供应链设计与管理:概念、战略与案例研究++课后答案
供应链管理课后习题答案

供应链管理课后习题答案供应链管理课后习题答案一、什么是供应链管理?供应链管理是指将不同环节的供应商、生产商、分销商和零售商等各个参与者之间的活动和流程进行协调和整合,以最大程度地提高整个供应链的效率和效益的管理方法。
它涉及到从原材料采购到产品生产、物流运输、库存管理、销售和售后服务等各个环节的协调和优化。
二、供应链管理的重要性供应链管理的重要性体现在以下几个方面:1. 提高效率和降低成本:通过优化供应链各个环节的协调和流程,可以减少物流时间和库存成本,提高生产效率和交付速度,从而降低整体成本。
2. 提高客户满意度:供应链管理可以确保产品按时交付,减少缺货和延迟交货的情况,提高客户满意度和忠诚度。
3. 增加竞争力:通过供应链管理,企业可以更好地应对市场需求的变化,提供更加灵活和个性化的产品和服务,增强竞争力。
4. 优化资源配置:供应链管理可以帮助企业合理配置资源,避免资源浪费和过度投资,提高资源利用效率。
5. 降低风险:通过供应链管理,企业可以更好地应对供应链中的风险,如供应商倒闭、自然灾害等,降低风险对企业的影响。
三、供应链管理的关键要素供应链管理的关键要素包括供应商管理、物流管理、库存管理、生产计划和协调以及信息流管理等。
1. 供应商管理:包括供应商选择、合同管理、供应商绩效评估等,确保供应商能够按时提供符合质量要求的原材料和零部件。
2. 物流管理:包括运输、仓储、配送等环节的协调和管理,确保产品能够按时到达目的地。
3. 库存管理:包括库存的控制、预测和优化等,确保库存水平适当,避免库存过高或过低。
4. 生产计划和协调:包括生产计划的制定、生产进度的监控和协调等,确保生产能够按时完成。
5. 信息流管理:包括信息的收集、传递和分析等,确保信息能够及时准确地在供应链中流动,以支持决策和协调。
四、供应链管理的挑战和解决方案供应链管理面临着一些挑战,如需求不确定性、供应链中的风险、信息不对称等。
为了应对这些挑战,可以采取以下解决方案:1. 加强合作和协作:建立长期稳定的合作关系,加强供应链各个环节之间的沟通和协作,共同应对挑战。
供应链管理课后习题答案

供应链(S C)第一章1、供应链:生产及流通过程中,设计将产品或服务提供给最终用户的上游和下游企业所形成的网链结构2、供应链特征:复杂性动态性交叉性面向客户需求3 、供应链类型:1)稳定SC的和动态的SC 2)平衡SC的和倾斜的 SC3)有效性SC和反应性SC4、使用环节法分析供应链流程:1)顾客订购环节(顾客抵达,顾客订单递交,顾客订货接收,顾客订单完成) 2)补充库存环节(零售订货的发起,零售订单的递交,零售订单的完成,零售订货的接收)3)生产环节(订单到达,生产安排,生产和运输,订货5、接收)4)原料获取环节5、推拉法分析供应链流程:依据相对于顾客需求的执行顺序,供应链上的所有流程可以分为两类:推动流程和拉动流程。
对顾客订单的反应启动拉动流程;对顾客订购预期的反应启动推动流程。
在拉动流程执行过程中,需求是已知的、确定的;而在推动流程执行过程中,需求是未知的,因此必须进行预测。
由于拉动流程是对顾客需求的反应,因而也可以被视为反应性流程;相应地,推动流程可以被视为推测性流程。
供应链上的推/拉边界将推动流程和拉动流程区别开来。
在戴尔公司,个人计算机组装线的起点就是推/拉边界。
个人计算机组装前的所有流程是推动流程,而所有组装过程中和此后的所有流程均是对顾客需求的反应,因而是拉动流程。
6 、供应链管理(SCM):利用计算机网络技术全面规划供应链中的商流、物流、信息流,并进行组织、协调与控制。
7 、SCM内涵:1)信息管理 2)客户管理 3)库存管理 4)关系管理 5)风险管理8、 SCM特点:(一)与传统管理方法相比较的特点: 1)以客户为中心2)跨企业的贸易伙伴之间密切合作、共享利益和共担风险 3)集成化管理4)供应链管理是对物流的一体化管理(二)与物流管理相比较的特点1)供应链管理的互动特性2)供应链管理成为物流的高级形态 3 )供应链管理决策的发展 4)供应链管理的协商机制 5)供应链管理强调组织外部一体化6)供应链管理对共同价值的依赖性7)供应链管理是“外源”整合组织 8)供应链管理是一个动态的响应系统9 、SCM的目标: 1)总成本最低化 2)客户服务最优化 3)总库存成本最小化4)总周期最短化5)物流质量最优化第二章1 、建树价值链的九种价值活动分为哪两类,分别包含哪些内容一)基本活动:内部物流生产作业外部物流市场和销售服务二)辅助活动:采购技术开发人力资源管理企业基础设施2 、价值分析的主要内容:1)识别价值活动 2)确定活动类型每种基本和辅助活动由三种类型:直接活动简介活动质量保证3、核心竞争力形成过程:1)锁定目标。
供应链管理战略计划和运作课后答案

英文回答:Supply chain management (SCM) epasses the oversight of the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from their origin to the final point of consumption. It involves the coordination and collaboration with channel partners, suppliers, intermediaries, and customers to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of the right product, at the right place, and at the right time, while maintaining the requisite quality and cost parameters. Aprehensive SCM strategy is vital to the seamless functioning of the supply chain and to attain apetitive advantage in today's dynamic business landscape.供应链管理(SCM)通过对原材料、加工中库存和成品从原产地到最后消费点的流动和储存的监督。
它涉及与渠道伙伴、供应商、中介和客户的协调与合作,以确保在适当地点和适当时间高效和有效地交付正确的产品,同时保持必要的质量和成本参数。
全面的SCM战略对供应链的无缝运作和在当今充满活力的商业环境中取得长期优势至关重要。
The SCM strategy plan needs to cover a lot of different things like buying stuff, making stuff, getting it to where it needs to go,storing it, and making sure the customers are happy. It should lay out the big goals and objectives of the supply chain, as well as the specific things we're going to do to make them happen. This might include how we get our supplies, how we keep track of what we have, how we move things around, and how wework with our suppliers and distributors. The plan also needs to think about stuff like dealing with risks, being eco-friendly, and using new technology to make everything work better.SCM的策略计划需要涵盖很多不同的东西,比如购物东西,制作东西,把它送到它需要去的地方,储存起来,以及确保顾客的快乐。
供应链答案

1、什么是供应链?1)供应链由直接或间接地履行顾客需求的各方组成,不仅包括制造商和供应商,而且包括运输商、仓储商、零售商,甚至顾客本身。
2)是动态的,包括不同环节间的信息流、产品流、资金流的持续流动。
3)目标应该是供应链整体价值最大化。
2、一个典型的供应链可以包括许多环节:顾客,零售商,批发商/分销商,制造商,零部件/原材料供应商3、供应链决策阶段:1)供应链战略或设计:公司作出的战略决策包括是通过外包还是通过内部来执行供应链的功能,生产和仓库设施的选址和能力,产品在不同地点制造或储存,不同阶段采用不同的运输方式,以及所采用信息系统的类型。
2)供应链计划:计划阶段要制定的决策包括哪些市场由哪些供应,转包生产决策,遵循的库存政策,以及营销、定价、促销的时间安排和规模等。
3)供应链运作:企业按单个订单分配库存或安排生产,设置履行订单的时间,生成仓库提货清单,按订单确定发运模式和发货,确定卡车的交货时间表,发出补货订单。
4、供应链流程观点:供应链是由一系列的流程和流组成的,他们发生在不同环节之内和不同环节之间,流程和流相结合以满足消费者对产品的需求。
循环观点:供应链运作的流程可以分为一系列循环,每个循环在供应链两个相邻的环节进行。
推/拉观点:根据是响应顾客订货还是预计顾客订货,供应链的流程分成两种类型。
拉动流程是由顾客订单驱动的,而推动流程是由预计的顾客订单驱动。
5、供应链流程的循环观点清楚地表明了供应链所包括的所有流程及每个流程的承担者。
当涉及运作决策时这个观点非常有意义,因为他清楚的表明了供应链每个成员的职责和任务,并且表明了每个流程的预期产出。
6、供应链流程分为两种类型:拉动流程,订单的执行依据顾客订货,推动流程,订单的执行依据对顾客订货的预测。
因此,在拉动流程的执行时刻,顾客需求是已知的,确定的。
而在推动流程的执行时刻,顾客的订货需求是未知的,必须进行预测。
拉动流程因其是对顾客订货需求的反应,所以可以看成是一种反应流程。
供应链设计与管理——概念战略与案例研究

