Imagine that you own a company that manufactures carbonated beverages. The name of the company is 'Sparkle Pop' and its only offering is flavoured carbonated drinks that come in six flavours. Sparkle pop has become very popular in South Africa due to its delicious taste and affordability. The company sources its ingredients from local suppliers and owns the packaging and manufacturing plant that it uses. The lifecycle of the product is simple and begins at the sourcing phase, then to the manufacturing phase and finally once the beverage is produced it is distributed to retailers and wholesalers to be sold to the end customer. The company wants to improve its supply chain performance to expand its reach in Africa.

Question:

As the owner of Sparkle Pop, you want to understand how you can improve supply chain performance in terms of responsiveness and efficiency. You decide to examine the logistical and cross-functional drivers of supply chain performance to determine a way forward. Criticize the above statement and explain each of the drivers in context. From your explanation select TWO drivers that you believe would make the greatest impact on Sparkle Pop and substantiate your views.