Assessment1 Supply Chain Logistic
Introduction to Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Assessment 1 guideline– Group Research Report (30% Overall)
You will work on a specific company’s supply chain and develop your analysis based on the instruction provided on report preparation section of the document. Your team need to collect data/information using multiple appropriate methods and sources, conduct group discussion, investigate them and develop an understanding of the nature and structure of the associated supply chain.
The group needs to propose a company for the purpose of this assessment. Please note that, companies with similar type of product lines or companies with less variety in product lines will have comparatively less complex supply chain and therefore, they will be easier to analyze. However, on the proposed company you should be able to gather just enough information for analyzing key aspects of their supply chain (as suggested in this guideline).
Group size: 4-5 members
Approval required: Details of group membership and product/company must be submitted to the tutor for approval by the end of the session 3.
Word count: Groups are required to write up a formal report (max 4000 words +/10%) (excluding references and appendix)
Plan your research: Plan your research project (what to do, who will do what and when) and discuss your progress with the teacher.
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Suggested points for report
In the following a guideline of the report is provided in brief:
1. Report preparation:
This report format is provided as a guide, but students should be able to adapt it to suit any case study / report writing situation.
Executive summary (5%)
The executive summary summarizes the background, objectives / aims, issues / problems and recommendations of your report. You are strongly encouraged to avoid simply paraphrasing and / or repeating the information presented in the case study itself (this simply wastes word count!). Assessment1 Supply Chain Logistic
Table of contents
Introduction (5%)
Description of product and company. Here you can discuss the essential points about the company / organization and importance of investigating the particular product supply chain. Furthermore, write the aim of the report in short.
Description of the Supply Chain (15%)
Develop a detailed and easy to understand chart/diagram representing the specific supply and logistics chain for the selected product/company. The diagram must include
- The actors in the supply chain i.e. supplier, manufacturer, distributor, retailers
- Upstream and downstream part of the supply chain
- Geographical location of the supply chain operations.
Please make sure you comment on the level of complexity in the supply chain.
Demand Management (15%) (Your discussion for this section must include answers to the following questions)
What factors do you think may affect the demand for the products that the company sells? (Hint: random variations, trends, seasonal)
- Could the company be benefitted using CPFR? How?
- What CRM practices would you suggest to the company?
Sourcing Management (15%) (Your discussion for this section must include answers to the following questions)
- Where are the major suppliers of the company located?
- What factors do you think may affect the sourcing decisions e.g. supplier selection, supplier location? (Hint: cost pressure, availability, quality, supplier capability, competition etc.)
Production Management (15%) (Your discussion for this section must include answers to the following questions)
- Based on your understanding of the requirements from the customers, discuss around two production trade-offs for the selected company – Volume vs Variety and Responsiveness vs Efficiency.
- Does the chosen supply chain follow a push or a pull or a push-pull system? Explain.
Supply Chain Relationships (15%)
- Discuss the existing relationships and their implications between the company and their buyers and suppliers (can be any two actors of the chain based on their role).
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Conclusion (5%)
The conclusion ‘wraps up’ your report. It summarises the issues/ problems and how you resolved them. Don’t be concerned that you will duplicate most of the conclusion in your executive summary. Discuss the lessons learnt from this report in relation to the concepts learnt from lectures. Suggest any limitations of this research report.