DB 8325 Supply Chain Strategy Ford Motor Essay

DB 8325 Supply Chain Strategy Ford Motor Essay

Description

Supply Chain Strategy Case Study (Ford Motor)

In this assignment, you will apply strategy concepts to a real-world supply chain relationship management case study.

Review Case 2-3, “Ford Motor Company: Align Business Framework,” on pages 41–43 of your Purchasing and Supply Management text.

Complete the following:

Write a 4-page paper addressing Tony’s challenges identified under “Finalizing the Plan.”

Describe Ford’s competitive strategy. Provide examples of its competitive strategy. Compare and contrast the old and new contract and negotiation approaches. Analyze the impact of Ford’s new supplier relationship approach on its competitive strategy. Evaluate Ford’s new supplier relationship approach and how this new approach will improve relationships with suppliers.

As you complete your assignment, be sure your paper meets the following guidelines: Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message. APA formatting: All resources and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.

Length: 4 typed, double-spaced pages.

Font size and type: 10-point Arial.

RESOURCES

Supply Chain Strategy Case Study (Ford Motor) Scoring Guide.

Due Date: End of Unit 1

Percentage of Course Grade: 15%.

DISCUSSIONS

DB8325

Week 1

Evaluating Supply Chain Strategy

Review Xu, Xu, and Liu’s 2014 article, “Wal-Mart and Carrefour’s Supply Chain Management Strategies in China.” Evaluate Wal-Mart and Carrefour’s use of supply management as an offensive strategy in their move into the Chinese market. In your post, consider the importance of supply chain strategy to overall firm strategy.

RESPONSE GUIDELINES

Respond to the posts of at least two other learners. Your responses are expected to be substantive in nature and reference the assigned readings, as well as other theoretical, empirical, or professional literature to support your views and writings.

Use the following suggestions to create your response post:

How well does your peer consider the facts and information?

Are there additional pieces of information he or she should consider?

What were the similarities and differences in your post?

Response to classmates (Joey Stansell)

The culture, behavior, and transportation systems are some of the key areas analyzed when companies expand into different countries. What works in one country may not work in another. The key for most companies is to match these areas while still holding on to their beliefs and culture.

Wal-Mart

According to Xu, L., Xu, Q., and Liu (2014), Wal-Mart and Carrefour took different approaches when joining the Chinese market. As in America, Wal-Mart chose the “customer is first” approach to win over the people of China (p. 156) . The supply strategy of Wal-Mart was to cut out the middleman, offer a “one-stop shopping” method, and establish key relationships with its suppliers (Xu et al. 2014).

Wal-Mart also set up its own logistic system and allows its suppliers to be part of the team and even helps pay for product research and quality control to ensure only the highest quality goods are placed on its shelves. Wal-Mart recognized the diminished transportation networking systems in China and established two distribution centers to offer more reliable deliveries to its stores. Lastly, they opened most of their stores in suburban areas to meet the needs of lower-income customers and making those with higher incomes drive to purchase from its stores.

Carrefour

Carrefour took a slightly different approach. The company offers lower prices for its consumers. It sets up payment plans with its suppliers allowing Carrefour to utilize the capital turnover of its suppliers in order to save money (Xu et al. 2014). The company also chooses local products to place in their stores. The local store managers handle the procurement for Carrefour stores. Offering management the ability to select the products, pricing, and promotions strengthen the performance of the staff. Carrefour established four regional procurements centers and left the responsibility of the distribution to its suppliers (Xu et al. 2014). Lastly, the Carrefours approach to keeping its consumers happy is to increase the varieties of items on its shelves.

Conclusion

Wal-Mart and Carrefour both offer low prices, but take different supply chain approaches. Wal-Mart established two large distribution centers; wherein, they have direct control over the distribution of products. Carrefour utilizes four smaller procurement centers and leaves most of the responsibility on the suppliers.