供应链设计与管理——概念战略与案例研究《供应链设计与管理——概念、战略与案例研究》目录第1章供应链管理介绍什么是供应链管理开发链全局优化管理不确定性和风险供应链管理的演化复杂性供应链管理中的关键问题本书目标和概况问题讨论案例美太医疗器械公司第2章库存管理和风险分担案例 Steel Works公司引言单阶段库存控制风险分担案例风险分担集中化与分散化系统供应链环境下的库存管理实际问题预测小结问题讨论案例斯波特?奥波米耶公司第3章物流网络规划案例比斯公司引言网络设计库存策略与物流配置网络的协调案例 ElecComp公司资源配置小结问题讨论案例 H(C(斯塔克有限公司第4章供应合同1案例美国工具厂引言战略性元件面向库存生产,面向订单生产供应链的合同信息不对称下的合同非战略性元件合同小结问题讨论第5章信息价值案例巴里拉公司(A)引言牛鞭效应信息共享和激励机制有效预测协调系统的信息找出所需产品缩短提前期信息和供应链的权衡信息的边际价值递减小结问题讨论案例锐步销售国家橄榄球联盟的球衣第6章供应链整合案例戴尔有限公司引言推动、拉动和推—拉式系统提前期的影响需求驱动战略互联网对供应链战略的影响小结问题讨论案例大的库存修正第7章配送战略案例亚马逊网上商店的欧洲配送战略引言直接装运配送战略转运战略调运2选择合适战略小结问题讨论第8章战略联盟案例金佰利克拉克公司如何使客户好市多持有库存引言战略联盟的框架第三方物流零售商—供应商伙伴关系分销商一体化小结问题讨论案例音像复制服务公司案例史密斯集团第9章采购及外包战略案例 Zara公司引言外包的收益和风险采购,制造决策框架采购战略电子采购小结问题讨论案例旭电公司:从制造商到全球供应链整合者第10章全球物流与风险管理案例沃尔玛为迎合当地的消费习惯而改变策略引言风险管理全球供应链管理中的问题物流的地区差异小结问题讨论第11章协调的产品和供应链设计案例惠普台式喷墨打印机的供应链一个总体框架物流设计供应商参与新产品开发大规模定制小结3问题讨论案例惠普公司:针对大学的网络打印机设计第12章顾客价值案例量身定制引言顾客价值的维度顾客价值评估信息技术和顾客价值小结问题讨论第13章智能定价案例星巴克的经营哲学:揭秘难以捉摸的小杯装卡布基诺引言价格与需求降价价格差异化收益管理智能定价互联网的影响注意事项小结问题讨论案例回扣投诉的含糊回应第14章信息技术和业务流程案例供应链的快速转变引言业务流程的重要性供应链信息技术的目标案例 7—11公司利用先进的技术进行备货供应链管理系统的组件销售和运营计划案例 Adtran的S&OP演变过程集成供应链信息技术小结问题讨论第15章技术标准案例 IBM公司的SOA解决方案使Pacorini集团在全球物流市场中处于领先位置引言4信息技术标准信息技术基础设施面向服务的架构无线射频识别小结问题讨论附录A 电脑啤酒游戏附录B 风险分担游戏附录C 库存电子表格附录D 投标游戏参考文献5。
供应链管理课后习题答案

供应链管理课后习题答案供应链管理课后习题答案一、概述供应链管理是现代企业管理的重要组成部分,它涉及到从原材料采购到产品销售的整个流程。
通过对供应链的管理,企业可以实现资源的优化配置,提高生产效率和产品质量,从而增加竞争力和利润。
以下是一些供应链管理课后习题的答案,希望能对大家的学习有所帮助。
二、供应链设计1. 什么是供应链设计?供应链设计是指在满足客户需求的前提下,通过合理的供应链网络设计和流程优化,实现企业资源的最优配置和供应链效率的最大化。
2. 供应链设计的关键要素有哪些?供应链设计的关键要素包括供应链网络结构、物流配送策略、库存管理策略、合作伙伴选择等。
3. 供应链网络结构有哪些类型?常见的供应链网络结构包括集中式供应链、分散式供应链、混合式供应链和虚拟供应链等。
4. 如何选择合适的供应链网络结构?选择合适的供应链网络结构需要考虑产品特性、市场需求、成本效益、风险管理等因素,综合评估不同结构的优缺点,以实现最佳的供应链设计。
三、供应链协调1. 什么是供应链协调?供应链协调是指通过信息共享、合作伙伴关系管理、业务流程优化等手段,实现供应链各环节之间的协同和协作,以提高供应链整体效能。
2. 供应链协调的重要性是什么?供应链协调可以减少信息滞后、降低库存水平、提高交付准确率,从而提高供应链的灵活性、响应速度和客户满意度。
3. 如何实现供应链协调?实现供应链协调需要建立有效的沟通机制、共享信息平台,加强合作伙伴之间的信任和合作,同时优化业务流程和决策机制。
四、供应链风险管理1. 什么是供应链风险管理?供应链风险管理是指通过识别、评估和应对供应链中的各种风险,以保障供应链的稳定运行和业务连续性。
2. 常见的供应链风险有哪些?常见的供应链风险包括市场需求波动、供应商倒闭、物流延误、自然灾害等。
3. 如何进行供应链风险管理?供应链风险管理需要建立风险识别和评估机制,制定相应的风险应对策略,同时建立灵活的供应链网络和备份计划,以应对不同的风险情况。
供应链案例答案

供应链案例答案1.简介在本章中,我们将介绍本文档的目的和范围,以及案例的背景信息。
同时,我们也会提供详细的案例描述,包括相关的问题和挑战。
2.供应链设计与规划本章将详细介绍供应链的设计和规划过程。
其中,我们会讨论供应链网络的拓扑结构、物流运输方式、仓储战略以及供应链成本优化等问题。
3.供应链执行与操作在本章中,我们将重点关注供应链的执行和操作。
具体包括供应商管理、库存管理、物流跟踪和运输调度等方面的内容。
此外,我们还会探讨如何利用信息技术来优化供应链的执行。
4.供应链绩效评估本章将介绍供应链绩效评估的方法和指标。
我们将讨论如何采集和分析关键数据,以及如何使用绩效评估结果来改进供应链效率和效能。
5.供应链风险管理在本章中,我们将讨论如何识别和评估供应链中的风险,并介绍相应的风险管理策略。
我们还会探讨如何建立应急计划,以减轻风险的影响。
6.供应链协同与合作本章将重点关注供应链协同与合作的重要性。
我们将讨论供应链伙伴关系的建立和管理,以及合作模式的选择和推动。
7.供应链可持续发展在本章中,我们将探讨供应链可持续发展的概念和原则。
我们会介绍一些可持续发展的实践案例,并讨论如何在供应链中实施可持续发展战略。
8.案例解决方案在本章中,我们将提供供应链案例的解决方案。
我们将逐步分析和解决案例中涉及的问题和挑战,并给出相应的建议和措施。
9.附件本文档涉及的附件包括相关图表、数据表格、供应链图像等。
附件的详细内容请参阅附件部分。
附件:附件1:供应链流程图附件2:供应链成本分析表附件3:供应商评估表法律名词及注释:1.合同法:指国家法律对于合同制定、履行和解除等相关事宜的规定。
2.知识产权法:指国家法律对于知识产权保护、使用和转让等相关事宜的规定。
3.劳动法:指国家法律对于劳动关系、劳动合同和劳动保护等相关事宜的规定。
供应链设计与管理:概念、战略与案例研究

供应链设计与管理:概念、战略与案例研究供应链设计与管理是指在产品生命周期的各个阶段中,结合企业的战略目标和市场需求,对供应链进行规划、组织和控制的过程。
它涉及到从原材料的供应、生产加工、物流配送到顾客服务等一系列环节的协调与整合。
供应链设计与管理的概念包括以下几个方面:1. 供应链:包括供应商、生产商、经销商和消费者等多个参与主体,构成了一个以物流流动和信息流动为核心的网络系统。
2. 供应链设计:指根据产品特性和市场需求,确定供应链的整体结构、组成成员和流程目标等。
3. 供应链战略:是指企业在竞争环境中,通过供应链资源的协调和优化,实现战略目标,提升竞争力的整体思路和策略。
4. 案例研究:以实际的供应链问题和案例为基础,通过对相关理论和技术的分析和研究,找出问题的原因和解决方案,以提供实践经验和借鉴意义。
供应链设计与管理的战略主要包括以下几个方面:1. 成本管理:通过提高供应链的效益和效率,降低成本,实现企业的低成本竞争策略。
2. 资源整合:通过整合供应链上的各方资源,优化生产和销售过程,提高效率和灵活性,提供更好的客户服务。
3. 风险管理:通过对供应链中的风险进行评估和管理,减少供应链中的风险,提高供应链的韧性和抗压能力。
4. 创新管理:通过创新产品和业务模式,提供差异化的竞争优势,实现产品的高附加值和创新。
5. 合作伙伴关系管理:通过与供应链上的各方建立紧密的合作伙伴关系,实现资源共享、风险共担、互利共赢。
供应链设计与管理的案例研究可以包括以下几个方面的研究:1. 供应链网络设计:如如何确定合适的供应商和分销商网络,如何进行物流配送路线规划等。
2. 供应链协调与合作:如如何建立高效的信息共享和沟通机制,如何处理供应链上的冲突和协调问题等。
3. 供应链风险管理:如如何评估和管理供应链中的风险,如如何应对突发事件和供应链中断等。
4. 可持续供应链管理:如如何考虑环境和社会责任,构建可持续发展的供应链等。
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Designing and Managing the Supply Chain David Simchi-Levi Philip Kaminsky Edith Simchi-LeviSolutions for Discussion Questions1Kerem B¨u lb¨u l1We would like to thank Shiming Deng for his valuable contributions to the preparation of this manual.Chapter1Introduction to Supply Chain ManagementDiscussion QuestionsQuestion1Pick any car model manufactured by a domestic auto maker.For example,consider the 2002Ford Thunderbird.a.The supply chain for a car typically includes the following components:1.Suppliers for raw materials2.Suppliers for parts and subsystems3.Automobile manufacturer(Ford,in this example).Within a company,there are alsodifferent departments,which constitute the internal supply