Preview

OPER3160 Grocery Gateway Case Study

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2038 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
OPER3160 Grocery Gateway Case Study
OPER3160 Grocery Gateway Case Study
Executive Summary
To: Al Sellery, CEO, Claude Germain, Chief Operating Officer
From: Dominique Van Voorhis, Vice-President of Industrial Engineering and Operations Systems
Subject: Customer Delivery Operations
Issue: Grocery Gateway would like to increase their deliveries from 2.7 to 4 per hour and provide recommendations for improving and optimizing the delivery operations. To optimize delivery operations, two solutions are recommended. One, an upgrade to the route optimization software should be purchased to provide a more effective analysis of route suitability and set out appropriate delivery times. Two, a change in the cash collection from point of delivery to point of purchase will further increase operation efficiencies. These changes to operations are expected to increase the number deliveries per hour to help meet the organization’s objective to become cash flow positive in 2001 on a variable costs basis.

Internal Analysis
The company’s target was to achieve 4 stops per hour for delivery drivers; however, recent management reports have shown only 2.7 stops per hour for October 2001. If no additional deliveries can be made, the delivery system will move on to the next delivery window. The lack of synchronization between systems indicate a sign of systems failure.
Currently, in 2001 the internet retailing market is in its growth stage making it relatively new technology to many potential clients. Grocery Gateway has an opportunity to grow given the fact that it serves one of the largest populated centers in Canada, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
-Grocery Gateway is a financially strong company as it has managed to raise $70 million through private sector financing. This money can be used to help with future growth. The company was also the largest direct online grocer in 2001 and has 125,000 registered users.
- Grocery Gateway’s website, grocerygateway.com, offers a high level of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Wal-Mart has been developing very fast in the United States and became the country’s largest grocer in a short period of time –they might be going for the same success in Canada. As part of its success Wal-Mart has an established an EDI system which allows them to connect with their suppliers, distribution centers, and retains data about store activities. In order to meet the threat of emerging competition, Loblaw should take the opportunity to purchase and customize its own inventory system. New logistics tracking technologies for keeping in-demand products on its shelves and the delivery of its goods on time are available and will have the added value of ensuring Loblaw Companies become more consumer focused and cost efficient. This will help Loblaw alleviate the risk of the competition surpassing them in local supply-chain logistics, giving them the advantage in the local territory and opportunity to expand to domestic and local products available in the market…

    • 2650 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I took over bus dispatch, I realized that it was difficult to keep track of so many vehicles going so many different directions at once without any electronic system. This caused serious confusion and lags. However, we didn’t have the means to afford such a system as a small family owned…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Traditional grocery stores have fallen by the wayside as supercenters and specialty food stores grow. They are increasingly looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition. Oftentimes, the supercenters are able to offer lower prices on food while offering a sizeable selection of other goods that food-only grocery stores find it hard to compete with. Some of these changes have come by mergers and the ability to purchase more for less and changing their appeal in the market. These stores have implemented new technologies such as self-checkouts and biometric technology that allows people to pay at the checkout with a scan of their finger to sway the consumer with convenience. Grocery stores are also differentiating themselves by touting their store brands, as premium goods as opposed to the well know value brands. They are changing their layouts and up scaling their stores to meet customers demands for a reason to enter their retail dwellings. Some groceries are offering even more convenience with the addition of specialty offerings such as Starbucks and fast food restaurants.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Economic Environment: Based on the statistics provided, the Canadian retail grocery industry has been growing continuously. This growth in the market and demands benefited GCO through increasing business opportunities. In the recent years, the macro-economic environment has been suffering from recessions. As a result of that, people attempt to cut spending to save money by actions such as dine out less, drive less and reducing shopping frequency. This has led to further increase demand in the food retail industry and online food retail companies like GCO enjoys from people's attempt to save gas money. Although the economic…

    • 2194 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The problem basically consists of finding the optimum set of routes that represent the lowest possible total cost and/or total travel time. The plant is dealing with the repositioning of trucks to serve its supply demand and determining a number of transportation units that optimally balance supply requirements against the cost of maintaining the transportation units. In order to increase truck utilization and achieve better performance, the plant has to adequately and efficiently ensure the scheduling of a steady supply of hogs.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The U.K. grocery market is highly diverse, with a wide range of formats, from convenience stores to hypermarkets, warehouse clubs and online stores. The market is currently led by five grocers (Tesco, Sainsbury, Wal-Mart‘s Asda, Morrisons and Cooperative Group), accounting for almost 55% of grocery retail banner sales, while the remaining 45% is attributed to hundreds of outlets scattered throughout the country (Planet Retail). Over the years, large players have continued to expand, both in terms of size, product range and services, increasingly taking market share from their smaller competitors.…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ggr252 Notes