Reference

Xu, L., Xu, Q., & Liu, X. (2014). Wal-Mart and Carrefour’s supply chain management strategies in China. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(7), 155–161. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/53fd/28043c089118…

UNIT ONE DISCUSSION ONE

INTRODUCTION

This post evaluates the different Supply Chain Management Strategies (SCMS) of Walmart versus Carrefour and its importance in the overall business strategy of both companies in their penetration of the Chinese market and their successful dominance.These two multinational companies have been in China for only 25 years and yet they have succeeded in dominating the retail industry.

Theory: SCM Strategies: Walmart versus Carrefour

The authors discussed 4 different factors in their respective SCMS:

Customer Priorities

Supplier Relationship

Logistics and Distribution

Marketing Strategy

WALMART

They stressed that the customer is the number one priority in both price (lowest) and service (8 teeth smile always).They collaborate with their suppliers (manufacturers, no middlemen) ,and help them in research and improving product quality.They established their own two large centralized procurement and distribution centers and own their own distribution networks that lowers their costs and increase efficiency. Finally, they built stores in suburban areas so the poorer farmers are close by and the richer customers can drive in their cars. They market heavily to meet the preferences of their wealthy buyers for higher profits (Xu et. Al., 2014).

CARREFOUR

They stressed lower prices all the time. They attain lower prices by buying locally grown and produced products. They pay their suppliers every 60 days to save costs and roll over capital quickly. They built two large procurement centers but relied on their supplier for distribution to save money. They built their stores in big cities and urban areas to be closer to city dwellers who do not have cars. They packaged in lighter, cheaper, and smaller quantities to make it easier for customers (Xu et. Al., 2014).

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCMS IN OVERALL BUSINESS STRATEGY:

The authors stated that both strategies have propelled both companies to business dominance in the retail industry in China, beating all local enterprises in just a short 25 years. They suggested that their best practices should be emulated by local businesses so that they will also attain success in the retail industry. The fact that both strategies are different and yet equally successful argues that these SCMS are extremely important in their overall business strategy in their quest for overall success and maximum profitability.

Conclusions

This article is interesting but outdated because of two recent events. First is the growth of online shopping. We are all aware that Amazon beats Walmart hands down in online retailing and more importantly, in profitability here in the USA. The story is the same with Alibaba in China. Secondly, the Corona Virus Pandemic has totally shifted all the advantages to online shopping. Therefore, going forward, these SCM strategies will have to change and adapt to current market necessities. It is imperative for most if not all businesses to develop newer and innovative strategies in order to survive!

Xu, L., Xu, Q., & Liu, X.,(2014). Walmart and Carrefour’s supply chain management strategies in China. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(7), 155-161.

Application

Prepare a post that responds to question 5 on page 22 of your Supply Chain Network Design text. Which solution did you select? Using the text and the assigned article, identify and discuss reasons for your selection.

RESPONSE GUIDELINES

Respond to at least two other learners. Your responses to other learners are expected to be substantive in nature and reference the assigned readings, as well as other theoretical, empirical, or professional literature to support your views and writings.

Use these suggestions to create your response post:

How well does your peer consider the facts and information?

Are there additional pieces of information he or she should consider?

What were the similarities and differences in your posts?

Response to classmates

A small medical supply company in Australia has just developed a never before seen product with major pre-release orders from around the globe already. This company will need more production capacity to support their forecasted sales for this new blockbuster product. If they simply expand their plant in Australia, they estimate that their production, transportation, and warehousing costs will be approximately $450 million (AUD). After a careful network design study, they have found two solutions that people in the company generally like.

a. Solution #1: Estimated cost of $375 million with a new large plant in China to supplement their existing plant in Australia.
b. Solution #2: Estimated cost of $385 million with three new smaller plants in China, Brazil, and Italy to supplement their plant in Australia. These plants would service their local regions.

(Assume the costs listed here include all the costs that are relevant.) What would be the best reasons for picking solution #1? For picking solution #2? Why is it important for this firm to consider other non-quantifiable factors when determining their best course of action for expansion? In this scenario solution 2 was selected. This was based on the concept of building relationships with trucking companies, warehousing companies, and other supply chain partners.

