The first decade of the twenty-first century was a period of rapid change for organizations, especially businesses.
A key element in Wal-Mart’s ability to discount brand name products was an understanding of the criticality of efficiency in its logistics and supply chain system.
Globalization has had little effect on consumers.
Supply and demand has become less volatile as managers become more adept at controlling the elements.
Outsourcing is a fairly new concept.
SAB should examine their off-shore purchasing policy, even though the products are sourced from the U.S.
It is expected that some or all of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India & china) will replace the so-called VISTA countries (Vietnam, Indonesia, S. Africa, Turkey and Argentina) as low cost producers of various products and services.
The world economy still favors the United States and European countries, even though China and India can participate in the global economy much more readily.
It is predicted that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter will influence supply chains because of their impact on customer demand and the speed of information transfers.
The U.S. transportation system was deregulated in the 1930s and 1940s in response to economic conditions and World War 2
Even though there are references to supply chain management in the 1980s, SCM did not capture the attention of senior-level management until the 1990s.
Supply chain managers no longer need to worry about suboptimization in light of today’s technology.
Most retailers are essentially supply chain companies since
they dominate the consumer market.
own their warehouses and trucks.
they buy products produced by others.
engage in off-shore sourcing.
Which of the below is not one of the external forces driving the rate of change and shaping our economic and political landscape?
Government policy
Technology
Environmental concerns
Globalization
Outsourcing involves
moving company facilities away from the home office.
hiring foreign nationals to manage parts of the business.
obtaining materials, parts, and products from other companies.
building a factory in another country.
Some individuals describe the current consumer as the “click here” generation because
we all have Internet access.
we no longer wait for information to be “pushed out” to us.
we buy so much merchandise on line.
we take little time to make purchasing decisions.
The demographics of our society has changed because
the “Baby Boom” generation is now turning 60.
of the increase in two-career families and single-parent households.
of immigration.
birth rates have changed.
The Supply Chain Concept
is very new and considered cutting edge technology.
is highly dependent of computerization.
is not always well understood by senior managers.
developed from the previous Physical Distribution concept.
Logistics, in its simplest form,
is a military term, as it was developed originally to supply the battlefield.
combines inbound logistics with the outbound logistics of physical distribution.
is another term for transportation management.
does not involve customer service or other related functions.
One of the major challenges of supply chain management is
forward buying.
maintaining the visibility of inventory.
building safety-stock inventory.
Pushing inventory back to vendors.
