Perdue Farms and Others: Supply Chain Management meets the holiday season

1)      What are the key factors that determine the success or failure of supply chain during the holiday season? Which of these are or could be under the control of companies, and which are inherent in the end consumer business? Provide several examples.

The factors which determine the success or failure of SCM during the holiday season are:

·         Lack of proper demand planning knowledge, tools and guidelines.

·         Inaccurate and overoptimistic demand forecasts.

·         Lack of adequate collaboration among marketing, production and inventory management departments within a company.

·         Overnight change in customers taste and preference.

Among the reasons of organizations success and failure, reasons that are automated by organizations ability to plan and forecast are under the control of companies. For example organization can control its production and marketing department to come together and make a uniform action schedule. Customer’s tastes and preferences are beyond organizations control because organization cannot control its customers taste.

2)      Consider the increasing use of gifts during the holiday season. What effects does this new practice introduce into demand planning and supply chain management? Consider the fact that virtually nothing is known about the recipients of gifts cards. What strategies can retailers and their suppliers consider accommodating these effects?

Increasing use of gifts during holiday seasons is increasing the demand of gift items during holiday seasons. So organizations needs to accommodate by proper demand planning by analyzing the trends and practices since so long. Demand and supply comes hand in hand. Forecasting of demand is not just enough arrangement of supply for the increasing demand..........click below to read all.

is equally important to make the organization profitable and make its customer happy.

In order to accommodate this anonymous effect of not knowing anything about recipients of gift cards, organizations could consider the existing demand and possible forecasts and make a proper supply chain arrangement with its supplier. Suppliers know better about integrated nature of demand and supply.

3)      Prof. Brian Tomlin says that smart companies substitute information for inventory. What do you think he means by this statement? How do you think companies can take advantage of more extensive and accurate information to improve their inventory and logistic practices? Provide some examples.

Keeping an inventory stock is about freezing your money and smart companies never do so, they know when to get, what from, where without keeping overstocked inventory for unpredictable scenarios. From the statement, I think he means to say that keeping inventory in stock in order to fulfill the demand is not a good idea; it would be more efficient if organization could keep the information about where to look after at the time of need, so that these information’s can be used at the time of need, reducing the risk of overstock. Information’s if kept properly, are better than inventory.

If organizations have proper information about at what point what could be demanded and where is that thing available than this information can lead them to make a better adjustment and performance of its functions. It minimizes organizations risk and maximizes costumer satisfaction.

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