Questions and Answers of Supply Chain Management A Logistics

6. Explain ABC inventory classification and vendor managed inventory (VMI).
5. Understand practical issues of managing supply chain inventories.
4. Differentiate between independent and dependent demand.
3. Understand how to compute order quantities, reorder points, and safety stock.
2. Explain inventory systems and ordering policies.
1. Describe different types of inventory, their uses and costs.
5. Explain how to measure sourcing performance.
4. Explain characteristics of different types of sourcing engagements.
3. Describe the sourcing process.
2. Explain the impact of the sourcing function on the organization and the supply chain.
1. Define sourcing and explain the differences between purchasing, strategic sourcing, and supply management.
6. Explain the role of third-party-logistics (3PL) providers.
5. Explain the role of warehousing on logistics and describe cross-docking.
4. Explain differences between modes of transportation.
3. Explain reverse logistics and its challenges.
2. Identify and describe key logistics tasks.
1. Define logistics and explain its impact on supply chain management.
6. Explain the impact of e-commerce on channels of distribution and the supply chain.
5. Explain channels of distribution and their role in supply chain management.
4. Explain the voice of the customer (VOC) and quality function deployment (QFD).
3. Describe the tools of customer relationship management (CRM).
2. Describe how market segmentation impacts supply chain design.
1. Define marketing and explain its role in supply chain management.
6. Explain the role of process automation in layout design.
5. Describe the process of line balancing in designing product layouts.
4. Describe categories of facility layouts, and their link to process design and the supply chain.
3. Explain product and process design, and their impact on supply chain operations.
2. Describe operations decisions and explain how they impact supply chain management (SCM).
1. Define operations management (OM) and explain its role in the supply chain.
5. Explain how productivity can be used to measure competitiveness.
4. Explain differences in supply chain design based on organizational competitive priorities.
3. Identify and explain the building blocks of a supply chain strategy.
2. Explain how proper supply chain design can create a competitive advantage.
1. Define supply chain strategy and explain how it supports the business strategy.
6. Explain enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a system integration technology.
5. Describe key factors in designing a supply chain structure.
4. Describe the stages of supply chain integration.
3. Explain system constraints and variation in managing a supply chain network.
2. Understand how to manage processes across the supply chain.
1. Describe the supply chain as a system of processes.
5. Identify and explain key trends that drive today’s supply chains.
4. Describe the characteristics of a competitive supply chain.
3. Describe the rise of supply chain management and its global implications.
2. Identify the flows through a supply chain and explain the bullwhip effect.
1. Define ‘‘supply chain management’’ and the activities involved.
1 We started out in Chapter 1 by defining supply chain management as ‘Planning and controlling all of the business processes that link together partners in a supply chain in order to serve the
2 Find an example of a recent supply chain job posting at a management level, review this for competency requirements and propose how this might be modified to fit the future challenges in the area.
1 Consider what courses are key for a supply chain student to follow, in addition to supply chain programmes.
2 What reasons need to be considered for discontinuing and continuing skus? Companies want to grow, and one of their commonest strategies is to create new products.These may increase revenues, but of
1 What reasons for and against product proliferations might different functions use? Companies want to grow, and one of their commonest strategies is to create new products.These may increase
2 Why is internal stewardship and process ownership necessary for collaborations?
2 ‘Supply chain relationships don’t mean anything. At the end of the day, it depends entirely on who has the most power. It’s the big boys in the supply chain who decide just how much of a
1 Consider the use of partnerships with customers to improve competitiveness. Discuss this within a group scenario using the following guidelines:a Make a list of companies in your chosen company’s
1 Use the template shown in Figure 8.9 to help describe what had happened to the relationship between ChemCo and WheatCo. WheatCo and ChemCo are two US chemical corporations, both leaders in their
1 Analyse strengths and weaknesses of the Italian shoe district logistics model. The National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI –www.anci-calzature.com) explains:The success of
Brazilian-born Carlos Ghosn was despatched to Nissan after Renault took a 36.8 per cent stake in the Japanese car maker in 1999. What he has done in turning round Nissan’s €15bn of debt and
1 The supplier association described above eventually collapsed. What factors do you think might have led to this collapse? A major supplier of digital telecommunications systems, which we shall call
Has the position of your selected organisation changed in the supply chain? If it has risen up the supply chain, or remained at the same tier whilst others were ‘demoted’, what new capabilities
Consider an organisation of your choice: have its major customers consolidated their supply base over the past five years? If so, by how much? What criteria did these customers use to decide which
Consider the reasons why a company would wish to enter into a partnership with a customer or supplier. List the advantages and disadvantages you can think of.
4 ‘You can talk collaboration as much as you like: at the end of the day, it’s a raw struggle for power, and the retailers are winning hands down.’ Discuss the relative merits of the factors in
3 Compare and contrast the aims of ECR and CPFR. Does CPFR represent a more advanced set of logistics concepts?
2 In the Procter & Gamble case study (Case study 8.2), the advice is to cut down on the number of skus on offer in order to improve replenishment. Is this integration or defeatism?
1 What is the purpose of integration in the supply chain, and why should it lead to valueadded from the end-customer perspective?
Select an industry of your choice and, within this, review the nine factors listed in section 8.6.2.How would you classify the state of supply chain relationships in this industry?
