Global Logistics Mgmt Supply Chain Integration Information technology surrounds us in about every aspect of our daily lives these days. Information technology functions both in our homes, work, and public places. I often wonder how things ever got accomplished without the use of this technology in the past. Checks and balances must be put in place to properly implement information technology and even though it can greatly improve our lives, improper use or implementation will only lead you back to where you initially started. From a logistics integration standpoint, information technology can help companies gain a supply chain edge if properly implemented and used. This is exactly what Sunsweet Growers of California have accomplished. Let’s take a look on how they put the use of information technology in place to assist their logistics processes. Sunsweet Growers deal in the dried fruit industry and faced many manufacturing logistics challenges within the company. Production, scheduling, along with supply and demand issues are just some of those challenges. Sunsweet had to take a close look at their sales and operating procedures so they would be able to properly address logistics challenges they faced. The sales and operating procedures are critical to an efficient supply chain and Sunsweet knew things needed to change. Focusing on the right problem through the sales and operating procedures transformation is critical to help keep the entire supply chain process in balance. Balancing supply and demand and keeping them balanced is not an easy task, but with effective procedures and planning procedures in place Sunsweet would be able to turn things around and bring their supply chain into the 21st century. Informatio... ... middle of paper ... ...is up to date thus ensuring planning and forecasting is accurate and on time. After implementation of all these steps, Sunsweet has seen great improvements and gained significant return on their investment. Information technology has contributed to a more accurate forecast, put in place alerts to notify planners, and improved both delivery performance and cost management. Overall, information technology is here to stay and if used correctly can greatly enhance both the supply and demand portions of a supply chain. Works Cited Upton, Harold, Harpal Singh. (2007, Mar.) Balanced S&OP: Sunsweet Growers’ Story, Supply Chain Management Review. New York: Vol.11. Issues 2; pg 51. Retrieved 16 July, 2011. From. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1271161961&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1243030170&clientId=29440&cfc=1
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) came into being more than eight decades ago when several independent retailers decided that the power of a cooperative far outweighed the influence of any one individual retail grocer. AWG provides distributor services to independent grocers in over 30 states with nine distribution centers throughout the South and Southeast regions of the country. In addition to their wholesale foods department, AWG offers a myriad of services from new store design, construction, marketing, product placement and “world class” logistical consultation (cite 11). AWG faces many of the same logistical challenges that other similar wholesalers face to include rising fuel costs, inclement weather, stringent timelines and an ever evolving need for stringent quality. One method to exploit a business’s positive and negative attributes is through the use of a Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat analysis, or SWOT analysis (Cite 11). If used correctly, the analysis results can give insight into potential market areas of expansion and expose vulnerabilities to senior leadership so that they can be mitigated. AWG looks at its Supply Chain Management (SCM) as an integral part of its core business offering multiple services such as logistics to new co-op members. The team members of AWG are positioning themselves for sustainable success, now and in the future.
ITC has introduced information technology into agricultural business in India. . The eChoupal kiosks have been set up to facilitate a new supply chain. This new technology-integrated supply chain has addressed several difficulties in the past. The following sections will lay out the inefficiencies of the traditional supply chain management; describe the ITC eChoupal Initiative; and analyze how eChoupal enhances the soybean supply chain. The future platform will also be discussed.
...to deal with inbound and outbound logistics, one that is made up mostly of the personnel from outbound logistics. These professionals deal with the second core competency of Deere, logistics, separate from the manufacturing of tractors and lawnmowers. The creation of this team helps eliminate the risk Fedex’s poor performance (managers were not pleased with Fedex’s centralized transportation management service) and need to measure performance of a 3rd part continuously. As a result, performance is self-managed. We expect as the IT system is used to optimize and plan transportation routes amongst inbound and outbound trucks, cost savings will increase more rapidly. We believe internal continuous improvement, leaner logistics operations and synergies amongst all logistics activities will lead to the $69 million goal being met by the third year after implementation.
Another channel that we need to keep our eyes on was supermarkets. Supermarkets were becoming more popular and more powerful in the fresh flowers market. The average annual sales for supermarket floral departments were $104,950, having grown almost four times in the past ten years. However, supermarkets had two major...
How has the use of technology changed its interaction with its suppliers? Wholesalers? Other business partners?