chain:i.Purchasing and material handingii.Manufacturingiii.Marketing,etc.4.Transportation providers5.Automobile dealersb.ManyÞrms are involved in the supply chain.1.Raw material suppliers.For instance,suppliers for steel,rubber,plastics,etc.2.Parts suppliers.For instance,suppliers for engines,steering wheels,seats,and elec-tronic components,etc.3.Automobile manufacturer.For instance,Ford.4.Transportation providers.For instance,shippers,trucking companies,railroads,etc.5.Automobile dealers.For example,Hayward Ford.c.All companies involved in the supply chain want to maximize their respective proÞtsby increasing revenue and decreasing cost.However,companies may employ differentstrategies in order to achieve this goal.Some of them focus on customer satisfaction and quick delivery,while others may be more concerned about minimizing inventory holding costs.d.In general,different parts of the supply chain have objectives that are not aligned witheach other.1.Purchasing:Stable order quantities,ßexible delivery lead times and little variationin mix.2.Manufacturing:Long production runs,high quality,high productivity and low pro-duction costs.3.Warehousing:Low inventory,reduced transportation costs and quick replenishmentcapability.4.Customers:Short order lead times,a large variety of products and low prices.Typically,the automobile dealer would like to offer a variety of car colors and conÞg-urations to accommodate different customer preferences,and meanwhile have a short delivery lead time from the manufacturer.However,in order to maximize the length of production runs,and utilize resources more efficiently,the manufacturer would like to aggregate orders from different dealers and offer less variety in car conÞgurations.This is a clear example of conßicting marketing and manufacturing goals.Question2a.The supply chain for a consumer mortgage offered by a bank may involve various com-ponents:1.Marketing companies that handle solicitation to potential customers.2.Credit reporting agencies that evaluate potential customers.3.The bank that extends the mortgage loans.4.Mortgage brokers through which the loans are distributed.b.The marketing companies strive to increase the response rate from homebuyers in orderto maximize their returns.Banks aim at a customer portfolio with a relatively low risk, healthyßow of payments and low average loan maturity date.The brokers would like to maximize their sales commissions.c.Similar to product supply chains,the objective of a service supply chain is to providewhat is needed(in this case a particular type of service,rather than a physical product) at the right location,at the right time,and in a form that conforms to customer require-ments while minimizing systemwide costs.However,there are a number of differences between the two types of supply chains.For instance:1.In a product supply chain,there is both aßow of information and physical products.In a service supply chain,it is primarily information.2.Contrary to a service supply chain,transportation and inventory are major costcomponents in a product supply chain.3.Services typically cannot be held in inventory,so matching capacity with demand isfrequently more important in a service supply chain.4.In a service supply chain,the(explicit)cost of information is higher than in a productsupply chain.Note that in the mortgage example above,the bank has to compensate the credit reporting agency for each credit report it obtains.Question3Many supply chains evolve over time.For example,consider a memory chip supply chain. Production strategies may change during different stages of the product life cycle.When a new memory chip is introduced,price is high,yield is low,and production capacity is tight,and the availability of the product is important.Consequently,production is usually done at plants close to markets,and the management focuses on increasing yield, reducing the number of production disruptions,and fully utilizing capacity.When the product matures,however,its price drops and demand is stabilized for a period of time, so minimizing production cost moves to center stage.To reduce costs,production may be outsourced to overseas foundries,where labor and materials are much cheaper. Question4A vertically integrated company aims at tighter interaction among various business com-ponents,and frequently manages them centrally.Such a structure helps to achieve sys-temwide goals more easily by