2 Do you consider that the reasons given for not scaling up the pilot are valid? CPFR pilots have been a popular diversion in the UK grocery sector. Often, they show– as in this case – that
1 Suppose that the retailer’s total sales were €20 bn, and that the ten skus together accounted for 0.4 per cent of these sales. Calculate the approximate savings in inventory to the retailer.
2 Procter & Gamble’s major laundry brand in the US is Tide. This is marketed in some 60 pack presentations, some of which have less than 0.1 per cent share. The proliferation of these pack
1 Cutting down on range, new items and promotions is presumably going to lead to‘everyday low prices’. Does this mean ECR is lean thinking by another name? Dutchman Paul Polman did a stint as
2 Identify potential barriers to executing the proposed apparel ‘supply chain of the future’. Case study 4.4 describes some of the competitive pressures in the apparel industry and trade-offs in
4 Refer back to Figure 2.1 in Chapter 2: it shows a Pareto curve for the sales per sku of a book stockist. A small number of ‘hot sellers’ constitute most of the sales, while there is a lengthy
3 Explain the difference between surge and base demands. Multi Electronique SA (ME)produces a range of electrical connectors for the automotive industry. Currently, the six production lines at its
2 Figure 7.9 shows a demand series for a high-volume grocery product with a comparatively stable demand. The vertical lines mark the end of each trading week, which is Sunday midnight.Suggest key
1 Suggest order winning and order qualifying criteria for the following product environments:a reprocessing nuclear fuel;b upstream petroleum refining;c downstream manufacture of petroleum products;d
1 Map the Xerox segments and market response (Figures 7.4 and 7.5) onto demand influences and supply capabilities in Figures 7.2 and 7.3 as far as you can, making assumptions where necessary. How
1 Sketch out what the basic structure of the new logistics and supplier network might look like. From a lean and an agile supplier’s perspective, what would be the order winners and qualifiers in
6 What matters more: value to the customer or value to the shareholder? Refer to section 3.4 of Chapter 3 in formulating your response. How does this question impact on the philosophy of lean
1 what changes would you propose to both TPS and to FPS in order to cope with customer demands for increasing product variety and more rapid model changes? A car assembly plant is built around a
2 Use the ‘Pyramid of key factors that underpin JIT’ to describe the factors that caused these actions to affect the company’s ability to respond to the demands being placed on it by customers.
1 List the actions that Smog Co. took to respond to the new demands being placed on it by customers. Group your responses under the headings of stock levels, level of expediting, and storage space.
1 Explain what Victoria SA has achieved in terms of P-time and D-time (see section 5.4). Victoria SA makes ‘fantastically good cakes’ from basic ingredients like flour, water and cherries. Demand
2 Explain the significance of P:D ratios. How can the production lead time be reduced?
1 Why is time important to competitive advantage? Identify and explain six key contributions that speed can make to logistics strategy.
2 What are the potential negatives of WDT’s new JIT system in terms of limiting customer choice and short-circuiting the design process? Sid Beckett, the Managing Director of Wiltshire Distribution
1 Sketch out the main processes between a customer placing an enquiry and receiving delivery of a WDT transformer. Where has WDT really scored in terms of reducing this time? Sid Beckett, the
Assess the benefits and concerns that may arise as a result of the relative sizes of P-time and Dtime.Compile your views in the table below: Benefits P-time greater than D- P-time = D-time time
List six applications of responsiveness in an organisation: for example, ‘external phone calls answered within five rings’. How many organisations can you think of that compete overtly on time,
3 Identify six potential sources and causes of risk in global supply chains. Use the reference to Peck (2003) below to propose counter measures.
2 Tiering of the supply network is referred to in section 4.4.1 above, and also in Chapter 1, section 1.1, and in the Global Lighting case study at the end of Chapter 2. Describe the advantages of
1 What are the benefits and limitations of international logistics? Illustrate your response by referring to the sourcing of standard shirts and fashion blouses (shown in Table 1.1 in Chapter 1) from
What are the logistics implications of internationalisation?
How do we organise for international logistics?
List possible CSR concerns in the supply chain and the possible impact on the focal firm making and selling the end product if they go wrong and if they go right
1 What further changes are needed for there to be a sustainable change in the incidence of child labour in developing countries like Pakistan? Nearly 75 per cent of soccer balls were produced in
3 Which trade-offs must be made when setting up a global SCM network for the apparel industry? Also discuss the trade-offs regarding sourcing countries versus quality. The enormous success of
2 Why is time-to-market so important in the apparel industry? How does it impact supply chain processes? The enormous success of vertical retailers like H&M, Zara, Gap and Next in the apparel
1 What are the strategic drivers that are forcing focal firms in the apparel industry to change their supply strategy? The enormous success of vertical retailers like H&M, Zara, Gap and Next in the
Consider each of the four freight modes in terms of their cost, speed and availability, and write in the respective box in the table ‘high’, ‘medium’ or ‘low’. Explain your answers in
A footwear company has a number of manufacturing facilities around Asia, as shown in Figure 4.8. There are five manufacturing sites in China, three in India, and one each in Thailand, Singapore and
4 What are the pros and cons for a company such as Nike to take on these materials handling services as opposed to leaving them to retail customers? Nike has a central customer service centre

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