This memo is going out on behalf of upper management to all the senior staff for the sole purpose of keeping you informed as to the changes that will be happening here soon. It is important during these times of change, that we keep the lines of communication open so that we can all strive to further the success of the company. In this memo, you will find pertinent information in regards to supply chain design and how it can enhance our company’s profitability and increase the value of our stakeholder shares.
For those of you not familiar with supply chain design, I implore you to get smart on this subject, as it will ease your anxiety to the upcoming changes that are about to occur. Supply chain design is organizational concepts that will help us retool the way our product makes it from our factories to the public. It is what determines how the supply chain is structured. Design decisions include the selection of partners, the location and capacity of warehouse and production facilities, the products, the modes of transportation, and supporting information systems. (http://www.lindnerlogistics.com/our-company/resources/)
I know this sounds like a lot, and if you take all this information in at once, it can be overwhelming. What I would like you to do is to take the above information, and use it to analyze the behavior of our supply chain networks and our supply chain drivers and determine how these behaviors impact our distribution.
During this time of globalization, we have to find a way to marry our strategic goals with our operational capabilities; this means we have to manage our cost, customization, speed and price effectively in a cross-functional way. (http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00160?pg=all) (Kauffeld, Mueller, and Michaels; 2013)
There are four drivers to a supply chain network, inventory, transportation, facilities and information. Inventory of course, is the raw material that is a work in progress or finished goods that we sell...