Group Assignment/Case Study
You are an importer of glassware (crystal wine glasses) from the Czech Republic. You have about 100 retailers all over Australia but most of the glassware is sold in Sydney and Melbourne through small gift shops. The challenges you have are as follows.
1. The retailers place small orders of less than $1000 each time. These orders are expensive to process and deliver.
2. The retailers are unable to place orders in advance; they do however expect fast delivery.
3. Five percent of the glassware is broken on arrival at the retailer and you spend a lot of time dealing with returns and refunds
4. You are using Australia Post to deliver the glassware from a centralised warehouse in Melbourne but it seems to be very costly and slow
5. Many of your customers pay their invoice late. You are afraid of chasing them up because of the risk of losing them as customers.
6. You order more stock from the Czech Republic two or three times a year, but you have little information on what to order and when. You make sure that you fill one 40 feet container every time.
You have no real control over what is in the warehouse and which products are selling well and it takes about 12 weeks for the container to arrive from order.
7. The pricing for the products are based on individual contracts between you and every retailer. This system is very costly and time consuming to maintain.
8. You have just got an enquiry from Myers that would if successful double your volume of sold products in Australia. You are not sure if you are able to handle this volume in terms of warehousing and distribution.
Based on the scenario above you have two alternatives that you want to investigate.
1. Outsource the whole logistics process to a 3rd party
2. Improve your existing structure.
Prepare a report for a Board meeting where you compare and contrast the two alternatives and how they would solve your problems. Make a recommendation based on this.
Assessment Criteria for Group Assignment -
Report structure, referencing and written report.
Knowledge of concepts, critical analysis of issues
Investigative and research skills shown
Implications for company and strength of arguments.
Attachment:- Report Template.rar