Theme: Distribution Management

Tropic Industrials Ltd. is a cement manufacturing company located in Old Harbour St. Catherine Jamaica. The manufacturing plant covers over 2000 Hectares of land and boasts a modern electronically powered processing plant which when running at full capacity can produce approximately 78000 metric tons of the company's number one selling product "Quick Dry" bag cement at the end of an eight-hour shift. Once the cement has been manufactured it is then packed into bags and placed onto conveyor belts and then transported to a centralized warehouse on the plant. Once sorted the finished goods are then distributed by truck to the company's three main distribution depots located in Kingston, St. James, and St. Ann. Quick Dry cement is primarily manufactured for local consumption which includes the housing, commercial building, and road construction sectors.

In response to a surge in the growth of the local housing and construction sectors, Tropic Industrials Ltd has initiated plans to expand its operations and distribution with the intention of increasing the plant's capacity by 50% over the next three years. The main anticipated outcome of this expansion is to rectify inventory and distribution challenges that are currently affecting the company. These challenges range from distribution depots not being replenished on time to meet demand as well as inconsistencies in trucking services which impact customer service delivery. Therefore a significant overhaul of Tropic Industrials Ltd operations is now needed to synchronize the rising demand for Quick Dry Cement with adequate supply. Figure 1 shows the weekly demand patterns for the Quick Dry distribution depots.

Question 1

Explain and justify which supply chain strategy the management of Tropic Industrials Ltd can implement to reduce disruptions and ensure effective order fulfillment at each storage depot. (25 Marks)