Logistics and Supply Chain Management — Winter 2022

Explain following terms: 1. Third party logistics 2. Green supply chain 3. E-procurement 4. Sustainable supply chain 5. Bullwhip Effect 6. Tapered Integration 7. Lean SCM

What is supply chain management? What are the forces that have Q.2 emerged these days to make supply chain management a critical success factor in most industries?

What are the ways in which a firm can move from Make To Stock (MTS) to Customize to Order (CTO)?

How important is the coordination between cola companies and their bottling plants? Is it necessary to own bottling plants if the cola companies want to achieve a better degree of co-ordination at the local level of operations?

Explain the factors that impact make vs. buy decision of a firm?

Why are issues related to supply chain resumption becoming more important in today’s business context?

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What are the main sources of supply chain disruptions? How do supply chain disruptions impact business performance?

How can a firm design its sourcing strategy based on a purchase portfolio matrix?

“Unlike internal supply chain integration, external supply chain integration is inherently more difficult in nature”. Discuss.

Discuss the role of Information Technology in managing the supply chain management.

Define the term Agile supply chain. How is Agile supply chain different from the traditional supply chain?

In India, the ECR industry initiative was started with a lot of fanfare but it has not made any meaningful progress. What could be the reasons for it? What can be done to improve the chances of any such industry initiative?

Analyze the following case and answer the questions given below. The focus of this case is the supply chain management practices of Dell. Dell has been following its unique ‘direct build to order’ model for more than 20 years. Customers can plan their own configurations and place orders directly with the company via the phone or its website. Over the years, Dell’s supply chain efficiencies and direct sales gave it a competitive advantage. In 2006 however, Dell faced several problems. Many customers complained about long delays in supplies. Recall of Sony battery cells in its laptops brought undesirable media hype to the company. Increasing discontent of customers led to a slowdown in sales. Consequently, Dell lost its market leadership to Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP). Industry analysts felt that, with Dell’s competitors also improving their supply chains and matching Dell’s direct model, the company had been losing its competitive edge. Dell will have to bear additional costs with its foray into retail distribution thereby minimizing its cost advantage. Besides, profit margins of Dell will drop further since it will have to offer incentives to compete with HP in retail stores. Though Dell spruced up its product design and range but Apple is clearly far ahead of it. Many experts feel that such new initiatives will only distract Dell from its supply chain operations.

: Examine and analyse Dell’s direct model and its basic working.

: Explain what are the potential opportunities are and future challenges for Dell.

: Explain typical Working of Dell’s Supply Chain and future supply chain challenges .