Challenges for Logistics and Supply Chain Management in...

CHALLENGES FOR LOGISTIC SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN SLOWDOWN A distinct feature of this economic slowdown is the direct degradation of consumer’s assets which has wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth. And consumers have responded by spending conservatively and concentrating on improving their savings. This new era of low spending and unpredictable consumer behaviour has rendered many demand-forecasting models inaccurate or even obsolete. Therefore, companies across the world are facing the problem of reduced demand levels. The variation in demand levels can mean any or all the three of the following to the supply chain of the firm: A. Bullwhip Effect The customer demand information is distorted as it is transmitted up to†¦show more content†¦Regular recalibration of the forecasting system is also another possibility. The exact amount of historical data that will be required to form a trend would, however, vary from industry to industry and company to company. Exhibit 1: Impact of economic downturn Challenges On Supply Chain On Company 4 CASE IN POINT: GENERAL ELECTRIC In the next section, we have tried to quantitatively analyse GE’s pre and post recession supply chain through its financial statements and publicly available secondary information. GE was chosen because of its enormous supply chain and global presence. SUPPLY CHAIN BALANCED SCORECARD (SCOR: SUPPLY-CHAIN OPERATIONS REFERENCE-MODEL) With the SCOR model we tried to compare performance of GE before and after recession and measure the supply chain efficiency in each period based on the four dimensions Source, Plan, Make and Deliver as shown exhibit 2. Exhibit 2: SCOR Model for Supply Chain Efficiency The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for each of the dimensions were identified and GE was scored on each of these KPIs for pre-recession quarter and post-recession quarter. The prerecession supply chain efficiency of GE was found to be 87.94% and that in the post recession period to be 73.12%. 5 It is evident from the analysis above that GE’s supply chain efficiency has reduced in the post recession period. Note: Detailed analysis ofShow MoreRelatedA Portable Supply Chain Model of Olam International1303 Words   |  6 PagesTo: Olam International Management Team and Board of Directors From: UBC MBA Core Code 337 Subject: Tough times, tough decisions Word Count of Memo : 984 Olam International is a global success story in the agribusiness industry. The growth in the last 20 years has been very impressive in terms of profits, breath of products and geographies. 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