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages

    To gain a better understanding of the retail and commercial activity in the Toronto area, two different types of retail will be evaluated in the following report. The character, market orientation and location of a retail space all play crucial role in contributing to the success of the business. All three aspects of the retail spheres will be carefully assessed in order to make direct comparisons between the two types of retail businesses. The two retail systems that will be contrasted includes the ancillary retail system in downtown Toronto and the Retail Strip on Spadina, south of Baldwin.…

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Acme

    • 1450 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Jacobs, F.R & Chase, R.B. (2013). Operations and supply management: The core, 3e. Chapter 1 and Appendix A…

    • 1450 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gateway Inc

    • 3453 Words
    • 14 Pages

    As of January 31, 2002, Gateway was operating 277 retail stores in the U.S. and offers over the telephone ordering 18 hours a day, seven days a week. They have sold over 25 million PCs to date and maintain a database of these customers. They offer a broad line of Company-branded PCs and servers.…

    • 3453 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    COMPANY NAME 2012 A major factor in deciding to pursue the purchase of the grocery store was sustainability. Because food is an item that everybody must consume, the owners determined that in poor economic times a grocery business will still be profitable, all be it, not as profitable as it could be in good economic times, thus, the decision to purchase this type of business rather than restaurant . In other words, the food industry is not impervious to peril; however, if you run the business well, you will sustain tough economic times and larger competition. Small community grocery stores are similar to larger chains, in that, you are connected to a distribution warehouse to provide you with product. There are several grocery distributors in the US. You just need to identify a distributor that provides service to your community. Start up costs was a factor in determining the grocery distributor. Several require certain upfront costs and a commitment of certain amount of weekly service, the owners selected General Distributors, Inc. out of CITY to provide bi weekly service to the community market. The proximity and lower service fees were a contributing factor. Summarizing, a grocery store must be a part of a larger distribution network to receive product deliveries. Consumers purchase products based on cost, availability, freshness, and convenience. Certainly it is convenient to have a local grocery store rather than commute 45 miles to the nearest Wal Mart or other…

    • 3512 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The US retail grocery industry includes about 65,000 supermarkets and other grocery stores with combined annual revenue of about $550 billion. Key growth drivers are consumer spending habits and food trends (Blank, 2014). Over the past twenty years, the traditional supermarket has been shaped and reshaped to try and meet consumer demands. Recently, generation Y has begun to push its impression on supermarkets looking for a fresh market and whole foods market approach that bring more natural, organic, and specialty foods to the forefront. Population growth and consumer tastes drive demand. Large corporations can offer a widespread selection of foods and have the edge in purchasing, large distribution channels, marketing dollars, and financial backing. Small companies must…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Due to the fact that customers are more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before, change is constant throughout the supermarket industry. As a result, to remain competitive for the next 10 years and beyond, knowing what customers need and being able to meet those needs is be critical. For example, as the population becomes more diverse, there will be a greater demand for various ethnic food products. Similarly, as health and nutrition become more of a national focus, there will be a greater demand for high quality foods that are rich in nutrition, as well as organic products, etc. In addition, technology such as self checkout stations in supermarkets and online shopping capability will continue to change the landscape of the supermarket industry.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Supermarkets today use online selling methods to reach a wider market, also increasing competition which is possible due to their size as well. Selling via the internet improves the quality of service a consumer receives from a company, especially as they are competing for business with rival supermarkets. Online selling also makes shopping easier for consumers, benefiting competition. This competition means supermarkets are constantly motivated to stay innovative and provide a good service, as to ensure they do not lose customers to rival companies. The large supermarkets are consequently able to offer more efficient services to consumers in response to needs they have identified while trying to be competitive. For example offering prepared vegetables, this saves busy consumer’s time and in turn makes them become more appealing.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Webvan Case Study 1

    • 2851 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Webvan’s business strategy positions the company within the home-shopping/retailing industry. The home-shopping industry for groceries has been around since 1990 with the industry originating with phone and catalog ordering. At the conception of the…

    • 2851 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Loblaws Business Strategy

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The grocery industry is a commoditized industry, which makes it difficult for grocers to sustain through differentiation. Buyer power is high and thus, cost leadership and operational efficiencies are critical. There is fierce competition amongst various grocery stores, with the main players such as Loblaw and A&P holding multi-banner stores in various market segments. Traditional grocery stores also lose some of their market share to drug stores, convenience stores and other retailers who have entered the industry. Threat of substitutes from fast-food and take- away outlets is not as prevalent, since many grocery stores have started stocking ready-to-eat meals and have deli services available for consumers. Competitive pressures are increasing in the industry with the potential entry of Wal-Mart and new delivery methods such as the internet.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays