Supply chain strategy

Question 1

Give three types of decision making phases.

Answer 1

1) Strategic decisions: Long term decisions that involve actions which take at least a year to complete.

2) Tactical decisions: medium term decisions that take between 6 months to a year to complete.

3) Operational decisions: Short term decisions that involve actions which occur on a weekly or monthly basis.

Question 2

Name two types of products, in terms of demand uncertainty.

Answer 2

Functional product: A product with a long life cycle that has predictable demand and usually lower margins of revenue.

Innovative product: A product with a shorter life cycle, meaning it always has to be improved or renewed. higher product variety, higher revenue margins and more demand uncertainty.

Question 3

???Name two types of supply, in terms of uncertainty.???

Answer 3

???Stable supply: Certainty over future supply of product

Evolving supply: Uncertainty over future supply of product???

Question 4

Name 4 types of supply chain strategies and describe the conditions that would require each of these strategies to be used.

Answer 4

Efficient supply chain: Used for low demand uncertainty and low supply uncertainty.

Responsive supply chain: High demand uncertainty and low supply uncertainty - Focuses on flexibility and quickly adapts to market conditions and volatile consumer demand.

Risk hedging supply chain: Low demand uncertainty and high supply uncertainty -
>) Company has multiple suppliers. >)Buffer suppliers: Suppliers that acts as a safety net, supplying companies with extra stock when the usual suppliers are experiencing disruptions or shortages.

Agile supply chain: High demand uncertainty and high supply uncertainty - Combination of responsive and risk hedging supply chain.