success through e-business solution implementation
and list their benefits.
Ques. 3 What are the various types of forecasting techniques? Discuss their relative
advantages and disadvantages in L&SCM perspective.
Ques. 4 How has globalization made strategic fit even more important to a company’s success?
Section-B
Case Study
Walton Seed Company
“We have to do something about our customer service levels and our inventory turns,” complained Lisa Williams, CEO for Walton Seed Company, to Jason Greaser, the new director of logistics. Jason immediately wanted to know the details of the problem, since he had just joined Walton Seed and had not had an opportunity to really delve into any of its problems. Lisa responded, “Let me give you some of the background and you can put that education to use that you received at Penn State.”
Jason smiled and said, “I am really interested in addressing some of the major problems and issues that Walton Seed has in the logistics area, so I can put y education and experience to good use. We had a similar problem at CBL Electronics, where I did my internship. While I realize that the products are different, there may be some common threads.”
Background
Walton Seed Company was founded by Eric Walton in Toledo, Ohio, and subsequently moved to York, Pennsylvania. Traditionally, Walton’s niche was a high quality seed company selling grass, flower, and vegetable seeds through a mail-order catalog. But it subsequently started to distribute through small, family-owned hardware and variety stores. As the business grew, the company expanded its distribution to several smaller wholesalers, who gave Walton additional market coverage in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and New York. Walton still continued its catalog business in the middle Atlantic states and served retailers directly in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.
The seed business is such that sales are traditionally very heavy in the spring and early summer and drop off dramatically for the rest of the year. Catalog sales help to spread out demand a little by making sales promotions in the January/February mailing, when people start thinking “spring” to help get through the winter, but, overall, sales are still over concentrated. Therefore, Walton pushes inventory out into its warehouse during the fall and winter to be ready for the big spring and summer sales spurt.
During the season, the company runs out of certain types of seeds and has an abundance of others. The wholesalers and retailers complain about the stock outs. Sometimes they will accept substitutions but not often enough. The wholesalers and retailers do not provide in season sales information and tend to buy large quantities prior to the start of the season.
Another matter worrying Lisa Williams is the decline in the number of independent hardware and variety stores, with the growth of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and others of similar size. Walton does not sell to those stores, directly or indirectly, because Walton has positioned itself at the higher end of the market with high-quality seeds.
Walton really wants to increase its late summer and fall sales of grass seeds and perennial flower seeds, to spread out demand and also to avoid stockouts, which result in lost sales and customers.
Case Questions
1. How can we improve in-season sales forecasting and develop a logistics system that is more responsive to demand and sales?
2. What are some of the special logistical issues that we will need to consider if we attempt to sell to the mass merchandisers?
3. What standard(s) of performance should we use for measuring customer service?
4. What e-commerce alternatives do you feel should be considered?
OM05
Supply Chain Management
Assignment No.II
Assignment Code: 2013OM05A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 “The performance measurement system of an organization is tracked with the help of
the logistics process.” Explain.
Ques. 2 How does order processing contribute in meeting committed delivery date, zero- defect
delivery and information sharing?
Ques. 3 Discuss the nature and relative characteristics of various modes of transport. What
issues should a logistics manager consider in trying to select a mode of transport?
Ques. 4 What do you mean by an inventory? Discuss various elements of inventory costs.
Section-B
Case Study
CPDW
Harry Groves, CEO of Central PA Distribution and Warehouse (CPDW), had just called the monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of CPDW to order. Harry looked tired and grim, thought Joe Zimmerman (a local entrepreneur and board member). Harry’s opening statement gave reason for the body language. CPDW had another dismal month that was delineated in the monthly financial statements and Harry’s description of monthly activities.
Company Background
CPDW is located in Milroy, Pennsylvania adjacent to an interchange on a major east-west roadway in central Pennsylvania. The company was founded five years ago by a group of individuals who owned local businesses or held management positions in local companies. The board members were all limited partners in the venture so they had a very special interest in the financial viability of the organization.
The partners, under the leadership of Harry Groves, had purchased a building (120,000 square feet) and parcel of land (32.6 acres) from the Sanyo Corporation. The building had been used primarily as a manufacturing facility by Sanyo. The partners purchased the building with the express purpose of utilizing it as a distribution facility for providing logistics services for companies within central Pennsylvania. While the building was not ideal for storage because of the ceiling height, the partners believed that it was versatile enough to be used for various logistics activities including repackaging, order fulfillment, reverse logistics, etc.
The paradox of the situation was that the facility was completely filled with pallet loads of glass from a local glass manufacturer. In fact, the original estimate on useable storage, space, excluding aisles, offices, restrooms, etc. was 99,500 square feet. However, Jon Parton, C.O.O. of the company had pushed and squeezed until they were utilizing 110,000 square feet.
Board Meeting
After reviewing the usage rate, Jay Lenard asked Harry for some additional insight into their situation. He prefaced his question with the comment “I thought that we wanted to fill the facility and in doing so, we would be profitable. When I look at square foot utilization, which I thought was our best performance metric, I’m please, but you are telling us that this is a problem. I just don’t understand our financial situation based upon this metric.”
Harry let out a sigh and said, “Jay, I really wish that it was that easy. I have come to realize that our base metric for pricing square feet of space utilized is too narrow. With our current situation, even though we are using more square feet than I thought we had available, thanks to Jon, we are not breaking even. When the building is full and nothing is moving in or out, we are in trouble. We need to change our metrics and align them with a new pricing strategy.
Case Questions
1. Describe the nature of CPDW’s problem.
2. What metrics would you recommend that CPDW use to enhance their pricing strategy? Provide a rationale for your recommendations.
Supply Chain Management
Assignment No.I
Assignment Code: 2013OM05A1 Last Date of Submission: 15th April 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 Successful supply chains manage inventory and information flows. What is the nature
of the relationship between these two flows?
