SCM-Quiz no 2

Name: Muhammad Tariq Hussain

Reg ID: 14353
1. How could a grocery retailer use inventory to increase the responsiveness of the company’s
supply chain?
There is no differentiation in the products offered by the groceries store, as the products are
commodity products. Thus, the only way to increase the responsiveness of the company's
supply chain is to offer wider variety of SKUs of the items. However, this can be problematic
situation for the perishable items like meat, vegetables etc. To keep these items fresh, the
grocery store should facilitate frequent orders so that freshness is ensured and a stock out
situation will not exist for a significant length of time.
A grocery store supply chain should use historical demand patterns for seasonal items to
release stress on all members and provide customers with products during peak demand
periods.

2. How could an auto manufacturer use transportation to increase the efficiency of its supply
chain?
The auto manufacturers have a certain level of inventory which is to be moved to the
dealers. The role of transportation is to move the inventory to the dealers spread at various
locations from the manufacturing facility. However, the tradeoff lies in the cost of
transportation and the speed of delivery of the products. The logistic manager should design
the supply chain using the transportation based on the above trade off. If the suppliers
and/or the dealers are co-located with the assembly operations.
If the supply chain is designed in such a way, and assembly operations are located with
proximity to markets, then the supply chain can be run cheaply without holding too much
inventory in transit.

3. How could a bicycle manufacturer increase responsiveness through its facilities?

The important parameters for the bicycle manufacturers to increase the responsiveness
through its facilities are the location of the facility, size of the facility and the degree of
flexibility to accommodate the changing demands of the bicycles in the market. If there is a
close proximity between the market and the facility and between the facility and the
suppliers’ location, there is a high responsiveness for the bicycle manufacturer. Similarly, the
flexibility in the production operation can increase with a centralized location.
A facility that is under capacity will be less responsive than a facility that is appropriately
sized or has excess capacity.
4. How could an industrial supplies distributor use information to increase its responsiveness?
Information is a cross-functional driver and consists of data and analysis concerning
facilities, inventory, transportation, cost prices and customer throughout the supply chain.
Information serves as a connection among all members of the supply chain and operates
within each member to facilitate internal operations. Accurate information can improve
responsiveness by helping an industrial supplier better match supply and demand.
 Information that is gathered farther down the supply chain can be transmitted rapidly and
accurately to the supplies distributor.
5. How can a home-delivery company like Foodpanda use pricing of its delivery services to
improve its profitability?
Pricing plays a prominent role in supply chain and acts as a driver to balance the efficiency
and responsiveness of the supply chain.
Foodpanda earns 40% of its revenue from delivery business and 5 to 10% of the total price
of the ordered food is given to the company. The company also generates revenue by selling
its customer habits to the market researchers.
The firms can achieve competitive advantage by using the suitable pricing strategy based on
their customers who prefer responsiveness or low cost.