removing conßicts among different parts of the supply chain through central decision making.In a horizontally integrated company,there is frequently no beneÞt in coordinating the supply chains of each business within the company.Indeed, if every business specializes in its core function,and operates optimally,an overall global optimum may be approached.Question5Effective supply chain management is also important for vertically integrated companies. In such an organizational structure,various business functions are handled by different departments of the company that usually have different internal objectives,and these objectives are not necessarily aligned with each other.This may be due to lack of com-munication among departments or the incentives provided by the upper management.For instance,if the sales department is evaluated based on revenue only,and the manufacturing department is evaluated based on cost only,the company’s proÞt may not be maximized globally.Effective supply chain management is still necessary to achieve globally optimal operations.Question6The sources of uncertainty in this example include:1.Factors such as weather conditions,diseases,natural disasters cause uncertainty inavailability of raw materials,i.e.,peach crop.2.Uncertain lead times during transportation of crop from theÞeld to the processingfacility may affect the quality of peaches,e.g.,they may get spoiled.3.Processing times in the plant,as well as the subsequent warehousing and transportationtimes are subject to uncertainty.4.Demand is not known in advance.Question7A small number of centrally located warehouses allows aÞrm to take advantage of risk pooling in order to increase service levels and decrease inventory levels and costs.However, outbound transportation cost is typically higher,and delivery lead times are longer.On the other hand,by building a larger number of warehouses closer to the end customers,a Þrm can decrease outbound transportation costs and delivery lead times.However,this type of system will have increased total inventory levels and costs,decreased economies of scale,increases warehousing expenses,and potentially increased inbound transportation expenses.Question8The choice of the particular transportation service depends largely on the types and sizes of products the company wants to transport,the inventory and delivery strategies and the need forßexibility:1.A truckload carrier is better if delivering bulky items or small items in large and stablequantities from warehouses to demand points(stores).A good example is the delivery of groceries from warehouses to supermarkets.Note that in this case we would like the demand to be in increments of full truck loads.2.A package deliveryÞrm is more appropriate if relatively small items are delivered fromthe manufacturer/warehouse directly to the customers.Additionally,a package carrier company offers moreßexibility by different modes of transportation depending on the needs of the individual customers.Question91.High inventory levelsi.Advantages:HighÞll rate(service level)and quick order fulÞllment.ii.Disadvantages:High opportunity cost of capital tied in inventory,danger of price declines over time and obsolescence,need for more warehouse space.2.Low inventory levelsi.Advantages:Low inventory holding and warehousing costs.ii.Disadvantages:Higher risk of shortages and lower service levels.Case Discussion Questions—Meditech SurgicalQuestion1Meditech experiences poor service levels for new products,and inventory levels higher than necessary for all products.Question2There are many causes for these problems:1.Demand is not studied in detail.rmation systems that record and monitor demand and inventory are poorly designed.3.Forecasting errors are not tracked.4.There is a tendency to shift the blame to the customers,e.g.,panic ordering.5.There are built-in delays and monthly buckets in the planning system.6.The planning system ampliÞes small variations in demand.7.Poor communication with customers;Meditech doesn’t typically see end-customer de-mand.Question3The customer service manager is directly exposed to the complaints from the customers. Hence,he is in a good position to gauge the scope of the problems.Other managers do not face the customers,and they do not necessarily focus on their satisfaction. Question41.Recognize that demand is predictable,and establish better forecasting systems andaccountability for forecasts.2.Institute better planning systems to eliminate planning delays;reduce the size of systemtime buckets.3.Alternatively,put assembly within the pull system and eliminate bulk inventory com-pletely.4.Develop and implement better information systems.5.Improve communications with customers.Chapter2Logistics Network ConfigurationDiscussion QuestionsQuestion1The factors that affect the performance of the logistics network are not static,i.e.,they change over time.These factors include demand,product design,various costs in the logistics network,regulations,contracts,etc.The effects of these dynamics need to be evaluated periodically in order to determine whether the existing conÞguration is still satisfactory given the new operating environment.For instance,service level requirements may change due to increased competition which typically means that the lead time to fulÞll customer orders needs to be shortened.This may require theÞrm to redesign its logistic network and build new warehouses that are closer to the end customers.Question2The design of the logistics network is a strategic decision that has long lasting effects and impacts all functions within the company.For the success of such a project,many levels of the organization must be involved:1.Upper Management:The new design must be aligned with the vision and strategic goalsof the company.Additionally,such a project may be costly,so management buy-in is essential to ensure that sufficient resources are devoted to the project.2.Sales and Marketing:Demand forecasts and anticipated changes in product design andofferings affect the network and need the involvement of sales and marketing teams. 3.Manufacturing and Operations:The logistics network design has obvious impact on day-to-day operation of theÞrm.In order for the implementation to succeed,it is essential that the people involved with operating the system on a daily basis are involved in its design.Question3The decision that a single warehouse will be built has been made up-front.Therefore,we only need to focus on the location and capacity of the warehouse,and determine how muchspace should be allocated to each product in the warehouse.The main steps of the analysis are outline below.1.Data collectioni.Location of retail stores,existing warehouses(5warehouses located in Atlanta,Boston,Chicago,Dallas and Los Angeles),manufacturing facilities(a single man-ufacturing facility in San Jose),and suppliers.ii.Candidate locations for the new warehouse.rmation about products,i.e.,their sizes,shapes and volumes.iv.Annual demand(past actuals and future estimates)and service level requirements of the retail stores.v.Transportation rates by available modes.vi.Transportation distances from candidate warehouse locations to retail stores.vii.Handling,storage andÞxed costs associated with warehousing.Fixed costs should be expressed as a function of warehouse capacity.viii.Fixed ordering costs,order frequencies and sizes by product or product family. 2.Data aggregation.Demand needs to be aggregated based on distribution patternsand/or product types.Replace aggregated demand data points by a single customer.3.Mathematical model building.4.Model validation based on existing network structure.5.Selection of a few low cost alternatives based on the mathematical model.i.For theÞnal decision,incorporate qualitative factors that were disregarded in themathematical model,e.g.,speciÞc regulations,environmental factors,etc.ii.Optionally,build a detailed simulation model to evaluate these low cost candidate solutions.6.Decide where to locate the centralized warehouse.With the centralized warehouse,service level will increase(less stock-outs)and inven-tory holding costs will decrease due to risk pooling.Also,Þxed costs associated with ware-housing will typically decrease,and inbound transportation costs from the manufacturing facility to the warehouse should be less than the sum of the previous inbound transporta-tion costs.However,we will incur increased outbound transportation costs from the central warehouse to the retailers.In summary,the essential design trade-offis between trans-portation costs on one hand,and inventory holding costs and service level requirements on the other.Question4a.In automobile manufacturing,cars are usually delivered over land,and demand is con-centrated around major cities.Therefore,we would expect warehouses in this industry to