Ques. 2 Quote three live examples of success through e-business solution implementation
and list their benefits.
Ques. 3 What are the various types of forecasting techniques? Discuss their relative
advantages and disadvantages in L&SCM perspective.
Ques. 4 How has globalization made strategic fit even more important to a company’s success?
Section-B
Case Study
Walton Seed Company
“We have to do something about our customer service levels and our inventory turns,” complained Lisa Williams, CEO for Walton Seed Company, to Jason Greaser, the new director of logistics. Jason immediately wanted to know the details of the problem, since he had just joined Walton Seed and had not had an opportunity to really delve into any of its problems. Lisa responded, “Let me give you some of the background and you can put that education to use that you received at Penn State.”
Jason smiled and said, “I am really interested in addressing some of the major problems and issues that Walton Seed has in the logistics area, so I can put y education and experience to good use. We had a similar problem at CBL Electronics, where I did my internship. While I realize that the products are different, there may be some common threads.”
Background
Walton Seed Company was founded by Eric Walton in Toledo, Ohio, and subsequently moved to York, Pennsylvania. Traditionally, Walton’s niche was a high quality seed company selling grass, flower, and vegetable seeds through a mail-order catalog. But it subsequently started to distribute through small, family-owned hardware and variety stores. As the business grew, the company expanded its distribution to several smaller wholesalers, who gave Walton additional market coverage in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and New York. Walton still continued its catalog business in the middle Atlantic states and served retailers directly in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.
The seed business is such that sales are traditionally very heavy in the spring and early summer and drop off dramatically for the rest of the year. Catalog sales help to spread out demand a little by making sales promotions in the January/February mailing, when people start thinking “spring” to help get through the winter, but, overall, sales are still over concentrated. Therefore, Walton pushes inventory out into its warehouse during the fall and winter to be ready for the big spring and summer sales spurt.
During the season, the company runs out of certain types of seeds and has an abundance of others. The wholesalers and retailers complain about the stock outs. Sometimes they will accept substitutions but not often enough. The wholesalers and retailers do not provide in season sales information and tend to buy large quantities prior to the start of the season.
Another matter worrying Lisa Williams is the decline in the number of independent hardware and variety stores, with the growth of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and others of similar size. Walton does not sell to those stores, directly or indirectly, because Walton has positioned itself at the higher end of the market with high-quality seeds.
Walton really wants to increase its late summer and fall sales of grass seeds and perennial flower seeds, to spread out demand and also to avoid stockouts, which result in lost sales and customers.
Case Questions
1. How can we improve in-season sales forecasting and develop a logistics system that is more responsive to demand and sales?
2. What are some of the special logistical issues that we will need to consider if we attempt to sell to the mass merchandisers?
3. What standard(s) of performance should we use for measuring customer service?
4. What e-commerce alternatives do you feel should be considered?
OM05
Supply Chain Management
Assignment No.II
Assignment Code: 2013OM05A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 “The performance measurement system of an organization is tracked with the help of
the logistics process.” Explain.
Ques. 2 How does order processing contribute in meeting committed delivery date, zero- defect
delivery and information sharing?
Ques. 3 Discuss the nature and relative characteristics of various modes of transport. What
issues should a logistics manager consider in trying to select a mode of transport?
Ques. 4 What do you mean by an inventory? Discuss various elements of inventory costs.
Section-B
Case Study
CPDW
Harry Groves, CEO of Central PA Distribution and Warehouse (CPDW), had just called the monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of CPDW to order. Harry looked tired and grim, thought Joe Zimmerman (a local entrepreneur and board member). Harry’s opening statement gave reason for the body language. CPDW had another dismal month that was delineated in the monthly financial statements and Harry’s description of monthly activities.
Company Background
CPDW is located in Milroy, Pennsylvania adjacent to an interchange on a major east-west roadway in central Pennsylvania. The company was founded five years ago by a group of individuals who owned local businesses or held management positions in local companies. The board members were all limited partners in the venture so they had a very special interest in the financial viability of the organization.
The partners, under the leadership of Harry Groves, had purchased a building (120,000 square feet) and parcel of land (32.6 acres) from the Sanyo Corporation. The building had been used primarily as a manufacturing facility by Sanyo. The partners purchased the building with the express purpose of utilizing it as a distribution facility for providing logistics services for companies within central Pennsylvania. While the building was not ideal for storage because of the ceiling height, the partners believed that it was versatile enough to be used for various logistics activities including repackaging, order fulfillment, reverse logistics, etc.
The paradox of the situation was that the facility was completely filled with pallet loads of glass from a local glass manufacturer. In fact, the original estimate on useable storage, space, excluding aisles, offices, restrooms, etc. was 99,500 square feet. However, Jon Parton, C.O.O. of the company had pushed and squeezed until they were utilizing 110,000 square feet.
Board Meeting
After reviewing the usage rate, Jay Lenard asked Harry for some additional insight into their situation. He prefaced his question with the comment “I thought that we wanted to fill the facility and in doing so, we would be profitable. When I look at square foot utilization, which I thought was our best performance metric, I’m please, but you are telling us that this is a problem. I just don’t understand our financial situation based upon this metric.”
Harry let out a sigh and said, “Jay, I really wish that it was that easy. I have come to realize that our base metric for pricing square feet of space utilized is too narrow. With our current situation, even though we are using more square feet than I thought we had available, thanks to Jon, we are not breaking even. When the building is full and nothing is moving in or out, we are in trouble. We need to change our metrics and align them with a new pricing strategy.
Case Questions
1. Describe the nature of CPDW’s problem.
2. What metrics would you recommend that CPDW use to enhance their pricing strategy? Provide a rationale for your recommendations.
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