Company: EC Supply, Inc.

Location: Baldwin Park, California

Type of Business: Distribution and Wholesale
Interviewee: Clifford Tjing
Position: Chief Operating Officer
Date: 08/27/2018

Interview a manager at a local company about the work he or she performs. Identify (a)
the aspects of the job that relate to OM (as in the OM activities in the box “What Do
Operations Managers Do?”) and (b) an example of primary, support, and general
management processes.

Company Brief
As quoted from their website (www.ecsupplyinc.com/our-mission):
“EC Supply Inc. exists to provide vape and electronic cigarette shops with the best possible
distributor experience. We purchase bulk amounts of vape products and accessories directly
from manufacturers at bulk price in order to offer our customers competitive wholesale industry
prices with no minimum order quantities.

Our U.S.-based brick-and-mortar location, in addition to our procurement office in Shenzhen,

China, allows us to supply the latest products without worries of long shipping times,
communication barriers and unauthorized products. With a huge selection of products from
companies like Aspire and Innokin, our goal is to focus on the most reputable brands in the
industry. An extensive knowledge of the vape industry from both a consumer and industry
professional perspective ensures we are up-to-date with the latest products on the market. We
also offer expert consultation to vape and electronic cigarette shops worldwide.

As a premier wholesale company, building a relationship with EC Supply Inc. will give you reliable
service and allow you to focus on your customers. We aim to provide vape and electronic
cigarette shops with the tools to help their business succeed.”

Questions

1. What is your day to day tasks as the Operations Manager?

Ensuring that goods and services are created and delivered successfully to customers.

I usually oversee the entire company’s daily performance and insuring that everything is
moving smoothly. This starts with making sure our staff is here and if people are not here
we have supplemental plans if we’re understaffed. My team of managers include six
departments - Sales, Customer service, Return Merchandise Authorizations (RMA),
Warehouse, Finance Controller and Procurement. Daily, we meet for a timed meeting of
30 minutes so each manager can brief the other departments of things that may affect
them operationally. This is to insure we are moving in sync and communicating so there
are less mistakes and more efficiency.
 As a normal day would progress, there may be vendor meetings or just a lot of
administrative tasks such as reviewing reports, doing emails and solving any on-hand
problems that may be occurring. At the end of the day, we review our backend to see if
the daily goals were met, all packages shipped, products received and also what we may
need to restock or clearance in space for newly arriving purchases.

Since we sell goods both online and directly through the phone to other businesses, it is
critical that our customer orders are being handled within the promised timeframe with
the upmost accuracy. We understand that it may affect the entire supply chain of other
businesses since we distribute to hundreds of stores nationwide.

2. What are your specific duties and responsibilities as the Operations Manager?

Its’ hard to say, I am pretty much at the helm of the company’s “machinery” if you will
say. My teams are like the moving gears and I am the oil that makes it smooth. I
basically insure that procedures are in place and analyze our company metrics to see
where we can be more efficient while maintain a good balance. Of course, we are
always striving to improve whether it’s with new technology or just optimization of
current systems. Summarily I would say my specific duties are – managing the
operations process, embracing design, planning, control, performance improvement,
and operations strategy.

3. What do you normally tell your Team to do as an Operations Manager?

Besides our managers, which we meet every morning to discuss all the main tasks, I
don’t normally tell their teams (the managers) much because we have been able to
laterally manage the communication and reduce the total vertical hierarchy by
empowering our managers to make majority of the decisions. Unless something critical
happens, then the managers would come and find me to seek a discussion on how to
handle it.

4. Can you tell me what your primary management process is?

Usually I do the organizing and controlling, our CEO handles planning and leading the
company.

5. Can you give me an example of your supporting role in the management process?

Naturally, I support the CEO as the COO of the company. We both strategize on
decisions, but it is my duty to insure everything is executed in precision. I would also say
that I play a huge supporting role for my management team as well. It is their job to be
excellent in their roles and govern their departments for optimal performance, but it is
my job to make sure they can do it correctly and effectively by being available.
How does Wal-Mart use the competitive priority “cost” to its competitive
advantage? Research, then explain and provide examples in a short paper
(maximum of two typed pages).A good place to start is ---
http://walmartstores.com/

Basically outsourcing and supplier discounts for big order sizes give Wal-Mart a lot
of power in the global supply chains.

They have a really effective and efficient supply chain management strategy and system. The
entire organisation is committed to a business model of driving costs out of supply chains to
enable consumers to save money and live better.

Over the years Walmart has become the world’s largest and arguably most powerful retailer with
the highest sales per square foot, inventory turnover, and operating profit of any discount retailer.
In its transition from regional retailer to global powerhouse, the organisation has become
synonymous with the concept of successful supply chain management.

So Walmart began with the goal to provide customers with the goods they wanted whenever and
wherever they wanted them. The company then focused on developing cost structures that
allowed it to offer low everyday pricing. Walmart then concentrated on developing a more
highly structured and advanced supply chain management strategy to exploit and enhance this
competitive advantage and assume market leadership position.

Fewer links in the supply chain

Walmart’s supply chain innovation began with the company removing a few of the chain’s links.
In the 1980s, Walmart began working directly with manufacturers to cut costs and more
efficiently manage the supply chain.

Under a Walmart’s supply chain initiative called Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI),
manufacturers became responsible for managing their products in Walmart’s warehouses. As a
result, Walmart was able to expect close to 100% order fulfilment on merchandise.
The company’s supply chain has only become more effective since then.

In conclusion,
Walmart’s supply chain management strategy has provided the company with several sustainable
competitive advantages, including lower product costs, reduced inventory carrying costs,
improved in-store variety and selection, and highly competitive pricing for the consumer. This
strategy has helped Walmart become a dominant force in a competitive global market. As
technology evolves, Walmart continues to focus on innovative processes and systems to improve
its supply chain and achieve greater efficiency.

Supply chain management is moving the right items to the right customer at the right time by the
most efficient means. No one does that better than Wal mart.