Retail Supply Chain ManagementCourse Management Page
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Term project Instructions
Purchase a product from any retail store (preferably offline) of your choice. Send high resolution pictures of the product and its labeling to the faculty in charge. The picture should contain the detail of batch number, price, date of manufacturing and expiry(if applicable). The manufacturing facility at which the product was made should also be clearly visible.
With this, you will have two ends of the supply chain of the product, the manufacturing facility as well as the retail store where the product was purchased. Your group's task is to trace all the steps the product took from the manufacturer's location to the retail store in as much detail as possible.
Purchase a product from any retail store (preferably offline) of your choice. Send high resolution pictures of the product and its labeling to the faculty in charge. The picture should contain the detail of batch number, price, date of manufacturing and expiry(if applicable). The manufacturing facility at which the product was made should also be clearly visible.
With this, you will have two ends of the supply chain of the product, the manufacturing facility as well as the retail store where the product was purchased. Your group's task is to trace all the steps the product took from the manufacturer's location to the retail store in as much detail as possible.
- The various business entities that the product passed through (wholesaler, C&F agent, etc)
- Transportation times between each of the business entities
- Third party logistics providers for transportation between entities.
- Lot sizes followed at each stage of the supply chain
- Taxes that needed to be paid at each stage
- Average time spend by the product at each stage.
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20%
% of course completed
Session 1Session 2 & 3Session 4 & 5Session 6 & 7Over the last couple of sessions, we deeply discussed the various challenges of the e-grocery market. Firstly, we understood the potential of the market in US and the Indian market. The headroom for the growth of this market is humongous with increased preference for convenience and acceptance of the online medium. The challenges however are multifold. Players suffer from logistics, distribution and consumer behavior issues, each of which will have to be dealt with using appropriate managerial tools. Several millions of dollars have been burnt as several high tech companies attempted different models of in the e-grocery space. What should companies learn and what has changed since these last forays was also a point of discussion. Further, we had an in-depth discussion on the various competing models available and evaluated each of them one the basis of their operational costs. We saw how none of the models of superior to each other, we saw the managerial thrust areas in each of these models. Session 8 & 9In the final two sessions pre-mid term, we discussed the Zara: IT for fast fashion case. We first understood the intricacies of Zara's business model. We then saw how the capabilities of the current IT system works to complement the business model. We saw what role IT plays in helping the various personnel in the Zara Supply Chain fulfil their responsibilities. We then discussed the rationale of running the retail store on outdated technology while running the DC on advanced technology. We finally saw how a new technology like RFID could help shave of costs in the margin thirsty retail supply chains. More discussion on RFID implementation at Metro is pending next week. All the best for your Mid Terms. Do share feedback on your experiences using the feedback link above. Session 10 & 11Note: Session 10 was held before the diwali vacation and session 11 was held after the diwali vacation. In these sessions, we discussed a great deal about Retail execution and the challenges therein. Our discussion predominantly focused on people management and role played by technologies like RFID etc. The key challenge in retail execution is the low labor costs and high attrition rates. This makes it challenging to implement compliance mechanisms to make sure the right products are available at the right time for the right customers to pick. Use of advanced technology or rethinking about the usage of existing technology to build enforcement mechanisms was the core of our discussion. |
Session 12 & 13During these sessions, we discussed the Henkel Iberica case. For the first time during the course we discussed the challenges faced by the supplier. The discussed threadbare the impact of SKU proliferation on the various functions of Henkel iberica.
Thereafter, through an interesting in-class activity, we discovered the power of a collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment. Thank you all for participating enthusiastically. Session 14We started to discuss sustainability challenges in supply chains during the 14th session of the course. Our discussed centred around IKEA's child labor crisis. We began to discuss ways in which IKEA decided to address the issue. We saw how simply blacklisting the supplier although easy, might not be the right thing to do! More discussed on sustainability issues during the next session.
Meanwhile, watch this interesting documentary on the crisis and options to deal with it. This should provide fodder for further discussion on the issue. Session 15, 16 & 17In the much anticipated Aditya Birla Retail DC visit, we got an in depth understanding of the various process within the distribution center. We got an insider's view of Inbound, picking, inventory, outbound activities with some of you trying these activities by yourself. Hope the visit was a good learning experience. Looking forward to your reports. Session 18 & 19Sustainability, both environmental and social cannot be tucked away into a company's scanty CSR spends. In a thought provoking conversation about how retail companies cannot chose to turn a blind eye to the environmental and social devastation their product supply chains are causing. During session 18, we saw compared and contrasted two initiatives that attempted to alleviate the damage: Rugmark and Bangladesh Accord. While Rugmark could be considered to be ineffective, Bangladesh accord is found to be effective. In the discussion that followed, we discussed the causes for failure and success of such initiatives. In session 19, we discussed other issues related to sustainability that are relevant to retail supply chains including product design, environmental footprint of logistics and finally about closed loop supply chains and the challenges therein. |