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Although re-configuration of the organization may be need to further partner with multiple countries it may assist with funding the business’ success. In solution 2 there should be other things considered such as Demand Data—There will be uncertainty in future demand dependent on overall economic conditions, moves by competitors, success of your marketing programs, and so on.
■ Transportation Costs—There can be a lot of variance in future prices of transportation dependent on the ever-fluctuating world market price of oil.
The non-quantifiable factors that the organization should consider are listed below along with reasoning:

Sales Team—Place product as close to customers as possible (create many warehouses). Have small frequent shipments to customers (many small shipments or more frequent production runs at the plants).The sales group must produce the appropriate historical demand data as well as dependable forecasts of sales in the future.
-Operations Team (Production)—Produce large quantities of one product during each run in order to reduce machine downtime and changeover costs (creates a need for a lot of warehouse storage). Produce product in one location to maximize economies of scale.
– Operations Team (Warehousing)—Quickly move inventory through the warehouses (minimize storage costs). Minimize warehousing locations to reduce fixed and management costs. The operations group will be needed to explain the costs, capabilities, and capacities of all the production and storage assets, as well as any related overhead and labor costs.
– Logistics Team (Transportation)—Have large shipments on less costly modes of transportation (ocean, rail, or truckload).
– Finance Team—Have the least amount of money tied up in capital (low levels of inventory and operations requiring the least investment in warehousing and production locations). Incur the lowest costs tied to logistics (transportation, warehousing). The finance department is depended on for comparing the output costs from the model to the costs within their financial statements for the same span of time. Doing this provides a validated starting point for the model and a baseline to which we can compare all future model scenarios and output.[Order Now]

Watson, M., Lewis, S., Cacioppi, P., Jayaraman, J. Supply Chain Network Design: Applying Optimization and Alanlytics to the Global Supply Chain. [Capella]. Retrieved from https://capella.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323251…

Response to classmate (Ding Hardin)

Introduction

Supply chains are defined as a systematic network with several parts cooperating with each other to meet customers’ needs and requirements (Nobari, & Kherikhaha, 2018). A small medical company in Australia is in the process of creating a systematic supply chain after developing a never before seen product that already has a high number of pre-release orders waiting to be filled. This discussion will identify the four elements related to the company’s project and compare solutions one and two.

Four Elements

There are four elements related to the company’s project

Objective – The objective of the two solutions is to minimize cost for the company. By looking at both of the solutions, the company can judge if having one large power plant in China is better than having smaller multiple plants in different areas around the world is a better and cheaper alternative (Watson, Lewis, Cacioppi, & Jayaraman, 2013).

Constraints – The small medical company wants to meet all of the demands of their pre-release orders. The products are new, meaning the company may not be familiar with the product cycles, process and challenges.

Decisions – Need to be based on how the products are being moved from one location to another, where and how many sites there are, and what product is made in what location (Watson, Lewis, Cacioppi, & Jayaraman, 2013).

Data – The company needs to ask if they have all the data to make an educated decision. It is important that they run some scenarios to ensure they are assessing all amounts of risk they can think of to choose the right scenario (Watson, Lewis, Cacioppi, & Jayaraman, 2013).

The Comparison of Two Solutions

Conclusions

Based on the above analysis, Solution 2 is the better choice for the medical company when it comes to creating a systematic supply chain because having smaller production plants in different areas helps keep down on transportation costs, allow the company to serve their clients more efficiently, and even allows for outsourcing in regards to production that could also save costs. Outsourcing will allow the medical company to send some of their processes or production to a subcontractor closer to one of their markets (Haoues, Dahane, & Mouss, 2016).

References

Haoues, M., Dahane, M., & Mouss, N.K. (2018). Outsourcing in two-echelon

supply chain network integrated production-maintenance constraints. J Intell Manuf 30(1), 701-725.

Nobari, A., & Kheirkhah, A. (2018). Integrated and dynamic design of sustainable

closed-loop supply chain network considering pricing. Scientia Iranica, 25(1), 410–430.

Watson, M., Lewis, S., Cacioppi, & Jayaraman, J. (2013). Supply chain network

design: Applying optimization and analytics to the global supply chain. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

DB 8325 Supply Chain Strategy Ford Motor Essay

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