be located near large cities with easy access to freeways and railroads.This would help to reduce the delivery lead time to dealerships in the cities.b.In the pharmaceutical industry,overnight delivery is common.Therefore,proximityto a major airport is a factor that should be considered when choosing a warehouse location.Additionally,for raw material warehouses it is important that these are close to natural resources.c.In the book industry,supplier warehouse locations would be affected by the availabilityof nearby natural resources.d.In the aircraft manufacturing industry,sub-assemblies and parts are delivered by thou-sands of suppliers scattered all over the globe to the manufacturing facilities.Therefore, for these supplier warehouses,by far the most signiÞcant consideration is the ability to ship parts easily and on-time,i.e.,the proximity to railroads,freeways,harbors,etc.In such a capital intensive industry,we would also expect that regulations such as tax breaks have an impact on potential warehouse locations.e.With a large customer base shopping for books on-line,short delivery lead times arecrucial.Therefore,in book distribution,we would expect toÞnd large centralized ware-houses on reasonably priced land and where quick transportation modes are available.f.Furniture manufacturing and distribution depends heavily on manual labor.Therefore,warehouses in this industry should be located close to cities with sufficient labor supply.g.In PC manufacturing,outsourcing from all around the world is common where labor ischeaper and regulations favor the huge investments associated with high-tech manufac-turing.These considerations should be factored in when choosing candidate warehouse locations.Question5In the pharmaceutical industry,we would expect more warehouses closer to the end cus-tomers for short delivery lead times.On the other hand,in the chemical industry there would be fewer centralized warehouses in order to consolidate orders and decrease outbound transportation costs.Question6If we expect that the truck would travel empty on its return route,then TL rate would be higher.Considering the example in Section2.2.2,the probability that the truck comes back empty from Illinois(industrial heartland)to New York is lower than the corresponding probability from New York to Illinois which explains the asymmetric cost structure between these two cities.Question71.Handling Costsbor cost of workers in material handling.ii.Costs of conveyors,fork lifts,automated guided vehicles(AGVs),etc.,used to carry the goods in the warehouse.Note that these costs have two components:variable costs that are linearly proportional to the distances the goods are transported over;and purchasing costs of equipment that are proportional to the daily output required from the material handling system,but in a non-linear way because equipment is purchased in discrete quantities.2.Fixed Costsi.Purchasing or rental cost of land.ii.Cost of maintaining and operating the warehouse building which includes annual depreciation and utility costs.iii.Cost of racks that depend on the capacity of the warehouse.iv.The cost of insurance for the facility.3.Storage Costsi.Opportunity cost of capital tied up in inventory.ii.Cost of price declines while inventory is sitting in the warehouse.Note that this includes the risk of obsolete inventory that needs to be salvaged.Question8An exact optimization technique is guaranteed to provide an optimal solution(if one exists) even if it takes a long time.On the other hand,a heuristic algorithm is a method that willÞnd good solutions to the problem in a reasonable amount of time where the terms “good”and“reasonable”depend on the heuristic and the particular problem instance.(See Bramel and Simchi-Levi(1997).)The choice between an exact optimization technique and a heuristic algorithm for a given problem frequently depends on the trade-offbetween solution quality and solution time.Note that even if a heuristic algorithm(by chance)Þnds the optimal solution to a problem,it cannot conÞrm the optimality of the solution. On the other hand,for many problems there are no known optimal algorithms,so heuristics must be used.Question9Simulation is a popular performance evaluation and modeling tool for complex stochastic systems that cannot be evaluated analytically.A simulation model can closely reßect a real system and mimic its behavior,but it has some