Supply Chain Management
Q1. Consider the supply chain involved when a customer purchases a book at a bookstore. Identify the cycles in this supply chain and the location of the push/pull boundary.
When a customer purchases a book from the book store, a complete supply chain cycle which involves procurement, manufacturing, distribution, replenishment and customer delivery takes place. The different supply chain cycles are quite separated in this case because each cycle occurs at the interface between two successive stages of the supply chain. The five supply chain stages reflect the work and involvement of five individual parties however the bookstore accounts for only the retailer stage because it serves no other functions within the supply chain. Pull processes mean a process is initiated in response to a customer order. Push processes, on the other hand, mean process is initiated in anticipation of customer orders. The push/pull boundary in any supply chain separates push processes from pull processes. The push/pull boundary for the bookstore occurs between the customer order cycle and the procurement, manufacturing, and replenishment cycles. The customer order cycle is a pull process because all processes the customer order cycle are executed only after the customer arrives. The remaining processes all take place prior to the customer arriving so that all products are already in inventory built up in anticipation of customer orders.
Q2. Give arguments to support the statement that Wal-Mart has achieved very good strategic fit between its competitive and supply chain strategies.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue and is founded by Sam Walton in 1962. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer. Wal-Mart works on the principle of maximization of value through innovation. As per Wal-Mart the key
When a customer purchases a book from the book store, a complete supply chain cycle which involves procurement, manufacturing, distribution, replenishment and customer delivery takes place. The different supply chain cycles are quite separated in this case because each cycle occurs at the interface between two successive stages of the supply chain. The five supply chain stages reflect the work and involvement of five individual parties however the bookstore accounts for only the retailer stage because it serves no other functions within the supply chain. Pull processes mean a process is initiated in response to a customer order. Push processes, on the other hand, mean process is initiated in anticipation of customer orders. The push/pull boundary in any supply chain separates push processes from pull processes. The push/pull boundary for the bookstore occurs between the customer order cycle and the procurement, manufacturing, and replenishment cycles. The customer order cycle is a pull process because all processes the customer order cycle are executed only after the customer arrives. The remaining processes all take place prior to the customer arriving so that all products are already in inventory built up in anticipation of customer orders.
Q2. Give arguments to support the statement that Wal-Mart has achieved very good strategic fit between its competitive and supply chain strategies.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue and is founded by Sam Walton in 1962. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer. Wal-Mart works on the principle of maximization of value through innovation. As per Wal-Mart the key