QS0 330 - Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a supply chain evaluation. Supply chain management (SCM) is a holistic view of a company's efforts to source, procure, receive, store, and deliver products. These products can be raw materials for a manufacturing process, consumer goods for a retail chain, or a collection of items that will be joined in some way before ultimate delivery to the customer. In today's global economic environment, SCM takes on an increasing level of complexity as companies attempt to reduce costs, drive efficiency, and remain compliant with the corporate social responsibilities that today's consumers demand.
For this project, you will act as the lead consultant to the company in the provided case study as it attempts to improve its overall supply chain. The ultimate recommendation you make will be based upon your analysis of the current SCM and your insight on how to improve demand forecasting, sourcing, transportation, and warehousing options to optimize the overall operation. This project will showcase your ability to balance the competing requirements of reducing cost and increasing efficiency while remaining at the forefront of sustainable operations for the industry. Your analysis and recommendations will be formatted into a supply chain evaluation for your client company's executive team to use to optimize their supply chain management in this very demanding environment.In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
- Analyze operational and logistical issues related to supply chain management using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methodologies
- Determine pertinent issues and potential constraints for problem solving regarding supply chain management
- Develop distribution solutions based on supply chain management principles that address network inefficiencies
- Recommend appropriate cost-saving strategies and risk mitigation plans for supply chain implementation
Prompt
Using the provided Walmart China case study, create a supply chain evaluation in which you assess the company in terms of its demand forecasting, sourcing, transportation, and warehousing processes in order to develop SCM recommendations that will reduce costs and risks to the business operation. It is strongly recommended that you thoroughly review the prompt below before you read the case study, and you should continue to refer to the prompt as you read. You should format your analysis and recommendations as if you were a consultant hired by the company.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Executive Summary: In this section, explain the purpose of your brief and highlight key information and findings that will aid the understanding of the more in-depth analysis and recommendations to follow.
II. Demand Forecasting: In this section, first assess the supply and demand side of your client company's product flow, including the customer's needs and the supplier's capabilities, in order to then identify potential alignments that will keep cost and waste at a minimum.
A. Evaluation
1. Analyze your client company's suppliers in terms of their abilities to meet the demand of customers during steady-state and peak operations. How effective are each supplier's inventory reorder points and economic order quantities? Support your analysis with quantitative examples.
2. Additionally, describe demand-forecasting constraints that exist within the supply chain. For example, consider the distance of the stores and the compatibility of the products in terms of shipping, storage, and so on.
B. Recommendations: Based on your evaluation, recommend strategies for better aligning the supply and demand side of your client company's product flow that will keep cost and waste at a minimum.
III. Sourcing: In this section, first evaluate the network sourcing strategy of your client company in order to then identify possible areas in need of improvement that will leave room for future expansion.
A. Evaluation: Assess the current network sourcing strategy and determine whether or not the number and quality of suppliers is the optimal mix for the operation. To what extent do the current suppliers meet steady-state and peak demand? Are they consistently providing products that meet or exceed company quality standards? Defend your assessment with examples.
B. Recommendations
1. Recommend a strategy to optimize the sourcing network that takes into account current operations and leaves room for future expansion. Be sure to consider any alternative sources of materials available to the organization in your response.
2. Recommend a standard procedure for vetting suppliers to ensure that they are compliant with the corporate social responsibility guidelines of the company.
3. Make sure that you have recommended the best sourcing practices for the company using appropriate quantitative methods.
IV. Transportation: In this section, first consider the effectiveness of your client's transportation network in order to then determine possible cost savings without sacrificing performance.
A. Evaluation
1. Identify constraints within the transportation network and discuss the impact they will have on the overall supply chain operation. Be sure to provide specific examples to illustrate.
2. Analyze the transportation network and determine whether or not the correct modes of transportation are being used based on time, cost, and quantity.
B. Recommendations: Make recommendations on how to improve the transportation network given the constraints you identified, using specific examples to illustrate and justify your claims.
V. Warehousing: In this section, first analyze your client's warehousing network to in order to then determine requirements and develop recommendations for adequately meeting current and future storage needs.
A. Evaluation
1. Analyze the current warehousing infrastructure to determine if the current warehousing network adequately meets storage needs. Additionally, consider eventual expansion requirements of the company's operation. What are the constraints or restrictions involved in the possible locations?
2. Identify considerations for special handling of hazardous materials and describe their impact on warehousing for the current mix of products that the company's SCM is handling, using specific examples.
B. Recommendations
1. Determine warehousing requirements that will ensure adequate availability of resources for the organization. Support your proposed requirements with given production and demand elements from the scenario.
2. Based on your determination of requirements, recommend a warehouse design that will minimize movements between functions and reduce costs. Explain how your recommendation will drive this improvement throughout the network, considering facility costs, inventory carrying costs, personnel costs, and equipment costs.
VI. Conclusions: In the final section, take a critical look at your various recommendations in order to develop final conclusions for your client company.
A. Prioritize your demand-forecasting, sourcing, transportation, and warehousing recommendations based on efficiency gain, cost, and sustainability.
B. Discuss the feasibility of your recommendations based on supply chain constraints of the company in the case study. Justify your claims with specific evidence.