drawbacks:simulation is a descriptive tool,i.e.,it cannot provide optimal values for system inputs.It generates,for a given set of inputs,sample outputs from the system that are used to compute statistical estimates of the performance measures.Also,accurate simulation models of large systems require extensive development effort,and typically take a long time to run.Thus,we advocate a two-phase approach to solve difficult logistics problems:e a mathematical optimization model to generate a number of good candidatesolutions,taking into account the most important cost components.e a detailed simulation model to evaluate the candidate solutions generated in theÞrst phase.Chapter3Inventory Management and Risk PoolingDiscussion QuestionsQuestion1Companies can cope with uncertainty by1.keeping safety stock,2.shortening production and order lead times,ing risk pooling strategies,4.delaying product differentiation in the supply chain as much as possible,i.e.,aggre-gating demand for parties upstream of the supply chain,and5.by installing systems to achieve information sharing between suppliers and buyers,thus enabling collaborative demand forecasting.Question2In general,higher inventory levels make it easier to maintain higher service levels.However, modern inventory management techniques may make it possible to increase service levels without increasing inventory levels as much as in the past.Question3The variability in demand increases as the average and the variance of lead time increase. Therefore,for a given service level,inventory levels increase with longer lead times and higher lead time variance.Question4The target service level depends on the mission-criticality of the product.For instance, consider a service parts vendor for equipment for which every hour of down time is veryexpensive.(See Example6-5.)In this case,we would expect the management of the vendor company to specify a service level close to100%.Market conditions also play an important role in determining target service levels.For commodities,we would expect relatively high service levels since customers can switch products easily if they do notÞnd the particular product they look for.However,a lower service level may be acceptable if the product has a clear value differentiation compared to its competitors.For instance,customers of a high-end server that is clearly deemed superior to the rest of the market may be willing to wait for1-2weeks if the manufacturer is out-of-stock.Question5√L has two components.TheÞrst component The reorder level s=L∗AV G+z∗ST D∗L∗AV G covers the expected demand during lead time,and the second component z∗√L is the safety stock that protects against deviations from the expected demand ST D∗during lead time.Therefore,immediately before the order arrives,we expect that theÞrst√L.Then,whencomponent is depleted completely and the inventory level is z∗ST D∗√L.an order of Q units arrives,the expected level of inventory is Q+z∗ST D∗Question6In the base-stock policy,at the time the warehouse places an order,this order raises the√r+L.Similar inventory position to the base-stock level(r+L)∗AV G+z∗ST D∗to the reorder level s in the continuous review policy discussed in Question5,this base-stock includes two components:the average demand(r+L)∗AV G until the order arrives√r+L that protects against demand after r+L periods,and the safety stock z∗ST D∗uncertainty during lead time.Thus,just before an order arrives,the expected inventory√r+L.on hand is equal to the safety stock z∗ST D∗In order to determine the expected inventory level right after an order arrives at time t+L,note that when inventory is reviewed at time t,the inventory position is raised to the base-stock level,and an order that was placed at time t−r arrives at time t+L.