Firms need to focus on maximizing value in their supply chain-series of interrelated activities to move a product or service from its originating point to the customer. It is the linkages involved in delivering a product or service most productively for the customer and the business. It is vital to operations management and crucial to deliver consistent, high-quality products on-time to customers, and to create value for the business.
The chain’s activities range from accessing raw materials or sub components, to delivering the final product or service to the customer. Walmart is a wholesaler and retailer in a large supply chain. The more parties involved, the greater the 꽁머니 즉시 probability of issues:
Wherever you sit in the chain you will depend on someone to deliver your part or product at a particular time. PrimeTime Co Ltd, (Prime), a component manufacturer in an automobile industry supply chain, sat in the middle. Management agreed a contract with assembly plant, AutoCo, to produce and deliver 100 units daily. Prime’s contract included a penalty clause for missed delivery. Units had to be delivered by 4: 00 PM daily or Prime would pay AutoCo the cost of downtime waiting for Prime’s shipment-downtime computed based on a particular formula including AutoCo’s overhead costs.
Prime provided AutoCo with two names to call anytime about any production and quality issue, including increased production and rescheduling delivery. By agreement, AutoCo had its own quality specialist on site at Prime when Prime manufactured the part for AutoCo. That specialist had final approval on the acceptable quality of that item. This worked well because of the excellent transparent relationship between both companies.
AutoCo gave Prime a tentative delivery schedule each month. By 6: 00 AM each day, Prime accessed AutoCo’s ordering system to see actual requirements for the day. The system required precision, and Prime monitored it hourly. Prime saw this as a huge challenge so management provided needed resources and careful attention to the people and process. The system has worked well for several years with a 99% compliance.
Highly visible links understood by each participant: The system is as good as the weakest link. You might be the wholesaler, but you must become comfortable with each segment and understand probable risks of failure in different links. In some businesses, this risk is more critical than others. Delays might be too costly to customers to capture significant outsourcing benefits.
Collaboration to deliver acceptable results throughout: Collaborating isn’t easy. One essential issue is the alignment of incentives. Prime had a huge incentive to deliver on time because of the high cost of AutoCo’s downtime. The ideal model for successful collaboration is benefit-sharing with partners. Collaboration becomes even more complicated when different countries, cultures, time zones, and other differences exist. Nevertheless, cooperation is crucial.
Customer-demand focus instead of production-demand through the chain: The lead company (Walmart, or AutoCo) needs to keep partners aware of customers’ needs and encourage them to add value to the finished product. This awareness can improve competitiveness of the entire chain and provide additional benefits to each participant.
Transparent and helpful communication throughout the chain: Communication keeps members abreast of developments impacting their contributions to the chain. Besides, meaningful communication allows members to respond quickly to opportunities and challenges.
Disruption Risks Could Negate Benefits
In the late 1990s, I became Vice President Marketing for the Bauxite, Alumina, and Specialty Chemicals of my former employer Alcan Inc. (now part of Rio Tinto), and explored outsourcing parts of our supply chain. However, the potential disruption risks were too high, so we did not proceed. This decision produced a crucial lesson: sometimes, we must ignore significant outsourcing benefits because the low probability of disruption could be devastating to the overall system.
As you evaluate your options, you have to consider what the wood material brings in the form of benefits for your home. Hardwood floors are convenient and durable, but above all else, they add warmth and character to the room. Not every type of wood is equal, so you will do good to consider the following things:
Type of wood – generally, there are two types of wood – engineered and solid hardwood. The latter is formed by milling solid logs and consists of groove and tongue parts along the short and long edges. The solid type comes in pre-finished and unfinished options, planks or strips of variable thickness. As for engineered hardwood, it is comprised of a few layers of plywood and composite, with a layer of solid hardwood on top. The major difference comes in floor composition. Solid wood is likely to expand/contract with different humidity levels, which means it is best to install it on the ground floor. On the other hand, engineered flooring is more stable and therefore can be installed on all levels.
Wood species – wood flooring can be made of many different kinds of wood. The main thing to consider is durability. Some woods are harder and endure everyday wear and tear better than others. Red oak is one of the most popular options, for example; however maple and hickory are more durable. The harder the wood, the better it is to have it installed in high-traffic areas in your home.
Appearance, grain colour and grain – due to the variety of wood species such flooring comes in, you can easily select a colour that matches your décor. For example, if your home leans towards the country-style, wide plank floors and defined grains with distressed appearance are perhaps the best options. As for the contemporary setting, you can use any wood, based on the stain and finish. Whitewash, pewter and charcoal finishes have the potential to transform wood species into a great masterpiece.
Finish – finish plays a key role in what the floor looks like. You will find that the same wood species seem quite different with clear gloss and wire-brush finish. The effect is due to different gloss levels and techniques used. Keep in mind that hardwood flooring comes either pre-finished or unfinished. The former has the finish applied in a controlled factory environment, while unfinished flooring is done on-site.