Management

CO3:” Evaluate the four building blocks of a supply network strategy and how they work together to form an effective supply chain ”

Forum Prompt:

Review the case study “Surplus Styles” in your textbook on page 26. Then briefly answer questions 1 through 3. Also, provide your insights into how Derick should resolve his problem including (a) what steps he should take, (b) should he go out for quotes from a list of vendors or negotiate with his current vendor. Finally, think about and briefly discuss what the differences are when selecting vendors to meet cost points versus meeting quality standards.

Sanders, Nada R. Supply Chain Management, 2nd Edition. Wiley, 2017-09-18. VitalBook file.

ANSWER

First Derick will have to forecast the new process and determine its prerequisites. From this, he will determine whether or not they need to restructure the supply chain process to adjust to the new requirements from production, through distribution to consumption. The next step would then be to set up meetings with the company’s suppliers and find out whether they can provide these new requirements including services needed to make the change in the product. Another important aspect of meetings with suppliers is to find out whether he can still produce the products at the same rate and cost as the initial process after the change which will be his major challenge.

If current suppliers are not able to sustain these changes, it will be in Derick’s interest to explore other options including solicitation of new suppliers with the help of his procurement office. With the new process of more expensive organic products, Derick should still be able to successfully compete on cost and still apply competitive bidding to select new suppliers. Competitive bidding should help him achieve and maintain innovation, costing, quality, customer service and distribution as a supply chain strategy (Takano 2018).

The key differences between suppliers to meet cost standards versus suppliers to meet quality standards is that with quality, background checks on suppliers comprising factors such as trade associations, recommendations, trade press and exhibitions apply (Urbaniak 2018). This makes looking for quality more comprehensive and a longer process than one determined on cost. For Derrick, the cost will be his greatest immediate interest but still will have to pay attention to basic aspects of quality on the product to avoid losing the already existing clientele to competitors.

References

Takano, Y., Ishii, N., & Muraki, M. (2018). Determining bid markup and resources allocated to cost estimation in competitive bidding. Automation in Construction, 85, 358-368.

Urbaniak, M., & Ropęga, J. (2018). The Role Of Quality And Environmental Management Systems In The Evaluation Of Suppliers. Business Logistics in Modern Management.