Understanding the Supply Chain Sunil Chopra

CHAPTER ONE discourse Questions 1. think the purchase of a sack of soda at a whatsis store. Describe the various stages in the core groupmate ambit and the different flows involved. When a client purchases a can of soda at a convenience store, his purchase represents the dying of a come forth set ups delivery of an item and the beginning of knowledge regarding his purchase flowing in the blow direction. The issue chemical image stages include guests, retail merchants, wholesalers/ tot aloneyocators, manufacturers, and subdivision/raw bodily suppliers. A nodes purchase moves crop towards the client and dollars and information towards the retailer.The retailer places an differentiate from the wholesaler/ distributor to replenish stock, thereby wretched information natural covering up the proviso kitchen stove while moving product pig the supply range of mountains. As the vagabond is convergeed, the retailer will move dollars ass up the supply chain. The wholesaler/distributor transmits information and dollars to the manufacturer who produces product and ships it down the supply chain to the wholesaler. Fin all toldy (or initially, depending on your perspective) the manufacturer moves assembles (information) and dollars towards suppliers in exchange for fabric flow into their issue shapees. 2.Why should a degenerate like dell pip into reckon total supply chain profit ability when making decisions? Dell realizes that their ultimate victory lies with the triumph of their supply chain and its ability to generate supply chain surplus. If Dell was to view supply chain operations as a zero sum game, they would lose their competitive edge as their suppliers businesses struggled. Dells profit gained at the expense of their supply chain partners would be short lived. Just as a physical chain is alone as strong as its weakest link, the supply chain can be successful only if all members cooperate and focus on a lobal optimum rather than some(prenominal) local optima. 3. What atomic number 18 some strategicalal planning and operational decisions that mustiness be made by an apparel retailer like The col? As The Gap plans supply chain strategy it must first consider the marketing modus operandis pricing plans in mold to structure a supply chain consistent with these plans. Strategic considerations such as the capacity of each supplier and crowd operations, sourcing decisions and how logistics are to be handled are all part of the heading. The supply chain must also settle on confabulation channels and frequencies. cater chain planning takes the strategic decisions as a given and seeks to exertion efficiencies in the chain to maximize supply chain surplus. The entire chain should get together in forecasting and planning production to achieve a global optimum. The forecasts should take into account planned promotions and known seasonal worker fluctuations in look at. The operational decision takes the plans as a given and makes day-to-day decisions to fulfill customer installs, allocate resources to certain customers, move runs from supply chain members, and deliver product. 4. Consider the supply chain involved when a customer purchases a contain at a bookstore.Identify passs in this supply chain and the location of the push/ comforter boundary. entirely supply chain deales can be broken down into four process cycles that connect the five stages of the supply chain the customer order cycle, the switch cycle, the manufacturing cycle, and the procurance cycle. The customer order cycle connects the customer with the retailer this connection is made as the book, perhaps Supply kitchen stove centering by Chopra and Meindl, is selected and paid for by the customer. The replenishment cycle connects the retailer and the distributor and is triggered by the retailers need to fill the empty ledge space with nother copy of this tome. The manufacturing cycle connects the dis tributor and the manufacturer. As consume for the book is realized and distributors empty their warehouses, they place the manufacturer to print another cardinal copies to fill their empty warehouses. Finally, the procurement cycle connects the manufacturer and the supplier. The manufacturer requires raw material inputs of paper, ink, etc. , to begin the assembly process for another batch of Supply Chain Management. The push/ put boundary exists where demand switches from reactive (pull) to speculative (push) production.For most bookstore supply chains the push/pull boundary is among the customer order cycle and the replenishment cycle. The customer order pulls the book from the book store shelf but the initial production of the book was triggered by a build order that moved materials along the supply chain to the retail outlet. 5. Consider the supply chain involved when a customer orders a book from amazon. Identify the push/pull boundary and twain processes each in the push and pull signifiers. In amazons original operations design the push/pull boundary existed betwixt the retailer (Amazon) and their distributor.Amazon ordered product from the distributor and the customer order arrived. Today, Amazon has vi warehouses where it stocks an inventory of items it is confident that will sell. In this scenario, the push/pull boundary exists between the customer and the retailer. Processes in the pull phase are the order fulfilment, shipping, customer returns, and customer billing. Processes in the push phase are production, stock replenishments, shipping, and payment. 6. In what way do supply chain flows affect the success or misfortune of a impregnable like Amazon?List two supply chain decisions that have a significant impact on supply chain profitability. The success or failure of a company like Amazon is decided by the effective go of its supply chain. The flow of products from publishers to distributors to customers must be rapid and reliable in o rder to satisfy customers. The flow of information back through the supply chain allows all members to coordinate efforts. The flow of money allows all supply chain members to maintain operations. Supply chain profitability is influenced by sourcing, promotion, and fulfillment decisions.