Seven-Eleven Japan Co.

Supply Chain Strategy

SC can become responsive by reducing lead time. This can be done in following ways:

 Real time information flow between suppliers, distributors and store

 Strong supplier network
 Good relationship maintenance with suppliers and distributors
 Analysis of day to day data for each store and each SKU will enable in forecasting &
reduction of replenishment time
 Cross-docking is one of the ways to be responsive

Risks Associated with Supply Chain

Real time information flow risk

 Server breakdown or hacking

Strong supplier network & good relationship maintenance with suppliers and distributors

 Over-dependency on one supplier

 Risk due to natural calamities increase if all suppliers lie in close proximity

Analysis of day to day data for each store and each SKU

 Data congestion due to large volume of data from 3000 SKU × 10000 stores

Cross-docking

 Vehicle breakdown
 Natural calamities

Inventory & Transportation

Facility Location Inventory Management

One distribution No inventory because of

catering 50-60 stores cross docking

High density Real time information flow

market presence to reduce stock out

Micro-match between
supply and demand
helping in increased responsive
Seven-Eleven is a corporation,
regardless of international
location, strive to provide the
lowest prices for common
goods. In addition, they strive
to provide a variety of
different
products at these low prices in
attempts to encourage repeat
business.
Seven-Eleven, in terms of
competitive advantages, also
rides the wave of the first-
mover advantage. Especially
in Japan, it was able to enter
the marketplace as the first
company of its kind. Before
other companies could catch
up, Seven-Eleven had fully
taken hold of the open space in
the marketplace.
In addition to having the first-
mover advantage, the Japanese
Seven-Eleven stores
were able to initiate a
geographically dominant
competitive strategy. Seven-
Eleven set
up stores that were
geographically close to one
another, and with Japan’s
geography in
mind, it essentially blocked
competitors from infiltrating
the marketplace especially in
Transportation Information Infrastructure

Dedicated vehicle for Graphic order terminal

each category

Scanner terminal
Delivery during off peak hours

Delivery using scanner terminals Store computer linked to ISDN network

Allocation of stores per truck

POS register linked to store computer
dependent on sales volume