Reply to each post in 150 word min, these are post from a forum, you can reply in a casual manner, however need APA peer reviewed references for each one. Treat each one individually, thanks.
1. Supply Chain Management has three major areas of management such as manufacturing, purchasing and transportation. Transportation being one of the key elements of supply chain management undoubtedly plays an important role for any organization. "Globalization increases the importance of transportation because of the longer shopping distances and transit times, as well as increasing risk" (Coyle, et al, 2013).
First of all, in order to practice efficient logistics management, an organization has to take care of founding an economical transportation network. Such economical transportation network enables a company to force minor or major changes in their strategy, which lead to reduction of cost or strengthen the quality of services provided by the company, at the same time these changes cause little disruption to the whole supply chain management process. For example, a logistics company may find a more economical supply channel, which will lead to reduction of prices for the customers. To illustrate the idea DHL Supply Chain may be considered. They have implemented new strategically decisions directed at a reduction of costs. Thus, the major changes in the supply chain occurred are related to their distribution channels and their form. Today the company opts for direct channels eliminating some of the retailers in their supply chain.
Another important element of transportation in the overall supply chain is actual attitude of a company towards it. It is often the case that executive management views transportation as unavoidable, however it should not be so. Once attitude is changed the management is no longer trapped in traditional thinking about transportation as a necessary evil, hence is able to implement required changes to add value to the supply management by means of using effective transportation network. For instance, management is often reluctant to change partners with whom they collaborate, however it may lead to increase in prices, therefore, management has to be flexible in finding new transportation solutions.
The question that I have for the class is: In supply chain that uses Just-in-Time logistics, how do you balance the need to maintain low transportation cost and also meet the demand activity?
2-Transport and the supply chain
Transport plays the most critical role in the supply chain. The supply chain involves all the processes that are all involved from when the goods are produced to their distribution to the end users. From its initial stages, supply chain relies on the transport in every process. Transport moves the raw material form their source to the manufacturing plants for processing and value addition. In this case, transport adds value to this raw material and therefore enhances the supply chain process. It also involves moving the human resources from one location to another so that they can work on the products, share information or distribute the goods from one location to another (Coyle, Novack, Gibson, & Bardi, 2010).
Once the final products are ready, it is the role of transport to meet the main objective of supply chain. Transport creates the linkage between the producer of goods and the service providers with their customers. In between, the providers and the clients, transport enhances the value of the goods by enabling the place and time utility by moving these goods from one location to another. Transport also enhances the supply chain management by allowing the producer merge the different good from different location before supplying to customer (Sunil Chopra & Meindl, 2015). Therefore, transport not only adds value to the supply chain but also manages the cost of the supply chain.
Classmates, what would be supply chain without the aspect of transport. How would the supply chain process be handled in the absence of transport?
3-The introduction to chapter 6 mentions that transport is typically viewed as non-value adding within SCM (Mangan, J., Lalwani, C., Butcher, T., & Javadpour, R., 2012). I would argue on the side that believes it does add value. For instance, look at the new marketing ads being pushed on television by Walmart. They are now offering free two-day shipping. This is in direct response to their biggest competitor, Amazon, who is crushing Walmart in the distribution wars. Delivering final products to customers with 2-day shipping is one of the main reasons, if not the main reason Amazon has shifted consumer spending online.
Some would argue that final transport, especially here in the United States is conducted by the same carriers (FedEx/UPS/USPS) which would not provide a cost savings benefit (same transport rate whether the order is from Walmart or Amazon) however the inbound logistics network involves more than just final delivery. Amazon's biggest suppliers are known as FBA sellers. (Fulfilled by Amazon) This is like the Uber concept where Amazon utilizes individual people and not manufactures as suppliers. Transport cost are absorbed by the supplier (individual seller) to ship directly to Amazon fulfillment centers. This is similar to FGP (Factory Gate Pricing) where Amazon offers set rates (discounted shipping) for its suppliers when booking transportation with an agreed carrier, most likely UPS. Factory gate pricing as discussed in our text "highlights the savings for the retailer due to increased supply chain visibility and better management of transport leading to reduction in delays in their inbound logistics" (Mangan et al., 2012).
Do you think Walmart and other big box retailers will eventually abandon brick and mortar all together and sell exclusively online?