1. Question #1.
Part A: Describe how you would design a new logistics network consisting of only a single warehouse.
To design a single-warehouse network, I would need to determine the optimal location of the warehouse, its overall capacity, and the amount of space that will be allocated for each SKU or product. A warehouse that is not strategically located in an equidistance manner to each region may cause higher than normal transportation costs. If capacity is too low, inbound shipments could be delayed and service levels will decline.
In addition, I would design a strategic transportation plan that coordinates inbound and outbound shipments to reduce transportation costs and improve service levels. The warehouse will be designed
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Location of all retail outlets/customers, existing warehouses, and manufacturing plants
2. Information on products: number of SKUs, product families, product sizes and volumes
3. Annual customer demand, by regional zone and by total aggregation
4. Service level requirements of each retail outlet/customer
5. Proposed location of the new warehouse and transportation distances from the new location to each retail outlet/customer
6. Transportation rates by available modes (i.e., rail, motor, etc.)
7. Fixed costs for running a central warehouse/distribution to determine optimal capacity versus cost
Part D: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the newly suggested distribution strategy relative to the existing distribution strategy? The advantages of a centralized warehouse is higher service levels and lower inventory holding costs due to aggregating customer demand and pooling risk. That is, if customer demand is high in one region and lower in another, there will be no need to hold excess inventory in a regional warehouse; the variation in demand will balance out and reduce the requirements for excess inventory. Additionally, the fixed costs of maintaining one central warehouse/distribution center will be lower than five regional warehouses. The disadvantages are higher outbound transportation costs. Even with a strategic warehouse location, such as Kentucky, there will bound to be retail outlets farther than others, such as San
Innovations in transportation and telecommunications have introduced a number of opportunities for companies of all sizes and types to optimize their transportation networks. This paper provides a description concerning the design of a logistics network that consists of only one warehouse. A discussion concerning what steps will need to taken in order to design the optimal network is followed by a description of the information and data that is needed to make this determination. Finally, an assessment of the strategy will be employed in this network is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.
Answer 2- If there should be a single location for all three companies the inventory holding cost will reduce because the product is placing at one location instead of different three locations. Moreover, by doing this the insurance and misplacing of product of cost reduce but in transit of inventory will increase because the shipments are truck load and the distance between customers and distribution centre is far. Furthermore, with this the service level improved which means order fulfilment process improved too. In addition to this, the
The warehouse needs to understand their role in rerouting deliveries. The IT group must understand their very important role of backing up of data. Because of this, each department should be reviewing their plan quarterly to allow for updates. The plan should be reviewed each time a major change is made, such as a new location is opened or computer systems are converted.
This option requires a separated bonded warehouse facility, it is costly and very difficult to administer. Outsourcing this project can reduce initial investment costs, reduce operational costs and can be terminated easily. A logistic company will provide the warehouse, the manpower, the equipment and will be responsible for shipping the goods in and out.
Due to the shift from high-end devices to commodities in PC industry, the market competition grows significantly. Thus, cost factors such as, material devaluation, scrap, write-off, price protection and discounts are changing from insignificant roles to high importance factors. In order to achieve company’s profitability in the highly competitiveness PC industry, Hewlett-Packard (HP) carried out inventory-Driven Cost (IDC) metric to help them match the demand and supply, and create value in the supply chain.
With the same inventory levels, whether in a store or in a warehouse, the warehouse can drive the cost of this up, beyond that of in a store. Service charges are a cause of this inflated cost. The advantage the warehouse option has here, is there is plenty of space available to keep extra inventory versus what a store can hold, to guarantee a cushion of product in order to fill any customer demands. Also, centralizing stock allows easier monitoring of the stock levels for different products and due to service levels implemented in a warehouse, inventory checks can be easier in the warehouse.
Locating a central distribution center will increase the control over inventory for Consolidated. Having small point of operations will reduce the amount of inventory that will be maintained at the sites. Each location will have different needs and only stocking the immediate customer needs at each location will reduce overall costs. The purchasing discount will be easier to maintain if all shipments come to one location which will also save the company money. Having a couple small vans deliver to regional locations within an hour is less costly than ordering extra just to meet the minimum purchase discount. The cost of shipping to small locations will be minimal and will save the company and customers money in the long term. If the contractors know of items that they will need for a job they can inform Consolidated and the special items can be delivered to the job site or picked up at the regional office. Communication is key and willing to provide the best service in a timely manner will reduce cost and increase profit.
 Good distribution concepts with no one store more than 6 hrs. away from warehouse.
Operating such dynamic distribution centers is usually very expensive and allows possibilities of product wastage. The high capital requirement to run such large distribution centers produces a natural barrier to entry and smaller firms frizzle out if they try and compete with the larger firms.
Proximity to raw materials gives benefits on distribution channel which is already organized by formers. This also gives an added advantage in reducing transportation costs
Outsource warehousing to Global Logistics (GL) which will provide a centralized warehousing in Atlanta: Goods will be transported in bulk from Waltham to Atlanta and GL would take responsibility of inventory-control and delivery to the customers. This way SG would not have to bear the warehouse rental charges and could focus on increasing sales and develop newer products to meet customer needs.
2. Consider the idea of upgrading the Los Angeles warehouse to include a distribution center capable of processing all the volume coming into the United States. Assume that containers coming into Seattle would be inspected by federal officials (this needs to be done at all port locations) and then immediately shipped by rail in their
The organization in this study, a multi-billion dollar warehousing and distribution company, has been housed in an old building and will be moved to a new state-of-the-art facility. This move involves the planning, organizing, staging and moving of products from one location to the other. Included in planning needs are signage, warehouse racking placement, warehouseman selector choosing routes, freezer, cooler and dry product placement. Incorporated into this move will be the necessity to deal with contractors who are completing the building as well as contacting all vendors and suppliers to inform them of the change of location and service changes during the two-day transition period. The actual moving of all products will require 16 hours, 30 employees on two shifts at two different locations.
Define the effect of transportation on the situation Greater prospects are available for truckload shipping volumes with consolidated distribution centers and assorted product shipments. This would necessitate fewer outbound shipments, with each in larger quantities for better transportation savings. The possible longer distances from distribution centers to customer locations might be the only disadvantage to transportation cost.
This report will analyze the Supply Chain and Logistics Industry in the United Arab Emirates during the last five years. The tools and techniques used for this analysis shall be PESTEL and PORTER’S 5 forces. Further this report shall discuss about the Industry type based on the competition existing in the market and its current phase in the Industry cycle.