There are many functioning parts within a business that manufactures consumer goods. Departments such as sales, finance, accounting and marketing are in the forefront of the minds of consumers and business professionals alike. However, there is an area of a business that sits at the helm of any successful manufacturer, and that is a well-managed supply chain. The supply chain is the coordination of activities within a manufacturing process beginning with the sourcing of raw materials and ending with a satisfied consumer. This article will focus on the first part of the supply chain for General Mills Inc., the sourcing of one of its most sought ingredients, raw cocoa.
Coolcargo and Frito-Lay implemented technical solutions for agricultural-products transportation following customers’ requirements. Coolcargo developed a transport-system for maintain fresh asparagus at controlled temperature from production site in Thailand to final destination in UK (UOL, 2013). Frito-Lay developed a global agile supply-chain for manufacturing and distributing salty-snacks to end-customers that allows processing agricultural-products in less than 24 hours for flavor guarantee (PepsiCo, 2013).
Coyle, J., Langley, C., Gibson, B., Novack, R. and Bardi, E. (2008).Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. 8th ed. Cengage Learning, p.366.
...ilt on their logistical streams. The online market allows a firm to put itself in a suitable position across the supply chain (Mahadevan, 2000). Disintermediation and Info-mediation are prominent examples of logistics streams. Disintermediation is the reduction of the number of actors in the supply chain with the aim of cutting down costs and improving efficiency. The success of this system can be seen in Amazon,com where customers order goods and gets delivered to them directly. Dell computers allow adopts this model. A distinct logistical stream that exists is the info-mediation, due to the huge amount of information available online and also because customers cannot process everything they see info-mediation serves to allow customers access to relevant information easily. They act as agents or brokers to customers and also safeguard their privacy concerns online.
Basically this will be done by the sales representative from Xtra One Food Industries. Their sales seems to be slow during the fruit season yet as overall their sales are still on control and goes as forecasted. The recent trend of this company is to supply the units in a slightly lower volume compare to years back. This is due to high rate of stock being returned by the customers. Thus, this causes loss to the firm as they have to bare the cost of the returned goods (frozen goods) which is now spoiled and can’t be sold besides the transportation cost as
Operations Management continually studies methods to find the best supply chain processes to be able to serve each customer and each product at a given point in...
The Internet has played a major role in transforming industry value systems through globalisation and supply chain integration. Factories all over the world each produce a key component necessary for the production of a particular good/item and thanks to the internet it is now easier than ever to manage these supply chains and get the product from production to shelf as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
The supplier is then immediately provided with a payment slip confirming the transfer of money to their account for the produce. At the end of the day, the team loads the vegetables bought from different farmers in the region into a refrigerated truck that travel to the distribution centers (DC). Here, they are sorted and graded and all the data in inputted into a SAP system so as to make the tracking process simpler. Then the demand is estimated for the consecutive day and the order is generated for the next day’s requirement. Next, based on what goods are available and their quantity, they are delivered to stores in the nearby cities to stock the shelves before the stores open in the morning.
Reverse logistics is the process of returning faulty goods from customers. Reverse logistics and returns management continue to be an important part of the world economy. The development of a reverse logistics competency could augment a firm’s supply chain strategies, and if well executed, could transform returns from a cost center to a profit center by extending the productivity of materials, resources, and labor. Information Technology can improve the reverse logistics benefits for a firm that collaborating with supply chain members. In having a superior logistics performance, some competencies are required in considering relationships, technology, and reverse logistic. (Tyler R. Morgan, Robert Glenn Richey Jr, Chad W. Autry, 2015)
Optionally a full report of an abstract or a newsletter containing only headlines can be ordered. These emails can be featured with hyperlinks that users can follow to access the full content on companies’ website. Hence, environmental reporting has to be fine tuned according to different information needs of various target groups. Thereby, internet-based push and pull technology is an efficient tool. They enable companies to offer online reporting on demand and to provide individual environmental information. For better performance of supply chain, it is important to maintain environmental information because of increasing competition between different competitors. The whole business process is content between manufacturers, suppliers and intermediate trade form, called supply chains. To keep these supply chains effective, better and profitable, information has to be exchanged freely between the participating business partners. The intended stable partnerships imply extensive communications along the whole Supply