week 2

Question 1

3 key characteristics of competitive supply chain

Answer 1

responsiveness, reliability, and relationship management

Question 2

responsiveness

Answer 2

how you respond to change in customers demand

shorter supply chains are more agile than longer supply chains (less intermediaries to go through)

comes from supply chains that are more demand driven than forecast driven

Question 3

reliability

Answer 3

companies carry safety stock because of uncertainty which results in higher costs

eg uncertainty about your suppliers capacity

best way to reduce uncertainty is to increase reliability

improve visibility (to be able to have more access to data // sharing information)

Question 4

relationship management

Answer 4

scm is about the management of relationships across networks of companies

single sourcing is common because it allows you to develop stronger relationships (able to focus on that single supplier)

Question 5

zara example for responsiveness

Answer 5

uses half empty trucks (higher transportation costs but also meet higher demand)

ship using air transportation

move unsold products out of store after 2 weeks

half of production happens in europe therefore have more control over operations

Question 6

globalization

Answer 6

global marketplace became possible due to information tech, transportation, and government policies

larger choice of supply and more product choices

Question 7

challenges to global supply chains include

Answer 7

the distance factor
reliability
efficiency

Question 8

outsourcing

Answer 8

sometimes outsourcing is cheaper

downside is lack of control because you are giving control to another party

Question 9

postponement

Answer 9

products about 80-90% ready and then are customized based on local preferences

eg hp: dist centres in europe that serve different countries, printers are ready and are then packaged and labelled based on the country they are being distributed to

Question 10

artificial intelligence in SC

Answer 10

rate of return is higher for online purchases

Question 11

business process

Answer 11

set of activities with specific outcomes

every process has structural and resource constraints limiting its output

eg: output = enhance level of customer satisfaction by meeting and exceeding customer expectations

Question 12

transactional views

Answer 12

based on numbers

one measure can be fulfillment rate eg 100% fulfillment rate

Question 13

relationship view

Answer 13

based on managing relationships in the supply chain

do not only look at numbers but rather view relationship with supplier and how long you’ve been working with them

Question 14

theory of constraints

Answer 14

any system has at least one constraint

objective is to restructure things to eliminate its impact

serial connection is also known as sequential connection

Question 15

bottleneck

Answer 15

constraint that limits the output of the system (system cannot produce more than its bottleneck)