(SeeFigure3-12.)Therefore,when an order arrives,the expected inventory level is L∗AV G√r+L.units less than the base-stock level,i.e.,is equal to r∗AV G+z∗ST D∗Question7Observe that the longer L1,the more time the system has before allocation of inventory to the retailers need to be made by the cross-dock facility.Thus,the longer L1the more the system can take advantage of the risk pooling concept.Hence,the total amount of inventory is smaller when the cross dock facility is closer to the retail outlet.Question8The answer is not immediately clear because the required safety stock depends both on the average and the variance of the lead time.The retailer would have to make a decision depending on the relative effects of these two factors.See Section3.2.6.Also,your decision would ultimately depend on the requirements of the retailer’s customers.Question9For a mature product,it is reasonable to expect that the price and demand are stable in the short term.However,as the time horizon gets longer,and new products are in-troduced into the market,the demand and price for this particular product decrease and excessive inventories may have to be written off.Thus,inventory holding costs related to obsolescence may be regarded asÞxed in the short term,but not in the long term.Some storage costs are another example of inventory related costsÞxed in the short term,but variable in the long term.For instance,due to large inventories a company may have to rent multiple warehouses for aÞxed lease term.However,if inventory policies are improved and turnover rates are increased in this period of time,then it may be possible to rent fewer warehouses when renewing the lease contracts.Clearly,similar arguments can be made for material handling equipment,storage racks,insurance,personnel,etc. Question10Such deterministic models can be used as proxies for the more realistic stochastic models if the planning horizon is short,and the parameters of the problem are expected to be relatively stable over this time frame.However,most importantly,simple models can illustrate the basic trade-offs in a given type of problem which also translate into more realistic and complex situations.For instance,the optimal policy for the economic lot sizing model balances ordering and inventory holding costs which is a general insight for more sophisticated systems as well.Question11There are implicit and explicit penalties associated with a highly variable demand.For instance:1.As discussed in Sections3.2.5to3.2.7,the level of safety stock is proportional to thevariability in demand,i.e.,the higher the variability in demand the higher the inventory holding costs.2.From a manufacturer’s perspective,highly variable demand means that utilization ofequipment will greatlyßuctuate,and equipment will sit idle when demand is low.3.From a managerial perspective,high variability makes planning a very complex taskthat requires additional resources,sophisticated models and tools.On the other hand,if a company is successful at implementing strategies to cope with high variability in demand,it may be possible to leverage on these to increase market share and/or revenue if the competitors are not as successful.Question12The factors that affect the choice of the supply contract type include the following:1.Business convention:Companies tend to choose the contract form that is most commonin their type of business.rmation availability:The type of information available may dictate what type ofcontract can be implemented in practice.Depending on the contract type,suppliers and buyers require access to different types of information,and some information may be difficult for the supplier to acquire but easier for the retailer,or vice versa.3.Decision making and incentives:To achieve the optimal proÞt for the whole system andto allocate it properly,both suppliers and retailers must understand that decisions must be made collaboratively.All parties must be aware that they have to give up part of the control in their individual systems,and the choice of the supply contract type depends on the level of control that parties are willing to share with each other.1.Buy-back contracts:i.Advantages:(a)Commonly used in many businesses.(b)The coordinating prices are not very sensitive to the demand distribution.ii.Disadvantages:(a)The supplier may have to buy back a large quantity of the product when demandis low.(b)Extra transportation and re-stocking costs for returned items.2.Revenue-sharing contracts:1.Advantages:(a)Easy to understand.(b)The optimal values of the decision variables are not very sensitive to the demanddistribution.2.Disadvantages:(a)Need to monitor the total revenue.3.Quantity-ßexible contracts:i.Advantages:(a)Commonly used in many businesses.ii.Disadvantages:(a)The optimal values of the decision variables are sensitive to the demand distri-bution.(b)Extra transportation and re-stocking costs for returned items.4.Sale-rebate contracts:i.Advantages:(a)It is a direct incentive to the retailer to increase sales.ii.Disadvantages:(a)Difficult to track and implement.。